1 . The cost of raising a child is highest in South Korea and China, according to a new report by Beijing’s YuWa Population Research Institute.
The institute compared costs using different countries’ GDP per person. GDP per person is the total value of all the work done and things made in a country in one year, divided by the number of people who live there. And the report said the average cost of raising a child in South Korea to the age of 18 is 7.8 times the country’s GDP per person.
In China, the average cost of raising a child is about $75,000, which is more than 6. 3 times the GDP per person. It’s even more expensive to raise a child in Chinese cities, with an average cost of almost $94,000.
South Korea and China both have very low birth rates. South Korea’s is the lowest in the world — and with those costs, it might be easy to see why.
Japan also has a low birth rate, but it costs about 4.3 times the GDP per person to raise a child there. It’s 4.1 times in the US, and 2.1 times in Australia.
But it’s not only money that parents have to spend — it’s time too. And this is another reason young people are choosing not to have children, according to the institute.
For example, it said that in China, between 2010 and 2018, the amount of time parents spent helping their children with elementary school homework increased from less than four hours to almost six hours per week.
1. What’s the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in China?| A．About $75,000 | B．About $94,000 |
| C．About $47,250 | D．About $11,904 |
| A．Japan | B．South Korea |
| C．China | D．It doesn’t mention |
| A．four hours | B．six hours |
| C．Ten hours | D．Almost six hours |
| A．Why young people are choosing not to have children? |
| B．Parents have to spend more time helping their children with elementary school homework. |
| C．Children nowadays have too much pressure in China and South Korea. |
| D．Between 2010 and 2018, the amount of time parents spent on working to make money increased a lot. |
| A．Young People are Choosing not to Have Children. |
| B．Raising a Child Costs Most. |
| C．The Economy in China and South Korea. |
| D．The Elementary School Homework Increased in South Korea and China. |
Born in the city, we regard the country life as something far away. We are used to the e
For the first time in my life I have the experience with the country life. Here I realize what a life of nature is. This is a small village f
There are few cars or other transportation (交通工具) on the way. The air is fresh. The sky is high. The people are friendly. They are not as busy a
The idea may hit you once or twice a year. When you come home on a hot summer day, you
In countries like Tanzania, water is
| A．hope | B．dislike | C．help | D．offer |
| A．important | B．heavy | C．dirty | D．much |
| A．Suddenly | B．However | C．Luckily | D．Therefore |
| A．easy | B．true | C．wrong | D．hard |
| A．although | B．if | C．while | D．so |
| A．take | B．spend | C．carry | D．find |
| A．time | B．money | C．knowledge | D．food |
| A．sound | B．voice | C．noise | D．whisper |
| A．hold | B．bring | C．see | D．marry |
| A．few | B．a few | C．little | D．a little |
4 . How do you go to school? Do you walk
Tang Tang is 11 years old. He crosses the river every school day. But he is never
Many of the students and villagers never leave the village. It is their
| A．and | B．but | C．so | D．or |
| A．easy | B．difficult | C．important | D．happy |
| A．runs | B．comes | C．leaves | D．walks |
| A．lost | B．happy | C．afraid | D．angry |
| A．idea | B．dream | C．job | D．luck |
During the past seven years, I visited countries that were in need of clean water. And I met some of the most inspiring (鼓舞人心的) people I’ve ever known.
By the time I reached my first village in Mozambique (莫桑比克), a small crowd had already gathered around the water point to meet me. These people were eager to talk about the difference clean water had made in their community.
At the front of the crowd, I met Natalia, a 15-year-old girl. Access to (获得) clean water enabled (使能够) her to have better health. She could spend more time in school. As a result, she became better educated than many of her fellow villagers.
I asked Natalia’s mother what she expected of her daughter’s future. “My dream is for Natalia to become a teacher,” she said proudly. Natalia happened to hear our conversation. And she turned around to say, “I don’t want to be just a teacher. I want to be the headteacher.”
Many people I met in Mozambique told me that water is life. Having access to clean water would immediately improve health. Healthier families would save money on hospital bills. Healthier kids would spend more time in school. Like Natalia, they would have bigger dreams as well as better opportunities.
Yet 748 million people on this planet don’t have access to clean water. Every morning, they stand in line in front of a muddy hole in the ground. They carry dirty water all the way home and serve it to the people they love most. They keep suffering from stomach pains.
You and I just got lucky to be born in places where we’ve never had to worry about finding clean water.
1. Where did the writer go during the past seven years?2. What were the people around the water point in the Mozambican village talking about?
3. How did access to clean water change Natalia’s life?
4. Why do some people suffer from stomach pains?
5. How can we help people who live without clean water? List two ways.
6 . People living in the country enjoy several advantages that people living in the city can not enjoy. They are in close contact with nature. They make friends with trees and stones, cows and dogs. They listen to the songs of birds.
This contact with nature is good for people’s health. There are many diseases that are common in the city, but may not be found in the country. For example, nearsightedness(近视) is almost unknown to country people.
Because of the absence of cars, one can walk more freely in the country than in the city. There are no rules of the road nor traffic signs to obey.
People living in the country can easily get fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and fresh milk. And they get them at lower prices than in the city.
Country people are mostly honest. They say what they mean, and make and keep promises with sincerity. They do not put on air. They do not pretend to have those ridiculous manners which are necessary in what we call polite society.
1. What can’t country people often enjoy ________| A．Musical concerts. | B．Fresh air. | C．Songs of birds. | D．Close contact with nature. |
| A．Vegetables. | B．Beer. |
| C．Milk. | D．Fruit. |
| A．The traffic accident rate is very high. |
| B．Living in the country saves one a lot of money. |
| C．Country people enjoy better heath than city people. |
| D．Country people are usually honest to one another. |
| A．The Disadvantages of Living in the Country. |
| B．Expenses of Living in the Country. |
| C．Healthy Country People. |
| D．Country Life. |
Some children in Africa (非洲) don’t have school things. It’s not easy for them to get school things. Some people from other countries give them some.
They’re happy to have these school things. Bill is really happy. He gets a new pencil box. He can put his pencils in it now. Jane gets a notebook. She always wants a notebook, but her parents are poor, so they can’t buy one for her. This is her first notebook. What’s that in Mike’s hands? Oh, it’s a storybook. Mike likes reading books very much. He really wants more (更多的) books. Little Tommy gets some pencils. He usually writes with a stone, but his spelling is really great. Now he can write with a real pencil.
Do you want to help these African children? You can give your old school things to us. We need books, schoolbags, dictionaries, pencils, rulers, erasers and pencil boxes.
If you don’t know how to send them to us, you can call 850-499-8335. You can also e-mail us at my@163.com.
1. Who gets a new pencil box?2. Why can’t Jane get a notebook?
3. What does Tommy do with a stone?
4. Do the African children need computers according to the passage?
5. How can we send the school things to these African children?
8 . Some years ago industries had more f
Of course sometimes there were real d
Today many governments have special departments that protect customers and workers. In the U.S., for example, there is a department that tests new airplanes and gives w
9 . Is the life of city kids the same as that of village kids? In many ways, they are very different. But what are the differences?
Earlier this month, Hu Peng and his four friends went to live in a village for a week.
Later, the team gave their report to their class. The classmates studied the report carefully together.
City kids told Hu that they cared about schoolwork, and they had no time to wash clothes or make their own beds.
| A．Village kids said they often helped their parents with housework. |
| B．They also asked 150 city kids the same questions. |
| C．They went door to door there and asked kids there lots of questions. |
| D．Hu and his friends said their trip gave them more self-confidence(自信心) because they were doing something by themselves. |
| E．They found the biggest difference between city kids and village kids was independence(独立性). |
10 . Sociologists（社会学家）, working in western countries, have found that a large number of women wished they had been born men. The number is said to be as high as 60% in Germany.
“Women often wish they had the same chances as men have; and think it is still men’s world,” said Dr James Helen, one of the sociologists who had done the study.
Many men say that they have more duties than women. A man has to make money to support his family and to make the important decision, so it is right for men to be paid more. Some are even against their wives at all. When wives go out to work, the home and children can’t be taken good care of. If women take full-time jobs, they won’t be able to do what they are best at doing: making a nice room and bringing up the children.
Some women didn’t agree. They say they want to go out of their rooms and to have freedom to choose between work and home life. Women have the right of equal pay and equal chances.
Ann Harper has a very good job, she also believes in “Women’s Liberation”. “I don’t wish I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think women do. But I do wish people stop treating us like second-class people. At work, for example, we usually do the work that men do but get paid less. There are still a lot of jobs only to men-usually they are the best ones. If you are a man, you have a much better chance of living a wonderful life. How many women are scientists, or engineers?”
1. Many men think ________.| A．women can’t do what men can |
| B．men have to work much harder than women |
| C．men can make money more easily than women |
| D．women’s duty is mainly to do housework at home |
| A．because she believed in women’s liberation |
| B．but she wished to get the same job as men |
| C．but she wished to be treated the same as a man |
| D．because she had a good job |
| A．A man has to make money to support his family. |
| B．It is right for men to be paid more. |
| C．A man has to make the important decision. |
| D．A, B and C |
| A．at work, women usually do the most work |
| B．scientists and engineers are all men |
| C．a man has a much better chance of living a wonderful life |
| D．all the jobs only to men |
| A．There are more men scientists, engineers than women ones. |
| B．Women are second-class people, so they shouldn’t live a better life. |
| C．Women do the same job as men, but get paid less than men. |
| D．There are some best jobs that women have few chances to take. |
