Soon it would be the holidays. But before that, there were the end of year exams. All the students had been working hard for some time. If they didn’t pass, they would have to retake the exams in February. There were usually a few who failed, but Kate decided not to be one of them. She had worked hard all day, but just before the exams she was working so hard that her sister, Barbala, was worried about her. She was staying up too late. The night before the first exam, Barbala insisted(坚持)that she should have an early night and take a sleeping pill. She promised(许诺)to wake her in the morning.

As she was falling asleep, Kate was worried in case(万一)she over-slept. Her mind kept jumping from subject to subject. At last, with the help of the pill, she fell asleep. In no time at all, she was sitting in the examination hall, looking at the paper. She couldn’t answer any of the questions. Everyone round her was writing pages and pages. However hard she thought, she couldn’t find anything to write about. She kept looking at her watch. Time was running out. There was only one hour left. She started one question, wrote two sentences, gave up and tried another one. With only half an hour left she wrote another two sentences. By this time she was so worried that she started crying. Her whole body shook. It shook so much that it woke her up. She was still in bed and it had all been a terrible dream. A minute later, Barbala called her name.

1.Which of the following is true?

A. All the students were usually successful in their exams.

B. Most of the students usually passed the year exams.

C. Only some of the students could pass the end of year exams.

D. None of the students would take the exams again in February.

2. Why did Barbala insist that Kate should take a sleeping pill?

A. Because she thought Kate should oversleep before the first exam.

B. Because Kate was so worried about her exams that she couldn’t go to sleep at all.

C. Because Barbala hoped her sister would have a good sleep before the first exam.

D. Because she had promised to wake her up the next morning.

3.Kate dreamed a terrible dream simply because ______

A. she had taken a sleeping pill.

B. she was too worried about her exams.

C. her sister had forgotten to wake her up.

D. she did not pass the exams.

Many Chinese people who have been to the United States think that Americans pay a little part of their money for food each day. Yet, in the latest 13 years, food prices have gone up 30% for most American families. Everyone agrees that the cost of feeding a family has risen sharply. But who is really responsible(有责任的)?

Many people say the farmers who produce the vegetables, fruit, meat, and eggs are responsible. But farmers say that the rise in food prices is very small compared to (和…相比) the rise in their cost of living. Farmers think middlemen(中间人)have got much more money than they do. Middlemen are those people who stand between the farmers and the people who buy and eat the food. For example, truck drivers, owners of food stores and so on. Are middlemen really responsible for higher food prices?

Economists(经济学家)don’t think so. They have found that the money that meat packers(包装商)and food stores get is less than 1% in all. They say that food costs more now because modern housewives have jobs outside the home. They have less time for cooking after a day’s work. They like to buy food which has already been prepared before it reaches the market. They want to buy many kinds of food that can be put on their dining tables easily and quickly. But of course they must be prepared to pay for the services of those who make their work easier.

It seems that the answer to the question of rising prices is not an easy one. Quite a number of people share the responsibility for the sharp rise in food costs.

1.Farmers speak for themselves because _____.

A. the middlemen have had the biggest share of profit(利润)

B. the cost of their products have risen sharply too

C. their cost of living has gone up a lot, too

D. they’ve got very little in the rise of food prices

2.What’s the writer’s opinion (观点)?

A. He agrees with the economists.

B. He doesn’t think farmers are responsible.

C. He thinks the middlemen might get a lot of profit.

D. He thinks all those people should be responsible.

3.The underlined sentence means the food prices have gone up _____.

A. quickly and carefully

B. suddenly and greatly

C. clearly and naturally

D. angrily and seriously

4.Which of the following is a middleman?

A. A farmer B. A shopkeeper

C. A housewife D. An economist

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