¡¡¡¡text3

¡¡¡¡in both developed and developing nations, governments finance, produce, and distribute various goods and services. in recent years, the range of goods provided by the government has extended broadly, including many goods that do not meet the economic purist¬ðs definition of ¡°public goods¡±. as the size of the public sector has increased steadily, there has been a growing concern about the effectiveness of the public sector¬ðs performance as producer.

¡¡¡¡critics argue that the public provision of certain goods is inefficient and have proposed that the private sector should replace many current public sector activities, that is, these services should be privatized. since 1980s, greater privatization efforts have been pursued in the united states.

¡¡¡¡concurrent with this trend has been a strong endorsement(support) by international bilateral donor(aid) agencies for heavier reliance on the private sector in developing countries. the underlying claim is that the private sector can improve the quality of outputs and deliver goods more quickly and less expensively than the public sector in these countries.

¡¡¡¡this claim, however, has mixed theoretical support and little empirical verification in the third world. the political, institutional, and economic environments of developing nations are markedly different from those of developed countries. it is not clear that the theories and empirical evidence that claim to justify privatization in developed countries are applicable to developing nations. often policy makers in developing nations do not have sufficient information to design effective policy shifts to increase efficiency of providing goods through private initiatives. additionally, there is a lack of basic understanding about what policy variables need to be altered to attain desired outcomes of privatization in developing countries.

¡¡¡¡one study of privatization in honduras examined the policy shift from ¡°direct administration¡± to ¡°contracting out¡± for three construction activities: urban upgrading for housing projects, rural primary schools, and rural roads. it tested key hypotheses applying to the effectiveness of privatization, focusing on three aspects: cost, time, and quality.

¡¡¡¡the main finding was that contracting out in honduras did not lead to the common expectations of its proponents because institutional barriers and limited competitiveness in the marketplace have prevented private contractors from improving quality and reducing the time and cost required for construction.

¡¡¡¡privatization in developing countries cannot produce goods and services efficiently without substantial reform in the market and regulatory procedures. policy makers interested in privatization as a policy measure should consider carefully the multiple objectives at the national level.31. it can be inferred from the text that economic purists

¡¡¡¡\[a\] oppose shifting goods from public to private.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] support the substantial reform of privatization.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] approve privatization only in developed nations.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] have a strict description of public merchandise.

¡¡¡¡32. since 1980s, there has been

¡¡¡¡\[a\] broad international support for privatization.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] much evidence for privatization in poor nations.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] endorsement for privatization of donor agencies.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] maximum dependence on private capital in the u.s..

¡¡¡¡33. the authorities of developing nations seem incapable of

¡¡¡¡\[a\] attaining political stability.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] making major policy shifts.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] upgrading basic urban economy.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] enhancing production efficiency.

¡¡¡¡34. the author¬ðs appraisal of honduras study implies that in developing countries

¡¡¡¡\[a\] direct administration of services requires more capital. nR*\j '€!lRc[ ±¾_×Ê_ÁÏ_À´_Ô´_ÓÚ_¹ó_ÖÝ_ѧ_Ï°_Íø ¿¼ÑÐÒ»·½¿¼ÑÐÓ¢Óï Http://wwW.gzU521.coM )nR*\j '€!lRc

¡¡¡¡\[b\] their marketplace system leaves much to be desired.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] privatization is politically unfit for their economies.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] new facilities rather than contracting out are needed.

¡¡¡¡35. the author¬ðs primary intention is to

¡¡¡¡\[a\] outline major hindrance to privatization in developing nations.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] offer a solution for the future course of economic policy shifts.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] justify heavier reliance on the private sector in the third world.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] explain requirements for privatization of the third world economies.

¡¡¡¡text4

¡¡¡¡many critics of the current welfare system argue that existing welfare regulations foster family instability. they maintain that those regulations which exclude most poor husbandª²andª²wife families from aid to families with dependent children(afdc) assistance grants, contribute to the problem of family dissolution. thus, they conclude that expanding the set of families eligible for family assistance plans or guaranteed income measures would result in a marked strengthening of the lowª²income family structure.

¡¡¡¡if all poor families could receive welfare, would the incidence of instability change markedly? the answer to this question depends on the relative importance of three categories of potential welfare recipients. the first is the ¡°cheater¡±¡ªthe husband who is reported to have abandoned his family but in fact disappears only when the social caseworker is in the neighborhood. the second consists of a loving husband and devoted father leaves so that his wife and children may enjoy the relative benefit provided by public assistance. there is very little evidence that these categories are significant.

¡¡¡¡the third category is the unhappily married couple, who remain together out of a sense of economic responsibility for their children, because of the high costs of separation, or because of the consumption benefit of marriage. this group is large. the formation, maintenance, and dissolution of the family is in large part a function of the relative balance between the benefits and costs of marriage as seen by the individual members of the marriage. the major benefit generated by the creation of a family is the expansion of the set of consumption possibilities. the benefits from such a partnership depend largely on the relative dissimilarity of the resources or basic endowments each partner brings to the marriage. persons with similar productive capacities have less economic ¡°cement¡± holding their marriage together. since the family performs certain functions society regards as vital, a complex network of social and legal buttresses has evolved to reinforce marriage. much of the variation in marital stability across income classes can be explained by the variation in costs of dissolution imposed by society.

¡¡¡¡marital stability is related to the costs of achieving an acceptable agreement on family consumption and production and to the prevailing social price of instability in the marriage partners¬ð socialª²economic group. expected afdc income exerts pressures on family instability by reducing the cost of dissolution. so welfare opportunities are a significant determinant of family instability in poor neighborhoods, but this is not the result of afdc regulations that exclude most intact families from coverage. rather, welfareª²related instability occurs because public assistance lowers both the benefits of marriage and the costs of its disruption by providing a system of governmentª²subsidized alimony(maintenance) payments.36. the text is written with the aim of

¡¡¡¡\[a\] analyzing the causes of a phenomenon.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] discussing the father¬ðs role in the family.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] advocating reforms in the welfare system.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] criticizing some attitudes to welfare recipients.

¡¡¡¡37. many critics assert it as true that the welfare system is

¡¡¡¡\[a\] liable for most divorces.\[b\] on the verge of collapse.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] to become obsolete.\[d\] unjust to the needy.

¡¡¡¡38. according to the author, the marital stability relies mainly on

¡¡¡¡\[a\] the steady income of the couple.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] the balance of both sides¬ð property.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] the difference in spousal contributions.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] the benefits from government subsidies.

¡¡¡¡39. all of the following are factors tending to perpetuate a marriage except

¡¡¡¡\[a\] the expenditure of child support.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] the loss of property upon divorce.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] the greater consumption of married people.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] the welfare provision for divorced women.cl,iU`0g`OPY7fV ~z[ת Ìù ÓÚ ÎÒ µÄ ѧ Ï° Íø ¿¼ÑÐÒ»·½¿¼ÑÐÓ¢Óï HTtp://wwW.gzU521.coM)cl,iU`0g`OPY7fV ~z

¡¡¡¡40. which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the text?

¡¡¡¡\[a\] welfare restrictions mostly account for family unsteadiness.

¡¡¡¡\[b\] poor family dissolution is little attributed to helpless fathers.

¡¡¡¡\[c\] official welfare payments can slow the growing divorce rate.

¡¡¡¡\[d\] lowª²income family disruption results in poor welfare benefits.part b

¡¡¡¡directions:

¡¡¡¡you are going to read a list of headings and a text about views on environmental and resource problems.choose the most suitable heading from the list a¡ªf for each numbered paragraph(41¡«45).the first and last paragraphs of the text are not numbered.there is one extra heading which you do not need to use.mark your answers on answer sheet 1.(10 points)£Ûa£Ý a bad thing may bring about a good result.

¡¡¡¡£Ûb£Ý pollution and poverty are leading us to destruction.

¡¡¡¡£Ûc£Ý the worries of humanists are unfounded.

¡¡¡¡£Ûd£Ý god helps those who help themselves.

¡¡¡¡£Ûe£Ý is our planet getting less habitable than it used to be?

¡¡¡¡£Ûf£Ý the view on resource crisis deviates from facts.a great many articles and books discussing environmental and resource problems begin with the proposition that there is an environmental and resource crisis.if this means that the situation of humanity is worse now than in the past,then the idea of a crisis¡ªand all that follows from it¡ªis dead wrong.in almost every respect important to humanity,the trends have been improving,not deteriorating.41.

¡¡¡¡our world now supports 6 billion people.in the nineteenth century,the earth could sustain only 1 billion.and 10,000 years ago,only 1million people could keep themselves alive.people are now living more healthily than ever before.42.

¡¡¡¡one would expect lovers of humanity¡ªpeople who hate war and worry about famine in africa¡ªto jump with joy at this extraordinary triumph of the human mind and human organization over the raw forces of nature.instead,they lament (feel sorrow for) that there are so many human beings,and wring their hands about the problems that more people inevitably bring,and the problem that resources will be further diminished.43.

¡¡¡¡it is amazing but true that a resource shortage resulting from population or income growth usually leaves us better off than if the shortage had never arisen.if firewood had not become scarce in seventeenthª²century england,coal would not have been developed.if coal and whale oil shortages hadn¬ðt loomed,oil wells would not have been dug.44.

¡¡¡¡the prices of food,metals,and other raw materials have been declining by every measure since the beginning of the nineteenth century,and as far back as we know;that is,raw materials have been getting less scarce throughout history,defying the commonª²sense notion that if one begins with an inventory of a resource and uses some up,there will be less left.this is despite,and indirectly because of,increasing population.we don¬ðt say that all is well everywhere,and we don¬ðt predict that all will be rosy in the future.children are hungry and sick;people live out lives of physical or intellectual poverty and lack of opportunity;war or some other pollution may do us in.45.

¡¡¡¡also,we do not say that a better future happens automatically or without effort.it will happen because men and women¡ªsometimes as individuals,sometimes as enterprises working for profit,sometimes as voluntary nonprofit groups,and sometimes as governmental agencies¡ªwill address problems with muscle and mind,and will probably overcome,as has been usual through history.

¡¡¡¡we are confident that the nature of the physical world permits continued improvement in humankind¬ðs economic lot in the long run,indefinitely.of course,there are always newly arising local problems,shortages,and pollution,resulting from climate or increased population and income and new technologies.sometimes temporary largeª²scale problems arise.but the world¬ðs physical conditions and the resilience(power of recovering quickly)of a wellª²functioning economic and social system enable us to overcome such problems,and the solutions usually leave us better off than if the problem had never arisen.that is the great lesson to be learned from human history.part c