I made a pledge (发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving .  No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting (引用) a Biblical (圣经的) passage about husbands being thoughtful（体贴的） of their wives. Then he went on to say," Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love." To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well , for  two weeks that would change.

And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said," That new yellow sweater looks great on you."

"Oh, Tom, you noticed," she said, surprised and pleased, maybe a little puzzled.

After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, "Evelyn's been alone here with the kids all the week and now she wants to stay with me. " We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed, I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love. There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. Last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“ Tom ,” se said in a voice filled with distress, “ do you know something I don’t?”

"What do you mean?"

"Well...that checkup(体检) I had several weeks ago...our doctor...did he tell you something about me? Tom , you've been so good to me... am I dying?"

It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.

"No, honey," I said, wrapping her in my arms. "You're not dying; I'm just staring to live."

1.In the first paragraph, "No ifs, ands or buts" probably means___.

A. unnecessarily     B. unexpectedly    C.   impossibly    D. unconditionally

2.From the story we may infer that Tom went to the beach cottage___.

A. with his family    B. with Evelyn     C. alone            D. with his children

3.During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because___.

A. she looked lovely in her new clothes

B. he had made a lot of money in Wall Street

C. he was determined to be a good husband

D. she was seriously ill

4.The underlined words "one thing" in the passage refer to the fact that___.

A. he praised her sweater, which puzzled her

B. she insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated

C. he knew something about her illness but didn't tell her

D. he was so good to her that she thought she must be dying

5.By saying "I'm just starting to live", Tom means that___.

A. he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B. he is just beginning to enjoy his life as a loving husband

C. he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D. he is beginning to feel regretful for what he did to his wife

I made a pledge (发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving .  No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting (引用) a Biblical (圣经的) passage about husbands being thoughtful（体贴的） of their wives. Then he went on to say," Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love." To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well , for  two weeks that would change.

And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said," That new yellow sweater looks great on you."

"Oh, Tom, you noticed," she said, surprised and pleased, maybe a little puzzled.

After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, "Evelyn's been alone here with the kids all the week and now she wants to stay with me. " We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed, I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love. There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. Last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“ Tom ,” se said in a voice filled with distress, “ do you know something I don’t?”

"What do you mean?"

"Well...that checkup(体检) I had several weeks ago...our doctor...did he tell you something about me? Tom , you've been so good to me... am I dying?"

It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.

"No, honey," I said, wrapping her in my arms. "You're not dying; I'm just staring to live."

1.In the first paragraph, "No ifs, ands or buts" probably means___.

A. unnecessarily     B. unexpectedly    C.   impossibly    D. unconditionally

2.From the story we may infer that Tom went to the beach cottage___.

A. with his family    B. with Evelyn     C. alone           D. with his children

3.During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because___.

A. she looked lovely in her new clothes

B. he had made a lot of money in Wall Street

C. he was determined to be a good husband

D. she was seriously ill

4.The underlined words "one thing" in the passage refer to the fact that___.

A. he praised her sweater, which puzzled her

B. she insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated

C. he knew something about her illness but didn't tell her

D. he was so good to her that she thought she must be dying

5.By saying "I'm just starting to live", Tom means that___.

A. he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B. he is just beginning to enjoy his life as a loving husband

C. he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D. he is beginning to feel regretful for what he did to his wife

The income gap between China's rural and urban residents(居民) has continued to widen during the past few years in spite of rapidly rising rural incomes, Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said here on Wednesday.

The income ratio(比率) between urban and rural residents was 3.28:1 in 2006, against 3.23:1 in 2003, said Sun in his report on the promotion of building a new countryside in 2007. Sun also said the net income of rural residents in different regions also varied widely. The income gap is only one of several problems in rural areas, according to Sun's report. While listing the achievements in rural areas in recent years, Sun believed that rural development still followed behind urban development.

"We have bigger pressure to ensure the supply of major agricultural products such as grain," he said. "China's urbanization(都市化) has been speeded up and more rural residents have gone to urban areas," he said.

"In this case, more agricultural producers become farm produce consumers, which created more pressure for supply," he said.

Another problem facing China's agricultural development is inadequate application of science and technology.

"Only 30 percent of scient ific and technological achievements have been applied to agricultural production, which is 40 percentage points lower than developed countries," he said.

Despite increased government spending in rural areas, the infrastructure(基础下部组织) is still poor and easily hit by disasters.

According to Sun, the government spent 431.8 billion yuan ($59.15 billion) on agriculture, rural areas and farmers this year, an increase of 80.1 billion yuan over the previous year.

China set aside 11.38 billion yuan to promote a new rural cooperative medical care system and 27.98 billion yuan to support the new compulsory education mechanism in rural area to ensure that all citizens shared the fruits of China's reform and opening-up, Sun said.

68．Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A．Because of the rapidly rising rural incomes, the income gap between China's rural and urban residents will disappear this year.

B．The net income of rural residents in different regions is the same.

C．The government has taken measures to develop the economy in the rural areas.

D．Beca use of the rapidly rising rural incomes, the supply of major agricultural products is enough.

69．Can you infer the meaning of the underlined words in paragraph 5?

A．be made full use of B．be made little use of

C．be not made full use of D．be made good use of

70． How much is spent on agriculture, rural areas and farmers the previous year?

A．431.8 billion yuan B．511.9 billion yuan

C．351.7 billion yuan　　 D．80.1 billion yuan

71． Which is NOT the problem in rural areas?

A．The income gap　　　

B．The inadequate application of science and technology

C．The supply of major agricultural products

D．China's urbanization