66. The main purpose of the passage is to call on people to _________.

A. get rid of water-related diseases in developing countries

B. donate money to people short of water through religious groups

C. fight against the worldwide water shortage and sanitation problem

D. take joint action in support of some nonprofit water organizations

65. The intended readers of the passage are________.

A. Americans　　　　　　　 B. overseas sponsors

C. Congressmen　　　　　　 D. U. S. -based water organizations

64. The three facts presented in the passage are used to illustrate that________.

A. poverty can result in water-borne diseases

B. people have no access to clean drinking water

C. women’s rights are denied in some developing countries

D. safe drinking water should be a primary concern

63. What is Antonio Simmons’ attitude towards Google?

A. Doubtful　　　　　 B. Disapproval　　　　 C. Positive　　　　 D. Negative

C

Across the world, 1. 1 billion people have no access to clean drinking water. More than 2. 5 billion people lack basic sanitation. (卫生设备)

The combination proves deadly. Each year, diseases related to inadequate water and sanitation kill between 2 and 5 million people and cause an estimated 80 percent of all sicknesses in the developing world. Safe drinking water is a precondition for health and the fight against child death rate, inequality between men and women, and poverty.

Consider these facts:

●The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is 6 kilometers.

●Only 58 percent of children in sub-Saharan Africa are drinking safe water. and only 37 percent of children in South Asia have access to even a basic toilet.

●Each year in India alone, 73 million working days are lost to water-borne diseases.

Here are three ways you can help:

1)Write Congress

Current U. S. foreign aid for drinking water and sanitation budgets only one dollar per　year per American citizen. Few members of Congress have ever received a letter from voters about clean drinking water abroad.

2)Sponsor a project with a faith-based organization

Many U. S. religious groups already sponsor water and sanitation projects, working with partner organizations abroad. Simply put a single project by a U. S. organization can make safe water a reality for thousands of people.

3)Support nonprofit water organizations

Numerous U. S. -based nonprofits work skillfully abroad in community-led projects related to drinking water and sanitation. Like the sample of non-profits noted as follows, some organizations are large, other small-scale, some operate worldwide, others are devoted to certain areas in Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Support them generously.

62. Michael Grosser is afraid that　　　　　　 .

A. the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features

B. the merger will lead to Microsoft’s monopoly(垄断)of the market

C. the increased competition will force Google out of the game

D. Intemet users will have to buy Microsoft’s costly software

61. In the opinion of Scott G. ,_______________.

A. the merger will contribute to Microsoft

B. Yahoo and Microsoft are lacking in innovation

C. Google is getting short of management experience

D. the merger will allow Microsoft to overtake(超越)Google

60. Who is in favor of the merger of Microsoft and Yahoo?

A. Antonio Simmons　　 B. Michael Grosser　　　 C. Scott G　　　 D. Mark Galeassi

59. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?

A. His life inside the prison. 　 　　　　　　B. The newspaper articles he wrote.

C. The city and people of New York. 　　　 　　D. His exciting early life as a boy.

B

News(March 6, 2008)that Microsoft was making a $44. 6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:

Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri

This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.

Scott G. of New Jersey

I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along. . . Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative(创新的)with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft. . . same old story. . . I don’t think the merger(合并)will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts:

Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida

Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.

Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California

Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!

Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland

Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior(差的)to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.

58. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?

A. He was well-educated. 　　 　　　　　　　B. He was not serious about his work.

C. He was devoted to the poor. 　　 　　　　　D. He was very good at learning.

57. O. Henry went to prison because ___________.

A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper

B. he broke the law by not using his own name

C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners

D. people thought he had taken money that was not his