Paris is the capital of the European nation of France. It is also one of the most beautiful and most famous cities in the world.

Paris is called the City of Light. It is also an international fashion center. What modern women are wearing in Paris will soon be worn by many women in other parts of the world. Paris is also a famous world center of education. For instance, the headquarters of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) is in Paris.

The Seine River divided the city into two parts. Thirty－two bridges cross this scenic river. The oldest and perhaps most well－known is the Pont Neff, which was built in the sixteenth century. The Sorbonne, a famous university, is located on the left bank (south side) of the river. The beautiful white church Scare Coeur lies on top of the hill called Monometer on the right bank (north side) of the Seine.

There are many other famous places in Paris, such as the famous museum the Louvre as well as the cathedral of Notre Dame. However, the most famous land－mark in this city must be the Eiffel Tower.

Paris is named after a group of people called the paresis. They built a small village on an island in the middle of the Seine River about two thousand years ago. This island, called the lie de la Cite, is where Notre Dame is located. Today around eight million people live in the Paris area.

1. The Best title for this passage is “________”.

A. The French Language

B. The City of Paris

C. Education and Culture in France

D. The Eiffel Tower, the Symbol of Paris

2. The underlined word “headquarters” in Paragraph 2 means “________”．

A. buildings              B. research center

C. leading body            D. chief office

3. According to the passage we can infer that Notre Dame is located ________.

A. on the left bank        B. on neither bank 

C. on the right bank       D. on both banks

4. The Pont Neff  was built ________.

A. in the 1500s         B. in the 1600s

C. in the 1700s         D. around the 1600s

5. According to the passage, which one of the following sentences is TRUE?

A. There are thirty－two bridges in each part of the city.

B. Paris is both an international fashion center and an educational center.

C. Paris is named by some famous buildings.

D. All the women would like to go to Paris in the other part of the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate. But according to a new report, African farmers also have ideas that could help the world fight hunger and poverty. Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute in Washington spent a year visiting twenty-five countries south of the Sahara. In Nairobi, Kenya, for example, Ms Nierenberg found women farmers growing vegetables just outside their doorsteps in the Kibera settlement. She says they are finding ways to make their lives better. The women feed their families and sell their surplus. They use the money to send their children to school.

Last year, about 925,000,000 people worldwide did not get enough to eat. Half of all people in the world now live in and around cities. Researchers like Ms Nierenberg are looking increasingly at creative ideas to feed those who don’t have enough good food to eat. She says there are a lot of lessons that people in the Western world can learn from Africa. And what they are doing can certainly be done in other developing countries.

Farmers in the developing world lose between twenty and forty percent of their harvest before it ever reaches market. There are many reasons why food gets wasted. Farmers are without electricity and cold storage. They lack good seeds and fertilizer. They lack good roads. Conditions like these keep small farmers in poverty. Ms Nierenberg says more attention needs to be paid to protecting harvests. She says, “Given all that we invest in producing food in the first place, we need to devote the same amount of attention to making sure that it is not wasted.”

In Nigeria, village processing centers are helping farmers reduce their losses and earn more money. They centers process cassava, a root vegetable, into basic food products. In Uganda, the Worldwatch report says some schools are teaching children how to grow local kinds of crops. And in South Africa and Kenya the report praises the breeding(培育) of local kinds of livestock. These animals may produce less milk or meat than other breeds, but they can survive heat and drought conditions.

1.We could learn from the new report in Para.1 that         .

A.sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate

B.African farmers have ideas to help fighting hunger and poverty

C.women farmers grow vegetables in the Kibera settlement

D.women farmers grow vegetables to send their children to school.

2.The underlined word “surplus” in Para.1 is closest in meaning to         .

A. private vegetables                        B. side products

C. leftover vegetables                      D. home-made products

3.Ms Nierenberg suggests that         .

A.the women spend more money on education instead of farming

B.more and more African people should live in and around cities

C.researchers find creative ideas to feed the people suffering hunger

D.people in the Western world do the same as the Africans have done

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A.Farmers in developing world often lose some of their harvest

B.Small farmers in developing countries often suffer poverty.

C.Farmers should pay more attention to protecting their harvest

D.Attention should be paid to saving food instead of producing food

5.The best title of this passage should be         .

A.A New Report About African Farmers Fighting Hunger

B.Creative Ideas to Feed Those Who Have No Enough Food

C.Looking to Africa for Ideas About How to Fight Hunger

D.Animals That Can Survive Heat and Drought Conditions

 

We feel sad that 22 primary school stu-dents in Central China's Henan province were wounded by a villager with mental health problems wielding a knife on Friday, the same day as 20 children and seven adults in the United States were shot dead by a gunman in Connecticut. While the school shooting in the US brings forth the topic of gun control, the tragedy in China points to the necessity of tightening security in schools, those in rural areas in particular.

This tragedy took place in a rural primary school in Guangshan county and the preliminary investigation shows that the culprit with a knife in his hand entered the school without anyone stopping him, and then he hacked his way from the first floor of the school building to the third floor.

It would have been extremely difficult to stop the gunman who shot the students in Connecticut, but it should have been possible to stop the man from attacking the school children in Guangshan.

The culprit might not have been able to enter the school had there been security guards, who were responsible

enough to stop him and ask his identity. But unfortunately there was not even a janitor, never mind security guards, at the school gate at the time, according to reports.

It might have been possible to subdue the culprit had teachers come to the defense of the students. It was reported that some boys blocked the door of their classroom and the attacker failed to cause any harm to students in that classroom. But where were all the teachers?

The ministries of education and public security required that local governments must arrange security guards at nurseries and primary schools two years ago when a series of similar tragedies occurred at kindergartens.

Now there are security guards in most urban schools. But apparently this rural village school had no one to guard the students from intruders. Neither was there any preventive measure in place, say a janitor or an alarm system, in case any intruder broke into the school.

The school principal and even the county leader will receive disciplinary punishments. But will all the rural school principals and local government leaders be made to discuss all the safety hazards children may face at school and then adopt preventive measures in advance? We shouldn't wait until another tragedy occurs.

71. Why does the writer mention the criminal cases both in China and in the US?

A. Because the two criminals belong to the same organization.

B. Because the two criminal cases are both shocking

C. Because the writer can prove that it ’ s more dangerous to live in the US

D. Because the writer may show it ’ s common for children to be killed by criminals.

72. The underlined word “ subdue ” in Paragraph 5 is probably closest to “ ________ ”

A. control the actions of B. make gentle in effect

C. keep safe from harm D. stay away from

73. According to the last paragraph, the writer will probably agree to _________.

A. punish the county leader B. discuss safety hazards with children.

C. set up preventive measures. D. see and wait for another tragedy

74. Which of the following could be the best title for the passage ?

A. Improve School Security B. Control Guns and knives

C. Stop Killing Children, Criminals D. Please Protect Our Children

75. After similar tragedies occurred at kindergartens two years ago, ________.

A. most urban schools began to have security guards

B. ministries of education and public security sent security guards to schools

C. security guards left rural village school for urban schools

D. gunmen in Connecticut of the US were insp