The American baby boom after the war made unconvincing U.S. advice to poor countries that they limit their births. However, there has hardly been a year since 1957 in which birth rates did not fall in the United States and other rich countries, and in 1976 the fall was especially sharp. Both East Germany and West Germany have fewer births than they have deaths, and the United States is only temporarily able to avoid this condition because the children of the baby boom are now an exceptionally large group of married couples.

It is true that Americans do not typically plan their births to set an example for developing nations. We are more affected by women's liberation: once women see interesting and well-paid jobs as careers available, they are less willing to provide free labor for child raising. From costing nothing, children suddenly come to seem impossibly expensive. And to the high cost of children are added the uncertainties, introduced by divorce; couples are increasing to subject children to the terrible experience of marriage breakdown and themselves to the difficulty of raising a child alone.

These circumstances－women working outside the home and the instability of marriage, trend to spread with industrial society and they will affect more and more countries during the remainder of this century. Along with them goes social mobility, ambition to rise in the urban world, a main factor in bringing down the births in Europe in the 19th century.

Food shortage will happen again when the reserves resulting from the good harvests of 1976 and 1977 have been consumed. Urbanization is likely to continue, with the cities of the developing nations struggling under the weight of twice their present populations by the year 2000. The presently rich countries are approaching a stable population largely because of the changed place of women, and they incidentally are setting an example of restraint to the rest of the world. Industrial society will spread to the poor countries, and ambition will exceed resources. All this will lead to a population in the 21st century that is smaller than that was feared   a few years ago. For those anxious to see world population brought under control, the news is encouraging.

49. During the years from 1957 to 1976, the birth rate of the United States _____.

A. increased                                  B. was reduced     

C. experiences both falls and rises      D. high divorce rate
50. What influences the birth rate most in the United States is _____.

A. highly paid jobs                     B. women's working for independence
C. expenses of child raising          D. high divorce rate

51. The sentence "From costing nothing, children suddenly come to seem impossibly expensive" implies that _____.

A. food and clothing for babies are becoming incredibly expensive

B. prices are going up dramatically all the time

C. to raise children, women have to give up interesting and well-paid jobs

D. social development has made child-raising inexpensive
52. A chief factor in bringing down the births in Europe in the 19th century is_____.

A. birth control                   B. women’s strong desire for working

C. the instability of marriage     D. the changed place of women
53. The population in 21st century, according to the writer _____.

A. will be smaller than a few year ago       B. will not be as small as people expect

C. will prove to be threat to the world   D. will not continue as serious a problem as expected

I was pleased to receive your letter, asking what advice I would give to members of your club. In my opinion, 36 field offers greater 37 than newspaper work for young people with 38 in writing.

Of course I’m not speaking of 39 rewards. Anyone who wants to get rich should choose some other 40  . I can’t even promise you excitement. A newspaper reporter might have to 41 the same duties day after day. But journalism pays a living wage, and it often makes a reporter feel more    42 than a bank president. Who can say that he is not?

You have asked me 43  to become a journalist.

First, learn how to 44 a computer. This is one thing you must be able to do. You can either learn the 45  in school or buy a book that 46  how to teach yourself.

At school you should learn how to read and write your own 47 well. You should also learn history, government, mathematics and 48 . Foreign languages are also good to know. The things that 49 every day are not simple, and a journalist has to know 50  in order to understand them.

If your school has a 51  , you should write for it. Editors like young people who have had experience 52 for school papers.

There are many things you can do to prepare 53  for a newspaper job. Read everything you can, 54 newspapers and magazines. Discuss what you read and 55 your own opinions. If the members of your club have any questions that haven’t been answered by this letter, please write again.

I grew up in a tiny Baltimore row house in a faraway mountain area. My parents    36    the necessities of life    37    they couldn’t give much more. If I asked my father    38    a pair of jeans, he would say, “If you want them, make the money and buy them    39   .” He wasn’t being mean; he just couldn’t    40    them. From age 12 on, I did part-time jobs after school.

       When I    41    from high school, I joined the navy. Soon I was in a boot camp(新兵训练营) at Parris Island, S. C., where I learned that life in the navy centered around completing daily

   42   . These could be anything from cleaning the camp to conducting mock(模拟的) battles. Completing these tasks successfully    43    discipline, team-work and responsibility. It didn’t

   44    whether you were black, white or Asian; everyone worked together for the    45   of the company.

I went    46    to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and later became an officer in the navy. The part of my job I    47    most was the counseling(咨询) meeting I    48     with the family members of the men and women in my    49   , trying to help them deal with the long periods of    50   . These proved popular and word of them spread.   51    I was being asked to give encouraging    52    to business groups, educators and kids across the country.

But I consider the boot camp my first real    53   , and my life is still guided by the

   54    lessons I learned there. It taught me discipline, friendship and the pride related to setting a task every day and working hard to    55    it.

36.A.provided                            B.got                           C.made                               D.bought

37.A.while                                 B.but                           C.so                             D.or

38.A.about                                 B.with                         C.for                                  D.of

39.A.themselves                         B.ourselves                  C.yourself                           D.myself

40.A.pay                                   B.find                         C.produce                           D.afford

41.A.came                                 B.returned                   C.escaped                           D.graduated

42.A.drills                                 B.tasks                        C.exercises                          D.reports

43.A.included                            B.asked                       C.required                          D.met

44.A.matter                               B.mean                        C.exist                                D.work

45.A.good                                 B.boss                         C.rest                                 D.right

46.A.out                                    B.on                            C.away                               D.off

47.A.took                                  B.hated                        C.enjoyed                           D.did

48.A.ended                          B.began                       C.continued                        D.held

49.A.charge                               B.situation                   C.position                           D.choice

50.A.lessons                               B.meeting                    C.training                           D.separation

51.A.Long before                       B.Before long               C.As usual                          D.Once again

52.A.performances                     B.descriptions        C.speeches                         D.gifts

53.A.vacation                             B.place                        C.job                                  D.travel

54.A.important                           B.bitter                        C.normal                            D.difficult

55.A.gain                                  B.achieve                     C.show                               D.match

 (07·福建)

I grew up in a tiny Baltimore row house in a faraway mountain area. My parents    36    the necessities of life    37    they couldn’t give much more. If I asked my father    38    a pair of jeans, he would say, “If you want them, make the money and buy them    39   .” He wasn’t being mean; he just couldn’t    40    them. From age 12 on, I did part-time jobs after school.

       When I    41    from high school, I joined the navy. Soon I was in a boot camp(新兵训练营) at Parris Island, S. C., where I learned that life in the navy centered around completing daily

   42   . These could be anything from cleaning the camp to conducting mock(模拟的) battles. Completing these tasks successfully    43    discipline, team-work and responsibility. It didn’t

   44    whether you were black, white or Asian; everyone worked together for the    45   of the company.

I went    46    to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and later became an officer in the navy. The part of my job I    47    most was the comseling(咨询) meeting I    48     with the family members of the men and women in my    49   , trying to help them deal with the long periods of    50   . These proved popular and word of them spread.   51    I was being asked to give encouraging    52    to business groups, educators and keds across the country.

But I consider the boot camp my first real    53   , and my life is still guided by the

   54    lessons I hearned there. It taught me discipline, friendship and the pride related to setting a task every day and working hard to    55    it.

36.A.provided                      B.got                     C.made                        D.bought

37.A.while                           B.but                     C.so                             D.or

38.A.about                           B.with                   C.for                            D.of

39.A.themselves                   B.ourselves            C.yourself                    D.myself

40.A.pay                             B.find                    C.produce                    D.afford

41.A.came                           B.returned             C.escaped                     D.graduated

42.A.drills                            B.tasks                  C.exercises                   D.reports

43.A.included                       B.asked                 C.required                    D.met

44.A.matter                         B.mean                  C.exist                         D.work

45.A.good                           B.boss                   C.rest                           D.right

46.A.out                              B.on                      C.away                        D.off

47.A.took                            B.hated                  C.enjoyed                     D.did

48.A.ended                          B.began                 C.continued                  D.held

49.A.charge                         B.situation             C.position                     D.choice

50.A.lessons                        B.meeting              C.training                     D.separation

51.A.Long before                 B.Before long         C.As usual                    D.Once again

52.A.performances               B.descriptions        C.speeches                   D.gifts

53.A.vacation                       B.place                  C.job                            D.travel

54.A.important                     B.bitter                  C.normal                      D.difficult

55.A.gain                             B.achieve               C.show                        D.match

It was a cold winter day that Sunday. The parking lot to the  36  was filling up quickly. I noticed, as I got out of my car, fellow church members were  37  among themselves as they walked in the church. As I got  38 , I saw a man leaning up against the wall outside the church. He was almost lying down  39  he was asleep. His hat was  40  down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too  41  for his feet, with holes all over them and his toes  42 out. I guessed this man was  43 and asleep, so I walked on  44  through the doors of the church. We all talked for a few minutes, and someone  45  the man lying outside. People whispered but no one took  46  to ask him to come in,  47  me. A few moments later church began. We were all waiting for the Preacher(牧师) to take his  48  and to give us the Word,  49  the doors to the church opened. In  50  the man walking down the church with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made  51  . He made his way down the church and up onto the pulpit(讲坛) where he took off his hat and coat. My heart  52  .
There stood our preacher……he was the “homeless man”. The preacher took his Bible and 53  it on his stand.
“ 54 , I don’t think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today. If you  55  people by their appearance, you have no time to love them.”