TEXT B The CBI will this week announce a Think British campaign aimed at cutting imports and stimulating home industries. The man behind the move is Sir Derek Ezra, chairman of the National Coal Board, who has persuaded the CBIs council that firms can buy British supplies without paying more for their patriotism. The target of a conference the CBI is calling early in the New Year will be the 50 biggest manufacturing companies in the private sector and 16 leading firms in distribution who together spend ?5bn a year. Sir Derek says "By actively pursuing a policy on the line I have described they could have a major impact in stimulating industrial competitiveness and growth". Nationalized industries have already switched up to ?00m worth of their buying from foreign suppliers to British firms in the past year. In a paper which went to the CBI council last week, Sir Derek produced figures to demonstrate how, by hunting out suppliers who were prepared to co-operate closely in developing equipment and materials at the right quality and price, the nationalized enterprises have succeeded in getting what they want and in boosting Britains exports. The NCB itself, at the same time as cutting back the import content of its annual 1,000m worth of purchases to 2.6%, has helped the British mining equipment industry to raise its exports from ?6m to ?29m in two years. The public enterprises together, who spent up to ?0bn on goods and services each year, have cut the amount they buy abroad from 4.3% to 3.4% over the past year. Sir Derek emphasizes that this has not been done by sacrificing profitability. But, Debenhams, one of the handful of retail chains who have been pursing a similar policy, says that it has had to accept the a cut in its own margins so far to make it work. The chain has replaced ?5m worth of Italian shirts and socks by British products during the past nine months.
69. One of the aims of Think British campaign is to _____.
A) cut exports
B) stimulate imports
C) develop new products
D) encourage domestic industries
70. Which of the following is true about nationalized industries?
A) They bought ￡100m of British supplies in the past year.
B) They bought ￡129m of foreign supplies in the past year.
C) They bought ￡1,000m of British supplies in the past year.
D) They bought ￡26m of foreign supplies in the past year.
71. The British mining equipment industry is _____.
A) privately owned
B) publicly owned
C) jointly owned
D) internationally owned
72. The word "this" (final paragraph) refers to _____.
A) the public sector.
B) the Think British campaign
C) the British mining equipment industry
D) reduced purchases of foreign goods
TEXT C Just a few seconds of frenzied passion on the floor of the public bar and things would never be the same again for Michelle. It only took a few minutes to ruin her life. The end of all her hopes and dreams, her childhood and teenage innocence, all stripped away the first and only time she ever surrendered herself to a man. No one saw it happen, but the news spread fast, it wasnt long before the whole of Britain knew what had happened in the Queen Victoria —— Dirty Den, the landlord, had done it again. Only this time he had gone too far. For the millions who have agonized with her, Michelles pregnancy seems a terrible price to pay for one mistake —— a little youthful stupidity. Yet, with the increasing number of teenage single mums, its not just a problem dreamed up for a soap opera —— as actress Susan Tully, who plays Michelle, has discovered from hundreds of letters: Its a dilemma many young girls face. As she talks about Michelle and her baby, its easy to understand why Susan has been so successful in the role. Even though shed never had an experience like it herself, its one she recognizes all too clearly from what happens to some of her contemporaries at school. Michelle might almost be her younger sister rather than a fictional part in Britains most successful soap opera. Susan says that she never became involved with men during her school years because of her work. With her time being split equally between school and television studios, she was busy learning lines while her girlfriends were dating boys. While they went out to discuss and parties in the evening she was desperately catching up on her schoolwork. "I dont feel as though Ive missed out on anything," she insists. "And unlike a lot of my friends, Ive got plenty to look forward to. Thats whats so nice about my boyfriend now. Its very comfortable and theres lots to find out about each other." "Its then that I feel sad for Michelle. When she should be going out and having fun, shes having to worry about whether shes going to breastfeed the baby. Shes had to say goodbye to being a teenage."
73. How did Susan avoid the dangers that many of her school friends faced?
A) By thinking of Michelle as her younger sister.
B) By doing many projects at home.
C) By working hard at school and at the TV studio.
D) By dating her boyfriend during her school years.
74. According to the passage, Susan Tully is sorry for Michelle because Michelle has to _____.
A) grow old quickly
B) catch up on her schoolwork
C) write many letters every day
D) work late in the evening
75. The best title for this passage is _____.
A) Sorry for Susan Tully
B) Sorry for Michelle
C) Susan's School Years
D) Susan's Hopes and Dreams
