The United States is already one year into a depression That was the news this week from the Na-tional Bureau of Economic Research. The downturn is the longest since a depression that began in 1981and lasted sixteen months.
Economists generally wait for production to shrink for six months in a row before they declare a re-cession. But the bureau, a private group, uses a wider set of information to measure the economy. Thenews only confirmed what many people already knew: that the world's largest economy is weak and maynot recover soon.
Worsening conclitions have led to a big drop in spending, especially on costly products like new cars. Even Japanese automaker Toyota saw its sales fall thirty - four percent in the United States in November from a year ago.
The heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors retumed to Congress this week to again ask for federal aid.  Congressional leaders denounced(指责) them two weeks ago after they came in private jets with no clear plans for saving their industry. This time, the chiefs drove to Washington in fuel- saving hybrid vehicles. And their companies presented detailed restructuring plans. The reguest for aid has risen from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines.
G.M. wants almost half of that, and says it needs four billion dollars this month. It warned that without support it cannot continue to operate.
Ford is in a better position, But the sharing of suppliers means it could be affected if G.M. or
Chrysler fails. Ford is asking for a nine billion dollar credit line in case it needs it.
Chrysler is the smallest and most trouble of America's Big Three. It says it needs a seven billion dollar loan by the end of the month.
Two days of congressional hearings began Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee. The chairman, Democrat Chris Dodd, said he would support helping the automakers for the good of the economy.
But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout(贿政援助）．
A main root of the world financial crisis is the weak housing market in the United States. The Trea-sury Department has been under pressure to help troubled homeowners. Now comes news that the depart-ment is developing a plan aimed at reducing interest rates on mortgage loans(汽车贷款) for some buyers of homes. That could be good for homeowners trying to sell.
【小题1】From the first two paragraphs, we know       .

The United States is already one year into a depression That was the news this week from the Na-tional Bureau of Economic Research. The downturn is the longest since a depression that began in 1981and lasted sixteen months.

Economists generally wait for production to shrink for six months in a row before they declare a re-cession. But the bureau, a private group, uses a wider set of information to measure the economy. Thenews only confirmed what many people already knew: that the world's largest economy is weak and maynot recover soon.

Worsening conclitions have led to a big drop in spending, especially on costly products like new cars. Even Japanese automaker Toyota saw its sales fall thirty - four percent in the United States in November from a year ago.

The heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors retumed to Congress this week to again ask for federal aid.  Congressional leaders denounced(指责) them two weeks ago after they came in private jets with no clear plans for saving their industry. This time, the chiefs drove to Washington in fuel- saving hybrid vehicles. And their companies presented detailed restructuring plans. The reguest for aid has risen from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines.

G.M. wants almost half of that, and says it needs four billion dollars this month. It warned that without support it cannot continue to operate.

Ford is in a better position, But the sharing of suppliers means it could be affected if G.M. or

Chrysler fails. Ford is asking for a nine billion dollar credit line in case it needs it.

Chrysler is the smallest and most trouble of America's Big Three. It says it needs a seven billion dollar loan by the end of the month.

Two days of congressional hearings began Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee. The chairman, Democrat Chris Dodd, said he would support helping the automakers for the good of the economy.

But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout(贿政援助）．

A main root of the world financial crisis is the weak housing market in the United States. The Trea-sury Department has been under pressure to help troubled homeowners. Now comes news that the depart-ment is developing a plan aimed at reducing interest rates on mortgage loans(汽车贷款) for some buyers of homes. That could be good for homeowners trying to sell.

66.From the first two paragraphs, we know        .

A.the United States is expected to recover soon

B.the depression has lasted more than 16 months

C.the depression is much more severe than expected

D.the depression will last no more than 6 months

67. Why were the automakers refused for federal aid two weeks ago?

A. Because the government had no extra money to help.

B. Because they didn't have a ciear plan to save their industry.

C. Because they had wasted too much on costly new cars.

D. Because they had enough money to save their industry.

68. Which of the following is asking for the largest federal aide

A. G.M.            B. Toyota.            C. Chrysler.            D. Ford.

69. From the passage we may know Richard Shelby         tile automakers' request for federal aid?

A. was for       B. was against      C. didn't care about    D. took no notice of

70. Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The hearings on Thursday agreed on a federal aid to the automakers.

B.The main cause of the crisis is weak housing market in the U.S..

C. The government is taking measures to save t he housing market.

D.The Treasury Department had to help the troubled homeowners.

Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences of shortages and droughts (干旱) are causing famine and distress in some areas, and industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world's population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the edge of a widespread water crisis.

　 But that doesn't have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the world---if we start valuing water more than we did in the past. Just as we began to appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil crises, today we must start looking at water from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want.

　 Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as well as for the supply costs.

　 Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more economically and environmentally sound (健康的) ways. For example, often the cheapest way to provide irrigation water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as gathering rainfall in depressions (凹地) and pumping it to nearby cropland.

　 No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must change their institutional and legal approaches to water use. Rather than spread control among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate (调整) water policy.

What is the real cause of the potentials water crisis.

　　A. Only half of the world's water can be used.

　　B. The world population is increasing faster and faster.

　　C. Half of the world's water resources have been seriously polluted.

　　D. Humanity has not placed enough value on water resources.

As is indicated in the passage, the water problem _________ .

A. is already serious in certain parts of the world.

B. has been exaggerated by some experts in the field

　　C. poses a challenge to the technology of building reservoirs(水库)

　　D. is underestimated by government organizations at different levels

According to the author, the water price should _______ .

　　A. be reduced to the minimum        B. stimulate domestic demand

　　C. go with its real value             D. take into account the occurrences of droughts

In order to raise the efficiency of the water supply, measures should be taken to ______ .

　　A. guarantee full protection of the environment

　　B. centralize the management of water resources

　　C. increase the sense of responsibility of agencies at all levels

D. encourage local and regional water resources

About a third of all common cancers in the United States, China and Britain could be prevented each year if people ate healthier food, drank less alcohol and exercised more, health experts said on Friday.

    Reports from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) suggest that making simple lifestyle changes could prevent some 40 percent of breast cancers alone in Britain and the United States, as well as tens of thousands of stomach cancers.

    “Even in 2011, people are dying unnecessarily from cancers that could be prevented through keeping a healthy weight, diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors,” said a WCRF medical and scientific adviser.

    WCRF findings are supported by World Health Organization (WHO) reports, which say regular exercise can prevent many diseases such as cancers and heart diseases.

    Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world and its incidence(发病率) is rising. Each year around 12.7 million people discover they have cancer and 7.6 million people die from some form of the disease. There are about 200 known types of cancer.

    Rachel Thompson, the WCRF’s head of science, said that while the message was simple — that not smoking, eating good food and being a healthy weight can help ward off many cancers — it was still a difficult one to get across.

    The WHO says adults should do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week. This could be done by walking for 30 minutes five times per week or by cycling to work every day.

    Peter Baldini, head of the World Lung Foundation, also called on all governments to introduce smoke-free laws and raise the price of cigarettes. Tobacco kills millions of smokers every year, and tobacco-related lung cancers also kill hundreds of thousands of people who don’t smoke but have been exposed to it second-hand.

    “There isn’t a magic bullet to cure all forms of cancer, but we have the opportunity and the duty to protect people from developing cancer wherever possible,” Baldini said.

1.Which of the following words can best take the place of the phrase “ward off” in the sixth paragraph?

A. protect    B. prevent    C. develop    D. cure。

2.Which of the following statements is Not true according to the text?

A. Exercising and eating healthily can help to reduce cancer risk.

B. Each year about 12.7 million people are diagnosed with cancer around the world.

C. Every year millions of people die from smoking and lung cancers.

D. Adults should walk for fifty minutes three times per week.

3.Which of the following can be the best title of this text?

A. Simple life changes could stop millions of cancers

B. Cancer is a leading cause of death

C. Our bad lifestyle caused many diseases

D. The incidence of common cancers is rising

4.By writing the passage, the author mainly intends to ____.

A. advise people to develop healthier lifestyle.

B. warn people of the danger of cancers

C. explain why many people die from cancers every year.

D. introduce the ways to protect people from developing cancers

5.We can infer from Peter Baldini’s opinion in the last two paragraphs that ____.

A. all the lung cancers are linked to smoking 

B. there is no medicine to cure the cancers but it’s our duty to find one

C. all governments should take measures to control smokers and protect people’s health

D. it’s our opportunity and duty to persuade people to give up smoking