China may be the world's most populous country ,and it won the most gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. But its prowess at soccer is lamentable. China is ranked 84th in the sport's world standing.

Chinese are huge soccer fans, and hundreds of millions are expected to tune in to the World Cup, with all the matches broadcast live on public TV. But this time the Chinese don't have their own team to root for.

"Chinese have a reputation of being good at math, but they have trouble explaining why a population of 1.3 billion cannot produce a winning 11-member soccer team," said Xu Guoqi, a history professor at the University of Hong Kong. Journalists and soccer fans offer a number of reasons, most often money issues, politics, corruption（腐败）and culture, and sometimes a combination of the four.

Even though China now boasts wealthy companies and individuals who could sponsor（赞助） teams, there is little support as long as Chinese teams are perceived as perennial losers. "This is a very bad circle," Ma said. "No results, no money. No money, no results."

Few Chinese children are playing soccer. Some sports journalists and fans attribute the lack of interest partly to schools de-emphasizing sports in general and the lack of playing venues in the country's dense urban areas. "What can Chinese kids do?” said Fan Huiming, 61, a Chinese soccer fan who grew up watching matches at Beijing's Workers' Stadium, which was built in 1958 near his childhood home. "If they play soccer, the ball may fly directly into the glass of someone's home."

For young people, soccer has largely been eclipsed by basketball, thanks in part to Chinese NBA players who are treated like rock stars. Journalists and fans say NBA's aggressive campaign of marketing and merchandise in China has helped swell the popularity of basketball. By comparison, they noted that international soccer does not even have an office in China.

Rowan Simons, a Briton who came to China more than two decades ago and discovered he wasn't able to play weekend soccer, has been on a campaign to popularize the sport here. Simons said the main problem is that soccer elsewhere has traditionally started as a series of neighborhood clubs, but in China, "there's virtually no football at community level".

"Football in China can only succeed if it's a grass-roots activity organized by the people," he said.

This time the Chinese don't have their own team to root for in the World Cup because__________.

A.China is ranked 84th in soccer 's world standing.

B.they are angry about why China cannot produce a winning soccer team.

C.the Chinese huge soccer fans support other soccer teams.

D.the Chinese soccer team is not capable to go as far as the final part of the World Cup.

Why are few Chinese children playing soccer?

  A.No results, no money. No money, no results.

B.If the footballs fly directly into the glass of someone's home,they’ll be criticised.

C there is little support from wealthy companies and individuals sponsoring teams.

D.schools don’t pay much attention on sports and they lack playing venues in dense urban areas.

The underlined word“eclipsed”in the six paragraph can be replaced by      .

  A.occupied.                      B.beaten.                  C.led.                     D.compared.

According to Rowan,what can be inferred ?

  A.NBA players are more popular than soccer players in China.

B. The future of Chinese football is rather promising.

C. Chinese football should get into the life of ordinary people to survive.

D.Grass-roots Chinese football players can be popular .

二、课文填空（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）

根据课文内容补充缺失的词语，每个空填一个词。注意：请把答案写在答题纸上。

Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, the conditions in Beijing’s hutongs went down as the political situation c_______(91) a dark cloud on China’s economy. Many new hutongs were quickly built to h______(92) the increasing population but these were poorly made. The t______(93) point came when the People’s Republic of China was set up. Conditions improved a great deal and the government u_________(94) the preservation of many of the oldest hutongs.

Hutongs are still an important part of Beijing life and it is not surprising that tourists love the hutongs. They can walk up Sanmiao Street, which dates back 900 years, w________(95) down Rongxian – the longest hutong at 2 km or s__________(96) through Qianshi – the narrowest at only 40 cm wide! They can also stop under a stone arch and watch the hutong world go by while e__________(97) a plate of Beijing’s best “Peking Duck” or s__________(98) their thirst with a cold Tsingtao beer. The hutongs not only l_________(99) Beijing’s streets and communities after all, but also its past and present, showing that Beijing is truly an a__________ (100)yet modern city.

Thousands of people living in the Chinese capital will celebrate the start of the Chinese New year by heading for the ski resorts (滑雪场). Never mind that Beijing’s dry weather seldom produces snow. It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the hills north to the capital. And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for this new craze(热潮).     
Since Beijing’s first ski resort was opened ten years ago, the sport has enjoyed astonishing increase. There are now more than a dozen resorts. Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections. Mr. Wei, a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing, sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe. In recent years, ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China. But many are in faraway areas of the country and can’t really match the equipment and services of some ski resorts in Europe.
Beijing’s skiing craze is partly a result of the recent increase in private (私有的) cars. This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capital’s suburbs (郊区), which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people. According to Mr. Wei, about 40% of the visitors to his resort come in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools, businesses or government offices.  
The problem is making money. Starting ski resorts requires quite a lot of money; hiring land from the local government, preparing the hills, buying snow machines, making sure there are enough water and electricity to run them, and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers.
The ski resort where Mr. Wei works cost nearly $4 million to set up. And as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea, many others rush in and price wars break out. Beijing now offers some of the cheapest ski training classes in the world, though with most people rather new to the sport, expecting a few more doing the same job.
【小题1】What does this text mainly talk about?

The Beijing government has set out to recruit thousands of university graduates to work as junior officials in rural areas to both improve rural administration and ease the city’s employment problems.
The government plans to recruit 3,000 university graduates this year,1,000 more than last year, to work as assistants to village heads or Party secretaries in suburban areas.
People interested in jobs in Beijing’s rural villages and townships can submit applications to the Beijing Municipal Personnel Bureau or online at www. Bjbys. com from February 1 through March 15.
“We hope university graduates will seize this opportunity to use their knowledge in rural villages and to start their careers,” Sun Zhenyu, deputy director of Beijing Personnel Bureau, told Xinhua News Agency.
The government has promised successful candidates a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan
( $ 250) in the first year, 2,500 yuan ($ 320) the second year and 3,000 yuan ($ 385) the third year, provided their performance is up to the required standards, Sun said.
Wang Lina, who graduated from Beijing Union University last year, was one of the first graduates to find work in the city's countryside. After majoring in industrial and commercial administration, Wang served as the assistant to the village head of Ertiaojie Village in suburban Beijing's Pinggu District. For one project, Wang contacted people at the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences and arranged for the local farmers to receive training in strawberry planting. Her efforts paid off. The village had a plentiful harvest of organic strawberries earlier this year.
Nationwide, about 150,000 university graduates found employment in rural areas last year, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Education.
The ministry predicts that 4. 95 million students will graduate from universities across the country this year, 820,000 more than last year. About 1.4 million of them are unlikely to find jobs when they graduate.
In Beijing, a record 200,000 people are expected to graduate from university this year. Less than half of them are expected to be offered jobs, according to the personnel bureau.
【小题1】The underlined word “recruit” in the first paragraph probably means______.

The bicycle is the common sight in our daily life, as a great many Chinese use one every day. But you may not know its role in strengthening international relations, as it did in the case of US President George W. Bush’s visit to China .

President Bush arrived in Beijing on November 19, 2005 after he finished the APEC meeting in South Korea.He met with Chinese top leaders and achieved agreements on trade, Taiwan issue and more.

Although Bush’s trip was short as 40 hours, he managed to spare a moment to do some cycling. On November 20, he rode up and down a steep path at Laoshan Olympic Mountain Bike Course in Beijing’s suburbs.

Six young Chinese cyclists accompanied the president, who was dressed in a Chinese training uniform with the “Beijing 2008” logo (标志). He did not go along the arranged route and chose a more zigzag(曲折的) hiking path.

“How do you say, ‘take it easy on the old man’?” Bush joked to his partners before setting out.

“Compared with my bike path on the Crawford ranch (农场) , this one is greater and really difficult,” said Bush when his 45-minute ride ended. He said he will come to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

This is not Bush’s first cycle ride in Beijing. In 1975 at the age of 29, he visited the Chinese capital for the first time, when his father was head of the US liaison office (联络处) in Beijing, which Bush described as “fantastic”.

However, observers said Bush’s ride is much more than just his favorite pastime. It expressed friendliness with people in China, where the bicycle is an important part of life and culture.

According to the Washington Post, one of the major newspapers in the US, this was a specially arranged activity by the US Government, for they want to send the Chinese a sign of friendship. “The president is by no means hostile (有敌意的) to China,” it said.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A. Every Chinese has at least one bicycle

B. The bicycle is the common sight in our daily life

C. Bicycle can play a role in improving relationship between nations

D. President George W. Bush is fond of cycling

2. President George W. Bush went cycling ______.

A. wearing a T-shirt with the “Beijing 2008” logo

B. up and down a path on Laoshan Mountain

C. accompanied by six young Chinese policemen

D. along a more challenging way without arrangement

3. Bush said “take it easy on the old man” to his partners probably because ______.

A. he wanted to make them easy

B. he wanted to make a joke about them

C. he wanted to tell them it would be a more zigzag hiking path

D. he wanted to show them it would be a easy task for an old man

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

A. Bush’s first cycle ride was in 1975.

B. Bush’s ride was specially arranged by the Washington Post.

C. Bush’s ride is more a sign of friendship than just his favorite pastime.

D. Bush will come to Beijing to take part in the Olympic cycling games in 2008.