根据所提供的语境和首字母提示，写出完整单词。
【小题1】Mr Huang said that he wanted to buy a bigger a        to live in.
【小题2】He always gets n_________ at the examination because he wants to get high grades.
【小题3】Most old people would rather live in the countryside than live in d      areas.
【小题4】I like English best, what is your f__________ subject?                  
【小题5】Students should pay more attention to the reading c      and writing in their English learning.
【小题6】The scenery of the West Lake is beautiful beyond        (描述).
【小题7】Many beginners pronounce some English words _______(不正确地).
【小题8】Thanks to the        (鼓励) from my Chinese teacher, I finally pass the exam.
【小题9】They are carrying out a       (科学) experiment to look for a cure for the disease.
【小题10】The manager       (遗弃) his wife and daughter and went abroad with a lot of money.

A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly(老年人) and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.

First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.

Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions（养老金）. Furthermore, some in-situation should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

To sum up, all these options（选择）have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. The problems faced by the old in society.      

B. Why we should take responsibility for the old.

C. How we can improve the lives of the old.       

D. Where the old can go to get their pensions.

2.According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?

A. Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire.

B. Increase savings levels of people during their working years.

C. Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old.

D. Make available pensions for those who have retired.

3.The underlined word “viable” most probably means “__________”.

A. impossible        B. practical          C. useful       D. successful

4.What can be concluded from the passage?

A. Taking care of the old is mainly an issue of money.

B. Employers should allow their workers to retire at a later age.

C. Becoming independent should be the goal of most old people.

D. There is no single solution to the problems of the old.

5.What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?

A. To point out the need for government support for old people.

B. To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.

C. To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.

D. To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.

 Do you have a sore throat, a running nose and a headache? Do you keep coughing and sneezing? If you do, the chances are that you have a cold or perhaps flu--- but which one? Although both colds and flu are caused by viruses, they are very different illnesses.

Colds, which usually last about a week, affect the nose most. They commonly cause a runny nose and sneezing. Sometimes, they cause a headache, a cough and slightly aching muscles.

Flu is much more serious illness and is caused by different group of viruses. People with flu usually get all the symptoms described above. However, they also get a high fever, a dry cough and much worse aching. Fever is one of the typical symptoms of the flu for all ages. The symptoms also last much longer. Sometimes they don’t disappear for at least two weeks.

Flu can be a deadly disease. The elderly, who are weaker and less healthy than most younger people, can die from flu. This is one reason why old people are advised to have a flu injection before the start of winter when flu is most common. This injection is inexpensive and definitely worth it.

If you have a cold or flu, you must always deal with used tissues carefully. Don’t leave dirty tissues on your desk or on the floor. Someone else has to pick these up and viruses could be passed on. And finally, remember to cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze！You don’t want to see the small drop of liquids blown out of your nose and mouth when you sneeze, do you? Disgusting, eh? Now you can understand why it’s a good idea to cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze!

1. In paragraph 4, we learn that ______.

2.Dealing with used tissues properly is important because ______.

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

4.Which is probably the best title for the passage?

A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly(老年人) and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.

First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.

Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions（养老金）. Furthermore, some in-situation should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

To sum up, all these options（选择）have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.

What is the passage mainly about?

A. The problems faced by the old in society.       

B. Why we should take responsibility for the old.

C. How we can improve the lives of the old.        

D. Where the old can go to get their pensions.

According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?

A. Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire.

B. Increase savings levels of people during their working years.

C. Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old.

D. Make available pensions for those who have retired.

The underlined word “viable” most probably means “__________”.

A. impossible         B. practical          C. useful       D. successful

What can be concluded from the passage?

A. Taking care of the old is mainly an issue of money.

B. Employers should allow their workers to retire at a later age.

C. Becoming independent should be the goal of most old people.

D. There is no single solution to the problems of the old.

What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?

A. To point out the need for government support for old people.

B. To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.

C. To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.

D. To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.

Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today? Many people wrongly believe that when people reach old age, their families place them in nursing homes. They are left there in the hands of strangers for the rest of their lives. Their grown-up children visit them only occasionally, but more often, they do not have any regular visitors. Actually this is not true. In fact, family members provide over 80 percent of the care that elderly people need.
Prof. Samuel Preston, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, studied how the American family is changing. He reported that by the time the average American couple reaches 40 years of age, they have more parents than children. This statistic (统计) shows the change in life-styles and responsibilities of aging Americans. The average middle-aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents some time after their own children have grown up. Moreover, because people today live longer after an illness than people did years ago, family members must provide long-term care. These facts also mean that after care-givers provide for their elderly parents, who will eventually die, they will be old and may require care too. When they do, their spouses (配偶, 指夫或妻) will probably take care of them.
Because Americans are living longer than ever, more psychologists and social workers have begun to study care-giving to improve care of the elderly. They have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic: all caregivers believe that they are the best person for the job, for different reasons. One caregiver said that she had always been close to her mother. Another was the oldest child. In other words, they all felt that they could do the job better than anyone else. Social workers interviewed caregivers to find out why they took on the responsibility of caring for an elderly, dependent relative. They discovered three basic reasons. Many caregivers believed that they had the responsibility to help their relatives. Some stated that helping others made them feel more useful. Others hoped that by helping someone now, they would deserve care when they became old and dependent.
48. It can be inferred that a middle-aged couple in the US _______.
A. spend more time with their children than with their parents
B. depend on their children’s assistance in caring for the elderly
C. don’t pay more attention to their children than to their parents
D. spend more time taking care of their parents than before
49. The most common characteristic of caregivers is ______.
A. they all have professional qualifications in care-giving
B. they all believe themselves to be the best caregiver
C. they are the eldest child in the family
D. they are close to their parents
50. Which of the following is NOT a basic reason for care-giving?
A. Respect from other members of the family.
B. Prepayment for the care they will get in old age.
C. A feeling of being needed and helpful.
D. A strong sense of duty to the elderly.
51. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Most old people in the US are living a happy life.
B. Most old people in the US live longer today after an illness than people did years ago.
C. Most elderly people in the US are taken care of by their families, who often find the experience satisfying.
D. Most elderly people in the US prefer living with their families to living nursing houses.