Passage 3

　　The poverty line is the minimum that people need for an acceptable standard of living. People with incomes below the poverty line are considered poor. Economists study the causes of poverty in order to the problem.

　　As the general standard of living in the country rises, the poverty line does, too. Therefore, even with today’s relatively high standard of living, about 10 percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. However, if these people had stable jobs, they could have an acceptable standard of living. Economists suggest several reasons why poor people do not have jobs.

　　For one thing, more than half of the poor people in the United States are not qualified to work. Over 40 percent of the poor people are children. By law, children less than 16 years old cannot work in many industries. A large number of poor people are old. Many companies do not hire people over 65 years old, the normal retirement age.

　　Some poor people look for a job but cannot find one. Many poor adults never went to high school. Therefore, when they look for jobs, they have few skills that they can offer.

　　At the present time, the government thinks it can reduce poverty in the will no longer be following ways.

　　First, if the national economy grows, businesses and industries hire more workers. Some of the poor who are qualified to look for jobs may find employment. Then they will no longer be below the poverty line.

　　Second, if society invests in the poor, the poor will become more productive. If the government spends money on social programs, education, and training for poor people, the poor will have the skills to offer. Then it is more likely that they can find jobs.

　　Finally, if the government distributes society’s income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non-poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare. In 1975 over 18million people in the United States received welfare.

　　Some economists are looking for better solutions to the poverty problem. However, at the present time, many people depend on welfare for a minimally acceptable standard of living.

　　51. The author’s main purpose to write this article is ________.

　　A. to define what the poverty line is

　　B. to explain why some people live the poverty line

　　C. to find solutions to the problem of poverty

　　D. to find solutions to the problem of poverty

　　52. Which of the following is NOT true?

　　A. Ten percent of the Americans live a poor life.

　　B. Poor people are those who live below the poverty line.

　　C. The poverty line rises as the general standard of living rises.

　　D. The poverty line tends to be at the same level.

　　53. More than 40 percent of the poor people are children. This is mainly because ________.

　　A. they do not have enough motivation

　　B. they are so young that they are deprived of chances to work

　　C. they fail to get enough education

　　D. they have physical and family problems

　　54. Most of the American poor people are not qualified for employment because ________.

　　A. they do not have any motivation to work

　　B. they are not very self-confident

　　C. they are too young or too old to work

　　D. they have physical and family problems

　　55. We may conclude from the passage that ________.

　　A. better solutions to the poverty problem are not yet found

　　B. welfare will enable people to be rich

　　C. poor people are bound to go out of the poverty line of they have chances to do business

　　D. employment is the best solution to the poverty problem

　　Passage 4

　　Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea. People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.

　　Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.

　　At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more fond of tea. Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevinge decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added. She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.

　　At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess (公爵夫人) found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She inveted her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.

　　56. Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?

　　A. The Britons got expensive tea from India.

　　B. Tea reached Britain from Holland.

　　C. The Britons were the first people in Europe who drank tea.

　　D. It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea.

　　57. This passage mainly discusses ________.

　　A. the history of tea drinking in Britain

　　B. how tea became a popular drink in Britain

　　C. how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea

　　D. how tea-time was born

　　58. Tea became a popular drink in Britain ________.

　　A. in eighteenth century

　　B. in sixteenth century

　　C. in seventeenth century

　　D. in the late seventeenth century

　　59. People in Europe began to drink tea with milk because ________.;

　　A. it tasted like milk

　　B. it tasted more pleasant

　　C. it became a popular drink

　　D. Madame de Sevinge was such a lady with great social influence that people tried to copy the way she drank tea

　　60. We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain was mostly due to the influence of_________.

　　A. a famous French lady

　　B. the ancient Chinese

　　C. the upper social class

　　D. people in Holland

　　Paper Two