“Migrant workers”（外来务工人员）is a familiar term for 17 -year- old Shi Jian. Her father and uncle often talk about the problems surrounding this group of people. However, Shi cares more about the children of these migrant workers.
Last year Shi’s housekeeper’s daughter had to give up her schooling in Beijing because she would not be allowed to sit the national college entrance exam. She was forced to continue her high school education in her hometown in Sichuan Province.
Shi thinks the current law is unfair for migrant workers’ children, as it prevents them from studying at public schools, unless their parents pay huge sums. So, Shi decided to do a survey of migrant workers so that she could find some solutions to help solve the problem.
In the last six months Shi has spoken to 186 migrant workers in Beijing. Her interviewees include babysitters, guards, keepers, supermarket clerks, house cleaners and construction site workers. Shi found out that 55 of them were parents. Among this group, only eight have children who attend schools in Beijing. The other 47 had to leave children with relatives in the countryside. However, 40 of the 47 would like to enroll（使入学）their children in city schools.
From her interviews, Shi found that the workers’ lowest income was 400 yuan each month. Over one - third earn a monthly wage of or below 1000 yuan. “Even schools for migrant workers’ children charge more than public schools. Moreover, parents constantly worry about these schools closing or relocating,” she explained.
Shi has recently completed a report about her survey, in which she makes a series of recommendations. “The government can set up public schools for migrants’ children equal to schools for city children. Second, to offset（弥补）migrant workers’ very low pay, public schools should offer them special rates so they can afford their children’s tuition（学费）.
1. What drove Shi to do the survey of migrant workers?
A. She wanted to draw people’s attention and become famous.
B. Her housekeeper’s daughter was forced to move to her hometown to continue studying.
C. She was asked to do a survey of migrant workers as part of a school project.
D. Her curiosity about migrant workers’lives.
2. According to Shi’s survey, most migrant workers’kids ________.
A. have to help their parents support the family
B. attend schools near their parents’ working places
C. don’t live together with their parents
D. always do better in schools than children from the city
3. All of the following prevent migrant workers’ kids from attending schools in cities EXCEPT ________.
A. their parents’ low income
B. that schools for migrant workers’ children may close or relocate
C. schools’ high tuitions
D. their lack of confidence to face the fierce competitions in city schools
4. Shi suggested in her survey that ________.
A. children’s tuition should be reduced
B. more money should be collected for migrants’ children
C. more private schools for migrants’ children should be built
D. students from the city and the countryside should be encouraged to communicate more

 “Migrant workers”（外来务工人员）is a familiar term for 17 -year- old Shi Jian. Her father and uncle often talk about the problems surrounding this group of people. However, Shi cares more about the children of these migrant workers.

Last year Shi’s housekeeper’s daughter had to give up her schooling in Beijing because she would not be allowed to sit the national college entrance exam. She was forced to continue her high school education in her hometown in Sichuan Province.

Shi thinks the current law is unfair for migrant workers’ children, as it prevents them from studying at public schools, unless their parents pay huge sums. So, Shi decided to do a survey of migrant workers so that she could find some solutions to help solve the problem.

In the last six months Shi has spoken to 186 migrant workers in Beijing. Her interviewees include babysitters, guards, keepers, supermarket clerks, house cleaners and construction site workers. Shi found out that 55 of them were parents. Among this group, only eight have children who attend schools in Beijing. The other 47 had to leave children with relatives in the countryside. However, 40 of the 47 would like to enroll（使入学）their children in city schools.

From her interviews, Shi found that the workers’ lowest income was 400 yuan each month. Over one - third earn a monthly wage of or below 1000 yuan. “Even schools for migrant workers’ children charge more than public schools. Moreover, parents constantly worry about these schools closing or relocating,” she explained.

Shi has recently completed a report about her survey, in which she makes a series of recommendations. “The government can set up public schools for migrants’ children equal to schools for city children. Second, to offset（弥补）migrant workers’ very low pay, public schools should offer them special rates so they can afford their children’s tuition（学费）.

1. What drove Shi to do the survey of migrant workers?

A. She wanted to draw people’s attention and become famous.

    B. Her housekeeper’s daughter was forced to move to her hometown to continue studying.

    C. She was asked to do a survey of migrant workers as part of a school project.

    D. Her curiosity about migrant workers’lives.

2. According to Shi’s survey, most migrant workers’kids ________.

    A. have to help their parents support the family

    B. attend schools near their parents’ working places

    C. don’t live together with their parents

    D. always do better in schools than children from the city

3. All of the following prevent migrant workers’ kids from attending schools in cities EXCEPT ________.

    A. their parents’ low income

    B. that schools for migrant workers’ children may close or relocate

    C. schools’ high tuitions

    D. their lack of confidence to face the fierce competitions in city schools

4. Shi suggested in her survey that ________.

    A. children’s tuition should be reduced

    B. more money should be collected for migrants’ children

    C. more private schools for migrants’ children should be built

    D. students from the city and the countryside should be encouraged to communicate more

I pity anyone who has to feed a family on such a low ______

A. income      B. pay      C. wage      D. salary.

I pity anyone who has to feed a family on such a low ______

A. income      B. pay      C. wage      D. salary.

.

STEVE Wayne, 16, who worked this summer as a lifeguard and swim teacher in Idaho Falls, was thrilled to see an extra $20 in his paycheck when the federal minimum wage increased in July.

“When you’re getting paid minimum wage, anything helps, ” Wayne said.Wayne is one of several hundred thousand American teenagers who earn the minimum wage. The last of three recent increases that took the minimum from $5.15 an hour in 2007 to $7.25.U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis says the minimum-wage increase will pump an extra $5.5 billion into the economy over the next year, which is helpful at a time when the economy is hurting.

"You're giving people who spend money a raise," says Kai Filion of the Economic Policy Institute. "Those people will go out and spend that money, and it will circulate through the economy."

But other economists say raising the minimum wage actually hurts the very people it's designed to help. A higher hourly minimum, they say, could force businesses to cut workers' hours, or even lay people off.

"What matters for people earning minimum wage is how much money they take home, in total, in their paycheck," explains Rajeev of Georgia State University's Economic Forecasting Center. "Their hourly rate may go up, but their number of hours may come down, so it's not an overall increase."

Business owners also say that raising the minimum wage exerts（施加）upward pressure on other wages. "If the minimum wage is $7 and I have to pay $8 or $9 to hire a dishwasher, then the cooks are going to say they want more," sayd Cleveland restaurant owner Rick. "How much can I charge for that hamburger?"

Another argument is that it makes it more expensive for businesses to hire new workers. For many businesses already struggling to make ends meet in these tough times, it will be simply too expensive to keep or to hire new people.

55．Steve Wayne was excited that_____________ .

A．his hard work had paid off

B．he had received a big wage increase

C．he has more money due to an increase in minimum wage

D．the wages of American teenage workers have been increased

56．According to the text, the US federal government has increased minimum wage with the aim of__________

A．decreasing unemployment

B．promoting economic recovery

C．increasing American teenagers’ wage

D．narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor

57．What matters most to people in need of help is_____________.

A．a higher hourly minimum       B．more working hours

C．a minimum-wage increase      D．an increase in total income

58．Some are against the increase in minimum wage because they say_____________.

A．only very few workers will be helped

B．they have to cut down working hours

C．many business owners can’t afford to employ new workers

D．minimum wage workers will expect more pay rises in the future