What’s On Stage

An acrobatic show: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe（劇團(tuán)）will present “The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills will run down your spine（脊柱）as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge.

Time: 7:30 p.m., September 13-19

Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District

Exhibitions

Joint Show: A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing. About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display.

Time: 9 :00 a. m.—5:00 p.m. until September 10

Place: Huangshicheng Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District

Oil paintings: The Wanfung Art Gallery will host a joint show of oil painting by 10 young and middle-aged artists. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wondrous variety of life in unique styles.

Time: 9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m. until September 15

Place: 136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District

Literature museum: The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an in-depth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949.

Time: 9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m., daily

Place: 45 Anyuan Donglu, Chaoyang District (Shaoyaoju area)

Concerts

Beijing rocks: “The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month. Nine Chinese rock bands  will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.

Time: September 16

Place: The Olympic Center

Belgium Orchestra：La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orehestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world in memory of the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.

Time: 7:30 p.m. September 11—14

Place: Grand Theatre of  the Cultural Palace of Nationalities

68. Suppose it is September 14 today, how many activities can people choose to attend?

  A. 2.                     B. 3.                C. 4.                 D. 5.

69. The most characteristic thing about the Fashion Night of Chinese Rock is that      .

  A. it will let the audience choose the performers and the music

  B. it is to bring thousands of rock fans out of their homes

  C. it will certainly cause a rock storm throughout China

  D. it is to be held in memory of one of the greatest musicians

 70. On the whole, we can conclude      .

  A. people in Beijing prefer modern culture to something traditional

  B. there are usually more cultural activities in September than in any other month

  C. most of the cultural activities in Beijing are for foreign visitors only

  D. we can enjoy a large variety of cultural activities in Beijing

Scientists made a great break through this year in England when the first "test tube" baby was born．The birth was the result of many years of research by doctors．The doctors did the research in groups to help the women who cannot conceive a baby in the normal way．

What happened when the baby was born "from a test tube"? Well, the baby did not literally grow in a test tube．The first stage of the process was that the egg from the woman and the sperm from the man were put together in the test tube．After all, the embryo was put into the womb of a woman．This process was difficult．But it was successful, so the baby was eventually born, like any other, from a woman, only the woman wasn't the baby's real mother, but a sort of "carrier" of a baby produced by another couple．

Obviously, this method is to help the couples who can't have children because of physical problems in the woman．But very difficult moral problems arise in the kind of situation．Take it for instance, a case that happened this year．A couple who wanted a baby advertised for a woman to have a child by the father of the couple．They offered the woman a lot of money．The woman was made pregnant by artificial insemination; in this case, the woman "employed" to bear the child was its real mother．When the baby was born, the woman refused to give it back to the couple．But, in the eyes of the law, the woman had a right to keep the children because she was its biologic al mother．

You could argue that we should change the law to deal with this kind of situation．In earlier times, there were always healthy babies needing adoption, because family planning methods were not so effective as they are now．These days, however, most of the children who can be adopted are over six years old, often handicapped in some way．So a couple who want a young healthy baby cannot always adopt one, this is why the "test tube" baby is in demand．But is it normally right to use this method? Should we temper with nature in this way? Even if we change the law, would this be the right step to take ?

64．The birth of the first "test-tube" baby is a great advance _____．

       A．on medical science

       B．in birth control

       C．on the research for babies

       D．in the lives of married women

65．When we say a baby was born "from a test-tube", we mean_____ ．

       A．the baby didn't develop in the womb of a woman

       B．the baby has no biological parents

       C．the embryo was formed in the test tube

       D．the baby grew in the test-tube before it was born

66．According to the law, who has right to keep the baby produced by the artificial method?

       A．The couple who want a baby．

       B．The biological mother of the child．

       C．The person who pays the money to the real mother．

       D．The father who advertises for a biological mother．

67．According to the passage, people need "test-tube baby" because_____ ．

       A．family planning methods are not effective．

       B．they can't always adopt a young healthy baby

       C．they are unwilling to adopt a child．

       D．there are so many babies needing adoption．

There is a new trend. TAIBEI － Increasing numbers of Taiwanese students are joining the island’s “China rush”, seeking education on the Chinese mainland．

    According to official Chinese figures, the number of Taiwanese students admitted into college and postgraduate（研究生）programs on the mainland totaled 461 in 1996, 928 in 1997 and 839 in 1998．Although no latest official numbers were available,” Netbig. Com said this number had risen between 30 to 50 percent annually in the past two years with well over 1000 entering mainland campuses last year.

    The Internet site, based in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, provides education service and information on Chinese mainland college and universities. “Many Taiwanese believe a Chinese education giving more knowledge about the people and culture in the mainland will increase their chances in the Chinese job market, Net. Com vice-president Ingrid Huang said．“I believe it will give me hands-on experience in the business field in the Chinese mainland and a better understanding of the Chinese mainland people,” said Lydia Chang, a 19-year-old majoring in journalism at Shih Shin University. Chang plans to go on to get a master’s degree in business administration in Shanghai, which she says offers the best environment for such studies.

    A journalism graduate student, surnamed Lin, at the National Taiwan University said he would like to study law on the Chinese mainland since “there will be better career prospects(前景) now that more Taiwanese companies are going there”. “They hope the children could build up connections which could later become useful in their business operations,” said Yang Ching-yao, professor of the Chinese mainland studies. A Netbig. Com survey showed the campuses favored by Taiwan students included Beijing, Qinghua and Renmin universities in Beijing, and Jinan and Zhongshan universities in Guangzhou. The most popular studies were law, business and Chinese medicine.

    At present, Chinese Taibei doesn’t recognize diplomas earned in the Chinese mainland nor help with any inquiries about studying there. But recognizing the trend, education authorities are giving a final form to a policy accepting certificates（證書）from selected universities.

60.  More Taiwanese students study on the Chinese mainland because ___________.

      A．Taiwan will reunite with the mainland sooner or later

      B．the fees asked for are lower than those of Taiwan

      C．there are many famous universities for them to choose

      D．what they have learned on the mainland will bring them a bright future

61．Some business executives(管理人員) were sending their children to study in the Chinese mainland so that their children ___________.

      A．could receive better education       B．could do well in the business operations

      C．could learn more about the policy there      D．could make more friends there

62．The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to __________.

A．Netbig. Com                      B．the Chinese job market

C．a(chǎn) Chinese education on the mainland     D．the university

63．Which is true according to the passage?

      A．Chinese Taibei recognizes diplomas earned on the Chinese mainland

      B．Chinese Taibei doesn’t help with any inquiries about Taiwanese studying in the mainland 

C．The number of Taiwanese students going to study on the mainland will surely be increasing in the next few years.

      D．Education of Taiwan is far behind the mainland.

As the human population grows, the population of rat also increases. Britain is facing a sharp rise in its rat population as growing numbers of people leave what they cannot finish of the fast food in the street, an environment group warned. Keep Britain Tidy said the rats were stopping their traditional hunts underground and were running across the streets, invited by burgers, pizzas and crisps left behind by man. “The rat population is on the rise and soon it’ll be as common to see a rat on our street as it is to see a dog or a cat,” said group Director, Sue Nelson. The practice of spreading fast food litter and scraps on the street rather than in the dustbin—with young men the worst group—was behind the rise. According to the National Rodent Survey in 2005, Britain’s rat population has grown by nearly one quarter since 2000 and is now estimated at 60 million, two million more than the human population. On average a rat can give birth every 24-28 days and just a single pair of rats can produce a family of 2,000 a year. Around 200 people a year get Weil’s Disease –an infection which can lead to liver or kidney（肝腎）failure and eventually death and which is carried in rats’ waste. To attract people’s attention to the problem, Keep Britain Tidy produced a cinema ad with a title “How close do you want them to get?” The ad gave a shocking image of a young woman sleeping in a bed of rats--reminding people of the terrible scene from James Herbert’s classic horror tale The Rats, in which rats begin to hunt for humans.

56. Where did the rats use to search for food?

       A. In the street                                                 B. Under the ground

       C. From the dustbins                                 D. In burger shops

57. What was the rat population in Britain in 2000 according to the writer?

       A. Around 60 million                                  B. Around 2 million       

C. Around 38 million                                  D. Around 45 million

58. We may infer from the passage that ______________.

       A. Weil’s Disease will finally end the world

       B. pizzas and crisps will become unpopular

       C. rats will put human beings’ life in danger

       D. young people should take the responsibility for the rat population

59. By writing the passage, the author tries to _____________.

       A. close some of the burger and pizza restaurants

       B. draw the public attention to the problem of rats

       C. prevent the rats from growing up

D. making an advertisement for the classic horror tale The Rats

On August 26, 1999, New York City experienced a torrential downpour. The rain caused the streets to __36__ and the subway system almost came to a stop.

    Unfortunately, this happened during the morning rush hour. Many people who were going to work were __37__ to go home. Some battled to __38__ a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others faced the __39__ bravely, walking miles to get to work.

    I __40__ to be one of the people on the way to work that morning. I went from subway line to subway line only to find that most __41__ had stopped. After making my way __42__ crowds of people, I finally found a subway line that was __43__. Unfortunately, there were so many people waiting to __44__ the subway that I could not even get down the stairs to the __45__. So I took the train going in the opposite direction, and then switch back to the downtown train. Finally, after what seemed like an forever, the train __46__ my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the increasingly heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was __47__ through, exhausted and __48__.

     My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 pm，I was ready to go home. I was about to turn off my computer __49__ I received an email from Garth, my Director:

    I would like to thank all of you who made the effort and __ 50__ reported to work. It is always reassuring(令人欣慰), at times like these, when employees so clearly show their __51__ to their jobs. Thank you.

Garth’s email was short, but I learned more from that __52__ message than I ever did from a textbook. The email taught me that a few words of __53__ can make a big difference. The rainstorm and the traffic __54__ had made me tied and upset. But Garth’s words immediately__55__ me and put a smile back on my face.

36. A. break                  B. flood                 C. sink                  D. crash

37. A. refused               B. gathered         C. adjusted            D. forced

38. A. order                  B. pay                   C. call                   D. search

39. A. climate                B. scenery             C. storm                D. burden

40. A. used                   B. promised           C. deserved           D. happened

41. A. service             B. routine                     C. process             D. practice    

42. A. to                       B. through             C. over                  D. for

43. A. rushing            B. cycling              C. turning              D. operating

44. A. board                  B. check                C. find                  D. carry

45. A. street                  B. ground              C. floor                 D. platform

46. A. paused                B. crossed             C. reached             D. parked

47. A. weak                  B. wet                   C. sick                  D. hurt

48. A. ashamed             B. discouraged              C. surprised           D. puzzled

49. A. while                  B. when                C. where               D. after

50. A. hardly                 B. casually             C. eventually          D. absolutely

51. A. devotion              B. donation            C. connection        D. reaction

52. A. accurate                     B. urgent               C. brief                 D. humorous

53. A. promise                     B. appreciation       C. advice               D. guidance

54. A. troubles                     B. signals               C. rules                 D. signs

55. A. corrected            B. refreshed           C. amazed             D. supported

——Tom, you are caught late again.

   ——Oh, ____.

A. not at all          B. just my luck           C. never mind            D. that’s all right

AIDS is said __________the biggest health challenge to both men and women in that area over the past few years.

 A．that it is         B．to be           C．that it has been       D．to have been

 Only the manager herself ______ who stole the diamond from the store.

 A. know the secret               B. does the secret know

C. did the secret know            D. knows the secret

When you go by train, please see to it_______ you take an express, _______ stops only at big stations.

A. that, it       B. /, the one          C. that, one that           D. /, it

Hurry up!  The train ______． You know it______ at 8:30 am．

      A． leaves; leaves       B． is leaving; is leaving    

       C． leaves; is leaving             D． is leaving; leaves