LONDON — Britain awoke on Easter Monday to a period of mourning for the Queen Mother, who died over the weekend after a life spanning a century of noisy and evident change. The 101-year-old royal matriarch died in her sleep last Saturday with Queen Elizabeth, her elder and only surviving daughter, at her bedside. For a woman who was one of the best-known figures in Britain for more than 80 years — from the era of tinted portraits on tin biscuit boxes and cigarette cards to the age of the Internet, the Queen Mother remained an enigmatic(不可思议的) and elusive(躲避的) figure.

She achieved such a respect through aeons(永世, 亿万年) of, first, fawning and, later, intrusive media fascination, by remaining almost entirely silent. Her private thoughts were never paraded(炫耀) in public. What the public saw was a charming and benign elderly lady, adept at winning the admiration of press photographers, whom she always favoured with a particular smile.

CHINA’s third unmanned spacecraft, Shenzhou Ⅲ, landed safely in central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Monday afternoon, after orbiting the earth 108 times in slightly less than a week. The craft, which lifted off from Jiuquan in Gansu Province last Monday night, landed after successfully conducting a chain of flight and scientific experiments over a period of 162 hours.

A powerful earthquake jolted Taiwan, killing five construction workers, authorities(官方) said. Over 200 injuries ware reported across the island, mostly minor, as a result of Sunday’s 7.5-magnitude quake. The quake was centred off Hualien, 180 kilometres east of Taipei. It struck at 2:53 pm and lasted for nearly a minute.

1. Which of the following statements is true according to the news?

　　A. The Queen Mother died on Easter Monday alone.

　　B. The Queen Mother was an attractive person in her political life.

　　C. The British people felt sorry for the death of the Queen Mother.

　　D. The Queen Mother was suffering a lot when she was dying.

　　2. It can be inferred that _______.

　　A. the craft landed in central Inner Mongolia unexpectedly

　　B. it took the craft at least 2 hours to orbit the earth once

　　C. the Chinese scientists did a lot of experiments in space

　　D. China was successful in sending an unmanned spacecraft into space

3. The third news mainly talks about the _______ in Taiwan.

    A. political matters                         B. social problems

　　C. unexpected damage                     D. construction workers

It’s the Year of the Rat!

Millions of people crowded onto trains and buses across China on Wednesday. They were hurrying home to be with their families for the country’s most important holiday, the Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival. Thursday marked the end of the Year of the Pig, and the beginning of the Year of the Rat. But for a while, it looked as if severe winter weather in some regions of China would put a deep freeze on the celebrations. Due to dangerous conditions, airlines, railways and highways across the country were forced to shut down for the past few weeks. Many travelers were worried that they would not make it home for the holidays. Luckily, the crisis started winding down just in time for some roads and railways to reopen on Lunar New Year’s Eve.

More than one billion people worldwide celebrate the Lunar New Year. In China, people from Beijing to Guangzhou enjoy a holiday. Businesses and government offices are closed. Many people go to temples to pray for good fortune for the future. The Lunar New Year is celebrated at the second new moon after the winter solstice（冬至）.

On Lunar New Year’s Eve, the Chinese celebrate with fireworks, family gatherings, and festivals. One of the most popular ways to celebrate the holiday is with the lion dance. The lion is considered a holy animal. During celebrations, dancers dressed as lions（or holding up elaborate paper lions in the air）perform to bring good luck to the people they visit at their homes or businesses. People often wear red, which symbolizes fire. Legend has it that fire can drive away bad luck. The 15-day New Year season is celebrated with firecrackers, dragon dances and visits to friends and families. The celebrations end with the Lantern Festival, when brightly colored lamps are hung in parks around China.

49. When the Spring Festival comes, trains and buses are usually crowed because________.

A. millions of people hurried to go abroad for travelling

B. millions of people are hurrying home to get together with their folks

C. at this time the transportation cost is at the lowest point

D. million of people hurried to send firecrackers to their home

50. Why were many travellers worried whether they would go home for the Year of the Rat?

A. Because a deep freeze hit some regions of China.

B. Because many transportation companies have a holiday

C. Because some roads and railways won’t reopen in a long time.

D. Because businesses and government offices are closed.

51. Where do people usually go to beg for their good luck?

A. Government offices                      B. Business offices

C. Temples                                             D. Beijing

52. In order to bring good luck to the people they visit, dancers dress themselves________.

A. as lions to have a dance  　　B. as tigers to have a dance

C. as rats to have a dance   　　D. as cats to have a dance

 

Comrade Li Dazhao, _____ librarian of Beijing University, was one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party.

　　A. sometimes B. sometime  C. some time  D. some times

 

 　　On Wednesday, the Chinese government, decided to increase its medical subsidies(补贴)  for farmers from 10 Yuan (US$1.23) to 20 Yuan (US$2.47) a head a year from 2006.

　　 As part of the country's healthcare reform programme, the co-operative rural （农村）medical system was first introduced in 2003 to set up self-help among farmers on a voluntary basis.  Due to insufficient government input to finance hospitals that are mostly State-owned, the country's healthcare reform has largely turned out to be a failure, adding hugely to the financial burden on the public.

While everyone complains about quickly-rising medical costs, rural residents are suffering more than their urban(城镇) cousins because of a lack of money, as well as not being able to enjoy high quality health services. At present, farmers earn on average only one-third of what urban residents make. Most of the country's medical resources are located in cities even though rural residents make up two-thirds of the population.

　　Poor health conditions make it more difficult to help farmers get out of poverty; and poverty, in turn, refuses farmers the chance to improve their health.　To end this vicious circle, policy-makers tried the co-operative medical system, with a small sum of central and local financial support for each rural participant. But the system has proved to be less than perfect. Due to the limited financial input, the programme still does not benefit the majority of farmers in a significant way. This has reduced many farmers' enthusiasm for participating. A high percentage of involvement is of course a precondition for such a system.

　　The central government intends to expand the programme into a national medical system by 2008. Increasing government subsidies is a necessary step to make the co-operative medical system more attractive to farmers. But an increase of 10 Yuan for each participant is surely far from enough to perfect the system. The total cost is not particularly heavy compared to the rapid growth in government revenue(财政).

　　 Clearly, policy-makers are becoming increasingly aware of how urgent the narrowing of the development gap between rural and urban areas really is. Besides economic policies to push the rural economy, large amount of government investment on improving rural healthcare and education is badly needed.

1. Compared with that in 2006, what will be the rate of coming increase in China’s medical subsidies for farmers?

         A. 100%                      B. 50%                        C. 200%                     D. 150%

2. What is the reason for the failure in the country’s healthcare reform?

         A. Bad management system.          

         B. The government didn’t input enough money to support hospitals that are mostly

state-owned.

         C. The health conditions in the country is too bad.

         D. There are too many farmers that need medical care.

3. What is needed to narrow the development gap between rural and urban areas?

         ①. Large amount of government investment in economy.

         ②. Large amount of government investment on improving rural healthcare and education.

         ③. Economic policies to push the rural economy

④. A high percentage of farmers’ involvement in the medical system

⑤. A better management system

A. ①②③    B.  ②③④                   C. ①②③④⑤          D. ②③

4. Why are many farmers not enthusiastic in joining the co-operative medical system?

         A. It doesn’t benefit most of the farmers in an effective way.

         B. They cannot spare the needed money to join the programme.

         C. They don’t believe in the system.

         D. They don’t think it necessary.

5. What can be inferred from the last but one paragraph?

         A. An increase of 10 Yuan in medical subsidies for each person is not enough.

         B. The government can afford to increase the medical subsidies for farmers.

         C. The government will get farmers of the whole country involved in a medical system by 2008. 

         D. If the government increase subsidies, more farmers are likely to join the medical system.