_____ the government recovers the vehicle purchase tax and the oil prices go up continuously, the sales of the vehicle in China are still increasing every year.

Vienna——In spite of Iraq’s decision to stop oil deliveries, the 11- nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries（OPEC）will not increase production to make up the shortfall, ministers decided Tuesday in Vienna.

The 11 oil ministers decided to meet again on July 3 to discuss the effects of the Iraq temporary stop. The organization’s president, Charkid Kheria of Algeria, said after the meeting that stocks were high and prices were stable, so quota increases were not necessary.

The E.U. Commission has expressed concern about Iraq’s output stop. A speaker said OPEC had to take all possible measures to keep or lower the oil price.

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Nuaimi had earlier said there would not be any shortfall of oil in the market. The organization had already taken steps to fill the gap, he said. OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez added that the period of Iraq’s output stop was not known, so other exporters were not going to lift quotas yet. If the market was destabilized（使……动摇）, a suitable response could be made.

Iraq on Monday stopped shipments of crude oil to protest against the U.N. Security Council’s decision to extend the oil-for-food programme by only a month, instead of the normal six-month renewal. Just before the Vienna meeting, oil prices had gone up, with a barrel of OPEC crude oil selling for 27.05 dollars, up from 26.81 dollars last Friday. North sea oil was at 29.26 dollars Monday evening.

OPEC wants the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars and achieved that with cuts in January and March that reduced 2.5 million barrels per day off quotas（配额）.

56. Iraq made the decision to stop oil deliveries because ___________.

A. oil price is too low in international market.

B. The U.N. Secretary Council has decided to shorten the time of extension of the oil-for-food programme

C. Many oil wells were destroyed during the war in the late 1980s

D. It couldn’t get enough money to develop its economy

57. The attitude the E.U. Commission took towards Iraq’s output stop is ________.

A. active           B. concerned                  C. cold             D. surprised

58. The underlined words“The organization”here refers to ________.

A. OPEC        B. the E.U. Commission          C. Vienna        D. WTO

59. The main idea of the passage is ________.

A. the oil prices in the world were stable though Iraq has stopped oil deliveries

B. OPEC has controlled the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars

C. OPEC will not increase oil production to make up the shortfall that caused by Iraq

D. Oil is connected with people’s daily life

60. The 11 oil ministers decided to meet on July 3 so that _________.

A. they can persuade Iraq to continue oil production

B. they can have a talk with the U.N. Security Council

C. they can have a discussion about the effects of Iraq’s temporary output stop

D. they can make up their minds to increase oil production

152. The residents approve of the measure ______ so far in our city, _____ to bring a sharp rise in oil prices.

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 (生物燃料). 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.

An international fund based on the Malawi model would______.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D. biofuels should be developed on a large scale

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

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

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

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

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

In the passage, the author calls on us to______.

A. slow down but not to stop economy

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

C. achieve economic growth and political stability

D. develop tree crops, grasses and wood products

We often use the words “growth” and “development” as if they meant basically the same thing. But this may not always be the case. One can easily imagine instances in which a country has achieved higher levels of income (growth) with little or no benefit coming to most of its citizens (development).

In the past, most development policies were aimed at increasing the growth rate of income per capita (人均所得). Many are still based on the theory that benefit of economic growth will come to all members of society. If this theory is correct, growth should encourage development.

By the early 1970s, however, the relationship between growth and development was being questioned. A major study by the World Bank in 1974 concluded that it is now clear that more than decades of rapid growth in developing countries has been of little benefit to & third of their population.

The World Bank study showed that increase in GNP per capita did not promise important improvements in such devel??opment indicators as nutrition (营养), health, and education. Although GNP per capita did indeed rise, its benefit came down to only a small part of the population. This realization gives rise to a call for new development policies. These new policies favor agriculture over industry, call for national redis??tribution (资源分配) of income and wealth, and encourage programs to satisfy such basic needs as food and shelter.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the international macroeconomic crises (大规模的经济危机) of high oil prices, worldwide recession (衰退) and the third world debt, forced attention away from programs designed to get rid of poverty. however, the lesson remains: economic growth does not prom??ise economic development. Efforts may be required to change growing output capacity (能力) into economic benefit that reach most of a nation’s people.

What do we learn from the first paragraph about the relationship between growth and development?

A. Growth and development refer to the same thing.

B. Growth always brings about development.

C. Development is not a necessary result of growth.

D. Development is a reliable measure of growth.

Before the 1970s, most development policies were based on theory that economic growth would benefit ________.

A. most people in society                  B. some people in society

C. few people in society                   D. everyone in society

according to the study by the World Bank in 1974, economic growth in some backward countries brought ________.

A. benefit to a third of their population

B. benefit to two thirds of their population

C little benefit to their people

D. no benefit at all to their people

If the passage continues, what would the author most likely discuss in the next paragraph?

A. How to turn growth into development.

B. How to remove poverty from society.

C. How to decrease the third world debt.

D. How to cope with economic crises.