If you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy in recent years, you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial crisis. From there, you might move on to the automakers in Detroit.
But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee: public education.
At its top level, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world. Yet in terms of its core mission---turning teenagers into educated college graduates--- much of the system is failing.
The United States does a good job enrolling (招生) teenagers in college, but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree.
So identifying the causes of the college dropout crisis in the world’s largest economy matters enormously, and a new book called “Crossing the Finish Line” tries to do precisely that. Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael McPherson, and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chingos. The first problem they diagnose is something they call under-matching. It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into. They instead go to a less selective one, perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive. About half of the low-income students with a grade-point average of at least 3.5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have. “I was really astonished by the degree to which well-qualified students from poor families under-matched,” said Mr. Bowen.
In fact, well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates. Meanwhile, lower-income students -–even when they are better qualified—often go to colleges that excel（擅长）in producing drop-outs. “It’s really a waste,” Mr. Bowen said, “and a big problem for the country.” As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate significantly is to lift it among poor and working-class students. Instead, it appears to have fallen.
What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer.
71. Which of the following would people first think of as a factor responsible for the American financial crisis according to this passage?
A. The government. B. Public education
C. The Detroit automakers. D. The Wall Street firms.
72. What is a big problem with American higher education?
A. It is hard to enroll enough students into college.
B. Many colleges are experiencing low rate of graduation.
C. Many college students stay away from classes.
D. It is hard for many colleges to get financial aid from the government.
73. The title of the book Crossing the Finish Line probably means______.
A. running to the end of the line B. going to college
C. finishing college education D. working hard in college
74. Why do some students under--match ?
A. Because they have financial difficulty. B. Because they face ambition crisis.
C. Because they lack confidence. D. Because they can’t get guidance.
75. The passage is mainly about _______.
A. problems with secondary American education and possible solutions
B. America’s financial crisis, its cause and influence
C. low rate of American college graduation, its cause and its influence
D. relationship between American education and its economy
People can be addicted to different things — e.g. alcohol, drug, certain foods, or even television. People who have such an addiction are compulsive: they have a very powerful psychological need that they feel they must satisfy. According to psychologists, many people are compulsive spenders. They feel that they must spend money. This compulsion, like most others, is impossible to explain reasonably. For compulsive spenders who buy on credit, charge accounts are even more exciting than money. In other words, compulsive spenders feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasure in spending large amounts is actually greater than the pleasure that they get from the things they buy.
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game. When they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and the real reason.
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business. They consider people’s needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, and so on in their advertising and sales methods.
Psychologists often use a method called “behavior therapy(疗法)” to help individuals solve their personality problems. In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with money.
60. According to the psychologists, a compulsive spender is one who spends large amounts of money _____.
A. and takes great pleasure from what he or she buys
B. in order to satisfy his or her basic needs in life
C. just to meet his or her strong psychological need
D. and feels he or she is cheated
61. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A. People spend money for exactly the same reason that they need to buy things.
B. Business people and advertisers can use the psychology of people’s spending habits to increase sales.
C. Business people understand the psychology of compulsive buying better than scientists do.
D. Compulsive bargain hunters do not have problems with money.
62. What is the text mainly about?
A. The psychology of money-spending habits. B. The habits of compulsive spenders.
C. A special psychology of bargain hunting.
D. The use of the psychology of spending habits in business.
63. From the text we may safely conclude that compulsive spenders or compulsive bargain hunters _______________.
A. are really unreasonable B. need special treatment
C. are really beyond drugsD. can never get any help to solve their problems with money
IV. Reading Comprehension (40 points)
So far as I know, Miss Hannah was the first person to give the basic difference between work and labor. To be happy, a man must feel, firstly, free and secondly, important. He cannot be really happy if he is forced by society to do what he does not enjoy doing, or what he enjoys doing lowly thought of by society as valueless or unimportant. In a society where slavery in the strict sense has been got rid of, the sign that what a man does is of social value is that he is paid money to do it, but a laborer today can rightly be called a wage slave. A man is a laborer if the job that society offers him is not interesting to himself but he has to take it just owing to the necessity of earning a living and supporting his family.
The opposite side to labor is play. When we play a game, we enjoy what we are doing, otherwise we should not play it, but it is a purely private activity; and society could not care less whether we play it or not.
Between labor and play stands work. A man is a worker if he is personally interested in the job which society pays him to do; what from the point view of society is necessary labor is from his own point of view willing play. Whether a job is to be classified as labor or work depends, not on the job itself, but on the tastes of the individual who does it. The difference does not, for example, agree with the difference between a physical and a mental job; a gardener or a copper may be a worker, a bank clerk is a laborer.
Which a man is can be seen from his attitude toward leisure. To a worker, leisure means simply the hours he needs to relax and rest in order to work efficiently. He is therefore more likely to take too little leisure than too much; workers die of heart attack and forget their wives' birthday. To the laborer, on the other hand, leisure means freedom from compulsion(强迫), so that it is natural for him to imagine that the fewer hours he has to spend laboring, and the more hours he is free to play, the better.
56. A man feels happy when ____________.
A. he is supposed to do what is important in his opinion
B. he has to take a job to earn a living and support his family
C. he is doing something personally interesting and socially valuable
D. what he enjoys doing is what he thinks highly of
57. The reason why a laborer can be called a wage slave is that ___________.
A. he has a family to support
B. his wages are as low as what a slave used to make
C. society doesn't care whether he plays or not
D. he is doing the job only for money, not for interest
58. Whether a job can be classified as labor or work depends on _____________.
A. whether it is a physical or mental B. the tastes of the person who does it
C. the attitude of the society toward it D. the necessity of the job to the society and individual
59. Which of the following can be the best title of the text?
A. Whether to Work or to Play B. Work, Labor, and Play
C. Differences between Labor and Play D. Leisure, Key to Work, Labor and Play
If U．S．software companies don't pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye．Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry．Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top U．S．quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country．
Already, of the world's 12 software houses that have earned the highest rating in the world, seven are in India．That's largely because they have used new methods rejected by American software specialists．For example, for decades, quality specialists, W．Edwards Deming and J．M．Juran had urged U．S．software companies to change their attitudes to quality．But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the U．S -- but not in Japan．By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was grabbing market share with better, cheaper products．They used Deming's and Juran's ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs．In U．S．factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%．In software, it still is．
Watts S．Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance．But his advice was seldom paid attention to．He retired from IBM in 1986．In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(evaluating) and improving software quality．It has proved its value time and again．For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60% of total software production costs．It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10%．
Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home．The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India．Let's hope that U．S．lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems．
72．What country has more highest-rating companies in the world than any other country has?
A．India． B．The US． C．Brazil． D．Germany．
73．Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?
A．He is now still an IBM employer．B．He has worked for IBM for 37 years．
C．India honors him highly．
D．The US pays much attention to his quality advice．
74．By what means did Japan grab its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?
A．Its advertising was most successful．
B．Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality．
C．The US hardware industry was lagging behind
D．Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists．
75． What is the writer worrying about?
A．Many US software specialists are working for Japan．
B．The quality problem has become a worldwide problem．
C．India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US．
D．The US will no longer be the first software player in the world
Few people would question the value of taking part in sports for young people．With proper training，supervision，protective equipment and techniques，and an proper emphasis on winning，sports can develop a healthy body and spirit and a life-long interest in being active and fit .Without such measures，childhood sports can lead to injuries and even paralysis or death．
Even in the best conditions，no activity can be risk—free．But most serious hazards are preventable．Cyclists and football players can reduce their risks by wearing helmets；hockey players by wearing masks；basketball and tennis players by wearing eye guards；baseball players by wearing batting helmets．
Besides，risks to individual players can often be found，and thus prevented，through a properly performed medical exam before a child plays．For accidents that may not be preventable，having an emergency plan and first-aid equipment，and someone trained to use the equipment，can be lifesaving．
Still，each year，according to the American College of Sports Medicine，more than 775,000 children under 14 are treated in emergency rooms for sports injuries，nearly half of them preventable．An estimated 300,000 athletes experience exercise—related head illnesses each year，and almost all of them should have been avoided．
Further，from half to three—fourths of sports-related concussions（脑震荡） are never even diagnosed；the injured are often sent back in to play too soon and put at risk of another more serious brain—damaging concussion．To help reduce these risks, the National Center for Sports Safety, with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, offers a three-hour online safety course for coaches for $28 at www.SportsSafety.org.
68．Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A．All the accidents can be prevented．B．All the accidents cannot be prevented．
C．Lives can be saved so long as there is proper equipment．
D．Lives cannot be saved even if there is proper equipment．
69．What does the underlined word “hazards”(in paragraph 2)mean?
A．mistakes B．diseasesC．dangers D．situations
70．It is implied in the passage that．
A．prevention of injuries is not paid enough attention to
B．children under 14 are more easily hurt in sports
C．most head illnesses are related with exercise
D．none of the head illnesses should have happened
71．What can coaches mainly learn from the online safety course?
A．How to cure brain-damaging concussion．
B．How to diagnose brain-damaging concussion．
C．How to predict the possibility of brain damage．
D．How to deal with the injured properly．
A long-awaited final report from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concludes that foods from healthy cloned animals and their offspring(后代) are as safe as those from ordinary animals, effectively removing the last US regulatory(监管的) barrier to the marketing of meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats.
The 968-page final report, not yet released but obtained by The Washington Post, finds no evidence to support people’s concerns that food from clones may have hidden risks.
But, recognizing that a majority of consumers are wary of food from clones—and that cloning could damage the good image of American milk and meat—the report includes hundreds of pages of raw(原始的) data so that others can see how it came to its conclusions.
The report also admits that human health concerns are not the only subject raised by the coming-out of cloned farm animals.
“Moral, religious and ethical concerns have been raised,” the agency notes in a document accompanying the report. But the report is “exactly a science-based evaluation.” It reports, because the agency is not authorized by law to consider those subjects.
In practice, it will be years before foods from clones make their way to store shelves in large quantities, in part because the clones themselves are too valuable to kill for meat or milk. Instead, the expensive animals—replicas(复制品) of some of the finest farm animals ever born—will be used firstly as breeding stock to create what supporters say will be a new generation of superior farm animals.
When food from those animals hits the market, the public may yet have its say. FDA officials have said they do not expect to require food from clones to be labeled as such, but they may allow foods from ordinary animals to be labeled as not from clones.
64. What can we infer from the first paragraph?
A. FDA has waited for a long time to get this final report.
B. Products from cloned animals have been put into the market before.
C. People are having the products from cloned animals safely.
D. There have been once opposite opinions against cloned products.
65. What does the underlined word “wary” mean?
A. Disappointed. B. Careful. C. Fond. D. Proud.
66. It will be a few years before foods from clones come into the market, partly because _____.
A. people have little knowledge of the cloned animals
B. supporters can’t give powerful evidence to support that
C. the few cloned animals will first be used to create superior animals
D. they are a new generation for the customers and are too valuable for the customers
67. What can we conclude from the passage?
A. FDA officials encourage people to eat more food from clones.
B. FDA officials think the food from clones will sell better than ordinary food.
C. People only worry about the health problems when it comes to foods from the clones.
D. All the foods will not have detailed labels on them.