公共英语二级模拟2e

C 　　Woman have more problems than men in old age. First of all, they have less money—or no money at all — and because of this, they often feel they get less respect , even at home. Quite a large number have no pension(退休费) because they have never worked outside the home, and thirty-eight percent are supported mainly by their husbands or children. Second, a larger number of old women than old men become window(single women). Men are normally¹ older than the women they marry, and women generally live longer than men. The remarriage among older windows is lower² than that among widows(single men). Statistics³ (统计) from 1990 in Shanghai show only 52 percent of elderly⁴ women with husbands still living, compared to(与---相比)82 percent of men. 　　Because of lower incomes and the difficulty⁵ of remarriage, many elderly women who live alone, are poor and have almost no social life. Even an old couple lives with children, it is the woman who ends up doing the work around the house. She cleans the rooms, prepares meals, and takes care of the family. Some 75 percent of them carry out such heavy physical tasks as buying and carrying grain, coal and other supplies for the home. How to improve the quality of life of women in their later years is a question that needs to be dealt with by all the society.

  44. If they had more money, elderly women _______.  

A) would have no more problem   

B) could live a fairy life    

C) would get more respect   

D) would need no care of others   


  45. In Shanghai, of 150 elderly women, only ______have husbands still living.  

A) 75.   

B) 52.   

C) 82.   

D) 78.   


  46. According to the statistics, suppose there are 150,000 elderly men, _____of them are widowers⁶.  

A) 27,000   

B) 78,000   

C) 72,000   

D) 123,000   


  47. According to the writer, _______.  

A) elderly women should be paid well    

B) elderly women should live with their families    

C) all people should do something for elderly women    

D) housework should not be done by elderly women   


 
D 　　Our surroundings⁷ are being polluted⁸ faster than ever and it seems that people cannot prevent it. Time is bringing us more people, and more people will bring us more industry, more cars, larger cities, and the growing use of man-made⁹ materials. 　　What can explain and settle¹⁰ this problem? The fact is that pollution is caused by man—by his desire(欲望) for a modern way of life. We make “increasing industrialization”(工业化) our first aim. So we are often ready to offer everything: clean air, pure water, good food, our health and the future of our children. There is a constant¹¹ flow of people from the country-side into the cities, eager for the achievements of our modern society. But as our technological¹² achievements have grown in the last twenty years, pollution has become a serious problem. 　　Isn’t it time we stopped to ask ourslves where we are going—and why? It makes one think of the story about the pilot (飞行员) who told his passengers over the loudspeaker¹³ : “I’ve some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we ’re making rapid progress at 530 miles per hour. The bad news is that we are lost and don’t know where we’re going.” The sad fact is that this becomes a true story when speaking of our modern society.

  48. Man cannot prevent the world from being polluted because _______.  

A) the population of the world is increasing faster    

B) people use too many man-made materials    

C) we have more industry 　　　    

D) we are producing more cars, trucks and buses   


  49. According to the passage, what does man care most among the following?  

A) Health.   

B) Industry.   

C) Clean air   

D) The future of the children   


  50. The story about the pilot tells us that _______.  

A) man knows where the society is going    

B) people don’t welcome the rapid development of modern society    

C) man can do little about the problem of pollution    

D) the speaker is worried about the future of our society   


  51. What dose¹⁴ the writer really want to say in the passage?  

A) With the development of technology, pollution has become a serious problem.    

B) We should control the speed of the development to stop pollution.    

C) It’s time we did something to reduce pollution.    

D) As industry is growing fast, pollution is the natural result.