1. 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出最佳选项。

    Ongoing conflicts across the Middle East have prevented more than 13 million children from attending school, according to a report published by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

    The report states that 40% of all children across the region are currently not receiving an education, which is a result of two consequences of violence: structural damage to schools and the displacement (转移) of populations, also called “forced migration.” Both issues result from the violence that has crossed the region in recent years. The report examines nine countries where a state of war has become the ordinary state. Across these countries, violence has made 8,500 schools unusable. In certain cases, communities have relied on school buildings to function as shelters for the displaced, with up to nine families living in a single classroom in former schools across Iraq.

    The report pays particularly close attention to Syria, where a bloody civil war has displaced at least nine million people since the war began in 2011. With the crisis (危机) now in its fifth year, basic public services, including education, inside Syria have been stretched (竭尽所能) to breaking point. Within the country, the quality and availability of education depends on whether a particular region is suffering violence.

    The report concludes with an earnest request to international policymakers to offer money and other resources to help ease the regional crisis. With more than 13 million children already driven from classrooms by conflict, the educational future of a generation of children are in the balance. This is destroying the future for an entire region.

1. （1） What is this article mainly about?

   A . Why people are moving away from their own countries. B . Why there are civil wars and violence in the Middle East. C . Why many schools have become shelters for displaced families. D . Why many children in the Middle East are not attending school.
3. （2） Why is “Iraq” mentioned in the second paragraph?

   A . To convince people that temporary housing can be easily found. B . To prove that class rooms there are big enough to host many families. C . To give an example of why schools are not usable for children's learning. D . To show how structural damages of school can affect the quality of education.
5. （3） What does the phrase “in the balance” in the last paragraph most likely mean?

   A . Being well taken care of. B . In an uncertain situation. C . Under control by the authority. D . Moving in the wrong direction.
7. （4） According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

   A . The war in Syria has been going on since 2011. B . More than nine thousand schools have been destroyed by wars. C . Thirteen million people have been forced to leave their homes in the Middle East. D . Forty percent of all children in the world are not attending schools due to ongoing conflict.