But now it is realized that supplies of some of them are limited, and it is even possibleB

But now it is realized that supplies of some of them are limited, and it is even possible to give a reasonable estimate of their"expectation of life", the time it will take to exhaust all known sources and reserves of these materials.

It is estimated that some seven hundred million people--about half of the world's population are unable to read and write, and there are probably two hundred and fifty million more people whose level of attainment is so slight that it barely outlives a literacy.

Recently the attack on illiteracy (文盲) has been stepped up . A world plan has been drawn up by a committee of UNESCO experts in Paris, as part of the United Nations Development Decade, and an international conference on the subject has the aim. People must learn the basic skills of responsible citizenship: the ability to read notices, newspapers, timetables, letters, pricelists, to keep simple records and accounts, to sort out the significance of the information gathered, and to fill informs.

The major areas of illiteracy are in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. In Africa

there are at least one hundred million illiterates, compromising(牵连) eighty to eighty-five per cent of the total population. In Europe the figure is about twenty-four million, most of them in Southern Europe, with Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Yugoslavia heading tl ,c list (the United Kingdom has about seven hundred thousand).

Studying carefully the clues in the passage, we learn that the total population of Africa is ______.

A．approximately seven hundred million

B．approximately one hundred and twenty-five million

C．approximately eight or eight point five thousand million

D．exactly twenty-four million

It is estimated that some seven hundred million people about half of the world's population are unable to read and write, and there are probably two hundred and fifty million more people whose level of attainment is so slight that it barely outlives a literacy.

Recently the attack on illiteracy(文盲)has been stepped up. A world plan has been drawn up by a committee of UNESCO experts in Paris, as part of the United Nations Development Decade, and an international conference on the subject has the aim. People must learn the basic skills of responsible citizenship: the ability to read notices, newspapers, timetables, letters, pricelists, to keep simple records and accounts, to sort out the significance of the information gathered, and to fill in forms.

The major areas of illiteracy are in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. In Africa there are at least one hundred million illiterates, compromising(牵连)eighty to eighty-five per cent of the total population. In Europe the figure is about twenty-four million, most of them in Southern Europe, with Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Yugoslavia heading the list (the United Kingdom has about seven hundred thousand).

Studying carefully the clues in the passage, we learn that the total population of Africa is ______.

A．approximately seven hundred million

B．approximately one hundred and twenty-five million

C．approximately eight or eight point five thousand million

D．exactly twenty-four million

It is estimated that some seven hundred million people about half the world's population are un able to read and write, and there are probably two hundred and fifty million more whose level of attainment(造诣、成就)is so slight that it barely qualifies a literacy(识字).

Recently the attack on illiteracy has been stepped up. A world plan has been drawn up by a committee of UNESCO experts in Paris, as part of the United Nations Development Decade, and an international conference on the subject has also been held. UNESCO stresses that functional literacy is the aim. People must learn the basic skills of responsible citizenship: the ability to read notices, newspapers, timetables, letters, price lists, to keep simple records and accounts, to sort out the significance of the information gathered, and to fill in forms.

The major areas of illiteracy are in Asia, and Central and South America. In Africa there are at least one hundred million illiterates, making up eighty to eighty-five per cent of the total population. In Europe the figure is about twenty-four million, most of them is Southern Europe, with Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Yugoslavia heading the list (the United Kingdom has about seven hundred thousand).

According to the estimate, the illiterate population in the world is ______.

A．two hundred and fifty million

B．one hundred million

C．about half of the total population in the world

D．seven thousand million

Part B Listening Comprehension

Directions: In this part of the test there will be some short talks and conversations. After each one, you will be asked some questions. The talks, conversations and questions will be spoken ONLY ONCE. Now listen carefully and choose the right answer to each question you have heard and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

听力原文： Matthew Lesley, again and again these days we hear the words "he's on drugs" and many people feel that these illegal drugs are harmful and people should be prevented from getting hold of them in any way at all, because of the damage they can do. What do you feel about this?

Lesley Oh yes, you've got to have some sort of control, because it has been proved that these, some of these things, can do irreparable damage, and I know a horrible story about a kiddie who's in an insane asylum now who, I don't know what she took, but she was at a party and it was the thing to do and she took something and now she's convinced she's an orange and she won't go out of the room for fear somebody's going to squash her. Now this was a sixteen-year-old kid, I mean, you know, I think it's a damn shame and also a great waste of a young fife, because the…life has got nothing for that kid now and she's going to be a problem to the state and everybody else for as long as she lives.

Matthew Geth, how widespread is the use of the so-called illegal drugs in England?

Geth Er…a recent survey estimated that four million people in the country have tried cannabis, so I suppose it's quite widespread.

Matthew Aha…um…do you think that this constitutes some sort of problem to society, or do you think that it should be legalized and made as acceptable as smoking tobacco?

Geth Well, as regards cannabis, I think as yet little is known about it, I think it may be a rash thing to legalize it now when so little is known, but it must be said that… um… no positive harm has been proved.

Matthew But some people might say that alcohol is very much an unknown quantity, and yet it's been legal for many, many years.

Geth Yea, well, in fact, a…alcohol isn't really an unknown…unknown quantity in that it's known to…urn…cause physical damage after long use, and perhaps even after short use…er… It's said also of tobacco er…of course it's been proved that tobacco can give rise to lung cancer…um…heart disease, all sorts of other things and it's often said in support of legalization that while…um…alcohol and tobacco are legal…um…cannabis isn't wh…while no harm has been proved.

Matthew Aha, in view of the hostility towards the so-called illegal drugs in things like newspapers and on the television and certainly in parental terms, why do so many young people take drugs?

Alan Well, I think there are almost as many reasons as there are people. One of the reasons is because of the hostility. It's the job of the younger generation to reject all the values of the older generation, and it's just as well for human society that this is so, because otherwise we would never change it and make it better. But that's a very superficial answer…Some people take drugs for personality reasons, if you like they feel inadequate, they feel unable to cope, they discover that in drugs they can escape themselves. Such people might turn to alcohol for example, and I think that almost any alcoholic is going to be a person with a personality problem. If a person who took alcohol for that reason were to take LSD though, he would have a nasty shock, because LSD is a very different kind of drug. It doesn't help you to escape from yourself but in fact makes you face right up to yourself and…if somebody isn't aware of the difference between drugs, they can get themselves into serious trouble in that w

A．Sleeping pills.

B．Some cannabis.

C．Tobacco and alcohol.

D．Some drugs.

听力原文： The humid tropics of South East Asia are one of the Earth's major reservoirs of animal and plant species. But this rich biodiversity is under threat because of continuing habitat-loss. Vast areas are being cleared through deforestation either for agriculture or urban development and if habitats continue to disappear at their present rate, then between thirteen and forty two percent of wildlife will become extinct. These predictions have been calculated by scientists through Singapore, Australia and Japan, who looked at species loss in Singapore over the last one hundred and eighty years. Here habitats of terrestrial and freshwater species have shrunk by ninety-five percent, and forest reserves, which cover only a quarter of a percent of Singapore's land area, now harbour more than fifty percent of flora and fauna. By comparing this data to the rest of the region the scientists calculated these huge losses. The authors say that major conservation efforts need to be put in place otherwise many species will be lost forever.

What is the topic of the news item?

A．Tropics.

B．Forests.

C．Animals.

D．Ecology.