79.In the passage,the author calls on us to　　　　 .

A.slow down but not to stop economic growth

B.develop tree crops,grasses and wood products

C.achieve economic growth and political stability

D.act now so as to relieve the global food shortage

答案　 76.D　 77.A　 78.A　 79.D

Passage 46

(08·重庆C篇)

Being able to multitask-doing several things at the same time-is considered a welcome skill by most people.But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen,we should think again.

What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices(电子产品) as they study.While working,they also surf on the Internet,send out emails,answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods.In a sense,they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.

Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members.As young people give so much attention to their own worlds,they seem to have no time to spend with the other people around them.They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house,nor can they eat at the family table.

Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace.When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets(器具) on their performance of tasks,many young people gave a positive response(反应).

However,the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive.Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills.They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills.Similarly,employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again,as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.

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

A.A rain-collecting pond is a simple safeguard against dry weather.

B.A Climate Adaptation Fund has been established to help poor regions.

C.The world has made a serious promise to build farm ponds.

D.It makes a great difference whether we develop wood products or not.

77.With the second step,the author expresses the idea that　　　　 .

A.it is not wise to change food crops into gas

B.it is misleading to put tree crops into the gas tank

C.we should get alternative forms of fuel in any way

D.biofuels should be developed on a large scale

76.An international fund based on the Malawi model would　　　　 .

A.coat each of the developed countries $10 billion per year

B.aim to double the harvest in southern African countries in a year

C.decrease the food prices as well as the energy prices

D.give poor farmers access to fertilizer and highly productive seeds

75.What can we learn from the passage?

A.Many British teenagers do not know money matters well.

B.Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts.

C.Financial planning is a required course at college.

D.Yong people should become responsible adults.

答案　 72.C　 73.C　 74.B　 75.A

Passage 45

(08·上海D篇)

The world economy has run into a brick wall.Despite countless warnings in recent years about the need to address a potential hunger crisis in poor countries and an energy crisis worldwide,world leaders failed to think ahead.The result is a global food crisis.Wheat,corn and rice prices have more than doubled in the past two years.And oil prices have increased more than three times since the start of 2004.These food-price increases,combined with increasing energy costs,will slow if not stop economic growth in many parts of the world and will even affect political stability.Practical solutions to these problems do exist,but we’ll have to start thinking ahead and acting globally.

Here are three steps to ease the current food crisis and avoid the potential for a global crisis.The first is to promote the dramatic success of Malawi,a country in southern Africa,which three years ago established a special fund to help its farmers get fertilizer and seeds with high productivity.Malawi’s harvest doubled after just one year.An international fund based on the Malawi model would cost a mere $10 per person annually in the rich world,or $10 billion altogether.

Second,the U.S.and Europe should abandon their policies of paying partly for the change of food into biofuels.The U.S.government gives farmers a taxpayer-

financed payment of 51 cents per gallon of ethanol(乙醇) changed from corn.There may be a case for biofuels produced on lands that do not produce foods-tree crops,grasses and wood products-but there’s no case for the government to pay to put the world’s dinner into the gas tank.

Third,we urgently need to weather-proof the world’s crops as soon and as effectively as possible.For a poor farmer,sometimes something as simple as a farm pond-which collects rainwater to be used in dry weather-can make the difference between a good harvest and a bad one.The world has already committed to establishing a Climate Adaptation Fund to help poor regions climate-proof vital economic activities such as food production and health care but has not yet acted upon the promise.

74.According to Stephen Moir,students　　　　 .

A.are too young to be exposed to financial issues

B.should learn to manage their finances well

C.should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans

D.benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance

73.The phrase “to raise the ceiling” in Paragraph 2 probably means “　　　　 ”.

A.to raise the student loans

B.to improve the school facilities

C.to increase the upper limit of the tuition

D.to lift the school building roofs

72.Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?

A.Students understand personal finances differently.

B.University tuition fees in England have been rising.

C.Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings.

D.The students’ payback ability has become a major issue.

67.The solution to Plain Mom’s problem is to　　　　 .

A.make her daughter look less ridiculous

B.let her daughter dress up like her friends

C.make her daughter go to a spa every week

D.let her daughter feel herself what beauty is

答案　 65.A　 66.C　 67.D

Passage 44

(08·上海C篇)

A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money.The findings,the first in a series of reports from NatWest that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money,are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before.

University tuition fees (学费) are currently capped at ￡3,000 annually,but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.

In the research,the teenagers were presented with the terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest.The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average ￡31,000 by the age of 25,although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just ￡17,815.The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training,although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than ￡10,000.Average debts for graduates are ￡12,363.

Stephen Moir,head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest,said,“The more exposed young people are to financial issues,and the younger they become aware of them,the more likely they are to become responsible,forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively.”

Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs.They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts.Nikki Fairweather,aged 15,from St Helens,said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance,but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money.

66.What disturbs Plain Mom is that her daughter　　　　 .

A.becomes mad

B.cries a lot

C.spends much time before the mirror

D.is not beautiful enough