Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable question from A-F for each answer. There is one extra question which you do not need.
|
|
A yearly list of the best and worst places to be a mother and child rates the United States 11th, behind Britain. Scandinavian countries are at the top. Sweden is number one. Denmark is second. Finland is third. Save the Children, an American-based humanitarian organization, compared conditions in 110 countries. The report came out last week.
|
At the bottom of the list, Mali and Burkina Faso share last place. Just above them are Ethiopia, Chad, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritania. Gambia and Eritrea are also in the bottom ten, along with two Asian countries: Nepal and Cambodia. Cambodia is tied with Eritrea in 100th place.
|
Save the Children based its report on six conditions related to the health and security of women. These include the risk of early death, and the rate of use of modern birth-control methods. Another measure was the percentage of births with the aid of trained medical workers. Still another was the percentage of pregnant women with a shortage of iron in the blood. The study also examined reading levels among women and the involvement of women in national government. There are some conditions related to the education of both women and children.
|
Save the Children has published a report on the "State of the World's Mothers" for six years now. This year the group included a progress report on education for girls. Researchers examined progress made over the past ten years in 71 developing countries. The report says Bolivia, Kenya, Cameroon and Bangladesh have made the most progress in girls' education. Listed at the bottom are Rwanda, Iraq, Malawi and Eritrea. Worldwide, the report says, 58 million girls are out of school.
|
Charles MacCormack is head of Save the Children. He says many children in the world are lucky just to survive the first five years of life. But Mr MacCormack calls the situation far from hopeless. He notes that world leaders have agreed on eight goals to reduce poverty, save lives and increase security by 2015.
Direction: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. individual B. financial C. certain D. stick AB. meant AC. costly AD. powered BC. ride BD. medical CD. emergency |
A new transportation device called the Segway was reported to have been in use for quite a while. Its inventor called it the world’s first self-balancing ___41___ transport vehicle for short distance travel.
The Segway looks like a large ___42___ with two wheels. The wheels are connected to a platform. The stick has handles for a person to hold. The person stands on the platform and holds the handles. The transporter moves forward or backward when the person moves his or her body in that direction. The driver turns the handles to go left or right.
Computers and ___43___ devices on the Segway make the vehicle move and balance. It is ___44___ by batteries that are recharged with electricity. It can travel at a speed of 19 km an hour.
Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway says it was ___45___ to reduce pollution and solve other environment problems in cities.
A Segway costs about five thousand dollars. People who have bought Segways say they are extremely useful though quite ___46___. But they can use the Segways instead of their cars for short trips, and it is a great way to save money on gasoline. The Segway also makes it convenient for people who have trouble walking because of ___47___ problems.
Segways are being used in more than twelve American airports. Security officers say they are able to move quickly on the devices in ___48___ situation.
People on vacation are also learning to use Segways. Segway tours are popular in several American cities including Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D. C. Tour company officials say it takes from ten to thirty minutes to teach people how to ___49___ a Segway. Then the group uses them to move around the city.