Valentine’s Day is named for Saint Valentine an early Christmas churchman who reportedly helped young lovers. Valentine was killed for his Christian beliefs on February 14 more than 1700 years ago, but the day that has his name is even earlier than that.
More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Romans celebrated a holiday for lovers. As part of the celebration, girls wrote their names on pieces of paper and put them in a large container. Boys reached into the container and pulled one out. The girl whose name was written on the paper became his lover or sweet heart for a year.
Lovers still put their names on pieces of paper and they sent each other Valentine’s Day cards that tell of their love. Sometimes they also sent gifts, like flowers of chocolate candy. Americans usually send these gifts and cards through the mail system. But some used another way to send this message. They have it printed in a newspaper. The cost is usually a few dollars. Some of the messages are simple and short “Jane, I love you very much”. Others say more. This one, for example, “Dan, Roses are red. Violets are blue. I hope you love me as much as I love you. Forever. May.”
Most of the newspapers that print such messages are local, but USA Today is sold throughout the United States, and 90 other countries as well. This means someone can send a Valentine message to lover in a far-away city or town almost anywhere in the world. These messages cost 80 dollars and more. An employee of USA Today says readers can have a small heart or rose printed along with their messages this year. Will this kind of Valentine’s Day message reach the one you love? Well, just make sure he or she reads the newspaper.
1. When was the day named after Valentine?
A. More than 1700 years ago before Valentine’s death  
B. More than 2000 years ago
C. On February 24                              
D. It is not mentioned in the passage.
2. Which is not true about the Roman holiday?
A. Girls put into a container large pieces of paper with their own names on them.
B. Boys and girls became sweet hearts by chance
C. Girls and boys were not lovers for a year.
D. It was celebrated as a holiday for lovers
3. What is the cost of printing a message to show one’s love? It’s _______________.
A. a few dollars                   B. 80 dollars, and more                C. very expensive
D. a few dollars in a local newspaper and 80 dollars in USA Today
4. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The ancient Roman girls were more open and easy-going than boys
B. Valentine was killed for helping lovers
C. Readers of USA Today can send roses to their lovers along with printed messages
D. Valentine was honored by people for his firm Christian belief and warm heart
5. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To briefly introduce the origin of Valentine’s Day and the modern style.
B. To advertise for USA Today.
C. To tell you that Americans are open to express their love
D. To sell roses on Valentine’s Day.              

D
Anyone for rocket salad? The Chinese are now growing huge vegetables from seeds they sent into space.
If you are the type who worries about the air miles travelled by fruits and vegetables, these beauties aren’t for you. It's because they have travelled a little further than most.
The seeds from which they grew were fired into space, where they orbited the earth for two weeks. Once they returned they were grown in hothouses, producing the monster kinds seen here.
China, which is behind these space fruits and vegetables, says they could be the answer to the world's food crisis.
The 21-pound tomatoes, nine-inch chillies, 15-stone pumpkins and large watermelons growing at the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ hothouses can feed many more than their smaller cousins, and may have more nutrients, the scientists say.
Researcher Lo Zhigang said, "Traditional agricultural development has taken us as far as we can go and demand for food from a growing population is endless. Space seeds offer the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables bigger and faster. "
He admitted he and his colleagues could not explain why time in orbit caused the seeds to change genetic structure. But they guessed exposure to the cosmic（宇宙的）radiation that attacked the spacecraft in orbit, as well as the near zero gravity conditions, microgravity, could play a part.
"We don't think there's any threat to human health because the genes themselves do not change; just their order changes," he said. "With genetically-modified（GM）crops you have seen environmental problems because they have added genes that can damage other organisms. But with space seeds they don't gain genes; they can only lose them. "
He also claimed the Vitamin C content in some space vegetables was nearly three times higher than in common vegetables, while levels of zinc are also increased.
Western scientists are doubtful. NASA researchers who have experimented with seeds in space say there is not enough benefit to show the cost is reasonable.
63. What do the underlined words "these beauties" in Paragraph 2 probably refer to ______?
A. Beautiful views along the air routes.          B. Travelling experiences in space.
C. Seeds fired into space.                     D. Giant vegetables.
64. We can infer from Lo’s words in Paragraph 6 that _______.
A. our conventional agriculture has developed too slowly.
B. we are asking too much from nature
C. space seeds may help meet our demand for food
D. we'll grow crops in space in the future
65. Why the seeds changed their genetic structure _______.
A. remains to be proved
B. is discovered by Lo Zhigang
C. has something to do with the conditions in hothouses
D. is due to the radiation that attacked them directly
66. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Western scientists’ doubt is unreasonable.
B. Western scientists don’t believe that Chinese scientists have succeeded in the experiment.
C. Western scientists have proved space seeds to be of no benefit.
D. Western scientists think the cost of space seeds outweighs the benefits

Brazil has become one. of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint ef??forts to reduce birth rates, Brazil had better results without re??ally trying, says George Martine at Harvard.

Brazil’s population growth rate dropped from 2. 99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1. 93% a year between 198 land 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2. 7 chil??dren on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.

Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (肥皂剧) and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in low??ering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest produc??ers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil’s most popular television net??work, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.

Although they have never really tried to work in a mes??sage towards the problems of reproduction, they describe mid??dle and upper class values: not many children, women work??ing, says Martine. They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious (有意识的) of other patterns of behaviour and other values, which were put into a very attrac??tive package.

Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. " This led to an enormous change in consumption (消费) patterns and consumption was incom??patible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction," says Mar??tine.

according to the passage, Brazil has lowered its population growth ________.

A. by educating its citizens                 B. by careful family planning

C. by developing TV programmes                     D. by chance

according to the passage, many Third World countries

A. haven’t given much attention to birth control

B. would soon join Brazil in controlling their birth rate

C. haven’t yet found an effective measure to control their population

D. haven’t realized the importance of TV plays in family planning

Soap operas have helped in lowering Brazil’s birth rate be??cause ________.

A. they keep people sitting long hours watching TV

B. they have gradually changed people’s way of life

C. people are drawn to their attractive package

D. they popularize birth control measures

What is Martine’s conclusion about Brazil’s population growth?

A. The increase in birth rate will increase consumption.

B. The desire for consumption helps to reduce birth rate.

C. Consumption goes with reproduction.

D. A country ‘s production is limited by its population growth.

A poor boy , named Howard Kelly , was trying to pay his way through school by selling goods door to door . He was hungry ,  36  he decided to beg something to eat .
When a young woman opened the door , instead of a  37  he asked for a drink of water . Thinking he looked  38  she brought him a large glass of milk . He drank it and then asked , “How much do I  39  you ? ”
“No , you don’t owe me anything , ” she replied . “Mother has taught me  40  to accept pay for a kindness . ” Leaving that house , he not only felt stronger  41  , but it also increased his faith in God and the human race . He was about to  42  before this point .
 43  later the young woman became seriously ill . The local doctors couldn’t cure her illness . They sent her to the big city , where specialists can be  44  to study her disease . Dr . Howard Kelly , now  45  , came for the consultation (会诊) . When he heard the name of the town where she came from , a strange light filled his eyes .  46  , he went into her room .
47  in his doctor’s gown (罩衣) he went in to see her . He  48  her at once . He went back to the  49  and determined to do his best to save her life . From that day on , he gave special attention to her case .
Finally , the battle was won . Dr . Kelly asked a nurse to  50  the bill to her room . She was afraid to open it  51  she knew that it would  52  the rest of her life to pay it off . Finally she looked and read these words on the side of the bill :
“Paid in full with a glass of  53  . ” (Signed ) Dr . Howard Kelly .
Tears of  54  flooded her eyes as she  55  silently : “Thank you , God . Your love has spread through human hearts and hands. ”

 Brazil has become one of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth, but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.
　　Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.
　　Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.
　　“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards life, women working,” says Martine. “They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people aware of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package.”
【小题1】According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth _____.