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MADRID, June 25 (Reuters) --Spain's Parliament (国会) voiced its support today for the rights of great apes to life and freedom.

The Parliament's environmental committee approved resolutions (决议) urging Spain to obey the Great Ape Project (GAP), designed by scientists and philosophers who say our closest genetic relatives deserve rights hitherto (迄今) limited to humans.

"This is a historic day in the struggle for animal rights and in defence of our evolutionary comrades, which will doubtless go down in the history of humanity," said Pedro Pozas, Spanish director of GAP—Spain.

Spain may be better known abroad for bullfighting than animal rights but the new measures are the latest move turning once conservative Spain into a liberal trailblazer.

The new resolutions have cross-party or majority support. They are expected to become law and the Government is now committed to update the statute book within a year to outlaw harmful experiments on apes in Spain.

"We have no knowledge of great apes being used in experiments in Spain, but there is currently no law preventing that from happening," Mr. Pozas said.

Keeping apes for circuses, television commercials or filming will also be forbidden. Keeping an estimated 315 apes in Spanish zoos will not be illegal, but supporters of the Bill say conditions will need to improve.

Philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri founded GAP in 1993, arguing that "non-human hominids" should enjoy the right to life, freedom and not to be mistreated. In an e-mail to friends following the Spanish parliamentary decision, Singer wrote:" Congratulations everyone in Spain who has worked so hard on this. That's wonderful and very exciting news!"

60. What is Pozas' attitude to the new resolutions?

A. He totally disagree with them.                      B. He pays little attention to them.

C. He doubts their truth.                         D. He strongly supports them.

61. Scientists set up the GAP to ______.

A. research the behavior of apes                       B. study the history of human beings

C. protect great apes' rights                       D. save the endangered apes

62. According to Spain’s new law, it will be legal to ______.

A. keep apes in the zoo                          B. conduct experiments on apes

C. keeping apes for commercial purpose                D. involve apes in magic shows

63. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. Should apes have human rights?

B. Spanish Parliament Extends Rights to Great Apes.

C. Great Apes Project founded.

D. Keeping ages for filming forbidden.

Today’s generation of young people is the largest in human history. Nearly half the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — are under the age of 25. More than half the world’s young people — about 850 million between the ages of 10 and 24 — live in Asia and the Pacific region.

This rapidly expanding youth population is increasingly vulnerable to HIV.  Young people are at the center of the HIV/AIDS epidemic . Of the 10 million young people living with HIV worldwide, 21% live in Asia and the Pacific region. When surveying of all new HIV/AIDS cases globally, nearly a quarter of all people living with HIV/AIDS are under the age of 25. An estimated 6,000 young people are infected every day — one every 14 minutes. The majority are women and girls. In South Asia, where over 1 million young people between the ages of 15 to 24 are infected with HIV, more than half (62%) are young women.

Young people are key to defeating the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yet in most countries, they lack the information, education and services that will enable them to make informed and healthy choices about their health, and the needs of youths are often ignored. UNESCO, in collaboration with other UN agencies, governments, NGOs and community-based organizations, makes efforts to ensure the health needs of youths, including HIV prevention education, programs and policies implemented throughout Asia and the Pacific region.

59. How many young people with HIV live in Asia and the Pacific area?

A. 3 billion                B. 850 million        C. 100 million            D. 2.1 million

60. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. It’s young people themselves that can defeat HIV.

B. Most cases infected with HIV are young people.

C. Most young people who are infected with HIV are women.

D. Half of the world population is infected with HIV.

61. From the passage we can conclude that ________.

A. more and more young people will be infected with HIV

B. it’s because of not being informed that young people are easy to be infected

C. people in Asia and the Pacific region are easy to be infected

D. there is no policy for teenagers’ prevention of HIV

       India’s mobile users were 563.73 million at the last count, enough to serve nearly half of the country’s population.

       But just 366 million people—around a third of the population—had access to proper sanitation(卫生设施；下水道设施), said the study published by the UN University, a UN think tank.

       “It is a tragic irony(讽刺) to think in India, a country now wealthy enough that about half of the people own phones, so many people cannot afford the basic necessity and quality of a toilet,” said UN University director Zafar Adeel.

       Adeel heads the UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health, based in the Canadian city of Hamilton, which prepared the report.

       Worldwide, an estimated 358 billion dollars is needed between now and 2015 to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion (比例) of people with poor sanitation from 2000 levels.

       “Proper sanitation could do more to save lives, especially those of young people, improve health and help pull India and other countries in similar conditions out of poverty than any other investment (投资),” Adeel said.

       Poor sanitation is a major contributor to water-borne diseases, which in the past three years alone killed an estimated 4.5 million children under the age of five worldwide, according to the study.

       “The report gave a rough cost of 300 dollars to build a toilet, including labor, materials and advice. The world could expect a return of up to 34 dollars for every dollar spent on sanitation through improved productivity and reduced poverty and health costs,” said Adeel. He said improving sanitation was “an economic and humanitarian opportunity of historic proportions”.

60. The population of India is ________.

   A. less than 1 billion                                        B. about 1.2 billion

   C. about 900 million                                         D. about 800 million

61. Improving sanitation can play an important role in the following EXCEPT _______.

   A. improving the quality of mobiles

B. saving lives of young people

   C. pulling developing countries out of poverty

   D. preventing water-borne diseases

62. The underlined word “rough” probably means ________.

   A. exact                        B. approximate            C. wild                         D. unpleasant

63. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

   A. Indians are so poor that they can’t afford to build toilets.

   B. Zafar Adeel is the president of the UN University.

   C. Zafar Adeel isn’t satisfied with the toilet situation in India.

   D. All people will have access to proper sanitation in 2015.

阅读下面短文，然后用英语简洁回答文后所给的五个问题。

    Recent studies show that many young people in the United States never finish high school．Some researchers say about fifteen to twenty percent of public school students do not complete their education．But many other experts and policymakers believe that for the past twenty years，the dropout rate has been around thirty percent．For Latino and black students，the numbers are even higher．Researchers say almost half of them leave schoo1．At the same time，almost half the states let students leave school before the age of eighteen without letting their parents know．

  Finding a good job without a high school education is _________．A recent study found that almost half of all dropouts aged sixteen to twenty—four did not have a job．The lack of high school education can also lead to other problems．An estimated two—thirds of prisoners in the United States dropped out of hilgh schoo1．

    The main reason why many students drop out of school is that they are failing．Many are bored with their classes or feel disconnected from their school and teachers．Some students feel that educators place low expectations on them．

   There have been efforts to increase graduation rates through education reforms during the past twenty years．Some communities are working on dropout prevention programs．These include alternative (其他的) high schools to meet special needs．In addition，experts suggest “early warning systems’’ to help identify young school children at the risk of dropping out of high schoo1．They say schools should also keep regular contact with parents，especially if their children are missing school often．

1.What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words．)

                                                                          

2.Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

    Many students feel tired of their classes or don’t feel connected with their school and teachers．

                                                                                                                                               

3.Please fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence．(Please answer within 10 words．)

                                                                       

4.What do you think is the most important reason for the high dropout rate in the high school?(Please answer within 30 words．)

                                                                                                                                               

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese．

                                                                           

 

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of natural disasters over the past few years, and it is assumed that global warming and climate change could cause even more disasters in the future. Some of the world’s leading cities are facing disasters like floods and heat waves.

    London

    London’s flood defences are getting older. Since 1982, the Thames Barrier(水闸)has protected the city from the threat of flooding, but it was only designed to last until 2030 and close once every two or three years. About 26 years later the barrier now closes five or six times a year and according to Environment Agency predictions, by 2050 the barrier will be closed on almost every tide if the problem is not addressed.

    There are 26 underground stations, 400 schools, 16 hospitals, an airport and 80 billion worth of property in London’s flood risk area, so large scale flooding would be disastrous.

    Paris

    Over a six week period in July and August 2003, more than 1 1,400—mainly elderly people—died in France from dehydration(脱水)and extremely high body temperature in a deadly heat wave. Heat waves of similar intensity(强度)are expected every seven years by 2050, so what can be done to make sure such a disaster does not happen again?

    One solution is to have air-conditioners installed in elderly care homes. But this is considered a short-term solution, as the increase in demand for electricity also increases carbon emissions(排放).

 In Paris the local authorities are encouraging architects to design new types of buildings such as the building “Flower Tower,” which uses a covering of bamboo to act as a natural air-conditioner.

Shanghai

    Shanghai is the fastest growing city on Earth. It has a population of 18 million and is only 4 meters above sea level. Sea levels are predicted to rise by 20 cm within the next century.

    An estimated 250，000 people move to Shanghai every year in search of work, placing extra demands on energy consumption. China relies heavily on coal—fired power stations, but these emissions increase temperatures and, in turn, warmer seas increase the risk of typhoons.

1.What problem should be settled now in London?

A．How to protect the city’s property

B．Where to build its flood defences

C．How to use the Thames Barrier to protect the city

D．How to improve the function of the old flood defences

2.Which of the following measures can’t solve the heat wave disaster in Paris?

A．Putting up new types of buildings with a covering of bamboo

B．Having air-conditioners installed in elderly care homes

C．Forbidding the city to build“Flower Tower”

D．Encouraging architects to design new types of buildings

3.The major threats to Shanghai are           ．

A．increasing population and coal-fired power stations

B．rising sea levels and typhoons

C．extremely high temperature and rising sea levels

D．extra demands on energy consumption and typhoons

4.The purpose of the passage is       ．

A．to tell us how to protect the big cities

B．to give advice on how to defend natural disasters

C．to explain what causes flood and heat waves

D．to warn us of the increasing natural disasters in big cities

5.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Big Cities Facing Big Disasters

B．Big Disasters in the Future

C．The Increase of Natural Disasters

D．Solutions to Natural Disasters