You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below. Endangered languages 'Never mind whales, save the languages', says Peter Monaghan, graduate of the Australian National UniversityWorried about the loss of rainforests and the ozone layer? Well, neither of those is doing any worse than a large majority of the 6,000 to 7,000 languages that remain in use on Earth. One half of the survivors will almost certainly be gone by 2050, while 40% more will probably be well on their way out. In their place, almost all humans will speak one of a handful of megalanguages - Mandarin, English, Spanish.Linguists know what causes languages to disappear, but less often remarked is what happens on the way to disappearance: languages' vocabularies, grammars and expressive potential all diminish as one language is replaced by another. 'Say a community goes over from speaking a traditional Aboriginal language to speaking a Creole*,' says Australian Nick Evans, a leading authority on Aboriginal languages, 'you leave behind a language where there's very fine vocabulary for the landscape. All that is gone in a Creole. You've just got a few words like 'gum tree' or whatever. As speakers become less able to express the wealth of knowledge that has filled ancestors' lives with meaning over millennia, it's no wonder that communities tend to become demoralised.'If the losses are so huge, why are relatively few linguists combating the situation? Australian linguists, at least, have achieved a great deal in terms of preserving traditional languages. Australian governments began in the 1970s to support an initiative that has resulted in good documentation of most of the 130 remaining Aboriginal languages. In England, another Australian, Peter Austin, has directed one of the world's most active efforts to limit language loss, at the University of London. Austin heads a programme that has trained many documentary linguists in England as well as in language-loss hotspots such as West Africa and South America.At linguistics meetings in the US, where the endangered-language issue has of late been something of a flavour of the month, there is growing evidence that not all approaches to the preservation of languages will be particularly helpful. Some linguists are boasting, for example, of more and more sophisticated means of capturing languages: digital recording and storage, and internet and mobile phone technologies. But these are encouraging the 'quick dash' style of recording trip: fly in, switch on digital recorder, fly home, download to hard drive, and store gathered material for future research. That's not quite what some endangered-language specialists have been seeking for more than 30 years. Most loud and untiring has been Michael Krauss, of the University of Alaska. He has often complained that linguists are playing with non-essentials while most of their raw data is disappearing.Who is to blame? That prominent linguist Noam Chomsky, say Krauss and many others. Or, more precisely, they blame those linguists who have been obsessed with his approaches. Linguists who go out into communities to study, document and describe languages, argue that theoretical linguists, who draw conclusions about how languages work, have had so much influence that linguistics has largely ignored the continuing disappearance of languages.Chomsky, from his post at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been the great man of theoretical linguistics for far longer than he has been known as a political commentator. His landmark work of 1957 argues that all languages exhibit certain universal grammatical features, encoded in the human mind. American linguists, in particular, have focused largely on theoretical concerns ever since, even while doubts have mounted about Chomsky's universals.Austin and Co. are in no doubt that because languages are unique, even if they do tend to have common underlying features, creating dictionaries and grammars requires prolonged and dedicated work. This requires that documentary linguists observe not only languages' structural subtleties, but also related social, historical and political factors. Such work calls for persistent funding of field scientists who may sometimes have to venture into harsh and even hazardous places. Once there, they may face difficulties such as community suspicion. As Nick Evans says, a community who speak an endangered language may have reasons to doubt or even oppose efforts to preserve it. They may have seen support and funding for such work come and go. They may have given up using the language with their children, believing they will benefit from speaking a more widely understood one.Plenty of students continue to be drawn to the intellectual thrill of linguistics field work. That's all the more reason to clear away barriers, contend Evans, Austin and others. The highest barrier, theyagree, is that the linguistics profession's emphasis on theory gradually wears down the enthusiasm of linguists who work in communities. Chomsky disagrees. He has recently begun to speak in support of language preservation. But his linguistic, as opposed to humanitarian, argument is, let's say, unsentimental: the loss of a language, he states, 'is much more of a tragedy for linguists whose interests are mostly theoretical, like me, than for linguists who focus on describing specific languages, since it means the permanent loss of the most relevant data for general theoretical work'. At the moment, few institutions award doctorates for such work, and that's the way it should be, he reasons. In linguistics, as in every other discipline, he believes that good descriptive work requires thorough theoretical understanding and should also contribute to building new theory. But that's precisely what documentation does, objects Evans. The process of immersion in a language, to extract, analyse and sum it up, deserves a PhD because it is 'the most demanding intellectual task a linguist can engage in'.* a language developed from a mixture of two different languagesQuestions 27-32Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?In boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet, writeYES if the statement agrees with the views of the writerNO if the statement contradicts the views of the writerNOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

In many countries schools have severe problems with student behavior. What do you think are the causes of this? What solutions can you suggest?

Which advantage is mentioned for each of the following restaurants?Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-H, next to questions 15-20.AdvantagesA the decorationB easy parkingC entertainmentD excellent serviceE good valueF good viewsG quiet locationH wide menu

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. The Pursuit of HappinessAIn the late 1990s, psychologist Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania urged colleagues to observe optimal moods with the same kind of focus with which they had for so long studied illnesses: we would never learn about the full range of human functions unless we knew as much about mental wellness as we do about mental illness. A new generation of psychologists built up a respectable body of research on positive character traits and happiness-boosting practices. At the same time, developments in neuroscience provided new clues to what makes us happy and what that looks like in the brain. Self-appointed experts took advantage of the trend with guarantees to eliminate worry, stress, dejection and even boredom. This happiness movement has provoked a great deal of opposition among psychologists who observe that the preoccupation with happiness has come at the cost of sadness, an important feeling that people have tried to banish from their emotional repertoire. Allan Horwitz of Rutgers laments that young people who are naturally weepy after breakups are often urged to medicate themselves instead of working through their sadness. Wake Forest University's Eric Wilson fumes that the obsession with happiness amounts to a "craven disregard" for the melancholic perspective that has given rise to the greatest works of art. "The happy man," he writes, "is a hollow man."BAfter all, people are remarkably adaptable. Following a variable period of adjustment, we bounce back to our previous level of happiness, no matter what happens to us.(There are some scientifically proven exceptions, notably suffering the unexpected loss of a job or the loss of a spouse. Both events tend to permanently knock people back a step.)Our adaptability works in two directions. Because we are so adaptable, points out Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, we quickly get used to many of the accomplishments we strive for in life, such as landing the big job or getting married. Soon after we reach a milestone, we start to feel that something is missing. We begin coveting another worldly possession or eyeing a social advancement. But such an approach keeps us tethered to a treadmill where happiness is always just out of reach, one toy or one step away. It's possible to get off the treadmill entirely by focusing on activities that are dynamic, surprising, and attention-absorbing, and thus less likely to bore us than, say, acquiring shiny new toys.CMoreover, happiness is not a reward for escaping pain. Russ Harris, the author of The Happiness Trap, calls popular conceptions of happiness dangerous because they set people up for a "struggle against reality". They don't acknowledge that real life is full of disappointments, loss, and inconveniences. "If you're going to live a rich and meaningful life," Harris says, "you're going to feel a full range of emotions." Action toward goals other than happiness makes people happy. It is not crossing the finish line that is most rewarding, it is anticipating achieving the goal. University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard Davidson has found that working hard toward a goal, and making progress to the point of expecting a goal to be realised, not only activates positive feelings but also suppresses negative emotions such as fear and depression.DWe are constantly making decisions, ranging from what clothes to put on, to whom we should marry, not to mention all those flavors of ice cream. We base many of our decisions on whether we think a particular preference will increase our well-being. Intuitively, we seem convinced that the more choices we have, the better off we will ultimately be. But our world of unlimited opportunity imprisons us more than it makes us happy. In what Swarthmore psychologist Barry Schwartz calls "the paradox of choice," facing many possibilities leaves us stressed out - and less satisfied with whatever we do decide. Having too many choices keeps us wondering about all the opportunities missed.EBesides, not everyone can put on a happy face. Barbara Held, a professor of psychology at Bowdoin College, rails against "the tyranny of the positive attitude". "Looking on the bright side isn't possible for some people and is even counterproductive," she insists. "When you put pressure on people to cope in a way that doesn't fit them, it not only doesn't work, it makes them feel like a failure on top of already feeling bad." The one-size-fits-all approach to managing emotional life is misguided, agrees Professor Julie Norem, author of The Positive Power of Negative Thinking. In her research, she has shown that the defensive pessimism that anxious people feel can be harnessed to help them get things done, which in turn makes them happier. A naturally pessimistic architect, for example, can set low expectations for an upcoming presentation and review all of the bad outcomes that she's imagining, so that she can prepare carefully and increase her chances of success.FBy contrast, an individual who is not living according to their values, will not be happy, no matter how much they achieve. Some people, however, are not sure what their values are. In that case Harris has a great question: "Imagine I could wave a magic wand to ensure that you would have the approval and admiration of everyone on the planet, forever. What, in that case, would you choose to do with your life?" Once this has been answered honestly, you can start taking steps toward your ideal vision of yourself. The actual answer is unimportant, as long as you're living consciously. The state of happiness is not really a state at all. It's an ongoing personal experiment.Which paragraph mentions the following?Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

In many less-developed countries, the gap in the standard of living between the city and countryside is very large. What are the reasons? How could the gap be reduced?

Research indicates that the characteristics we are born with have much more influence on our personality and development than any experiences we may have in our life. Which do you consider to be the major influence?

阅读理解Thigh, robot People who have suffered debilitating strokes often have to cope with impaired muscles that do not work properly. Even a simple act such as standing up from a chair and walking a few steps can become extremely difficult. Stroke victims often have to rely on wheelchairs, sticks, walking frames and other "orthotic" devices to move about. But a new generation of active orthotic devices, capable of augmenting or replacing lost muscle function, is in the works. These devices use an assortment of complex computer and mechanical technology, borrowed from the field of robotics, to help patients get around. They are being made possible by the falling prices and improving performance of sensors, computer control systems and battery technology. As well as benefiting elderly patients with permanent paralysis or muscle dysfunction, such devices could also help people in recovering from "arthroscopic" (literally, "looking within the joint") operations. Around 850,000 arthroscopic and knee replacement operations are carried out each year in America alone, and patients require an average of six weeks of rehabilitation before they are fully mobile again. Active orthotic devices could get them back on their feet sooner. Designing such devices presents a number of challenges. The biggest problem is providing enough power to assist the wearer, without making the device too bulky and heavy. Another challenge is devising a responsive and unobtrusive control system that can take readings from several sensors and automatically respond to the wearer''s motion by making appropriate movements. Several start-ups are, however, rising to the challenge and readying products for market. Among the firms developing active orthotic devices is Tibion, based in Moffett Field, California. It has developed the PowerKnee, a medical device that augments muscle strength in the quadriceps to help the wearer stand, walk and climb stairs. The device is based on recent advances in portable computing, embedded systems, prosthetics and materials, and Tibion expects it to be submitted for regulatory approval next year. America''s space agency, NASA, has expressed interest in it, since muscle—augmentation systems might enable astronauts to work in space for longer without getting tired. Another company working in this area is Yobotics, based in Boston, Massachusetts, which has developed a powered device called the RoboKnee. It allows a healthy wearer to perform deep knee — bends indefinitely — or, at least, until the batteries run out. This is intended to be a first step towards the development of a far more elaborate exoskeleton device, the RoboWalker, which will augment or replace the muscular functions of the lower body. Also working on active orthotic devices is Hugh Herr of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His team has designed an ankle brace to assist people with "drop foot", who are unable to lift their feet normally when walking, because of weakened or damaged muscles around the ankle. The battery-powered device, which uses a motor to help raise and lower the front of the foot as the heel strikes the ground and lifts again, is about to begin testing on patients. Also at MIT, Woodie Flowers, a mechanical engineer, is developing an active joint brace that is designed to function like an active exoskeleton. Perhaps the best-known example of such a device is the exoskeleton seen in the film "Aliens", which allows the wearer to move heavy objects around, rather like a fork-lift truck. This kind of technology may not, it seems, remain in the realm of science fiction for much longer.

阅读理解H-Tech Services for Client A H-Tech can offer customers a host of managed services that can enhance their own existing IT support infrastructure or provide a reliable, cost-effective alternative to in-house resources. Because your communication system is equally as important as your IT infrastructure, H-Tech''s managed services offering also encompasses your communication network, providing a full range of telecom services, supporting both voice and data environments. B H-Tech can provide both administrative call — desk and technical help — desk facilities for clients utilizing our in-house systems or by remote access to clients established systems. The provision of a centralized call desk facility allows the production of extensive management information and reporting to clients across a wide spectrum of data. C H-Tech provides comprehensive consultancy services to ensure that the right IT infrastructure is set in place to meet your requirements. H-Tech can work with organizations to identify key business goals and evaluate the need for scalability, availability, manageability and security and will provide you with the optimum solution for your computing needs, providing IT assessment, design and implementation on a variety of computing platforms. D All organizations need to keep their IT capabilities current to remain productive and competitive in today''s marketplace, this often means you end up with idle assets in the form of desktops, laptops, printers etc that no longer meet business requirements but still represent a significant investment. H-Tech provides asset management and will refurbish, re-deploy, dispose or recycle these assets on your behalf, to ensure that you obtain the most value from this equipment and comply with European Environmental Legislation. E Recognizing the need for quick and cost-effective implementation that minimizes business disruption, H-Tech will oversee the careful planning and management of the entire project. F H-Tech will supply an engineering resource to provide the desktop installation/ Upgrade of PCs, laptops and peripherals directly to the user''s desk. The new device is connected to the user''s existing equipment (printer, zip drive, scanner etc) and the engineer would then fully test the equipment and deal with any legacy problems. Once a new desktop has been installed and peripheral items tested, the redundant equipment can be re-deployed (cascaded) to another user ensuring that the machine is re-configured accordingly. G H-Tech can provide a service to remove the packaging at the time of installation and will dispose of or recycle it in an environmentally friendly way. H For larger rollouts, H-Tech can store a large number of systems on behalf of the Client and manage the logistics of multiple deliveries. Because H-Tech can co-ordinate both delivery and implementation, continuity of services is assured. I H-Tech''s maintenance services have evolved to provide repair and maintenance services to major sites through the deployment of site-based engineers delivering fast responses to users. The engineers on site are supported by our extensive repair centre, which offers component level repairs across a wide product portfolio. Locally held and managed back-up equipment, facilitates minimum down time for users and allows IT departments to concentrate on developing and maintaining the infrastructure and systems. H-Tech undertakes to comply with clients SLA requirements and monitors and reports Key Performance Indicators through its Call Management Systems, all of which are available to customers via the Web. Please click here for further information on the H-Tech Repair Centre. J H-Tech can offer the recycling of all redundant IT equipment and the certified disposal and destruction of materials and the safe disposal of hazardous and special waste. Please click here for further information on the H-Tech Recycle initiative. K The H-Tech Technical Support Division can provide on-going support to ensure that customers get the most from their IT system, ensuring that mission — critical applications are protected and the IT environment develops and grows with your company. H-Tech can provide tailored support agreements to meet individual customer requirements. Please click here for further information on the IT technical support services offered by H-Tech. Please click here for further information on the more specific telecom technical support services offered by H-Tech. L H-Tech recognises the need for customers to enhance their own technical knowledge and can offer tailored training courses to support IT departments and end users during major new deployments. Training can be provided at H-Tech''s purpose — built training facility in Ipswich or can be held on customer site to ensure minimum disruption to the clients core business. Questions 1-9 Read a computer company''s Services for Client above. Each paragraph A—L describes a different service provided by the H-Tech company. From the list below (i — xii) choose the most suitable items for paragraphs A —L. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xii) in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet. i System and infrastructure management services ii Storage and delivery iii Recycle Services iv Training v Design and consultancy vi Desktop installation and peripheral configuration/upgrades vii Help-desk services viii H-Tech Managed Services ix Maintenance services x Asset management xi Packaging removal xii Technical Support

阅读理解READING PASSAGE 2 Great Migrations Animal migration, however it is defined, is far more than just the movement of animals

阅读理解US job creation sharply higher than forecast By Christopher Swann in Washington and Andrew Balls in New York The US economy generated 288,000 new jobs in April, surpassing even the most upbeat forecasts and bolstering confidence that the US economic recovery will be self-sustaining. Economists had expected a more modest figure after 337,000 jobs were created in March. Including upward revisions to March and February, the US economy has now generated one million jobs over the past eight months. The resurgence brings to an end a period in which strong economic growth failed to lead to fresh hiring and will help lay to rest concerns that the US economy would run out of steam after the temporary impact of tax cuts and mortgage refinancing had worked through the system. "These figures show that the Federal Reserve has succeeded in spades in extricating the US economy from its post bubble malaise," said Stuart Schweitzer, global markets strategist at JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management. Further evidence of a strong jobs growth should give a political boost to George W. Bush, who has been harried by the Democrats over his poor record on employment. Mr. Bush is still on course to be the first US president since the great depression to preside over a net loss of jobs during his term. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond jumped 15 basis points to 4.75 per cent following the employment report, the highest yield since July 2002. Heavy selling of emerging market bonds continued on Friday, with higher Treasury yields reducing the incentive for traders to search for yield in riskier assets. The JP Morgan Emerging Market Bond index, which measures the spread of emerging market bonds over US Treasuries, climbed 20 basis points to 542 basis points. Over the past three weeks it has increased by almost 150 points. The Federal funds futures market is now pricing in a string of quarter point rate increases, from today''s 1 per cent, starting at its June meeting. Goldman Sachs, the investment bank which previously said it expected no change in interest rates until next year, changed its forecast following jobs numbers. Goldman now expects 100 basis points of tightening by the end of the year — in line with market expectations. Friday''s figures showed a broad based rise in employment with a 21,000 increase in manufacturing jobs — the first rise since July 2000 — and a 246,000 gain in service sector jobs. Professional services were the biggest gainer, up 123,000 with only 35,000 of these in temporary jobs. "There is no fluff in the employment report. The Fed has signaled very clearly that it needs to remove monetary accommodation. The only question is how to get from here to there without unduly upsetting the financial markets," said Mickey Levy, chief economist at Bank of America. Fed officials have stressed that with inflation low, inflation expectations well contained, and productivity rising at a 3. 5 per cent rate in the first quarter, any rise in interest rates will be at a "measured" pace. The unemployment rate was 5. 6 per cent in April and has remained in a 5.6 - 5.7 per cent range since December. This is well above the level the Fed regards as full employment. Officials also believe the rate understates the amount of labor market slack as the participation rate has fallen. The core personalized consumption expenditures index — the inflation gauge that the Fed watches most closely and which excludes volatile food and energy items — rose at an annualized rate of 2 per cent in the first quarter, the fastest for 18 months.

阅读理解READING PASSAGE 2 Why being bored is stimulating 一 and useful, too This most common of emotions is turning out to be more interesting thanwe thought A We all know how it feels 一 its impossible to keep your mind on anything, time stretches out, and all the things you could do seem equally unlikely to make you feel better

阅读理解Don''t laugh at gilded butterflies Part A The Gillette company''s website flashes out a message to the e-visitor: "Innovation is Gillette", it claims. There are few big companies that would not like to make a similar claim; for they think innovation is a bit like Botox — inject it in the right corporate places and improvements are bound to follow. But too many companies want one massive injection, one huge blockbuster, to last them for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, successful innovation is rarely like that. The latest manifestation of Gillette''s innovative skill will appear in stores in North America next month. The global leader in men''s "grooming products" is rolling out a successor to its popular three-bladed Mach3 range. It will not, as comedians had long anticipated, be a four-bladed version. Rather, it will be the world''s first vibrating "wet shave" blade. The battery-powered M3Power is designed to bounce around on your skin to give "a smoother, more comfortable shave". For a company that claims to embody innovation, this is less than earth-shattering. On the innovation scale it falls closer to Brooks Brothers'' new stain-proof tie than to the video-cassette recorder or the digital camera—especially since there is a suspicion that Gillette may be keener to create synergy between its razor and its batteries division than it is to usher in a genuinely new male-grooming experience. Even in relatively zippy businesses like pharmaceuticals, genuinely new products are fewer and further between. Spending on pharmaceutical R but they never made a penny out of them. Indeed, says Mr. Baumol, the record shows that small companies have dominated the introduction of new inventions and radical innovations — independent inventors come up with most of tomorrow''s clever gizmos, often creating their own commercial ventures in the process. But big companies have shifted their efforts. Mr. Baumol reckons they have been forced by competition to focus on innovation as part of normal corporate activity. Rather than trying to make money from science, companies have turned R that most things are part of a system in which everything interacts; that their job is to worry about trade-offs; and that they must continually be measuring the robustness of the systems they set up. Such a frame of mind, he believes, fosters innovation. It may be no coincidence that many of the greatest corporate leaders in America, Europe and Japan, past and present, trained first as engineers. Companies are being encouraged to embrace other forms of innovation too. In a recent issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review, Christopher Trimble and Vijay Govindarajan, two academics from Dartmouth College''s Tuck School of Business, recommend that they try a little "strategic innovation". The authors point to examples such as Southwest Airlines, a low-cost American regional carrier, and Tetra Pak, a Swedish company whose packaging products are handled at least once a day by most citizens of the western world. Such companies succeed, they say, "through innovative strategies alone, without much innovation in either the underlying technologies or the products and services sold to customers. " Tetra Pak''s strategic innovation involved moving from the production of packages for its customers to the design of packaging solutions for them. Instead of delivering ready-made containers, the company increasingly provides the machinery for its customers to make their own packages: the fishing rod, not the fish. Part D In the book, "The Innovator''s Solution", published late last year, Mr. Christens en argued that established companies should try to become disruptive innovators themselves. He cites, for example, Charles Schwab, which turned itself from a traditional stockbroker into a leading online broker, and Intel, which reclaimed the low end of the semiconductor market with the launch of its Celeron chip. There are, says Mr. Christensen, things that managers can do to make such innovations more likely to happen within their organizations. For example, projects with potential should be rapidly hived off into independent business units, away from the smothering influence of the status quo. The ultimate outcome of any one disruptive innovation may still be unpredictable; the process from which it emerges is not. In the end, though, "no single innovation conveys lasting advantage," says Mr. Hammer. In the toys and games business today, up to 40% of all products on the market are less than one year old. Other sectors are only a little less pressured. Innovation and, yes, invention too, has to take place continually and systematically. Questions 30 - 33 Below is a list of headings , choose the most suitable choices for parts (A-D) and write the appropriate numbers (i-iv) on your answer sheet. NB: There are more headings than you need so you will not use all of them and you may use any heading more than once. List of heading i. Innovative lessons ii. The dilemma solved? iii. Finding a niche iv. big companies should focus on making lots of small improvements rather than chasing wonderful new products

阅读理解Read the text below and answer Questions

阅读理解Read the text below and answer Questions Paragliding in Australia What is paraglidiog ? Paragliding is a kind of flying, but instead of the wing being made of metal, wood or plastic, it is made of nylon or polyester

阅读理解READING PASSAGE 3 Reducing the Effects of Climate Change Mark Rowe reports on the increasingly ambitious geo-engineering projects being explored by scientists A Such is our dependence on fossil fuels, and such is the volume of carbon dioxide already released into the atmosphere, that many experts agree that significant global warming is now inevitable

阅读理解Pessimistic on poverty? The Economist argued that the World Bank has overstated the extent of absolute poverty in the world -- that there is less poverty than the Bank claims and that it is falling faster. A methodological debate lies at the heart of this claim. The Bank relies as much as possible on nationally representative household surveys, typically done by governmental statistics offices following international standards. The Bank''s latest estimates draw on interviews with about 1. 1 million randomly sampled households in 100 developing countries, representing 93% of the population of the developing world. The Bank''s method of measuring poverty from surveys follows long-standing practices. But it is not the only possible approach. The Economist points to an alternative method that ignores data on levels of income or consumption from surveys. Instead the poverty measures are anchored to national accounts data, using the surveys only to measure inequality -- the shares of total income accruing to different income groups. It is unclear why proponents of this approach think that surveys can be trusted for measuring inequality, but not levels of poverty. How much does the choice matter? A striking graph in the issue of March 13th compares two sets of estimates, one from the Bank''s researchers and one using this alternative method, namely the estimates made by Xavier Sala-i-Martin at Columbia U-niversity. His series shows a much steeper decline in absolute poverty and a much lower level in recent years than that found by the Bank''s researchers. This month, the World Bank''s numbers has shown there have been superseded: the series shown began only in the late 1980s, and cannot be properly compared with Mr Sala-i-Martin''s estimates, which go further back. The period under consideration makes a big difference. The late 1980s and early 1990s were a difficult time for the world''s poor. Using either a longer period or a shorter one changes the picture a lot. The Bank currently estimates that the world poverty rate fell from 33% in 1981 (about 1.5 billion people) to 18% in 2001 (1.1 billion), when judged by the frugal $1-a-day standard at 1993 purchasing-power parity. Compare this with Mr Sala-i-Martin''s estimates. He finds that the global poverty rate fell from 13% to 7% (in 1998). Yes, the levels differ substantially. But by both methods, the global poverty rate almost halved. The two trends are also similar for the 1990s, once growth had been restored in China and India. Why are the Bank''s poverty counts so much higher? Mr. Sala-i-Martin uses GDP from national accounts to measure the average income per person of households. But GDP includes much more than household consumption; private investment and government spending, for example. This method must give lower poverty counts relative to a common poverty line. But why would one use the same poverty line for GDP as for household consumption? The Bank''s $1-a-day line is based on the poverty lines actually found in low-income countries, and those lines do not include allowances for investment and government spending; they typically include only the most basic food and other consumption needs. To compare Mr Sala-i-Martin''s numbers with the Bank''s, one should use a higher poverty line for the former. It is not clear how much higher Mr Sala-i-Martin''s poverty line should be to assure comparability with the Bank''s $1-a-day standard. However, a good guess might be that his poverty threshold should be doubled to reflect the other items that he has implicitly included in his measure of income. Then, in fact, the two series line up rather well. Good news, for some Despite the methodological differences, a similar trend of long-term reduction in poverty does emerge. That is certainly good news -- but no cause for complacency. The 400 million people who escaped absolute poverty by the $ 1-a-day standard over 1981-2001 are still poor even by the standards of middle-income developing countries. And the Bank''s estimates indicate that the number living on less than $ 2 a day has risen from 2.4 billion to 2.7 billion. Nor has the aggregate progress for the very poorest been shared by all regions. The number of people who managed to jump the $1-a-day hurdle in China during this period was also about 400 million. So if one focuses on the developing world outside China, the number of poor has changed very little. Underlying this fact, it turns out that the composition of world poverty has changed noticeably. The number of poor has fallen in Asia, but risen elsewhere. It has roughly doubled in Africa. In the early 1980s, one in ten of the world''s poorest lived in Africa; now the figure is about one in three. Yes, on the whole the poorest people in the world have been doing better. But the fight against poverty is far from won.

阅读理解READING PASSAGE 3 Book Review The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being By William Davies Happiness is the ultimate goal because it is self-evidently good

阅读理解READING PASSAGE 1 Cutty Sark: the fastest sailing ship of all time The nineteenth century was a period of great technological development in Britain, and for shipping the major changes were from wind to steam power, and from wood to iron and steel

阅读理解READING PASSAGE 2 How baby talk gives infant brains a boost AThe typical way of talking to a baby 一 high-pitched, exaggerated and repetitious 一 is a source of fascination for linguists who hope to understand how baby talk impacts on learning

阅读理解READING PASSAGE 1 A spark