1. Summer came early to Middlesbrough yesterday, as temperatures shot up to 22°C (71°F), a record for March. But local NFU agent Jim Wilkes says it could be bad news for farmers. “The crops will think it's summer,” he told our reporter, “and start sprouting (发芽) four weeks before time.”
2. The death toll (死亡人数) of the Burnside train crash rose to four yesterday when John Phillips, 32, of Petersville died in Wallsend Hospital. Another six people are still on the danger list. Mr. Phillips, an electrical engineer leaves a wife and two children.
3. China and the United States reached an agreement on the protection of intellectual property rights (知识产权) yesterday, after difficult marathon talks.
The agreement is good news for all parties concerned. The Chinese Foreign Trade Minister described the agreement as a "turning point" in Sino-US trade relations that "promises further progress" in the future. The agreement will not only favorably influence trade relations between China and the United States. It may favorably influence the overall relations between the two countries.
【小题1】What do you get to know from article 1?

根据首字母和所给的中文，用单词的适当形式填空
【小题1】 It was too _______(雾) for people to see each other in such bad weather .
【小题2】 A proper a______ to improving your learning efficiency(有效地) is of great importance to every student.
【小题3】Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, w_____ and wise.
【小题4】 Nowadays people tend to buy the product or service the advertisement _________(推销，促销) or suggests.
【小题5】 The supermarket often began some ________(活动) to attract more customers to buy its goods.
【小题6】We are d_______ at the good news that we will invite a famous professor to give us a speech about how to study English well tomorrow.
【小题7】 During our English teacher’s _______(不在场), we students kept silent as usual in the classroom.
【小题8】From his ________(口音), we can know that he is from Shanghai.
【小题9】 For he has got ready for his speech in advance, he looks more c________ than other competitors.
【小题10】His bad health is a great d_______ to him if he wants to become a sportsman.

Australia has passed regulations that will enable more international students to further their education in the country.

    The new measures were released by the Australian Department of Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations in September and will take effect in mid-2012.

    As a result, the student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified, and the deposit (押金) required to study in Australia has been reduced. Language requirements for overseas students have also been eased.

    Also, overseas students receiving a higher education in Australia will be granted a working visa lasting from two to four years after graduation, as long as they meet the basic IELTS requirement.

    "This change will definitely make Australia a more attractive destination for Chinese students planning to study overseas," says Wang Lan , a consultant from Education International Cooperation Group (EIC), a Beijing-based company that provides services to students wishing to study overseas.

    However, in the past few years, many of Wang's student clients (客户) could not start studies in Australia because they did not meet the language requirements, visa processing took a long time and deposit regulations were tough. The change in policy is good news for the parents of students wishing to study in Australia, Wang says.

    A 22-year-old female student surnamed Li, in Beijing, who is planning to do her  postgraduate studies in Australia, learned about the policy change several weeks ago.

    "According to the previous deposit requirement for my student visa, my family was required to put down 550,000 Yuan ($86,850). Now we only need to prepare 410,000 Yuan. This is a relief for my parents," Li says.

    She also says that the two to four years working visa makes her feel much clearer about her study plans.

    "I believe several years of working experience abroad will strengthen my competitiveness when I return to China," she says.

    Gaining a competitive advantage is the major reason for Chinese students to study abroad, according to the report by EIC.

1.What's the main idea of the passage? 

   A. Language requirement for overseas students have been eased in Australia.

   B. Australia is a most attractive place for students in China.

  C. Australia widens window of opportunity for international students.

  D. More students will work in Australia after their graduation.

2.Which of the following is NOT the content of the new regulations? 

   A. The student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified.

   B. The deposit required to study in Australia has been reduced.

   C. Language requirements for overseas students have been more difficult.

   D. After graduation, some overseas students can get a working visa in Australia.

3.After the new regulations are passed, _______ . 

   A. more students will come to Australia to work

   B. more Chinese students will choose to live in Australia.

   C. the opportunities to work in Australia decrease for overseas students

 D. more Chinese students will choose to further their education in Australia

4.How much can Li's parents save according to the new regulations? 

   A. 550,000 yuan                  B. 140,000 yuan

   C. 410,000 yuan                  D. 86,850 yuan

5.Why do many students want to work in Australia after their graduation? 

  A. The working experience abroad will strengthen their competitiveness.

   B. They can earn more money in Australia.

 C. Their working experience can make them stay in Australia forever.

  D. They have to do so according to the new regulations.

Hi Hongbo,
I’m so glad to read about the changes talking place in your city. It’s really good news that you can travel by subway in Xi’an, though there’s only one line there. Here in London we have twelve lines. By the way, we don’t use the word “subway” here. It’s American English. We call it “the Underground”, instead.
The London Underground is very famous. It’s famous for several reasons. First of all, part of the underground railway today is the oldest in the world, which opened in 1863. Secondly, the London Underground is also the first line to have electric trains, in 1890. Thirdly but not the last, the London Underground is the second largest metro system in the world, after the Shanghai Metro. There are 270 stations in the Underground and it has 402 kilometres of tracks(轨道). What’s more, the city of London itself helps make the transportation system famous! I’ve got a few photos to help you build a clear picture of the Underground in my city. They are together with this mail.
In your email, you also said workers were building more lines. I’m sure your city is developing fast. Maybe you can send me a few photos of your city today. I really want to see the changes taking place there. I’m happy for you to live there in an ancient city with such a new look!
So much for now. I’ll write soon again. Best wishes!
【小题1】Where is the writer from？

Most of the news in the newspapers is bad but sometimes there is a story with good news. This is one of those stories. Millions of people around the world suffer from AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases. There are medicines to treat these diseases but for people in poor countries, these medicines are too expensive to buy. When a pharmaceutical（制药的）company produces a new medicine, they receive a special license called a patent. This license means that the new medicine or drug is protected for a period of 20 years. The company that produced the drug can fix the price of the drug and no other company is allowed to produce the same drug or a copy of the drug for 20 years. At the moment, these patents operate all over the world, both in rich countries and in poor countries. The drugs companies say that they need patents so that they can get the money to pay for research to find new drugs and medicines. In rich countries people usually have enough money to pay for these drugs but in poor countries people can’t afford to buy them and cannot treat diseases like AIDS and malaria.

Last month, however, a group of experts published a report which says that patents are very bad for poor countries. The report says that drug companies do not want to find new medicines for diseases of poor people in poor countries. It says that poor countries should be allowed to buy cheap drugs without patents from other countries.

The authors of the report were lawyers, scientists and a senior director from the drug company Pfizer. Of course, the pharmaceuticals industry doesn’t agree with the report, “We need patents so that we can develop new medicines to fight disease both in the developed and developing world,” said a spokesman. But the report is the first sign that there might be a change in the patent system. This change could save millions of lives in the world’s poorest countries. This really is good news.

1. Why are medicines expensive for people in poor countries?

2. What does the underlined word “patent” in Para1 mean in Chinese?

3.Why do drugs companies need patents?

4. What does the report say?

5.What might happen if the patent system is changed?