65. We can learn from the passage that custom-made clothing is _______.

A. specially made　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. fashionably designed

C. chosen by few people　　　　　　　　　　 D. made with difficulties

64. According to the passage, people who buy ready-made clothing _______.

A. wish to make alterations　　　　　　　　 B. can fit into the sizes

C. want to make it better　　　　　　　　　　 D. will spend less money

60.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A.Americans and Europeans　　　 B.Staying at Home

C.Work and Productivity　　　　　 D.Work and Happiness

答案　 56.C　 57.D　 58.C　 59.B　 60.D

Passage 103

(06·辽宁C篇)

Department stores sell ready-to-wear clothing, which is also called ready-made clothing. Such clothing is made in fixed sizes. Those people who find that ready-made clothing fits them well can save money by buying it. Most often, people do not fit exactly into a producer’s size. Their clothing must be altered(改变)to make it fit better, However, most alterations are not very expensive. The small cost of most alterations means that ready-made clothing can meet the needs of most customers.

Those who can afford it often get someone to design and make their clothing. Such clothing is called custom-made(定做的). The person who makes it measures the customer, and then sews it so that it fits perfectly. Alterations are not needed. Custom-made clothing is largely sewn by hand, has better quality, better material, and is of the style you have chosen. Of course, it costs much more than ready-to-wear clothing. You need to pay the difference for the special fitting and better skill that you are receiving. This often means that you spend double or more than you would for a ready-made garment(衣服).

Custom-made clothing is not always that much better than ready-made clothing. It costs more partly because only one garment has been made, just for you. Companies that produce ready-made products make thousands of garments at a time. This means they can buy large quantities of material. Workers cut each size by the hundreds. Companies work out ways to make the garments, quickly by machine and pay workers according to their skill. Thus they can sell the finished products at a low price while still making money. Most of the clothing sold in the United States is made in this way. Customers gain from the lower prices which are made possible by mass production(批量生产). It may or may not give them high quality.

59.What message can we get from the text?

A.The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America.

B.Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.

C.People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.

D.Amerleans are happler than Europeans.

58.In the last paragraph,the underlined word“which”refers to_______.

A.family life　　　　　　　　　　 B.situations

C.other　 values　　　　　　　　 D.trends

57.Which of the following countries has mone of its pcople at work?

A.Spain.　　　　　　　　　　　 B.France.

C.Germany.　　　　　　　　　　 D.America.

56.From the text we know that the autor 　　　.

A.believes that longer working hours is better

B.prefers shorter working hours to longer ones

C.says nothing certain about which pattern is better

D.thinks neither of the patterns is good

55.The author thinks that the homeless people are_________.

　 A. pitiful　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. troublesome

　 C. respectable　　　　　　　　　　　 D. admirable

答案　 52.A　 53.D　 54.C　 55.A

Passage 102

(06·陕西B卷E篇)

Among rich countries , people in the United States work the longest hours. T　 hey work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.

　　 In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to “spend”a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be more satisfying work,or less satisfying personal lives.

Longer hourd do of course increase the GDP (国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say,France.The United States also has more of its people at work,while in Frence many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home.The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France,even though productivity per hour worked is the same.

It is not clear which of the two situations is better.As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in interest.It is too erly to explain the different trends(趋势)in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointingidea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has resen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance (平衡) ?

54.In paragraph 2 , “a roof over their needs ”most probably means _________.

　 A.a cap　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. a car

　 C.a home　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.a covering

53.It can be inferred from the text that________.

A. the homeles are willing to live under a bridge or in a cardboard box

B. you will not find homeless people in countries with a high standard of living

C. the mentally ill live on the stress becausethey want the company of other homeless people

D. the unemployed who receive help may still be among the homeless