The United States is trying to improve an edueation system that produces millions of citizens who cannot read, write, or add—let alone finding their country on a map.

In his first State of Union message since taking office a year ago, President George Bush promised to wipe out illiteracy(文盲) in the next decade and declared that“by the year 2008, U.S students must be first in the world in math and science achievements. ” They have a long way to go. American students were placed 14th in a recent general science test conducted in 16 countries. In a separate survey of chemistry students, the United States came 12 out of 14. In a mathematics test, they were last. According to Bush, there are 17 million illiterates in this country of 245 million people. Other estimates put the number as high as 23 million. In percentage terms, that ranks the United States alongside Niearague and below Cuba. “This nation,”Bush said in his State of the Union address, “will not accept anything but excellent in education.” Bush, who has declared himself “Education president”, and senior officals of his administration are warning that the United States will be unable to compete in the world without an educated workforce.

How to increase educational standards is a matter of debate in a country whose schools have no uniform national curriculum and are subject to a confusing variety of state and local controls. Most experts think that the problem lies at the elementary and high school'levels rather than with universities-but even their graduates show huge gaps in general knowledge. Among the root causes most frequently mentioned in education debates is the low respect in which U.S. society holds teachers-in contrast to Japan and Germany. In Japan teaching is a profession of high prestige(威望) and high pay. In the United States teachers are near the bottom of the society.

5.By“the United States came 12 out of 14”(Para. 2), the author means .      

A.the United States ranked 12th not 14th in the chemistry test

B.the United States ranked 12th in the chemistry test conducted by 14 countries

C.the United States progressed from 14th to 12th in the chemistry test

D.the United States ranked 12th in chemistry test and 14th in general science test

6.The cause of low educational level in America include the following EXCEPT that .      

A.some problems exist in primary and secondary education

B.society keeps teachers in low respect

C.America pays more attention to economy instead of education

D.America has no uniform national courses

7.Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?

A.President Bush carried out his promise made in his first State of Union message.

B.The education in Japan and Germany is in higher level.

C.According to Bush, the number of illiterates accounts for 9% of the total.

D.Teachers in the United States enjoy good treatment and great respect.

8.Which of the following is the right order of the least-first of the percent of illiterates?

A.Germany, Cuba, Nicaragua.         B.Germany, Nicaragua, Cuba.

C.Nicaragua, Japan, Cuba.            D.Cuba, Japan, Nicaragua.

 

Britain and France are separated by the English Channel, a body of water that can be crossed in as few as 20 minutes. But the cultures of the two countries sometimes seem to be miles apart.

　　Last Thursday Britain and France celebrated the 100th anniversary(周年纪念) of the signing of a friendship agreement called the Entente Cordiality. The agreement—signed in London on April 8, 1904—marked a new beginning for the countries following centuries of wars and love-hate partnership.

　　But their relationship has been ups and downs over the past century. Just last year, there were fierce disagreements over the Iraq war—which British Prime Minister Tony Blair supported despite(不管, 尽管) French President Jacques Chirac speaking out against it. This discomfort is expressed in Blair and Chirac's body language at international meetings. While the French leader often greets German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder with a hug (拥抱), Blair just receives a handshake.

However, some political experts say the war in Iraq could in fact have helped ties. “The British population was against war, ” said Francois Heisbourg, director of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research(战略基金研究会). “So it could have actually helped bring the two sides closer. ”

　　The history of divisions(分割, 区分) may well be because of the very different ways in which the two sides see the world. “The French think Britain is not doing its best to become part of Europe by not introducing the single European currency(货币), ” said Geoff Hare, a former lecturer in French politics and language at Newcastle University in Britain. “France has spent the past 15 to 20 years making itself seen as part of the European Union. ”

　 But this doesn't stop 12 million Britons taking holidays in France each year. However,only 3 million French come in the opposite direction. Surveys show that most French people feel closer to the Germans than they do to the British. And the research carried out in Britain has found that only a third of the population believes the French can be trusted.Perhaps this bad feeling comes because the British dislike France's close relationship with Germany. Or because the French are not happy with Britain's close links with the US.

　　Whatever the answer is, as both sides celebrate 100 years of “doubtful friendship”, they are at least able to make jokes about each other. Here's one:What's the best thing about Britain's relationship with France? The English Channel.

1. For centuries, the relationship between England and France is______.

A. friendly

B. impolite

C. brotherly

D. a mixture of love and hate

2. The war in Iraq does ______ to the relationship between France and England.

A. good

B. harm

C. neither good nor harm

D. both good and harm

3. The British are not so friendly to ______ and the French are not so friendly to ______.

A. Germany;America

B. America;Germany

C. Germany;Germany too

D. America;America too

4. What does the last sentence mean?

A. As long as the English Channel exists, no further disagreement will form between France and Britain.

B. The English Channel can prevent anything unfriendly happening in both France and Britain.

C. France and Britain are near neighbors, and this will help balance the relationship between them.

D. The English Channel is the largest enemy between France and Britain.

5. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. The British differ greatly from the French in culture, origin and custom.

B. The British and The French are against each other because of the very different ways in which they see the world.

C. The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the signing of a friendship agreement mark-ed the mixture feeling of love and hatred over the last century between Britain and Franc-e.

D. The British dislike France's close relationship with Germany, while the French are not happy with Britain's close links with the US.     

 

 As is known to us all, _______ is ______ European country.

A. Germany; an     B. German; an      C; Germany; a    D. German; a

 

Following the nuclear at the Fukushima (福岛) nuclear power station in Japan, Germany has decided to abandon the use of nuclear energy sooner than it had planned.

Germany was planning to cut its use of nuclear power slowly over 25 years. But now, the government has speeded up its program. Germany’s government has said that seven of its 17 nuclear reactors (反应堆) will stop working for three months for safety checks.

Nuclear power has been very unpopular in Germany since the Chernobyl (切尔诺贝利) nuclear reactor disaster in Ukraine (乌克兰) in 1986. Since then, the country has been working on developing new resources of energy.

The plan to give up nuclear power will cost the country at least 150 billion euros (1.4 trillion yuan)) in investment. Experts say this will likely lead to a rise in electricity prices.

Some experts think Germany is setting a good example for countries such as the US to follow. Germany now gets 23 percent of its energy from nuclear power –about as much as the US.

However, France, which relies on nuclear energy for more than 70 percent of its power, shows no sign of changing its policy.

1.

We can most probably read the article _______. 

A. in a newspaper                        B. in a pamphlet(小册子)

C. in an advertisement                    D. in a textbook

2.

 The most appropriate heading for this article is _______.

A. Germany to develop its new resources of energy

B. Nuclear power no longer popular in Germany

C. Germany to have safety checks for some nuclear reactors

D. Germany to end its nuclear energy program

3.

 According to the article, all of the following statements are true EXCEPT______.

A. In both the US and Germany, approximately a quarter of their energy are from nuclear power now.

B. The explosion of some Fukushima nuclear reactors has quickened Germany’s      pace to abandon nuclear energy.

C. France, which relies on nuclear energy for more than 70 percent of its power, will follow Germany and cut its use of it at any cost.

D. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster seemingly cast a huge shadow over the Germans, making them increasingly suspicious of the safety of nuclear energy.

 

Directions: Complet the following passage by filling in each blank with one word that best fits the context.

When very small dinosaur bones were found in a Germany mine people thought they were from baby dinosaurs.   48  , scientist Martin Sander's work shows that they were probably fully grown and belong to the smallest giant dinosaur species ever found.

Growth marks on dinosaur bones are similar   49   growth rings on trees. The rings are far apart while the animal is young and growing quickly.  50  get closer as growth slows. "It is exactly these tight ring marks that we found in the fossil (化石) bones," says Sander. So the fossils must have been from adult animals. 

51  was this German dinosaur so much smaller than other giant dinosaurs, which grew up to 45 metres long and weighed as much as a thousand humans?

150 million years ago, most of Germany was underwater. Scientists think that  52  water levels rose, there was less and less land and food available. The dinosaur was forced to adapt and evolved into  53  smaller animal needing  54  space and food.

Since 1998, scientists have dug up more than 1,000 dinosaur fossils in the mine. It is one of the few places in the world  55  the bones and footprints of dinosaurs have been found together.