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"I do." To Americans those two words carry great meaning. They can even change your life. Especially if you say them at your own wedding. Making wedding vows is like signing a contract. Now Americans don’ t really think marriage is a business deal. But marriage is serious business, It all begins with engagement. Traditionally, a young man asks the father of his sweetheart for permission to many her. If the father agrees, the man later proposes to her. Often he tries to surprise her by "popping the question" in a romantic way. Sometimes the couple just decides together that the time is fight to get married. The man usually gives his fiancée a diamond ring as a symbol of their engagement. They may be engaged for weeks, months or even years. As the big day approaches, bridal showers and bachelor’ s parties provide many useful gifts. Today many couples also receive counseling during engagement. This prepares them for the challenges of married life. At last it’s time for the wedding. Although most weddings follow long-held traditions, there’ s still room for American individualism. For example, the usual place for a wedding is in a church. But some people get married outdoors in a scenic spot. A few even have the ceremony while sky-diving or riding on horseback! The couple may invite hundreds of people or just a few close friends. They choose their own style of colors, decorations and music during the ceremony. But some things rarely change. The bride usually wears a beautiful, long white wedding dress. She traditionally wears "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue". The groom wears a formal suit or tuxedo. Several close friends participate in the ceremony as attendants, including the best man and the maid of honor. As the ceremony begins, the groom and his attendants stand with the minister, facing the audience. Music signals the entrance of the bride’ s attendants, followed by the beautiful bride. Nervously, the young couple repeats their vows. Traditionally, they promise to love each other "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health". But sometimes the couple has composed their own vows. They give each other a gold ring to symbolize their marriage commitment. Finally the minister announces the big moment: "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride!" At the wedding reception, the bride and groom greet their guests. Then they cut the wedding cake and feed each other a bite. Guests mingle while enjoying cake, punch and other treats. Later the bride throws her bouquet of flowers to a group of single girls. Tradition says mat the one who catches the bouquet will be the next to many. During the reception, playful friends "decorate" the couple’ s car with tissue paper, tin cans and a "Just Married" sign. When the reception is over, the newlyweds nm to their "decorated" car and speed off. Many couples take a honeymoon, a one-to two-week vacation trip, to celebrate their new marriage. Almost every culture has rituals to signal a change in one’ s life. Marriage is one of the most basic life changes for people of all cultures. So it’s no surprise to find many traditions about getting married ... even in America. Yet each couple follows the traditions in a way that is uniquely their own. In the author’ s opinion ______.

American young couples have no chance to show their individualism in their marriage
B. American young couples don’ t like to follow long-held traditions
C. American young couples are inclined to follow the marriage traditions
D. American young couples marry in their own way

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Guangzhou holds an international (exhibit) ______ every year.

The old man stood there at a loss, his sunken eyes staring at the man seated behind the table. Raising his hand, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and heavily wrinkled face. He didn’t use the traditional kerchief and headband as usual, though he could feel the sweat running down his temple and neck, and he gave no reply to the man seated behind the table who went on asking him, "Why did you go in opening all the doors of the wards looking for your wife Why didn’t you come directly to Enquires" The old man kept silent. Why, though, was the man seated behind the table continuing to open one drawer after another His eyes busy watching him, he said, "I came here the day before yesterday wanting the hospital and looking for the mother of my children." The man seated behind the table muttered irritably, blaming himself for not having ever learned how to ask the right question, how to get a conversation going, and why it was that his question, full of explanations, and sometimes of annoyance, weren’t effective. He puffed at his cigarette as he enquired in exasperation, "What’ s your wife’ s name" The old man at once replied, "Zeinab Mohamed." The man seated behind the table began flipping through the pages of the thick ledger; each time he turned over a page there was a loud noise that was heard by everyone in the waiting room. He went on flipping through the pages of his ledger, pursing his lips listlessly, then nervously, as he kept bringing the ledger close to his face until finally he said, "Your wife came in here the day before yesterday" The old man in relief at once answered, "Yes, sir, when her heart came to a stop." Once again irritated, the man seated behind the table mumbled to himself, "Had her heart stopped she wouldn’t be here, neither would you." With his eyes still on the ledger, he said, "She’ s in Ward 4, but it’ s not permitted for you to enter her ward because there are other women there." Yawning, he called to the nurse leaning against the wall. She came forward, in her hand a paper cup from which she was drinking. Motioning with his head to the man, he said, "Ward Number 4 -Zeinab Mohamed." The nurse walked ahead, without raising her mouth from the cup. The old man asked himself how it was that this woman worked in a hospital that was crammed with men, even though she spoke Arabic. Having arrived at the ward, the nurse left him outside after telling him to wait; then, after a while, she came out and said to him, "There are two women called Zeinab Mohamed. One of them, though, has only one eye. Which one is your wife so that I can call her" The old man was thrown into confusion. One eye How am I to know He tried to recall what his wife Zeinab looked like, with her long gown and black headdress, the veil, and sometimes the black covering enveloping her face and sometimes removed and lying on her neck. He could picture her as she walked and sat, chewing a morsel and then taking it out of her mouth so as to place it in that of her first-born. Her children. One eye. How am 1 to know tie could picture her stretched out on the bed, her eyes closed. The old man was thrown into confusion and found himself saying, "When I call her, she’ll know my voice." The nurse doubted whether he was in fact visiting his wife; however, giving him another glance; she laughed at her suspicions and asked him, "How long have the two of you been married Again, he was confused as he said, ’ Allah knows best — thirty, forty years ...\ The word ’muttered’ in Line 1, Paragraph 2 means______.

A. complained
B. denoted
C. groaned
D. refuted

In accordance with the mission it has set itself to further the development of sport, the International Olympic Committee strives to promote women’ s participation in sports activities in the Olympic Games. Sport, whether competition sport or sport for all, has become a social force with a major impact on the structure of society and the condition of women. In all countries, the message and values communicated by sport, through its regulatory bodies, math a substantial part of the population regardless of social class. Because of this, sport is a tremendous medium of communication and emancipation which has to a certain extent helped to build women’ s awareness and hence their role in society. And it is worth stressing that by engaging in activities which are by definition dosed to them, women can overturn social preconceptions and reassert their identity. Engaging in sport enriches women in terms of communication, feelings and sociability. It is certainly true that this process is largely determined by the position of women within a given society, and that they are still under-represented in countries where cultural and religious traditions limit their advancement. However, we will see more and more women choosing to take up a sport, whether this means breaking with the norms of their society or staying within them. Regardless of the path chosen, these women will become role models for many of their peers who see their actions as a contribution, however small, to their emancipation. The Olympic Movement is firmly convinced of the need to encourage sports practice among women, and is working to that end, at the same time taking cultural specifics into account and accommodating them. Women must also play a greater part in decision making. It is our task to facilitate access for women to leadership positions within national and world sport, as it is through them that these ideas can be passed on to future generations, since women are still the privileged interlocutors for education in the broadest sense of the term. Historically, and although the 1896 Olympic Games were not opened to women, they were already taking part in physical activities in the ancient times, and particularly in the competitions of the Her Games, staged specifically for them. Historical documents also show that Roman women were engaged in horse-tiding and swimming. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, women put leisure activities aside, as did men. But the following centuries were marked by renewed interest, until at the end of the nineteenth century women became more involved in sports activities by establishing their own clubs and taking up new sports. Women’ s first participation in the Olympic Games goes back to 1900 when they took part in the tennis and golf events and in an increasing number of other sports in following years. We are pleased to see that Coubertin’ s reservations did not prevent women from participating nor did it stop them from organizing their own Women’ s Olympiad at Monaco in 1921 on the initiative A/ice Milliat, the great champion of women’ s rights in European sport. More generally since the 1970s, we have seen a rising awareness of the contribution of sport to well-being and in particular to that of women. Women’ s sports associations and clubs have made their appearance mostly in the developed countries but also in developing ones. Thanks to the efforts of women and their struggle for equality, women’ s competitive sport has gained full recognition. As a result, women today took part in the Games of the XXVI Olympiad in the United States of America, in 1996, with a program of 21 sports, and 108 events, including 11 mixed events, and will compete in six sports and 31 events, including 2 mixed events, in the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. It was also with the aim of promoting women’ s sport that the IOC decided tall sports seeking inclusion in the Olympic program must include women’ s events. According to the 3rd paragraph of this passage, in passing on the spirit of the Olympic Movement to the younger generations, women______.

A. play a unique role that men cannot replace
B. must take up all leadership positions within national and international sport organizations
C. need to be further educated
D. should exclude men in making important decisions

Questions 6 to 7 are based on tire following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the two questions. Now listen to the news. Russia and the US agreed in 1996 that Russia would provide the US

A. necessary supplies until next April.
B. technological support until next April.
C. free crew and cargo transportation to the station until next April.
D. crew and cargo transportation to the station at some charge.

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