Former Irish President Mary Robinson was just making a polite conversation with an Ethiopian (埃塞俄比亚的) teenager about her wedding day. The 16yearold had already been married for a year. “She looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, ‘I had to drop out of school’，” Robinson said in a telephone interview. “That conveyed to me the reality，” said Robinson, the first woman to serve as Ireland"s president and former U．N. high commissioner for human fights. “Her life, as far as she is concerned, had more or less ended.”
Robinson said keeping girls in school was one of the most important things policymakers could do to address the coming challenges of an ever-increasing population, predicted by the United Nations to reach 7 billion soon. “European countries are concerned about aging populations as is Japan, but this is much less of an issue than the huge number of people which we are going to see over the next 40 years when the population goes from 7 billion to 9 billion，” she said. “Almost all of that increase will be in poor developing countries, so that we have a very big challenge.”
Family planning experts worry in particular about the future population explosion in subSaharan Africa. In May, the United Nations projected the world population would reach 9.3billion in 2050 and 10.1 billion by 2100. Much of that growth will come from Africa, where the population is growing at 2.3 percent a year—more than double Asia"s 1 percent growth rate. If that rate stays consistent, which is not certain, Africa"s population will reach 3.6 billion by 2100 from the present 1 billion.
Joel Cohen, a professor of population studies at Rockefeller University and Columbia University in New York, said universal secondary education offered a way to reduce population in high birthrate regions. In addition to providing information about birth control, a secondary education teaches women to reduce their own fertility (生育力), improve the health of their children and allows them to move from a mindset of having many children, in the hopes that some will survive to improving the quality of each child"s life, Cohen wrote in the journal Nature.
小题1:In the first paragraph, the author introduces his topic by ________.| A．explaining the author"s opinions | | B．giving an example | | C．describing the poor education system | | D．coming straight to the topic |
小题2:What can we learn from the passage?| A．Robinson is happy after talking to the Ethiopian girl. | | B．Robinson is a successful expert in population studies. | | C．Robinson is worried about population growth. | | D．Robinson encourages female education. |
小题3:What is Joel Cohen"s view about secondary education?| A．It provides basic knowledge of health. | | B．It improves the health of children. | | C．It makes people pay more attention to education. | | D．It can change people"s parenting ideas. |
小题4:According to Robinson, what is one of the most important things policymakers can do to prevent the population from increasing rapidly?| A．Keeping girls in school. | | B．Letting girls go away from Africa. | | C．Letting young girls remain single. | | D．Keeping girls in families. |
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小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:D
小题4:A |
试题分析：文章介绍了非洲女性中普遍存在的早婚的情况，这对于女孩的身心健康都是有害的，也造成社会人口增长的迅速发展。文章给出了一些解决这样的问题的方法。
小题1:写作手法题：题目的意思是“第一段作者使用什么方法介绍这个话题的？”。在文中第一句话“Former Irish President Mary Robinson was just making a polite conversation with an Ethiopian (埃塞俄比亚的) teenager about her wedding day. The 16yearold had already been married for a year.可以体现出来，说明作者是通过埃塞俄比亚的一个小女孩的例子介绍这个话题的，因此选B。
小题2:细节题：题目的意思是“我们从文章中了解到什么?”根据文章第二段的句子“Robinson said keeping girls in school was one of the most important things policymakers could do to address the coming challenges of an ever-increasing population, predicted by the United Nations to reach 7 billion soon.”可知Robinson担心人口增长问题，选C。
小题3:细节题：题目的意思是“Joel Cohen对于中等教育的态度是什么?”根据Joel Cohen定位到第四段的句子：In addition to providing information about birth control, a secondary education teaches women to reduce their own fertility (生育力), improve the health of their children and allows them to move from a mindset of having many children, in the hopes that some will survive to improving the quality of each child"s life,可知Joel Cohen认为中等教育可以改变人们的做父母的方式，答案是D。
小题4:细节题：题目的意思是“根据Robinson所说为了防止人口的增长政策制定者做的最重要的事情是什么?”根据policymakers定位到第二段的句子：Robinson said keeping girls in school was one of the most important things policymakers could do to address the coming challenges of an ever-increasing population, predicted by the United Nations to reach 7 billion soon..可知为了防止人口的增长政策制定者做的最重要的事情是让女孩在学校，答案是A。 |
核心考点
试题【Former Irish President Mary Robinson was just making a polite conversation with 】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
Discover the beautiful, silent, white world or Antarctica on the holidays of a life-time．Head South to Buenos Aires and then transfer to the world"s most southern city, Ushuaia．From there, it"s about 1,000 kilometers on a special icebreaker ship to the freezing temperature of Antarctica．
Getting off the ship and taking your first step onto the ice, you will imagine what it is like to be an explorer．Meet penguins（企鹅） sitting on their eggs, or see an Antarctic seal that lives all the year round on the ice．But do not get closer than five meters to any animal, in case you frighten it or make it angry．
The friendly crew of the ship will look after you as you explore the ice continent. We promise you fantastic meals and a comfortable bed — you sleep in a four-person cabin — as well as many special treats．If you don"t think it is cold enough, try the ""polar plunge" — jump into a special hole dug in the ice and dip your head under the water．You can then jump into a hot bath and if you succeed we will give you a certificate．
After you wake up for the first time in the Antarctica you will understand why everybody who goes there falls in love with the place．The scenery is different every day because the sea ice is always moving．
Our ships travel to Antarctica from November to March — phone today and book your dream holiday!
小题1:How should you behave when you see animals on Antarctica?| A．Don"t take photos with them． | | B．Sit on the legs of the penguin． | | C．Don"t watch them too near． | | D．Never make them angry． |
小题2:If you want to get a certificate, you have to ．| A．try the "polar plunge" | | B．sleep in a four-person cabin | | C．have a bath in hot water | | D．dive in the sea |
小题3:The author writes this text mainly to ．| A．describe what Antarctica is like | | B．tell about the scenery in Antarctica | | C．call for people to discover Antarctica | | D．attract more tourists to Antarctica |
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Dogs already guide blind and disabled people and now they are to be trained to help people with dementia．The idea developed by some university students will now be put into practice by Scotland Medical Center．The research is meaningful, for there are 670, 000 people in Britain who have dementia and by 2021 this is expected to rise to one million．
Dementia can make people confuse night and day or forget basic things such as washing or drinking enough water．The dogs would be trained to help to guide them through the day．
Joyce Gray from Scotland Medical Center said, "People in the early stages of dementia are still able to live a relatively normal life, and dogs help them to maintain routine．M For example, people with memory loss will tend to forget to take medicine, "but if a dog presents them with a bag with pills in it, there"s a greater chance of them taking it．"
Ms．Gray also said dogs were perfectly suited to remind their owners to eat．"Dogs have an ability to say "it"s my feeding time^, so there would be a note in the cupboard next to the dog"s food reminding the dog"s owner to eat too．"
The dog would also encourage the owner to take them out for walks．"It gives a reason for the owner to go out into the community," Ms．Gray said, "We did a test with an elderly person walking down the high street on his own．Then we gave him a dog on a lead and he did the exact same walk．That time people would come up to him, chatting or smiling and making eye contact．We hope we"d see this with people with dementia too．"
There is one more advantage of using the pets as companions．Since conversation can be increasingly confusing for people with dementia, dogs can give them a sense of silent support and companionship．Ms．Gray said, "We have found that people may forget familiar faces but not pets．People light up when they see animals．There is a speechless bond between the dog and its owner．w
小题1:What"s the common symptom of dementia?| A．Going hungry． | B．Feeling lonely． | | C．Forgetting things． | D．Waking up at night． |
小题2:According to Ms．Gray, after feeding the pet, the owner may ______．| A．do some washing | B．take his medicine | | C．have something to eat | D．go out to walk the dog |
小题3:For people with dementia, pets can ______．| A．give them wordless help | | B．contribute to their recovery | | C．help them to recognize people"s faces | | D．ensure them to gain support from other people |
小题4:What"s the best title for the passage?| A．Guide Dogs for the Mind | | B．Pets, Faithful Companions | | C．Mental Support for the Disabled | | D．Dementia, a Curable Disease |
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Interactive Home-security Systems
Tarik Celebi, who lives in San Francisco suburb, takes his home-security system with him to work, to dinner, just about anywhere．By his cell phone, he "arms" his home-security alarm from his car before he leaves for work．During his workday, he gets e-mail alerts every time his front door opens, even though he"s miles away．If the door opens at an unusual time -say midday when no one should be coming or going - he can order a 30-second video clip（片段） from the camera that watches the door．If it"s just his mother-in-law getting a package delivery, no worries．
Celebi is one of the first users of the latest interactive home-security systems．In addition to sounding alarms when the house is broken into and notifying homeowners or police, as traditional systems do, the interactive systems give users new ways to remotely control their systems and their home environment．Different from traditional home-security alarms, which homeowners typically have to press buttons on a keypad to turn on before they leave their homes, the interactive systems enable consumers to arm and disarm systems from smart phones, iPads and PCs, no matter where they are．
Most traditional systems are set up to sound an alarm if doors or windows are opened． The interactive systems give homeowners more options．For example, users can elect when they want to be notified．They might want an e-mail or a text every time a door is opened, or only during the hours of 3 to 4 p．m．, when kids come home from school．Like Celebi, they can add cameras and get video clips when doors open．That could be helpful in making sure kids aren"t bringing friends home when they"re not supposed to．
Nationwide, about 20% of homes have．traditional home-security systems．About half stop using them because they tire of the trouble．Being able to arm systems even while dashing to the subway or while at work will increase their usage of the new interactive systems．Although the new functions add costs to home security, the interactive-systems are believed to push home-security systems" usage rates closer to 30%, which would be a big movement for an industry that"s been largely stuck at 20% for the past decade．"We all know it"s going to get bigger, though we don"t know how long it"s going to take," Eric Taylor, an officer from San Francisco Security Department says．
小题1:What may Celebi first do if his front door opens at a wrong time when he is away?| A．Inform the police． | B．Call his mother-in-law． | | C．Arm the security alarm． | D．Observe through video． |
小题2:The interactive systems enable the user to ______．| A．improve his home environment remotely | | B．lock his house"s door while he is miles away | | C．operate the home-security systems at any place | | D．sound the alarm and inform the police at the same time |
小题3:What"s the advantage of the interactive systems over the traditional ones?| A．They are cheaper． | | B．They are easier to set up． | | C．They can give quicker reaction． | | D．They have more ways to inform the users． |
小题4:What is the last paragraph mainly about?| A．The importance of security industry． | | B．The functions of the interactive alarms． | | C．The popularity of home-security systems． | | D．The market potential of the interactive systems． |
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阅读短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-55题中选出能填入空白处的最佳答案，使短文句意通顺，符合逻辑，并把答案填在在答题卡内。
Once there were two men, who lived in the same hospital room. One man’s bed was next to the room"s only window. _____ , the other man, since his illness was more _____, had to spend all his time in bed. When the man in the bed by the window could _____ up, he would tell his roommate all the things he could see _____ the window. He said the window ______ a park with a lovely _____. Ducks played on the _____ while children sailed their model boats. Old trees grew and beautiful flowers were in bloom. What a fine _____! The man in the other bed would be _____ by the beautiful colors of the world outside.
Days and weeks passed.
One morning, the nurse found the man by the window had _____ peacefully in his sleep. She called the hospital attendants to take the body _____. As everything was done, the other man asked if he could be _____ next to the window. The nurse said OK and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him _____ .
Slowly and painfully, he tried to take his __ ___ look at the world outside. He thought he would be _____ to see it by himself. But to his surprise, he saw nothing but a white _____. The man asked the nurse ____his roommate _____ to him and said there were wonderful things outside this window. The nurse told him his roommate was blind and could not even _____ the wall.
She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to _____ you. He only hoped you could live in a colorful world and got better quickly. "
| 小题1: | | A．Angrily | B．Happily | C．Surprisingly | D．Unluckily |
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| 小题2: | | A．common | B．serious | C．occasional | D．light |
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| 小题3: | | A．stand | B．sit | C．jump | D．wake |
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| 小题4: | | A．across | B．outside | C．behind | D．above |
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| 小题5: | | A．built | B．stood | C．faced | D．placed |
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| 小题6: | | A．lake | B．hill | C．house | D．tower |
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| 小题7: | | A．sand | B．grass | C．water | D．tree |
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| 小题8: | | A．look | B．sight | C．form | D．view |
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| 小题9: | | A．impressed | B．moved | C．reminded | D．disappointed |
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| 小题10: | | A．missed | B．come | C．died | D．passed |
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| 小题12: | | A．lifted | B．forced | C．brought | D．moved |
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| 小题13: | | A．alike | B．alone | C．aloud | D．alive |
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| 小题14: | | A．single | B．last | C．first | D．only |
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| 小题15: | | A．pleased | B．sad | C．crazy | D．excited |
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| 小题16: | | A．picture | B．wall | C．river | D．window |
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| 小题19: | | A．hear | B．touch | C．see | D．describe |
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| 小题20: | | A．surprise | B．control | C．encourage | D．advice |
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Americans plan parties for many reasons. As in other cultures, many Americans attend parties for weddings and religious or national holidays. But some parties are especially American. For example, a group of neighbors may gather on their street to eat food, play music and visit with one another. This is called a block party. A woman might invite a group of women to a party called a baby shower for a friend who is about to give birth. Guests bring presents for the new baby.
Americans also attend tailgate parties. A tailgate is the back end of a truck or other vehicle that opens down. The tailgate parties are a big part of sports culture in the United States. Friends bring food and drink to a sports event. They eat together in the parking area of the sports stadium.
Birthday parties are also very popular. Many parents organize a party for their child around a theme. Birthday parties usually include gifts and a birthday cake with candles. In many parts of the United States, cupcakes have become a popular replacement for cakes.
Birthday parties can be low cost or very costly. Some parents take their children’s birthday parties very seriously, even when the child is too young to fully understand the celebration.
One group of parents started a website called Birthdays Without Pressure. They decided that some parents were under too much social pressure to plan costly parties for their children. The group sees this movement as an example of America’s culture of “too much stuff”. The group’s website gives suggestions on how to keep birthday celebrations simple, meaningful and fun without spending a lot of money. Their advice may be very helpful during this period of economic recession（萧条）.
小题1:What can be the best title for the passage?| A．Reasons for parties | | B．Birthdays without pressure | | C．American parties | | D．Different parties in the world |
小题2:How many kinds of parties does the passage mention?小题3:Eating together in the parking area of the sports stadium belongs to _________parties.| A．block | B．baby shower | C．sports | D．tailgate |
小题4:The purpose of Birthdays Without Pressure is to advise people to _________.| A．relieve people’s pressure | | B．have meaningful birthday parties with low cost | | C．make birthday parties meaningful and costly | | D．spread America’s culture |
小题5:Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?| A．Block party is especially American. | | B．Some parties in America are the same as in other countries. | | C．There’s a party for the mother before her new baby is born. | | D．Birthday parties are the most popular in America. |
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