The World Trade Organization came into existence in the 1990s. It operates a system of trade rules. It serves as a place for nations to settle disagreements and negotiate agreements to reduce trade barriers. The newest of its 150 members, Vietnam, joined in January.
But the roots of the W.T.O. date back to World War Two and the years that followed. In 1944,   the International Monetary(货币的) Conference agreed to create the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But they could not agree on an organization to deal with international trade.
Three years later, in 1947, twenty-three nations approved the General Agreement on Tariffs (关税)and Trade, or GATT. It was meant to be temporary. Trade negotiations under GATT were carried out in a series of talks called rounds. The first round lowered import taxes on one-fifth of world trade. Later rounds produced additional cuts, and negotiators added more issues.
The sixth round began in 1963. It was called the Kennedy Round after the murder of President John F. Kennedy. The results included an agreement against trade dumping. This is when one country sells a product in another country at an unfairly low price.
The eighth round of talks began in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 1986. The Uruguay Round lasted almost twice as long as planned. In all, 123 nations took part in seven-and-a-half years of work. They set time limits for future negotiations. They also agreed to create a permanent system to settle trade disagreements.
In April of 1994, most of those 123 nations signed an agreement. It replaced GATT with the World Trade Organization.
The W.T.O. launched a new round on development issues in Doha, Qatar, in November of 2001. These talks were supposed to end by January of 2005. But negotiators could not agree on issues involving agricultural protections. The current round has been suspended since last July.
61. The WTO got this name in the year _____.
A. 1947          B. 1963          C. 1986             D. 1994
62. Which of the following statements about GATT is NOT true?
A. It was set up after World War II.      B. It was first approved by less than 30 countries.
C. It was a branch of the World Bank.   D. It was meant to improve international trade.
63. What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?
A. The founders wanted GATT to bring in money.
B. The founders didn’t expect GATT to last long.
C. GATT was ready to change its name at the very beginning.
D. GATT was open for more member countries.
64. What is one of the results of the Uruguay Round?
A. A permanent system was agreed on.    B. It lasted almost eight years.
C. More countries took part in it.         D. More disagreements than expected were settled.
65. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Why the WTO was Called GATT?     B. WTO Talk Rounds Last Longer
C. A Brief Introduction to the WTO      D. GATT or WTO? A Real Question

I was eleven years old, waiting for my exam at Saraswati Vidyalaya, my school in Nagpur. “No. 12, please come forward.” Kirti, a very fat girl from my class, stepped ahead. I heard my classmates laughing and so I tried to stop them with my eyes. But my good intentions were mistaken. The next morning, my teacher, Mrs. Kamble, told me, “Ashwini, I’ve received a complaint about you.” I was shocked. The girl I was protecting thought I’d been laughing at her.
I tried to explain but the teacher refused to hear me out. She punished me by making me stand by the door. I knew I was right. Such punishment to a class topper was simply unheard of. But, slowly, my pride disappeared. Instead of being angry, I understood the other students who have been punished at times. For the first time, I felt humbled (谦逊的).
Three years later, I was in the math class. Mr. Prabhuraman, wrote an equation (方程式) — one he’d taught us the day before — on the blackboard. “Anyone who doesn’t know how to solve this,” he said, “please leave the class at once.” I knew I could solve only the first two steps. But my pride made me stay there. Unfortunately, the one who was asked to solve it was me. I just stood there, chalk in hand, trying not to look foolish. I prepared myself for a good talking-to (斥责), but Mr. Prabhuraman told me kindly, “Go back to your seat.”
Today, two decades later, those incidents have made me think. One teacher punished me for something I didn’t do; the other forgave me for something I did wrong. Both experiences had an effect on me. They remind me that no matter what you accomplish (完成), you must always be humble.
【小题1】When the very fat girl appeared, Ashwini _____.

Agnes Miller was one of the earliest leaders of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the United States. She was born on a farm in Missouri in 1892. Strangely enough she had a very happy life as a child. She was the only daughter and the youngest child of five. Her parents and her brothers always treated her as their favorite.

In 1896 the family moved to Chicago. Three years later they moved back to St. Louis where Agnes spent the rest of her childhood. She enjoyed her years in school and was an excellent student of mathematics. She also was quite skillful as a painter.

It was when Agnes went off to college that she first learned that women were not treated as equals. She didn’t like being treated unequally but she tried not to notice it. After graduating from college she tried to get a job in her major field―physics. She soon found it was almost impossible for a woman.

Agnes spent a full year looking for a job. Finally she gave up in anger. She began writing letters of anger to various newspapers. An editor in New York liked her ideas very much. He specially liked her style. He asked her to do a series of stories on the difficulties that women had in finding a job. And there she began her great fight for equal rights for women.

61. Where did Agnes spend her childhood?

  A. Missouri.           B. Chicago.

  C. New York.        D. St. Louis and Chicago.

62. At school, Agnes was good at      .

  A. physics and painting

  B. maths and painting

  C. writing and maths

  D. physics and writing

63. What happened in Agnes’s life when she was in college?

  A. She learned to accept the fact that men and women were unequal.

  B. She learned that it was impossible for a woman to be a scientist.

  C. She came to know of the inequality between men and women.

  D. She developed her personal way of writing.

One of the most well-known directors of our time is Stephen Spielberg. He was born in Cincinnati on 18 December 1946. His father was an electric engineer and his mother was a performing pianist. His sister, Anne Spielberg, became a screenwriter who wrote the stories for many famous films.

Stephen had always wanted to be a director ever since he was a young boy. When he was just 13 years old, he made a 40-minute film. It won a local competition. Three years later, he produced a film called Firelight, which made one hundred dollars’ profit at the cinema in his hometown. Many of the ideas from this film were later used for one of his most famous films called Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

When he was 18 years old, he wanted to go to film school so that he could improve his skills and become an even better director. Unluckily, he was unsuccessful in getting a place at this school so he went to a university in California to study English. Even though he had failed to get into the school he wanted to go to, he didn’t let this stop him following his dream to become a great director.

Stephen Spielberg has directed many films since his first major film in 1976. He now owns many different businesses, most of which are involved in the film industry.

In nineteen ninety-nine, twelve percent of public elementary schools in the United States required students to wear uniforms. Just three years later, estimates were almost double that.

A study of six big-city Ohio public schools showed students who were required to wear uniforms had improved graduation, behavior and attendance rates. Academic performance was unchanged.

Some middle and high schools in Texas have also joined the movement. Yet studies find mixed results from requiring uniforms. And some schools have turned away from such policies.

Supporters believe dressing the same creates a better learning environment and safer schools. The school district in Long Beach, California, was the first in the country to require uniforms in all elementary and middle schools. The example helped build national interest in uniforms as a way to deal with school violence and improve learning.

Findings in Long Beach suggested that the policy resulted in fewer behavior problems and better attendance. But researcher Viktoria Stamison, who has looked at those findings, says they were based only on opinions about the effects of uniforms.

She says other steps taken at the same time to improve schools in Long Beach and statewide could have influenced the findings. The district increased punishments for misbehavior. And California passed a law to reduce class sizes.

In Florida, for example, researcher Sharon Pate found that uniforms seemed to improve behavior and reduce violence. In Texas, Eloise Hughes found fewer discipline problems among students required to wear uniforms, but no effect on attendance.

Sociologist David Brunsma has studied school uniform policies since nineteen ninety-eight. He collected the reports in the book. In his own study, he found that reading and mathematics performance dropped after a school in rural Pennsylvania required uniforms.

Political and community pressures may persuade schools to go to uniforms to improve learning. But David Brunsma and others believe there is not enough evidence of a direct relationship. In fact, he says requiring uniforms may even increase discipline problems.

52. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A. More and more students are required to wear uniforms in the US.

B. Wearing uniforms contributes to good academic performance.

C. Researchers in the US argue for school uniform policies.

D. Evidence for school uniform policies in the US is seen as weak.

53. Which was/were the first in the US to require uniforms in all elementary and middle schools?

A. Six big-city Ohio public schools.

B. The school district in Long Beach, California.

C. Some middle and high schools in Texas.

D. Some elementary and middle schools in Florida.

54. Which of the following researchers are NOT supporters of school uniform policies?

A. Viktoria Stamison and Sharon Pate.  

B. Sharon Pate and David Brunsma.

C. Eloise Hughes and Sharon Pate.  

D. Viktoria Stamison and David Brunsma.

55. The underlined word “misbehavior” in the sixth paragraph probably means ______.

A. serious crime            B. bad performance

C. absence for class       D. action against wearing uniforms

56. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. more work is needed to get better information about uniform’s effect

B. the number of schools requiring uniforms in the US will decline sharply

C. wearing uniforms has little to do with behavior and learning

D. politicians and communities won’t vote for uniform policies