The explosive growth in casinos is one of the most () signs of Westernization.

A.dim

B.obscure

C.conspicuous

D.intelligible

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.

However urban life strikes you, cities worldwide have been growing ever more rapidly. Some of this growth has occurred in the developed world, but the most dramatic increase has been in the Third World. Almost all the world's population growth over the next 30 years will take place in the cities of developing countries. By the year 2030, for the first time in history, 60 percent of the world's people will be living in cities.

This is actually good news in some ways. "Cities are the fundamental building blocks of prosperity," says Marc Weiss, chairman of the Prague Institute for Global Urban Development, "both for the nation and for families." Industrial and commercial activities in urban areas account for between 50 and 80 percent of the gross domestic product(GDP) in most countries of the world "there's the crazy notion that the way to deal with a city's problems is to keep people out of them," Weiss continued. "But the problems of the rural life are even more serious than those of the city." For better or worse, urban-watchers are clear on one point: The quality of life for most people in the future will be determined by the quality of cities.

Those cities will be bigger than ever. And yet, population numbers by themselves don't determine a city's prospects; after all, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Hamburg, Germany, have the same population. Nor is explosive growth necessarily the determining factor. "City problems," one authority points out, "mostly have to do with weak, ineffective, and usually unrepresentative city governments."

What is the passage mainly about？

A．Big cities.

B．City life.

C．Population.

D．Gross Domestic Product.

ork." That is how Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister, (1)_____ his government's decision to (2)_____ gambling in the country, (3)_____ two large, Vegas-style. casinos. Whether the casinos will indeed help to transform. Singapore's staid image remains to be seen. But the decision has already (4)_____ an uncharacteristic buzz among the country's normally (5)_____ citizens.

The government has contemplated, and rejected (6)_____ casinos several times in the past. One reason was (7)_____ Singapore's economic growth was so rapid that casinos seemed like an unnecessary evil. Buddhism and Islam, two of the country's main religions, (8)_____ on gambling. The government itself has traditionally had strong, and often (9)_____, ideas about how its citizens should behave. Until recently, for example, it refused to (10)_____ homosexuals to the civil service. It also used to (11)_____ chewing gum, which it considers a public nuisance.

Nowadays, (12)_____, Singapore's electronics industry, the mainstay of the economy, is struggling to cope with cheap competition from places like China. In the first quarter of this year, output (13)_____ by 5.8% at an annual rate. So the government wants to promote tourism and other services to (14)_____ for vanishing jobs in manufacturing.

Merrill Lynch, an investment bank, (15)_____ the two proposed casinos could (16)_____ in as much as $4 billion in the initial investment alone. (17)_____ its estimates, they would have annual revenues of (18)_____ $3.6 billion, and pay at least $600 million in taxes and fees. The government, for its part, thinks the integrated (19)_____, as it coyly calls the casinos, would (20)_____ as many as 35,000 jobs.

A．claimed

B．maintained

C．announced

D．pronounced

ork". That is how Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister, (1)_____ his government's decision to (2)_____ gambling in the country, (3)_____ two large, Vegas-style. casinos. Whether the casinos will indeed help to transform. Singapore's staid image remains to be seen. But the decision bas already (4)_____ an uncharacteristic buzz among the country's normally (5)_____ citizens.

The government has contemplated, and rejected (6)_____ casinos several times in the past. One reason was (7)_____ Singapore's economic growth was so rapid that casinos seemed like an unnecessary evil. Buddhism and Islam, two of the country's main religions, (8)_____ on gambling. The government itself has traditionally had strong, and often (9)_____, ideas about how its citizens should behave. Until recently, for example, it refused to (10)_____ homosexuals to the civil service. It also used to (11)_____ chewing gum, which it considers a public nuisance.

Nowadays, (12)_____, Singapore's electronics industry, the mainstay of the economy, is struggling to cope with cheap competition from places like China. In the first quarter of this year, output (13)_____ by 5.8% at an annual rate. So the government wants lo promote tourism and other services to (14)_____ for vanishing jobs in manufacturing.

Merrill Lynch, an investment bank, (15)_____ the two proposed casinos could (16)_____ in as much as $4 billion in the initial investment alone. (17)_____ its estimates, they would have annual revenues of (18)_____ $3.6 billion, and pay at least $600 million in taxes and fees. The government, for its part, thinks the integrated (19)_____, as it coyly calls the casinos, would (20)_____ as many as 35,000 jobs.

A．claimed

B．maintained

C．announced

D．pronounced

A.progressed

B. blossomed

C. extended

D. became

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.

A country is said to become more urbanized as its cities grow in number, its urban populations increase in size, and the proportion of its population living in urban areas rises. The degree of urbanization varies across the world but generally reflects the wealth of individual countries. The rich, industrialized countries tend to be the most highly urbanized. In the Netherlands, for example, 89 percent of the population is urban, compared to only 13 percent in Ethiopia, a much poorer country.

In recent history, the degree of urbanization has been relatively low in Africa and Asia compared to Europe and North America. However, as a result of large-scale migration from rural areas and a natural increase in the urban populations themselves, the populations of cities in the developing world have been growing rapidly. The population of Cairo, for example, has tripled in the last 40 years, and more than half of Africa's people are expected to be living in cities by 2020. Similarly, the urban share of the population in China has risen from about one in five in 1960 to nearly half today.

One of the most noticeable features of urban growth in the 20th century has been the rapid increase in the number of very large cities. Before 1800, cities with more than a million inhabitants were rare. Since then, however, the number of such cities has risen steadily. In 1900 there were at least 13 cities with more than a million inhabitants, and by 1950 the number had grown to 68. By 2000 there will be at least 250 cities of more than a million--many of which will be in Asia, especially in India and China.

Even a city of a few million people is dwarfed by the urban giants with populations exceeding 10 million. According to various estimates, there may be 20 or more of these gigantic metropolitan areas already. Most are in Asia: Tokyo, Seoul, Osaka, Shanghai, Mumbai (Bombay), Beijing, Calcutta, Jakarta, Tianjin, Karachi, Delhi, and Manila. The other giants are New York, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and Cairo. In coming years, explosive growth in cities of the developing world such as Lagos and Santa Fe de Bogotá will almost certainly propel them into this group. By the year 2020, several cities are expected to have populations of more than 20 million.

Such large concentrations of people pose immense environmental problems. In Mexico City, for example, one-quarter of the population has no access to running water, and one in five houses is not connected to the sewerage system. Located in a valley, the city suffers so badly from air pollution from motor vehicles that the city center must periodically be closed to traffic. Mexico City's problems are replicated in most other large cities in the developing world, and to a lesser degree in the large cities of industrialized countries as well.

A country's urbanization can be seen from its increase in______.

A．wealth

B．population

C．the number of cities

D．urban areas

The question I am asked most often like I travel around the world springs from 【M1】______

people's deepest fear: "Jane, do you think there is hope？" Is there hope for the rain forests of Africa？ For the chimpanzees'？ For Africa's people？ Is there hope for the planet,

our beautiful planet that we were spoiling？ 【M2】______

Is there hope for us and for our children and grandchildren？ Sometimes it is hard to be optimistic. In Africa one can fly over mile after mile of country that

was lush and green fifteen or twenty years 【M3】______

which is now almost desert, where far more people and livestock are trying to live than the land can properly support. People, moreover, who are too poor to buy food from elsewhere. What lies ahead for them？ And what of Gombe？ When I first arrived there in 1960

the entire shoreline up and off 【M4】______

the lake was forested. Gradually, over the years, the trees have been cut down by the local people for firewood, for building poles, and to clear the land for cultivation. Today the forests outside the boundary of the national park have gone, left treeless slopes, 【M5】______

where the precious topsoil is eroding away, washed down with each rain into the lake, silting up the breeding grounds of the fish. Even the steepest slopes the forests are gone: 【M6】______

farmers have cleared them and are making pitiful attempts to grow crops of cassava and beans in the increasingly infertile soil that remains. Already, outside the national park, the chimpanzees and most of the other animals have gone. And people are beginning to suffer;

in some places women must dig up the root of trees long 【M7】______

since cut down to get the firewood they need for cooking. And all this changes is because【M8】______

the numbers of people have increased dramatically-mainly due to the explosive population growth, but also to repeated influxes of refugees from troubled Burundi in the north, 【M9】______

and more recently from eastern Congo. And this scenario is repeated again and again across the African continent and other developing countries; increased population growth, diminishing resources, and the destruction of nature, resulting from poverty and human suffering. 【M10】______

【M1】

What will the succeeding paragraph, should there be one, most probably discuss？

A．Efforts to examine other brain areas of autistic persons.

B．Ways to stimulate the growth of white matter wiring.

C．Other problems autistic persons may suffer from.

D．Mysteries why white matter is so important.

________ Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world.Genuine care for employees, customers and our collective impact on the environment.Corporate culture of openness, team members encouraged to speak up.Great opportunities for career growth, the cream rises to the top.Talent and hard work rewarded with career advancement.Its cars are well-known for its safety.

A、financial

B、assessment

C、portfolio analysis

D、competitive