As nanny(保姆), cook, cleaner, shopper, driver, and gardener, she has one of the most demanding jobs in Britain today. And paying someone else to do the chores(家务活) which take the average housewife 71 hours a week would cost ?349.

    At over ?18,000 a year that’s more than the earnings of 70 percent of the population, including train drivers, firemen, prison officers, and social worker. Looking after a baby less than a year old takes a housewife into a even higher pay league. According to a study, she earns ?457 a week – at nearly ?24,000 a year, the same as teachers, engineers, and chemists.

     Researchers put a price on each chore, then tried to find out how long the average person takes doing them. They found housewives spend an average 70.7 hours a week on housework – with looking after the children (17.9hours) and cooking and cleaning (12.9 hours each) the most time-consuming(费时).

     A wife with a part-time job still works and average of 59 hours a week at home. Those in full-time employment put in longer hours at home than in the workplace. The good news is that these hours sharply decrease as children get older. While the average mother with child under one puts in 90 hours weekly, the figure drops to 80 hours from one to four and to 66 hours from five to ten.

     Mother-of-four Karen Williams from London said, “Paying the housewives may not be practical, but the government should recognize the value of housework, perhaps through the tax. Running a house takes a lot of time and most husbands don’t understand this. For example, my husband only puts a shelf up now and again. He never cleans the kitchen – that’s the real test.”

Who earns most according to the text?

   A. A social worker.    B. A fireman.   C. A gardener.   D. A teacher.

We lean from the text that looking after children ______.

  A. takes more time than doing any other housework

B. means more duties than being a teacher

  C. requires the mother to be well-educated

  D. prevents the mother from working outside

According to the text, a housewife with a baby less than one year old may work _____.

  A. 66 hours a week    B. 71 hours a week    C. 80 hours a week    D. 90 hours a week

By mentioning her husband, Karen Williams wants to show that ______.

   A. housework is no easy job                B. her husband has no time to clean the kitchen

   C. a housewife needs to be paid for cleaning   D. the kitchen is hard to clean

[1]Some people's ears produce wax like busy little bees. This can be a problem even though earwax appears to serve an important purpose. Experts say it protects and cleans the ear. It traps dirt and other matter and keeps insects out. Doctors think it might also help protect against infections. And the waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry.

[2]So earwax is good. It even has a medical name: cerumen. And there are two kinds. Most people of European or African ancestry have the "wet" kind: thick and sticky. East Asians commonly have ___________.But you can have too much of a good thing.

[3]The glands(腺体) in the ear canal that produce the wax make too much in some people. Earwax normally falls out of the ear or gets washed away. But extra wax can harden and form a blockage that interferes with sound waves and reduces hearing. People can also cause a blockage when they try to clean out their ears，but only push the wax deeper inside. Earwax removal is sometimes necessary. But you have to use a safe method or you could do a lot of damage.

[4]Experts at N.I.H., the National Institutes of Health, suggest some ways to treat excessive earwax yourself. One way to remove wax is known as irrigation. With the head upright, take hold of the outer part of the ear. Gently pull upward to straighten the ear canal. Use an injector device to gently direct water against the wall of the ear canal. Then turn the head to the side to let the water out.

[5]The experts at N.I.H. say you may have to repeat this process a few times. Use water that is body temperature. If the water is cooler or warmer, it could make you feel dizzy. Never try irrigation if the eardrum is broken. It could lead to infection and other problems.

[6]After the earwax is gone, gently dry the ear. But if irrigation fails, the best thing to do is to go to a

 health care provider for professional assistance.

1.What’s the purpose of the passage? (No more than 10 words)

___________________________________________________________________.

2.What’s the bad effect of too much earwax on our hearing? (No more than 15 words)

____________________________________________________________________.

3.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. （No more than 3 words）

____________________________________________________________________.

4.What does the underlined word “this process” (Line 1, Paragraph 5) probably refer to?

(No more than 2 words）

____________________________________________________________________.

5.Will you use freezing water when trying to remove earwax? Why or why not?

(No more than 10 words)

____________________________________________________________________.

阅读下面短文并回答问题，然后将答案写到题后的横线上（请注意题后的词数要求）。

[1]Some people's ears produce wax like busy little bees. This can be a problem even though earwax appears to serve an important purpose. Experts say it protects and cleans the ear. It traps dirt and other matter and keeps insects out. Doctors think it might also help protect against infections. And the waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry.

[2]So earwax is good. It even has a medical name: cerumen. And there are two kinds. Most people of European or African ancestry have the "wet" kind: thick and sticky. East Asians commonly have ___________.But you can have too much of a good thing.

[3]The glands(腺体) in the ear canal that produce the wax make too much in some people. Earwax normally falls out of the ear or gets washed away. But extra wax can harden and form a blockage that interferes with sound waves and reduces hearing. People can also cause a blockage when they try to clean out their ears，but only push the wax deeper inside. Earwax removal is sometimes necessary. But you have to use a safe method or you could do a lot of damage.

[4]Experts at N.I.H., the National Institutes of Health, suggest some ways to treat excessive earwax yourself. One way to remove wax is known as irrigation. With the head upright, take hold of the outer part of the ear. Gently pull upward to straighten the ear canal. Use an injector device to gently direct water against the wall of the ear canal. Then turn the head to the side to let the water out.

[5]The experts at N.I.H. say you may have to repeat this process a few times. Use water that is body temperature. If the water is cooler or warmer, it could make you feel dizzy. Never try irrigation if the eardrum is broken. It could lead to infection and other problems.

[6]After the earwax is gone, gently dry the ear. But if irrigation fails, the best thing to do is to go to a health care provider for professional assistance.

1.What’s the purpose of the passage? (No more than 10 words)

___________________________________________________________________.

2.What’s the bad effect of too much earwax on our hearing? (No more than 15 words)

____________________________________________________________________.

3.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. （No more than 3 words）

____________________________________________________________________.

4.What does the underlined word “this process” (Line 1, Paragraph 5) probably refer to?

(No more than 2 words）

____________________________________________________________________.

5.Will you use freezing water when trying to remove earwax? Why or why not? 

(No more than 10 words)

____________________________________________________________________.

People do not analyze every problem they meet. Sometimes they try to remember a solution from the last time they had a similar problem. They often accept the opinions or ideas of other people. Other times they begin to act without thinking. They try to find a solution by trial and error. However, when all these methods fail, the person with a problem has to start analyzing. There are six stages in analyzing a problem.

First the person must recognize that there is a problem. For example, Sam’s bicycle is broken, and he cannot read it to class as he usually does. Sam must see that there is a problem with his bicycle.

Next the thinker must define the problem. Before Sam can repair his bicycle, he must find out the reason why it does not work. For instance, he must determine if the problem is with the gears, the brakes, or the frame. He must make his problem more specific.

Now the person must look for information that will make the problem clearer and lead to possible solutions. For instance, suppose Sam decided that his bike does not work because there is something wrong with the gear wheels. At this time, he can look in his bicycle repair book and read about gears. He can talk to his friends at the bike shop. He can look at his gears carefully.

After studying the problem, the person should have several suggestions for a possible solution. Take Sam as an illustration. His suggestions might be: put oil on the gear wheels; buy new gear wheels and replace the old ones; tighten or loosen the gear wheels.

Eventually one suggestion seems to be the solution to the problem. Sometimes the final idea comes very suddenly because the thinker suddenly sees something new or sees something in a new way. Sam, for example, suddenly sees that there is a piece of chewing gum between the gear wheels. He immediately realizes the solution to his problem: he must clean the gear wheels.

Finally the solution is tested. Sam cleans the gear wheels and finds that afterwards his bicycle works perfectly. In short , he has solved the problem.

1.What is the best title for this passage?

   A. Six Stages for Repairing Sam’s Bicycle  B. Possible Ways to Problem-solving

   C. Necessities of Problem Analysis                      D. Suggestions for Analyzing a Problem

2. In analyzing a problem we should do all the following except                 .

   A. recognize and define the problem        B. look for information to make the problem clearer

   C. have suggestions for a possible solution

   D. find a solution by trial or mistake

3. By referring to Sam’s broken bicycle, the author intends to _________.

   A. illustrate the ways to repair his bicycle   B. discuss the problems of his bicycle

   C. tell us how to solve a problem                   D. show us how to analyze a problem

4. Which of the following is NOT true?

   A. People do not analyze the problem they meet.

   B. People often accept the opinions or ideas of other people.

   C. People may learn from their past experience.

   D. People can not solve some problems they meet.

5. As used in the last sentence, the phrase “in short” means _________.

         A. in the long run            B. in detail                C. in a word               D. in the end

C
People do not analyze every problem they meet. Sometimes they try to remember a solution from the last time they had a similar problem. They often accept the opinions or ideas of other people. Other times they begin to act without thinking. They try to find a solution by trial and error. However, when all these methods fail, the person with a problem has to start analyzing. There are six stages in analyzing a problem.
First the person must recognize that there is a problem. For example, Sam’s bicycle is broken, and he cannot read it to class as he usually does. Sam must see that there is a problem with his bicycle.
Next the thinker must define the problem. Before Sam can repair his bicycle, he must find out the reason why it does not work. For instance, he must determine if the problem is with the gears, the brakes, or the frame. He must make his problem more specific.
Now the person must look for information that will make the problem clearer and lead to possible solutions. For instance, suppose Sam decided that his bike does not work because there is something wrong with the gear wheels. At this time, he can look in his bicycle repair book and read about gears. He can talk to his friends at the bike shop. He can look at his gears carefully.
After studying the problem, the person should have several suggestions for a possible solution. Take Sam as an illustration. His suggestions might be: put oil on the gear wheels; buy new gear wheels and replace the old ones; tighten or loosen the gear wheels.
Eventually one suggestion seems to be the solution to the problem. Sometimes the final idea comes very suddenly because the thinker suddenly sees something new or sees something in a new way. Sam, for example, suddenly sees that there is a piece of chewing gum between the gear wheels. He immediately realizes the solution to his problem: he must clean the gear wheels.
Finally the solution is tested. Sam cleans the gear wheels and finds that afterwards his bicycle works perfectly. In short , he has solved the problem.
51. What is the best title for this passage?
A. Six Stages for Repairing Sam’s Bicycle
B. Possible Ways to Problem-solving
C. Necessities of Problem Analysis
D. Suggestions for Analyzing a Problem
52. In analyzing a problem we should do all the following except                 .
A. recognize and define the problem
B. look for information to make the problem clearer
C. have suggestions for a possible solution
D. find a solution by trial or mistake
53. By referring to Sam’s broken bicycle, the author intends to _________.
A. illustrate the ways to repair his bicycle
B. discuss the problems of his bicycle
C. tell us how to solve a problem
D. show us how to analyze a problem
54. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. People do not analyze the problem they meet.
B. People often accept the opinions or ideas of other people.
C. People may learn from their past experience.
D. People can not solve some problems they meet.
55. As used in the last sentence, the phrase “in short” means _________.
A. in the long run         B. in detail                   C. in a word                 D. in the end