During the twentieth-century there has been a great change in the lives of women. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and can be expected to live another thirty-five years and is likely to take paid work until sixty.

   This important change in women's life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school and took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life.

46. We are told that in a family in about 1900        .

     A. few children died before they were five

     B. seven or eight children lived to be more than five

     C. the youngest child would be fifteen

     D. four or five children died when they were five

47.One reason why the woman of today may take a job is that she         .

     A. is younger when her children are old enough to look after themselves

     B. does not like children herself

     C. needn't worry about food for her children

     D. can be free from family duties when she reaches sixty

48. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to         .

     A. stay at home after leaving school         

B. marry men younger than themselves

     C. start working again later in life          

D. marry while still at school

49.Many girls are now likely to        .

     A. give up their jobs for good after they are married

     B. leave school as soon as they can

     C. marry so that they can get a job

     D. continue working until they are going to have a baby

50. Now a husband probably        .

      A. plays a greater part in looking after the children

      B. helps his wife by doing more of the housework

      C. feels dissatisfied with his part in the family

      D. takes a part-time job so that he can help in the home

On Saturday August 12, 2000, during Northern Fleet training exercises in the Barents Sea, the Russian nuclear submarine(潜水艇) Kursk sank in about 100 meters of water with some 118 sailors aboard. It's known later that several officers were also aboard, observing the training exercises. The Kursk is lying on the ocean floor in the Barents Sea. The Russian Navy said that it was listing 30 degrees to port. Other sources reported it was listing as much 60 as degrees. According to a Russian newspaper, when the submarine Kursk failed to make contact with the naval command at the right time later that day, Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Vyachesav Popov ordered rescue ships into the area. It took hours to find the submarine, as it didn't launch(发射) a marking buoy(浮) before sinking.

Russian Navy Chief insisted that the submarine Kursk had been involved(卷入) in a major collision(碰撞), but a great deal of information shows that this is not true. Up till now, it's believed that an explosion in the torpedo compartment(鱼雷舱) in the nose of the Kursk was the likely cause. Now Russian government officially asked Norway for help in recovering of sailors' bodies first of all, and Norway has agreed to offer all help. But Russian insisted that only Russians work inside the submarine Kursk and that the work last for about 10～18 working days. It is expected to recover only 25～35 bodies from the Kursk.

It was not until October 25, when a team of Russian divers entered the submarine Kursk, some 350 feet below the surface, that truth became clear. On November 7, in the morning, owing to(由于)  the icy and the cold weather, a special rescue meeting held on Murmansk decided to stop the whole bodies recovering operation.

1. From the text we can infer that _______ led to the sinking of the submarine Kursk.

A. a small fighting with another foreign submarine

B. an explosion inside the submarine Kursk

C. a great collision inside the submarine Kursk

D. an attack from another foreign submarine

2. After Kursk accident occurred, Northern Fleet Commander Popov _______.

A. decided to recover all the sailors' bodies immediately

B. went to apply to Norway for help at once

C. decided to find out the real cause of sinking at once

D. sent several rescue ships into the Barents Sea

3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A. The Norwegians were willing to offer all help.

A. If the rescue work did within 10～18 days, there would be about 30 sailors to be recovered.

B. It was not believed that there were many unclear weapons inside the Kursk.

C. A team of divers from Norway entered the submarine Kursk successfully on Oct. 25

D. It's reported that a major collision was unlikely to cause the sinking of the Kursk.

4. Why did Russia insist that only Russian divers can work inside the submarine Kursk?

A. Because the Barents Sea is very icy and the weather is too cold.

B. Because Russia feared that the top secrets inside the Kursk will be let out.

C. Because Russian divers are much more skilled than those from Norway.

D. Because Russian government wants to bring the cost down to the lowest degree.

5. The underlined words “make contact with” in the first paragraph refers to the idea that the submarine Kursk can't_______.

A. get in touch after much effort with the naval command

B. send up the nuclear weapons in the training exercises

C. get the naval officers to return to the Northern Fleet

D. get in touch after much effort with Russian government

After a 15-year ban on the sale of fireworks in Beijing, Kang Guoliang, 51, was able to start his old trade again yesterday．

       As a salesman in Xinhui store in Dongcheng District, he is happy about the increasing number of buying fireworks wrapped in red paper — a color standing for happiness and good luck．

       “Fireworks are available for the first time in town for more than a decade,” Kang said happily．“People will buy them．”

       The store has 300 boxes of fireworks piled up and is open 24 hours at the moment．Residents are buying the fireworks and firecrackers for the upcoming Spring Festival, which falls on February 18．

       Citywide, 2,116 registered stores and retailers, 585 in the centre and 1,600 on the outskirts are trading fireworks in the Chinese capital．Sales of fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road started yesterday and will last until March 4, Xinhua reported．Among the stores, 117 stores are permitted to operate 24 hours．About 600,000 boxes of firecrackers worth more than 100 million yuan have been carried to registered stores．

       The Chinese capital began a ban in 1993 to reduce fireworks-related deaths and fires during the holiday season．Last September the ban was removed in response to residents’ fondness for fireworks when celebrating Spring Festival．

       According to new rules, Beijing residents are allowed to set off fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road all day on Lunar New Year’s Eve and Lunar New Year’s day, from 7 a．m．to midnight every day from February 19 to March 4．

       “Spring Festival without fireworks is not Spring Festival,” said Sheng Hefei, who was buying fireworks in the store．“It was fun to light the firecrackers when I was little,” he said．“The sound and view of fireworks make a real holiday．” However, not all residents welcome the return of firecrackers because of injuries, pollution and noise．“My child is scared of the sudden sound of firecrackers, and it is annoying to hear it all night long,” complained Lu Jun, a local resident．

（China Daily02/11/2008）

The passage is likely to belong to a（n）__________?

       A．description   B．argument       C．advertisement        D．news report

What’s the main idea of the passage?

       A．Beijing fireworks sales start after a 15-year ban．

       B．People go to buy fireworks and firecrackers every where in Beijing．

       C．Beijing residents all welcome the return of firecrackers．

       D．Many stores began to sell fireworks and firecrackers．

We can learn from the passage that ____________．

       A．every Spring Festival falls on February 18

       B．Beijing residents can set off fireworks everywhere ．

       C．fireworks are allowed to be sold because people like them．

       D．from February 19 to March 4, Beijing residents can set off fireworks twenty four hours every day．

What is the writer’s attitude towards the sales of fireworks in Beijing?

       A．Negative   B．Not mentioned C．Positive    D．Satisfactory 

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth．

Until now，it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience—what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）．

But in the new study，researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works．

The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it．This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence，so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence．

First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests．Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game，in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard．During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance，manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time．

The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively．To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills，the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training．

The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking．Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater．Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were．All performers，from the weakest to the strongest，showed significant improvement．

“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training．” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper．“No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains．”

The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was ______________．

       A．memorizing telephone numbers         B．improving working memory

       C．training in concentration              D．recalling a card

The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence EXCEPT___________．

       A．ignoring irrelevant items                  

       B．monitoring ongoing performance

       C．managing two tasks at the same time         

       D．using previous experience

When the experiment was conducted, the researchers______________．

       A．trained the four groups for the same period of time

       B．only made comparisons between the four groups

       C．compared the four groups with control groups

       D．trained the four groups together

By writing the article，the writer intends to ______________．

       A．inform the readers of a new study

       B．call on people to be trained to increase intelligence

       C．prove one’s born brainpower can be improved

       D．tell people the improved intelligence will last forever

On Saturday August 12, 2000, during Northern Fleet training exercises in the Barents Sea, the Russian nuclear submarine(潜水艇) Kursk sank in about 100 meters of water with some 118 sailors aboard. It's known later that several officers were also aboard, observing the training exercises. The Kursk is lying on the ocean floor in the Barents Sea. The Russian Navy said that it was listing 30 degrees to port. Other sources reported it was listing as much 60 as degrees. According to a Russian newspaper, when the submarine Kursk failed to make contact with the naval command at the right time later that day, Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Vyachesav Popov ordered rescue ships into the area. It took hours to find the submarine, as it didn't launch(发射) a marking buoy(浮) before sinking.

Russian Navy Chief insisted that the submarine Kursk had been involved(卷入) in a major collision(碰撞), but a great deal of information shows that this is not true. Up till now, it's believed that an explosion in the torpedo compartment(鱼雷舱) in the nose of the Kursk was the likely cause. Now Russian government officially asked Norway for help in recovering of sailors' bodies first of all, and Norway has agreed to offer all help. But Russian insisted that only Russians work inside the submarine Kursk and that the work last for about 10～18 working days. It is expected to recover only 25～35 bodies from the Kursk.

It was not until October 25, when a team of Russian divers entered the submarine Kursk, some 350 feet below the surface, that truth became clear. On November 7, in the morning, owing to(由于)  the icy and the cold weather, a special rescue meeting held on Murmansk decided to stop the whole bodies recovering operation.

From the text we can infer that _______ led to the sinking of the submarine Kursk.

A. a small fighting with another foreign submarine

B. an explosion inside the submarine Kursk

C. a great collision inside the submarine Kursk

D. an attack from another foreign submarine

After Kursk accident occurred, Northern Fleet Commander Popov _______.

A. decided to recover all the sailors' bodies immediately

B. went to apply to Norway for help at once

C. decided to find out the real cause of sinking at once

D. sent several rescue ships into the Barents Sea

Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A. The Norwegians were willing to offer all help.

A. If the rescue work did within 10～18 days, there would be about 30 sailors to be recovered.

B. It was not believed that there were many unclear weapons inside the Kursk.

C. A team of divers from Norway entered the submarine Kursk successfully on Oct. 25

D. It's reported that a major collision was unlikely to cause the sinking of the Kursk.

Why did Russia insist that only Russian divers can work inside the submarine Kursk?

A. Because the Barents Sea is very icy and the weather is too cold.

B. Because Russia feared that the top secrets inside the Kursk will be let out.

C. Because Russian divers are much more skilled than those from Norway.

D. Because Russian government wants to bring the cost down to the lowest degree.

The underlined words “make contact with” in the first paragraph refers to the idea that the submarine Kursk can't_______.

A. get in touch after much effort with the naval command

B. send up the nuclear weapons in the training exercises

C. get the naval officers to return to the Northern Fleet

D. get in touch after much effort with Russian government