32. As is suggested in Paragraph 2, the two factors relevant to women’s longer lifespan are ____.

A diseases and road accidents

B industrialization and work strains

C their endurance of work strains and reluctance for adventure 

D their immunity to heart disease and refusal of alcohol

33. According to Paragraph3, which of the following statements is true?

A The great number of male smokers contributes to the age gap.

B The growing number of smoking women will narrow the age gap.

C Smoking does not seem to affect women’s longevity.

D Female workers are more likely to smoke than make workers.

34. Which of the following phenomena makes researchers puzzled?

A Through more liable to illnesses, women still live longer..

B Men’s health is more closely related to their emotions

C Men show worse symptoms than women when they fall ill.

D Quite a number of men die soon after their retirement.

35. The word” edge” in Paragraph 6 means “_____”.

A margin

B side

C quality 

D advantage

36. What is the main idea of the passage?

A That women are healthier than men well explains their longevity.

B The greater longevity of women remains a mystery.

C People are living longer as a result of industrialization.

D Women are less emotionally affected by difficulties in life.

Passage Two

Until last spring, Nia Parker and the other kids in her neighborhood commuted to school on Bus 59. But as fuel prices rose, the school district needed to find a way to cut its transportation costs. So the school’s busing company redrew its route map, eliminating Nia’s bus altogether. Now Nia and her neighbors travel the half mile to school via a “walking school bus”—a group of kids, supervised by an adult or two, who make the walk together.

 Like the rest of us, school districts are feeling pinched by rising fuel costs—and finding new way to adapt. The price of diesel fuel has gone up 34 percent in the past two years. For the typical American school district, bus bills total 5 percent of the budget. As administrators look to trim, busing is an inviting target, since it doesn’t affect classroom instruction (or test scores). More than one third of American school administrators have eliminated bus stops or routes in order to stay within budget.

Many parents are delighted to see their kids walking to school, partly because many did so themselves: according to a 1969 survey, nearly half of school kids walked or biked to school, compared with only 16 percent in 2001. modern parents have been unwilling to let kids walk to school for fear of traffic, crime or simple bullying, but with organized adult supervision, those concerns have diminished.

Schools and busing companies are finding other ways to save. In rural areas where busing is a must, some schools have even chosen four-day school weeks. Busing companies instruct drivers to eliminate extra stops from routes and to turn off the engine while idling. They are also using computer software to determine the most fuel-efficient routes, which aren’t always the shortest ones.