The Wife-carrying World Championship has been celebrated in a small town in central Finland since 1992. In 1992, the people of the town decided to restart some long-forgotten traditions. Back in the late 1800s, there was a robber called Rosvo-Ronkainen in that area. He was said to only accept men as members of his gang who proved their worth in challenges. At that time, it was also a common practice to steal women from neighboring villages.

This event is becoming increasingly popular. A large number of competitors, people, and journalists from Finland to Canada attend the Wife-carrying World Championship every year.

The event is famous for its warm and humorous atmosphere. The Wife-carrying World Championship is held on a 253.3 meters long official track. The track has two dry obstacles (障碍物）and a water obstacle, about a meter deep.

There are a few basic rules and the winner is the couple who complete the course in the shortest time. The wife to be carried may be your own, or your neighbor’s. The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kg. If she is less than 49kg, the wife will be given a heavy bag to carry. Each time a competitor drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds.

    Alongside with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there is also a team competition. The distance is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink official “wife-carrying drink”. Then he may continue the race. A special prize is awarded to the team with the best costumes.

While the Wife-carrying World Championship is being held, there are bands playing music, a wife-carrying dance and other forms of entertainment.

1. The Wife-carrying World Championship is famous because ________.

A. it is held on a 253.3 meters long official track

B. many competitors take part in it

C. it has a pleasant atmosphere

D. the winner will be awarded a lot of money

2.If a husband drops his wife 3 times in the competition, he will be fined ________.

A. 15 seconds   B. 30 seconds   C. 45 seconds   D. 60 seconds

3.Compared with the Wife-carrying World Championship, the team competition ________.

A. is more exciting          B. has a special prize

C. has a different track      D. has three teams altogether

4.The passage is written mainly to ________.

A. warn people that the competition is dangerous.

B. attract more visitors to the Wife-carrying World Championship.

C. introduce how the Wife-carrying World Championship has become popular.

D. tell us something about the Wife-carrying World Championship.

Chinese female film stars, like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi, due to the charm of their films, have set a good image for Chinese women in the world. Compared with Chinese women, the image of Chinese men is not so good in the eyes of Western women, the Shanghai Evening Post reported.
In March 2006, Zhang Jiehai, a doctorate（博士学位） holder at the Sociology Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, led a research team to investigate how Western women look at Chinese men. The survey shows that many Western women think Chinese men are mostly known for their care for the family. Chinese men, as the Western women say, are willing to spend money for women. As to their shortcomings, Western women think that Chinese men do not have good manners and that some Chinese men have the habit of spitting everywhere, keeping nails and hair long, picking their noses and ears in public places, and not cleaning their teeth thoroughly. These bad habits make many Western women think that Chinese men are unwilling to take care of their personal image.
The survey was carried out in two ways, by questionnaires and interviews. All the respondents（调查对象） agreed that Chinese men show much tender loving care for the family and that many Chinese men do know how to respect women. They open the door for women and carry their handbags for them. For some American women, the bad image of Chinese men in the world is largely because of Hollywood films. In many Hollywood films, Chinese men usually do not have a good image. But this has been changed by Hong Kong film star Chow Yun-Fat. After the Chinese film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was shown in cinemas in the United States in 2002, many Westerners began to change their impression of Chinese men.
【小题1】Which statement best expresses the main idea of the first paragraph?

After a lot of weightlifting and 25 exhausting days training, a 52-year-old woman recently became the first female “gripman” on San Francisco’s historic cable cars.

Fannie Barnes passed her written test and completed a final run under the watchful eye of a supervisor, Municipal Railway spokesman Alan Siegel said.

Deep calluses(茧) are already forming at the base of her fingers and there is a hole in her glove. Two other women quit after a single day with injured muscles. “Now they’re going to have to change the word from gripman to grip person, just because of me,” Barnes said earlier, “I’m so excited.”

After almost a year of serious workouts, Barns can pull more than 61 kilos, only 23 kilos less than her body weight. And she’ll need the muscle, for this is no modern, push-button technology. Every time a car starts up again after making a stop, the gripman must haul back on a lever controlling a device that grips the cable, which runs continuously at 14 kilometers per hour. If the grip slips, so does the car. A second person operates the brakes.

In addition to having to throw her weight around on the job, she’s got to throw out some attitude to men who were hard to convince. The city employs 76 men in the job.

“A lot of men said mean things to me and didn’t want to help train me. But I would like to thank the guys who were against me because they gave me even more inspiration to do it.” she said.

Not all the men were against her. Many of the male colleagues yelled out support as she did her training runs. One of her biggest tests was drizzly December morning. She first went down the Hyde Street Hill, considered the most dangerous incline on the cable car routes. “I had to have the will and I had to believe I could do it,” she said. “It was scary, but as I started going down full grip and felt that I was in control, I knew I was on my way,” Barnes already is a pioneer of sorts. She started working as a cable car conductor six years ago, collecting fares and assisting on the back brake. She is one of only three women to have that job. But she said she always wanted the job up front on the car. (400)

What is unusual about Fannie Barnes getting a job as a gripman?

 A. She is the oldest one to work as a grpman.

 B. She is the first women to work as a gripman.

 C. She is the fattest women to work as a gripman.

 D. She is the most suitable one to work as a gripman.

What did the 52-year-old woman do when she first began working on the city’s cable car?

 A. As a gripman.    B. As a conductor.    C. As a brakeman.  D. As a supervisor.

It can be inferred from the passage that Fannie Barnes is ________.

A. strong and easy-going            B. strong-willed and self-confident

C. popular and humorous            D. considerate and quick-tempered

The birthrate is Europe has been in a steady decrease since the 1960s. European countries, realizing crisis is at hand, are providing great encouragement for parents to create more babies in the 21st century.

Affairs Ministry concluded last year that, __1__ cash encouragement, some women just don’t want to be __2__ holding the baby. “What we know is that it’s good for the __3__ if men and women share the burden of having children,” says Soren Kindlund, family policy adviser at the Swedish ministry. __4__ Swedish parents can take their paid leave as they wish, men use a mere 12% of it; 60% of fathers do not take even a(n) __5__ day off work.

Experts fear that the tendency for women to use most of the parental leave could make employers __6__ to give young women the permanent jobs they need to qualify for paid maternity leave (产假). In January, Sweden decided to allow new fathers two months’ paid leave, with a warming: use it or __7__ it.

Kindlund admits that men are under __8__ to stay at work, even though parental pay comes out of the public purse. “It’s not popular among bosses and perhaps with other men in the workplace,” he says. “But it’s good for the father and for the child if they can __9__ a relationship.”

In Norway, a (n) __10__ policy has worked wonders. 70% of dads in Norway now take parental leave, and the birthrate of 1.85 children per woman is one of the highest in Europe. 

A. is spite of       B. at the cost of     C. in addition to     D. due to

A. sent        B. left           C. caught        D. seen

A. birthrate    B. income         C. health       D. spirit

A. Just as      B. Only if        C. Even though      D. Now that

A. one        B. mere           C. only            D. single

A. willing     B. reluctant        C. likely          D. unable

A. reserve      B. misuse         C. ignore      D. lose

A. discussion   B. attack          C. control     D. pressure

A. make out    B. add up         C. build up  D. set aside

A. impersonal   B. similar       C. severe    D. global

Every American family has its own traditions on Thanksgiving Day, and mine is no difference. Once the national holiday arrives, my mom rises early to make the meal. She puts a turkey in the oven, chops carrots and bakes pies. I’m sorry to say that the men in the family – my dad, my younger brother and myself – rarely pitch in to help. Our job is to wash the mountain of dirty dishes after the meal is over.
Around 2 pm every Thanksgiving Day, family members seat themselves around the kitchen table. Plates of turkey, vegetables, salad, rolls and pies cover it. At this point, we can hardly keep ourselves from drooling (流口水) all over our fancy clothes, but it’s not yet time to eat.
First, we must bow our heads, close our eyes and say a prayer of thanks aloud to God for giving us everything we have. Under normal circumstances, I would have no problem making a list of things I am thankful for. I grew up in a loving family. My parents, who aren’t wealthy, took out loans to help me pay for university.
But, the funny thing is, every time I sit down for Thanksgiving dinner and try to say a prayer of thanks, my mind usually goes blank. I think it has something to do with my growling (咕咕叫) stomach and all of that food sitting right there under my nose.
Eventually, though, we all finish our short prayers and dig in. To be sure, the day includes other highlights – visiting with family and watching football. But usually around 6 pm we are all ourselves stuffed like turkeys and thankful to have a nice warm bed to sleep in.
【小题1】The purpose of the text is to ________.