阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Education for Japanese children is free for the first nine years and all children must go to school for six years of primary schooling and three years of secondary schooling. In the primary and secondary school, about 99.9% of school-age children are present. School usually begins at 8 o’clock in the morning and ends at 3 o’clock in the afternoon on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays. The school year begins in April and ends in March. There is a summer holiday in August and a winter holiday during the New Year season.
After nine years of schooling, students can enter the three-year high school by passing an examination and by paying a small charge each year. After high school, students can go on to study at different kinds of colleges, usually for four years. There are also two-year junior colleges.
【小题1】 The passage mainly discusses _____________.

Swim Birthday Parties

    Ages 3 and up.

Pool parties are during recreation swim in the 25-yard pool. Each party consists of an hour of celebration in a private room. Parties are for 1—5 children. All non-swimmers or children requiring floatation must be at arm’s length from the pool and accompanied by an adult or guardian.

Please contact Sarah Hagan 762—8384x210.

Fee: Members $ 175/Non-members $225

Youth Fitness Birthday Parties

Leave the party activities to us! Your party package includes:1/2 hour set-up,1 hour program time including equipment,props,etc.1 hour party time for cake,presents,etc.,1/2 hour clean-up time and 1 or 2 hours specialists. Parents supply decorations, food and paper goods. To schedule a Youth Fitness Birthday Party, call Mary Ann Genuario (x282).

Fee:$295 for up to 10 children,$10 each additional child—16 children maximum. Non-member price available upon request.

The Art Spot Birthday Parties

The Art Spot offers a variety of creative fine art parties for Ages 4—Adult! We supply the invitations, a balloon bouquet(花束), paper goods, project materials and a party host; all you need to bring is the cake!

Parties are one and a half hours, the first hour the group create their art project, and last 1/2 hour is for cake and presents! Parties are usually held on Friday nights and weekends but weekday parties are available.

Cost: $21 per child.

Rain or shine there’s no better place than the Art Spot for your child’s next party!

Nursery School Birthday Parties

If planning a party is not your thing, let us do the work for you! We offer a variety of pre-planned parties to choose from. You may also do a combination of 2 parties for boy/ girl parties. All parties are on Saturday afternoons between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. and are one and a half hours in length. Parties include a craft or activity and paper goods. You may arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled time to set-up. To schedule a party please contact Kim Murphy(x214).

Fee(Up to 15 children):$200 Members/ $250 Non-member,$15 each additional child.

1.The phrase “be at arm’s length” probably means“       ”.

A. be as careful as possible              B. be as long as an arm

C. be as near as possible                D. be as faraway as possible

2.If 12 children take part in Youth Fitness Birthday Parties, they will pay       .

A.$ 455             B.$315          C.$ 200            D.$250

3.If your child joins in the Art Spot Birthday Parties, he will        .

A. swim in the 25-yard pool              B. spend half an hour to clean up

C. create his own art project              D. o activities with other kids

4.What information can you get from the passage?

A. You can schedule the party when it is convenient for you.

B. The number of people for these parties is limited.

C. ou need to bring nothing to join in the birthday parties.

D. All of these birthday parties center on a special theme.

All areas of the world face a nurses shortage. But the shortage is most severe in developing countries. Many of their nurses move to the more developed nations for better pay, better working conditions and better chances for career development. For example, nearly 2,000 nurses left the Caribbean between 2002 and 2006.

       The Caribbean nations currently have about 1 nurse for every 1,000 people. The ratio(比例) of nurses to population is about 10 times higher in the United States and countries in the European Union(EU). Now, more than 21,000 nurses who trained in the Caribbean are working in the United States, Canada and Britain.

       Gaetan Lafortune is an official of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(O.E.C.D) in Paris. He says the nurses shortage also affects industrialized countries. He says, “There is concern in most O.E.C.D.countries that the number of nurses is too small to meet the demand. And what is more worrying is that their concern is sort of growing.” Mr Lafortune says a large number of nurses are expected to retire within the next 10 years. At the same time, the health care needs of aging populations are expected to grow, intensifying the shortage of nurses.

       Gaetan Lafortune said, “In the U.S., for instance, some researchers have found that there may be a shortage of close to a million nurses by 2020.” The United States is 1 of the 21 countries in the O.C.E.D. Gaetan Lafortune says in the recent years many of the countries increased their efforts to hire foreign nurses. As a result of that, O.E.C.D. countries were mainly exporting their shortage problem to countries that may have an even greater need for these nurses.

What will be the main causes of the global nurses shortage in the next 10 years?

       a. The demand for nurses will decrease.                    

b. Many nurses will be too old to work.

       c. Many rich countries will hire more foreign nurses. 

d. Nurses are often looked down upon.

       e. Aging populations will increase rapidly

       A. a and b             B. b and c              C. b and e              D. c and d

The underlined word “intensify” in para. 3 means “________”.

       A. strengthen         B. neglect            C. reduce               D. cause

We know from this text that America and the EU countries ______.

       A. refuse to offer equal pay to foreign nurses

       B. have at least one nurse out of 100 people

       C. don’t like to train nurses of their own countries

       D. have more serious nursing problems than the Caribbean nations

What does the text mainly tell us?

       A. Nursing is no longer a worthwhile profession in most countries.

       B. The different attitudes towards nursing in different countries.

       C. Nurses shortage will result in serious consequences.

       D. The health care industry needs more nurses.

 Billy，a hard-working student，is fourteen years old and in the ninth grade．He has a part-time job that   16  him up every morning at five o’clock，when most people are still  17    asleep．He is a newspaper boy.

    Each morning，Billy leaves the house at 5：15 to go to the   18  where the newspapers always are．The newspapers were   19   to the corner by truck at midnight．He always takes a wagon to  20   them．

       In the winter it is still dark  21  he gets up every day，but during the rest of the year it is   22  ．Billy must send the newspapers to the houses of people on his  23    in all kinds of weather．He tries to put each paper on the porch(门廊)where it will be  24  from wind and rain or snow．Sometimes his customers give him tips，  25  him very excited．

       Billy earns about$70 per month through hard   2 6 ，and he is saving some of the money to go to  27  ，where he has always been longing to go．Besides that，he  28  the rest of the earnings on records and clothes．Once a month，he has to collect the   29    at night since many of them work during the day．That is when he is  30  so that he is full of excitement．Luckily，he gets   31   supported by his family．Sometimes，when Billy is sick，his brother offers to deliver the newspapers for him．Once，his father was too   32  to help him,

    Billy has seventy customers now，but he doesn’t feel   33  about the number．

    He dreams that he will get  34  customers as possible some day．  35  ，he might win a prize for being an outstanding newspaper boy．He wants to win a trip to Europe，but he will be happy if he wins a new bicycle.

1.A．were         B．take           C．gets         D．pick

2.A．sound          B．falling             C．fall            D．soundly

3.A．corner         B．street            C．room             D．department

4.A．given           B．addressed    C．handed         D．delivered

5.A．carry           B．bring              C．send              D．load

6.A．at which    B．while            C．that         D．when

7.A．short                B．black            C．1ight          D．long

8.A．mad             B．way            C．route             D．path

9.A．protected   B．stopped          C．kept         D．prevented

10.A．making    B．1etting           C．1eading        D．causing  

11.A．attempt            B．job              C．work              D．struggle

12.A．abroad    B．school             C．college          D．hospital-

13.A．costs         B．spends         C．pays               D．uses

14.A．paper        B．money            C．newspapers      D．records

15.A．depressed           B．energetic         C．fulfilled          D．moved

16.A．very           B．great        C．greatly           D．a lot of

17.A．1ikely        B．reluctant       C．tired          D．willing

18.A．satisfying  B．pleasant          C．contented         D．happy

19.A．many more B．as much           C．as many        D．much more

20.A．If that       B．If so           C．Besides         D．What’s more

US college students are burdened, with credit card (信用卡)debt, according to a study published Tuesday, and the problem can be serious－ranging from more drop-outs, to future employment problems and even self-murder. The study, by Georgetown University sociologist (社会学家) Robert Manning, blamed credit card issuers for actively targeting students and colleges for allowing them to do so. "The unrestricted selling of credit cards in universities or colleges is so aggressive that it now forms a greater threat than alcohol or sexual diseases," Manning told a news conference in Washington. "If we do not quickly deal with this serious problem, the matter will continue to get worse, with social consequences far more tragic (悲剧的) than mere dollars and cents. "

Based on hundreds of face-to-face interviews and surveys with students, Manning concluded both the number with credit card debt and their indebtedness had been "underreported" in previous studies－which failed to reflect the "survival strategies" many used to deal with their debts. These included the use of federal student loans to pay off credit cards, effectively shifting the debt, appealing to parents for loans, reducing course work hours to increase time at paid jobs, or even dropping out altogether to work full time.

"Official drop-out rates include growing numbers of students who are unable to cope with the stress of their debts and / or part time jobs for servicing their credit cards, " the study said. "Students credit card debts are examined during the employment process and may be an important factor in evaluating future employees," it noted. O’Donnell and Manning agreed students should bear some responsibility for reckless use of credit, but said credit card companies also had to be held responsible for making it so easy for them to get into debt. Manning said one of the most troublesome aspects of the student credit card issue was "the seduction (诱惑) of college and university officials by the credit card industry".

Sociologist Robert Manning's study shows that     .

   A. the number of American college students using credit cards on campus is increasing

   B. more and more American college students meet with credit card debt problems

   C. more and more American colleges encourage students to use credit cards to make profits

   D. credit card issuers will run into debt for encouraging college students to use credit cards

The author's feeling towards college students with credit card debts is __.

   A. discouraged and negative                 B. pitiful and critical

   C. indifferent and disapproving              D. negative and doubtful

The author implies all of following should be responsible for this problem EXCEPT      .

   A. credit card issuers                                  B. college authorities

   C. parents of the students                      D. students themselves

The word "reckless" in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by        .

A. inconsiderate       B. frequent               C. careful                     D. regular