One afternoon in January in 1998, Susan Sharp, 43, and her 8-year-old son David, were walking across an icy square, when Susan’s cane(手杖) slipped on the ice. Her face   36  first into the mud. David   37  her mother’s side, “Are you all right, Mom”  38 , Susan pulled herself up, “I’m okay, Honey,” she said.
Susan was falling more   39  since she had trouble walking. Every inch of ice was a   40  danger for her. “I wish I could do something,” the boy thought. David, too, was having   41  of his own. The boy had a speech problem, so at school he talked   42 .
　　One day, David’s teacher announced a   43  homework. "Each of you is going to come up with an   44 ," she said. This was for "INVENT AMERICA", a national competition to encourage creativity in children.
　　An idea   45  David one evening. If only his mother’s cane didn’t slip on the ice. “What if I   46  your cane to a nail coming out of the bottom” he asked his mother.
　　“  47  the sharp end would scratch(划破) floors,” Susan said.
　　“No, Mom, I   48  make it like a ball-point pen. You take your hand off the button and the   49  returns back up.” Hours later the cane was finished. David and his father   50  as Susan used it to walk 50 feet about the   51 . Happily Susan cried out, “It   52  !”
　　In July 1999, David was  53  national winner for the "INVENT AMERICA". David began to make public appearance. Thus he was forced to communicate  54 .Today, David is nearly free of his speech problem, and his   55  is becoming well accepted.

There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system, and the traditional system.

　　In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.

　　An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.

　　In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste（阶级） may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and provide for their education. Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. An inactive society may result.

1.What is the main purpose of the passage?

　 A. To outline contrasting types of economic systems.

　 B. To explain the science of economics.

　 C. To argue for the superiority of one economic system.

　 D. To compare barter and money-exchange markets.

2. In the second paragraph, the underlined word “real” could best be replaced by _______.

　 A. valuable         B. concrete         C. absolute            D. reliable

3.According to the passage, a barter economy can generate ______.

　 A. rapid speed of transactions               B. misunderstandings

　 C. inflation                             D. difficulties for the traders

4. According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control in the administered system?

　 A. Individual households.                    B. Small businesses.

　 C. Major corporations.                   D. The government.

5.Which of the following is not mentioned by the author as a criterion（标准）for determining a person’s position in a traditional society?

　 A. Family background                 B. Age

　 C. Religious beliefs.                        D. Custom

One afternoon in January in 1998, Susan Sharp, 43, and her 8-year-old son David, were walking across an icy square, when Susan's cane(手杖) slipped on the ice. Her face   36   first into the mud. David   37   her mother's side, “Are you all right, Mom”   38  , Susan pulled herself up, “I'm okay, Honey,” she said.

Susan was falling more   39   since she had trouble walking. Every inch of ice was a   40   danger for her. “I wish I could do something,” the boy thought. David, too, was having   41   of his own. The boy had a speech problem, so at school he talked   42  .

　　One day, David's teacher announced a   43   homework. "Each of you is going to come up with an   44  ," she said. This was for "INVENT AMERICA", a national competition to encourage creativity in children.

　　An idea   45   David one evening. If only his mother's cane didn't slip on the ice. “What if I   46   your cane to a nail coming out of the bottom” he asked his mother.

　　“   47   the sharp end would scratch(划破) floors,” Susan said.

　　“No, Mom, I   48   make it like a ball-point pen. You take your hand off the button and the   49   returns back up.” Hours later the cane was finished. David and his father   50   as Susan used it to walk 50 feet about the   51  . Happily Susan cried out, “It   52   !”

　　In July 1999, David was  53   national winner for the "INVENT AMERICA". David began to make public appearance. Thus he was forced to communicate  54  .Today, David is nearly free of his speech problem, and his   55   is becoming well accepted.

The two presidents　　　　an immediate top meet to solve the difficult matters between the two nations.

A.recommended　　　B.suggested　　　C.reported　　　D.waited

There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system, and the traditional system.

　　In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.

　　An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.

　　In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste（阶级） may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and provide for their education. Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. An inactive society may result.

1.What is the main purpose of the passage?

　 A. To outline contrasting types of economic systems.

　 B. To explain the science of economics.

　 C. To argue for the superiority of one economic system.

　 D. To compare barter and money-exchange markets.

2.In the second paragraph, the underlined word “real” could best be replaced by _______.

　 A. valuable         B. concrete         C. absolute            D. reliable

3.According to the passage, a barter economy can generate ______.

 A. rapid speed of transactions             B. misunderstandings

　 C. inflation                             D. difficulties for the traders

4.According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control in the administered system?

　 A. Individual households.                    B. Small businesses.

　 C. Major corporations.                   D. The government.

5.Which of the following is not mentioned by the author as a criterion（标准）for determining a person’s position in a traditional society?

　 A. Family background                 B. Age

　 C. Religious beliefs.                        D. Custom