the burning social issues

It is much easier to talk about social change than to ________.

A) bring it on

B) bring it about

C) burning it up

D) bring it out

A.to be burning

B.to burn

C.burn

D.burning

When people say, “I can feel my ears burning,” it means they think ________ (一定有人在说他们坏话).

ggest secret known to whites since the invention of powdered rouge: welfare is a white program. The numbers go like this: 61% of the population receiving welfare, listed as "means-tested cash assistance" by the Census Bureau, is identified as whit e, while only 33% is identified as black. These numbers notwithstanding, the Republican version of "political correctness" has given us "welfare cheat" as a new term for African American since the early days of Ronald Reagan.

Our confession surely stands: white folks have been gobbling up the welfare budget while blaming someone else. But it's worse than that. If we look at Social Security, which is another form. of welfare, although it is often mistaken for an individual insurance program, then whites are the ones who are crowding the trough. We receive almost twice as much per capita, for an aggregate advantage to our race of $10 billion a year—much more than the $3.9 billion advantage African American gain from their disproportionate share of welfare. One sad reason: whites live an average of six years longer than African Americans, meaning that young black workers help subsidize a huge and growing "over-class" of white retirees. I do not see our confession bringing much relief. There's a reason for resentment, though it has more to do with class than with race. White people are poor too, and in numbers far exceeding any of our more generously pigmented social groups. And poverty as defined by the government is a vast underestimation of the economic terror that persists at incomes—such as $20,000 or even $40,000 and above—that we like to think of as middle class.

The problem is not that welfare is too generous to blacks but that social welfare in general is too stingy to all concerned. Naturally, whites in the swelling "near poor" category resent the notion of whole races supposedly frolicking at their expense. Whites, near poor and middle class, need help too—as do the many African Americans.

So we white folks have a choice. We can keep pretending that welfare is black program and a scheme for transferring our earnings to the pockets of shiftless, dark-skinned people. Or we can clear our throats, blush prettily and admit that we are hurting too—for cash assistance when we're down and out, for health insurance, for college aid and all the rest. Racial scapegoating has its charms, I will admit: the surge of righteous anger, even the fun—for those inclined—of wearing sheets and burning crosses. But there are better, nobler sources of white pride, it seems to me. Remember this: only we can truly, deeply blush.

White folks in U.S. are at a greater advantage in that

A．they obtain more benefits from welfare.

B．they show contempt for African Americans.

C．they blame the blacks for welfare theft.

D．they have a choice to their best interests.

A.burned;locking

B.burning;locking

C.burning:locked

D.toburn;tolock

illions of poor people in Bihar. His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities.

Mr Raju' s success could clearly be seen on 30 August, 2009 when he organized 300, 000 villagers from over 7, 500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony.

Mr Raju has linked his "social forestry" program to the central government's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which is also designed to provide employment for poor people. Under NREGA — started in February 2006 as the government' s most ambitious employment generation scheme for poor people — the authorities are bound by law to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment a year for members of families living below the poverty line. About 44% of Bihar' s population fall into this category.!

Mr Raju says that Bihar — being the poorest and most lawless state of India — hasn' t been able to spend the allocated (分配的) NREGA funds. "This is because of a lack of awareness among officials about the scheme, " he said. "So the idea struck to my mind: why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days？ Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10, 200 rupees ($210)."

The civil servant immediately made a plan of his idea. In June, Mr Raju published a booklet of "dos and don' ts" and distributed it to village heads. His plan meant that NREGA funds were fully used — in the past this hasn' t always been the case.

"I told the villagers they would get 100 days employment in a year simply by planting trees and protecting them. The old and disabled would be given preference, " he explained.

Every village council has now been given a target of planting 50, 000 saplings — a group of four families have to plant 200 trees and they must protect them for three years till the plants grow stronger.

"They would get the full payment if they can ensure the survival of 90% of the plants under their care. For a 75-80% survival rate, they' 11 be paid only half the wage. For less than 75%, the families in the group will be replaced, " the guidelines say.

Significantly, his scheme has even stopped the migration of poor labourers from the area in search of employment elsewhere.

According to the passage, the main purpose of SM Raju's "social forestry" program is to

A．promote the practice of NREGA

B．make efforts to prevent global warming

C．increase the employment of poor people

D．prevent poor people from migrating elsewhere

听力原文：W: You are burning the candle at both ends. You should take a break.

M: But I haven't saved enough for my retirement.

Q: What does the woman imply？

(14)

A．Future happiness is attractive,

B．The man shouldn't work too hard for the happiness of future.

C．The man should retire early.

D．Today' s happiness is less important than tomorrow's.

Part A

Directions: Read the following three texts. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.

The whole point to marriage is that it imposes clear obligations, not just the right to pursue your own happiness. And the main obligation is to provide both emotional and practical nurture for children. The glow of burning passion may well have faded, you love for your spouse may not be as exciting or satisfying as it once was, but going off in search of another love will not help your children. The Love Family is either too amorphous (不定型的) for children—your friends have no obligation to provide for them—or it' s too unstable, with adults moving on if the relationship no longer answers their search for perfect happiness.

What divorce does is to damage children. I am aware of the complex research surrounding the effects of divorce on children and I acknowledge that some children are better off without a violent father, an income boozed (嗜酒如命) or gambled away, unhappy parents taking out their spleen(发脾气) on everyone in the family.

But divorce severs (打破) the stability ,security and continuity that children need; it results in poverty for many women and children; it damages the voluntary link between father and children and replaces it with one of regulated, arranged parenthood (父子往来); it removes the father from co-residence, the only sensible basis for a working parental relationship; it overloads the mother-child bond and leaves her with a double burden; and it often disrupts the child' s schooling, friendships and neighbourhood contacts, those underpinnings (依托) of trust and social capital that every child must have. It even weakens the child's links with grandparents and other kin (usually on the paternal side) ,and few para-parents (继父母) are willing to take on real responsibility for the child's well-being.

What is the point of marriage according to the passage？

A．The right to pursue one' s happiness.

B．The deep love in the marriage.

C．It imposes clear obligation.

D．Both BandC .

ul,but we spend the weekend drinking out of plastic cups and gratuitously burning gasoline in recreational vehicles, we are ruining that every world we are trying to appreciate.

All of the following are the results of burning garbage EXCEPT ______

A．the heat produced is used to boil water

B．the steam produced is used to make electricity

C．the garbage burned is turned into fossil fuels

D．the steam produced is used to heat buildings