All areas of the world face a nurses shortage. But the shortage is most severe in developing countries. Many of their nurses move to the more developed nations for better pay, better working conditions and better chances for career development. For example, nearly 2,000 nurses left the Caribbean between 2002 and 2006.

       The Caribbean nations currently have about 1 nurse for every 1,000 people. The ratio(比例) of nurses to population is about 10 times higher in the United States and countries in the European Union(EU). Now, more than 21,000 nurses who trained in the Caribbean are working in the United States, Canada and Britain.

       Gaetan Lafortune is an official of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(O.E.C.D) in Paris. He says the nurses shortage also affects industrialized countries. He says, “There is concern in most O.E.C.D.countries that the number of nurses is too small to meet the demand. And what is more worrying is that their concern is sort of growing.” Mr Lafortune says a large number of nurses are expected to retire within the next 10 years. At the same time, the health care needs of aging populations are expected to grow, intensifying the shortage of nurses.

       Gaetan Lafortune said, “In the U.S., for instance, some researchers have found that there may be a shortage of close to a million nurses by 2020.” The United States is 1 of the 21 countries in the O.C.E.D. Gaetan Lafortune says in the recent years many of the countries increased their efforts to hire foreign nurses. As a result of that, O.E.C.D. countries were mainly exporting their shortage problem to countries that may have an even greater need for these nurses.

1.What will be the main causes of the global nurses shortage in the next 10 years?

       a. The demand for nurses will decrease.                    

b. Many nurses will be too old to work.

       c. Many rich countries will hire more foreign nurses. 

d. Nurses are often looked down upon.

       e. Aging populations will increase rapidly

       A. a and b             B. b and c              C. b and e              D. c and d

2.The underlined word “intensify” in para. 3 means “________”.

       A. strengthen         B. neglect            C. reduce               D. cause

3.We know from this text that America and the EU countries ______.

       A. refuse to offer equal pay to foreign nurses

       B. have at least one nurse out of 100 people

       C. don’t like to train nurses of their own countries

       D. have more serious nursing problems than the Caribbean nations

4.What does the text mainly tell us?

       A. Nursing is no longer a worthwhile profession in most countries.

       B. The different attitudes towards nursing in different countries.

       C. Nurses shortage will result in serious consequences.

       D. The health care industry needs more nurses.

 

 

Mobile phones should be banned from cars altogether, according to Dr Hole, senior lecturer in psychology, Dr Hole has emphasized the worrying combination of mobile phones and cars in his new book, The Psychology of Driving.

Mobile phones, fatigue(疲劳) , eyesight, drugs and age are among the issues considered by Dr Hole as he examines the factors that influence on driving. The book explores the role of each of these elements in increasing the chances of an accident and was inspired by the author's conversations with road safety experts across the country.

He says: “The government should have banned mobile phones in cars altogether. It has sent out the wrong message by forbidding hand-held phones because this gives the impression that hands-free phones are safe. The problem with mobile phones is not vehicular(车辆的) control and only having one hand on the wheel, but rather it is taking away attention from what is happening outside the car.”

Myths(荒诞的说法) about older people making worse drivers and claims(说法) about an improved reaction time among younger people are explored in the book. Questions about how drivers decide what to attend to while driving, the role of a driver's expectations in determining what they see and how they respond to the road are among the areas covered in the book. Satellite navigation systems and new design aimed at transforming cars into a mobile office, are among the modern developments which he says now compete for driver's attention behind the wheel.

Dr Hole says: “We need to be very careful about how we go about handling modern technology in cars, because we are opening a Pandora's Box. When anyone is driving there is a lot of information outside the car and if there is too much going on inside, then there is a danger of overloading the driver.”

1. Dr Hole’s strong belief that mobile phones should be banned from cars lies in __________.

      A. the inconvenience of having only one hand on the wheel caused by mobile phones

      B. the correct message of getting rid of hand-held phones sent out by the government

      C. the increase of chances of accidents

      D. the advice given by some road safety experts        

3. Which of the following is not included in his book?

      A. Hand-free phones are safer than hand-held phones.

      B. What drivers have to attend to while driving.

      C. Whether older age and slower reaction is related.

      D. Bad eyesight is one of the factors of causing an accident.                   

3. Which of the following is true?

      A. Older people are better at preventing accidents.

      B. Younger drivers’ reaction time is relatively shorter.

      C. It is a myth that some old people can still drive.

      D. A driver’s expectations are not covered in the book.

4. What can we know from the underlined sentence?

      A. What is going on outside is of equal importance to what inside.

      B. Modern developments call for drivers’ attention behind the wheel.

      C. Satellite navigation systems require more cars as mobile offices.

      D. Modern technology is responsible for the distraction (分心) of one’s attention while driving.

 

Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive (欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture.

   For example, some might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery (彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”

   This guy’s a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He’s really a big loser!

   He didn’t say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That’s called a half-truth. Half-truths are not lies, but they are just as dishonest.

   Some politicians often use this trick. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents(对手) says, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true. However, and honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs.”

   Advertisers(广告商) will sometimes use half-truths. It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, “Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache.” It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.

   This kind of deception happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.

1.How much did the lottery winner lose?

   A. One hundred dollars.                                 B. Two hundred dollars.

   C. Three hundred dollars.                                D. Four hundred dollars.

2.We may infer (推断) that the author believes people should _______.

   A. buy lottery tickets                                              B. make use of half-truths

C. not trust anything without careful thoughts           D. not trust the Yucky Company

3. What do the underline words “net gain” in Paragraph 5 mean?

   A. big advantage.      B. large share.      C. total loss.             D. final increase.

4.What can we know from the example of the Yucky Pill advertisement?

A. False statements are easy to see through.   B. Half-truths are often used to mislead people.

C. Doctors like to act in advertisements.      D. Advertisements are based on facts.

 

For Americans, a mosquito bite is an itchy bother. But for many in Africa, a tiny bite can be deadly. One million people die each year of malaria, a disease spread by infected mosquitoes. Most of these people live in Africa, and are under age 5.

Malaria can be prevented and treated. However, many African nations don't have the funds to fight it. Nothing but Nets (NBN) hopes to change that. The United Nations Foundation created the campaign in 2006. The aim is to prevent malaria by covering sleeping areas with nets. Hanging bed nets treated with insecticide(杀虫剂) is the simplest way to stop mosquitoes from biting at night. The chemicals last four to five years. For $10, anyone can send a net to Africa and help save a life.

So far, NBN has raised $19 million and delivered 700,000 nets to seven countries. Families are taught how to use the nets. Kids also get vaccines (疫苗)and vitamins. "Women line up for miles to get the medicine for their kids," says NBN director Elizabeth McKee Gore. "They understand the importance."

So do kids in this country. "They get so excited thinking of ways to raise money," says NBN spokesperson and basketball star Ruth Riley.

NBN's biggest fund-raiser is Katherine Commale, 7. She's been spreading the information about bed nets for the past two years. To show how they work, she and her brother made a video. "We teach that bed nets can save lives," she said.

Katherine has raised $42,000 for NBN. "She just wants those who need a net to have one," says her mom, Lynda. "It's pretty simple to her." To find out how you can help, visit nothingbutnets.net.

We know from the passage that NBN is in fact _________.

   A. a deadly disease                B. an organization

   C. a piece of equipment            D. a game

The purpose of the passage is most probably ___________.

   A. to list the sufferings of the African people

   B. to introduce new ways to avoid mosquito bites

   C. to call on people to offer their help to Africans

   D. to tell people how to buy nets in Africa

By saying “So do kids in this country” in Paragraph 4,the author means that kids in this country also ___________.

   A. know the importance of the bed nets

   B. know how to protect themselves

   C. lack nets to protect themselves

   D. suffer from malaria

What do we know about Katherine from the passage?

   A. She set up the website nothingbutnets.net.

   B. She is the youngest money-raiser for NBN.

   C. She raised money by making and selling videos.

   D. She started working for NBN at the age of 5.

If you ask Americans whether or not they think their former president George W. Bush is smart, most of them will probably tell you they don’t think so. However, Bush’s IQ score is estimated to be above 120, which puts him in the top ten percent of the population.

It doesn’t seem to make sense. How come someone with such an IQ score is not considered smart? Researchers say: IQ does not tell the whole story. Some people have high IQ scores, but still they can be poor thinkers and decision-makers.

Keith Stanovich, a Canadian professor of human development and applied psychology, has been looking into the “clever fools” phenomenon for 15 years. He says IQ tests are very good at measuring certain mental faculties(能力), including logic, learning ability, working-memory capacity (how much information you can hold in mind), etc. Those faculties play a part in one’s academic success, but rational thinking is more important for us to make good judgments in real-life situations.

IQ tests fail to work when it comes to rational thinking. That’s because they are unable to assess things such as a person’s ability to weigh up information, or whether an individual can set aside the cognitive biases(认知偏差)that may be misleading.

“A high IQ is like height in a basketball player,” says David Perkins, who studies thinking and reasoning skills at Harvard University. “It is very important, all other things being equal. But all other things aren’t equal. It takes a lot more to be a good basketball player than being tall, and it takes a lot more to be a good thinker than having a high IQ.”

1.According to the text your academic success depends on your __________.

A．logic

B．mental faculties

C．learning ability

D．working-memory capacity

2.If you need to decide where to invest your money, you must use your ______________

A．IQ scores

B．IQ test

C．rational thinking

D．cognitive biases

3.We know from the text that ____________

A．the former president George W. Bush has a high IQ score

B．many Americans think their former president George W. Bush is smart

C．David Perkins believe that a person’s IQ doesn’t need to be developed

D．Keith Stanovich looked into the “clever fools” phenomenon 5 years ago

4.What is the text mainly about?

A．Those who have high IQ do better than those who don’t in everything.

B．People with high IQ scores must be good decision-makers

C．People with high IQ scores are always smart in every way.

D．Why a high IQ doesn’t mean you’re smart