Poverty is not first thing that comes to mind when you think of Japan. After all, there are no children begging on the streets in major cities here. You do not often see Japanese citizens publicly letting out their complaints over the country’s economic decline. But senior government researcher Aya Abe says Japan has the fourth highest rate of child poverty among developed countries.

She says she sees that poverty in schools where students admit to only bathing once a week. Some cannot afford to buy pencils for class.

“They may not be on the streets begging or they may not be turning into criminals, but it’s there. It’s just that we have to open our eyes and see,” Abe said.

Abe owes the increase in child poverty to the country’s changing demographics(人口統(tǒng)計(jì)), struggling economy and high social security premiums(保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)). She says fewer people live in three-generation households, where the parents and grandparents work. The number of single mothers has increased. The salary for young fathers has declined with the economic downturn. Social security premiums have increased in the last 20 years, putting families on the edge of poverty.

Abe says studies conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD ) point to rising poverty in Japan before the global economic crises in 2008. But the Japanese government and the public refused to acknowledge it until then partly because of the shame associated with poverty.

“It was very unpopular for Japanese media to say anything about Japanese poverty,” said Abe. “Even though OECD Japan announced it in Japanese, Japanese media didn’t make it into the articles.”

Abe says new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has taken one important step to help alleviate (緩解) the problem. Next year, his Democratic Party of Japan plans to double monthly child care allowances given to families.

But Abe wants the government to expand its financial help even more. She wants it to simplify the process to apply for public assistance and provide educational grants for students struggling to pay for tuition at high schools and colleges. The country now only offers loans.

Abe also says the government must act quickly because she says the problem will only get worse in the next few years.

1. The passage is intended to _________.

   A. report the result of the studies conducted by OECD

   B. tell us about the increase in Japanese child poverty

   C. prove that Japan is no longer a developed country

   D. introduce Aya Abe, a senior government researcher

2. It seems to be hard to associate Japan with poverty because _______.

   A. no children are seen begging in the streets of main cities in Japan

   B. its citizens never complain about the country’s economic decline

   C. it is one of the few wealthiest countries in the world

   D. its government and public refused to acknowledge it

3. According to Abe, several things contribute to the rising child poverty except________.

   A. high social security premiums            

B. the increase of the number of single mothers

   C. the decrease of the salary for young fathers  

D. the expansion of three-generation households

4. Why was it unpopular for Japanese media to say anything about Japanese poverty?

A. The Japanese public didn’t think it true.           

B. It was forbidden by the Japanese government.

C. The Japanese public regarded it shameful to be poor. 

D. OECD Japan had already announced it in Japanese.

5. Which of the following is NOT the author’s suggestion for alleviating this problem?

   A. Doubling monthly child care allowances given to families.

   B. Expanding government’s financial help even more.

   C. Providing educational grants for poor students.

   D. Simplifying the process to apply for public assistance.

 

You never see them, but they're with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast you're traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to withstand almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. They're known as the black box.

When planes fall from the sky, as a Yemeni airliner did on its way to Comoros Islands in the India ocean June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a French submarine (潛水艇) detected the device's homing signal five days later, the discovery marked a huge step toward determining the cause of a tragedy in which 152 passengers were killed.

In 1958, Australian scientist David Warren developed a flight-memory recorder that would track basic information like altitude and direction. That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960. Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned and moved to the rear of the plane – the area least subject to（易遭受）impact – from its original position in the landing wells (起落架艙). The same year, the Federal Aviation Authority required that the boxes, which were never actually black, be painted orange or yellow to aid visibility.

Modern airplanes have two black boxes: a voice recorder, which tracks pilots' conversations, and a flight-data recorder, which monitors fuel levels, engine noises and other operating functions that help investigators reconstruct the aircraft's final moments. Placed in an insulated (隔絕的) case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can withstand massive force and temperatures up to 2,000℉. When submerged, they're also able to emit signals from depths of 20,000 ft.

Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazil on June 1, 2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say they're still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one plane's black boxes were never recovered.

1.What information could be found from the black box on the Yemeni airliner?

A．Data for analyzing the cause of the crash.

B．The total number of passengers on board.

C．The scene of the crash and extent of the damage.

D．Homing signals sent by the pilot before the crash.

2.Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?

A．New materials became available by that time.

B．Too much space was needed for its installation.

C．The early models often got damaged in the crash.

D．The early models didn't provide the needed data.

3.Why did the Federal Aviation Authority require the black boxes be painted orange or yellow?

A．To distinguish them from the colour of the plane.

B．To caution people to handle them with care.

C．To make them easily identifiable.

D．To obey international standards

4.What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?

A．There is still a good chance of their being recovered.

B．There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed.

C．They have stopped sending homing signals.

D．They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil.

 

It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their ears, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.

The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries (食品雜貨) saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.

I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that，several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.

People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity (人性) as a whole. And it has influenced (影響) us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.

1.Why was the bike so important to the couple?

A. The man’s job was bike racing.     B. It was their only possession.

C. It was a nice Kona 18 speed.       D. They used it for work and daily life

2.We can infer from the text that ________

A. The couple worked 60 hours a week    B. people were busy before Christmas

C. the stranger brought over the bike      D. life was hard for the young family

3.How did people get to know the couple’s problem?

A. From radio broadcasts.   B. From a newspaper.  

C. From TV news.            D. From a stranger.

4.What does the couple learn from their experience?

A. Strangers are usually of little help. B. One should take care of their bike.

C. News reports make people famous.      D. An act of kindness can mean a lot.

 

SECTION B(10 points)

Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

He could have been president of Israel or played the violin at Carnegie Hall, but he was too busy thinking. His thinking on God, love and the meaning of life grace our greeting cards and day-timers.

Fifty years after his death, his shock of white hair and hanging mustache still symbolize genius. Einstein remains the foremost scientist of the modern time. Looking back 2,400 years, only Newton, Galileo and Aristotle were his equals.

Around the world, universities and academies are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Einstein's "miracle year" when he published five scientific papers in 1905 that basically changed our grasp of space, time, light and matter. Only he could top himself about a decade later with his theory of relativity.

Born in the age of horse-drawn carriages, his ideas launched a technological revolution that has made more change in a century than in the previous two thousand years. Computers, satellites, telecommunication, lasers, television and nuclear power all owe their invention to ways in which Einstein exposed a stranger and more complicated reality underneath the world．

He escaped Hitler's Germany and devoted the rest of his life to human rights and peace with an authority unmatched by any scientist today, or even most politicians and religious leaders. He spoke out against fascism and racial prejudice. His FBI file ran 1,400 pages.

His letters expose a disorderly personal life -- married twice and indifferent toward his children while absorbed in physics. Yet he charmed lovers and admirers with poetry and sailboat outings. Friends and neighbors fiercely protected his privacy.

81．What is the passage about?(no more than 5 words)

______________________________________________________________________________                                                                              

82．What gifts does the first paragraph imply that Einstein have?(no more that 10 words)

______________________________________________________________________________                                                                               

83．Why was 1905 called Einstein’s “miracle year”?(no more than 15 words)

______________________________________________________________________________                                                                               

84．How do you describe Einstein when he was not buried himself in his research?(no more that 15 words)

______________________________________________________________________________                                                                             

 

請(qǐng)閱讀下列應(yīng)用文及其相關(guān)信息，并按照要求匹配信息。

下面是幾條與節(jié)日有關(guān)的報(bào)道，首先請(qǐng)閱讀這些報(bào)道的標(biāo)題和插圖：

（注意：如果選擇E，則在答題卡上同時(shí)填涂A和B選項(xiàng)；如果選擇F，則在答題卡上同時(shí)填涂C和D選項(xiàng)。）

A.		Father’s Day Shortchanged? Humble History, Fewer Gifts With Father’s Day 2011 here, find out how the holiday started, why Dad doesn’t mind being shortchanged on gifts, and more.
B.		Why Mother’s Day Horrified, Ruined Its Own Mother Born of war, Mother’s Day grew to horrify its own mother, whose fight to fix the holiday “cost her everything, financially and physically.”
C.		Valentine’s Day Facts: Gifts, History, and Love Science Where did Valentine’s Day come from? What does it cost? And why do we fall for it, year after year?
D.		Thanksgiving 2010 Myths and Facts Before the big dinner, debunk the myths—for starters, the first “real” Thanksgiving wasn’t until the 1800s—and get to the roots of Thanksgiving 2010.
E.		4th of July Facts: 1st Fests, Number of Fireworks, More How did Founding Fathers Celebrate 4th of July? How many 4th of July fireworks explode each year? Answers and more.
F.		Earth Day at 40: What Good Is It Now? After 40 years, outsourced activism is replacing traditional Earth Day activities, and green’s gone mainstream, experts say. So what’s the point?

以下是這些報(bào)道的簡(jiǎn)要內(nèi)容介紹，請(qǐng)配對(duì)它們的標(biāo)題。

1.Where did this most popular day for couples come from? And how does it come into beings, year after year? Noel Lenski, professor of the University of Colorado, said the lovers’ holiday traces its roots to raucous annual Roman festivals held every year on February 15 and remained wildly popular well into the fifth century A.D.

2.The first Earth Day in 1970 was a raucous, radical teach-in that helped spur clean-air, clean-water, and endangered species legislation in the United States. Now, 40 years later, Earth Day is every day, as the saying goes. The thing is, it’s also everyday- environmentalism that has become a routine with greenness as much a marketing tactic as a moral pursuit.

3.Some 242 million turkeys were raised in the U.S. in 2010 for slaughter, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Last year’s birds were worth about U.S. $3.6 billion. Before the big dinner, debunk the myths, we need to know that the first “real” U.S. Thanksgiving wasn’t until the 1800s and get to the roots of Thanksgiving 2010.

4.Father’s Day traditionally takes a backseat to Mother’s Day, and, for the most part, dads are cool with that, experts say. Nevertheless, as traditional roles around the house gradually change, fathers are gaining more attention on their special day, at least as measured in the monetary value of gifts estimated to be given on June 19, 2011, when the holiday will be celebrated in dozens of countries.

5.Cookouts, fireworks, and, of course, a chance to wish Uncle Sam a big “happy birthday” —the day means summer in full swing across the United States and beyond. Besides the founders of the US, Fireworks, first authorized by Congress in 1777, are another legacy. More than 14,000 fireworks displays light up U.S. skies each year.