Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan sees an epidemic (流行病) sweeping across America’s farmland. It has little to do with the usual challenges, such as flood, rising fuel prices and crop-eating insects. The country’s farmers are getting older, and there are fewer people standing in line to take their place. National agricultural census (普查) figures show that the fastest-growing group of farmers is the part over 65. Merrigan is afraid the average age will be even higher when the 2012 statistics are completed.

　 Merrigan, a former college professor, is making stops at universities across the country in hopes of encouraging more students to think about careers in agriculture. Aside from trying to stop the graying of America’s farmers, her work is made tougher by a recent blog posting that put agriculture at No. 1 on a list of “useless” college degrees. Top federal agriculture officials are talking about the posting, and it has the attention of agricultural organizations across the country.

　 “There couldn’t be anything that’s more incorrect,” Merrigan said. “We know that there aren’t enough qualified graduates to fill the jobs that are out there in American agriculture.”

　 In addition, a growing world population that some experts predict will require 70% more food production by 2050, she said.

　 “I truly believe we’re at a golden age of agriculture. Global demand is at an all-time record high, and global supplies are at all-time record lows,” said Matt Rush, director of the Texas Farm Bureau. “Production costs are going to be valuable enough that younger people are going to have the opportunity to be involved in agriculture. “

　 The Department of Agriculture has programs aimed at developing more farmers and at increasing interest in locally grown food. The National Young Farmers’ Coalition has also been pushing for state and federal policy changes to make it easier for new farmers.

　 Ryan Best, president of Future Farmers of America, has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the country and visiting with high school students about careers in agriculture. The 21-year-old Best hopes his message --that this is a new time in agriculture-- will motivate the next generation to turn around the statistics. “Never before have we had the innovations (創(chuàng)新) in technology which have led to agriculture in this country being the most efficient it has ever been,” he said. “There’s really a place for everybody to fit in. “

57. What is the new challenge to American agriculture?

　　 A. Fewer and older farmers. 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Higher fuel prices.

　　 C. More natural disasters. D. Lower agricultural output.

58. Why is Merrigan visiting universities across the country?

A. To draw federal agriculture officials’ attention.

B. To select qualified agriculture graduates.

C. To clarify a recent blog posting.

D. To talk more students into farming careers.

59. According to Matt Rush, American agriculture will provide opportunities for younger people because ________.

A. the government will cover production costs

B. global food supplies will be even lower

C. investment in agriculture will be profitable

D. America will increase its food export

60. What do the underlined words “to turn around the statistics” in the last paragraph mean?

A. To re-analyze the result of the national census.

B. To increase agricultural production.

C. To bring down the average age of farmers.

D. To invest more in agriculture.

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科目：高中英語 來源：福建省福州八中2009屆高三第四次質(zhì)量檢測英語試題 題型：050

閱讀理解

　　China’s economic growth“hard to predict”

　　The worsening global economic situation makes it difficult for China to predict its growth for next year, a senior official said on Friday．

　　“How fast China’s economy will grow next year is uncertain,”Liu He, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economy Work, told China Daily．

　　“To a large extent, the rate will be decided by the external(外部的)situation,”Liu said during a discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other economists in Beijing．

　　This year, GDP is estimated to grow at 9.4 or 9.5 percent, down from 10.6 percent last year, he said．However, the impact of the current financial turbulence(波動(dòng))“on our economy is much less than on the rest of the world”, he said．

　　Nicholas Stern, a former UK government advisor, also told China Daily it will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession, which is now spreading from the US and the UK to the rest of the world．

　　“We don’t know how long the recession will last, but it is unlikely to be short,”he said．

　　Liu said China can use the downturn(衰退)as an opportunity to restructure its economy, which has relied heavily on government investment, foreign trade and low-cost technology over the past years．

　　“When the economy is experiencing fast growth, companies are unwilling to upgrade their technologies,”Liu said．

　　“The slowdown gives such firms the opportunity to enhance(提高)their competitive edge through better technologies．”

　　From China Daily 2008-10-25

(1)

How many people are mentioned in this passage?

[　　]

A．

only 2

B．

no more than 3

C．

not more than 4

D．

at least 5

(2)

It can be inferred from Liu’s words that the impact of the current financial turbulence on China’s economy is ________ in the world．

[　　]

A．

more

B．

less

C．

the most

D．

the least

(3)

The underlined word“extent”probably means ________．

[　　]

A．

sense

B．

degree

C．

size

D．

depth

(4)

According to the passage, the reason why Liu said this downturn is an opportunity for China to restructure its economy is that ________．

[　　]

A．

China’s economy will not depend on government investment in the future

B．

Foreign trade will grow in the future

C．

The downturn will force China’s companies to upgrade their technologies

D．

Low-cost technologies will not exist in China

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科目：高中英語 來源：江蘇省如皋市丁堰中學(xué)2010－2011學(xué)年高二學(xué)情抽測英語試題 題型：050

閱讀理解

　　The worsening global economic situation makes it difficult for China to predict its growth for next year, a senior official said on Friday．

　　“How fast China's economy will grow next year is uncertain,”Liu He, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economy Work, told China Daily．

　　“To a large extent, the rate will be decided by the external situation,”Liu said during a discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other economists in Beijing．

　　“This year, GDP is estimated to grow at 9.4 or 9.5 percent, down from 10.6 percent last year”, he said．“However, the impact of the current financial turbulence(動(dòng)蕩)on our economy is much less than on the rest of the world”, he said．

　　Nicholas Stern, a former UK government advisor, also told China Daily,“It will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession, which is now spreading from the US and the UK to the rest of the world．We don't know how long the recession will last, but it is unlikely to be short,”he said．

　　Liu said China can use the downturn as an opportunity to restructure its economy, which has relied heavily on government investment, foreign trade and low-cost technology over the past years．

　　“When the economy is experiencing fast growth, companies are unwilling to upgrade their technologies,”Liu said．

　　“The slowdown gives such firms the opportunity to sharpen their competitive edge through better technologies．”

(1)

We can conclude from Liu He's speech that ________．

[　　]

A．

it will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession

B．

GDP in China is expected to reduce this year compared to that of last year

C．

how fast China's economy will grow this year is uncertain

D．

China, as well as the rest of the world, faces the same impact of the financial turbulence

(2)

The underlined word“recession”in the fifth paragraph refers to ________．

[　　]

A．

decline

B．

development

C．

increase

D．

change

(3)

What are the firms advised to do in the face of the slowdown in economy?

[　　]

A．

To rely firmly on government investment

B．

To stop foreign trade in the near future

C．

To depend on low-cost technology

D．

To sharpen their competitive edge by better technologies

(4)

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

[　　]

A．

The fast growing economy of China

B．

The decline in China's GDP next year

C．

The worsening global economic situation

D．

The financial impact on China's economy

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科目：高中英語 來源：2012年普通高等學(xué)校招生全國統(tǒng)一考試江蘇卷英語 題型：050

閱讀理解

　　Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan sees an epidemic(流行病)sweeping across Americas farmland．It has little to do with the usual challenges, such as flood, rising fuel prices and crop-eating insects．The country's fanners are getting older, and there are fewer people standing in line to take their place．National agricultural census(普查)figures show that the fastest-growing group of fanners is the part over 65．Merrigan is afraid the average age will be even higher when the 2012 statistics are completed．

　　Merrigan, a former college professor, is making stops at universities across the country in hopes of encouraging more students to think about careers in agriculture．Aside from trying to stop the graying of．America's farmers, her work is made tougher by a recent blog posting that put agriculture at No．1 on a list of "useless" college degrees．Top federal agriculture officials are talking about the posting, and it has the attention of agricultural organizations across the country．

　　“There couldn't be anything that's more incorrect," Merrigan said．"We know that there aren't enough qualified graduates to fill the jobs that are out there in American agriculture．

　　In addition, a growing world population that some experts predict will require 70％ more food production by 2050, she said．

　　“I truly believe we're at a golden age of agriculture．Global demand is at an all-time record high, and global supplies are at all-time record lows," said Matt Rush, director of the Texas Farm Bureau．"Production costs are going to be valuable enough that younger people are going to have the opportunity to be involved in agriculture．"

　　The Department of Agriculture has programs aimed at developing more farmers and at increasing interest in locally grown food．The National Young Farmers' Coalition has also been pushing for state and federal policy changes to make it easier for new farmers．

　　Ryan Best, president of Future Fanners of America, has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the country and visiting with high school students about careers in agriculture．The 21-year-old Best hopes his message-that this is a new time in agriculture-will motivate the next generation to turn around the statistics．Never before have we had the innovations( 創(chuàng)新)in technology which have led to agriculture in this country being the most efficient it has ever been,” he said．“there's really a place for everybody to fit in．”

(1)

What is the new challenge to American agriculture?

[　　]

A．

Fewer and older farmers．

B．

Higher fuel prices．

C．

More natural disasters．

D．

Lower agricultural output．

(2)

Why is Merrigan visiting universities across the country?

[　　]

A．

To draw federal agriculture officials' attention．

B．

To select qualified agriculture graduates．

C．

To clarify a recent blog posting．

D．

To talk more students into farming careers

(3)

According to Matt Rush, American agriculture will provide opportunities for younger people because ________．

[　　]

A．

the government will cover production costs

B．

global food supplies will be even lower

C．

investment in agriculture will be profitable

D．

America will increase its food export

(4)

What do the underlined words "to turn around the statistics" in the last paragraph mean?

[　　]

A．

To re-analyze the result of the national census．

B．

To increase agricultural production．

C．

To bring down the average age of farmers．

D．

To invest more in agriculture．

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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

　 Why does a large education nation like China have so few world renowned scientists as the US? Educationists from China and the US try to find out the answer to questions like this at a forum on the basic education strategy.

　 The forum, held recently, was jointly organized by the Education Development Research Center of the Ministry of Education in China and the Postgraduate School of the University of Pennsylvania in the US. It aims to find out similarities and differences that exist between two countries in their educational system.

　 While some educationists in China keep a doubtful eye to the country’s educational system in recent years. Their American counterparts give a positive answer to the basic education in China, saying that it is still one of the best in the world.

An American educationist told reporters that the basic education in the US was criticized in recent years due to its political tendency. On the contrary, Chinese government’s stress on basic education and qualified teachers has set a good example.

　 At primary and middle school, pupils in China did better in math and science lessons than the US pupils. However, few grow to be world “masters”. Why? Educationists attributed this to China’s stress on examination rather than students’ interest.

　 Deputy Director of the postgraduate school of Pennsylvania University said American teachers encouraged students to focus on their strong points. In China, students are driven to study to pass the entrance examination test and they do not pay much attention to their own interest.

　 At the forum, director of the Education Development Research Center Mr. Zhang said in the future, the research center would make its middle and long-term basic education strategy by taking some references from other countries including the US.

He also revealed that for a long time in the future, China would make a breakthrough in setting the policy for quality education.

72. This passage is mainly about _________.

A. quality education development in the future

　 B. why China’s education cultivates(培養(yǎng)) few world masters

　 C. China’s good basic education

　 D. genius education at the primary stage

73. The underlined word “renowned” in the first paragraph probably means ________

　 A. famous　　　　 B. active　　　　　 C. qualified　　　 D. experienced

74. Few pupils in China who did better in math and science lessons than the US pupils grow to be

　　　 world “masters”, because _________

　 A. The US government spends more money on basic education

　 B. American pupils are cleverer than Chinese pupils

　 C. basic education in China is not as successful as that of the US

　 D. Chinese people pay less attention to students’ interest

75. China’s educational system will _______ in the future.

　 A. help students to study even harder to pass the examination

　 B. apply more attention to quality education referring to systems of other countries

　 C. allow students to pay more attention to their own interest without their test results

　 D. copy the educational system in the US

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