第一节：完形填空    

It’s not just an American phenomenon:   1   the globe, single-parent homes are on the  2  . Numbers for one-parent families increased from England to Australia during the 1990s, mirroring demographic (人口统计学的) changes reflected in the US census.

Just as in America, those changes   3   new questions about how  4     government should be in helping single-parent families, which often are less well-off   5   than those led by a married mom and dad.

Should single parents be afforded tax breaks to help pay for child   6   ? Should employers be monitored to make   7  flexible work hours are offered?

Annie Oliver, a 32-year-old single mother from Bristol, England, thinks so. “You wouldn’t believe   8   becoming a single parent suddenly made me a second-class   9   ,” said Oliver, who struggles to   10   a full-time job and give the extra care her disabled son needs.

(   ) 1. A. on B. in     C. across       D. through

(   ) 2. A. rise      B. way  C. fall   D. decrease

(   ) 3. A. asked    B. answered  C. avoided    D. raised

(   ) 4.A. included       B. concluded C. involved   D. intended

(   ) 5. A. physically    B. financially       C. mentally   D. spiritually

(   ) 6. A. care      B. growth     C. happiness  D. concern

(   ) 7. A. clear     B. known      C. out    D. sure

(   ) 8. A. when    B. what C. how  D. why

(   ) 9. A. employee     B. citizen      C. partner     D. mother

(   ) 10. A. keep   B. look for    C. find  D. own

    

Is there a nationwide shortage of nurses? It’s hard to say．However, some characteristic symptoms often indicate that there is indeed a shortage．

One symptom is the vacancy rate, or the percentage of budgeted positions that are unfilled．New England’s hospitals currently report that an average of 7 to 12 percent of their registered nurse positions are vacant, the highest level since the last shortage in the late 1980s．Vermont has a relatively low vacancy rate, at 7．8 percent．But its vacancies were at 1．2 percent just five years ago．

Another symptom is the increased use of stopgap measures to fill empty positions．For instance, many nurses report an upswing in how frequently they are asked to stay past their shifts．According to Murphy, working in the St．Elizabeth’s Hospital, “The shortage has definitely created a lot of opportunities of overtime for our nurses, whether they want them or not．” Similarly, a national survey of registered nurses shows that in an average week, nurses in the U．S．work 2．4 more hours than they are scheduled to．Much of this extra time is voluntary, as nurses earn overtime pay when they stay to fill in blanks in the schedule．

When they can’t fill open positions by more traditional means, health care providers hire temporary staff to tide them over．Travelling workers are the largest part of the temporary health care workforce, hired for thirteen-week reduction at health care facilities facing short-term lack of workers．Temporary workers, mainly nurses, cost hospitals $ 7．2 billion in 2000．

“Any successful solution to the shortage depends on convincing more people to become nurses, and that is not an easy goal to reach．To achieve it,” says Buerhaus, “society needs to place more value on nursing．Legislation （法规） can’t do that – it should come from people．” And if this continues, we might have to learn to care for ourselves in the hospital．

The temporary staff hired by a hospital _______．

      A．cost a large part of the hospital’s budget

       B．meet the need for nurses in the hospital for a short time

      C．should work on a weekly basis and on a scheduled timetable 

       D．ought to work passively for thirty continuous weeks

According to Buerhaus, what is a successful solution to the nurse shortage?

      A．To convince people of the benefits of being a nurse．

      B．To ask the government for help to work out specific legislation．

      C．To publicize the past achievements of nurses．

      D．To make people aware of the importance of being a nurse．

What’s the probable meaning of the underlined word “upswing” in Paragraph 3?

      A．Symptom    B．Decrease   C．Increase             D．Figure

What’s the author’s attitude towards nurse shortage?

       A．Worried        B．Indifferent     C．Doubtful      D．Optimistic

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.

1. 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

2.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

3.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.

4.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

 

 

 

第二节 信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

首先，请阅读下列有关电器的介绍：

[A] This 1000-wat electric kettle rapidly boils up to 1 quart of water for coffee, tea and more. It provides a rapid and quiet heating process, making it ideal for the office, home or students’ bedroom, and unit’s easy-open lid is designed with a security lock to prevent spilling. The kettle automatically shuts off when the water boils.

[B] This 12-inch everyday pan is made of aluminum, allowing for quick heat giving. The stainless-steel handles are comfortable to grasp, plus they decrease heat moving so handles stay cool on the stovetop. The included lid is ideal for moist-heat cooking. It cooks fast and is easy to clean and can cook everything with little oil or no oil.

[C] This lightweight carpet cleaner comes with a display of convenient features. It gets under furniture and in hard-to-reach areas, and it is removable for easy clean-up. It provides heavy-duty cleaning for the worst type dirt, like high-traffic areas and pet stains, and dirty water and clean water always remain separate. It is ideal for carpeted stairs.

[D] This electric pressure washer is an ideal choice for home and auto cleaning projects. It features and an instant stop or start function. It also includes an adjustable pressure nozzle(喷嘴), so you can adjust pressure from 100 PSI to 1300 PSI, and owns effective cleaning power.

[E] This solar spotlight turns on automatically at dark and off at dawn. Show off garden accessories like fountains or light a path through your yard with a solar light that needs neither electricity nor maintenance. Solar lighting saves money and energy by gathering power from the sun.

[F] Keep the air in the home, office, or workplace circulating with this high-performance fan. It features a design for fast, focused cooling and effective air circulation. It also comes equipped with a three-speed motor and a specially-designed blade, which provides different power. Thoughtfully designed, the fan can also be wall mounted to help save floor space.

阅读以下消费者的信息，然后匹配他们拟要购买的电器。

56. Terminal examination is coming near and it is getting hotter and hotter. Michael studies hard at his desk, often wet through with sweat. Now what he is most longing for is some kind of instrument that can cool himself while he is doing his lessons at the desk so he can have a better learning result.

57. It is only a few days before Christmas Day. Jacky and his family are to give their house a thorough cleaning. As his father has some trouble with his health, Jacky volunteers to undertake the task of cleaning the ceiling and walls. In order to do a better job, he is eager to find an ideal instrument to match his aim.

58. For the purpose of being admitted by a key university, Harry has been burying himself in lessons and often studies until late into the night so that he often feels tired out and sleepy. “Why not refresh myself with a cup of coffee now and then?” He thinks and then he comes up with an idea….

59. Simon has decided to go hiking with his classmates for a holiday and hopes to have a picnic by cooking in the open air to add pleasure and fun to their trip. Now he is given the task that he should get an instrument with which they can cook delicious dishes.

60. Peter’s mother is a cleaner whose job is to get clean kinds of floors, including carpets of many buildings. The boring work — especially the stair carpet cleaning — often makes her mother worn out. So Rachel is anxious to buy her an easy-to-use machine to take the place of her mother’s heavy work.

 

Bollworms are a traditional threat to cotton crops．Young ones feed on the boll, the part of the

cotton plant that contains the seeds．

 

A bacterium known as Bt is able to kill bollworms and some other pests．Bt is short form for Bacillus thuringiensis．It was discovered in the early twentieth century．Farmers began using Bt as a natural pesticide（杀虫剂）．

Then，in the 1990s，researchers found a way to grow cotton plants that contain a Bt gene．The genetically modified cotton plant produces toxins that kill bollworms．Farmers around the world are now growing an estimated fourteen million hectares of Bt cotton．

Cotton bollworms also attack other crops．But scientists in China recently reported that Bt cotton may help suppress bollworm in other crops growing nearby．

The study involved crops grown in six provinces of northern China between 1992 and 2008.The study area contained three million hectares of cotton and twenty-two million hectares of corn，peanuts，soybeans and vegetables．

The researchers say the study suggested that Bt cotton not only controls bollworm on the transgenic cotton，but also may reduce its presence on other crops．And that reduction，they say，may decrease the need for insecticide use in general．

But the researchers also pointed out concerns．They say bollworms could develop resistance to the cotton plants designed to resist them．And they noted that insects called mirids have become “key pests” of cotton in China．They said this is because of a decrease in pesticide use made possible by Bt cotton．

The researchers say they do not believe that Bt cotton alone can solve all insect problems．Instead，they say farmers in China should consider it just one part of pest management systems．

44．What is Bt in this passage?

         A．It's a kind of hi-tech invention．      B．It's a natural bacterium．

         C．It's a kind of pest．                    D．It's a man-made pesticide．

45．Bt cotton has all the advantages EXCEPT that ________．

         A．it resists bollworms

         B．it does good to other crops growing around

         C．it reduces the use of insecticide

         D．it helps to develop new insects

46．The underlined word “ones” in the first paragraph refers to ________．

         A．bollworms             B．cotton crops          C．cotton seeds        D．pests

47．From the passage，we can infer ________．

         A．farmers around the world are now growing a large area of Bt cotton

         B．researchers are probably now searching for new ways to solve other cotton problems

         C．bollworms could not exist in Bt cotton any longer

         D．Chinese scientists found the way to grow Bt cotton