There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system, and the traditional system.
In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.
An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.
In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste（阶级） may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and provide for their education. Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. An inactive society may result.What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To outline contrasting types of economic systems. |
| B．To explain the science of economics. |
| C．To argue for the superiority of one economic system. |
| D．To compare barter and money-exchange markets. |
In the second paragraph, the underlined word “real” could best be replaced by _______.
| A．valuable | B．concrete | C．absolute | D．reliable |
According to the passage, a barter economy can generate ______.
| A．rapid speed of transactions | B．misunderstandings |
| C．inflation | D．difficulties for the traders |
According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control in the administered system?
| A．Individual households. | B．Small businesses. |
| C．Major corporations. | D．The government. |
Which of the following is not mentioned by the author as a criterion（标准）for determining a person’s position in a traditional society?
| A．Family background | B．Age |
| C．Religious beliefs. | D．Custom |
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. |
Energy independence. It has a nice ring to it. Doesn’t it? If you think so, you’re not alone, because energy independence has been the dream of American president for decades, and never more so than in the past few years, when the most recent oil price shock has been partly responsible for kicking off the great recession.
“Energy independence” and its rhetorical (修辞的) companion “energy security” are, however, slippery concepts that are rarely through, though. What is it that we want independence from, exactly?
Most people would probably say that they want to be independent from imported oil. But there are reasons that we buy all that oil from elsewhere.
The first reason is that we need it to keep our economy running. Yes, there is a trickle（涓涓细流）of biofuel（生物燃料）available, and more may become available, but most biofuels cause economic waste and environmental destruction.
Second, Americans have basically decided that they don’t really want to produce all their own oil. They value the environmental quality they preserve over their oil imports from abroad. Vast areas of the United States are off-limits to oil exploration and production in the name of environmental protection. To what extent are Americans really willing to endure the environmental impacts of domestic energy production in order to cut back imports?
Third, there are benefits to trade. It allows for economic efficiency, and when we buy things from places that have lower production costs than we do, we benefit. And although you don’t read about this much, the United States is also a large exporter of oil products, selling about 2 million barrels of petroleum products per day to about 90 countries.
There is no question that the United States imports a great deal of energy and, in fact, relies on that steady flow to maintain its economy. When that flow is interrupted, we feel the pain in short supplies and higher prices, at the same time, we derive massive economic benefits when we buy the most affordable energy on the world market and when we engage in energy trade around the world.What does the author think of biofuels?
| A．They keep America’s economy running healthily. |
| B．They prove to be a good alternative to petroleum. |
| C．They do not provide a sustainable energy supply. |
| D．They cause serious damage to the environment. |
Why does America rely heavily on oil imports?
| A．It wants to expand its storage of crude oil. |
| B．Its own oil reserves are quickly running out. |
| C．It wants to keep its own environment intact. |
| D．Its own oil production falls short of demand. |
What does the author say about oil trade?
| A．It proves profitable to both sides. |
| B．It improves economic efficiency. |
| C．It makes for economic prosperity. |
| D．It saves the cost of oil exploration. |
A ground-based system that uses much stronger signals than GPS can find your location in cities and indoors. It is a new positioning system that could compete with GPS to make sure you never lose your directions again.
Instead of satellites, Locata uses ground-based equipment to launch a radio signal over a localized area that is a million times stronger on arrival than GPS. It can work indoors as well as outdoors, and the makers claim the receivers can be shrunk to fit inside a regular cell phone. Even the US military, which invented GPS technology, signed a contract last month agreeing to a large-scale test of Locata at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
“This is one of the most important technology developments for the future of the positioning industry,” says Nunzio Gambale, CEO and co-founder of the firm Locata, based in Griffith, Australia.
As for the Locata’s accuracy, Christopher Morin of the US Air Force tested it recently at White Sands, and it worked to within 18 centimeters along any axis(轴). Morin says it should be possible to get the resolution down to 5 centimeters.
Admittedly, the tests were performed in an open desert where GPS also works beautifully, but its signals are weak— like a car headlight from 20,000 kilometers away— and easily blocked by solid objects. “Locata’s signal is far stronger, though not guaranteed to work in a complex urban environment,” says David Last, consultant to the UK’s General Lighthouse Authorities.
“Locata’s technology will face competition in the race to transform indoor navigation. But it could shine in specific areas,” Gambale says. “Robots with Locata could easily navigate inside buildings without the complex optical systems they need at the moment. And process that handle precise location data could not only guide you around a mall, railway station or airport, but also take you to the exact shelf in a shop for the product you want. The units small and cheap enough for smart phones should be available within five years— a similar path to the one GPS took on its way towards world domination.”The passage is written mainly to .
| A．encourage people to buy the Locata |
| B．tell us the disadvantage of the GPS |
| C．introduce a new positioning system Locata |
| D．tell us that Locata will replace GPS one day |
Which of the following is not true about Locata according to Paragraph 2?
| A．Without the help of the satellites, Locata can tell you where you are. |
| B．The US military has to test it before using it. |
| C．Locata has a better signal than GPS. |
| D．Locata can be fixed into smart phones only. |
Which of the following words can be used to replace the underlined word in Paragraph 4?
| A．accuracy | B．speed |
| C．determination | D．length |
According to the passage, what can we know about Gambale?
| A．He did the experiment at White Sands. |
| B．He is confident in Locata and think highly of it. |
| C．He said that Locata could not work in a complex urban environment. |
| D．He is worried about the competition that Locata faces. |
The World Bank has looked at the distinguishing features of successful school system.
According to the World Bank’s education specialist, Harry Patrinos, this include: improving the quality of teachers and making sure that teachers are highly regarded; providing information to make schools accountable and giving autonomy to schools and head teachers.
This matters not only for individual pupils but also for the well-being of countries, he says, because improving educational performance has a direct impact on improving economic performance.
China’s education performance— at least in cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong— seems to be as spectacular as the country’s fast growing economy.
Certainly both these open and outward-looking cities consider education to be important and are willing to adopt the best educational practices from around the world to ensure success. In Hong Kong, education accounts for more than one-fifth of entire government spending every year.
“Shanghai and Hong Kong are small education systems, with a concentration of ideas, manpower and resources for education,” says Prof Cheng.
Under the banner “First class city, first class education”, Shanghai set about systematically re-equipping classroom, upgrading schools and improving the curriculum in the last decade.
It got rid of the “key schools” system which concentrated resources only on top students and top schools. Instead staff were trained in more interactive teaching methods and computers were brought in.
About 80% of Shanghai school leavers go to university compared to an overall average of 24% in China.
Meanwhile, dynamic Hong Kong was forced into educational improvements as its industries moved to cheaper mainland Chinese areas in the 1990s.Its survival as a service and management hub depends on upgrading knowledge and skills.
In the last decade Hong Kong has concentrated on closing the gap for all students, says a report by McKinsey management consultants.
The report, How the World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better, rated Hong Kong’s education system among the best in the world.The World Bank’s survey about education mainly concentrates on .
| A．what has made some education systems successful |
| B．China’s education system and competitive exams |
| C．how to relieve Chinese students of their heavy schoolwork |
| D．the relationship between education and economic development |
According to Harry Patrinos, the key to successful school systems is .
| A．to give autonomy to all teachers to educate students freely in class |
| B．to let students attend after-school tutoring and do more exercises |
| C．to improve teachers’ abilities and give schools free performance right |
| D．to make school education directly serve the economy of the country |
We can learn from the text that .
| A．the “key school” system is the key to many schools’ failure |
| B．students in Shanghai and Hong Kong work the hardest |
| C．Hong Kong’s educational performance isn’t as good as Shanghai’s |
| D．Shanghai and Hong Kong’s economic performance will improve |
What is the author’s attitude towards the school systems of Shanghai and Hong Kong?
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Critical. |
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