3. According to Mr. Gretz, the present sum of money will enable the scientists to provide
A. a little more than 3% of the EEC's needs after the year 2000
B. 3 % of the EEC's needs before the year 2000
C. less than 3% of the EEC's needs before the year 2000
D. only 3% of the EEC's needs even after the year 2000
4. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A. The EEC spends one billion pounds on imported energy each year.
B. At the present level of research spending, it is difficult to make any significant progress in
the provision of energy from the sun.
C. The desired breakthrough could be obtained by the end of the next decade of investment
were increased.
D. The total yearly spending of the EEC on solar energy research amounted to almost 6
million dollars.
5. The application of advanced technology to research in solar energy
A. would lead to a big increase in research funding
B. would make it unnecessary to import oil
C. would make it possible to meet the future energy needs of the EEC
D. would provide a much greater proportion of the Community's future energy needs
Passage Seven
As a medium of exchange, money permits the separation of exchange into the two distinct acts of buying and selling, without requiring the seller to purchase goods from the person who buys his products, or vice versa. Hence producers who know they will he paid in money, can concentrate on finding the most suitable outlet (銷路) for their goods, while buyers who will pay in money, can concentrate on finding the cheapest market for the things they wish to purchase. Specialization, which is vital to an advanced economy, is encouraged, because people whose output is not a complete product but only a part of one in which many others are involved can be paid an amount equivalent to their share of the product.
Another advantage of money is that it is a measure of value--that is, it serves as a unit in terms of which the relative values of different products can be expressed. In a barter economy it would be necessary to determine how many plates were worth one hundred weight of cotton, or how many pens should be exchanged for a ton of coal. which would be a difficult and time-consuming (費(fèi)時(shí)的) task. The process of establishing relative values would have to be undertaken for every act of exchange, according to what products were being offered against one another, and according to the two parties' desires and preferences. If I am trying to barter fish for bananas, for example, a lot would depend on whether the person willing to exchange bananas is or is not keen on fish.
Thirdly, money acts as a store of wealth. It is difficult to imagine saving under a barter system. No one engaged on only one stage in the manufacture of a product could save part of his output, since he would be producing nothing complete. Even when a person actually produced a complete product the difficulties would be overwhelming. Most products deteriorate fairly rapidly, either physically or in value, as a result of long storage; even if storage were possible, the practice of storing products for years on end would involve obvious disadvantages－imagine a coal-miner attempting to save enough coal which of course is his product, to keep him for life. If wealth could not be saved, or only with great difficulty, future needs could not be provided for, or capital accumulated to raise productivity.
l. Using money as a medium of exchange means that
A. you have to sell something in order to buy something
B. you have to buy something in order to sell something
C. you don't have to buy something in order to sell something
D. the seller and the purchaser are the same person
2. Specialization is encouraged because
A. people can use their money to buy whatever they want
B. people do not need to make a complete product for exchange
C. people make a great contribution to the manufacture of a product
D. people cannot use their money to buy whatever they want
3. A barter economy is one in which
A. value is decided by weight
B. value is decided by number
C. money is used and goods are not exchanged
D. goods are exchanged and money is not used
4. If one had to save products instead of money,
A. this would need years of practice
B. coal, for example, would lose its value
C. they could not be stored for years on end.
D. many products would lose their value
5. How many advantages of money are mentioned in this passage?
A. Two. B. Three.
C. Four. D. Five.
Passage Nine
In 1795 the political economist Malthus predicted that in time mankind would face starvation, having outgrown the available food supplies. Today, a century and a half later, there are still experts who forecast the same global disaster--unless urgent measures are taken to prevent it.
By the end of the present century there may well be over five thousand million people living on this globe, an increase of over fifty percent on today's figure, In order to keep pace with this increase in mankind the farmers of the world will have to step up their production of food by at least two percent every year. Such a rate of increase has never been maintained in any country by conventional methods of agriculture, despite modern mechanization and the widespread use of fertilizers. There are no large worthwhile reserves of potential farmland remaining, and good fertile (肥沃的) land is continually being changed into industrial use. Moreover, erosion of the soil takes a constant toll (損失).
Intensive research, carried out over many years in all manner of climatic conditions. has produced a revolutionary method of growing crops without using any soil at all. Hydroponics (水栽法), as this technique is called, may well be the answer to all our food worries; already it has accomplished wonders in producing huge crops. Hydroponics was once a complicated and expensive business, now it is well out of the experimental stage. Labor costs are far lower than when normal methods of agriculture are employed. in fact. it is a completely automatic system. There is no hard manual work, no digging or ploughing, and no weeding to speak of. Yields can be far higher than they are in soil.
1. Which of the following best sums up the whole passage?
A. Malthus' prediction has been proved to be correct by modern experts.
B. Hydorponics is a new development in agriculture.
C. Hydroponics may be the answer to the world food shortage in the future.
D. Conventional methods of agriculture should be improved so as to step up food production
by two percent every year.
2. The phrase “having outgrown the available food supplies” in the first paragraph implies that
.
A. the available food supplies will be enough to feed world population
B. the earth is too exhausted to support its increasing population
C. world, population will grow at a rate faster than food production
D. food supplies will be too much available for world population
3. “Erosion” in the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph probably means .
A. “washing away” B. “taking away”
C. “digging up” D. “picking up”
