Every year, it costs British students more and more to attend university. Students are graduating with larger and larger debts. So is a college degree really worth it?
In 2006, the UK government started to allow universities in England and Wales to charge British students tuition fees. As a result, more than 80 percent of students in England and Wales now take out a student loan in order to go to university.
They use the loan to pay for tuition fees and living expenses. Although the interest on student loans is quite low, it begins as soon as the student receives the loan.
The average student in England and Wales now graduates from university with a debt of around ￡12,000 (122,952 yuan). It means graduates have to struggle to pay rent on a flat, because they have to start paying back the student loan when they reach April after graduating. If you start to earn over ￡15,000 (153,630 yuan) a year, the government takes repayments directly from your monthly salary.
You might think that a person with a degree would find it easy to get a well-paid job. However, most people in “white collar jobs” seem to have a degree, so there is a lot of competition. Also, British companies tend to value work experience over a piece of paper.
All of the above is beginning to make British people question whether a university degree is really worth the money. Even before the credit crisis started, the BBC stated: “The number of British students at UK universities has fallen for the first time in recent history, from 1.97 million in 2007 to 1.96 million last year.”
Meanwhile, the British universities offer more and more of the available places to richer international students rather than poorer British students. What does the future hold for British higher education?What can we infer from the second paragraph?
| A．Universities’ charging students fees is quite common all over the world. |
| B．It’s unfair to charge college students fees in England and Wales. |
| C．Before 2006 the UK universities didn’t charge students tuition fees in England and Wales. |
| D．The UK universities are unwilling to carry out the government’s policy. |
What might be the reason that the number of British students at UK universities falls?
| A．It’s harder and harder for them to get a degree. |
| B．The credit crisis has great influnce on their families’ income. |
| C．College education costs them too much. |
| D．The competition to become a “white collar” is too fiece. |
What does the underlined words “a piece of paper” refer to?
| A．A written document from the bank. | B．A letter of recommendation. |
| C．A filled application form. | D．A diploma. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．More Profits for the Banks | B．College Life in the UK |
| C．Welcome! International Students | D．UK Universities Students Become Poorer |
“REMOVE from friends.”
This is no ordinary button. One click and I have the power to erase a person from my life.
In late fall, I had around 400 friends on Facebook. Today, I have 134.
Click. Make that 133.
When Facebook first entered my life in 2005, I panicked（恐慌、担心） that my friend count was too low. If I wasn’t properly connected, how would anyone see my clever quote(引语)? Who would wish me a happy birthday? I accepted and sent out friend requests without a second thought and soon accumulated 391 friends.
There is an appeal to being able to communicate with someone or just “thumbs(拨动手指) up” a photo rather than make real conversation.
“It’s comforting and it’s easy,” said Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University, who studies the way people communicate online.” There’s a sense of belonging in it. It’s a sense of community in a generation where community has sort of (有点)disappeared.”
However, I don’t talk to half of these people in the online community. There are some I would avoid if I met them on the street.
Click. 132.
I decided to rid my account of any “friend” that…well, wasn’t. Sound easy? You try it.
Look at who you’re dealing with: family, friends, classmates, crushes(爱恋的对象), acquaintances…
With every click of the “Remove from friends” button, you risk burning a bridge, losing a contact and missing an opportunity. So every time I go to click the button, my heart hurts.
However, I’m not the only one who has experienced a Faceboook friend refreshing. The New Oxford American Dictionary announces its “Word of the Year” each year, and last year, “unfriend” made the cut (入围) (though I’ll still stick with “defriend”).
When I started my mission(任务), a few friends joined. Most were surprised by how easily they could cut hundreds of connections without thinking twice.
“Oh my God, I defriended like 600 people today. I feel so good!” my friend Sarah messaged.
Dana, a close friend from high school, and I battled it out to see who could get our counts lower. She wins at 123.
To some, it’s poor “netiquette(网络礼仪)” to defriend. But to me, it’s the stage of life when we hold onto the people who count, the people who impact you.According to the article, what happens when you click the “Remove form friends” button?
| A．A message is sent out to your online friends. |
| B．You accept someone as your online friend. |
| C．You send out a friend request to people. |
| D．The number of your online friends is reduced. |
The writer worried about her friend count in 2005 because ______.
| A．no one would wish her a happy birthday |
| B．it was the first time she had made friends online |
| C．she had only 391 online friends at that time |
| D．she was eager to make connections |
What is Larry Rosen’s opinion?
| A．People living in the same area are closely connected in everyday life. |
| B．Communication online helps people feel they are members of a group. |
| C．It’s easy for people to make and break new friendships online. |
| D．Today’s young people spend nearly all their time communicating online. |
Which of the following is the best description of the underlined sentence?
| A．I made new friends online while I removed some old ones. |
| B．Some friends cut the number of their online friends just like I did. |
| C．We competed to see who could remove the most online friends. |
| D．When someone removed me from a friends’ list, I removed him/her. |
We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers·
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor（谣言）.
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.
This process is also found among scholars and authors：A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted（引用）by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.According to the passage, passive learning may occur in______________.
| A．doing a medical experiment | B．solving a math problem |
| C．visiting an exhibition | D．doing scientific reasoning |
The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to____________.
| A．active learning | B．knowledge |
| C．communication | D．passive learning |
The author mentions the game Rumor to show that_____________.
| A．a message may be changed when being passed on |
| B．a message should be delivered in different ways |
| C．people may have problems with their sense of hearing |
| D．people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Active learning is less important. |
| B．Passive learning may not be reliable. |
| C．Active learning occurs more frequently. |
| D．Passive learning is not found among scholars. |
Have you ever heard of blogs (博客)? If you haven’t, you should have. It’s here, it’s growing and it’s having an influence on our life. Surf the Internet and you’ll find blogs everywhere. A blog, shortened from “weblog”, is a public Internet journal written by one person or a group of people. It is a website in which a person or a group can place news, personal thoughts, text, photos, video or audio files, or links upon which visitors can comment. A blog lets you post on the Internet without having to know web design or be technical. You are given an environment to make dated entries on the topic of your choice which are “published”, so other people can read them.
Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Blogging has revolutionized Internet publishing in the last several years because it gives everyone with Internet access the opportunity to become an online writer. Objects, such as “text and photos” in a blog can be called “blog posts”, “posts”, or “entries”. The person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”.
Now, somewhere around the world, a blog is created almost every 6 seconds. Because it’s great potential, Bill Gates views it as important as e-mail, BBS, and MSN. He’s trying to make blogs the important tools for future business communications.A blog is.
| A．a comment | B．an Internet journal |
| C．a design | D．a link |
A person can do the following things in a blog EXCEPT _______.
| A．talk to others | B．give comments | C．read articles | D．enjoy photos |
Who is a blogger?
| A．A person who posts letters. |
| B．A person who writes articles. |
| C．A person who posts text or photos in a blog. |
| D．A person who is an online publisher. |
According to the passage, the reason why blogs are so popular is that they ____.
| A．give everyone the chance to be an online writer |
| B．can be created by people without much knowledge of computer technology |
| C．enable a blogger to place news, personal thoughts, text and photos and give comments |
| D．all of the above |
Classified Ads（广告）
For direct classified service, call 800-0667 10 a.m.—4 p.m., Monday---Friday.
For Rent
Best on Campus
Excellent Room for girls, begins Jan., 2, 4, or 8 months lease. Single, $ 105. $125. Double, $ 140. Call
800-1932.
Family Home, 3 bedrooms, large yard. $ 275. Call 800-4300.
For Sale
Sheepskin Coat, men’s size 42, 1year old. $ 85. After 6 p.m. call 800-5224.
Moving: Must sell. Color TV 21, $ 150; transistor radio, $ 15; recorder, $ 25. Call 800-0739.
Help Wanted
Babysitter—My home
If you could find a few hours during the day, some evenings and weekends to care for 2 school- age children,
please call 800-1111.
Lost
A black bag with a pencil-box and some books left in the reading room. Will the finder please come to Class 3, Grade 1?
Found
A green jacket was left on the sports ground yesterday afternoon ( April 15th). Will the owner please ring
656-6688?If you wanted to place an ad. , what number would you call?
| A．800-0739 | B．800-1932 | C．800-5224 | D．800-0667 |
“ Classified Ads” may probably mean “________”.
| A．ads about everyone’s life |
| B．ads giving one some necessary information |
| C．ads divided into different groups according to a certain rules |
| D．ads for which you needn’t pay any money |
If you want to find a part-time job, you will look at________.
| A．For Rent | B．For Sale | C．Help Wanted | D．Lost |
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”The best title of the passage may be __________.
| A．Long Loving Hugs | B．My Future |
| C．Don’t Hope. Decide | D．Love Is Everywhere |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face. |
| B．After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much. |
| C．It was fourteen years since the couple had got married. |
| D．Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds. |
By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that __________.
| A．he failed to express his ideas to the man |
| B．the man sensed his real feelings from his expression |
| C．he didn’t believe in his expression any more |
| D．his expression was not faithful to him |
From the passage, we can infer that __________.
| A．the experience may be easily forgotten by the author |
| B．the author will live a passionate life from now on |
| C．the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return |
| D．Americans prefer to save the best for last |