D

The income gap between China's rural and urban residents(居民) has continued to widen during the past few years in spite of rapidly rising rural incomes, Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said here on Wednesday.

The income ratio(比率) between urban and rural residents was 3.28:1 in 2006, against 3.23:1 in 2003, said Sun in his report on the promotion of building a new countryside in 2007. Sun also said the net income of rural residents in different regions also varied widely. The income gap is only one of several problems in rural areas, according to Sun's report. While listing the achievements in rural areas in recent years, Sun believed that rural development still followed behind urban development.

"We have bigger pressure to ensure the supply of major agricultural products such as grain," he said. "China's urbanization(都市化) has been speeded up and more rural residents have gone to urban areas," he said.

"In this case, more agricultural producers become farm produce consumers, which created more pressure for supply," he said.

Another problem facing China's agricultural development is inadequate application of science and technology.

"Only 30 percent of scientific and technological achievements have been applied to agricultural production, which is 40 percentage points lower than developed countries," he said.

Despite increased government spending in rural areas, the infrastructure(基础下部组织) is still poor and easily hit by disasters.

According to Sun, the government spent 431.8 billion yuan ($59.15 billion) on agriculture, rural areas and farmers this year, an increase of 80.1 billion yuan over the previous year.

China set aside 11.38 billion yuan to promote a new rural cooperative medical care system and 27.98 billion yuan to support the new compulsory education mechanism in rural area to ensure that all citizens shared the fruits of China's reform and opening-up, Sun said.

68．Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

   A．Because of the rapidly rising rural incomes, the income gap between China's rural and urban residents will disappear this year.

   B．The net income of rural residents in different regions is the same.

   C．The government has taken measures to develop the economy in the rural areas.

   D．Because of the rapidly rising rural incomes, the supply of major agricultural products is enough.

69．Can you infer the meaning of the underlined words in paragraph 5?

   A．be made full use of        B．be made little use of

   C．be not made full use of          D．be made good use of

70． How much is spent on agriculture, rural areas and farmers the previous year?

   A．431.8 billion yuan          B．511.9 billion yuan 

   C．351.7 billion yuan          D．80.1 billion yuan

71． Which is NOT the problem in rural areas?

   A．The income gap

   B．The inadequate application of science and technology

   C．The supply of major agricultural products

   D．China's urbanization 

B

Kincaid looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out, shifted gears, and moved slowly down the alley under hazy sun. Through the streets of Bellingham he went, heading south on Washington 11, running along the coast of Puget Sound for a few miles, then following the highway as it swung east a little before meeting U.S Route 20.

Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. He liked this country and felt unpressed stopping now and then to make notes about interesting possibilities for future expeditions or to shoot what he called “memory snapshots.” The purpose of these causal photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously. In later afternoon he turned north at Spokane, picking up U.S Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to Duluth, Minnesota.

He wished for the thousandth time in his life that he had a dog, a golden retriever, maybe, for travels like this and to keep him company at home. But he was frequently away; overseas much of the time and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway. In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard fieldwork. “I must get a dog then.” He said to himself.

Drives like this always put him into a sentimental mood. The dog was part of it. Robert Kincaid was alone as it’s possible to be – an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends.

He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty–two now, that would make her just under forty. Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a folksinger. She knew all of the Weavers’ songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouse of Seattle. When he was home in the old days, he drove her to the shows and sat in the audience while she sang.

His long absences – two or three months sometimes – were hard on the marriage. He knew that. She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and both of them had a vague (not clear) sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn’t when he came from photographing a story in Iceland and, she was gone. The note read, “Robert, it didn’t work out, I left you the Harmony guitar. Stay in touch.”

He didn’t stay in touch. Neither did she. He signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom.

46. Which route is the right one taken by Kincaid?

A. Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – U.S Route 2 – Duluth

B. U.S. Route 2 – Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – Duluth

C. U.S. Route 2 – U.S Route 20 – Duluth – Bellingham – Washington 11

D. Bellingham – Washington 11 –U.S. Route 2 –U.S Route 20 –Duluth

47. Which statement is true according to the passage?

A. Kincaid’s parents were dead and he only kept in touch with some distant relatives.

B. Kincaid would have had a dog if he hadn’t been away from home too much.

C. Kincaid used to have a golden retriever.

D. Kincaid needed a dog in doing his hard fieldwork.

48. Why did Kincaid stop to take photos while driving?

A. To write “memory snapshots”.

B. To remind himself of places he might want to visit again.

C. To avoid forgetting the way back.

D. To shoot beautiful scenery along the road.

49. What can you know about Marian?

A. She died after five years of marriage.

B. She was older than Kincaid.

C. She could sing very well and earned big money.

D. She was not a professional pop singer.

50. We can draw a conclusion from the passage that _____

A. Marian knew what would happen before she married Kincaid.

B. Kincaid thought his absence would be a problem when he married Marian.

C. It turned out that Marian could not stand Kincaid’s absence and left him.

D. After Marian left him, they still kept in touch with each other.

Today, when a man steps onto the moon, the    36     learns about it immediately. What did the   37   say about that first flight in 1903? Strangely enough, they said hardly     38   about it at all. There were only a few reports about it in the newspapers. These reports said very  39  . Some of the things they said were not even  40  .

In 1904 the Wrights brothers built a  41   machine. They called it “Flyer No. Two”. They ___42  some reporters to watch them fly.  43   there was some mechanical(机械的)trouble with the plane and it did not fly at all that day. The  reporters     44    away. They were   45   and did not come back. The Wrights went on with their   46    . In 1905 they built an even   47    machine, “Flyer No. Three”. They were able to  48  up in the air for half an hour and more in this machine. They were able to turn and climb in the air. Farmers and travelers often saw them     49  .  But when these people told reporters about it, they  50   to believe them.

The Wrights    51   “Flyer No. Three” to the  United States Government. The Government was not  __52  .  They seemed to think the Wrights wanted money to build a    53   . They did not understand The Wrights had already done this, and flown it as well. Experts were still saying that mechanical flight was  54  . At the end of 1905, the two    55   took their plane to pieces. The parts were put into a huge box. It seemed that nobody was interested.

This is a dangerous world we live in．The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc．You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper． But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little．
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous．For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide．This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors（肿瘤）, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once．After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth．The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background．
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said．When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths．Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view．For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe．Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike．When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics．If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s．To be warned is to be prepared．

1. 1.

   In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?

   1. A.
      We are now living in a dangerous world．
   2. B.
      We get a lot of false statistics from the media．
   3. C.
      Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things．
   4. D.
      There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc．
2. 2.

   Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?

   1. A.
      To argue that high school students are easily persuaded．
   2. B.
      To show the danger of reporting only part of the information．
   3. C.
      To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous．
   4. D.
      To warn us of the harmful substance around us．
3. 3.

   Relative information is often left out because__________．

   1. A.
      Relative information is not that important．
   2. B.
      too much information will make readers feel confused．
   3. C.
      the author is trying to show what he or she says is true．
   4. D.
      readers are not able to analyze so much information at once．
4. 4.

   What can we learn from the passage?

   1. A.
      We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides．
   2. B.
      Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world．
   3. C.
      The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control．
   4. D.
      Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong．

They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I’m not even a cat．My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living．And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years, died while still in her 60s．My sister married soon after, and I followed her example within the year．

This was when I began to enjoy my first life．I was very happy, in excellent health．I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula (半岛) in San Carlos．Life was a pleasant dream．Then the dream ended．I became afflicted (使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side．Thus began my second life…．

In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car．And I managed to keep my health and optimism (乐观), to a degree, because of 14 steps．Crazy? Not at all．Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door．Those steps were a standard measure of life．They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living．I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it ---repeating the process 14 times, I would be through---I could then admit defeat and lie down and die．

Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life．It was raining when I started home that night; strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads．Suddenly the steering wheel jerked (猝然一动)．In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout．It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!

I started the engine and thumped slowly along, keeping well over on the shoulder until I came to the dirt road, where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn．

The door opened and a little girl stood there．When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting．I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm．

About an hour later, the man’s voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now．” “Thanks,” I said．“How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing．Cynthia told me you were a cripple．Glad to be of help．I know you’d do the same for me．There’s no charge, friend．” I held out a five-dollar bill, “No! I like to pay my way．” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it．”

1．“A cat has nine lives” here means ___________．

A．a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal

B．a cat can die ninth

C．a lucky man can not die easily

D．the writer will live nine times

2．What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?

A．Warm-hearted but pitiable

B．Warm-hearted and happy

C．A blind old man that has nothing to do every day．

D．A poor old man that is always ready to help others．

3．How will the story be ended?

A．The writer paid the little girl but the old man did not accept．

B．The writer drove away with tears running down his cheek．

C．The writer stayed there, without knowing what to do and how to do．

D．In the next few frozen seconds the writer felt the shame and astonishment he had never felt before．

4．How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed my sister’s example?”

A．He listened to his sister carefully．

B．Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do．

C．His sister got married．He, too．

D．His sister was a great woman．．He must learn from her．

5．The best title for this passage perhaps will be _____．

A．The Old Man and His Daughter                    B．Heart Leaping Up

C．Never Lose Heart                                        D．Good Will Be Rewarded Good