Zurich of Switzerland is the city with the highest quality of life in 2006, while Baghdad, for the third year running, has the lowest, a survey published by human resource company Mercer on Monday shows.

Zurich, Geneva and Vancouver made the top three in the list while Bangui in the Central African Republic and Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, joined Baghdad in the bottom three.

The top three cities in the list are all unchanged from last year.

Almost half the top 30 scoring cities are in Western Europe. In this region, Vienna follows Zurich and Geneva in 4th position. Other highly-rated cities include Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich in positions 6, 7 and 8 respectively. Athens remains the lowest scoring city in Western Europe, standing at position 79.

Chicago is one of the biggest climbers in the rankings since 2005, rising to 41st from 52nd due to reduced crime rates, while Cairo is one of the biggest fallers, sliding nine places to 131st out of 215 cities.

“This was due to political conflicts and terrorist attacks in the city and surrounding area,” Mercer said.

Asia-Pacific Auckland and Wellington have both moved up the rankings from 8th to 5th and 14th to 12th places respectively, while Sydney remains at position 9.

In Asia, Singapore ranks 34th followed by Tokyo, Japan’s highest scoring city, at position 35. Hong Kong’s modern and efficient infrastructure, including its airport which is considered one of best in the world, has pushed it up from 70th to 68th position.

The top-ranking city in China’s mainland is Shanghai in 103rd place.

“Beijing and Shanghai are on the rise and should experience rapid improvements in quality of living in the coming years. This is mainly due to greater international investment driven by the availability and lower cost of labor and manufacturing skills,” explained Mr. Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer.

Mercer bases its annual survey on 39 quality-of-life factors, from political stability to schools, bars, restaurants and the environment.

The top ten cities in the list:

Zurich, Switzerland

Geneva, Switzerland

Vancouver, Canada

Vienna, Austria

Auckland, New Zealand

Dusseldorf, Germany

Munich, Germany

Sydney, Australia

Berne, Switzerland

57. From the first three paragraphs, we can NOT learn _____.

A. since 2004, Baghdad has been the city with the lowest quality of life

B. since 2004, Zurich has been the city with the highest quality of life

C. since 2004, Bangui, Brazzaville and Baghdad have been the bottom three

D. since 2004, Zurich Geneva and Vancouver have been the top three

58. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Athens is the lowest scoring city in the world

B. Cairo was the 122nd last year

C. In Asia, Tokyo is the best place to live

D. Due to modern infrastructure, Hong Kong has pushed it up by 3 places

59. By mentioning what Mr. Slagin Parakatil said, the author wants to show _____.

A. Beijing and Shanghai are less developed now

B. greater international investment will lead to the improvement in quality of life in Beijing and Shanghai

C. Mr. Slagin Parakatil expects little of Beijing and Shanghai

D. Beijng and Shanghai will improve rapidly in quality of life in the next few years

60. The purpose of writing the passage is to tell us _____.

A. the results of a survey

B. Zurich is the best place to live

C. the best and worst places to live

D. the rankings of the cities on quality of life in 2006

The Future Stars

General introduction

The Future Stars was set up in 1988 as a non-profit service center for child development devoted to providing quality childcare in a loving and educational environment for children 6 weeks to 6 years of age. Our funds mainly come from public donations.

A healthy curiosity about learning is the most important quality for early childhood development. We aim at offering high quality developmentally age-appropriate activities for early childhood, the most Important time of child development, so that they can do better after they start formal schooling.

Hours of operation

Childcare will be provided for the child from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday except for holidays. Children may not arrive before 7:00 am or remain after 6:00 pm. Should an emergency arise, the parent should immediately make us know in consideration of our work arrangements. A late charge of $ 1.00 per minute will be assessed if the child is not picked up by 6:05 pm. Charges for these services are to be paid directly to the staff person that has been looking after your child until your arrival, not to the center. Failure to pay late charges may affect continued services with the center.

Tuition (学费)

When it has been confirmed that a position is available for your child, you must pay a registration (注册) fee of $200 per child.

The weekly tuition fee is $ 98.00. You can make payments either by credit card or in cash on Monday every week. If your payment is not made by Tuesday at 9:00 am, you will be charged a $ 25.00 late fee.

For more information, please call 434-293-6110 or visit www.childdevelopmentcenter.com.

1.The Future Stars is intended for______.

A. would-be parents        B. teenagers

C. child experts          D. pre-school children

2.What can we know about late pickups from the passage?

A. They may affect continued services with the center.

B. Parents have to pay late charges for them to the center.

C. Parents have to inform the center of them right away.

D. They greatly disturb the work arrangements of the center.

3.If you want your child to receive childcare services from the Future Stars，you must ___.

A. pay extra for delayed payment

B. pay every Tuesday

C pay $ 98 for registration

D. pay in cash

4.What is the purpose of the passage?

A. To attract public donations.

B. To promote early education.

C. To tell the benefits of childcare.   

D. To introduce a child development center.

Summerfest Arts Faire 2010
Summerfest Arts Faire is an arts festival in Logan, Utah, celebrating local, regional and national artists. Visitors can expect to see high quality artworks from nationally recognized artists. Summerfest also features live entertainment and a variety of delicious food.
Place: 50 North Main Street, Logan, UT 84321
Dates: June 17-June 19, 2010
Time: Thursday-Saturday 1:00 pm-10:00 pm
Venture Outdoors Festival
The 5th Annual Venture Outdoors Festival is a celebration of outdoor recreation (娱乐). This unique festival is designed to increase knowledge and understanding of and participation (参与) in the many recreational activities available in Utah. This family-friendly event features live music, guest speakers, giveaways, creative children’s activities, and great food all day long.
Place: 3100 South 2900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84109
Date: June 19, 2010
Time: Saturday 3:00 pm -10:00 pm
The Days of ‘47 KSL 5 Parade (游行)
The parade is one of the largest and oldest parades in the United States. Colorful floats, bands, horses and clowns thrill tens of thousands of people each year. Many parade-goers camp out on the streets the night before just to make sure of a great position to catch it all.
Place: 900 South 700 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84105
Date: July 24, 2010
Time: Saturday 9:00 am
Taylorsville Dayzz 2010
Experience Taylorsville Dayzz 2010, a celebration of the city’s birthday. Enjoy a 5K Family Run, Carnival, Food and Exhibit Booths and Fireworks. Listen to a live concert by Taylorsville Symphony and Utah Symphony, and a live performance of Jayson Hewlett (an American entertainer).
Place: 5100 South 2700 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84118
Dates: June 25-June 28, 2010
Time: Monday 8:00 pm, Friday 7:00 pm, Saturday 7:00 pm-10:00 pm
【小题1】If you have to go to work in the afternoon, you can only take part in        .