More surprising, perhaps, than the current difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving（旺盛的）. As Skolnich notes, Americans are a marrying people: relative to Europeans, more of us marry and we marry at a younger age. Moreover, after a decline（衰退）in the early 1970s, the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing. Even the divorce（离婚）rate needs to be taken in this pro- marriage context: some 80 percent of divorced individuals remarry. Thus, marriage remains by far the preferred way of life for the vast majority of the people in our society.

　　What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family. Twenty- five years ago, the typical American family consisted of the husband, the wife, and two or three children. Now, there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children, and there are many marriages where at least some of the children are from the wife’s previous marriage, or the husband’s, or both. Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage; sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses （配偶）．

　　Thus, one can find every type of tamely arrangement. There are marriages without children; marriages with children from only the present marriages; marriages with “full - time” children from both the present and former marriages; marriages with“full- time”children from the present marriage and“ part- time”children from former marriages. There are stepfathers, stepmothers, half- brothers and half - sisters. It is not all that unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents! These are enormous changes from the traditional nuclear family. But even so, even in the midst of all this, there remains one constant: most Americans spend most of their adult lives married.

　By calling Americans a marrying people the writer means that ________.

　　A. Americans are more traditional than Europeans

　　B. Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans

　　C. there are more married couples in the USA than in Europe

　　D. more of Americans, as compared with Europeans, prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age

Divorced Americans ________ .

　　A. prefer the way they live

　　B. will most likely remarry

　　C. have lost interest in marriage

　　D. are the majority of people in the society

Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today’s American families？

　　A. Which types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable.

　　B. A typical American family consists of only a husband and a wife.

　　C. Americans prefer to have more kids than before.

　　D. There are no nuclear families any more.

B
　　Chinese children will be able to get a taste of adult working life in a theme park planned for Hang-zhou city,East China's Zhejiang Province.The Kids City,the first of its kind in China,will allow children aged five to ten to try out jobs of their choice after it opens in October 2008.
　　Located in eastern Hangzhou,the indoor entertainment and educaion park,similar to "Kidzania" in Mexico and Japan,offers more than 50 professions,including pilot,doctor,police officer and lawyer,according to Hangzhou Youth Activity Center(HYAC),the organizer of the park,The park will be a 7:10 scale (比例尺) city with streets,hospitals,museums,supermarkets, schools,airport and other facilities.Construction has begun on the indoor section.
　　Inside the 7,000-square-meter city,every kid would get a bank account holding special money that they can only spend in the park.They could earn more money by working in different booths or workshops.One job would take about half an half an hour and the whole tour would usually last five to six hours."The interactive(交互式) experience will help kids to learn about the adult life,which is good for their future career planning.They will have a lot of fun here,"said Huang Jianming,chief of HYAC.Parents are not allowed to enter the city,but they can take pictures from outside the huge glass house.
　　The ticket price has not been decided yet.But HYACsaid it might be lower than Kidzania Tokyo's and around several hundren yuan.With the majority of investment(投资) coming from the government,the project also needs financial support from companies and organizations,according to HYAC.
　　The world's first Kidzania was opened in Mexico City in 1999.It has turned out to be a huge success receiving about 800,000 visitors every year.In 2006,Kidzania opened its Tokyopark in Japan,which also became an attraction to kids."We are confident that the Chinese version(版本) wll be very successful."said Huang.
　　60.The theme park is aimed at letting the kids_______.
　　　A.work with adults B.experience adult careers
　　　C.imitate adults looking after a family D.watch adults work
　　61.The Kids City will________.
　　　A.be more than half the size of Hangzhou City
　　　B.consist of two parts,one larger than the other
　　　C.contain buildings smaller than those we use
　　　D.have lower buildings than Kidzania Tokyo's
　　62.A visitor to the Kids City ______.
　　　A.has nothing in his bank unless he's worked
　　　B.always leaves his tour with much money in his bank
　　　C.learns to earn money as well as to use it
　　　D.can try out all the professions on one tour
　　63.How many of such theme parks are open to visitors at present in the world?
　　　A.Only one B.Two C.Three D.None

 　　On Wednesday, the Chinese government, decided to increase its medical subsidies(补贴)  for farmers from 10 Yuan (US$1.23) to 20 Yuan (US$2.47) a head a year from 2006.

　　 As part of the country's healthcare reform programme, the co-operative rural （农村）medical system was first introduced in 2003 to set up self-help among farmers on a voluntary basis.  Due to insufficient government input to finance hospitals that are mostly State-owned, the country's healthcare reform has largely turned out to be a failure, adding hugely to the financial burden on the public.

While everyone complains about quickly-rising medical costs, rural residents are suffering more than their urban(城镇) cousins because of a lack of money, as well as not being able to enjoy high quality health services. At present, farmers earn on average only one-third of what urban residents make. Most of the country's medical resources are located in cities even though rural residents make up two-thirds of the population.

　　Poor health conditions make it more difficult to help farmers get out of poverty; and poverty, in turn, refuses farmers the chance to improve their health.　To end this vicious circle, policy-makers tried the co-operative medical system, with a small sum of central and local financial support for each rural participant. But the system has proved to be less than perfect. Due to the limited financial input, the programme still does not benefit the majority of farmers in a significant way. This has reduced many farmers' enthusiasm for participating. A high percentage of involvement is of course a precondition for such a system.

　　The central government intends to expand the programme into a national medical system by 2008. Increasing government subsidies is a necessary step to make the co-operative medical system more attractive to farmers. But an increase of 10 Yuan for each participant is surely far from enough to perfect the system. The total cost is not particularly heavy compared to the rapid growth in government revenue(财政).

　　 Clearly, policy-makers are becoming increasingly aware of how urgent the narrowing of the development gap between rural and urban areas really is. Besides economic policies to push the rural economy, large amount of government investment on improving rural healthcare and education is badly needed.

1. Compared with that in 2006, what will be the rate of coming increase in China’s medical subsidies for farmers?

         A. 100%                      B. 50%                        C. 200%                     D. 150%

2. What is the reason for the failure in the country’s healthcare reform?

         A. Bad management system.          

         B. The government didn’t input enough money to support hospitals that are mostly

state-owned.

         C. The health conditions in the country is too bad.

         D. There are too many farmers that need medical care.

3. What is needed to narrow the development gap between rural and urban areas?

         ①. Large amount of government investment in economy.

         ②. Large amount of government investment on improving rural healthcare and education.

         ③. Economic policies to push the rural economy

④. A high percentage of farmers’ involvement in the medical system

⑤. A better management system

A. ①②③    B.  ②③④                   C. ①②③④⑤          D. ②③

4. Why are many farmers not enthusiastic in joining the co-operative medical system?

         A. It doesn’t benefit most of the farmers in an effective way.

         B. They cannot spare the needed money to join the programme.

         C. They don’t believe in the system.

         D. They don’t think it necessary.

5. What can be inferred from the last but one paragraph?

         A. An increase of 10 Yuan in medical subsidies for each person is not enough.

         B. The government can afford to increase the medical subsidies for farmers.

         C. The government will get farmers of the whole country involved in a medical system by 2008. 

         D. If the government increase subsidies, more farmers are likely to join the medical system.

For thousands of years, man has enjoyed the taste of apples. Apples, which are about 85 percent water, grow almost everywhere in the world but the hottest and coldest areas (地区). Among the leading countries in apple production are China, France and the United States.

There are various kinds of apples, but a very few make up the majority of those grown for sale. The three most common kinds grown in the United States are Delicious, golden Delicious, and McIntosh.

　Apples are different in colour, size, and taste. The colour of the skin may be red, green, or yellow. They have various sizes, with Delicious apples being among the largest. The taste may be sweet or tart (酸的). Generally, sweet apples are eaten fresh while tart apples are used to make applesauce (苹果酱).

　Apple trees may grow as tall as twelve metres. They do best in areas that have very cold winters. Although no fruit is yielded during the winter, this cold period is good for the tree.

It can be learned from the text that Delicious apples are _______________

　 A. grown in France.　　 B. sold everywhere.

　 C. very big.　　　　　　  D. quite sweet.

Cold winter weather is good for _______________

　 A.the growth of apple trees.

　B. producing large apples.

　C. improving the taste of apples.

　 D. the increase of water in apples.

China, France and the United States are considered to _______________

　A. be large producers of apples.

　B. be large producers of applesauce.

　C. have the longest history in apple production.

　 D. have the coldest winter among apple producing countries.

The word yielded in the last sentence means _______________

　A. improved.　 B. increased.

　C. produced.　  D. sold.

　　On Wednesday, the Chinese government, decided to increase its medical subsidies(补贴)  for farmers from 10 Yuan (US$1.23) to 20 Yuan (US$2.47) a head a year from 2006.
　　 As part of the country's healthcare reform programme, the co-operative rural （农村）medical system was first introduced in 2003 to set up self-help among farmers on a voluntary basis.  Due to insufficient government input to finance hospitals that are mostly State-owned, the country's healthcare reform has largely turned out to be a failure, adding hugely to the financial burden on the public.
While everyone complains about quickly-rising medical costs, rural residents are suffering more than their urban(城镇) cousins because of a lack of money, as well as not being able to enjoy high quality health services. At present, farmers earn on average only one-third of what urban residents make. Most of the country's medical resources are located in cities even though rural residents make up two-thirds of the population.
　　Poor health conditions make it more difficult to help farmers get out of poverty; and poverty, in turn, refuses farmers the chance to improve their health.　To end this vicious circle, policy-makers tried the co-operative medical system, with a small sum of central and local financial support for each rural participant. But the system has proved to be less than perfect. Due to the limited financial input, the programme still does not benefit the majority of farmers in a significant way. This has reduced many farmers' enthusiasm for participating. A high percentage of involvement is of course a precondition for such a system.
　　The central government intends to expand the programme into a national medical system by 2008. Increasing government subsidies is a necessary step to make the co-operative medical system more attractive to farmers. But an increase of 10 Yuan for each participant is surely far from enough to perfect the system. The total cost is not particularly heavy compared to the rapid growth in government revenue(财政).
　　 Clearly, policy-makers are becoming increasingly aware of how urgent the narrowing of the development gap between rural and urban areas really is. Besides economic policies to push the rural economy, large amount of government investment on improving rural healthcare and education is badly needed.
1. Compared with that in 2006, what will be the rate of coming increase in China’s medical subsidies for farmers?
A. 100%               B. 50%                 C. 200%                      D. 150%
2. What is the reason for the failure in the country’s healthcare reform?
A. Bad management system.        
B. The government didn’t input enough money to support hospitals that are mostly
state-owned.
C. The health conditions in the country is too bad.
D. There are too many farmers that need medical care.
3. What is needed to narrow the development gap between rural and urban areas?
①. Large amount of government investment in economy.
②. Large amount of government investment on improving rural healthcare and education.
③. Economic policies to push the rural economy
④. A high percentage of farmers’ involvement in the medical system
⑤. A better management system
A. ①②③ B. ②③④             C. ①②③④⑤          D. ②③
4. Why are many farmers not enthusiastic in joining the co-operative medical system?
A. It doesn’t benefit most of the farmers in an effective way.
B. They cannot spare the needed money to join the programme.
C. They don’t believe in the system.
D. They don’t think it necessary.
5. What can be inferred from the last but one paragraph?
A. An increase of 10 Yuan in medical subsidies for each person is not enough.
B. The government can afford to increase the medical subsidies for farmers.
C. The government will get farmers of the whole country involved in a medical system by 2008. 
D. If the government increase subsidies, more farmers are likely to join the medical system.