There are many older people in the world and there will be many more. A limeknown fact is that over 60 percent of the older people live in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization，by 2020 there will be 1 billion，with over 700 million living in developing countries.
It is a surprising fact that the population ageing is particularly rapid in developing countries. For example，it took France 115 years for the proportion of older people to double from 7 percent to 14 percent. It is estimated（估计） to take China a mere 27 years to achieve this same increase.
What are the implications（暗指） of these increased numbers of older folk？One of the biggest worries for governments is that the longer people live，the more likelihood there is for diseases and for disability. Attention is being paid to the need to keep people as healthy as possible，including during old age，to lessen the financial burden on the state.
Another significant problem is the need for the younger generations to understand and value the older people in their society. In some African countries，certainly in Asia，older people are respected and regarded as the ones with special knowledge. Yet traditions are fading away daily，which does not ensure the continued high regard of older people. As society changes, attitudes will change.
Much needs to be done to get rid of age discrimination (歧视) in employment. Lifelong learning programs need to be provided to enable older people to be active members in a country’s development.
Social security policies need to be established to provide adequate income protection for older people. Both public and private schemes are vital in order to build a suitable safety net.
To achieve equality in such matters will take considerable time and effort. One thing is sure：there is no time to be lost.
The proportion（比例）of older people________.
| A．is bigger in developed countries than in developing countries |
| B．is one seventh of the population in developing countries |
| C．will increase much faster in China than in France |
| D．will be sixty percent in developing countries by 2020 |
According to the passage，which of the following are governments most worried about?
| A．The diseases and disability of older people. |
| B．The longer life and good health of people. |
| C．The loss of taxes on older people. |
| D．The increasing respect for older people. |
Which of the following measures is NOT mentioned to solve the population ageing problem?
| A．Getting rid of age discrimination in employment. |
| B．Ensuring adequate income protection for older people. |
| C．Providing free health care for sick older people. |
| D．Supplying lifelong learning programs to older people. |
The author concludes in the last paragraph that________.
| A．governments have spent lots of time in solving the ageing problem |
| B．population ageing is a hard problem，but it needs to be solved urgently |
| C．people are too busy to solve the population ageing problem |
| D．much time and effort will be lost in solving the ageing problem |
Marketing Professionals
A major US corporation in the health and nutritional industry has announced the opening of its direct selling division in Taiwan.
The company offers the most lucrative compensation plan in the industry and has paid over NTD (新台币) 3.5 billion in commissions in just 6 years in the US. We are a group of top earners.
Applicants should meet the requirements：
(1) Taiwan citizen
(2) Have experience in marketing
(3) Aggressive, energetic, and willing to learn
If you believe you have what it takes to develop this business, please dial 2742－6996.
Job B
An international company requires a Service Technician
To service and maintain electronic medical equipment，applicants should have degree in electronics. The selected candidate will have a training program to be conducted by our manufacturer's trained technical personnel.
Interested candidates please apply immediately with a resume(简历) and mail to P．O. Box 594. Or telephone Ms Chang at 2945－0027 for an immediate interview.
Job C
Wanted: Reporters & Editors
Qualifications：
* Strong command of English language
* Chinese speaking and reading ability a must
* A university degree
* Journalism education and/or experience preferred
* Flexible working hours (30 hours per week)
* Good work environment and medical insurance, etc.
Fax resume and work samples, if any, to The China Post at(03) 2595－7952.
Job D
Southeastern Travel Services Tour Guides
Duties: To conduct escorted tours(陪游) for foreign visitors；to assist with travel and transportation arrangements.
Qualifications: Good appearance. High school diploma.
Good knowledge of English. Outgoing personality.
Dial 2703－2172 after 3 p.m.. Ask for Gary.Which of the following is required for marketing professionals?
| A．A university degree. |
| B．Good appearance. |
| C．Good computer knowledge. |
| D．Some marketing experience. |
Wendy is good at Chinese and doesn't like to work on fixed schedules. Which of the four jobs might be suitable for her?
A. Job A． B. Job B． C. Job C. D. Job D.Charles has a strong interest in technology service. Which phone number should he dial?
| A．2742－6996. | B．2945－0027. |
| C．2595－7952. | D．2703－2172. |
Mary has attractive looks and a good command of English with an outgoing character. Which of the following would she choose?
A. Job A. B. Job B. C. Job C. D. Job D.
Most people today think of sleep as one continuous period of downtime．This is not the way people used to sleep．According to researchers，in earlier times，people divided sleep by first sleeping a few hours，waking up，then going back to sleep．In the first period，you would typically sleep until midnight or shortly afterwards．Halfway through the night，you came out of first sleep，you would stay in bed and relax quietly．It was called the watching period．Then you would start to feel sleepy．so would return to bed and tall asleep again for your second sleep．This period would continue until early morning when daylight arrived．With no artificial lighting in homes，people naturally woke up early to take advantage of sunlight．
Before the 18th century, people had no gas or electricity in their homes．Fire，candles，or oil lamps were the common forms of lighting．This lack of artificial lighting in homes contributed to people’s sleep patterns．It made sense for people to go to bed early．
Today，human may consider divided sleep a strange habit，but sleep researchers say that it is actually a more natural sleep pattern．Dr．Thomas Wehr of the U．S．National Institute of Mental Health has studied human sleep．He thinks that modern sleep problems occur because the older, natural way of sleep is breaking through the more recent continuous sleep pattern．Wehr and other scientists believe that artificial lighting has altered the way people sleep．In a research study，he asked 15 adults to rest and sleep in darkness for 14 hours(from 6：00 P．M．to 8：00 A．M．)．At first，the subjects took a few hours to get to sleep，and then slept 11 hours a night．Then overtime，they switched to divided sleep．They fell asleep for about three to five hours in the evening，stay awake for an hour or two，and then slept again for four hours till early morning．
We modern humans generally do not practice divided sleep．However, many of us have the experience of waking up in the middle of the night．We usually consider this a sleeping“problem”．but perhaps we should look at it as natural behavior．Divided sleep may be the way we should all be sleeping．A first sleep followed by a relaxation period and a second period of sleep could help all of us to beat the stress of our fast-paced lives．According to the first paragraph，we know the people in the past ____________．
| A．did not sleep as well as people today |
| B．divided their sleep into two parts |
| C．woke up and went out during the night |
| D．fell asleep easily because of hard work |
In Paragraph 3，what does the research study suggest?
| A．Divided sleep is a strange way to sleep． |
| B．Divided sleep means sleeping 11 hours in one period． |
| C．Divided sleep is a natural sleep pattern for humans． |
| D．Divided sleep occurs when people sleep with artificial lights． |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
| A．People had a divided sleep pattern only in the 18th century． |
| B．It may be natural to wake up in the middle of the night． |
| C．Scientists agree that artificial lighting has changed the way people sleep． |
| D．Some of the people today are not familiar with the practice of divided sleep． |
What conclusion does the author make about divided sleep?
| A．It is one type of sleeping problems． |
| B．It is not the best sleep pattern for everyone． |
| C．It shouldn’t be accepted by modern humans． |
| D．It could be helpful for people to handle daily stress． |
Robots make me nervous—especially the ones which seem to think for themselves．I was embarrassed to admit this till I heard that Bill Gates，the founder of Microsoft，felt the same way．
Gates said in an interview with the social networking and news website Reddit：“I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence．First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent．That should be positive if we manage well．A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern．”
Well，maybe I don’t have to worry about my computer and kitchen equipment yet．After I use them I can always pull the plug．But in the future，machines might find a way to prevent us from switching them off．There’s a terrible thought!
Maybe the problem with computers too clever for us is not that they are evil like some we’ve seen in sci-fi movies．What could put us in danger is that they might be too efficient．That’s what philosopher Nick Bostrom from Oxford University believes．He says that machines are indifferent(漠然)to humans and in pursuit of their own goals，the destruction of people might be just additional damage．Bostrom gives us an example：A machine which might have as its only goal to produce as many paperclips as possible might look at human bodies as extra material for paperclips and go after you．Because it is，well，a machine, it would not take pity on you.
It’s a good thing that American writer Isaac Asimov thought about how far robots can go and left us his three rules of robotics．They state that a robot may not hurt a human being or allow the human being to come to harm．
I’m glad my machines at home are“dumb”．All my cleaner wants to take over is the carpet in my living room．Let’s hope they don’t create an appliance which wants to take over the world !.The author quoted Bill Gates’words in Paragraph 2 in order to make the text____________．
| A．better-known | B．more persuasive |
| C．better-organized | D．more interesting |
An intelligent paperclip machine would harm us because _______________．
| A．it is much cleverer than us |
| B．it would take over the world |
| C．it would see us just as material |
| D．it has the strong feeling of destroying us |
How does the author feel about Isaac Asimov’s rules of robotics?
| A．Optimistic． | B．Sympathy． |
| C．Disappointed． | D．Regretful． |
What does the text mainly focus on?
| A．The benefits of future robots． |
| B．The new applications of robots． |
| C．The concern for super intelligence． |
| D．The popularity of robots in the future． |
We were driving from Los Angeles to Dallas，running low on gas somewhere in New Mexico and figured we’d see a gas station soon enough to fill up．
But that didn’t happen and we realized we wouldn’t make it to the next town．So my daughter made up a sign that read“Low on gas．Can u help?” and held it outside her window in the hopes that a driver in the next lane would notice it and stop．
There weren’t too many vehicles passing us either at the time．It was a lonely stretch of road and about 3：30 pm on a weekday．A suburban was driving along happily in the neighboring lane ahead of us．We caught up with it in the hopes the driver would notice the sign．After a brief expression of confusion on his face，he seemed to have noticed the sign and slowed down to pull over．We pulled over right behind him．
He was friendly and was eager to help us．At first he thought we didn’t have enough money to buy gas，so he offered to buy us gas at the next town Roswell that was about 10 miles away!
When we explained our predicament of not having enough gas to get to Roswell，he said his farm was about 1 0 minutes away and they had a gas pump there，so if we could give him 20 minutes，he would head back there，get a can of gas and fill up our tank for us．
We could not believe our good fortune ! There not being any cell phone reception for either of us in the area, we had just hoped that whoever stopped to help would be kind enough to call AAA when they got to Roswell and we would just wait it out for them to help us．
We were filled with gratefulness for the kindness of strangers such as this person as we waited for him to return．Sure enough，he was back with the can and quickly filled our tank．He refused to take payment for the gas．Tears flowed，as did our endless appreciation．What is the author’s final destination?
| A．Roswell． | B．Dallas． |
| C．New Mexico． | D．Los Angeles． |
From the text we know _______________.
| A．the street was crowded with cars |
| B．something was wrong with the car |
| C．the gas of the author's car ran out |
| D．there was no signal for the mobile phone |
The underline word“predicament”in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to _______________.
| A．instruction | B．assistance |
| C．trouble | D．courage |
Which of the following best describes the old man?
| A．Warm-hearted and generous． |
| B．Honest and confused． |
| C．Kind and productive． |
| D．Enthusiastic and serious． |
The London Pass is a sightseeing city card which gives you entry to a choice of over 60 popular tourist attractions in the city．It makes sightseeing easy and affordable by giving you access to top sights in the city with one card．
With the London Pass you don’t have to queue to buy tickets，or stand in line to get into the attraction．The London Pass acts as your ticket into every one of the 60 attractions included．It saves the trouble of carrying around cash for tickets and allows you to budget your spending as you’ve already made the one-off payment．As well as this，you can feel like a VIP with the London Pass as you are granted Fast Track Entry into a handful of London’s most popular attractions．
The London Pass is available for 1，2，3 or 6 days—so choose the duration of Pass that best matches your trip．Your London Pass is valid for use on continuous days for the duration you have selected and is activated upon entry at your first attraction，through a bar code recognition system．
London is packed with top restaurants featuring world—class chefs serving a variety of cooking delights．However, dining out can be expensive．With the London Pass you can make great savings at over 145 restaurants，with discounts of up to 50％off or special offers such as a free bottle of wine or ice cream sundae．
So if you are planning a trip to London，do yourself a favour and check out the London Pass．You may have a more enjoyable trip．With the London Pass，you can _____________．
| A．stay in hotels free of charge |
| B．buy entrance ticket in advance |
| C．travel to each sightseeing in London |
| D．enter the attractions through Fast Track Entry |
What can we learn about the London Pass?
| A．You can use it at any time you want． |
| B．It can save time，money and stress． |
| C．It must be activated as quickly as you Can． |
| D．You can enjoy the discounts at any restaurant． |
The main purpose of the text is to ______________．
| A．advise visitors to buy the London Pass |
| B．tell visitors how to book the London Pass |
| C．supply visitors with some restaurant information |
| D．introduce the most popular attractions in London |
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