A yearly list of the best and worst places to be a mother and child rates the United States 11th, behind Britain. Scandinavian countries are at the top. Sweden is number one. Denmark is second. Finland is third. Save the Children, an American-based humanitarian organization, compared conditions in 110 countries. The report came out last week.

At the bottom of the list, Mali and Burkina Faso share last place. Just above them are Ethiopia, Chad, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritania. Gambia and Eritrea are also in the bottom ten, along with two Asian countries: Nepal and Cambodia. Cambodia is tied with Eritrea in 100th place.

Save the Children based its report on six conditions related to the health and security of women. These include the risk of early death, and the rate of use of modern birth-control methods. Another measure was the percentage of births with the aid of trained medical workers. Still another was the percentage of pregnant women with a shortage of iron in the blood. The study also examined reading levels among women and the involvement of women in national government. There are some conditions related to the education of both women and children.

Save the Children has published a report on the "State of the World's Mothers" for six years now. This year the group included a progress report on education for girls. Researchers examined progress made over the past ten years in 71 developing countries. The report says Bolivia, Kenya, Cameroon and Bangladesh have made the most progress in girls' education. Listed at the bottom are Rwanda, Iraq, Malawi and Eritrea. Worldwide, the report says, 58 million girls are out of school.

Charles MacCormack is head of Save the Children. He says many children in the world are lucky just to survive the first five years of life. But Mr MacCormack calls the situation far from hopeless. He notes that world leaders have agreed on eight goals to reduce poverty, save lives and increase security by 2015.

Recently, a study was carried out to determine who was the greatest American president.Sixty-five presidential historians took part in it, and they judged the past forty-two American leaders based on ten leadership qualities, including public persuasiveness(信服), crisis leadership, management of the economy, moral leadership, and conduct of international relations.The historians also looked at administrative ability (管理能力), relations with Congress, ability to set goals, and the pursuit of equal justice for all.Finally, the experts took into consideration the historical period in which the president lived.
The historians chose Abraham Lincoln as American’s greatest president.He had also been named best president in a similar study in 2000.Abraham Lincoln was the president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s, and was able to unite it in the end.He also took the first steps to abolish slavery in America.
Edna Medford, a professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was an adviser on this study and the earlier one.She says Abraham Lincoln is seen to represent the values the nation most honors, such as truthfulness, moderation, and respect for human rights.
The historians put American’s first president, George Washington, second on the list, while Franklin D.Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman follow in that order.John   F.Kennedy, the country’s first Roman Catholic president, is sixth on the list.Like Lincoln, Kennedy was murdered while in office.
Among recent presidents, Ronald Reagan was named the tenth best and Bill Clinton rated fifteenth, while the historians put former president George W.Bush at number thirty-six.His father, George H.W.Bush, did much better, being placed at number eighteen.

1. 1.

   We learn from the text that ___________.

   1. A.
      this is the second time that Abraham Lincoln has been chosen as America’s greatest president
   2. B.
      Edna Medford didn’t take part in the study conducted in 2000.
   3. C.
      George H.W.Bush was thought to have done worse in office than George W.Bush
   4. D.
      Harry Truman was rated the fourth-best president by the study
2. 2.

   Which of the following belong to the ten leadership qualities considered?
   a.Being able to persuade the public
   b.Taking effective measures during a financial crisis.
   c.Balancing home life and career.
   d.Pursuing equal justice for all.

   1. A.
      a,b,c
   2. B.
      b,c,d
   3. C.
      a,b,d
   4. D.
      a,c,d
3. 3.

   Who is rated worst among the following four presidents?

   1. A.
      John F.Kennedy
   2. B.
      George Washington
   3. C.
      Bill Clinton
   4. D.
      George W.Bush
4. 4.

   The text is mainly about ________.

   1. A.
      the ten qualities a great president needs
   2. B.
      a study of American presidents
   3. C.
      the values the American nation honors most
   4. D.
      how Abraham Lincoln improved the country

2010 was a good year for American farmers. They earned about eighty-two billion dollars. That is almost one-third more than that they earned last year. And it is twenty-six percent higher than the ten-year average. Values for grain and oilseed crops are up about three percent from last year. The value of animal production is up by almost seven percent.

In 2011, farm exports are expected to break the all-time high set in 2008.The Agriculture Department says exports in 2011 could top one hundred and twenty-six billion dollars. The largest buyer of agricultural products is expected to be Canada. But farm exports to China are predicted to come within five hundred million dollars of Canadian purchases. Secretary Vilsack says countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East are also buying more from American farmers.

Poor growing conditions overseas played an important part in higher prices for American crops in 2010.Charlotte Hebe brand is chief executive of the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council in Washington. She said drought(干旱)conditions had a big effect over the summer. She said,“There were horrible weather problems, not just in Russia but also in some of the other former Soviet Union countries.”

Wheat prices rose after Russia stopped wheat exports,although Russia later eased the ban(禁令).“Wheat used to be America’s top crop. What’s interesting,though,is that wheat production has actually become less over the past few years because corn has become the most popular crop,”said economist Charlotte Hebebrand.

Corn is mostly fed to animals. But Miss Hebebrand said with the recent increase in wheat prices, American farmers might plant more wheat again. Corn and wheat are the two largest crops supported by the government.

1.We know that compared to 2009,in 2010 American farmers——.

2.What does the Agriculture Department expect in 2011?

3.What is implied in Paragraph 3?

4.We can infer that in the past few years American farmers——

5.According to what Miss Hebebrand said, we know American farmers will ——

Every few years, two groups carry out a study of how many Americans wash their hands after using the toilet. These groups are the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute, formerly the Soap and Detergent Association.
There was good news in the latest study. Researchers found that eighty-five percent of adults washed their hands in public restrooms last month. That was the most since the studies began in 1996.
Researchers visited restrooms at a baseball park in Atlanta and a science museum and aquarium(水族馆) in Chicago. They also visited two train stations in New York City and a large farmers’ market in San Francisco. In all, they observed about six thousand adults, with females and males equal in number.
The researchers found that seventy-seven percent of men and ninety-three percent of women washed their hands. That was up from sixty-six percent of men and eighty-eight percent of women in the last study three years ago.
The lowest rate of hand washing among men was at Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Only sixty-five percent of men washed their hands, compared to all but two percent of women.
Chicago and San Francisco had the most hand washers—eighty-nine percent of adults. Atlanta followed at eighty-two percent. New York had the lowest rate, at seventy-nine percent of the adults observed at Grand Central Station and Penn Station.
The findings of the observational study conflicted(不一致) with the findings of a separate telephone survey of about one thousand people. Ninety-six percent of them said they always washed their hands after using public restrooms.
Almost nine out of ten also said they always washed after using the bathroom at home.
Hand washing can help prevent the spread of many different infections.
To clean your hands well, wet them first and rub in soap for at least twenty seconds, including between the fingers and under the nails. Then wash under running water. In a public restroom, if you dry your hands with a paper towel, you should also use the towel to shut off the water and open the door.
Hand washing is also important when preparing food and after changing a baby’s diaper(尿布). You should also wash if you cough or sneeze into your hands.
【小题1】According to the latest study, about ____ women washed their hands after using public bathroom.

Every few years, two groups carry out a study of how many Americans wash their hands after using the toilet. These groups are the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute, formerly the Soap and Detergent Association.

There was good news in the latest study. Researchers found that eighty-five percent of adults washed their hands in public restrooms last month. That was the most since the studies began in 1996.

Researchers visited restrooms at a baseball park in Atlanta and a science museum and aquarium(水族馆) in Chicago. They also visited two train stations in New York City and a large farmers’ market in San Francisco. In all, they observed about six thousand adults, with females and males equal in number.

The researchers found that seventy-seven percent of men and ninety-three percent of women washed their hands. That was up from sixty-six percent of men and eighty-eight percent of women in the last study three years ago.

The lowest rate of hand washing among men was at Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Only sixty-five percent of men washed their hands, compared to all but two percent of women.

Chicago and San Francisco had the most hand washers—eighty-nine percent of adults. Atlanta followed at eighty-two percent. New York had the lowest rate, at seventy-nine percent of the adults observed at Grand Central Station and Penn Station.

The findings of the observational study conflicted(不一致) with the findings of a separate telephone survey of about one thousand people. Ninety-six percent of them said they always washed their hands after using public restrooms.

Almost nine out of ten also said they always washed after using the bathroom at home.

Hand washing can help prevent the spread of many different infections.

To clean your hands well, wet them first and rub in soap for at least twenty seconds, including between the fingers and under the nails. Then wash under running water. In a public restroom, if you dry your hands with a paper towel, you should also use the towel to shut off the water and open the door.

Hand washing is also important when preparing food and after changing a baby’s diaper(尿布). You should also wash if you cough or sneeze into your hands.

1.According to the latest study, about ____ women washed their hands after using public bathroom.

A．1,980            B．2,310             C．2,640            D．2,790

2.Which of the following shows the right order of washing hands correctly?

a. Wash your hands under running water.

b. Rub your hands in soap for not less than twenty seconds.

c. Wet your hands.

d. Dry your hands with a paper towel.

e. Open the door, using a paper towel.

f. Shut off the water with a paper towel.

A．cbdaef           B．cdabfe            C．cbadfe            D．cdabef

3.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．Hand washing is up in public restrooms in the US

B．Americans like washing their hands so much

C．Adults have their hands washed in public restrooms

D．Why hand washing never enjoys popularity in the US