_____by a greater demand for vegetables, farmers have built more green houses.

When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in Spanish.

Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported (出口) to other countries like America and Germany. Bananas are the country’s second most important export.

Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.

Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate (单独的) schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans.

1.What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A. How Columbus found Costa Rica.

B. How Costa Rica got its name.

C. What the Costa Ricans wore.

D. What language the Costa Ricans spoke.

2.The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses ______.

A. pink and red                    B. grey and black

C. blue and green                     D. yellow and orange

3.In Costa Rica, boys and girls between seven and fourteen ______.

A. must go to school

B. study in the same school

C. do not have to go to school at all

D. can choose to stop schooling at any time

4.From December to February, school children in Costa Rica ______.

A. have lessons every day

B. have their examinations

C. help their parents pick coffee beans

D. help their parents decorate their houses

5.This passage is mainly about ______.

A. Christopher Columbus

B. Costa Rica

C. some products from Costa Rica

D. the education of Costa Rica

Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.

The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me. Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season.

She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding. Delores Clemens says, “that's not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Cuddle your baby. Hug him! And she started to do that. They just want a little cuddling and a little love. And it works!”

Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year.

In class, with her baby son is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life.

The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen. That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones. By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two.

What is the text mainly about?

A. Parents who are a child’s first teachers.

B. A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered.

C. A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure life.

D. A kind teacher who help homeless young mothers.

Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____.

A. help homeless young mothers become good parents

B. provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter

C. help mothers in New York be good parents

D. teach some parents how to love their children

What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?

A. She has a mother of five and a grandmother.

B. She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged.

C. She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers.

D. She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House.

According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?

  A. Canada     B. the United States of America    C. Mexico     D. Britain

III.完形填空（共20小题;每小题1.5分,满分30分）
阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意, 然后从36~55各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项
I recently worked with some other Chinese professors to carry out a survey in the neighborhood in the US. It’s about the parents taking care of the children. And through the survey we know that in the past, most American mothers were at home to take care of their children during the day. Now, _36____,, many mothers are working. More than half of the American women____37_young children have ___38_outside their homes.
American families settle the child care___39_ in different ways. Some parents permit____40_children to stay at home alone after school. The parents___41_ be sure that the children, usually not younger than 10 years old, understand the ___42_rules and can deal with emergencies (紧急情况). Other parents say they will ____43_ permit their children to be at home alone. They usually ___44_ someone to take care of the ___45_.
Some parents in the US find their own way to ____46_ the cost of child care. They join child care___47_. Each person in the group ___48_ for the children of other group __49_at different times. Some parents ask local___50_, schools and social organizations to help ___51_ activities to the children. These child care choices often cost___52_ or no money. Many American parents , however, still ___53__with the problem of ___54 _ good child care at a ___55_price.
36. A. therefore     B. otherwise     C. thus         D. however
37.A. like          B. as           C. with         D. from
38.A. children      B. jobs          C. houses       D. money
39.A. problem      B. question       C. chance       D. choice
40.A．older        B. younger       C. sticker       D. happier
41.A. can          B. must          C. may        D. ought
42.A. dangerous      B. safety     C. funny         D. true
43.A. rather         B. certainly    C. always      D. never
44.A. send          B. stop        C. pay         D. invite
45.A. houses        B. neighbors     C. old        D. children
46.A. protect        B. end          C. reduce     D. increase
47.A. schools        B. groups       C. clubs      D. hospitals
48.A. cares          B. sends       C. asks        D. pays
49.A. strangers       B. members     C. officials   D. teachers
50.A.shops          B. markets      C. churches    D. restaurants
51.A.equip          B. offer        C. play       D. join
52.A.much          B. little         C. enough    D. more
53.A.enjoy          B. discuss       C. quarrel    D. struggle
54.A.taking         B. finding        C. losing    D. suffering
55.A.high         B. low           C. reasonable  D. real

In my living room, there is a plaque(匾) that advises me to “Bloom(开花) where you are planted.” It reminds me of Dorothy. I got to know Dorothy in the early 1980s，when I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program with Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. The job responsibilities required occasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program. Dorothy stands out in my memory as one who “bloomed” in her remote area.

Dorothy taught in a school in Harlan County, Kentucky, Appalachian Mountain area. To get to her school from the town of Harlan, I followed a road winding around the mountain. In the eight­mile journey, I crossed the same railroad track five times, giving the possibility of getting caught by the same train five times. Rather than feeling excited by this drive through the mountains, I found it depressing. The poverty level was shocking and the small shabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of hopelessness.

From the moment of my arrival at the little school, all gloom(忧郁) disappeared. Upon arriving at Dorothy's classroom, I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen. The children had been prepared to show me their latest projects. Dorothy told me with a big smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread for “dinner”(lunch). In case you don't know, poke greens are a weed­type plant that grows wild, especially on poor ground.

Dorothy never ran out of reports of exciting activities of her students. Her enthusiasm never cooled down. When it came time to sit for the testing and interviewing required to receive her Child Development Associate Cerlification, Dorothy was ready. She came to the assessment and passed in all areas. Afterward, she invited me to the one­and­only steak house in the area to celebrate her victory, as if she had received her Ph.D. degree. After the meal, she placed a little box containing an old pen in my hand. She said it was a family heirloom(传家宝), but to me it is a treasured symbol of appreciation and pride that cannot be matched with things.

61．“Early Childhood Development” in Paragraph I refers to ________．

A．a program directed by Dorothy

B．a course given by the author

C．an activity held by the students

D．an organization sponsored by Union College

62．In the journey, the author was most disappointed at seeing ________．

A．the long track  B．the poor houses

C．the same train  D．the winding road

63．Upon arriving at the classroom, the author was cheered up by ________．

A．a warm welcome  B．the sight of poke greens

C．Dorothy's latest projects  D．a big dinner made for her

64．What can we know about Dorothy from the last paragraph?

A．She was invited to a celebration at a restaurant.

B．She got a pen as a gift from the author.

C．She passed the required assessment.

D．She received her Ph.D. degree.

65．What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

A．Whatever you do, you must do it carefully.

B．Whoever you are, you deserve equal treatment

C．However poor you are, you have the right to education.

D．Wherever you are, you can accomplish your achievement.