Why doesn’t the unemployment rate ever reach zero? Economists, who generally believe that supply tends to meet demand, have long thought about this question. Even in good times, i.e. not now, there are people who can’t find work. And even in bad times, i.e. now, there are job openings. With over 14 million people out of work and looking for a job, you would think every available job would be filled. But that’s not the case. Not now and not ever.

　　On Monday, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the prize for economics to the three scholars who have done the most to explain this phenomenon. Two of the winners are Americans, Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern. The third winner is Christopher Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics and was born on Cyprus.

　　Like most of economics, what they have found about why the jobless and ready-employers don’t find each other seems obvious. You have to find out there is job opening you are interested in. Employers need to get resumes （简历）. It takes a while for both employers and employees to make the decision that this is what they want. And these guys came up with a frame-work to study the problem of why people stay unemployed longer than they should and what can be done about it.

　　So what would today’s Nobel Prize winners do to solve the current problem of the unemployed? And does the awarding of the prize contribute to the politicians’ lowering joblessness?

　　Speaking from his north London home, Pissarides told The Associated Press the announcement came as “a complete surprise” though his work had already helped shape thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

　　For example, the New Deal for Young People, a British government policy aimed at getting 18-24-year-olds back on the job market after long periods of unemployment, “is very much based on our work,” he said.

　　“One of the key things we found is that it is important to make sure that people do not stay unemployed too long so they don’t lose their feel for the labor force,” Pissarides told reporters in London. “The ways of dealing with this need not be expensive training – it could be as simple as providing work experience.”

1.According to the writer, which is true about finding jobs?

　　A. It is always difficult to find a job.

　　B. Everyone can find a job in good times.

　　C. Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to find a job in bad times.

　　D. It is possible to find a job even in times as bad as now.

2. What is it that leads to their winning the prize?

　　A. They have found the reason for unemployment.

　　B. They have put forward a set of ideas to deal with unemployment.

　　C. They have found out why people don’t want to be employed.

　　D. They have long studied the problem of unemployment.

3.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

　　A. Pissarides thinks his work surprising.

　　B. The work of Pissarides has influenced many economists.

　　C. Some of the winners’ ideas have been put into practice.

　　D. It is probable that unemployed young people in Britain benefit from Pissarides’ work.

4. According to Pissarides, _________ is effrctive in dealing with unemployment.

　　A. spending large sums of money on training

　　B. teaching some knowledge of economics

　　C. providing work experience

　　D. keeping people unemployed for some time

       A German taxi-driver, Franz Bussman, recently found his brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before.

　　While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman. After they had gone on, Mrs. Bussman said that the workman was closely like her husband and even suggested that he might be his brother. Franz laughed at the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs. Bussman knew this story quite well, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right.

　　A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman. Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman. And he really was Franz's long-lost brother. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive.

After having being wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit. The hospital had been bombed and Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot. Meanwhile, his unit was lost and all records of him had been destroyed. Hans returned to his family house, but the house had been bombed. Guessing that his family had been killed during an air-raid(空袭), Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.　

50. Which of the following can be used as the best title of the passage?

　　A. Living Not Far

　　B. A Chance in a Million

　　C. Coming Back to Life

　　D. Back after the War

51. How to understand the sentence "There was a chance in a million that she might be right. "?

　　A. There was a little possibility of what she suggested, though little.

　　B. It was impossible for her to be right.

　　C. She had no chance to meet his brother any more.

　　D. There were many chances for her to meet his brother again.

52. Which of the following orders is right?

　　a. He walked back to Western Germany.

　　b. He was wounded when the war was coming to the end.

　　c. The hospital was destroyed by bombs.

　　d. He came back to his family house.

　　e. He was sent to hospital.

　　f. His unit of German didn't exist any longer.

　　A. b, a, e, d, f, c  B. b, e, c, a, f, d

　　C. b, e, a, c, d, f   D. b, c, f, d, a, e

Erik Weihenmayer was born with an eye disorder. As a child his eyesight became worse and then, at the age of 13, he lost his sight completely. However, he did not lose his determination to lead a full and active life.

       Erik became an adventurer. He took up parachuting, wrestling and scuba diving. He competed in long-distance biking, marathons and skiing. His favorite sport, thought, is mountaineering.

       As a young man, Erik started to climb mountains. He reached the summit of Mount McKinley in 1995 and then climbed the dangerous 1000-metre rock wall of EI Capitan. Two years later, while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya with his girlfriend, they stopped for a time at 13,000 feet above sea level－in order to get married. In 1999, he climbed Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America. And then , on May 25, 2001, at the age of 33, Erik successfully completed the greatest mountaineering challenge of all. He climbed Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

       Erik invented his own method for climbing mountains. He carries two long poles: one to lean on and the other to test the way ahead of him. The climber in front of him wears a bell to guide him. Erik is a good team member. He does his share of the job, such as setting up tents and building snow walls.

       Although he could not enjoy the view, Erik felt the excitement of being on the summit of Everest. He hopes that his success will change how people think about the blind. “When people think about a blind person or blindness, now they will think about a person standing on top of the world.”　

When was Erik born?

       A. In 1968.                   B. In 1995.                   C. In 1967.                   D. In 1969.

What was unusual about his wedding?

       A. He got married on the summit of Mount McKinley.

B. He got married when climbing Mount Everest.

       C. .His wedding was held after he prepared a lot.

D. His wedding was held at 13,000 feet above sea level.

What is Erik’s special method for climbing a mountain?

A. He takes his girlfriend with him.　　　　　　　B. He does his share of the jobs.

C. He uses two long poles to help himself.　　　  D. He keeps a good team around him.

Which of the following shows the right order of what happened?

a. He topped Mount McKinley.

b. He became blind.

c. He challenged Mount Everest.

d. He reached the peak of Kilimanjaro.

e. He climbed the rock wall of EI Capitan.

A. b, e, d, c, a 　 　B. b, a, e, d, c      　　 　C. a, b, e, d, c   　 　　D. b, d, a, c, d