One of the greatest contributions to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文)showing how it was used.

This was a huge task. So Murrary had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American Surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.

But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897， Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally insane.

Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.

Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

小题1:According to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary _________.

A．came out before minor died

B．was edited by an American volunteer

C．included the English words invented by Murray

D．was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary小题2:How did Dr. Minor contributed to the dictionary?

A．He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers.

B．He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray.

C．He provided a great number of words and quotations

D．he went to England to work with Murray.小题3:Why did Dr. Minor refuse to visit Oxford?

A．He was shut in an asylum

B．He lived far from Oxford

C．He was busy writing a book

D．He disliked traveling小题4:Prof. Murray and Dr. Minor became friends mainly because __________.

A．they both served in the Civil War.

B．They had a common interest in words

C．Minor recovered with the help of Murray

D．Murray went to America regularly to visit Minor小题5:Which of the following best describe Dr. Minor?

A．Brave and determined

B．Cautious and friendly

C．Considerate and optimistic

D．Unusual and scholarly小题6:What does the text mainly talk about?

A．The history of the English language.

B．The friendship between Murray and Minor

C．Minor and the first Oxford English Dictionary

D．Broadmoor Asylum and is patients

The income gap between China's rural and urban residents(居民) has continued to widen during the past few years in spite of rapidly rising rural incomes, Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said here on Wednesday.

The income ratio(比率) between urban and rural residents was 3.28:1 in 2006, against 3.23:1 in 2003, said Sun in his report on the promotion of building a new countryside in 2007. Sun also said the net income of rural residents in different regions also varied widely. The income gap is only one of several problems in rural areas, according to Sun's report. While listing the achievements in rural areas in recent years, Sun believed that rural development still followed behind urban development.

"We have bigger pressure to ensure the supply of major agricultural products such as grain," he said. "China's urbanization(都市化) has been speeded up and more rural residents have gone to urban areas," he said.

"In this case, more agricultural producers become farm produce consumers, which created more pressure for supply," he said.

Another problem facing China's agricultural development is inadequate application of science and technology.

"Only 30 percent of scientific and technological achievements have been applied to agricultural production, which is 40 percentage points lower than developed countries," he said.

Despite increased government spending in rural areas, the infrastructure(基础下部组织) is still poor and easily hit by disasters.

According to Sun, the government spent 431.8 billion yuan ($59.15 billion) on agriculture, rural areas and farmers this year, an increase of 80.1 billion yuan over the previous year.

China set aside 11.38 billion yuan to promote a new rural cooperative medical care system and 27.98 billion yuan to support the new compulsory education mechanism in rural area to ensure that all citizens shared the fruits of China's reform and opening-up, Sun said.

小题1:Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A．Because of the rapidly rising rural incomes, the income gap between China's rural and urban residents will disappear this year.

B．The net income of rural residents in different regions is the same.

C．The government has taken measures to develop the economy in the rural areas.

D．Because of the rapidly rising rural incomes, the supply of major agricultural products is enough.小题2:Can you infer the meaning of the underlined words in paragraph 5?

A．be made full use of

B．be made little use of

C．be not made full use of

D．be made good use of小题3:How much is spent on agriculture, rural areas and farmers the previous year?

A．431.8 billion yuan

B．511.9 billion yuan

C．351.7 billion yuan

D．80.1 billion yuan小题4: Which is NOT the problem in rural areas?

A．The income gap

B．The inadequate application of science and technology

C．The supply of major agricultural products

D．China's urbanization