閱讀理解

Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today? Many people wrongly believe that when people get old， their families place them in nursing homes. They are left there in the hands of strangers for the rest of their lives. Their grown-up children visit them only occasionally， and more often， they do not have any regular visitors. Actually this is not true. In fact， family members provide over 80 percent of the care that elderly people need.

Professor Samuel Preston， a social scientist， studies how the American family is changing. He reports that by the time the average American couple reaches 40， they have more parents than children. This statistic（數(shù)據(jù)）shows the change in life-styles and responsibilities of aging Americans. The average middle-aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents some time after their own children have grown up. Moreover， because people today live longer than people did years ago， family members must provide long-term care. These facts also mean that after caregivers provide for their elderly parents， who will finally die， they will be old and may require care， too. When they do their children will probably take care of them.

Psychologists and social workers have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic: they believe that they are the best person for the job for different reasons. One caregiver said that she had always been close to her mother. Another was the oldest child in the family. In other words， they all felt that they could do the job better than others. Social workers interviewed caregivers to find out why they took on the responsibility of caring. They discovered three reasons. Many caregivers believed that they had an obligation（義務(wù)）to help their relatives. Some stated that helping others made them feel more useful. Others hoped that by helping someone now， they would get care when they became old and dependent.

1. It can be learned from Paragraph 1 that in the US ＿＿＿ .

A. old age is a lonely time

B. the nursing home staff treat the old well

C. people in nursing homes receive frequent visits

D. family members are trying to care for the elderly

2. The average middle-aged couple in the US ＿＿＿ .

A. have to care more for their parents than the children

B. depend on their children’s aid in caring for the elderly

C. spend more time taking care of their parents than before

D. spend more time with their children than with their parents

3. What does the underlined word “do” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. dieB. become old

C. provideD. require care

4. The common characteristic of caregivers is that ＿＿＿ .

A. they have professional skills in caregiving

B. they are the oldest children in their families

C. they believe themselves to be the best

D. they are close to their parents

完形填空

People of Burlington are being disturbed by the sound of bells. Four students from Burlington College of Higher Education are in the bell tower of the 1 and have made up their minds to 2 the bells non-stop for two weeks as a protest against heavy trucks which 3 day and night through the narrow High Street.

“They not only make it 4 to sleep at night， but they are 5

damage to our houses and shops of historical 6 ，” said John Norris， one of the protesters.

“ 7 we must have these noisy trucks on the roads，” said Jean Lacey， a biology student， “why don’t they build a new road that goes 8 the town? Burlington isn’t much more than a 9 village. Its streets were never meant for heavy traffic.”

Harry Fields also studying 10 said they wanted to make as much 11 as possible to force the government officials to realize what everybody was having to 12 . “Most of them don’t live here anyway，” he said. “They come in for meetings， and the Town Hall is soundproof（隔音）， 13 they probably don’t 14 the noise all that much. It’s high time they realized the 15 .”

The fourth student， Liza Vernum， said she thought the public were 16 on their side， and even if they weren’t， they soon would be.

I asked if they were 17 that the police might come to stop them.

“Not really，” she said， “actually we are 18 bell-ringers. I mean we are assistant bell-ringers for the church. There is no 19

against practising.”

I 20 the church with the sound of the bells ringing in my ears.

1. A. collegeB. villageC. townD. church

2. A. changeB. runC. ringD. shake

3. A. marchB. runC. driveD. carry

4. A. terribleB. difficultC. uncomfortableD. unpleasant

5. A. doingB. raisingC. increasingD. decreasing

6. A. streetB. periodC. interestD. sense

7. A. IfB. AlthoughC. WhenD. Unless

8. A. toB. throughC. overD. round

9. A. prettyB. quietC. largeD. modern

10. A. physicsB. economyC. biologyD. education

11. A. effortB. timeC. troubleD. noise

12. A. standB. acceptC. knowD. hear

13. A. butB. soC. orD. however

14. A. noticeB. mentionC. fearD. control

15. A. eventB. lossC. actionD. problem

16. A. hardlyB. unwillinglyC. mostlyD. usually

17. A. surprisedB. afraidC. pleasedD. determined

18. A. properB. experiencedC. hopefulD. serious

19. A. pointB. reasonC. needD. law

20. A. leftB. foundC. reachedD. passed