America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect（影响）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为） is suitable（合适）at various , ages.

　　A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 70 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.

　　Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.

It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .

　　A. has made people feel younger

　　B. has changed people’s social position

　　C. has changed people’s understanding of age

　　D. has slowed down the country’s social development

The underlined word “one” refers to ________ .

　　A. a society　　　　　　　　　　　B. America

　　C. a place　　　　　　　　　　　　D. population

“Act your age” means people should ________ .

　　A. be active when they are old

　　B. do the right thing at the right age

　　C. show respect for their parents young or old

　　D. take more physical exercise suitable to their age

If a 25 - year - old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ________ .

　　A. normal　　　　　　　　　　　　B. wonderful

C. unbelievable　　　　　　　　　　D. unreasonable

阅读理解

　　The dark, narrow streets of London were dangerous places for a lad to wander during the ruling of Charles Ⅱ (1660-1685). Bands of hoodlums(强盗), in the pay of some ships' captains, were found everywhere. Their job was to seize as many boys as they could find and carry them off to waiting ships in the harbor. Many a pale city lad would wake up from a drugged sleep, or a blow on the head, to find himself on the high seas, bound for the New World. There he might become a farmhand, an apprentice, or perhaps a household servant.

　　Thousands of unsuspecting youths were kidnapped who were never to return to the land of their birth. The traffic in young boys became, in time, a great public scandal, and this is the way it had come about.

　　America desperately needed colonists. At first, many people had come willingly, lured by tales of quick wealth and unlimited opportunity. But once they arrived, they found it to be a far rougher place than they had imagined. It was true that, there was opportunity, but hard work was needed to make it pay off. Many of the new colonists, hoping for easy fortuned, were not used to the difficulties of hard manual labour.

　　Nor could they manage the large farms by themselves. They needed help of every sort: for planting, for harvesting, for building their houses, etc. Some few skilled workers had come and set up shops--blacksmiths, carpenters, wheelwrights(修造轮子的工匠) and such--but they, too, were in need of help. Without apprentices and laborers, they could not possibly do all the work that the colonists required.

　　British shipowners offered free transportation to all those who would come, in return for an agreement to work for seven years without wages. Thousands of immigrants accepted the offer. After seven years of service they were farmers in their own right--and needed help. So there was an increasing need for workers. When the captains could not get colonists any other way, they hired hoodlums to seize any young boys they could lay hands on.

　　Over 100000 youngsters were taken to America in this way. Kidnapping became such an open scandal that in 1682 the London Council passed a law forbidding any person under fourteen to be bound into service without the knowledge and consent of his parents.

1．What shocked the London citizens in the late 17th century?

[　　]

A．The British shipowners needed hands in their business.

B．Bands of hoodlums wandered in the dark streets of London.

C．Many young boys turned to drugs and violence.

D．Many young boys were captured and shipped to America.

2．According to the passage, many British people were willing to settle in America because _____.

[　　]

A．they were poor and desperate

B．they thought they could find jobs easily and soon make a fortune

C．they were desperately tired of the bad conditions in London

D．they learned that skilled workers were badly needed there

3．According to the passage, the colonists were in need of hands for the following reasons except that _____.

[　　]

A．many rail tracks had to be built

B．there was a lot of work on the farms

C．many houses had to be built

D．there was a lot of work in various kinds of shops

4．Why did thousands of immigrants sign the agreement to work for seven years without pay?

[　　]

A．Because they had no money to pay for their voyage to the New World.

B．Because they could become farmers in their own right after their seven-year work.

C．Because they had no land of their own when they just arrived in America.

D．Because they were kidnapped and forced to sign it.

5．We can infer from the passage that the British government passed a law in 1682 because _____.

[　　]

A．the shipowners had seized a great fortune of the country apart from the young boys

B．it intended to stop the employment of the young workers under the age of fourteen

C．the public strongly condemned the kidnapping of young boys

D．it did not want to lose a lot of its young residents

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