The Japanese economy is at a standstill，Japan ’ s government has said, as concerns about the
strong yen(曰元）continue to grow. The recovery in the economy was “pausing"，the CabinetOffice said in a monthly statement.
It is the most negative that the government has been about the economy in nearly two years.The rising yen and a slowdown in global demand for Japanese exports were blamed for the setback.
In recent months, the government has insisted that the economy is “picking up". But it saidit now expected the economy to Femain weak for some time, with “weakening" exports a chiefconcern. It said shipments to Asia in particular were becoming weaker, further hitting exportersthat are already suffering from the strong yen.
The yen remains near a 15 - year high against the US dollar, despite the financial interfer-ence (干预）in the currency markets last month for the first time in six years.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan(菅直人）has also passed a $ 63 billion stimulus(剌激）package in an effort to protect exporters who have seen the poor exchange rate eat into their prof-its. At the close of markets in Tokyo，the yen was trading at 81.44 yen to the dollar, just off thehigh of 81.27 yen.
"If the economy turns out as expected, we may end up describing the current situation as asoft patch，” one of die government officials said ’ “ But if it comes under further downwardpressure, it could end up slipping into recession(衰退）.”
【小题1】The Japanese government think the current bad economy situation is partly due to  .

BEIJING, Nov. 26—U.S. dollar hit another record low against the euro on Friday, with the European currency climbing above $1.32 for the first time. The green-back fell to its lowest in nearly five years against the yen the same day.

By 1943 EST, the dollar was trading at US$1.3265 per euro, compared with US$1.3270 in thin late New York trade. It was at 102.55 yen, little changed from New York after touching 102.37, a level not seen since March 2000, in London.

Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki repeated his warning against dollar weakness, threatening to take action against sudden moves, but market participants said such verbal intervention (口头干涉) had long lost its clout.

Traders were expecting market liquidity to remain thin on Friday because of the extended U.S. holiday.

In such thin trading, many said a fall in the dollar past 102 yen and US$1.33 per euro was a real possibility.

Referring to recent currency movements as “brutal”, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, who is the most vocal European policymaker on dollar weakness, is due to make comments in Rio de Janeiro, along with ECB council member and Spanish central bank governor Jaime Caruana.

Introduced in 1999 as the common currency for 12 European countries, the euro initially(最初) dropped against the dollar but has risen some 60 percent since hitting an all-time low of 82 U.S. cents in October 2000.

64. What does “the green-back” refer to in the first paragraph?

A. U.S. dollar                                           B. Another record

C. The euro                                              D. European currency

65. How did Sadakazu Tanigaki feel about dollar weakness?

A. Excited                    B. Puzzled             C. worried                    D. Disappointed

66. The underlined word “brutal” probably means ______.

A. cruelty                            B. help                 C. criticism                   D. apology

67. According to some people, it was possible for the dollar to trade ______.

A. at 1.3265 per euro                                 B. at 1.32 per euro

C. at 1.3270 per euro                                 D. at 1.331 per euro

     If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year，he'd better offer you more money to do so--or even double that depending on where you live now．That's because Moscow has just been found to be the world's most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
Using the cost of living in New York as a base，Mercer determined Moscow is 34.4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing，transportation，food，clothing，household goods and entertainment(娱乐)．
A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs$4,000 a month；a CD$24.83， and an international newspaper $6.30，according to Mercer．By comparison，a fast food meal with a hamburger  (汉堡包)is a steal at$480．
London takes the No.2 place，up from No.5 a year ago，thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar. Mercer estimates(估算)London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days．Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo，both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York，while No.5 Hong Kong is l9 percent more costly．
Among North American cities，New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world's most expensive cities．But both have mien since last year's study--New York came in15th,down from 10th place，while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place a year ago．San Francisco came in a distant third at No.54，down  20 places from a year earlier．
Toronto, meanwhile，is Canada's most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82nd place worldwide．In Australia．Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No．21 worldwide．
65. What do the underlined words "a steal" in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. an act of stealing              B. something delicious
C. something very cheap                  D. an act of buying
66. London has become the second most expensive city because of ______.
A. the high cost of clothing        B. the stronger pound against the dollar
C. its expensive transportation       D. the high prices of fast food meals
67. Which city is the third most expensive on the list?
A. Tokyo        B. Hong Kong       C. Moscow      D. Los Angeles
68. Which city has dropped most on the list in North America?
A. New York．    B. Los Angeles．    C. San Francisco   D. Tokyo

A Municipal Report(Adapted from a story by O．Henry)(Ⅱ)
Azalea Adair herself opened the door when I knocked．She was about 50 years old．Her white hair was pulled back from her small，tired face．She wore a pale yellow dress．It was old，but very clean．
Azalea Adair led me into her living room．A damaged table，three chairs and an old red sofa were in the center of the floor．
Azalea Adair and I sat down at the table and began to talk．I told her about the magazine's offer an she told me about herself．She was from an old southern family．Her father had been a judge．
Azalea Adair told me she had never traveled or even attended school．Her parents taught her at home with private teachers．We finished our meeting．I promised to return with the agreement the next day, and rose to leave．
At that moment，someone knocked at the back door．Azalea Adair whispered a soft apology and went to answer the caller．She came back a minute later with bright eyes and pink cheeks．She looked ten year younger．“You must have a cup of tea before you go，”she said．She shook a little bell on the table，and small black girl about twelve years old ran into the room．
Azalea Adair opened a tiny old purse and took out a dollar bill．It had been fixed with a piece of blue paper and the upper right hand comer was missing．It was the dollar I had given to Uncle Caesar．“Go to Mr．Baker's store，Impy ,”she said，“and get me 25 cents' worth of tea and ten cents' worth of sugar cakes． And please hurry．”
The child ran out of the room．We heard the back door close．Then the girl screamed．Her cry mixed with a man's angry voice．Azalea Adair stood up．Her face showed no emotion as she left the room．I heard the man's rough voice and her gentle one．Then a door slammed and she came back into the room．“I am sorry，but I won't be able to offer you any tea after all，” she said．“It seems that Mr．Baker has no more tea．Perhaps he will find some for our visit tomorrow．”
We said good-bye．I went back to my hotel．
Just before dinner, Major Wentworth Caswell found me．It was impossible to avoid him．He insisted on buying me a drink and pulled two one-dollar bills from his pocket．Again I saw a torn dollar fixed with blue paper, with a corner missing．It was the one I gave Uncle Caesar．How strange，I thought． I wondered how Caswell got it．
63．We can judge from her behavior that Miss Adair was       ．
A．polite and elegant      B．confident and determined
C．poor and miserable    D．capable and hardworking
64．Adair seemed          after coming back from the back door．
A．as calm as before    B．sadder    C．excited    D．surprised
65．The angry man with a rough voice outside might be           ．
A．Uncle Caesar    B．Mr．Baker    C．Caswell  D．A stranger
66．When the narrator saw Caswell again at his hotel，he was surprised         ．
A．that Caswell should find him
B．that Caswell insisted on buying him a drink
C．that Caswell pulled two one-dollar bills from his pocket
D．to find Caswell had the torn dollar bill with a comer missing

In the current situation, ___________ the dollar goes above 1.85 reais, investors sell the greenback to take some profit.

1. A.
   whenever
2. B.
   however
3. C.
   whatever
4. D.
   whichever