About 40 percent of the top students in college entrance examinations have chosen overseas universities for their postgraduate studies, according to a survey.
Most of them have stayed overseas after finishing their intended courses, showed a survey that tracked 130 top performers in college entrance exams from 1977 to 1998.
The survey, released on the China Alumni Association website, found it worrying that many of the top students would not ________ despite the country’s rapid development in the past few decades.
The government should find better ways to hold back talented students, said Cai Yanhou, a professor with Central South University in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province.
UNESCO figures show Chinese students comprise 14 percent of international students, the highest in the world. Their favorite destinations for higher studies are the US, Britain and Japan. Some experts said handsome scholarships, better job prospects and more opportunities to pursue further studies are the main attractions of foreign universities.
But Cai, who also led the survey team, said "top in exams" does not necessarily mean "top in career" because the study found none of the top students at college entrance exams had become a top Chinese expert or academic. Some of them are just more adaptable to exam-oriented education than their peers, experts said.
The media fill pages and time slots with their "success" stories to gain wider readership and viewership. High schools promote their former students proudly to attract new ones, and universities want to show their superior status by recruiting them, they said.
Wang hoped future reforms would do away with the score-oriented method so that students can be judged from all aspects.
1. What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words)
2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
The top students’ “success” stories are widely announced by the media to attract the readers’ and the viewers’ interest.
3. Please fill in the blank in the second paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words)
4. If you are one of the top students in college entrance examinations, will you choose to study abroad? Why or why not?(Please answer within 30 words)
5. Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese
Concern with money, and then more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modern life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are working harder than ever before in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappearing. Offices, shops, and factories are discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunch rooms. In almost all lines of work emphasis now falls on ever increasing output. Thus the “typical” Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of only a generation ago. He gains in creature comfort and ease of life. What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality.
Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the United States is a world symbol of the technological society and its consumer products. The so called Americanization of France has its critics. They fear that “assembly line life” will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French style. What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local café?
Since the late 1950s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable violence.
In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old.Which of the following is a feature of the old French way of life?
| A．Leisure, elegance, and efficiency |
| B．Elegance, efficiency, and taste |
| C．Leisure, elegance, and taste |
| D．Elegance, efficiency, and leisure |
Which of the following is NOT true about Frenchmen?
| A．Many of them prefer the modern life style. |
| B．They actually enjoy working at the assembly line. |
| C．They are more concerned with money than before. |
| D．They are more competitive than the old generation. |
The passage suggests that _________.
| A．in pursuing material gains the French are suffering losses elsewhere |
| B．it’s now unlikely to see a Frenchman enjoying a stroll by the river |
| C．the French are fed up with the smell of freshly picked apples |
| D．great changes have occurred in the life style of all Frenchmen |
Which of the following is true about the critics?
| A．Critics are greater in number than people enjoying the new way of life. |
| B．Students critics are greater in number than critics in other fields. |
| C．Students critics have, on occasion, resorted to violent means against the trend. |
| D．Critics are concerned solely with the present and not the future. |
Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
| A．Changes in the French Way of Life |
| B．Criticism of the New Life Style |
| C．The Americanization of France |
| D．Features of the New Way of Life |
1685 was a very good year for German composers. Within the space of a month, two of the greatest were born: Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
Handel’s father was a barber and surgeon, which sounds like a strange combination today, but back then those occupations went hand in hand. Even though Handel was very interested in music, his father didn’t think that was a good way to earn a living, so he wanted his son to be a lawyer. The story goes that Handel smuggled a quiet piano into the house so that he could practice in secret.
One day, Handel went along when his father went to shave a duke. While his father was working, Handel sat down and played the duke’s organ. The duke was so impressed that he convinced Handel’s father to let his son study music, and Handel finally got to learn how to compose.
Handel soon discovered that what he liked most was opera. In fact, he was so passionate about opera that he even fought a duel (决斗) over it with one of his friends. Since Italy was the place to learn about opera composing, Handel went off to Italy to study. When he got home, he got a job as court composer for a German prince.
Having landed such a wonderful job, Handel immediately asked his boss for time off. He wanted to go to England, where he’d heard that there weren’t nearly enough composers to satisfy the British taste for Italian opera.
After great success writing opera in London, Handel came back to Germany. Then fate played a funny trick on Handel and his boss. The Queen of England died, and it just so happened that the prince Handel worked for was next in line to the British throne. When he arrived in London as King George, followed Handel, his court composer in Germany.
In addition to serving the King, Handel became one of the most successful opera composers of his time. And he also produced them and traveled all over Europe to hire the best singers. There are stories of battles with rival opera producers and of fights between rival singers. Handel apparently had quite a temper.
If you ever go to London, look for Handel’s grave in Westminster Abbey, where there’s a wonderful monument to him.How did Handel begin to learn to compose?
| A．His father was sure of his future success. |
| B．His performance impressed a duke. |
| C．He begged his father to send him to Italy. |
| D．He practiced hard and taught himself music. |
What does the underlined word “smuggled” mean in the passage?
| A．bought secretly | B．took secretly |
| C．carried in advance | D．possessed personally |
Why did Handel later settle down in Britain instead of Germany?
| A．Because he could find better jobs in London. |
| B．Because he enjoyed greater fame in London. |
| C．Because his boss became King of Britain and brought him along. |
| D．Because London was a wonderful place to learn about opera. |
Which of the following words can NOT be used to describe Handel, as shown in the passage?
| A．bad-tempered | B．talented | C．enthusiastic | D．optimistic |
Which of the following statements is WRONG according to the passage?
| A．Handel was born in the same year with Bach. |
| B．Many people worked both as a barber and a surgeon. |
| C．Handel quit his job to learn about opera in Italy. |
| D．Handel was buried in London and was built a monument. |
“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton (骨骼) in the closet (衣橱)?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”
“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t you great-great grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry for my asking. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.
After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper, pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank into a faint (晕倒), waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the closet” means ______.
| A．a family honor | B．a family secret | C．a family story | D．a family treasure |
What can we learn about some Australian’s ancestors from Paragraph 2?
| A．They were brought to Australia as prisoners. |
| B．They were the earliest people living in Australia. |
| C．They were involved in some crimes in Australia. |
| D．They were not regarded as criminals in their days. |
Jessica’s mother fell down into a faint because she was ______.
| A．knocked | B．frightened | C．injured | D．surprised |
Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?
| A．She was very curious about it. |
| B．She planned to keep it for fun. |
| C．She needed it for her school task. |
| D．She intended to scare her parents. |
Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.
| A．they were quite crazy |
| B．they realized their misunderstanding |
| C．they were overexcited |
| D．they both thought they had won the quarrel |
Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?
To see whether babies know objects are solid. T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion (视觉影像) of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the 16 to 24-week-old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.
Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land (想像中的地方)?
Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to re-appear. If the experiment took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted (替换) a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week-old babies did not seem to notice the switch (更换). Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence,” while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object.The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．babies’ sense of sight |
| B．effects of experiments on babies |
| C．babies’ understanding of objects |
| D．different tests on babies’ feelings |
. In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, “object ______”.
| A．still exists | B．keeps its shape | C．still stays solid | D．is beyond reach |
. What did Bower use in his experiments?
| A．A chair & a screen | B．A screen & a train | C．A film & a train | D．A box & a chair |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The babies didn’t have a sense of direction. |
| B．The older babies preferred toy trains to balls. |
| C．The younger babies liked looking for missing objects |
| D．The babies couldn’t tell a ball from its optical illusion. |
Why do people drink too much, eat too much, smoke cigarettes or take drugs? What’s to blame for all the bad behavior? Most people would say that, while these self-destructive acts can have many root causes, they all have one obvious thing in common: they are all examples of failures of self-control, lacking the will power to resist them.
According to a recent study, however, if you really think about it, something about that simple answer doesn’t quite make sense. In fact, it turns out that sometimes it’s having will power that really gets you into trouble.
Think back to the time you took your very first taste of beer. Feeling sick, wasn’t it? When my father gave me my first try of beer as a teenager, I wondered why anyone would voluntarily drink it. And smoking? No one enjoys their first cigarette — it tastes awful. So even though smoking, and drinking alcohol or coffee, can become temptation (attraction) that you need your will power to resist, they never, ever start out that way.
Just getting past those first horrible experiences actually requires a lot of self-control. Ironically (讽刺的是), only those who can control themselves well, rather than give in to such experiences, can ever someday come to develop a “taste” for Budweiser beer, Marlboro cigarettes, or dark-roasted Starbucks coffee. We do it for social acceptance. We force ourselves to consume alcohol, cigarettes, coffee and even illegal drugs, just in order to seem experienced, grown-up, and cool.
These bad habits aren’t self-control failures — far from it. They are voluntary choices, and they are in fact self-control successes. Self-control is simply a tool to be put to some use, helpful or harmful. To live happy and productive lives, we need to develop not only our self-control, but also the wisdom to make good decisions about when and where to apply it.What do most people think causes bad behavior?
| A．Being forced by others. |
| B．Not having enough will power. |
| C．Enjoying their first experiences. |
| D．Following the examples of their friends. |
The author mentions his experience in the third paragraph to prove ______.
| A．will power helps develop bad habits sometimes |
| B．drinking beer is harmful to the health of teenagers |
| C．self-control should be developed when one is young |
| D．everyone can be challenged by different temptations |
In the last paragraph, the author stresses (强调) that ______.
| A．without self-control, no one can succeed |
| B．bad habits don’t always lead to bad results |
| C．applying self-control correctly is important |
| D．people can develop wisdom from bad behavior |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．My First Taste of Beer | B．Do You Have Will Power? |
| C．Will Power Benefits Us | D．Dark Side of Self-control |