A university is not just about careers and getting a well-paid job after graduation — it’s a place for learning about yourself and the world.
So how to select a suitable university is of great importance. How do you decide on a school when there are thousands of them to pick from? Start by asking yourself questions about your preferences:
What are my strengths?
1.Am I interested in liberal arts or science or business?
2.What kind of learning environment is best for me?
3.Would I be more comfortable in a small school or a large one?
4.Do I want to stay close to home or live far away?
5.Would I prefer to be in a city environment or a small college town?
6.Do I like being with people who are mostly like me or do I want to meet a different group?
Ask friends and older people who are in college about their schools and about other schools they’re familiar with. Talk to one of your teachers and go to college fairs when they visit your town.
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, ask the schools to send you related materials and visit their websites. When you’ve cut your list down to a manageable number, make arrangements to visit. Try to do this when the schools are having regular classes, so you can get a good idea of what life is really like on campus.
And remember: you’re not the only one making a decision. Schools are picking from a large pool of students. They want to know how excellent you are and what makes you stand out from everyone else. They will look at your school performance, test scores, and so on, so it’s important to devote time and effort to all these things. According to the passage, when deciding on a college you need NOT consider ______.
| A．in which aspect you are superior to others |
| B．what kind of people you’d like to meet |
| C．what kind of college environment you like |
| D．whether the college has an exchange-student program |
When you have got a manageable number of choices, you’d better _______.
| A．visit the schools when they have regular classes |
| B．ask the schools to send you related materials |
| C．go to college fairs with your friends |
| D．discuss them with your teachers |
The underlined part in the last paragraph means that ______.
| A．you can’t make the decision all by yourself |
| B．schools are also judging whether you’re qualified for them |
| C．your school grades often play a role in choosing a college |
| D．making a decision all by yourself is really hard |
From bankers to factory staff, employees in the West face a cold prospect of losing their jobs as a global recession(衰退) starts to bite. For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.
Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian companies try harder to preserve jobs in difficult times, which will prevent unemployment and may help Asian economies survive at a time of slowing exports. The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for companies to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, but build up a more loyal and devoted group.
"In the Confucian mindset(儒家思想), the right thing to do is to share the burden（负担）, which is the sense of collective responsibility. While in the West, it's more about individual survival," said Michael Benoliel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University (SMU).
In contrast, local Western companies from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousands, but at the Asian units of Western multinationals or western units of Asian groups, job cuts will probably be less severe.
Japan's jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong's was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January.
Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals(对手) from abroad.The underlined word "prospect" in the first paragraph most probably means _________.
| A．future | B．scene |
| C．weather | D．place |
Compared with job cuts, pay cuts can bring the following benefits EXCEPT that _________.
| A．it's helpful to the economy recovery |
| B．it can form a team working harder and more loyally |
| C．it will keep the experienced and skilled workers |
| D．it costs the company less money to survive |
According to Michael Benoliel, the Confucian mindset focuses on _________.
| A．human rights |
| B．personal profits |
| C．sharing responsibility |
| D．individual survival |
The passage mainly tells us ________.
| A．the difficulties all the companies around the world will meet with today |
| B．the different labor solutions of Asian and Western in global recession |
| C．the ways to cut down the cost of the companies in economic downturn |
| D．the cultural differences between Eastern and Western world at present |
We were moving to a new state after my husband had been out of work for many months and we had no money. In fact, we had to borrow money to reach our destination town. Anyway, it was my husband, two boys aged four and two, and myself, seven months pregnant (怀孕), in an old Volvo station wagon. We had been driving for two days in the middle of winter (that car’s heater didn’t work), and we had taken a route that was very desolate. There was nothing around for miles－no cars, buildings or signs of civilization. Suddenly, our car started losing power and the gauges(汽油表) went all out of order. We saw a light in the distance and managed to roll to a stop in front of this property that looked like a small simple house. Our cell phones had not gotten reception for many miles, and it was freezing outside, so I didn’t know if we were going to make it out of this situation alive. My husband got out of the car to see if there was something he could do to get us rolling again, but it was not looking good. A short while later, a man came out of the house and spoke with my husband a bit before inviting us all into his home. He and his wife took us in, fed us, and made us feel at home as we struggled to find some way to get to our destination, which was still a few hours’ drive away. We were able to call a friend and get a ride, leaving our broken car behind, but not before the couple gave us food and water for our journey. One week later, this dear sweet couple pulled our car all the way to our place and refused to take anything in return, except for us to pay it forward－and we have, and will continue to do it forever.We can learn from the text that the family________.
| A．had a hopeless future |
| B．was in financial difficulty |
| C．suffered from a company crash |
| D．wanted to turn to their relatives for help |
The underlined word “ desolate” probably mean________.
| A．deserted | B．advanced |
| C．smooth | D．muddy |
Knowing that the wagon had broken down, the author________.
| A．called her friend several miles away for help |
| B．stopped the car in front of a simple service station |
| C．was afraid that they couldn’t overcome the difficulty |
| D．encouraged her husband and children to be confident |
We can learn from the text that the family___________.
| A．got out of their financial difficulty |
| B．met with more troubles after that |
| C．came back to thank the couple who had helped them |
| D．followed the couple’s example in return for their help |
This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.
Littleton Children’s Home
We don’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome. Also — we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much—will you share it?
Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.
Children’s Hospice
We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff. We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.
Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road.
Street Food
In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we urgently need some new saucepans. Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.
Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way. Littleton Phone 27713.
Littleton Youth Club
Have you got an unwanted chair?—a record player?—a pot of paint? Because we can use them! We want to get to work on our meeting room!
Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us.
Thank you!
The Night Shelter
We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.
Send it to us at 15,Green St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations which work for _________ .
| A．homeless and sick children |
| B．hungry people who have no beds to sleep in |
| C．less lucky members of our society |
| D．friendly members of our society to help others |
If you like children and you could offer a happy family to a homeless child, you may go to _____________ .
| A．Street Food | B．Children’s Home |
| C．Night Shelter | D．Children’s Hospice |
If you want to help but you have no extra to give, you may dial ________ and offer your help.
| A．27713 | B．55671 | C．62735 | D．66231 |
If your child has grown up, you may take the child’s things to ____________ .
| A．Children’s Home and Children’s Hospice |
| B．Youth Club and Children’s Home |
| C．Children’s Hospice and Night Shelter |
| D．Youth Club and Night Shelter |
All over the world people enjoy sports, Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.
Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when "their" player or team wins.
Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for(参加) them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many love to skate or ski in Japan, Norway or Canada.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends. Sports help to train a person’s character. One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace(胜不骄，败不馁).Why do some people get excited when they watch a game? Because _______.
| A．they win the game |
| B．they get the good news |
| C．their favourite team wins |
| D．they can’t help themselves |
Which of the sports has a long history?
| A．Water-skiing. | B．Basketball. |
| C．Volleyball. | D．Long jump. |
Why do people from different countries often become friends after a game together?
Because____________.
| A．they train their character in the game |
| B．they are friendly to each other |
| C．they understand each other |
| D．they help each other |
Friends play an important part in our lives, and although we may take the fact of friendship for granted, we often don’t clearly understand how we make friends. While we get on well with a number of people, we are usually friends with only a very few. For example, the average among students is about 6 per person.
In the beginning, it much depends on how people meet, and on good first impressions. As we get to know people, we consider things like age, race, looks, economic and social status, and intelligence. Although these factors are not of the greatest importance, it is more difficult to have a good relationship with people when there is a big difference in age and background.
We pay attention to actual behavior, facial expression, and the way a person speaks. Friends will stand closer together and soft voices also express friendliness, and it is because they may give the wrong signals that shy people often have difficulty in making friends. A friendly look with the wrong facial expression can turn into an unfriendly stare, and nervousness may be wrongly understood as unfriendliness.
Some relationships are a result of argument and discussion, but it is usual for close friends to have the same ideas and beliefs, the same opinions and interests — they often talk about “being on the same wavelength”. The more closely involved people become, the more they depend on one another. People want to do friends favors and hate to let them down. Equally, friends have to learn to make allowances for each other, to put up with annoying habits, and to accept differences in opinion.
In contrast with marriage, there are no friendship ceremonies to strengthen the relationship between two people. But the mutual support and understanding that results from shared experiences and emotions does seem to create a close and lasting relationship, which can overcome differences in background, and break down barriers of age, class or race.Why should we consider such things as age and background when making friends?
| A．Because people of different age can’t have the same interest. |
| B．Because people who enjoy different social status have nothing in common. |
| C．Because when making friends people need know these. |
| D．Because differences in age and background make it difficult to make friends. |
From the passage we know that ______.
| A．we should hold ceremonies to celebrate our friendship |
| B．we can’t make friends with the people of different races |
| C．friends should understand each other |
| D．argument and discussion may break down the friendship. |
According to the author, unfriendliness may be caused by ______.
| A．worried expressions | B．nervousness |
| C．different opinions | D．wrong words |