New Delhi, India

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan yesterday to cooperate "fully and transparently" in investigations into the Mumbai attacks that have upset India-Pakistan relations. India has said the 10 militants who rampaged through its financial capital killing 171 people were from Pakistan, including one surviving gunman. If Pakistan fails to act swiftly against those responsible, India has threatened to pull out of a nearly five-year-old peace process between the nuclear rivals. "This is the time for everybody to cooperate and to do so transparently, and this is especially a time for Pakistan to do so," Rice told a press conference in New Delhi. (103 words)

Ottawa, Canada

Canada's Minority Conservative government may seek the temporary suspension of Parliament to stop opposition parties from voting it out and taking power, an aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. The Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois signed a deal on Monday committing them to bringing down the government, just seven weeks after it won re-election with a strengthened minority, and forming a coalition government to replace the Conservatives. The opposition says Harper is not doing enough to tackle the fallout from the financial crisis, so they proposed forging a coalition of Liberals and New Democrats, with the separatist Bloc promising its support. (105 words)

Manila, the Philippines

Philippine lawmakers allied to President Gloria Arroyo quashed an impeachment motion against her yesterday, shielding her from opposition moves to unseat her for the fourth time in as many years. Eleven opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber when it became apparent that an overwhelming majority of the 238-member House of Representatives would throw out the impeachment complaint. Voting 183-21, with three abstaining, the House of Representatives adopted a report by a congressional justice panel dismissing the impeachment complaint for lack of substance, blocking a possible trial in the Senate. The complaint against Arroyo, due to serve until mid-2010, were based on charges of corruption, bribery and human rights abuses. Apart from surviving four impeachments, she has also escaped three attempts by troops since 2003 to seize power. (128 words)

Cambridge, United States

Harvard University says its endowment has tumbled $8 billion in the four months since the end of the last fiscal year. The school’s endowment is the largest in higher education. The estimated 22 percent decline is the school's sharpest endowment drop in modern history. The endowment was valued at $36.9 billion on June 3. The school has said its U.S. stock portfolio and foreign equity portfolio had taken hard hits recently. The university's president warned that the estimated drop may be conservative because some money managers have yet to report figures.

Question 6: What can we know about the world’s efforts to fight pirate attacks?

欧盟舰队开赴索马里打击海盗。之前北约海军向该国提供了人道主义援助，但未能对海盗进行有效打击。

Question 7: At a press conference in New Delhi, what did US Secretary of State Rice urge Pakistan to do?

cooperate "fully and transparently" in investigations into the Mumbai attacks 呼吁巴方全力透明地对孟买恐怖主义袭击展开调查

Question 8: What is Canada’s Minority Conservative Government likely to do according to the news?

原文首句seek the temporary suspension of Parliament to stop opposition parties from voting it out and taking power，重点在seek the temporary suspension of Parliament，临时停止议会运作。

Question 9: Which of the following statements is true about the political situation in the Philippines according to the news?

大意为菲律宾总体阿罗约再次躲过议会弹劾。在238席位的众议院投票中，183票支持，21票反对，3票弃权，不支持弹劾总统的动议。

Question 10: At least how much has Harvard University’s endowment dropped since the end of the last fiscal year?

答案：8 billion dollars. 问题中的drop对应原文首句tumble，都表示下降。