（3）完形填空

Older people must be given more chances to learn if they are to contribute to society rather than be a financial burden, according to a new study on population published recently.

     The current approach which     21     on younger people and on skills for employment is not      22    to meet the challenge of demographic (人口结构的) change, it says. Only 1% of the education budget is currently spent on the oldest of the population.

　　 The      23     include the fact that most people can expect to spend a third of their lives in      24     , that there are now more people over 59 than under 16 and 11.3 million people are over state pension age.

　　“      25    needs to continue throughout life. Our historic concentration of policy attention and resources on young people cannot meet the new      26    ” says the report’s author, Professor Stephen.

　　The major portion of our education budget is spent on people below the age of 25. When people are changing their jobs, home , partners and lifestyles more often than ever , they need opportunities to learn at every age.      27    , some people are starting new careers in their 50s and later.

　　People need opportunities to make a “midlife review”to     28     to the later stage of employed life and to plan for the transition (过渡) to retirement, which may now happen    29                         at any point from 50 to over 90, says McNair.

　　And there should be more money      30     to support people in establishing a sense of identity and finding constructive roles for the “ third age”, the 20 or more years they will spend in healthy retired life.

21. A) operates       B) focuses      C) counts     D) depends

22. A) superior       B) regular      C) essential    D) adequate

23. A)regulations     B) obstacles     C) challenges  D) guidelines

24. A)enjoyment     B) retirement     C) stability    D) inability

25. A) Identifying    B) Learning      C) Instructing   D) Practicing

26. A) desires       B) aims                 C) needs       D) intentions

27. A) For example   B) By contras    C) In particular     D) On average

28. A) transform     B) yield          C) adjust      D) suit

29 .A) unfairly      B) unpredictably    C) instantly   D) indirectly

30. A) reliable      B) considerable     C) available   D) feasible

阅读下面的短文，请根据短文后的要求答题（请注意问题后的词数要求）。
[1]Global difference in intelligence is a sensitive topic, long filled with a large number of different opinions. But recent data has indeed shown cognitive (认知的) ability to be higher in some countries than in others. What's more, IQ scores have risen as nations develop—a phenomenon known as the "Flynn effect". Many causes have been put forward for both the intelligence difference and the Flynn effect, including education, income, and even non-agricultural labor. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of New Mexico offers another interesting theory: intelligence may be linked to infectious-disease rates.
　　[2]The brain, say author Christopher Eppig and his colleagues, is the "most costly organ in the human body". Brainpower consumes almost up to 90 percent of a newborn's energy. It's clear that if something affects energy intake while the brain is growing, the impact could be long and serious. And for vast parts of the globe, the biggest threat to a child's body—and therefore brain—is parasitic (由寄生虫引起的) infection. These illnesses threaten brain development________________. They can directly attack live tissue, which the body must then try every means to replace. They can invade the digestive pipe and block nutritional intake. They can rob the body's cells for their own reproduction. And then there's the energy channeled (输送) to the immune system to fight the infection.
　　[3]Using data on national "disease burdens" (life years lost due to infectious diseases) and average intelligence scores, the authors found they are closely associated. The countries with the lowest average IQ scores have the highest disease burdens without exception. On the contrary, nations with low disease burdens top the IQ list.
　　[4]If the study holds water, it could be revolutionary for our understanding of the still-confusing variation in national intelligence scores.
【小题1】What is the main idea of the text？(no more than 10 words)
________________________________________________________________________
【小题2】Complete the following statement with proper words.(no more than 4 words)
Those countries that have the ________________ are always at the bottom of the IQ list.
【小题3】Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words.(no more than 5 words)
___________                                                                
【小题4】What can cause intelligence difference？(no more than 8 words)
______________________________________________________________________
【小题5】What does the word “they” (Line2, paragraph3)probably refer to? (no more than 8 words)
______________________________________________________________________

High school dropouts（辍学者）earn an average of $ 9,000 less per year than graduates. Now a new study dispels a common belief why they quit. It’s much more basic than flunking out（不及格）.

    Society tends to think of high school dropouts as kids who just can’t cut it. They are lazy，and perhaps not too bright．So researchers were surprised when they asked more than 450 kids who quit school about why they left.

    “The vast majority actually had passing grades and they were confident that they could have graduated from high school.” John Bridgeland, the executive researcher said. About 1 million teens leave school each year. Only about half of African-American and Hispanic（美籍西班牙的）student will receive a diploma（证书），and actually all dropouts come to regret their decision. So， if failing grades don’t explain why these kids quit, what does? Again，John Bridgeland："The most dependable finding was that they were bored.” “They found classes uninteresting; they weren’t inspired or motivated. They didn’t see any direct connection between what they were learning in the classroom to their own lives, or to their career aspirations.”

    The study found that most teens who do drop out wait until they turn sixteen, which happens to be the age at which most states allow students to quit. In the US，only one state，New Mexico，has a law requiring teenagers to stay in high school until they graduate. Only four states: California, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, plus the District of Columbia, require school attendance until age 18, no exceptions, another researcher，says raising the compulsory（义务的）attendance age may be one way to keep more kids in school．

 　“As these dropouts look back，they realize they’ve made a mistake. And anything that sort of gives these people an extra push to stick it out and it through to the end, is probably helpful measure.”

    New Hampshire may be the next state to raise its school attendance age to 18. But critics say that forcing the students unwilling to continue their studies to stay in school misses the point－the need for reform. It's been called for to reinvent high school education to make it more challenging and relevant, and to ensure that kids who do stick it out receive a diploma that actually means something. 　

Most high school students drop out of' school because＿＿．

A. they have failing grades                                B. they take no interest in classes

C. they are discriminated against                        D. they are lazy and not intelligent

Acceding to the passage，which state has a law requiring school attendance until they graduate?

A. New Hampshire        B. Utah　　C. New Mexico  　　D. The District of Columbia

The underlined words “stick it out” probably means“＿＿”．

A. complete schooling                                      B. solve the problem

C. love having classes                                       D. believe in themselves

From the passage，we can infer the following EXCEPT that＿．

A. the grades of most dropouts at school were acceptable

B. about 500, 000 high school dropouts are black and Spanish

C. classes don't appeal to dropouts

D. on average dropouts cannot get good jobs

阅读下面短文，并根据短文后的要求答题（请注意问题后的字数要求）。

[1]Global difference in intelligence is a sensitive topic, long filled with a large number of different opinions. But recent data has indeed shown cognitive (认知的) ability to be higher in some countries than in others. What's more, IQ scores have risen as nations develop—a phenomenon known as the "Flynn effect". Many causes have been put forward for both the intelligence difference and the Flynn effect, including education, income, and even non-agricultural labor. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of New Mexico offers another interesting theory: intelligence may be linked to infectious-disease rates.

　　[2]The brain, say author Christopher Eppig and his colleagues, is the "most costly organ in the human body". Brainpower consumes almost up to 90 percent of a newborn's energy. It's clear that if something affects energy intake while the brain is growing, the impact could be long and serious. And for vast parts of the globe, the biggest threat to a child's body—and therefore brain—is parasitic (由寄生虫引起的) infection. These illnesses threaten brain development________________. They can directly attack live tissue, which the body must then try every means to replace. They can invade the digestive pipe and block nutritional intake. They can rob the body's cells for their own reproduction. And then there's the energy channeled (输送) to the immune system to fight the infection.

　　[3]Using data on national "disease burdens" (life years lost due to infectious diseases) and average intelligence scores, the authors found they are closely associated. The countries with the lowest average IQ scores have the highest disease burdens without exception. On the contrary, nations with low disease burdens top the IQ list.

　　[4]If the study holds water, it could be revolutionary for our understanding of the still-confusing variation in national intelligence scores.

1.What is the main idea of the text？(no more than 10 words)________________________

2.Complete the following statement with proper words.(no more than 4 words)

　　Those countries that have the ________________ are always at the bottom of the  IQ list.

3.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words.(no more than 5 words)

___________                                                                

4.What can cause intelligence difference？(no more than 8 words)

　　________________________________________________________________________

5.What does the word "they" (Line 2, Paragraph 3) probably refer to？(no more than 8 words)

________________________________________________________________________

第三部分　阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分, 满分40分）
阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中, 选出最佳选项。
A
While researchers have long shown that tall people earn more than their shorter counterparts, it's not only social discrimination that accounts for this inequality -- tall people are just smarter than their height-challenged peers, a new study finds.
"As early as age three -- before schooling has had a chance to play a role -- and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests," wrote Anne Case and Christina Paxson of Princeton University in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The findings were based primarily on two British studies that followed children born in 1958 and 1970, respectively, through adulthood and a U.S. study on height and occupational choice.
Other studies have pointed to low self-esteem, better health that accompanies greater height, and social discrimination as culprits(罪犯) for lower pay for shorter people.
But researchers Case and Paxson believe the height advantage in the job world is more than just a question of image.
"As adults, taller individuals are more likely to select into higher paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns," they wrote.
For both men and women in the United States and the United Kingdom, a height advantage of four inches equated with a 10 percent increase in wages on average.
But the researchers said the differences in performance crop up long before the tall people enter the job force. Prenatal care(产前护理) and the time between birth and the age of 3 are critical periods for determining future cognitive ability and height.
"Prenatal care and prenatal nutrition are just incredibly important, even more so than we already knew," Case said in an interview.
Since the study's data only included populations in the United Kingdom and the United States, the findings could not be applied to other regions, Case said.
And how tall are the researchers?
They are both about 5 feet 8 inches tall, well above the average height of 5 feet 4 inches for American women.
51. What can be learnt from the study of Anne Case and Christina Paxson is that ______.
A. the reason for lower pay for shorter people is social discrimination
B. taller children perform significantly better on cognitive test
C. tall people earn more than shorter counterparts
D. prenatal care and prenatal nutrition are less important than we already knew
52. Which period is the most important for determining future cognitive ability and height?
A. between age 3 and schooling         B. between birth and the age of 3
C. the whole childhood                   D. between 1958 and 1970
53. The underlined phrase “crop up” in the Eighth Paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.
A. get in       B. rise up        C. come up       D. stand up
54. The best title for this passage would be _______.
A. Tall people earn more than shorter counterparts 
B. A study on height and occupational choice
C. The difference between tall people and short people 
D. Taller people are smarter