1 . Falling birth rates are a major concern for some of Asia’s biggest economies. Government s in the region are spending hundreds of billions of dollars trying to reverse the trend. Will it work?

Japan began introducing policies to encourage couples to have more children in the 1990s. South Korea started doing the same in the 2000s, while Singapore’s first fertility (生育) policy dates back to 1987. China, which has seen its population fall for the first time in 60 years, recently joined the growing club.

While it is difficult to quantify exactly how much these policies have cost, South Korean President YoonSuk-yeol recently said his country had spent more than $200bn (£160bn) over the past 16 years on trying to boost the population. Yet last year South Korea broke its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, with the average number of babies expected per woman falling to 0.78. In neighbouring Japan, which had record low births of fewer than 800,000 last year, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised to double the budget for child-related policies from 10tn yen ($74.7bn; £59.2bn).

Having a bigger population who can work and produce more goods and services leads to higher economic growth. And while a larger population can mean higher costs for governments, it can also result in bigger tax revenues (税收). Also, many Asian countries are ageing rapidly. Japan leads the pack with nearly 30% of its population now over the age of 65 and some other nations in the region are not far behind. Compare that with India, which has just overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation. More than a quarter of its people are between the age of 10 and 20, which gives its economy huge potential for growth. And when the share of the working age population gets smaller, the cost and burden of looking after the non-working population grow. “Negative population growth has an impact on the economy, and together with an ageing population, they won’t be able to afford to support the elderly,” said Xiujian Peng of Victoria University.

1. Which Asian country first took measures to increase population in this passage?

A．Japan.

B．South Korea.

C．Singapore.

D．China.

2. What can we learn about the population of Asian countries from the passage?

A．Japan hit the lowest record of new-born babies last year.

B．India has the largest and youngest population in the world.

C．China’s population has been decreasing in the recent 60 years.

D．South Korea had the lowest population record last year in the world.

3. What can we infer from paragraph 4?

A．The economy of India will overtake that of Japan.

B．Negative population growth leads to an ageing population.

C．The larger the population is, the better the economy will be.

D．A bigger share of working age population helps support the elderly.

4. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Low birth rate is a negative factor for economy.

B．China is joining the countries of low birth rate.

C．Many Asian countries came to negative population growth.

D．Many Asian countries are trying all out to battle low birth rate.

2 . Africa is often called the cradle(摇篮)of civilization. The first human beings appeared on the continent about 2 million years ago. Old civilizations grew along the banks of the Nile River. Thousands of years ago ancient Egypt became a powerful empire, to the south Nubia emerged(出现)in today’s Sudan. After 1000 AD, great empires emerged in Ghana and other areas in western Africa. City-states, including Mogadishu and Zanzibar, grew into powerful trading centers in East Africa. Towards the end of the Middle Ages the first Europeans came to Africa. From the early 1500s on, they made money by bringing slaves to North America. The British, Dutch and Portuguese set up trading posts along the western African coast where they searched for gold and ivory. In the 17th century, the Dutch set up a trading post at the Cape of Good Hope. It grew into a Dutch colony(殖民地)until the 19th century, when the British took over. At the end of the 19th century, Europeans ruled most of Africa. They saw the continent as a major source of raw materials that they could bring back to Europe for their emerging industries. As a result, the Industrial Revolution did not take place in Africa. Throughout the colonial period, European countries fought for influence and control in Africa. In the “Scramble(争夺)for Africa”, they divided the continent into areas of interest. Native Africans often resisted colonial governments and in many areas, they were killed in uprisings(起义).

One of the last countries to gain independence was Rhodesia, today’s Zimbabwe, where blacks fought for over a decade against the British. In South Africa, white Europeans gave up control of the country after Apartheid(种族隔离)ended in the 1990s.

Many African countries did not know how to deal with their newly gained independence, largely because they had no experience in administrating and governing a nation. As a result, civil wars, tribal(部落的)conflicts and power struggles broke out. They resulted in dozens of wars in Africa since the 1960s.

1. What can be inferred from Paragraph 1?

A．Nubia was then part of ancient Egypt.

B．Sudan was founded earlier than Egypt.

C．Africans were the earliest people on earth.

D．Areas along the Nile River greatly developed.

2. What’s the worst things the first Europeans to Africa did?

A．They sold low-quality items to the natives.

B．They treated the local Africans as goods.

C．They hurt and murdered the local people.

D．They seized local people’s fortune by force.

3. Why was Africa divided into many parts by Europeans?

A．To fight against the local people’s resistance.

B．To make parts of Africa into their control.

C．To develop the economy of the limited parts.

D．To prevent local people getting into other countries.

4. Why do so many countries get into fights after gaining independence?

A．They lack managing abilities.	B．They are short of resources
C．They want more free land.	D．They still have no civil rights.