Extensive new studies suggest that the world has made extraordinary progress in reducing pov-erty in recent decades. The research suggests that the pace of economic progress has been rapid and continued for decades, built on the foundations of relative political stability, rising trade, and eco-nomic liberalization( 自由化) after two world wars. One new study, published recently by the In-stitute for International Economics in Washington, find that the proportion of the 6.1 billion people in the world who live on $1 a day or less shrank from 63 percent in 1950 to 35 percent in 1955 and 12 percent in 1999. By some other measures, the progress has been more modest., S,ti!l, econ-omists agree that poverty has plunged in key nations such as India and especially China, thanks, to slowing population growth as well as economic freedom. "This is a huge success for the world as .a whole," says Harvard University economist Richard Cooper. "We are doing something right. "

　　The news comes as the World Bank is about to open its annual meeting in Washington--an e-vent that has been troubled in recent years by protests that the Bank and its sister Institution, the In-ternational Monetary Fund(IMF国际货币组织), have done too little for the world' s poor. The new economic research will notput an end to that:dispute. Vast populations remain poor, and man-y still question the wisdom of World Bank policies. Nonetheless, the research findings are helpful.

　　to understand what policies, should be followed by those institutions and hundreds of other develop-ment groups working very hard to hasten the pace of world economic progress, if dramatic gains are under way, the present policies-calling for open markets, free business activities, and tight mo-netary control are working and correct.

　　But critics of IMF and World Bank policies maintain that such economic success stories as Ja-pan, China, South Korea and Singapore are rooted in more than just "free" markets. These nations have managed to grow rapidly, and thereby reduce poverty, by limiting imports when their domes-tic industries were young, pushing exports to rich nations, and putting controls on purely intema-tional financial flows. The have been open to foreign-owned factories but have often insisted that those investors share the knowledge and skill on modern technologies.

　　21. The word "plunged" in the first paragraph means__________.

　　A. decreased

　　B. climbed

　　C. increased

　　D. dropped into water

　　答案：A

　　22. From the passage, we learn that__________.

　　A. World Bank has done nothing to help the poor in the world

　　B. IMF only helps the rich in the world

　　C. World Bank controls all the banks in the world

　　D. There are some demonstrations against World Bank in recent years

　　答案：D

　　23. According to this passage, in __________ , the world had the largest number of poor people.

　　A. 1999

　　B. 1955

　　C. 1950

　　D. 1990

　　答案：C

　　24. According to the author, the economy of East Asian countries grew very fast because of the fol-lowing measures EXCEPT__________.

　　A. encouraging export

　　B. opening up to foreign investments

　　C. limiting international financial flows

　　D. controlling import

　　答案：B

　　25. The best title for this passage might be__________.

　　A. China' s Contribution to the Reduction of Poverty in the World

　　B. World Bank' s Extraordinary Progress in Recent Decades

　　C. India' s Leading Role in Reducing Global Poverty

　　D. Global Progress in Reducing Poverty

　　答案：D

　　England is not a big country: from north to south and from east to west it is only about three hundred miles across. But for a small country it has a surprising range of climate. People who have never visited England, or who have visited only one part of it, often make .the mistake of thinking that it is a cold and wet country. Except for the summer months of June to September, this is proba-bly true of the north of England and the Midlands. In the south, however, the climate is much more pleasant. One result is that when people retire from a job in the north they often prefer to move down to the milder south Perhaps the warmest part of the country is the southwest, which consists of the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The warm Gulf Stream flows across the North Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico and makes the coastal regions of the southwest quite warm. Palm trees, bamboo (竹)and many semi-tropical ( 亚热带的 ) plants grow well in the southwest of England. Flowers and vegetables ripen(成熟) as much as a month earlier than those elsewhere. Farmers in the area obtain a higher price for their vegetables and flowers because they are ready eartier. In winter there may be several feet of snow in other parts of England but there will probably be no snow at all in the southwest. This may be one of the reasons why the southwest is one of England' s most popular holiday areas.

　　26. The distance from the centre of England to the south coast is about__________.

　　A. one hundred miles

　　B. three hundred miles

　　C. one hundred and fifty miles

　　D. six hundred miles

　　答案：C

　　27. England is a country__________.

　　A. with a cold and wet climate

　　B. with a surprising climate

　　C. with a pleasant climate

　　D. with a variety of climates

　　答案：D

　　28. According to the passage,__________.

　　A. flowers and vegetables from Devon are on the market one month earlier

　　B. farmers in the southwest grow as many vegetables and flowers as farmers elsewhere

　　C. people in the southwest have to pay a higher price for vegetables and flowers

　　D. vegetables in Cornwall ripen as much as a month earlier than flowers . .

　　答案：A

　　29. In the north of England and the Midlands,__________.

　　A. it is cold and wet all the year round

　　B. the climate is pleasant as a whole

　　C. it is warm most of the time in a year

　　D. only the summer is not cold. or wet

　　答案：D

　　30. In winter, people in Devon and Cornwall__________.

　　A. seldom see snow

　　B. never see any snow

　　C. may have several feet of snow

　　D. often see snow

　　答案：A