The Fourth “21st Century Cup” National English Speaking Competition is to be held in Shanghai.
　　Organizers: China Daily and Shanghai Broadcasting Network.
　　Co-ordinater: China University English Speaking Association （CUESA）.
　　Co-sponsors（联办单位）: English Speaking Union （ESU）, Lotus Software （China）Co. Ltd., Times Publishing Group of Singapore, Hilton Shanghai, Pearson Education, Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press.
　　Date: March 26（Friday）, 1999.
　　Place: Hilton Shanghai.
　　Competition Format （形式）: Each student will present a prepared speech on the given topic, followed by a three -minute off - hand speech and a three - minute question and answer period with the judges.
　　Prepared speech period: six minutes.
　　Q & A period: three minutes.
　　Speech topic: People and Nature: In search of harmony （和谐）in a new age ＋ your personal opinion. （Topics for the off-hand speech will be given on the day of competition）.
　　Prizes: Besides books and certificates （证书）, the top two winners will be offered scholarships（奖学金） to travel to the annual international English -speaking competition which will be held by the English Speaking Union in London in May, 1999. The third and fourth place winners will be offered a study trip to Singapore, sponsored by the Times Publishing Group. The fifth through 10th place winners will be offered cash prizes. All the competitors will receive certificates from the English Speaking Union and book prizes provided by Pearson Education and Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press. The teachers of the top winners will also receive a one - year membership to the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language（IATEFL）
【小题1】The main purpose of this passage is ________.

A．to invite you to take part in the competition

B．to tell you some information about the competition

C．to help to improve your spoken English

D．to show you how to win the competition

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the Shanghai English Speaking Competition?________.

A．Where and when it will take place.

B．Its programs.

C．What each winner will be offered.

D．The number of its competitors.

【小题3】Suppose you get the sixth place, you’ll________ .

A．travel to London for free.

B．become a one - year member of IATEFL

C．get some money, some books and a certificate

D．get a chance to study in Singapore

【小题4】 An “off- hand speech” is________.

A．a speech not longer than three minutes

B．a speech without preparation

C．a speech with a piece of paper in hand

D．a speech which is well prepared

Inside China Daily

　　China, Japan ink fishery accord

　　The New China -Japan Fishery Agreement will be put into effect starting June this year, Chinese vice - minister of agriculture, Qi Jingfa told a press conference yesterday in Beijing.

　　                                                              —Page 2

　　Offshore funeral

　　The remains of more than 500 dead will be scattered at sea this spring near the mouth of Yangtze River in Shanghai. To save space Shanghai officials discouraged land burials.　

—Page 3

　　The only wise choice

　　Co -operation with the mainland for a peaceful reunification should be the only wise choice for the newly elected Taiwan leader.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

—Page 4

　　Interest in activity such as fairs, galleries and exhibitions has caused the art market to take shape in China.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　—Page 9

　　Two sides of a story.

　　The government’s efforts to cut the homework burden of primary and middle school students have drawn mixed reactions. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　       

—Page 10

　　Blind, but not out.

　　Yang Jia, an English professor at the Chinese Academy of Science meets the challenges brought by the sudden loss of her eyesight and continues to make it in her work.　　　

—Page 11

　The above section may possibly appear on ________ of China Daily.

　　A. Page 5　　　　　　　　　　　　B. the Front Page

　　C. Page 9　　　　　　　　　　　　D. the last page

　From the text we can learn that ________ .

　　A. no one will be buried in the ground after they die in Shanghai

　　B. Chinese fishermen can go fishing freely in Japan soon

　　C. a blind professor can work better

　　D. more and more people have begun to do art business

　When you look through this issue of China Daily, you are sure to find ________ .

　　A. how Taiwan’s new leader was made

　　B. that people think differently of reducing pupils’ burden

　　C. sad stories about students with heavy burden in primary and middle schools

　　D. interesting stories of art fairs, galleries and exhibitions of different shapes in China

No country in the world has more daily newspapers than the USA.　There are almost 2000 of them，as compared with 180 in Japan，164 in Argentina and 111 in Britain.　The quality（质量） of some American papers is quite high and their views are used all over the world.　Excellent newspapers like the Washington Post or the New York Times　have a powerful influence（影响） all over　the country.　However，the Post　and the New York Times　are not national newspapers in the sense that The Times is in Britain of Le Monde is in France，since each American city has its own daily newspaper.　The best of these give detailed（详细的）accounts of national and international news，but many tend to limit themselves to state or city news.?

Like the press（报刊） in most other countries，American newspapers report news from the “exciting” and “relaxing” to the serious.　They try to entertain people as well as give information，for they have to compete with the attraction of television.

Just as American newspapers try to satisfy all tastes，they also try to attract readers of all political parties.　A few news papers support extremist（极端主义者） groups on the far right and on the far left，but most daily newspapers try their best to attract middle-of-the-road Americans who are mainly moderate（温和的）.Many of these papers print materials by well?known journalists of different political and social views，in order to give a balanced picture.?

As in other countries American newspapers can be either responsible（负责任的） or irresponsible，but it is generally accepted that the American press serves its country well and that it has more than once exposed political scandals（丑闻），for example，the Watergate Affair（水门事件）.?

1.Which newspaper in the U.　K.　is national？?

A.?Le Monde.　　　　　　　 B.?Washington Post.?

C.?New York Times.　　　　　　 D.?The Times.?

2.Most American newspapers attract readers by carrying　　　　　 .?

A.　national news　　　　　 B.　local news?

C.　international news　　　　 D.　political news?

3.In order to win the competition with television，American newspapers have to　　　 .

A.　give information　　　 B.　give serious news?

C.　give entertainment news　　 D.　give national news?

4.Most daily newspapers attract moderate Americans by　　　　　 .?

A.　printing articles by well-known journalists of different views?

B.　supporting extremist groups?

C.　exposing political scandals?

D.　serving the country well?

 

 

　　Why doesn’t the unemployment rate ever reach zero? Economists, who generally believe that supply tends to meet demand, have long thought about this question. Even in good times, i.e. not now, there are people who can’t find work. And even in bad times, i.e. now, there are job openings. With over 14 million people out of work and looking for a job, you would think every available job would be filled. But that’s not the case. Not now and not ever.

　　On Monday, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the prize for economics to the three scholars who have done the most to explain this phenomenon. Two of the winners are Americans, Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern. The third winner is Christopher Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics and was born on Cyprus.

　　Like most of economics, what they have found about why the jobless and ready-employers don’t find each other seems obvious. You have to find out there is job opening you are interested in. Employers need to get resumes （简历）. It takes a while for both employers and employees to make the decision that this is what they want. And these guys came up with a frame-work to study the problem of why people stay unemployed longer than they should and what can be done about it.

　　So what would today’s Nobel Prize winners do to solve the current problem of the unemployed? And does the awarding of the prize contribute to the politicians’ lowering joblessness?

　　Speaking from his north London home, Pissarides told The Associated Press the announcement came as “a complete surprise” though his work had already helped shape thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

　　For example, the New Deal for Young People, a British government policy aimed at getting 18-24-year-olds back on the job market after long periods of unemployment, “is very much based on our work,” he said.

　　“One of the key things we found is that it is important to make sure that people do not stay unemployed too long so they don’t lose their feel for the labor force,” Pissarides told reporters in London. “The ways of dealing with this need not be expensive training – it could be as simple as providing work experience.”

 

1.According to the writer, which is true about finding jobs?

　　A. It is always difficult to find a job.

　　B. Everyone can find a job in good times.

　　C. Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to find a job in bad times.

　　D. It is possible to find a job even in times as bad as now.

 

2. What is it that leads to their winning the prize?

　　A. They have found the reason for unemployment.

　　B. They have put forward a set of ideas to deal with unemployment.

　　C. They have found out why people don’t want to be employed.

　　D. They have long studied the problem of unemployment.

 

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

　　A. Pissarides thinks his work surprising.

　　B. The work of Pissarides has influenced many economists.

　　C. Some of the winners’ ideas have been put into practice.

　　D. It is probable that unemployed young people in Britain benefit from Pissarides’ work.

 

4. According to Pissarides, _________ is effrctive in dealing with unemployment.

　　A. spending large sums of money on training

　　B. teaching some knowledge of economics

　　C. providing work experience

　　D. keeping people unemployed for some time

 

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　A shop wholly run by a robot has been set up in downtown Tokyo, capital of Japan. The shop was set up by a Japan-based company.

　　When a customer comes to the shop, he will be given a pencil and a piece of paper. When he is looking at the shelves for goods, he can write down the number of each thing he wants to buy. Then he may come to a machine, which looks like a bank ATM (Automatic Teller Machine), and press the buttons to tell the machine the numbers and some other information about the goods. The machine will soon give the customer a bill. When the customer puts money into the machine, change will be given back at once, and the words“Thank You for Coming”will appear on the screen of the machine. The robot will select the ordered goods for the customer according to computer center information.

　　The robot, as round as a bucket, is able to decide the weight and size of any goods. It wilt always take the bigger and heavier goods first before picking up the smaller and lighter ones such as cakes or biscuits. Within half a minute, the robot will make everything ready, and wait for a customer at a certain delivery place.

　　The shop is to meet the needs of the public for the so-called“silent purchase (购买)”. It means that a customer can do shopping through mail or even an international computer network without facing the shop owner. This will reduce the cost on the part of the shop, and thus lower the price of goods for the customer.

　　The robot now can deal with most goods in a fast and easy way. Only when dealing with those goods needing special care will the robot ask for help.

1．When you want to buy something in the robot shop, first you have to _____.

[　　]

A．put money into the machine

B．press the buttons of the machine and tell it what you want to buy

C．find out what you want to buy and write down the numbers on paper

D．go into the shop and select the goods you want with the help of the machine

2．In this shop, the robot can do shopping quickly at a lower price, so _____.

[　　]

A．the shop has a great future

B．customers often get false goods

C．few customers go there to buy goods

D．the shop will close down soon

3．What would be the best title for the text?

[　　]

A．May I Help you　　　　　　B．Welcome to Our Shop

C．Robot Shop　　　　　　　　D．Nobody Sells Goods in the Shop