.
Chinese reports say the country’s vast pool of cheap labor is getting smaller, which could hurt an economy that heavily depends on labor-intensive manufacturing.
The academy’s research shows that China’s rural labor surplus, the source of migrant workers for the country’s factories, is about 50 million people—far less than the previously estimated 150 to 200 million.
Jonathan Unger, director of the Contemporary China Center at the Australian National University, says fewer rural residents are willing to leave their farms today. This is partly because there are more employment opportunities in rural areas, and because agricultural prices have gone up.
“And at the same time taxes in the countryside, fees in the countryside have gone down because of new sets of government policies,” he explained. “So people are not eagerly forced in the way they were five, six years ago to leave the farm in order to earn enough money for their families.”
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says another reason for the reduced labor pool is the country’s population policy, which allows city residents to have just one child, and farmers up to two if the first one is a girl.
A UN study predicts that China’s workforce will reach its top in 2015 and then gradually drop. Some of China’s major manufacturing areas, such as Guangdong Province, already face labor shortages.
Some economists think these shortages are, at least for now, a regional rather than a national problem. Sun Mingchun, an economist with investment bank Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong, points out that there are still millions of people in China who can not find work.
57. According to the academy’s research, China’ rural labor surplus today is about _______.
A. 150 million B. 50 million C. 200 million D. 175 million
58. The reason why many rural residents don’t leave their farms today is ________.
A. the farmers are older than before.
B. the farmers are lazier than before
C. the farmers have much more money
D. there are more employment opportunities and agricultural prices have gone up
59. Which of the following is TURE according to the passage?
A. A study of UN estimates China’s workforce will come to the top in 2015.
B. No a study shows millions of people can’t find work in China.
C. The country’s population policy isn’t a reason for the reduced labor.
D. Five years ago, few farmers left their homes to earn money for supporting their families.
60. According to some economists, the shortage of Chinese workforce __________.
A. is a national problem B. is a regional problem
C. is not a problem D. can be solved easily
Have you got teenage children between 12 and 17？Will they jump at the idea to go to South Africa too? Well, let me help you here. I will give you some great ideas about what teenagers can do in Cape Town and give you reasons why a stay in Cape Town will be cool for them too.
You will read where to find really interesting activities and how much money you will have to pay for them and also how your children can gain as many great experiences as possible when holidaying or even living in Cape Town.
·Mad about Football — not only for Soccer Fans
Where: Cape Town Stadium (体育场)，15 min from Cape Town’s central business district (CBD). The new visitor center offers several tours. How much does it cost? R45.6 for adults or kids over 12, R17.1 for kids up to 12 and R11.4 per student for school groups. The Biodiversity Garden next to the stadium is interesting as well and can be added into tour at an additional cost.
·Theme Park with more than 23 rides and roller coasters (过山车)
Where: Ratanga Junction, Century City, 20 min north of Cape Town CBD. Costs: R75 for kids under 1.3m and R152 for kids over 1.3m or adults, open only on school holidays and public holidays.
·Sandboarding anyone
Where: Atlantis, 45 min north of Cape Town CBD. Costs: R595 for a half day of fun in the sand.
·Ice skating
Where: Grand West Casino Complex, Goodwood, 20 min east of Cape Town CBD Costs:R35 (including skates)
·Enjoy mini golf(高尔夫)
Where: Several places around Cape Town CBD. Muizenberg Beach Promenade, Green Point Promenade, Durbanville Vodacom Golf Driving Range or try Cave Golf at the V&A Waterfront next to Scratch Patch. Costs:R8.
·Go bowling
Where: Several places aroun Cape Town CBD. Costs: R25.
·How about climbing walls
Where：Observatory, 20 min south of Cape Towm CBD. Costs: R50. A visitor can get the following information about the activities in the passage EXCEPT ______.
| A．locatin | B．cost | C．food | D．distance |
If a couple want to take their son aged 15 and daughter aged 9 to visit Cape Town Stadium, they shoul pay _________.
| A．R 182.4 | B．R153.9 | C．R125.4 | D．R114 |
In order to have fun on the sand, visitors should go to ________.
| A．Atlantis | B．Green Point Promenade |
| C．Ratanga Junction | D．Grand West Casino Complex |
Which of the following activities costs least?
| A．Theme Park | B．Climbing wall |
| C．Bowling | D．Mini golf |
As an expert on education, I finished a Junior Achievement course at a local middle school last week. I received some meaningful answers when I asked teens what they would want to tell their parents about money.
Max said,’Dear Mom, I need to give you some advice on money. I need more allowance (零用钱)！” I have to say many teenagers have the same idea as him. As an expert, I advise a little money for teens and more if they help with the housework. Now that your children are in middle school, it’s time to think about paying them to do something. My daughter missed a lot of school when she was a junior so I promised to buy her a notebook computer if she didn’t miss any school as a senior — she got the computer finally. What worked for my other daughter was a clothing allowance for her joining in the housework. She would receive a set amount every two months; it taught her a valuable lesson: when the clothing money ran out, she couldn’t buy more clothes until she got enough money through doing the housework. “I need more allowance,” should be the start, not the end, of a dialogue.
Grace wanted to tell Mom, “Only buy what we need.” Spending wisely and saving money was a good theme from all the students. The idea of thinking carefully about spending is just what I taught them at class, but this is not the subject of this Junior Achievement course. It shows me that these teenagers look at their parents’ spending habits, but they don’t tell their parents their opinions about them. Therefore, Moms and Dads, pay attention and remember: your children watch everything you do when it comes to money — do it right, point them in the right direction.
Nikola’s advice is valuable to all parents — “Mom and Dad, I think I should be more involved in money and financial (金融) things so I know how to do everything without a struggle when I get older.” This child has got it right. Her answer shows the fact that parents are responsible (负责的) for the financial training of their children. It is one of our most important parental goals.What does the author advise parents to do when their children want more allowance ?
| A．Stop giving them allowance at once. |
| B．Buy them something they are in need of. |
| C．Give them more allowance if they help do the housework |
| D．Encourage them to earn more allowance by doing part – time jobs. |
Why does the author mention his daughters in Paragraph 2?
| A．To show he does better than others in teaching his children. |
| B．To tell readers how to encourage children to study hard. |
| C．To show paying children to do things really works. |
| D．To tell readers he has children who often make trouble. |
In Paragraph 3 the author suggests that parents should ________.
| A．set good examples to their children in spending and saving money |
| B．set up a good relationship with their children |
| C．ask their children for advice on spending money |
| D．attend his Junior Achievement course |
We can learn from the passage that Nikola _______.
| A．expected her parents to think about her future |
| B．expected to learn how to manage money |
| C．worried about her ability to make a living |
| D．had a better understanding of the author’s course |
What’s this by my door? A handwritten letter from am old university friend. It stands out among the bills and junk mail like gold. Given its rareness, the Government should be praised for announcing that the new secondary school should include lessons that teach students how to write personal and business letters in the correct form.
Letter-writing skills have fallen off a lot in the age of eamils and text messages. Many pupils leave school only able to write a letter for a job application, let alone other kinds of letters. You can’t turn back the clock, but you can stick to your own rules to protect old-fashioned values. Someone who leaves school unable to write a letter is going into the adult world unprepared. And if teachers don’t ram home that message, who else will?
Usually, it does not matter whether someone can write a letter or not — other means of communication will serve. And with computerised spell-checks, people can get by for years without the kind of letter-writing skills. But it is the rare occasion that matters when things can not be made clear with a simple text. When the former England cricket(板球) captain Andrew Strauss decided to leave his job, he had sent handwritten letters to his teammates. Many people thought it unbelievable. But among the disbelief there was something else: admiration, even among the Twitter generation(一代).
I have been a letter-writing lover all my adult life, and am just about to sit down and pen a reply to my university friend. And I hope the sight of a letter by his door will give him as much pleasure as his did me.How did the author feel when receiving the handwritten letter?
| A．Disappointed. | B．Excited. | C．Worried. | D．Proud. |
The underlined part“ram home that message”in Paragraph 2 means“______”.
| A．teach the students the importance of letter writing |
| B．teach the students how to protect traditional values |
| C．teach the students the importance of communication |
| D．teach the students how to write letters of application |
The author mentions Andrew Strauss’s example in order to show that________.
| A．letter-writing skills are very important |
| B．handwritten letters can bring admiration |
| C．handwritten letters are more important than emails |
| D．whether someone can write a letter makes little difference |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A．A study on why handwritten letters become less popular. |
| B．A concern about the bad results of technology. |
| C．A call for more attention to letter writing. |
| D．A touching story between two friends. |
One in ten teens says they use“study drugs”to improve their performance in school. So-called “study drugs”refer to prescription medicines(处方药) that are used to treat ADHD(注意力缺乏症).But most parents have no understanding of the problem, a new study finds.
In January, 2013, researchers from the University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital did a national survey of more than seven hundred families with teens. They found that only one percent of parents believe their child has taken a study drug.
Yet in a 2012 University of Michigan study, ten percent of second-year high school students and twelve percent of third-year high school students say they use a study drug.
The misuse of study drugs didn’t come to the attention of almost all parents.“What we found in this survey is a clear mismatch(不协调)，”said Dr. Matthew Davis, one of the researchers. It is a mismatch between what parents believed and what their kids were reporting.
“We know teens are spreading the word that these drugs can improve their grades,”Davis said.“But these prescription medicines are drugs. And teens who use them without a prescription are taking a serious risk.”
The new survey showed that fifty-four percent of white parents were“very concerned”about their child taking study drugs, compared with thirty-eight percent of Hispanic(拉美的) parents and thirty-seven percent of black parents.
However, just twenty-seven percent of parents surveyed have talked to their teens about using study drugs. Of these parents, forty-one percent were black, twenty-seven percent were white and seventeen percent were Hispanic.
Students with a prescription for an ADHD drug should be required to keep their medicines in a safe place, such as the school nurse’s office. Seventy-nine percent of parents think so, the survey shows. This may help prevent it from being shared or used by other students.According to Paragraph 4, Dr. Daiv thinks__________.
| A．the 2012 University of Michigan study is untrue |
| B．it is a good way to take study drugs to treat ADHD |
| C．some parents still don’t realize the study drugs problem |
| D．it is necessary to do another new survey about study drugs |
Dr. Davis believed using study drugs to improve grades_________.
| A．is worth a try | B．is bad for health |
| C．sometimes works | D．causes little harm |
What does the underlined word“it”in the last paragraph refer to?
A.ADHD. B.The survey.
C.A safe place. D.The study drug.What is the purpose of this text?
| A．To give useful advice. |
| B．To introduce a new drug. |
| C．To report a research result |
| D．To explain what ADHD is. |
Cob is a six-year-old boy. An aid organization brought him to the farm run by Joy from another province. Both Cob’s parents died of serious disease when he was a two-month-old baby. His eighty-year-old grandmother treated him badly. He developed a disease over time, which led to him being unable to keep things in mind well; on the other hand, there was nothing good for him to bear in mind as well.
When he first arrived at the farm, it appeared to him like a huge playground. Cob plyed around, hid behind trees and bushes, and enjoyed this new area.
Over time, he gained confidence, chose Joy as his new mother, and let her carry him around. Amy, Joy’s real daughter, the same age as Cob, had to learn to share her mother with the other child. She also needed to see the other children as her brothers or sisters and accept them although she may be unwilling to do so.
In the beginning, Cob did not use the facilities(设施) on the farm. Slowly Joy tried to help him use them and during the day, he kept on with them but not at night. All attempts(尝试) to send him to school failed. As soon as he arrived there, he ran off into the wide world like a free rabbit. He enjoyed running around in school rather than doing what teachers told him to do. Finally, the head teacher announced that the school was not suitable for Cob.
Cob had to go back to the farm. At daytime, he watched adults and elder children bicycle and if there was any chance, he took a bicycle, then pushed and pulled it up and down the hill. One day Cob found there was a small bicycle standing next to the big ones. It was a gift for him! It was new with wheels on each side of the back wheel, which was just right for a little child without any experience in riding a bicycle. Cob pushed it up the hill, got on it and off from time to time.
From then on Cob began riding his bicycle every day. Although he often fell and got hurt, he went on. During rainy days, he stored the bicycle in his room and slept close to it at night. Maybe even in his dreams he was happy — he had found the entrance to a happy and satisfying life.What can we learn about Cob from Paragraph 1?
| A．His parents left him when he was born. |
| B．His grandma was too old to know him. |
| C．He was sent to hospital many times. |
| D．He suffered from a poor memory. |
Upon being taken to the farm, Cob felt_________.
| A．confused | B．frightened | C．annoyed | D．excited |
What can we learn from Paragraphs 3& 4?
| A．Cob turned out to be Joy’s real son. |
| B．Amy had a similar experience as Cob. |
| C．Joy has helped many children like Cob. |
| D．Joy seldom thought of sending Cob to school. |
.What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Riding bicycle is Cob’s favourite. |
| B．Cob has a mixture of good and bad luck. |
| C．How to live a happy and satisfying life. |
| D．Cob suffered much physically in his family. |
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