题目内容
Life in one of China’s last communes
In the village of Nanjie in northern China, workers begin the day by singing in praise of the country's former leader Mao Zedong.
More than three decades after his death, Chairman Mao is still remembered fondly across China, but in Nanjie he has a special significance.
The village is one of the country's last remaining communes, where workers still abide by many of the former chairman's principles.
Most communes were disbanded years ago as China's leaders began to turn the country's planned economy into one governed by the market. But the Nanjie commune is still going strong, providing its residents with their daily needs. Few people want to see it disappear.
As China's Communist Party celebrates 60 years in power this week, it is emphasising the country's bright future. The commune also has a number of small food-processing factories that make products such as beer, chocolate, hot sauce and noodles. Some noodles are even sold abroad - to Australia, the US and Canada.
A statue of Mao takes pride of place in the village square. It is flanked by giant posters of other communist revolutionaries, such as Lenin and Stalin. With its clean and tidy streets, Nanjie looks well-ordered and pleasant.
Communes were formed in the late 1950s as Chairman Mao tried to force rural people to live a more communist way of life.
In Nanjie, workers continue to toil for low wages, but in return are provided for in other ways by the commune.
"I earn about 400 yuan a month ($59; ??37), but get very good welfare benefits," said Mrs Hu, who works as a quality control inspector in the village condiment factory.
"I get free medical care and housing - even gas, water and electricity are free."
Her son, nine-year-old Wang Haoyuan, also gets free education in the commune's schools. The collective will even pay for him to go to university.
It is this kind of security that makes life in Nanjie commune so attractive.
72. According to the passage, which of the following sentences is not true?
A. Nanjie is a village in Heman province.
B. Many of Chairman Mao’s priciples are still carried out today.
C. Chairman Mao still has a special significance in Nanjie.
D. No people want Nanjie commune to exist.
73. Most communes were disbanded(解散) years ago because .
A. Chairman Mao didn’t want them to exist any more
B. people didn’t want to live a way of communist life
C. commumes didn’t go with the development of economy
D. villagers began to farm their own plot of land
74. What make life in Nanjie commune attractive are .
A. 400 yuan a month
B. good welfare benefits
C. A statue of Chairman Mao and posters of Lenin and Stalin
D. a number of small food-processing factories
75. It can be infered from the passage that .
A. people in Nanjie commune like their way of life
B. people in Nanjie commune live a hard life
C. people in Nanjie have really lived a communist way of life
D. Nanjie is the only one commune left in China up to now
72-75 DCBA
The British aren’t having as many children as they used to. One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer years in which they can have them. After years at university, they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want. They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.
The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average. It is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home. Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home. It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child.
So a British person manages to get a job, get a home and get married. Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average? The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Why is it expensive? Well, these days, both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses. Because both parents are at work, that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day. Paying for this childcare is nearly always expensive.
The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families, since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children. With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare. On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week, which is the most in Europe. The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work-life balance. Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family. Otherwise, the British will always be too tired, and won’t have enough time and money, to have children.
【小题1】Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because .
| A．They are allowed to get married at 30 |
| B．they can’t find jobs to support themselves |
| C．they can’t afford a house of their own until then |
| D．they enjoy family life with their parents |
| A．they have fewer years to have children |
| B．they live much shorter lives than before |
| C．it is more expensive to bring up a child |
| D．people are losing their jobs because of the recent financial crisis |
| A．bringing down prices |
| B．raising the salaries of parents |
| C．reducing family income tax |
| D．increasing subsidies for families and nursery schools |
| A．with long work hours, it is hard for British parents to balance life and work |
| B．more and more families in Britain are breaking up because they are having fewer children |
| C．among Europeans, British people work hardest and earn the least |
| D．childcare takes up too much energy and time for the British |
| A．food paid by the government |
| B．school buildings for poor students |
| C．free transportation |
| D．money from the government to benefit the public |
ember 16
inese modern literature.
't .” This is false! What is true, however, is that the ability to laugh and smile is actually something we are born with. For example, we laugh when we are tickled under the arm, even without thinking about how to react.
Your sense of humour is something you can develop over a lifetime. Don’t be nervous before others and try to laugh at yourself-then you will make them laugh too.
in a situation.”