As a matter of fact, this is just as ________.

1. A.
   good example as the other
2. B.
   a good example as the other
3. C.
   an example is good
4. D.
   good an example as the other

As a matter of fact, this is just as ________.

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A．an example as the other example is good

B．a good example as the other

C．good example as the other

D．good an example as the other

完形填空

　　“You are the sunshine of my life.” Has anyone 1 said that to you? Unfortunately, the words we use for 2 we love are much more ordinary. 3 ordinary, in fact. But－just 4 they say the art of a good joke is in the telling－it all 5 who the magic words come from.

　　The most 6 words we use are darling, sweetheart, pet, dear and love－certainly between couples who 7 together for 8 . For boyfriends and girlfriends, words like honey and baby－familiar 9 American pop songs－might seem more 10 . Lover could be even more exciting. “Come here, Lover” certainly sounds seductive(诱人的). 11 that with “Come here, mother” and you'll see 12 I mean. But some very settled older couples with children 13 each other mother and father, 14 this is rather old－fashioned now. Even more old－fashioned is the kind of conversation we find in the 19th－century novels 15 couples address each other very formally as, for example, Mr. Bennett or Mrs. Bennett.

　　Talking about one's loved ones in public is another matter. Generally speaking, women are happier to do this than men. They 16 call their partner my old man or my hubby, my better half or my other half. Today, it's 17 to call your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend your partner. This is often used 18 the equal status(地位) of the two people in a couple. However, some men still refer not to my wife 19 the wife, the missus(Mrs. )or the old lady. 20 talk about her indoors, or the trouble and strife－Cockney rhyming slang for wife.

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Does anyone want to buy a weather forecaster? With Liam Fox overseeing（监管）the Ministry of Defence and promising to make cuts “cruelly and without mercy”, it is becoming ever harder to believe our national forecasting service will survive much beyond this glorious - dare I say it, - summer．

The trouble is, the Met Office（英国气象局） is a soft target．We are more sceptical about scientists’ ability to predict the weather than we are about an octopus’s （章鱼）ability to predict the outcome of a football match．This is largely to do with our own fear of complexity．

Few of us get enough information to judge the quality of the forecast．As I write, one forecast says the overview for the day is “a good scattering of showers mixed in with brighter weather for many of us”．Snow or hail would be a shock; beyond that, the words are fairly meaningless．

But, in fact, we don't want our forecasters to be more specific．The most scientifically accurate statements that a forecaster can make involve probabilities, but probabilities leave us in difficulty．A study in the United States, for example, showed that most people thought “a 50 percent chance of rain” meant that the forecasters hadn't a clue whether it would rain or not．

What it really means is that, in a given set of conditions, it rains half of the time．But who has time to think about when Newsnight is about to start? It's far easier just to let something concrete settle in our minds and, when the next day rolls around and it doesn't happen, complain that the forecast was wrong．But the World Meteorological Organisation thinks we have something worth holding on to: it consistently rates the Met Office as one of the world's top two （Japan is also blessed with accurate forecasters）．

Perhaps that praise alone should make us think twice about selling off the Met Office．To me, however, there is an even more convincing reason．

For most of us, the weather doesn't matter much - generally, we do what we do, come rain or shine．Accurately forecasting and monitoring climate change, on the other hand matters to everybody．The idea of making that function a slave to market forces sends a cold front down my back．

1．The underlined words “a soft target” mean that the Met Office is_________________．

      A．deliberately chosen to survive the summer．

      B．easily chosen to be done away with．

      C．difficultly chosen to continue the forecasts．

      D．roughly chosen to be bought．

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

      A．It is easy to get enough information to judge the quality of the forecast．

      B．The octopus’s prediction of a football match is more accurate than that of the weather．

      C．50 percent chance of climate change leaves people in trouble in their life．

      D．Japan is only the world’s top country in accurate forecasts．

3．The forecasts have received a number of complaints about _______________．

      A．the accuracy of the weather forecasts

      B．the management of the weather bureau（局）

      C．the organization of the weather agencies．

      D．the timing of the weather forecasts．

4．The author thinks that selling off the Met Office is ____________．

      A．unreasonable                          B．acceptable

      C．unavoidable                           D．legal