Casablanca, Sep. 24
A flood swept across the coastal plain about 100 miles southwest of here, killing hundreds of Moroccans in a market place yesterday morning.
Reports from the area said 218 bodies had been counted, and many of the people were missing.
The flood followed heavy rains, which filled the coastal plain and dry river beds and caused them to overflow. The flood, several feet high, hit the village of Khemis Nagua at midmorning yesterday as farmers from the surrounding area joined town people in an open market place. The roaring waters swept the villager’s living places, the market sheds （棚子），shoppers，cattle and farm tools for miles across the plain.
The flood was over almost as soon as it started, the reports said, as the water swept out to sea. Rescue workers quickly moved into the area from Safi, about 25 miles further south.You can learn from the text that ________.
| A．hundreds of people died in the flood |
| B．the flood lasted for several days |
| C．heavy rains followed the flood |
| D．the flood hit the village at midnight |
The report mainly tells the public about__________.
A. how the flood swept the coastal plain
B. the flood in fall
C why the terrible flood took place
D. a rescue attemptAccording to the text, which of the following maps may be correct?
（ KN="Khemis" Nagua, C=Casablanca S= Safi）
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – One of the world’s most famous fossils (化石) – the 3.2 million-year-old Lucy skeleton (骨骼) unearthed in Ethiopia in 1974 – will go on an exhibition tour abroad for the first time in the United States, officials said Tuesday.
Even the Ethiopian public has only seen Lucy twice. The Lucy on exhibition at the Ethiopian National Museum in the capital, Addis Ababa, is a replica while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom. A team from the Museum of National Science in Houston, Texas, spent four years discussing with the Ethiopians for the U.S. tour, which will start in Houston next September.
“Ethiopia’s rich culture of both the past and today, is one of the best kept secrets in the world,” said Joel Bartsch, director of the Houston museum.
The six-year tour will also go to Washington, New York, Denver and Chicago. Officials said six other U.S. cities may be on the tour. But they said plans had not been worked out.
Travelling with Lucy will be 190 other fossils.
Lucy, her name taken from a Beatles song that played in a camp the night of her discovery, is part of the skeleton of what was once a 3-foot-tall ape-man (猿人).The author writes this text mainly to ___ .
| A．introduce a few U.S. museums |
| B．describe some research work |
| C．discuss the value of an ape-man |
| D．report a coming event |
What does the words “a replica” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．A painting of the skeleton. |
| B．A photograph of Lucy |
| C．A copy of the skeleton. |
| D．A written record of Lucy. |
How many cities has Lucy’s U.S. tour plan already included?
| A．Four. | B．Five. | C．Six. | D．Eleven. |
What was the skeleton named after?
| A．An ape-man. | B．A song. | C．A singer. | D．A camp. |
Angry survivors demanded answers on Sunday after a terrible stampede（踩踏）at “Love Parade 2010”, a music festival in Germany, killed 19 people and left hundreds hurt.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her shock over Saturday’s tragedy in the western city of Duisburg. “This was a very sad day,” Merkel said. “We must do everything we can to ensure that something like this never happens again.”
Witnesses said that people pushed into the narrow tunnel, the only entrance to the Love Parade festival, from both sides until it was dangerously overcrowded. The panic began as festival-goers began to lose consciousness as they were crushed against the walls and each other. The dead included eight foreigners, from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Bosnia and Spain. More than 340 people were injured.
After the panic, a lot of emergency vehicles, including helicopters, could be seen parked on the highway leading to helicopters, could be seen parked on the highway leading to the festival site, carrying away the injured people. The festival itself, however, went on. Police were afraid that ending the music altogether could cause further unrest among the crowd.
“The event was a real mess,” Patrick Guenter, a 22-year-old baker, said. “Although the festival was full, they kept letting people in.” he added. “It seems the organizers didn’t plan the route. The road was very narrow, and no one knew what was going on.” Said Taggart Bowen-Gaddy,20,an American from Philadelphia.
Officials said 4,000 police officers and 1,000 security guards provided security for the event, which attracted up to 1.4 million people. The authorities had only given organizers permission for 250,000 people to attend.
“I warned one year ago that Duisburg was not a suitable place for the Love Parade. The city is too small and narrow for such events. It is a pity that…” German police union chief Rainer Wendt told the Bild.
The chief organizer, Rainer Schaller, said the popular event would never be held again, “out of respect for the victims and their families”.
First held in Berlin in 1989 just months before the fall of the Wall, the Love Parade is one of the biggest music festivals in Europe. It left Berlin from 2007 onwards after disagreements with the city authorities over security and has been held in several other German cities in recent years.How did the German Chancellor Angela Merkel feel about the tragedy?
| A．Very disappointed. | B．Angry and surprised. |
| C．Very puzzled. | D．Touched. |
According to Patrick Gunter and Taggart Bowen-Gaddy, ________.
| A．the event was well-organized |
| B．the performance was wonderful |
| C．Duisburg was suitable for the Love Parade |
| D．the organization was very bad |
We can infer that __________.
| A．Rainer Wendt’s warning went unnoticed |
| B．Rainer Wendt was a chief organizer of Love Parade 2010 |
| C．Rainer Wendt is a music lover |
| D．Duisburg is a famous holiday destination |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．the Love Parade has been canceled forever |
| B．the Love Parade is a very popular sport event |
| C．the festival was ended shortly after the panic |
| D．the Love Parade has a history of over 30 years |
In a recent announcement, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT）said that they have joined forces to offer free online courses in an effort to attract millions of online learners worldwide.
Beginning this fall, a number of courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new $60 million program, known as edX. “Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can use our online courses,” Harvard President Drew Faust said during a meeting to announce the plan.
MIT has offered a program called OpenCourseWare for ten years that makes materials from more than 2,000 classes free online. It has been used by more than 100 million people. In December, the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate, known as MITx, for people who complete certain online courses. Harvard has long offered courses to a wider population through a similar program.
The MITx will serve as the foundation for the new learning platform.
MIT President Susan Hockfield said more than 120,000 people signed up for the first MITx course. She said Harvard and MIT hope other universities will join them in offering courses on the open-source edX platform.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” Hockfield said.
Other universities, including Stanford, Yale and Carnegie-Mellon, have been experimenting with teaching to a global population online.
The Harvard-MIT program will be monitored by a not-for-profit（非盈利的）organization based in Cambridge, to be owned equally by the two universities. Both MIT and Harvard have provided $30 million to start the program. They also plan to use the edX platform to research how students learn and which teaching methods and tools are most successful.According to this text, edX is _______.
| A．a part of the free MIT OpenCourseWare |
| B．a free computer program by MIT and Harvard |
| C．a Harvard-MIT platform of free online courses |
| D．a free program online for universities worldwide |
What is said about online education in the text?
| A．Universities have been trying online courses. |
| B．About 2,000 online courses have been offered. |
| C．Over 100 million people have finished courses online. |
| D．Stanford and Yale together have courses similar to edX. |
The underlined part in the text probably means “ ”.
| A．Get ready for the difficulties |
| B．Get ready for this educational change |
| C．Get prepared to complete the online courses |
| D．Get prepared to make materials for the edX courses |
What can be said about MITx according to the text?
| A．It is first offered as part of the edX learning program. |
| B．It is another free MIT-Harvard online learning program. |
| C．It is a standard to recognize online learners’ achievement. |
| D．It is a new kind of free online course of Harvard and MIT. |
To help the environment, many Americans have made the change from paper and plastic bags to reusable grocery bags. But a report by a Florida newspaper says that reusable grocery bags sold by some supermarkets contain high levels of lead(铅). Lead is a metal that can be harmful to humans, especially young children. Now, Senator Charles Schumer is asking the US government to investigate(调查) the use of lead in reusable shopping bags.
“When our families go to the grocery store looking for safe and healthy foods to feed their kids, the last thing they should have to worry about is poisonous bags.” Schumer said, “A quick investigation will allow everyone to make informed, timely decisions.” Schumer added.
Lead in the bags is not likely to rub off on food. But over time, paint on the bags can chip and the bags can wear out. When this happens, lead can be released(释放).
The Tampa Tribune newspaper said certain bags sold at Publix and Winn-Dixie supermarkets had lead levels that were a concern(担忧) to health officials. The affected bags were found in Florida. But Publix has more than 1,000 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Sough Carolina and Tennessee. Publix says that all of its bags are under current laws about lead content, but that they have asked the makers of the bags to reduce the lead levels in the product.
The bags with the highest levels of lead had fancy designs and many pictures. Plain reusable bags without decoration were found to contain little lead. Consumers worried about lead levels in reusable bags can change to cloth or string bags. Paper bags are also a good choice, since paper can be recycled(回收).
Since 2007, Publix supermarkets have sold more than 13 million reusable bags. The store says because shoppers have made the change to reusable bags, it has saved more than 1 billion paper and plastics bags.The shopping bags containing high levels of lead ________.
| A．have been reported by a newspaper |
| B．have been stopped by the government |
| C．have stopped people from using reusable bags |
| D．have caused serious health damage to customers |
From Schumer’s words we can learn that ________.
| A．reusable bags do little harm to kids’ health |
| B．people have shown much concern for the reusable bags |
| C．people will be informed of the facts about the reusable bags |
| D．people should refuse to buy things from supermarkets |
It can be inferred from the text that Publix might believe that the bags they sold are _____.
| A．dependable | B．convenient | C．harmful | D．popular |
Customers are advised to choose bags ________.
| A．with colorful designs | B．with fancy pictures |
| C．made of plastic | D．made of paper |
Chinese media and Internet users on Monday condemned lack of morals in society after a toddler was struck twice –by two different vans-and left bleeding on the road as more than a dozen bystanders did nothing to help the seriously injured girl．
The incident， captured by a surveillance camera and broadcast by Southern Television Guangdong （TVS），showed the two-year-old girl was knocked down and run over by a white van on a narrow market street on the afternoon of Oct．13，in Foshan City of Guangdong Province．
The driver fled the scene of the accident，leaving the girl to bleed on the sidewalk．Over the next six minutes，more than a dozen people walked by the girl，yet not one individual did anything to help her．The girl was then hit a second time by another van before an elderly trash collector came to her aid and brought the attention of the girl’s mother，according to the video and eyewitnesses．
Doctors said that the girl，who was put on life support after being hospitalized，remains in a deep coma．The girl’s parents，who are migrants living in the city，are now with her．
Police said the drivers of both vehicles have been arrested．However，the apathy of the bystanders shown in the video has shocked the public，as Internet forums have seethed with anger， and people are questioning the morality of society．
High moral standards were once triumphed as national pride in China where individuals known for selflessly helping others were adored by the public．
But in recent years，the perception（观念）of a decline of morals has become a hot topic as profit and materialism are perceived to be affecting society’s values．
On Sept．2 an 88-year-old man in central China collapsed，his face striking the pavement．Yet，no one came to his aid，and he ended up choking to death on the blood from his nose．
Some have linked the absence of good Samaritans （模范人物）to a previous case in which a man trying to help an elderly woman who fell was accused of harming her．
A strong chorus of opinion on the Internet says laws should exempt（免除）Samaritans from liability（责任），yet laws themselves cannot solve society’s morality dilemma．
Cao Lin，a China Youth Daily commentator，said in a signed article published on Monday that the worry of liability should not be an excuse for not helping，and this case exposes the decline of humanity in Chinese society．According to the passage，what would happen if someone helped others selflessly in the past?
| A．He/ she would be condemned by the public． |
| B．He/ she would be awarded by the government． |
| C．He/ she would have to worry about liability． |
| D．The public would feel proud of him/ her and thus showed love and respect for him/ her |
Which of the following is TRUE about this passage?
| A．Nobody helped the girl who was struck twice by two different vans． |
| B．The toddler died immediately after she was hit a second time． |
| C．High moral standards were once regarded as national pride in China． |
| D．Journalists from TVS captured the incident by using a camera． |
In recent years，society’s values is believed to be affected by ．
| A．profit and materialism | B．people’s perceptions |
| C．the apathy of bystanders | D．the morals of society |
According to Cao Lin，what is the fundamental reason for not helping the girl?
| A．The worry of liability． |
| B．Lack of laws that exempt Samaritans from liability． |
| C．The decline of humanity in society． |
| D．The fear of being accused of harming her． |
Where is the article most probably taken from?
| A．A fashion magazine． | B．A news report． |
| C．A science fiction． | D．An education column． |
Wen Jiabao arrived in Singapore yesterday for an official visit to the country. It is the first visit by a Chinese premier to Singapore in eight years. In the arrival statement, When said he is looking forward to the meeting with Singing pore on ways to deepen East Asian cooperation between two nations so as to contribute to the building of a peaceful, harmonious relationship.
Premier Wen Jiabao and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to jointly develop an environmentally friendly city in northeastern China. The city will be a model for sustainable development, a Singapore government statement said.The”Sino-Singapore Tjanjin Eco—city” will be developed by a joint venture formed by Chinese and Singapore companies.”This eco-city, to be built in Tianjin, well become another highlight in our relations,” When said after signing an agreement with Lee, who agreed,“On the Singapore side, on all levels,we’ll give this project our full support.”
The two sides will share expertise and experiences in urban planning, environmental protection, resources conservation,recyeling,use of renewable resources and wastewater re-use. China’s economil planning agency issued a set of guidelines earlier this month welcoming foreign investment in environmentally friendly areas such as recycling,”clean”industries and environmental protection.
Bilateral relations between China and Singapore have seen big progress even though the two countries established diplomatic ties only 17 years ago, When said during his talks with Lee.
China and Singapore have also kept close contact and coordination on regional issues, he added. When said China and Singapore are both important Asian countries that share common interests in many areas.
Title: Wen’s visit to Singapore
| Main points |
contexts |
| General |
To To |
| Agreements |
Another |
| Co－operation in city planning, environment protection, recycling and so on for |
|
| Co－operation in |
|
| Guidelines |
China’s |
Now, it’s time for some brief news items.
Teens Go Online
Some 13 million European children under 18 use the Internet for schoolwork, games and music according to research done by Nielsen’s “Net-rating”. The study covered Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Experts advised parents to limit the time their kids spend on line and keep them away from chat rooms.
Chat to the magic Mum
British author J. K. Rowling, mother of magic boy Harry Potter, will do an Internet interview about her new book “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” on June 26. Before the event, children are invited to send their questions about Harry to the website. The book will hit stores in the US and UK on June 21 and will arrive in China in August.
School Soldiers
Russian school students will have to do basic military training in their final year of school, the government has decided. The lesson will include learning to fire guns, marching drills and how to deal with a chemical, nuclear or biological attack. The activity is seen as part of a drive toward the education of their love for their country.
Is it hard for you to get up early and get ready for classes? Some students at Winter Park High School just roll out of bed in their pajamas (睡衣) and go to class in their own bedrooms, Of course, their teachers and classmates do not see them because all their class work is on the computer. The Florida High School, the state’s only online school, has 250 students who are taking classes at home by computer. Students in this first online program take classes in algebra (代数), American government, chemistry, computer, economics, and web-page design. They also have to go to regular school to attend other classes.In the first news item, which country is NOT covered in the research?
| A．Britain. | B．France. | C．Sweden. | D．Spain. |
What is the second news item mainly about?
| A．J. K. Rowling will have an Internet interview. |
| B．Children will meet Harry Potter’s mother. |
| C．The Harry Potter book will be available on the Internet. |
| D．The Harry Potter book will arrive in China in early June. |
Why will Russian school students have basic military training?
| A．To get ready for a military parade. |
| B．To learn to protect themselves. |
| C．To gain some military knowledge. |
| D．To develop their love for the country. |
The last news can be given a title “________”.
| A．Get up Late | B．Online School |
| C．Magical Computers | D．No Teachers |
We can stay young forever. That is the message Dr. Shen Ziyin wants to give the world. And the Chinese doctor claims that he has found an answer to the problems of aging.
His solution is a herbal medicine to slow the process of aging.
Dr. Shen Ziyin has been trained in Western medicine. At the same time he studied traditional Chinese medicine. And, he has been working for the past forty years to put together the best of both and find a cure for aging. He has taken a hint from the ancient Chinese medicine system called “shen”.
According to Shen, it is the kidney（肾脏）which adjusts the functioning of the body as well as its aging process. It is responsible for the level of activity that the human bodies go through. Studies conducted by Dr. Shen show that herbal medicine based on the shen system slow the aging process, says a report in The Telegraph newspaper.
We notice that when people grow old, they have reduced strength, loss of hair, backache, weakness in general, and wrinkles, among others. This happens because when people grow old, their bodies produce T-cells. These T-cells contain a particular substance called Fas. Fas makes the cells in the body destruct themselves.
So the only way to slow down aging is to slow the production of T-cells in the body. This can happen if people eat low calorie food. Then the body is not active enough to produce extra T-cells. But, is going hungry all the time a good price to pay for staying young?
This is where Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine comes in. But how effective it will be, only time can tell.How did Dr. Shen find the solution to the problem of aging?
| A．By studying Western medicine. |
| B．By learning traditional Chinese medicine. |
| C．By combining both Western and Chinese medicine. |
| D．By doing research on both Western and Chinese people. |
What plays the most important role in keeping people young according to Shen?
| A．Medical treatment. | B．People’s good kidney. |
| C．Level of people’s activity. | D．Positive life attitude. |
The reason why people become old is that _________.
| A．their bodies produce T-cells |
| B．their bodies are unable to fight diseases |
| C．they have reduced strength, loss of hair |
| D．they become weaker and weaker |
We can probably learn from the passage that _________.
| A．producing more low calorie food allows people to keep young |
| B．the more Chinese herbal medicine people drink, the better for health |
| C．people should try to quicken the production of T-cells in the body |
| D．it remains unknown how effective Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine is |
The interview had been going on for about 20 minutes and everything seems to be going well．Then, suddenly, the interviewer asks an unexpected question, "Which is more important, law or love?"
Job applicants in the west increasingly find themselves asked strange questions like this．And the signs are that this is beginning to happen in China．
Employers want people skilled, enthusiastic and devoted．So these are the qualities that any reasonably intelligent job applicants will try to show no matter what his or her actual feelings are．In response, employers are increasingly using questions which try and show the applicant’s true personality．
The question in the first paragraph comes from a test called Kiersey Personality Sorter．It is an attempt to discover how people solve problems, rather than what they know．This is often called aptitude （能力） testing．
According to Mark Baldwin of Alliance many job applicants in China are finding this type of questions difficult. When a Chinese person fills out an aptitude test he or she will think there is a right answer and they may fail because they try to guess what the examiner wants to see．
This is sometimes called the prisoner’s dilemma （窘境）．Applicants are trying to act cleverly in their own interest．But they fail because they don’t understand what the interviewer is looking for．Remember that in an aptitude test, the correct answer is always the honest answer．The writer wrote the passage to ____．
| A．give you a piece of advice on a job interview． |
| B．tell you how to meet a job interviewer |
| C．describe the aptitude test． |
| D．advice you how to find a job |
Why do the interviewers ask such questions?
| A．they want to discover what the interviewees know． |
| B．they are curious about the answers． |
| C．they try to discover the ability of the interviewees’ solving problems． |
| D．they just ask questions without thinking much． |
According to the writer, in an aptitude testing, Chinese job applicants should___．
| A．not tell the truth |
| B．learn to tell what they really think |
| C．be more enthusiastic |
| D．try to find out what the examiner really want to know |
From the passage we know that____．
| A．job applicants are always asked such questions |
| B．more Chinese applicants fail to find a job |
| C．applicants should not act as reasonably as a prisoner |
| D．aptitude testing is becoming popular worldwide |
The city of Rome has passed a new law to prevent cruelty to animals. All goldfish bowls are no longer allowed and dog owners must walk their dogs.
This comes after a national law was passed to give prison sentences to people who desert cats or dogs.
“The civilization of a city can be measured by this,” said Monica Carina, the councilor behind the new law.
The newspaper reported that round bowls don’t give enough oxygen for fish and may make them go blind.
“Rome has tried to protect fish more than anywhere else in the world. It stands out for recognizing that fish are interesting animals that deserve over respect and pity every bit as much as dogs and cats and other animals,” said Karin Robertson, a director of the People for the Ethical treatment of Animals.
Lat year a law was passed in Italy that gives people who desert pets big fines and prison sentences. Since then local governments have added their own animal protection rules.
The northern city of Turin passed a law in April to give pet owners fines of up to $598 if they do not walk their dogs three times a day.
The new law in Rome also says that owners mustn’t leave their dogs in hot cars or cut their dogs’ tail to make them look lovelier. The law also gives legal recognition to the “cat ladies” who feed homeless cats. The cats live all over the city from ancient ruins to modern office car parks.The new law passed in Rome will _________.
| A．help improve fishing environment |
| B．guarantee better conditions for goldfish |
| C．stop people from catching goldfish |
| D．discourage keeping goldfish at home |
People in Rome believe that the civilization of a city can be judged by _________.
| A．exchanges with other cities |
| B．Protection of ancient ruins |
| C．awareness of animal protection |
| D．recognition of animal lovers |
People may break the law in Turin if they _____________.
| A．keep their dogs or cats in cars | B．feed homeless animals in car parks |
| C．raise their cats near ancient ruins | D．shut their dogs home all day long |
In the USA Forbes magazine has published its annual list of the richest people in the world. Bill Gates of Microsoft is the richest man again for the eleventh successive year with a fortune of fortyfour billion dollars.
There are a record 691 dollar billionaires according to Forbes magazine. Between them they have a fortune of two point two trillion dollars. The highest concentration of the ultra-rich is in New York followed by Moscow and San Frans
isco and then London and Los Angeles. But in total the very wealthy live in fortyseven different countries with Iceland KazakstanUkraine and Poland entering the list for the first time this year.
Laksmi
Mittal, an Indian born steel tycoon （巨头）enjoyed the biggest increase in personal fortune. His net worth has quadrupled （变成四倍）to thirteen billion dollars making him the world’s third richest man. Ingvar Kamprad founder of the Swedish furniture chain Ikea also saw a big increase in wealth taking him to the sixth place. Developing countries make more of a showing than in past years — there are for example three Russians and four Indians in the top sixty richest people, though surprisingly perhaps none from China excluding Hong Kong. Asian wealth is probably underrepresented as its usually spread among families whereas Forbes looks at individuals. Relatively few women feature in the list — among them is JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels ranked 620th with a fortune of 519 million dollars. New entrants to the list include the founders of the Internet search group Google Sergie Brin and Larry Page each worth more than seven billion dollars after their company’s recent stock market debut. The richest Italian is the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi ranked number 25 in the global wealth league.Which of the following persons has the largest fortune according to this year’s Forbes magazine?
| A．Laksmi Mittal. | B．Ingvar Kamprad. |
| C．JK Rowling. | D．Silvio Berlusconi. |
There are about _____ persons with a fortune between 100 million dollars and 519 million dollars in the world.
| A．300 | B．180 | C．70 | D．150 |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．No Chinese has entered the top sixty richest people in the world. |
| B．Russia is a developing country. |
| C．This is the first time that Sergie Brin and Larry Page has been included in the list. |
| D．There are more billionaires（亿万富翁） in New York than any other city in the world. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．There are more billionaires in London than in Moscow. |
| B．Ukraine is a very rich country in the world. |
| C．JK Rowling’s novels have sold very well. |
| D．The IT industry is a profit making industry. |
BC Social Report, August 14, 2010
Scandinavians may spend a lot of the winter in darkness but they are the happiest people in Europe, according to a study showed this month. Countries like Denmark and Finland scored highest on the study of happiness in Europe carried out by Cambridge University, which also found that the sunny southern countries of Italy, Portugal and Greece got the least joy out of life.
The survey entitled: "No Man is an Island" showed that countries where people enjoy time with friends and family, have trust in government and national institutions were more likely to be happy than those living in a sunny climate. The study rated respondent on their overall sense of happiness and life satisfaction on a scale of one to 10.
Danes (丹麦人)--who expressed a high level of trust in their politicians and public institutions--came top of the field at 8.3. Italians--who reported lower levels of satisfaction with their national quality of government--came last at 6.49.' "Italy, Greece, Portugal, Germany and France report the lowest levels of happiness while the Scandinavian Countries, Netherlands and Luxembourg report the highest," the study said.
Although Europeans are generally four times wealthier than their fathers and grandfathers, their levels of happiness are either equal to or lower than 40 years ago. The study also looked at factors contributing to happiness within countries and surprisingly found that an interest in politics actually increased happiness.
Lead researcher Luisa Corrado said tax cuts and throwing money at social problems appeared to have no effect on the happiness of citizens when compared with government policies which strengthened and supported wider social networks. "People are less naive ( 质朴的) than one would expect, politicians need to adapted their policies and target specific problems in specific areas," she said. According to the passage, we can know .
| A．Scandinavians are the happiest people in the world |
| B．the research is carried out by Oxford University |
| C．the people of the northern countries are much happier |
| D．Italians expressed their trust in politics and institutions |
Which of the following factors increases happiness?
| A．Interest in polities | B．Wealth | C．Health | D．Websites. |
The underlined word "scale" in the second paragraph means
| A．sense | B．life | C．report | D．range |
What's the writer's attitude to the study?
A. Subjunctive. B. Objective. C. Pessimistic. D: Optimistic.In what column may readers probably read the passage?
| A．Lifestyle. | B．Amusement. | C．Politics. | D．Health and Happiness. |
While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare．It's estimated that more than 2 million people have left the rolls since 1994．
In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens Country have been cut in half．But 70 percent of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour．T'he result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent—twice the national average,
For advocates（代言人） for the poor, that's an indication much more needs to be done．
"More people are getting jobs, but it's not making their lives any better," says Kathy Lairn, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington．
A center analysis of US Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female-headed households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down．
But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory．
"Welfare was a poison．It was a toxin（毒素） that was poisoning the family," says Robert Rector, a welfare-reform policy analyst．"The reform in changing the moral climate in low-income communities．It's beginning to rebuild the work ethic, which is much more important．"
Mr．Rector and others argued that once "the habit of dependency is cracked," then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards．Why don't people enjoy their better lives when they get jobs?
| A．Because they are used to relying on welfare to make livings． |
| B．Because the cost of living is higher than before． |
| C．Because many families are below average income． |
| D．Because their wages are very low． |
From the passage we know that the reconstruction of___ is the core of the reform．
| A．government aids |
| B．work ethic |
| C．welfare funds |
| D．moral awareness |
From the example of the Athens County, we know great efforts should be done for the poor to ___.
| A．improve their living standards |
| B．to help them be employed |
| C．to get them off welfare |
| D．to increase their wage |
From the passage, it can be inferred that the author ___．
| A．is completely certain about the success of welfare reform |
| B．thinks that welfare reform has done little good for the poor |
| C．insists welfare reform has increased the government's burden |
| D．considers welfare reform fundamentally successful |
Officials in the Midwestern U. S. town of Joplin, Missouri, say the death from Sundays’ big tornado reaches 116 and that search efforts continue for possible survivors trapped in rubble (碎石). Search and rescue teams are conducting their third sweep through the nearly 10 kilometer – long and one – kilometer wide area of destruction left by the tornado. They are working as quickly as possible while weather conditions remain relatively stable. More storms are forecast for the erea.
Joplin Fire Chief Mitch Randles said there are areas with large piles of rubble that might hold survivors. “We are still finding individuals. We did rescue seven individuals from underneath rubble yesterday and , of course, we are also finding dead folks as well.” Said mre folks and that is why we are doing these searches. We want to make every opportunity that we can to
find everybody that is in the rubble and that has survived to this point.”
Randles said the current sweep involves a slower pace that previous searches and that he plans a fourth search, possibly on Wednesday, using specially trained dogs. “We are searching every structure that has been damaged or destroyed in a more in-depth manner, “he said.” I have dogs and dog handlers coming from all over the country do help us in that effort.”
Joplin City Manager 
Mark Rohr said the Red Cross and other volunteer organizations are helping people who were left homeless by the tornado and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is on hand to help. “Joplin is a great city. We have suffered a great loss, “said Rohr.” We will recover and we will recover strongly and we have a lot of help and a lot of volunteers to make that easier.”
The tornado that struck Joplin was classified by the Natioonal Weather Service as an F – 4, with winds of more than 300 kilometers per hour. It lasted only 20 minutes, but it killed more that 100 people, injured more than 400 others, and destroyed or heavily damaged some 2,000 homes, businesses, churches and a hospital. Authorities have registered more than 1,700 calls about missing people and they hope to resolve most of those cases soon, as victims are identified and survivors come forth and reunite with loved ones.
This was the worst tornado to strike the United States in 60 years. It was the latest in a wave of violent storms that have swept Midwestern and southern states in recent weeks, leaving more than 300 people dead an causing more than $2 billion dollars in damage.The best headline for this newspaper article would be .
| A．Difficulties in the Rescue |
| B．The Great Loss Brought by the Tornado |
| C．Search for Survivors After the Disaster |
| D．Worst Tornado in the USA |
The word “resolve” in Para 5 probably means .
| A．cover | B．settle | C．overcome | D．challenge |
The number of death caused by the tornado that struck Joplin reached more than .
| A．100 | B．300 | C．400 | D．1,700 |
From the
text, it can be inferred that .
| A．many victims might be under the ruins |
| B．it was impossible to find out surviors |
| C．the tornado lasted several weeks |
| D．the bad weather influenced the rescue greatly |
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