How clean are the nation’s homes?

According to a survey by CIF, there’s room for improvement all over Britain.

Love or hate it — cleaning your home is one job you simply can’t ignore（忽视）. But that’s not to say everyone spends the same amount of time or effort on making their places spotless. A new survey by CIF— experts on making tough cleaning jobs easier—— shows that when it comes to washing windows or cleaning the oven（烤箱）,where you live in the UK it may show how much effort you put into the task.

BATHROOM

25% of men have never cleaned the toilet — but those in Wales are the worst. Nearly four in 10 Welsh men said they never cleaned anywhere in the house. Hate cleaning the shower head? You’re not alone — a  quarter of a million Brits say the same. 20% of Scots regard window-cleaning as their most hated job.

KITCHEN

36% of people in the south-east say cleaning the cooker is their hated task. 68% of those in the north-east spend more than six hours a week cleaning their homes — especially the kitchen — in sharp contrast to the 49% of Welsh and West Country folk, who put their hands up to cleaning for under an hour.

BEDROOM

18% believe cleaning starts here: that’s the percentage of women who clean wearing their dressing gowns. 51% of women in the north-west may be staying in bed and giving their husband a cuddle（拥抱）—as a thank-you for helping them clean. In other places, there are far fewer helpful men.

LIVING ROOM

32% of women in the north-east turn up the stereo to help make the dusting more fun. Almost six in 10 women agree, however, that cleaning is seriously energetic exercise.

SHIFT THE DIRT WITH CIF

It’s no secret that the right cleaning products will cut cleaning time and effort in half— and no one knows that better than How Clean Is Your house? Presenters Aggie Mackenzie and Kim Woodburn. For solutions（解决办法）to all your cleaning needs, here are some of CIF’s top tips:

·Stop a lot of build-up on your shower head—give it a quick squirt（喷洒）with CIF bathroom spray once a week.

·Stainless steel（不锈钢）tools seem to need endless cleaning. The CIF Wild Qrchid Qxy-Gel-it lifts dirt easily and leaves the kitchen smelling fresh and clean.

·Cooking outside? CIF cream will get your barbecue （烤架）spotlessly clean, ready for those long, lazy summer evenings. Perfect!

The main purpose of this passage is to ______.

A. tell us the results of a certain survey

B. advertise a certain product

C. advise men to do more cleaning housework

D. tell us which is the hardest job at home

It can be concluded from the survey that people in different parts of Britain______.

A. have different views on house cleaning

B. spend different amounts of time and effort on house cleaning

C. like to do different kinds of housework

D. have different ways to do housework

According to the survey,______ spend the most time cleaning their homes.

A. the Welsh                   B. people in the north-west        

C. people in the south-east        D. people in the north-east

CIF in the passage probably refers to ______.

A. an organization doing research on housework

B. a group of experts who give advice on doing housework

C. a company providing advice and products on cleaning

D. a company providing cleaning services

       If you’re a male and you’re reading this, congratulations! You’re a survivor. According to statistics，you’re more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman，and nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term，about 78 years for men in Australia，you’ll die on average five years before a woman.

       There're many reasons for this--typically，men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke but perhaps more importantly, men don’t go to the doctor.

       “Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should，” says Dr. Gullotta.“This is particularly so

for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike. According to a recent survey, 95％of women aged between 15 and early 49s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70％of men in the same age group.

       “A lot of men think they’re unbeatable，”Gullotta says．“They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, Geez, if it could happen to him …”

       Then there’s the ostrich（鸵鸟）approach．“Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know,” says Dr. Ross Cartmill.

       “Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies,” Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.

“Prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases．Besides, the final cost is far greater，it’s called premature death.”

Why does the author congratulate male readers at the beginning of the passage?

       A．They can live longer than they expected．

       B．They are sure to enjoy a longer and happier life.

       C．They have lived long enough to read this article.

       D．They are more likely to survive serious diseases now．

Which of the author’s statements is the most important reason that men die five years earlier on average than women according to the passage?

       A．Men drink and smoke much more than women.

       B．Men don’t seek medical care as often as women.

       C．Men are more likely to suffer from deadly diseases.

       D．Men aren’t as cautious as women in face of danger.

Which of the following best completes the underlined sentence “Geez, if it could happen to him…” （in Para 4） ?

       A．it could happen to me，too.

       B．it would be a big misfortune.

       C．I should avoid playing golf.

       D．I should consider myself lucky.

What does Dr．Ross Cartmill mean by“the ostrich approach”（in Para 5）?

       A．A casual attitude towards one’s health conditions.

       B．A new treatment for certain psychological problems．

       C．Refusal to get medical treatment for fear of the pain involved.

       D．Unwillingness to find out about one’s disease because of fear.

第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分满分40分)

US first lady Michelle Obama is among the world’s 100 most powerful women on a list topped by German premier Angela Merkel for four years in a row, according to a Forbes ranking released recently.

Michelle Obama debuted（初次露面）at No.40,coming in ahead of talk show host Oprah Winfrey at 41 and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth at 42.

Sheila Bair, chair of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which insures bank deposits,remained NO.2 after debuting on the Forbes list last year. She has gained increased fame as the US recession（经济衰退） lasts.

The list is based on factors such as economic impact, media reach and career accomplishments. Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fell off the list after leaving office in January. Rice’s successor （继任者）,Hillary Clinton, came in at NO.36, dropping from No.28 last year when her presidential bid made her the woman with the highest public profile on the list.

“women im power are rising to leadership positions in business, government and philanthropy （慈善）by making daring and unconventional moves,”Forbes said.“Gone are the days of women feeling they must stick with one employer and patiently wait for promotions.”

“Highly ambitious women… are moving across companies and industries, making big leaps with each change, and repositioning themselves for opportunities that allow them to gain a breadth of experience,” the business magazine said.

Merkel,55, became the first female premier of Germany in 2005 and succeeded in retaining(保留) power in a federal election not long ago.

Michelle Obama,45,has won fans for her down-to-earth personality, her support of causes including healthy eating and the arts.

1.Condoleezza Rice is not included on the list probably because_______________ .

A. she exercises less influence

B. she keeps her new job a secret

C. she has become an ordinary woman

D. she is silent after leaving office

2.Hillary Clinton was ranked No.28 last year because_____________

A. she was the former first lady

B. she was running for president then

C. she frequently appeared in public

D. she got support from her husband

3. We learn from the passage that powerful women today_____________

A. change their jobs more frequently

B. are better political leaders than men

C. are not content with being housewives

D. have changed their traditional concept

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. The most powerful women in the world

B. Women in power are rising to leadership postitions

C. Forbes: Germany’s Merkel again most powerful woman

D. Forbes: The rise and fall of the women in power

D. The latest source of biofuel

       If the world were a village of 1,000 people it would include:

?? 584 Asians

?? 124 Africans

?? 95 Eastern and Western Europeans

?? 84 Latin Americans

?? 55 former Soviets （ including Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other national groups）

?? 52 North Americans

?? 6 Australians and New Zealanders

The people of the village would speak:

?? 165 Mandarin

?? 86 English

?? 83 Hindu/Urdu

?? 64 Spanish

?? 58 Russian

?? 37 Arabic

The above list covers the mother tongues of only half the village.

One-third of the people in the village are children, and only 60 are over the age of 65. Just under half of the married women in the village have access to modem equipments.

This year 28 babies will be born. Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from can??cer. Two of the deaths will be of babies born within the year. With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018.

In this village of 1,000 persons, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 re??ceive only 2 percent of the income.

About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water.

Of the 670 adults in the village, half can not read nor write.

The village has a total yearly budget （预算）, public and private, of over $3 million—$ 3,000 per person if it is distributed evenly. Of the total $3 million:

$ 181,000 goes to weapons and warfare

$ 159,000 to education

$ 132,000 to health care

These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together.

60. Which of the following is true about Mandarin according to the text?

A. Nearly one-third of Asian people speak Mandarin in the village.

B. About 8.25 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.

C. About 16. 5 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.

D. Nearly all the Mandarin-speaking people are from Asia in the village.

61. Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the text?

A. Poverty.         B. Education.       C. Environment.    D. Marriage.

62. The underlined part “have access to” （in Para. 4（ means_____.

A. use        B. buy         C. produce           D. try

63. The last sentence in the text implies that most of the people long for _____.

A. a peaceful world             B. good education

C. better health care           D. a life without anxiety

Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn: scores of silent women with babies on their backs, buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a bright-blue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker goes across the dirt path that serves as a road in Kesum Purbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don’t come at all. “That water kills people,” a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of pails filled with thick, caramel (焦糖)-colored liquid. “Whoever drinks it will die.” The water was from a pipe shared by thousands of people in the poor neibourhood. Women often use it to wash clothes and bathe their children, but no­body is desperate enough to drink it.

　　There is no standard for how much water a person needs each day, but ex­perts usually put the minimum at fifty li­tres. The government of India promises (but rarely provides) forty. Most people drink two or three litres—less than it takes to wash a toilet. The rest is typically used for cooking and bathing. Americans consume between four hundred and six hundred litres of water each day, more than any other people on earth. Most Europeans use less than half that. The women of Kesum Purbahari each hoped to drag away a hundred litres that day—two or three buckets’ worth. Shoba has a husband and five children, and that much water doesn’t go far in a family of seven, particularly when the temperature reaches a hundred and ten degrees before noon. She often makes up the difference with bottled water, which costs more than water delivered any other way. Sometimes she just buys milk; it’s cheaper. Like the poorest people every­where, the people of New Delhi’s slums spend a far greater percentage of their incomes on water than anyone lucky enough to live in a house connected to a system of pipes.

1.The underlined word “slum” most likely means ______.

A. a village

B. a small town

C. the part of a town that lacks water badly

D. an area of a town with badly-built, over-crowded buildings

2.Sometimes the water tanker doesn’t come because ______.

A. there is no electricity             B. the weather is bad

C. there is no water            D. people don’t want the dirty water

3.A person needs at least ________ litres of water a day.

A. forty           B. four hundred         C. a hundred      D. fifty

4.The passage mainly tells us ______.

A. how India government manages to solve the problem of water gets their water

B. how women in Kesum Purbahari

C. how much water a day a person deeds

D. that India lacks water badly