C

Some futurologists have assumed that the vast upsurge(劇增)of women in the workforce may portend a rejection of marriage. Many women, according to this hypothesis, would rather work than marry. The converse(反面)of this concern is that the prospects of becoming a multi-paycheck household could encourage marriage. In the past, only the earnings and financial prospects of the man counted in the marriage decision. Now, however, the earning ability of a woman can make her more attractive as a marriage partner. Data show that economic downturns tend to putting off marriage because the parties cannot afford to establish a family or are concerned about rainy days ahead. As the economy comes to life, the number of marriages also rises.

The increase in divorce rates follows to the increase in women working outside the home. Yet, it may be wrong to jump to any simple cause-and-effect conclusions. The impact of a wife’s work on divorce is no less cloudy than its impact on marriage decisions. The realization that she can be a good provider may increase the chances that a working wife will choose divorce over an unsatisfactory marriage. But the reverse is equally plausible(似是而非的). Tensions grounded in financial problems often play a key role in ending a marriage. By raising a family’s standard of living, a working wife may strengthen her family’s financial and emotional stability.

Psychological factors also should be considered. For example, a wife blocked from a career outside the home may feel caged in the house. She may view her only choice as seeking a divorce. On the other hand, if she can find fulfillment through work outside the home, work and marriage can go together to create a stronger and more stable union.

Also, a major part of women’s inequality in marriage has been due to the fact that, in most cases, men have remained the main breadwinners. A working wife may rob a husband of being the master of the house. Depending upon how the couple reacts to these new conditions, it could create a stronger equal partnership or it could create new insecurities.

64．The word “portend” (Line 2, Para.1) is closest in meaning to“_____”.

A．defy       B．signal     C．suffer from   D．result from

65．It is said in the passage that when the economy slides_____.

    A．men would choose working women as their marriage partners

    B．more women would get married to seek financial security

    C．even working women would worry about their marriages

    D．more people would prefer to remain single for the time being

66．One reason why women with no career may seek a divorce is that_____.

A．they feel that they have been robbed of their freedom

B．they are afraid of being bossed around by their husbands

C．they feel that their partners fail to live up to their expectations

D．they tend to suspect their husbands? loyalty to their marriage

67．Which of the following statements can best summarize the authors view in the passage?

A．The stability of marriage and the divorce rate may reflect the economic situation of the country．

B．Even when economically independent, most women have to struggle for real equality in marriage.

C．In order to secure their marriage women should work outside the home and remain

independent

D．The impact of the growing female workforce on marriage varies from case to case.

   A recent study shows that gossip（流言蜚語）is more powerful than truth．It suggests people believe what they hear through the grapevine(小道消息)__36__they have evidence to the contrary．

   Researchers, __37__students using a computer game, also found gossip played an important role when people __38__ decisions．"We show that gossip has a strong __39__, even when people have __40__ to the original information as well as gossip about the same information．Thus, it is __41__ that gossip has a strong controlling potential," said Ralf Sommerfeld, who led the study．

   In the study, the researchers __42__ the students money and allowed them to give it to others in a series of rounds．The students also wrote __43__ about how others played the game that everyone could review．Students tended to give __44__ money to people described as “scrooges (吝嗇鬼)” and more to those described as “__45__ players”．“People only believed the gossip, not the past decisions," Sommerfeld said in a telephone interview．

   The researchers then took the game a step_46_and showed the students the actual decisions people had made．But they also supplied false gossip that contradicted that __47_．In these cases, the students_48_ their decisions to award money on the gossip, __49__ the hard evidence．

   “If you know what the people did, you should care, but they still __50__ what others said,” Sommerfeld said．Researchers have __51__ used similar games to study how people cooperate and the __52__ of gossip in groups．Scientists define gossip __53__ social information spread about a person who is not __54__．In evolutionary terms, gossip can be an important tool for people to __55__ information about others' reputations or find the way through social networks at work and in their everyday lives．

36．A．in case     B．for fear that     C．a(chǎn)s if  D．even if    

37．A．testing     B．checking C．examining       D．experimenting

38．A．draw       B．make       C．reach       D．conclude

39．A．impression      B．difference       C．influence D．function

40．A．a(chǎn)ccess      B．entrance   C．charge     D．communication

41．A．curious    B．serious     C．obvious    D．worth

42．A．impressed       B．a(chǎn)sked       C．showed    D．gave

43．A．a(chǎn)rticles    B．notes       C．dairies     D．letters

44．A．less B．more       C．fewer       D．much

45．A．general    B．mean       C．generous D．outgoing

46．A．a(chǎn)way       B．forward   C．a(chǎn)head       D．further

47．A．existence B．evidence C．confidence      D．dependence

48．A．based       B．put   C．focused    D．passed

49．A．more than       B．less than   C．rather than      D．other than

50．A．referred to      B．listened to       C．turned to D．stuck to

51．A．soon        B．presently C．far    D．long

52．A．strength   B．energy     C．effect      D．force

53．A．a(chǎn)s     B．for   C．to     D．by

54．A．a(chǎn)bsent      B．present     C．gone  D．missing

55．A．a(chǎn)chieve    B．earn C．a(chǎn)cquire    D．win

D
The advantages and disadvantages of a large population have long been a subject of
discussion among economists. It has been argued that the supply of good land is limited. To feed a large population, poor land must be cultivated and good land made full use of. Thus, each person produces less and this means a lower average income than could be obtained with a smaller population. Other economists have argued that a large population gives more opportunities for specialization such as ports, roads, and railways, which are not likely to be built unless there is a big demand to justify them.
One of the difficulties in carrying out a world-wide birth control program lies in the fact that official attitudes to population growth vary from country to country depending on the level of industrial development and the availability of food and raw materials. In a developing country where a vast expanding population is pressing hard upon the limits of food, space and natural resources, it will be the first concern of the government to place a limit on the birthrate, whatever the consequences may be. In a highly industrialized society the problem may be more complex. A decreasing birthrate may lead to unemployment because it results in a declining market for products. When the pressure of the population on housing declines, prices also decline and the building industry is weakened. Faced with considerations such as these, the government of a developed country may well prefer to see a slowly increasing population, rather than one which is stable or in decline.
54．According to the first paragraph, a smaller population may mean______ if land is limited.
A．lower productivity, and a lower average income
B．lower productivity, but a higher average income
C．higher productivity, and a higher average income
D．higher productivity, but a lower average income
55．In a developed country, people will perhaps go out of work if the birthrate_______.
A．goes up B．goes down  C．remains stable  D．is limited
56．It is not easy to carry out a worldwide birth-control program because______.
A．there are too many underdeveloped countries in the world
B．developing countries are short of food and raw materials
C．even developed countries may have some complex problems of population
D．different governments show quite opposite views to the population

D
There is probably no field of human activity in which our values and lifestyles are shown more clearly and strongly than they are in the clothes that we choose to wear. The dress of an individual is a kind of "sign language" that communicates a set of information and is usually the basis on which immediate impressions are formed. Traditionally, a concern for clothes was considered to be an affair of females, while men took pride in the fact they were completely lacking in clothes consciousness(意識).
This type of American culture is by degrees changing as man dress takes on greater variety and color. Even as early as 1995, a researcher in Michigan said that men attached rather high importance to the value of clothing in daily life. White－collar workers in particular viewed dress as a symbol of ability, which could be used to impress or influence others, especially in the work situation. The white－collar worker was described as extremely concerned about the impression his clothes made on his superiors(上司). Although blue－collar workers were less aware that they might be judged on the basis of their clothing, they recognized that any difference from the accepted pattern of dress would be made fun of by fellow workers.
Since that time, of course, the patterns have changed; the typical office worker may now be wearing the blue shirt, and the laborer a white shirt, but the importance of dress has not become less.      Other researchers in recent years have helped to prove its importance in the lives of individuals at various levels and in different social and economic status groups(階層).
68．From the passage we know that______.
A．the Americans' values and lifestyles can't be shown clearly in their activity
B．the Americans' values and lifestyles are from the sign language
C．the clothes the Americans choose to wear have something to do with their values and lifestyles
D．the clothes the Americans choose to wear depend on a set of information
69．Traditionally, the Americans usually thought that______.
A．men should care much for clothes
B．women should concern greatly about what they wore but men shouldn't
C．both men and women must pay great attention to their clothes
D．neither men nor women didn't have to show interest in clothes
70．Blue－collar workers pay attention to their clothes because______.
A．they extremely concern about the impression their clothes make on their superiors
B．they know clearly that people will judge them on the basis of their clothing
C．they want to impress and influence others
D．they don't want to be laughed at
71．The passage mainly suggests that______.
A．the Americans pay great attention to the importance of clothes
B．now men in America have made more progress in clothes consciousness
C．now men in America care about clothes more than women do
D．the American culture is greatly changing         

A town in Oxfordshire has become the first in the UK to have biomethane（生物甲烷）gas from human waste piped to their homes for gas central heating and cooking.
Up to 200 families in Didcot now receive the gas via the national gas power system. Head of energy and technology at British Gas, Martin Orrill, said customers wouldn’t notice any difference as the gas is purified（提煉）to the highest standard and has no smell. The gas is produced at a sewage（污物）treatment works plant in Didcot.
The entire process takes only less than three weeks, with the sewage being collected and sent first to settlement tanks. The solid waste material is then fed into digesters, where anaerobic bacteria（厭氧菌）digest the sewage, with the aid of enzymes（酶）to speed up the process. The digestion process produces methane, which can be burned to drive machines to produce electricity, or can be purified and fed into the gas network and piped to homes and businesses. British Gas says supplying the gas rather than electricity is far more efficient since around two-thirds of the energy is lost in producing electricity.
Partners in the Didcot project, British Gas, Scotia Gas Networks, and Thames Water, all hope to expand the process to other towns, and other companies such as Ecotricity and United Utilities have also announced biomethane projects being planned. One of these projects, in Manchester, could be supplying 500 homes with biomethane by mid next year. Another British Gas project in Suffolk will provide gas from digestion of brewery wastes to around 235 families.
The Didcot project cost ￡2.5m and was influenced by promises of government aids aimed at encouraging companies to develop renewable technologies. An EU directive means the UK must ensure at least 15 percent of its energy is from renewable sources by 2020.
The UK produces about 1.73 million tons of sewage annually. If all sewage treatment works in the UK were fitted with the technology, they could supply gas for up to 350,000 families.
【小題1】Which of the following is true of the biomethane gas?