During the twentieth-century there has been a great change in the lives of women. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and can be expected to live another thirty-five years and is likely to take paid work until sixty.

   This important change in women's life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school and took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life.

46. We are told that in a family in about 1900        .

     A. few children died before they were five

     B. seven or eight children lived to be more than five

     C. the youngest child would be fifteen

     D. four or five children died when they were five

47.One reason why the woman of today may take a job is that she         .

     A. is younger when her children are old enough to look after themselves

     B. does not like children herself

     C. needn't worry about food for her children

     D. can be free from family duties when she reaches sixty

48. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to         .

     A. stay at home after leaving school         

B. marry men younger than themselves

     C. start working again later in life          

D. marry while still at school

49.Many girls are now likely to        .

     A. give up their jobs for good after they are married

     B. leave school as soon as they can

     C. marry so that they can get a job

     D. continue working until they are going to have a baby

50. Now a husband probably        .

      A. plays a greater part in looking after the children

      B. helps his wife by doing more of the housework

      C. feels dissatisfied with his part in the family

      D. takes a part-time job so that he can help in the home

●●●                          

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is likely to visit China at an “ appropriate” time this year, a senior Chinese military official said on Monday. Colonel Tu Qiming, director of the American and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Affairs Office at the National Defence Ministry, made the remark during Sino -US defence talks this week. This is the first ever “special defence policy dialogue” between the two defence ministries, according to the Chinese military.

●●●

FRANCES Agriculture Ministry has confirmed (证实) the first case of mad cow disease detected in a goat last Friday. The goat killed in 2002 tested positive for mad cow disease. It is the first case in the world of the fatal disease being found in an animal otwww..comher than a bovine. The human form of mad cow disease causes brain - wasting, personality change, loss of body function, and ends in death. The European Commission has not advised any change in farming and consuming goats, said the French Ministry in a statement published last Friday.

●●●

MOBILE phone sales hit a new record in 2004, with some 684 million units sold around the world, the US research institute Strategy Analytics said on Thursday. The number represents an increase of 32 per cent over 2003, when 571 million units were sold. Strategy Analytics predicts a more modest rise of 8 per cent for this year, to 735 million. Finnish cellphone provider Nokia stayed out in front in 2004, with sales of 207.6 million units, giving it a market share of 30.4 per cent. Motorola moved to No 2, just ahead of the South Korean company Samsung.

●●●

SIX male penguins (雄企鹅) at a German zoo are proving stubbornly resistant to females brought in from Sweden to make them into breeding (繁殖). Of the ten male penguins at the zoo, six have formed into " homosexual" couples and have shown no interest in the females, making breeding an impossibility. So the zoo imported the four female penguins from Sweden last month, full of hope that the new arrivals could “turn” the males. But so far, the boys are remaining strictly with the boys.

How many countries are mentioned in the pieces of news?

   A. Six.            B. Five.                 C. Three.           D. Seven.

From the fourth piece of news we know that           ．

   A. the scientists haven’t succeeded in doing their experiment

   B. the scientists have successfully got six female penguins into breeding

   C. the Sweden girls made the boys show interest in them

   D. German boys don’t like Sweden boys

Which of the following are the suitable headlines for the pieces of news?

   A. a. US Defence Secretary Visit Likely         B. a. US Defence Secretary Visit Likely

     b. France Confirms 'Mad Goat" Case            b. France Confirms ' Mad Goat" Case

     c. Nokia Stays on Top                        c. Mobile Phone Sales 

     d. Male Penguins and Female Penguins          d. Birds of a Feather

   C. a. Defence Policy Dialogue                 D. a. Sino - US Talks

     b. Mad Goat Disease                         b. Mad Goat Case

     c. Mobile Phone Sales                        c. Motorola' s Sales Reduced

     d. Importing Female Penguins                  d. Boys and Girls

完形填空

　　One day a police officer managed to get some fresh mushrooms. He was so pleased with what he had bought that he offered to 1 the mushrooms with his brother officers. When their breakfast arrived 2 , each officer found some mushrooms on his plate.

　　“Let the dog 3 a piece first, ”suggested one 4 officer who was afraid that the mushrooms should be poisonous.

　　The dog seemed to 5 his mushroom, and the officers then began to eat their meal, saying that the mushrooms had a very strange 6 quite pleasant taste.

　　An hour later, however, they were all astonished 7 the gardener rushed in and said 8 that the dog was dead. Immediately, the officers jumped into their cars and rushed to the nearest hospital. Pumps were used and the officers had a very 9 time getting rid of the mushrooms that 10 in their stomachs.

　　When they 11 to the police station, they sat down and started to 12 the mushroom poisoning. Each man explained the pains that 13 had felt and they agreed that 14 had grown worse on their 15 to the hospital. The gardener was called to explain the way 16 the poor dog had died. “Did it 17 much before death?”asked one of the officers, 18 very pleased that he had escaped a 19 death himself. “No”, the gardener looked rather 20 , “It was killed by a car. ”

1．

[　　]

2．

[　　]

3．

[　　]

4．

[　　]

5．

[　　]

6．

[　　]

7．

[　　]

8．

[　　]

9．

[　　]

10．

[　　]

11．

[　　]

12．

[　　]

13．

[　　]

14．

[　　]

15．

[　　]

16．

[　　]

17．

[　　]

18．

[　　]

19．

[　　]

20．

[　　]

Tell a story and tell it well, and you may open wide the eyes of a child, open up lines of communication in a business, or even open people’s mind to another culture or race.

People in many places are digging up the old folk stories and the messages in them. For example, most American storytellers get their tales from a wide variety of sources, cultures, and times. They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education, but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own.

“ Most local stories are based on a larger theme,” American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says, “ Cinderella(灰姑娘), or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness, appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world.”

Working with students in schools, Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories. She works with prisoner too, helping them knowing who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write, direct, and act in their own lives. If they don’t like the story they are living, they can rewrite the story. Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers. “For every advance in business,” she says, “ there is a greater need for communication.” Storytelling can have a great effect on either side of the manager-worker relationship, she says.

Pugh spent several years in Nigeria, where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there. The benefits of storytelling are found everywhere, she says.

“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture,” she says, “ What I do is to focus on the value of the stories that people can translate into their own daily world of affairs. We are all storytellers. We all have a story to tell. We tell everybody’s story.”  

What do we learn about American storyteller from Paragraph 2?

   A. They share the same way of storytelling.

   B. They prefer to tell the stories from other cultures.

   C. They learn their stories from the American natives.

   D. They find storytelling useful for both children and adults.

The underlined sentence (Paragraph 4) suggests that prisoners can _____.

   A. start a new life                        B. settle down in another place

   C. direct films                           D. become good actors

Pugh has practised storytelling with _____ groups of people.

   A. 2              B. 3               C. 4             D. 5

What is the main idea of the text?

   A. Storytelling can influence the way people think.

   B. Storytelling is vital to the growth of business.

   C. Storytelling is the best way to educate children in school.

   D. Storytelling helps people understand themselves and others.

Name: Off the Beaten Path

Cover price: $30.00     Our price: $l9.80

The best-selling Reader’s Digest travel book has 40% new content including over 200 new sites, over 200 new full-color photographs, and all-new, up-to-date maps. It spotlights over l, 000 of the United States’ most overlooked must-see destinations.

Name: Container Gardens by Number

Cover price: $l5.95     Our price: $9.49

A unique book contains 50 easy-to-follow container designs. Each design provides a simple numbered planting plan that shows exactly how to create each display, with an instruction of the finished planter and in-depth (深入的) plant information. The plans are easy to follow and for any type of living space or garden.

Name: Best Weekend Projects

Cover price: $l7.95     Our price: $l3.96

Choose from 80 unique ideas to create an extraordinary living space. The projects are practical, as well as attractive, and will improve your home and yard and can be made in a weekend. These 80 well-designed projects are presented in a clear, easy-to-follow style that addresses readers in an accessible, user-friendly tone.

Name: l80l Home Remedies

Cover price: $40.00     Our price: $29.96

Plenty of health complaints can be handled at home. Each and every remedy will be tested by a doctor to make sure it is safe and sound.

Dozens of conditions are covered, from headaches, sunburn, bad breath, and blisters (水泡) to allergies (过敏), and hiccups (打嗝).

You can most probably read the passage in a ________.

    A. newspaper    B. travel guide C. reference book   D. textbook

Which of the following could help you to improve your home environment?

    A. Off the Beaten Path & l80l Home Remedies.           

    B. Container Gardens by Number & Best Weekend Projects.

    C. l80l Home Remedies & Container Gardens by Number.           

    D. Best Weekend Projects & Off the Beaten Path.

What’s the purpose of the passage?

    A. To share his opinion about the books with readers.

    B. To advise readers to read more in spare time.

    C. To share the pleasure of reading with readers.

    D. To advise readers to buy their books.