( D )
In Western countries people have been using the installment plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments. In the U. S., the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.
The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.
Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is, however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries, the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment and installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.
56. Which of the following is NOT true about the installment plan?
A. A lot of British families use the installment plan.
B. More than 10 percent American families buy things on installments.
C. Americans depend more on installment than British people do.
D. Americans spend one tenth of their income on installment buying.
57. Goods bought on installments are more expensive than goods bought by cash because ______.
A. the buyer has to pay extra money as interest
B. the delivery of the goods charges extra money
C. the buyer has to pay a down payment
D. the service offered by installment plan charged extra money
58. What will happen to a buyer if he fails to make the full payment for an item bought on installments?
A. He might lose his job.
B. He will stop owning the item he has bought.
C. He will have to sell what he has bought.
D. He will go into debt.
59. The advantage of installment buying might include all the following EXCEPT that ________.
A. purchasing power is strengthened
B. employment might be increased
C. people develop a good habit of saving money
D. young couples are able to furnish their homes
60. In some countries, the governments control the installment plan to ________.
A. increase employment
B. avoid depressions
C. ensure that businesses make good profits
D. ensure that people can pay for what hey buy

C
With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills （泄露） on people, nature, and the environment．
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．
Of all of today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．
Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run I
We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power （太阳能） , electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．
If the world's millions of cars were 10% more efficient （高效的）—and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient ?we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．
63．What is the passage mainly talking about?
A．Oil spills pollution．    B．What oil pollution is．
C．Oil tanker accidents.             D．How to reduce oil pollution.
64．How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?
A．By giving a description．   B．By making an argument．
C．By giving an example．          D．By drawing a diagram．
65．What does the underlined word "risk" in Paragraph 5 refer to?
A．Transportation depending more on oil．
B．Poisonous oil breaking down naturally．
C．Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea．
D．More environmental damage being caused．
66．Which suggestion, is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?
A．We should build safer tankers in the near future．
B．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use．
C．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines．
D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea．

C

  With alarming regularity,we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people,nature,and the environment.

   Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals,beaches,and land spoiled by the oil.Unfortunately,when many of these chemicals are used,,more damage is caused to the environment,especially to lives in the sea.

   Of all of today’s environmental disasters ,an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious.Although oil is poisonous,it is a natual material.In the end,it breaks down naturally.There are,of course,long-term effects,but it is usually more serious in the short term.

   Nature by itself woks better than chemical materials,but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible.In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean,If you go there today,you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.

    Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental 

damage.Interestingly the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run I

   We shoule be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil,Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies，such as cars run by solar power（太阳能），electricity,

hydrogen，and so on.Much of this research has ,in the past been held back by the oil,gas,and coal.

If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient（高效的）—and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient？we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year.If this happened,the risks of oil spills would be reduced，and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher ,too.

63.What is the passage mainly talking about?

   A.Oil spills pollution               B.What oil pollution is

   C.Oil tanker accidents              D.How to reduce oil pollution

64.How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe？

   A.By giving a description           B.By making an argument

   C.By giving an example            D.By drawing a diagram

65.What does the underlined word “risk”in paragraph 5 refer to?

   A.Tansportation depending more on oil

   B.Poisonous oil breaking down naturally

   C.Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea

   D.More environmental damage being caused

66.Which suggestion，is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

   A.We should build safer tankers in the near future

   B.We shoule develop new technologies to cut oil use

   C.Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines

   D.Countries should bulid more oil pipelines under the sea

D

In the north of Scotland there is a lake called Loch Ness. It is the biggest lake in Britain. It is over thirty kilometres long and in places nearly 300 meters deep. It is cold and dark and not many people went there until after 1930. Then a road was made around the lake. Holiday makers began to use the road, and this was when the stories began.

Someone said that he had seen a monster in the lake. He said it was twelve meters long. It had a long neck and a small head. Then someone else said he had seen it. Others said the same thing and in 1933 a London doctor took a photo. It looked like a monster with a long neck and a thick body but the photo was not dear. The newspapers printed the picture and called it the Loch Ness monster, or "Nessie".

Then the argument began. Some people, however, were certain there was something living in the lake. Others said there was nothing there.

In 1961, a lot of people joined together to make a real effort to see and photograph the monster if there was one! Several times people thought they saw something but after ten years there was still no real proof.

Later underwater television cameras were used, but no one found any real proof. However, they did find something interesting: a huge underwater cave. It was big enough to be home of a monster, but of course, this was not a proof.

In 1975, however, some American scientists formed a search group. They used an underwater camera. It took pictures every seventy seconds. Some of the pictures seemed to show a red-brown creature. Its body was about four meters long and had a very ugly head on the end of a four meter neck. Many people then began to believe in the monster. But even today we can not be certain.

63. Before 1930, ____.

A. few people went to Loch Ness Lake

B. many people had been there

C. nobody went to the lake

D. nobody knew about the lake

64. What did the monster look like?

A. It looked like a horse.

B. It was a creature with a long neck and a small head.

C. It looked beautiful.

D. It was tiny and pretty.

65. Who first took a photo of the monster?

A. An American

B. A television camera

C. A holiday-maker

D. A doctor from London

66. A search group formed by some American scientists.

A. found the monster itself

B. found a huge cave under water

C. believed that there wasn't any monster at all

D. took some pictures which seemed to show a monster

C

       With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills （泄露） on people, nature, and the environment．

       Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．

       Of all of today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．

       Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．

       Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run I

       We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power （太阳能） , electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．

       If the world's millions of cars were 10% more efficient （高效的）—and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient ?we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．

63．What is the passage mainly talking about?

       A．Oil spills pollution．     B．What oil pollution is．

       C．Oil tanker accidents.              D．How to reduce oil pollution.

64．How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?

       A．By giving a description．   B．By making an argument．

       C．By giving an example．           D．By drawing a diagram．

65．What does the underlined word "risk" in Paragraph 5 refer to?

       A．Transportation depending more on oil．

       B．Poisonous oil breaking down naturally．

       C．Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea．

       D．More environmental damage being caused．

66．Which suggestion, is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

       A．We should build safer tankers in the near future．

       B．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use．

       C．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines．

       D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea．