_______________[A] Quebec’s resistance to a national agency is provincialist ideology. One of the first advocates for a national list was a researcher at Laval University. Quebec’s Drug Insurance Fund has seen its costs skyrocket with annual increases fro

What has CSS recently undergone?

What does the letter say about Ms. Brancato?

Passage 3　　Canada’s premiers (the leaders of provincial governments), if they have any breath left after complaining about Ottawa at their late July annual meeting, might spare a moment to do something, together, to reduce health-care costs.　　They’re all groaning about soaring health budgets, the fastest-growing components of which are pharmaceutical costs.　　(1) ______　　What to do? Both the Romanow commission and the Kirby committee on health care—to say nothing of reports from other experts—recommended the creation of a national drug agency. Instead of each province having its own list of approved drugs, bureaucracy, procedures and limited bargaining power, all would pool resources, work with Ottawa, and create a national institution.　　(2) ______　　But “national” doesn’t have to mean that. “National” could mean interprovincial—provinces combining efforts to create one body.　　Either way, one benefit of a “national” organization would be to negotiate better prices, if possible, with drug manufacturers. Instead of having one province—or a series of hospitals within a province—negotiate a price for a given drug on the provincial list, the national agency would negotiate on behalf of all provinces.　　Rather than, say, Quebec, negotiating on behalf of seven million people, the national agency would negotiate on behalf of 31 million people. Basic economics suggests the greater the potential consumers, the higher the likelihood of a better price.　　(3) ______　　A small step has been taken in the direction of a national agency with the creation of the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment, funded by Ottawa and the provinces. Under it, a Common Drug Review recommends to provincial lists which new drugs should be included. Predictably, and regrettably, Quebec refused to join.　　A few premiers are suspicious of any federal-provincial deal-making. They (particularly Quebec and Alberta) just want Ottawa to fork over additional billions with few, if any, strings attached. That’s one reason why the idea of a national list hasn’t gone anywhere, while drug costs keep rising fast.　　(4) ______　　Premiers love to quote Mr. Romanow’s report selectively, especially the parts about more federal money. Perhaps they should read what he had to say about drugs: “A national drug agency would provide governments more influence on pharmaceutical companies in order to constrain the ever-increasing cost of drugs.”　　(5) ______　　So when the premiers gather in Niagara Falls to assemble their usual complaint list, they should also get cracking about something in their jurisdiction that would help their budgets and patients.[A] Quebec’s resistance to a national agency is provincialist ideology. One of the first advocates for a national list was a researcher at Laval University. Quebec’s Drug Insurance Fund has seen its costs skyrocket with annual increases from 14.3 percent to 26.8 percent![B] Or they could read Mr. Kirby’s report: “the substantial buying power of such an agency would strengthen the public prescription-drug insurance plans to negotiate the lowest possible purchase prices from drug companies.”[C] What does “national” mean? Roy Romanow and Senator Michael Kirby recommended a federal-provincial body much like the recently created National Health Council.[D] The problem is simple and stark: health-care costs have been, are, and will continue to increase faster than government revenues.[E] According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, prescription drug costs have risen since 1997 at twice the rate of overall health-care spending. Part of the increase comes from drugs being used to replace other kinds of treatment. Part of it arises from new drugs costing more than older kinds. Part of it is higher prices.[F] So, if the provinces want to run the health-care show, they should prove they can run it, starting with an interprovincial health list that would end duplication, save administrative costs, prevent one province from being played off against another, and bargain for better drug prices.[G] Of course, the pharmaceutical companies will scream. They like divided buyers; they can lobby better that way. They can use the threat of removing jobs from one province to another. They can hope that, if one province includes a drug on its list, the pressure will cause others to include it on theirs. They wouldn’t like a national agency, but self-interest would lead them to deal with it.

Yellow Stone National Park is one of the older parks in the U.S.It was established by Congress in 1872.

Passage 14Questions 8—12　　● Read the article below about GE.　　● Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.　　● For each gap (8—12), mark one letter (A—G) on your Answer Sheet.　　● Do not use any letter more than once.　　● There is an example at the beginning, (0).A slipping crown　　For decades America’s General Electric (GE) has worn its AAA credit rating as a badge of pride. The company has also used it to mint money in its financial-services business, GE Capital. No longer (0)______. That added insult to the injury that GE has already suffered.　　Last year the outfit generated a profit of $8.6 billion or almost 48％ of GE’s total earnings. By exploiting its AAA rating, GE Capital was able to raise capital cheaply and then deploy it to fund everything from commercial-property and home loans to credit-card lending and insurance. (8)______. Announcing its decision to downgrade the business, S&P predicted rising credit losses in coming months in several areas of GE Capital’s portfolio.　　Although GE’s demotion from AAA was bad news, it triggered a rise in the firm’s shares, which had recently been trading at about the same price as one of the light bulbs that the company makes. (9)______. They may also have taken comfort from the agency’s conclusion that GE’s industrial businesses should continue to pump oodles of cash, in spite of the global downturn.　　Yet some financial analysts are still fretting that GE Capital’s portfolio may contain more nasty surprises. (10)______. They also wonder out loud whether Moody’s, another rating agency, will take a more pessimistic view of GE’s prospects when it finishes a review of the AAA rating that it still assigns to the firm.　　Next week GE plans to hold an in-depth briefing on the state of the assets in GE Capital’s portfolio, which will help to dispel the cloud still hanging over the business. It has also been telling anyone who will listen that it doesn’t expect this week’s downgrade to have a significant impact on its business, though it does plan to keep shrinking GE Capital’s activities so that the unit represents no more than 30％ of total profit. (11)______. GE is sitting on $48 billion of cash and has already raised over 90％ of its long-term debt needs for this year—no mean feat in a dire credit market.　　The company also plans to slash its dividend from the second half of 2009, which it reckons to conserve an additional $9 billion a year on an ongoing basis. (12)______.. In his annual letter to shareholders published recently, Mr. Immelt admitted that GE’S reputation had been “tarnished”.　　A. This has made some of the company’s small investors apoplectic; they have grown used to juicy dividend payments.　　B. Jeff Immelt, GE’s CEO, has said that the overall company will continue to manage itself like a AAA-rated firm, notably by keeping plenty of liquidity to hand.　　C. Resolving lingering doubts over GE Capital quickly will be essential if one of America’s most iconic companies is to regain its shine.　　D. They point out that the business does not mark many of its assets to their market price—a practice that has blown huge holes in the finances of many big banks.　　E. No doubt investors were relieved that S&P didn’t make an even deeper cut in the company’s rating.　　F. But the chaos triggered by the credit crunch has taken the shine off GE’s cash machine, which has seen some of its property and other loans turn sour.　　G. S&P stripped the company and its financial arm of their top-notch ratings, downgrading them to AA-plus.

Pixwell Corporation’s latest video camera is noted to be far ______ to its first one.

Quebec province in Canada has a strong _____ culture.

Modern means of transportation, telecommunication and mass media have shortened the geographical distance of the world. The international community appears to be no more than a global village, in which people of different nations engage themselves in cultural exchange, while seeking common development in harmonious and respectful relationship. I think different cultures should learn from each other’s strengths to offset their own weaknesses. However, we also have to understand that cultural exchange is by no means a process of losing one’s own culture to a foreign one, but a process of enriching each other’s national cultures. Of course, the culture of a nation must withhold its own distinctive national characteristics in its extensive exchange with other cultures, and make contributions to the development of human civilization.

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

According to Ohm’s Law， which of the following is correct？（）

Stamping on any country's national flag is an（）to its people.

The first national park in the United States, _____, including “Old Faithful”, is famous for its geysers and for its bears and buffalo.