( D )
In Western countries people have been using the installment plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments. In the U. S., the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.
The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.
Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is, however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries, the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment and installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.
56. Which of the following is NOT true about the installment plan?
A. A lot of British families use the installment plan.
B. More than 10 percent American families buy things on installments.
C. Americans depend more on installment than British people do.
D. Americans spend one tenth of their income on installment buying.
57. Goods bought on installments are more expensive than goods bought by cash because ______.
A. the buyer has to pay extra money as interest
B. the delivery of the goods charges extra money
C. the buyer has to pay a down payment
D. the service offered by installment plan charged extra money
58. What will happen to a buyer if he fails to make the full payment for an item bought on installments?
A. He might lose his job.
B. He will stop owning the item he has bought.
C. He will have to sell what he has bought.
D. He will go into debt.
59. The advantage of installment buying might include all the following EXCEPT that ________.
A. purchasing power is strengthened
B. employment might be increased
C. people develop a good habit of saving money
D. young couples are able to furnish their homes
60. In some countries, the governments control the installment plan to ________.
A. increase employment
B. avoid depressions
C. ensure that businesses make good profits
D. ensure that people can pay for what hey buy

D
There is probably no field of human activity in which our values and lifestyles are shown more clearly and strongly than they are in the clothes that we choose to wear. The dress of an individual is a kind of "sign language" that communicates a set of information and is usually the basis on which immediate impressions are formed. Traditionally, a concern for clothes was considered to be an affair of females, while men took pride in the fact they were completely lacking in clothes consciousness(意识).
This type of American culture is by degrees changing as man dress takes on greater variety and color. Even as early as 1995, a researcher in Michigan said that men attached rather high importance to the value of clothing in daily life. White－collar workers in particular viewed dress as a symbol of ability, which could be used to impress or influence others, especially in the work situation. The white－collar worker was described as extremely concerned about the impression his clothes made on his superiors(上司). Although blue－collar workers were less aware that they might be judged on the basis of their clothing, they recognized that any difference from the accepted pattern of dress would be made fun of by fellow workers.
Since that time, of course, the patterns have changed; the typical office worker may now be wearing the blue shirt, and the laborer a white shirt, but the importance of dress has not become less.      Other researchers in recent years have helped to prove its importance in the lives of individuals at various levels and in different social and economic status groups(阶层).
68．From the passage we know that______.
A．the Americans' values and lifestyles can't be shown clearly in their activity
B．the Americans' values and lifestyles are from the sign language
C．the clothes the Americans choose to wear have something to do with their values and lifestyles
D．the clothes the Americans choose to wear depend on a set of information
69．Traditionally, the Americans usually thought that______.
A．men should care much for clothes
B．women should concern greatly about what they wore but men shouldn't
C．both men and women must pay great attention to their clothes
D．neither men nor women didn't have to show interest in clothes
70．Blue－collar workers pay attention to their clothes because______.
A．they extremely concern about the impression their clothes make on their superiors
B．they know clearly that people will judge them on the basis of their clothing
C．they want to impress and influence others
D．they don't want to be laughed at
71．The passage mainly suggests that______.
A．the Americans pay great attention to the importance of clothes
B．now men in America have made more progress in clothes consciousness
C．now men in America care about clothes more than women do
D．the American culture is greatly changing         

D

There is probably no field of human activity in which our values and lifestyles are shown more clearly and strongly than they are in the clothes that we choose to wear. The dress of an individual is a kind of "sign language" that communicates a set of information and is usually the basis on which immediate impressions are formed. Traditionally, a concern for clothes was considered to be an affair of females, while men took pride in the fact they were completely lacking in clothes consciousness(意识).

This type of American culture is by degrees changing as man dress takes on greater variety and color. Even as early as 1995, a researcher in Michigan said that men attached rather high importance to the value of clothing in daily life. White－collar workers in particular viewed dress as a symbol of ability, which could be used to impress or influence others, especially in the work situation. The white－collar worker was described as extremely concerned about the impression his clothes made on his superiors(上司). Although blue－collar workers were less aware that they might be judged on the basis of their clothing, they recognized that any difference from the accepted pattern of dress would be made fun of by fellow workers.

Since that time, of course, the patterns have changed; the typical office worker may now be wearing the blue shirt, and the laborer a white shirt, but the importance of dress has not become less.      Other researchers in recent years have helped to prove its importance in the lives of individuals at various levels and in different social and economic status groups(阶层).

68．From the passage we know that______.

A．the Americans' values and lifestyles can't be shown clearly in their activity

B．the Americans' values and lifestyles are from the sign language

C．the clothes the Americans choose to wear have something to do with their values and lifestyles

D．the clothes the Americans choose to wear depend on a set of information

69．Traditionally, the Americans usually thought that______.

A．men should care much for clothes

B．women should concern greatly about what they wore but men shouldn't

C．both men and women must pay great attention to their clothes

D．neither men nor women didn't have to show interest in clothes

70．Blue－collar workers pay attention to their clothes because______.

A．they extremely concern about the impression their clothes make on their superiors

B．they know clearly that people will judge them on the basis of their clothing

C．they want to impress and influence others

D．they don't want to be laughed at

71．The passage mainly suggests that______.

A．the Americans pay great attention to the importance of clothes

B．now men in America have made more progress in clothes consciousness

C．now men in America care about clothes more than women do

D．the American culture is greatly changing         

C

Educating girls quite possibly brings in a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women education may be an unusual field for economists,  but increasing women's contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics provides guideposts that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived（被剥夺） of an education.

Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else's family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school-the prophecy （预言） becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a bad circle of neglect.

An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The bad circle is thus transformed into a good one. Ks5u

Few will question that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant effect on health practices, including family planning. Ks5u

59. By saying "the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling..." in Paragraph 2, the author means that ________.

A. girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys

B. girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams

C. girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach

D. girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home

60. The author believes that a bad circle can turn into a good circle when ________.

A. women care more about education

B. girls can gain equal access to education

C. a family has fewer but healthier children

D. parents can afford their daughters' education

61. What does the author say about women' s education?

A. It deserves greater attention than other social issues.

B. It is now given attention before anything else in many developing countries.

C. It will bring in greater returns than other known investments

D. It has aroused the interest of a growing number of economists.

62. The passage mainly discusses________.

A. unequal treatment of boys and girls in developing countries

B. the potential earning power of well-educated women

C. the major contributions of educated women to society

D. the economic and social benefits of educating women

D

         There is probably no field of human activity in which our values and lifestyles are shown more clearly and strongly than they are in the clothes that we choose to wear. The dress of an individual is a kind of "sign language" that communicates a set of information and is usually the basis on which immediate impressions are formed. Traditionally, a concern for clothes was considered to be an affair of females, while men took pride in the fact they were completely lacking in clothes consciousness(意识).

         This type of American culture is by degrees changing as man dress takes on greater variety and color. Even as early as 1995, a researcher in Michigan said that men attached rather high importance to the value of clothing in daily life. White－collar workers in particular viewed dress as a symbol of ability, which could be used to impress or influence others, especially in the work situation. The white－collar worker was described as extremely concerned about the impression his clothes made on his superiors(上司). Although blue－collar workers were less aware that they might be judged on the basis of their clothing, they recognized that any difference from the accepted pattern of dress would be made fun of by fellow workers.

         Since that time, of course, the patterns have changed; the typical office worker may now be wearing the blue shirt, and the laborer a white shirt, but the importance of dress has not become less.      Other researchers in recent years have helped to prove its importance in the lives of individuals at various levels and in different social and economic status groups(阶层).

68．From the passage we know that______.

         A．the Americans' values and lifestyles can't be shown clearly in their activity

         B．the Americans' values and lifestyles are from the sign language

         C．the clothes the Americans choose to wear have something to do with their values and lifestyles

         D．the clothes the Americans choose to wear depend on a set of information

69．Traditionally, the Americans usually thought that______.

         A．men should care much for clothes

         B．women should concern greatly about what they wore but men shouldn't

         C．both men and women must pay great attention to their clothes

         D．neither men nor women didn't have to show interest in clothes

70．Blue－collar workers pay attention to their clothes because______.

         A．they extremely concern about the impression their clothes make on their superiors

         B．they know clearly that people will judge them on the basis of their clothing

         C．they want to impress and influence others

         D．they don't want to be laughed at

71．The passage mainly suggests that______.

         A．the Americans pay great attention to the importance of clothes

         B．now men in America have made more progress in clothes consciousness

         C．now men in America care about clothes more than women do

         D．the American culture is greatly changing