单选题 Madonna seems like a person used to getting her own way. So the pop star must have been dismayed when a court in Malawi refused her request to adopt a three-year-old girl, Mercy James. The reason was that Madonna had not fulfilled residency requirements. The last time Madonna tried to adopt a Malawian child, she met with more success and a heap of criticism.
By plucking David Banda from grinding poverty in Malawi in 2006, she provoked mixed reactions. Some praised the singer for offering a child an escape from a life of misery. Others suggested that the pop queen might have used her wealth and stardom to jump the queue. Detractors also suggested that it was wrong to take David away from his country of birth. The criticism grew louder when it emerged that David was not, in fact, an orphan.
That circumstance is not particularly uncommon. Children given up for adoption often do have a surviving parent but one who cannot provide adequate care. David's father was still alive but gave him up to an orphanage where he hoped his offspring would have a better life.
The number of families from rich countries wanting to adopt children from poor countries has grown substantially in the past 30 years. And there is little shortage of children who need additional help. In 2005, it was estimated that there were 132 million children who had lost at least one parent in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Around 13 million of these had lost both parents, although most of them lived with extended family.
But difficulties abound. Would-be parents typically want to adopt a healthy and young orphan, usually a small baby. Older children, or those who suffer chronic illnesses, are not in demand.
Governments are understandably uneasy about outsiders removing their citizens. And as the demand for children to adopt has grown, so have examples of abuse, including cases of children who have been kidnapped or parents who have been coerced or bribed. The absence of effective international regulation also allows middlemen to profit from the demand for children to adopt.
The Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoptions is intended to regulate international adoptions. It states that these can only go ahead if the parents' consent has been obtained without any kind of payment or compensation. Costs and expenses can be paid, and a reasonable fee may go to the adoption agency involved, but nothing more.

单选题 Paragraph 1 tells that Madonna ______.
A. adopted a Malawian girl named Mercy James
B. rarely failed to get whatever she wanted
C. had an illegal adoption of a Malawian child
D. regretted residing in a wrong community

单选题 We can infer that an adoption is generally acceptable if ______.
A. the adopted has no close kin
B. the adopted is a foreign child
C. the adopter is wealthy enough
D. the adopter has won some fame

单选题 Children like David are put on the list for adoption mostly because ______.
A. their families suffer from poverty
B. they have lost both of their parents
C. their parents neglect their growth
D. they have escaped from their home

单选题 Which can be concluded about the stated situation of adoption?
A. Most children put up for adoption have found adopters.
B. Those to be adopted outnumber those wanting to adopt.
C. People are anxious to adopt healthy infants.
D. The adopted rarely remain in their home country.

单选题 Paragraph 6 focuses on the corrupt practices concerning ______.
A. choosing alien adoptees B. caretaking of the adopted
C. the search of suitable adopters D. the growing demand for adoption

单选题 The adoption regulations in the Hague Convention will ban ______.
A. charging the parents for giving up children
B. adopting children for profit
C. adopting two children in one family
D. forcing one to accept any adoptee