Inside China Daily

　　China, Japan ink fishery accord

　　The New China -Japan Fishery Agreement will be put into effect starting June this year, Chinese vice - minister of agriculture, Qi Jingfa told a press conference yesterday in Beijing.

　　                                                              —Page 2

　　Offshore funeral

　　The remains of more than 500 dead will be scattered at sea this spring near the mouth of Yangtze River in Shanghai. To save space Shanghai officials discouraged land burials.　

—Page 3

　　The only wise choice

　　Co -operation with the mainland for a peaceful reunification should be the only wise choice for the newly elected Taiwan leader.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

—Page 4

　　Interest in activity such as fairs, galleries and exhibitions has caused the art market to take shape in China.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　—Page 9

　　Two sides of a story.

　　The government’s efforts to cut the homework burden of primary and middle school students have drawn mixed reactions. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　       

—Page 10

　　Blind, but not out.

　　Yang Jia, an English professor at the Chinese Academy of Science meets the challenges brought by the sudden loss of her eyesight and continues to make it in her work.　　　

—Page 11

　The above section may possibly appear on ________ of China Daily.

　　A. Page 5　　　　　　　　　　　　B. the Front Page

　　C. Page 9　　　　　　　　　　　　D. the last page

　From the text we can learn that ________ .

　　A. no one will be buried in the ground after they die in Shanghai

　　B. Chinese fishermen can go fishing freely in Japan soon

　　C. a blind professor can work better

　　D. more and more people have begun to do art business

　When you look through this issue of China Daily, you are sure to find ________ .

　　A. how Taiwan’s new leader was made

　　B. that people think differently of reducing pupils’ burden

　　C. sad stories about students with heavy burden in primary and middle schools

　　D. interesting stories of art fairs, galleries and exhibitions of different shapes in China

-- I think this accident happened for many reasons.

　 --- Richard is partly to blame,　　　 way you look at it.

　 A．what　 B．which　 C．whatever　 D．whichever

Millions of Americans run to the bank or visit ATM when they need cash. They use credit cards when they want to buy clothes, VCRs, or television sets.

　 But there is an underclass—people with low incomes and no credit history—who visit their neighborhood pawnshops(当铺)when they need cash or a loan(贷款).

　 About 20 percent of the US population has no bank account. More than half of this group don’t have credit cards and cannot get bank loans.

　 “These people are borrowing an average of $50,” said John P. Caskey of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. “If you add up in terms of how much dollar value pawnshop provide, they don’t look very important. If you add up how much of the population they serve or the number of loans they make, they are important.”

　 Because they make loans, pawnshops are a type of bank, often calling themselves “the bank of the little people”.

　 Caskey and Swarthmore student Brian Zidmund in 1989 looked at the importance of pawnshops in the US economy—the first serious study of the subject since the 1930s.

　 Their conclusion: pawnshops are the consumer’s lender of last resort(最后一招).

　 Pawnshop customers typically cannot get credit at banks. They have poor credit records, low and unstable incomes, or cannot maintain positive bank account balances.

　 Typically, pawnshop customers borrow relatively small amounts that traditional lenders are unwilling or unable to provide on a secured basis.

　 “If you look at total consumer credit, the amounts provided by pawnshops remain small,” Caskey said. “They are lending mainly to low-income people. In terms of the population they serve, they’re really important.”

　 In 1988, there were about 6,900 pawnshops in the United States—one for every two commercial banks. They made about 35 million loans, providing 1 percent of the nation’s consumer credit.

1. The best title for the passage would be ____.

　 A. Credit Cards for the Poor　　　　　　　　 B. Banks for the Poor

　 C. Pawnshops VS Banks　　　　　　　　　　 D. Commercial Banks

2. What does the underclass people do when they need cash?

　 A. They go to local banks for help.

　 B. They apply for credit cards.

　 C. They ask for a loan from large banks.

　 D. They apply for a loan in pawnshops.

3. What can we learn about pawnshops?

　 A. Poor people come to pawnshops as their last resort.

　 B. Most people prefer pawnshops for their need of cash.

　 C. Pawnshops are an important part of the state economy.

　 D. Pawnshops are not important because they make up only 1 percent of the nation’s

　　　 consumer credit.

4. According to John P. Caskey, pawnshops are important because ____.

　 A. they provide great dollar value to the poor

　 B. they make big loans to a lot of people

　 C. they are serving the majority of the population

　 D. they make a large number of loans to the poor

There are two faces of nature. One is good while the 48 is bad. It all depends on 　49 you look at it. I believe that nature is man’s friend and we should treat it 　50 a great deal of respect. 51 trip to the mountains on the weekend will give you a glimpse at how beautiful nature is and can be.

Unfortunately, due to our busy lives, many of us take this beauty for granted. We keep spoiling our environment instead of protecting 52 . Polluting the air, cutting down trees, and building more and more factories are just a few examples showing how much damage we have done to our health. Because of the harm 　53 was caused by humans, nature has turn on (attacked suddenly) us. 54 a result, storms and landslides are taking place more than ever before. If we don’t take the time to protect our environment, nature will no longer be our friend, 　55 our biggest enemy.