Despite bankruptcies，lay off and tighter comsumers spending，a few femaleled  businesses in Japan are developing well.

Shizue Hamada，52，set up a business in 1991 with eight other housewives-to care for the elderly and the physically disabled.

It wasn’t long before the Tasukeai Yui(mutual -aid group) earned a reputation for    its excellent  service. It now employs 200  staff  and  has  300 million  yuan(US $2.4million)in annual sales.

The woman said their business has been successful because they provide what  customrs really want.

These entrepreneurs are making use of a revalized  and  healthy demand  for everyday basic items.

Bread，for instance，is  in  high demand．Business  woman  Meiko Tanaka，26，started selling high-quality bread over the Internet in 2000．“Bread is cheap，”she said.“We migh  as well eat the bread baked using the the highest-quality ingredients.”

Five women—former office workers in their late 20s—have started the“OL Food Bureau of Investigation”to review restaurants on the  Internet.OL means young    office lady. It’s  a common nickname in Japan．

Business is increasing rapidly．Membership for their online magazine has reached 26，000． Their non-professional comments  seem to carry a lot of weight with consumers．This month the five women will be appearing on Japanese TV．

   What all these female entrepreneurs have in common is a strong belief in their  likes and dislikes，and confidence is their own sensibilities．

   They find gaps in the market and fill them with products and services that they like or want.

   Japanese women headed nearly 6 percent of all  businesses in Japan at the end of  June—up from 4.5 per cent in 1999．

   These female—led micro—businesses are playing an increasingly large role in the economy by plugging the gap between supply and demand.

1.When talking about the businesswomen in Japan，the writer       

A.thinks little of them

B.thinks that they will take the place of men in future

C.sings the praises of  their abilities

D.is not sure of  their future development

2.The passage mainly discusses .      

A.Japanese women                        B.female-led businesses in Japan

C.how to earn a reputation                 D.Japanese economic development

3.The five women will be appearing on Japanese TV because         .

A.thier comments have great influences on consumers

B.they have set up the first online magazine

C.they have arranged handreds of jobs for laid?off workers

D.they used to work in offices and are fairly beautiful

4.If an old man in Japan can't live by himsilf，he should turn to        for hehp.

A.Tasukeai Yui  B.Meiko Tanaka   C.OL Food Bureau of lnvestigation   D.entrepreneurs

   The north magnetic pole (磁极) is no longer a resident of Canada. It has drifted across the Canadian Arctic and is now angling toward Siberia.

   Not to be confused with the geographic North Pole―the northern extremity of the Earth’s axis（地轴），the north magnetic pole (where the Earth’s magnetic field is directed downward) is moving due to natural changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, a process that originates about 3, 000 kilometers below our feet, in the outer core（核心）of the planet. But scientists are now noticing that the magnetic pole has picked up its pace.

   Over the past century, the pole has been migrating at an average speed of about 10 kilometers per year, says Larry Newitt, head of Geomagnetic Laboratory at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa. Since the 1970s, this speed has increased to about 50 kilometers per year.

   Scientists are wondering why the speed is increasing, says Newitt. One Hypothesis (假说) relates it to “magnetic jerks”, sudden shifts (变化) in the rate of change of the magnetic field. There have been three jerks in the past four decades, each one correlating to an increase in speed.

   If the north magnetic pole continues at its current rate, it could reach Siberia by 2056.

   “For most of recorded history, the pole has been a part of Canada, and now it’s not,” says Newitt. “It may be a blow to our collective psyche, but other than that, it doesn’t have a major effect on most people’s existence.

73. Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word “angling”.

74. What could happen to the north magnetic pole by the middle of the 21 century? (回答词数不超过8个)

75. What is the main idea of the passage? （回答词数不超过8个）

Have you ever stopped _____ how our lie _____ if the world ran out of ol?

There are stories about two U．S . presidents，Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren，which attempt to explain the American English term OK．We don’t know if either story is true，but they are both interesting．
The first explanation is based on the fact that President Jackson had very little education．In fact，he had difficulty reading and writing．When important papers came to Jackson，he tried to read them and then had his assistants explain what they said．If he approved of a paper, he would write “all correct”on it．The problem was that he didn’t know how to spell．So what he really wrote was “ol korekt”．After a while，he shortened that term to “OK”．
The second explanation is based on the place where President Van Buren was born，Kinderhook，New York．Van Buren’s friends organized a club to help him become President .They called the club the Old Kinderhook Club，and anyone who supported Van Buren was called“OK”．
【小题1】The author  __________.