Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population gro

第1题

Brazil has become one of the developing world' s great successes at reducing population gr

owth but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to【61】birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.

Brazil' s population growth【62】has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960【63】1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this【64】may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.

Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧)and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect,【65】in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil' s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based【66】wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.

"Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values--not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working," says Martine "They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and【67】people conscious of other patterns of behavior. and other【68】, which were put into a very attractive pack- age. "Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to【69】the poor to become consumers. "This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and【70】was incompatible'(不相容的)with un- limited reproduction," says Martine.

(41)

A．increase

B．reduce

C．extend

D．improve

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第2题

Passage Three:Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.Brazil has become one

of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth-but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.

Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.

Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.

“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working,” says Martine. “They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior. and other values, which were put into a very attractive package.”

Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. “This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction,” says Martine.

第31题：According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth ________.

A) by educating its citizens

B) by careful family planning

C) by developing TV programmes

D) by chance

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第3题

听力原文：Some people argue that the pressure on international sportsmen and sportswomen ki

听力原文： Some people argue that the pressure on international sportsmen and sportswomen kills the essence of sport -- the pursuit of personal excellence. Children kick a football around for fun. When they get older and play for local school teams, they become competitive but they still enjoy playing. The individual representing his country cannot afford to think about enjoying himself. He has to think only about winning. He is responsible for an entire nation's hopes, dreams and reputation.

A good example is the football World Cup. Football is the world's most important sport. Winning the World Cup is perhaps the summit of international sporting success. Mention "Brazil" to someone and the chances are that he'll think of football. In a sense, winning the World Cup "put Brazil on the map".

Sports fans and supporters get quite irrational about the World Cup. People in England felt that their country was somehow important after they won in 1966. Last year thousands of Scots sold their cars, and even their houses, and spent all their money traveling to Brazil, who won the cup.

(30)

A．Children can have fun from it.

B．People can achieve personal excellence from it.

C．The winner will be greatly honored.

D．It can realize the dreams of an entire nation.

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第4题

With the economic development, the middle class in Brazil is become larger in number and i

s forcing governments to take tougher action to conserve natural resources.

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

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第5题

Pele has played in all of Brazil's World Cup victories.A．YB．NC．NG

Pele has played in all of Brazil's World Cup victories.

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

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第6题

Brazil（）the World Cup five times.

A.has won

B.is winning

C.won

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第7题

According to the Nielsen Happiness Study, ______.A．women are happier than men in all over

According to the Nielsen Happiness Study, ______.

A．women are happier than men in all over the world

B．women in Brazil and Vietnam feel no happiness

C．world recession has less influence on women's happiness

D．women's happiness mainly depend on economic factors

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第8题

What is happening in our weather? Of course we have never been able to predict exactly w

What is happening in our weather？ Of course we have never been able to predict exactly what the weather will be like, but now strange weather patterns are seriously affecting many parts of the world. For example, droughts (旱灾) in Mexico and Brazil have recently caused great crop losses and in the United States they have even had to make their own snow for the Winter Olympics!

Scientists have found that the cause of this strange weather is that the air circulation pattern has changed and is now more variable than earlier in the twentieth century. This means that different regions of the world get long spells (持续时间) of the same type of weather, whether hot , cold, wet or windy.

However, weather experts have different views about why this has happened. One theory is that the temperature of the sea has increased. Another is that man’s activities on earth have disturbed the balance of nature.

Whatever the cause, the economics of many countries in the world depend upon the weather. And until we know exactly what effect man’s activities are having on the weather, we cannot make changes which might help. So for the moment the only answer is …wait and see!

26. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first paragraph？

A. We have never predicted the weather.

B. Man is now able to control the weather.

C. Strange weather has appeared only in some North American countries.

D. It has always been impossible for man to predict the weather accurately.

27. The strange weather patterns on the earth can he best described as ________.

A. steady and balanced C. likely to cause serious disasters

B. changeable but predictable D. unpredictable but favorable to man

28. The word “affecting” in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by ________.

A. yielding good crops in C. causing few losses in

B. having harmful effects on D. producing desired effects on

29. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that ________.

A. weather patterns are similar in different regions of the world

B. the air circulation pattern remains unchanged in the last century

C. our weather depends on the changes in the air circulation pattern

D. it is possible to predict weather patterns over a long period of time

30. It can be learned from this passage that ________.

A. scientists have similar opinions about the changing weather

B. no one is sure about the cause of the changing weather

C. cutting down forests has affected the climate

D. the weather will become worse in the future

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第9题

Creative Destruction of Higher EducationA．Higher education is one of the great successes o

Creative Destruction of Higher Education

A．Higher education is one of the great successes of the welfare country．What was once the privilege of a few has become a middle-class entitlement， thanks mainly to government support．Some 3．5 million Americans and 5 million Europeans will graduate this summer．In the modem world universities are developing rapidly: China has added nearly 30 million places in 20 years．Yet the business has changed little since Aristotle taught at the Athenian Lyceum （雅典学园）: young students still gather at a specific time and place to listen to the wisdom of scholars．

B．At present， a revolution has begun， thanks to three forces: rising costs， changing demand and new technology．The result will be the complete change of the university．While the prices of cars， computers and much else have greatly fallen， tmiversities have been able to charge ever more for the same service because they are protected by public funding and the high value employers place on degrees．For two decades the cost of going to college in America has risen by 1．6 percentage points more than inflation every year．

C．For most students， the university remains a great deal．The total lifetime income from obtaining a college degree， in net-present-value （净现值） terms， can increase as much as $ 590，000．But an increasing number of students have gone deep into debt， especially the 47% in America and 28% in Britain who do not complete their course．As for them， the degree by no means values for that sum of money．And the government becomes more and more unwilling to fund the university．In America government funding per student fell by 27% between 2007 and 2012， while average tuition fees， adjusted for inflation， rose by 20%．In Britain， tuition fees close to zero two decades ago can reach $15，000 a year．

D．The second factor resulting in change is the labor market．In the standard model of higher education， people go to university in their 20s．A degree is an entry ticket to the professional classes．But automation is beginning to have the same effect on white-collar jobs as it has on blue- collar ones．According to a study from Oxford University，47% of occupations are at risk of being automated in the next few decades．As innovation wipes out some jobs and changes others， people will need to top up their human capital all through their lives．

E．By themselves， these two forces would be pushing change．A third——technology——ensures it．The internet， which has turned businesses from newspapers through music to book sale upside down， will turn over higher education．Now the MOOC， or "Massive Open Online Course"， is offering students the chance to listen to star lecturers and get a degree for a fraction of the cost of attending

a university．MOOCs started in 2008 ; however， they have so far failed to live up to their promise．Largely because there is no formal system of accreditation （认证）， drop-out rates have been high．But this is changing as private investors and existing universities are drawn in．One provider，Coursera， claims over 8 million registered users．Though its courses are free， it received its first $1 million in incomes last year after introducing the option to pay a fee of between $ 30 and $100 to have course results certified．Another， Udacity， has teamed up with AT&T and Georgia Tech to offer an online master"s degree in computing， at less than a third of the cost of the traditional version．Harvard Business School will soon offer an online "pre-MBA" for $1，500．Starbucks has offered to help pay for its staff to take online degrees with Arizona State University．

F．MOOCs will destroy different universities in different ways．Not all will suffer．Oxford and Harvard could benefit．People of great ambition will always want to go to the best universities to meet each other， and the digital economy tends to favor a few large institutions in charge of its operation．The big names will be able to sell their Moocs around the world．But ordinary universities may suffer the fate of many newspapers．Were the market for higher education to perform. in future as that for newspapers has done over the past decade or two， universities" incomes would fall by more than haft， employment in the industry would drop by nearly 30% and more than 700 institutions would shut their doors．The rest would need to adjust themselves to survive．

G．Like all revolutions， the one taking place in higher education will have victims．Many towns and cities rely on universities．In some ways MOOCs will further make the difference both among students and among teachers．The talented students will be much more comfortable than the weaker outside the structured university environment．Superstar lecturers will earn a fortune， to the anger of their less charming colleagues．

H．Politicians will come under pressure to halt this revolution．They should remember that state spending should benefit society as a whole， not protect professors from competition．The change of universities will benefit many more people than it hurts．Students in the rich world will have access to higher education at lower cost and greater convenience．The flexible nature of MOOCs appeals to older people who need training．EdX， another provider， says that the average age of its online students in America is 31．In the modern world online courses also offer a way for countries like Brazil to go ahead Western ones and supply higher education"much more cheaply．And education has now become a global market: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered Battushig Myanganbayar， a remarkably talented Mongolian teenager， through an online electronics course．

I．Rather than maintaining the old model， governments should make the new one work better．They can do so by supporting common standards for accreditation．In Brazil， for instance， students completing courses take a governmentrun exam．In most Western countries it would likewise make sense to have a single， independent organization that certifies exams．Changing an ancient institution will not be easy．But it does promise better education for many more people．Rarely have need and opportunity so neatly come together．

The introduction of automation affects the labor demand and then brings about the revolution of higher education．查看材料

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第10题

If it were simply a matter of passing strong laws to protect it, the Amazon rainforest—the

world's largest tropical forest, around the size of western Europe—would be safe. Brazil, whose territory includes about two-thirds of the forests has impressively tough laws that, on paper, set most of it aside as a nature reserve and impose stiff penalties for illegal logging. But the latest annual figures for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, published by the government on Wednesday May 18th, have confirmed a disturbing recent trend: the destruction is accelerating despite all efforts to control it. In 2004 August, more than 26,000 square kilometres(10,000 square miles) of forest were chopped down, an area larger than the American state of New Jersey.

The area deforested in the past year was up 6% in 2003, far worse than the Brazilian government's predictions that it would rise by no more than about 2%. It was the second worst year for the destruction of the rainforest since satellite surveys began. It is reckoned that almost a fifth of the Brazilian part of the forest has now been wiped outs if it were to continue at this rate, it would all be flattened within the next two centuries. Things are hardly any better in those portions of Amazonia that lie in neighboring countries: Ecuador has lost about half of its forest, mainly due to illegal logging, in the past 30 years. Worse still, tropical forests have been disappearing at an even faster rate elsewhere in the world, such as in Africa. The world's greatest stores of biodiversity—and some of its main suppliers of the oxygen we breathe—are still being chewed up at an alarming rate, despite decades of talk among world leaders and environmentalists about the need to preserve them.

As has been seen before in Brazil, the surge in the rate of deforestation is a sign that the country's economy is booming—recently it bas been growing at an annual rate of around 5%. Most of the timber felled illegally in Amazonia is sold to domestic buyers, in particular to the construction industry in Brazil's richer southern states. But the forest is also threatened by the rapid expansion of farming and ranching. In the past year, almost half of the total deforestation was in the state of Mato Grosso on the forest's southern part, where huge areas have been flattened to grow soybeans. Last year Brazil earned about $10 billion from exporting soy products, exceeding its income from coffee' and sugar, the country's traditional export crops. Mato Grosso's governor, Blairo Maggi, is also its soybean king—his family's farms are' the world's largest single producer of the crop.

The rate at which the forest is being flattened could easily rise further. To boost the region's economic development and make attack on poverty, the government plans to asphalt(铺设沥青) and widen the BR-163 highway that slices the forest roughly in half, running from north to south. Though the government has been working with environmental groups and others to try to limit the scheme's impact, past experience has shown that improved road access invariably means more intrusion of the forest by loggers, ranchers, farmers, mineral prospectors and others.

For much of Brazil's recent history, in particular during the country's 1964-85 military dictatorship, successive governments were obsessed(困扰) with populating and "developing" Amazonia, convinced that otherwise a foreign power might seize it. Large sums were spent building highways to open up the forest and a lot of subsidies were offered to get people to resettle there. However, the huge area of abandoned former forest land alongside previous road schemes show that, in fact, much of the region lacks suitable soil and climate for agriculture.

More recent governments have taken the axe to the worse schemes that encouraged people to destroy the rainforest. Besides Brazil's tough conservation laws, there are now countl

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

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