Educating girls quite possibly provides a higher rate of return than any other investment（投资）in the developing world． Women’s education may be an unusual field for economists(经济学家) , but increasing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social problem． And economics, with its importance on encouragement, provides directions that point to an explanation for why so many girls are prevented from receiving an education．

Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family ;girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children． So girls are seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school―the prophecy（预言）becomes self-fulfilling, making women in a vicious(恶性)circle of neglect(忽略)．

An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices． She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance． The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy． So the vicious circle is changed into a virtuous （良性的）circle．

Few well arguer that educating women has great social benefits． But it has great economic advantages as well． Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers． Wages rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling． Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other investments, but they are just the beginning ． Educating women also has a great effect on health practices, including family planning．

49．The author argues that educating girls in developing countries is          

       A．rewarding             B．labor-saving         C．troublesome           D．expensive

50．The author believes the vicious circle can become a virtuous circles when       

       A．women care more about education

       B．girls can get equal rights of being educated

       C．parents can afford their daughters’ education

       D．a family had fewer but healthier children．

51．What does the author say about women’s education?

       A．It will provide greater returns than other known investments

       B．It is now given top priority(优先) in many developing countries．

       C．It is worth greater attention than other social problems

       D．It has caused the interest of a growing number of economists．

52．The passage mainly discusses        

       A．unequal treatment of boys and girls in developing countries

       B．the possible earning power of well-educated women

       C．the major contributions of educated women to society

       D．the economic and social benefits of educating women

With fears of a possible nuclear meltdown(核反应堆堆芯的熔毁) in Japan building up, evidence has come to light that the nation received warnings over the stability of its power plants from an international watchdog more than two years ago.
　　As the Telegraph is reporting, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date, and strong earthquakes would cause a “serious problem” for the power stations.
　　A U.S. embassy document, by quoting（引用）an unnamed expert, states: “He (the IAEA official) explained that safety guides for earthquakes have only been updated three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have gone beyond the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving earthquake safety work.”
　　The Telegraph also reports that the government responded to the warnings by building an emergency response center at the Fukushima Daiichi plant designed to resist magnitude-7.0 earthquakes. Friday's earthquake, originally named a magnitude-8.9 shock, has since been upgraded to magnitude-9.0.
　　Other nuclear experts state IAEA officials had willingly ignored lessons from the Chernobyl disaster to protect the nuclear industry's expansion, reports Bloomberg. “After Chernobyl, all the force of the nuclear industry was directed to hide this event, for not creating damage to their reputation,”Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreyev tells Reuters, before noting that radiation from spent fuel rods（棒）stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety. “The Japanese were very greedy, and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense(密集的) placing of spent fuel in the basin, you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin.”
【小题1】 From the passage, we know that ____________.

A．people fear that the nuclear meltdown will possibly become more and more serious in Japan

B．people are becoming more and more afraid of a possible nuclear meltdown in Japan

C．Japan made no response to the warnings over the safety of its power plants

D．Iouli Andreyev warned Japan not to store spent fuel rods close to reactors

Only by seizing every possible_____ to practice can you possibly hope to improve your spoken English.

Only by seizing every possible_____ to practice can you possibly hope to improve your spoken English.

With fears of a possible nuclear meltdown(核反应堆堆芯的熔毁) in Japan building up, evidence has come to light that the nation received warnings over the stability of its power plants from an international watchdog more than two years ago.

　　As the Telegraph is reporting, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date, and strong earthquakes would cause a “serious problem” for the power stations.

　　A U.S. embassy document, by quoting（引用）an unnamed expert, states: “He (the IAEA official) explained that safety guides for earthquakes have only been updated three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have gone beyond the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving earthquake safety work.”

　　The Telegraph also reports that the government responded to the warnings by building an emergency response center at the Fukushima Daiichi plant designed to resist magnitude-7.0 earthquakes. Friday's earthquake, originally named a magnitude-8.9 shock, has since been upgraded to magnitude-9.0.

　　Other nuclear experts state IAEA officials had willingly ignored lessons from the Chernobyl disaster to protect the nuclear industry's expansion, reports Bloomberg. “After Chernobyl, all the force of the nuclear industry was directed to hide this event, for not creating damage to their reputation,”Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreyev tells Reuters, before noting that radiation from spent fuel rods（棒）stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety. “The Japanese were very greedy, and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense(密集的) placing of spent fuel in the basin, you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin.”

1. From the passage, we know that ____________.

A. people fear that the nuclear meltdown will possibly become more and more serious in Japan

B. people are becoming more and more afraid of a possible nuclear meltdown in Japan

C. Japan made no response to the warnings over the safety of its power plants

D. Iouli Andreyev warned Japan not to store spent fuel rods close to reactors

2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Japan was warned of the stability of its power plants when they were built over 2 years ago.

B. Safety guides for earthquakes should be updated three times in 35 years.

C. The emergency response centre at the Fukushima Daiichi plant can not resist Friday’s  

     earthquake.

D. IAEA officials advised Japan to ignore lessons from the Chernobyl disaster.

3. IAEA officials were willing to ignore lessons from the Chernobyl disaster because they want ________.

A. to put profit before safety.         B. the nuclear industry to develop

   C. to protect the reputation of Japan        D. every inch of land to be made good use of

4.The writer develops this passage mainly by__________.

A. making comments              B. providing facts

C. quoting what experts say             D. analysing what happened