continuing a surge in momentum for the recovering automaker. Dearborn, Mich-based Ford posted net income of $ 1.7 billion, or 43 cents per share, up from $ 997 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Ford to report a 38-cent-a-share profit. Ford’s previous best third-quarter net income was $ 1.1 billion reported in 1997.
The automaker cited a strong product line, momentum in North America and continued success at Ford Credit as areas of growth. “It’s been the same story all year long. (2) Better pricing in North America, and that offsets the small losses in Europe. The North American market is a real earnings driver.” said David Whiston, an automotive analyst at Morningstar.
1. What do we know about Ford Motor’s report?
B)【精析】根据句(1)可知，福特汽车第三季度的报告指出，其净收益在汽车制造业的复苏背景下继续保持激增的势头。
2. What can be inferred from David Whiston?
D)【精析】根据句(2)可知，David Whiston认为福特汽车在北美的售价弥补了其在欧洲的损失，北美市场是真正的收益市场。
Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.
(3) A French engineering firm has built what is being hailed as the world’s most environmentally sound building, a structure that produces more energy than it consumes. The ten-story building is located in Dijon, and it is part of concerted effort to put the city on a sustainable energy path.
The Elithis tower is a striking sight in the heart of Dijon’s business district. Black, with a red metal skirt-which actually is a sun shield-it is sandwiched between the city’s opera house and a hotel. But the tower is more than just another handsome landmark-from the ground floor to (4) its solar paneled roof, it is an experiment in a greener way of working and living.
Francois Pocheron, a senior manager for the Elithis engineering firm that designed the tower, takes visitors on a tour of the building. Just about every aspect of its design and construction is aimed at conserving energy and using natural elements like sunlight and rain.
3. What is this news report mainly about?
C)【精析】根据句(3)可知，一家法国的工程公司建立了一个被誉为世界上最环保的建筑，它产生的能量要比消耗的多。结合下文对这座建筑物的介绍可知，新闻的主题是法国的一座节能大厦。 4. What is the roof of the Elithis tower made of?
B)【精析】根据句(4)可知，其屋顶是由太阳能电池板制成的。 Questions 5 to 7 will be based on the following news item.
An unmanned Russian rocket successfully lifted off with a cargo of supplies for the crew of the International Space Station on Sunday, two months after a similar rocket crashed in Siberia. (5) (6) The Progress 45 freighter is slated to dock with the station on Wednesday with three tons of food, fuel, water and spare parts for the US, Russian and Japanese crew of the station. (7) The vessel took off from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:11 p.m. (6:11 a.m. Eastern Time) and reached its preliminary orbit in nine minutes, the US space agency NASA said.
5. What is the name of the unmanned Russian rocket?
D)【精析】根据句(5)可知，该运载飞船的名字是The Progress 45。 6. When is the freighter supposed to reach the International Space Station? D)【精析】根据句(6)可知，该运载飞船预计周三与国际空间站对接。
7. When did the vessel reach its preliminary orbit?
C)【精析】根据句(7)可知，飞船下午4:11起飞，九分钟到达预定轨道，两个时间相加便可得出答案。
Model Test Four
Section A
Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item．
Health officials in Haiti say nearly 300 people are now known to have died in an ingestion disease outbreak in the country. Although the number of new cases has slowed, hundreds more infections were reported on Tuesday. (l) The UN and aid agencies are boosting prevention efforts in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince, with a public information campaign on hygiene. Experts say that after a long absence from Haiti, ingestion disease could now “settle” and become local disease. The UN said 25 more people had died of the disease on Tuesday, bringing the total to 284. A total of 3612 cases have been reported. (2) Health experts say they expect the outbreak will soon lessen but the disease will eventually join malaria and tuberculosis, becoming local disease in Haiti.
1. What did the UN and aid agencies do for the disease?
C)【精析】由句(1)可知，联合国和急救机构通过开展公共卫生信息运动来促进对该疾病的预防工作。 2. What can be inferred from the health experts?
D)【精析】由句(2)可知，健康专家认为该疾病最终将会与疟疾和结核病一起在海地形成地方性疾病。 Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.
(3) International Baccalaureate schools began decades ago as a way to teach the globe-trotting children of the international diplomatic corps. Now, IB schools welcome all kinds of children. The program combines what are considered to be the best teaching techniques, a rigorous curriculum stressing writing and analysis, and an international perspective.
The goal is to develop involved, articulate global citizens. Bloomfield Hills is a wealthy suburb of Detroit, Michigan. The school district here has set up an International Baccalaureate program at Lone Pine Elementary. At IB elementary schools, subjects like math and reading arc not taught separately. (4 - 1) Subject areas are integrated, so lessons in “Mother Earth” class, for example, cover vocabulary, literature, history, and ecology.
The program also breaks down the proverbial classroom wall. (4 - 2) Teachers are required to compare notes and plan classes together. That’s the “best practice” that IB schools have adopted because it develops teachers’ skills.
3. What does this news item mainly deal with?
B)【精析】句(3)提到了国际课程及其沿革，下文又以布隆菲尔德山地区的国际高中为例，对国际课程进行了具体叙述，由此可知新闻的主题是国际课程计划。 4. What can we know about the IB elementary schools?
D)【精析】由句(4 - 1)和句(4 - 2)可知，教师们要一起对比教案和进行课堂布置，即一起准备上课；各门科目被整合成整体进行教授，并不是相互分离的。 Questions 5 to 7 will be based on the following news item.
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi has erupted with its biggest explosion in more than a century, killing at least 70 people, (5 - 1) burning down homes and blanketing the region in white ash. Authorities said Friday this latest in a series of eruptions over the last 11 days was the most ferocious yet. (5 - 2) 750-degree (Celsius) gas flowed down the mountainside in a thunderous roar. The heat was so intense that clothes and blankets were fused to the injured as they fled for safety. (6) The death toll from the eruptions has now risen to about 120 and is expected to increase as rescuers pull bodies out of the ash and broken rocks. Volcano experts said the Friday blast was the biggest since the 1870s. (7) With the unpredictability of the volcano, authorities widened the danger zone around the mountain to 20 kilometers.
5. Which of the following is probably the result of the eruption of Mount Merapi?
A)【精析】由句(5 - 1)和句(5 - 2)可知，印尼默拉皮火山爆发烧毁了房屋，使整个地区笼罩在白色的火山灰烬 下，高达750℃的火山熔岩伴随雷鸣般的咆哮声从山顶倾流而下。 6. How many people have been killed by the disaster?
C)【精析】由句(6)可知，死亡人数已经上升到了120人，预计随着救援工作的继续，伤亡人数还将不断增加。
7. Why did Authorities widen the danger zone?
C)【精析】由句(7)知，鉴于这一火山的不可预测性，印尼官员将“危险区域”扩大到方圆20公里。
Model Test Five
Section A
Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item.
The largest fire has burned about 500 square kilometers of the Angeles National Forest, north of Los Angeles. (1- 1) Some 3600 firefighters are attacking the flames in steep terrain, using bulldozers, tractors and hand tools. They are also setting backfires to clear away dry brush, and using helicopters and airplanes to drop water and fire retardant. (2) They got some help on Tuesday from slightly higher humidity as they worked to protect homes in hillside communities. Officials say they have carved out nearly 20 kilometers of fire lines to slow the advance of the flames.
(1 - 2) Firefighters are working to protect communication and scientific facilities on Mount Wilson, which overlooks downtown Los Angeles. The site is home to transmitters for most of the city’s television stations, as well as some radio stations, several mobile phone companies and police communication systems.
1. What is this news report mainly about?
B)【精析】由句(1-1)和句(1-2)可知，大约3600名消防员正在与险峻地形上的火焰作斗争，消防员正在努力
的保护威尔逊山上的通讯和科学设施，而威尔逊山俯瞰洛杉矶市区。由此可知新闻的主题是扑救洛杉矶附近发生的火灾。
2. What helped the firefighters as they worked?
C)【精析】由句(2)可知，星期二，天气帮忙，湿度比较高，消防官兵成功保护了山里的一个居民区。由此
可知，高湿度带来了帮助。
Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.
This week, a political dispute in Washington led to a partial shutdown of the United States government for the first time in almost 20 years. Agencies sent home more than 800000 workers-about one-third of the federal work force. The new budget year began on Tuesday, October 1. But Republicans in Congress blocked even short-term spending for many government operations. (3) They demanded that Democrats change the Affordable Care Act, the new health care law often called Obamacare. The Democrats refused. The federal government and states started websites for millions of uninsured Americans to buy health plans or pay a tax penalty. (4) Opponents of Obamacare say it will force people and small businesses to buy insurance policies against their will. At the heart of the dispute is a clash between the two major political parties over the role of the central government in American life.
3. What do we know about the Affordable Care Act?
A)【精析】由句(3)可知，Affordable Care Act(《平价医疗法案》)是一部新卫生保健法，又被称作奥巴马医保。
4. Why do people object to Obamacare?
D)【精析】由句(4)可知，奥巴马医保政策的反对者称，该政策会迫使市民和小企业违背自己的意愿购买保险。
Questions5 to 7 will be based on the following news item.
Protests that began last month near Wall Street in New York have now spread to other American cities. The Occupy movement differs from the Tea Party movement. Tea Partiers blame big government for the country’s economic problems.
(5) Occupiers blame big business. One young activist puts it this way. Occupy Wall Street protesters have camped in New York’s financial district since the middle of September. (6) Police have made hundreds of arrests for blocking traffic. (7) On Wednesday members of labor unions and community groups joined the demonstrations. Protesters say the wealthiest l% of Americans control too much of the nation’s wealth. The protesters say they represent the other 99%.
5. What does the Occupy movement condemn?
C)【精析】根据句(5)可知，“占领华尔街”运动的参与者们谴责美国的大公司。 6. Why did the police arrest hundreds of protesters?
A)【精析】根据句(6)可知，因为抗议者们阻塞了交通，所以警察逮捕了许多抗议者。 7. What do we know about the Occupy movement?
C)【精析】根据句(7)可知，在星期三，工会和社团的成员加入到了游行当中。
Model Test Six
Section A
Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item.
(1 - l) The New Year in South Africa brings thousands of residents to the streets for a colorful minstrel parade. Brightly-costumed marching choral groups celebrate a unique aspect of South Africa’s multiracial history. (1 - 2) Cape Town’s musical New Year’s tradition dates back more than a century, (2) to the days when Dutch colonists brought slaves here from Southeast Asia. The slaves served as dockworkers, farm laborers and household servants. And, they were given one day off per year. Ethnomusicologist（种族音乐学家）Sylvia Bruinders at the University of Cape Town says the slaves took to the streets. The slaves copied European and American minstrels who visited the Cape. Eventually, a distinctive South African sound developed.
Today the minstrels are a holiday tradition among Cape Town’s mixed-race or “colored” residents, many of whom are descendants（后代）of slaves. A downtown parade involves thousands of participants. Dozens of minstrel troupes practice throughout the year.
1. What is this news report mainly about?
B)【精析】根据句(1 -1)和句(1-2)可知，在南非，新年时成千上万的民众到街上进行多姿多彩的音乐游行，开普敦市的新年音乐游行传统可追溯至一个多世纪以前。由此可知，新闻报道的主题是南非的新年音乐游行传统。
2. Who brought the Southeast Asia slaves to Cape Town?
C)【精析】根据句(2)可知，一个多世纪以前，是荷兰殖民者将奴隶从东南亚带到开普敦。 Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.
Ben Bernanke is the head of the Federal Reserve, (3) the agency which oversees all US banks, ensuring the money supply is stable. His term as chairman ends in January. Yesterday, the President announced his pick to take Bernanke’s place. The pick is the current vice chairman, Janet Yellen. She has support, but some critics are worried that she’ll follow the same policies as Ben Bernanke. It’s the US Senate’s job to decide whether to confirm the President’s nominee. If the Senate does confirm her, this nominee would make history.
Yellen has degrees from Brown and Yale, taught at Harvard, and got tenure at Berkeley. Her son is an economist. Her husband has a Nobel Prize in Economic Theory. (4) The 67-year-old has been on the Fed for more than a decade. She’s been a leader for women in her field.
3. What is the Federal Reserve in the US responsible for?
A)【精析】由句(3)可知，美联储负责监督美国所有的银行，确保货币供应稳定。 4. What do we know about Yellen?
D)【精析】由句(4)可知，耶伦已经67岁了，已经在美联储工作了十多年了。 Questions 5 to 7 will be based on the following news item.
(5) The government of Bangladesh has set up an industrial police force for the first time to tackle labor unrest in the country. (6) The special force will be deployed in four industrial zones of the capital Dhaka and the southern port of Chittagong. (7) Trade unions have strongly criticized the move, saying the new force will worsen the relationship between workers and factory owners. They say it will be used against union leaders and to suppress legitimate protests. However, the government says the force will be impartial, and at the same time will also protect industrial complexes during unrest. The move came months after the country witnessed some of the worst clashes between garment factory workers and security forces earlier this year.
5. Why does Bangladesh government set up an industrial police force?
A)【精析】根据句(5)可知，孟加拉国政府第一次设立工业警察部队来解决该国发生的工人骚乱。 6. Where will the industrial force be placed?
D)【精析】根据句(6)可知，特殊的警力将被部署在首都达卡和南部港口城市Chittagong的四个工业区。 7. What can we know about the new force?
B)【精析】根据句(7)可知，工会严重批评此举，他们认为部署新的警察力量将会恶化工人和工厂主之间的关系。
Model Test Seven
Section A
Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item.
(1) The emergency plan announced by the Kenyan Cabinet this week includes mobilizing (动员) the army to assist those desperately short on food and water. The plan also nearly doubles the amount of rationed food and provides emergency measures for herders whose livestock is threatened by the area’s severe drought.
Rockefeller Foundation food security analyst Joseph Nyoro welcomed the government’s announcement, but said the relief plan was inadequate. (2) Nyoro is also critical of the government’s decision to rely on the army as the main vehicle for the assistance, saying it is the local communities and the civil society that actually know in each area who are suffering the most. The water shortage is also causing a severe energy shortfall across the country, which relies heavily on hydro-electric power. Kenya’s major power company has instituted systematic power rationing until power supplies improve.
1. What’s the main idea of this news report?