In the UK, students’ residence halls are run as profit-making business, but this can occasionally be to students’ disadvantage.
As many universities choose to contract out their hall’s management to private companies, room rents are rising and student rights are suffering.
In 2006, 55 percent of student rooms were managed by private companies --- only 27 percent by universities and colleges, the National Union of Students (NUS) has reported.
These private companies are improving the hall’s facilities in return for higher room rents. The most noticeable example of this trend is the growth in luxury halls. These are halls for students willing to pay more for larger rooms with better services.
Chancellors Court, at Edinburgh University in Scotland, is one such luxury hall. Rooms are divided between standard and large, with larger rooms costing 173 pounds each week, 40 pounds more than smaller rooms. They come with a scenic view, color TV, fast Internet connection and a modern bathroom.
Other luxury halls have private gyms for their residents. Private companies capitalize (用…以牟利) on their investment by renting out the students rooms to travelers over the summer vacation period.
But the NUS is concerned that luxury halls are affecting room rents at standard un-privatized halls. Most students in the UK pay on average 126 pounds a week for a private room in catered (提供餐饮的) halls of residence, the International Students Advice and Welfare organization has reported. According to the NUS, rent in UK halls of residence has risen by almost a quarter from 2005 to 2007.
Veronica King, NUS vice-president of welfare, wants the privatization of university accommodation to stop.
“For the students for whom luxury is not affordable, there is a significant risk that accommodation costs, coupled with the burden of complete fees, may reduce the choice of where to go to university,” she said.
Legal quarrels with privatized (私有化了的) halls may also account for some of the 10 percent per year rise in student complaints to the office of the Independent Adjudicator(裁定者) for Higher Education (OIA). The OIA is an independent student complaints scheme that has authority over all higher education institutions in England and Wales.
Rob Behrens, chief executive of the OIA, said he was unsurprised by the rise in complaints. “The bottom line is that students today are more self-confident in thinking about what their rights are and what are the things they can get form the commitments they make.” Why are room rents rising in British universities?
| A．Because the world is facing a financial crisis. |
| B．Because most universities are getting bored about students’ complaints. |
| C．Because many universities let private companies run students’ halls. |
| D．Because not all universities can meet the demands of the students. |
Which of the following is not mentioned about a luxury hall?
| A．Students have to pay more for a luxury hall. |
| B．Students can have a good view in a luxury hall. |
| C．Students can enjoy their own gym in a luxury hall. |
| D．Students can have an Internet connection free of charge. |
Why do some students want to pay more for a luxury hall?
| A．Because they just want to show that they are rich. |
| B．Because they are better served in a luxury hall. |
| C．Because there are too much complaints about small rooms. |
| D．Because there are no other choices. |
What may happen to those who can’t afford the accommodation fee?
A. They may borrow more money from the bank.
B. They may go to work in OIA.
C. They may not go to college.
D. They may go abroad for further study.
B
In the 60s, people asked about your astrological (about star) sign. In the 90s, they want to know your website. These days, having a web address is almost as important as a street address. Your website is an electronic meeting place for your family, friends and potentially, millions of people around the world. Best of all, you may not have to spend a cent. The Web is filled with all kinds of free services and all it takes is some time and creativity.
Think of your home page as the starting point of your website. Like the table of contents of a book or magazine, the home page is the front door. Your site can have one or more pages, depending on how you design it.
While web pages vary greatly in their design and content, most use a traditional magazine layout. At the top of the page is a banner(横幅) GRAPHIC. Next comes a greeting and a short description of the site. Pictures, text, and links to other websites follow.
Before you start building your site, do some planning. Think about whom the site is for and what you want to say. Next, gather up the material that you want to put on the site. Draw a rough layout on a sheet of paper.
While there are no rules you have to follow, there are a few things to keep in mind: Start simply. If you are too ambitious at the beginning, you may never get the site off the ground. You can always add to your site.
Less is better. Most people don’t like to read a lot of text online. Break it into small pieces.
Smaller is better. Most people connect to the Internet with a modem（调制解调器）. Since it can take a long time to download large image files, keep the file sizes small.
Have the rights. Don’t put any material on your site unless you are sure you can do it legally. Learn the Net’s Copyright Article for more about this.
Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start building. Learn the Net Communities provides tools to help you build your site.
59. The main purpose of the author in writing the passage is to tell you——
A. what a website is like B. how to build your own website
C. how to meet people on line D. what a website consists of
60. According to the author, your website is a place——.
A. where you can meet people all around the world
B. to show your street address on line
C. where you can get free services
D. where you can meet people on the Internet
61. The home page of your website should——.
A. give a list of all the contents of your website
B. be so designed that it looks like a front door
C. be so designed that it can direct people to more of your pages
D. be more or less similar to the cover of a book or magazine
62. The author thinks that if you are too ambitious at the beginning,——.
A. your website may leave no space for adding new things
B. you may never have your plan put into practice
C. you may have no idea how to build your website
D. you may tire yourself out
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答
题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
You can make the difference between this … and this. But how?
This summer, join the International Conservation Scouts on a fun—filled holiday with a difference. Year after year, young people from all around the world get together at one of our sixteen conservation camps. Their shared aim is to help protect the countryside and its wildlife.
Many animals and plants are in danger of disappearing forever. The dormouse, a kind of mouse, for example, needs woodland plants for food and trees to stay in. Its habitat is being destroyed by man and it needs our help to survive.
On a conservation camp holiday, you’ll learn all about nature and how to protect it. Our trained leaders will accompany you and tell you everything you need to know. Because of this you don’t need any experience, just energy and enthusiasm. You will explore the countryside and work to ensure the survival of hundreds of animals and plants and still have plenty of time to enjoy the camp’s excellent sport games and organized nature paths through beautiful scenery.
The International Conservation Scouts is a world—wide organization, so there must be a camp near you. You can spend a splendid holiday at any of the camps for as little as ￡60, including accommodation and food.
For more information, send for a free conservation camps handbook today:
The International Conservation Scouts
Stanton St. John
Oxfordshire OX 71 TL
THE KEY TO SAVING WILDLIFE IS TO PROTECT NATURAL, HABITATS
YOUR WORK WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
56．According to the passage, you can_________at the conservation camps.
A．do experiments on the usual dormouse B．practise numbers of favorite hobbies
C．enrich your knowledge of wildlife D．have free accommodation and food
57．Judging from its writing style, this passage seems to be ________
A．a piece of advertisement for the young B．a serious science report for the young
C．a passage for professional reading D．a passage for arguing an opinion
58．The International Conservation Scouts is located in_________.
A．16 different countries B．some camps near you
C．the United Kingdom D．the beautiful countryside
E
Brazil has become one of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth－but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.
Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.
Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering, the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.
“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values － not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working,” says Martine. “They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package.”
Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers (消费者). “This led to an enormous change in consumption (消耗、消费) patterns and consumption was incompatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction.” Says Martine.
57. According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth ____.
A. by educating its citizens B. by careful family planning
C. by developing TV programs D. by chance
58. According to the passage, many Third World countries ______.
A. haven’t attacked much importance to birth control
B. would soon join Brazil in controlling their birth rate
C. haven’t yet found an effective measure to control their population
D. neglected the role of TV plays in family planning
59. Soap operas have helped in lowering Brazil’s birth rate because ____.
A. they keep people sitting long hours watching TV
B. they have gradually changed people’s way of life
C. people are drawn to their attractive package
D. they popularize birth control measures
60. What is Martine’s conclusion about Brazil’s population growth?
A. The increase in birth rate will increase consumption.
B. The desire for consumption helps to reduce birth rate.
C. Consumption patterns and reproduction patterns are contradictory (互相矛盾的)
D. A country’s production is limited by its population growth.
D
Stricter Traffic Law can Prevent Accidents
From the health point of view we are living in a marvelous age. We are immunized from birth against many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once fatal illnesses can now be cured by modern drugs and surgery. It is almost certain that one day remedies will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased enormously. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the incredible slaughter of men, women and children on the roads. Man versus the motor-car! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.
It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel, his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They swear, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-years-olds and utterly selfish. All their hidden frustrations, disappointments and jealousies seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.
The surprising thing is that society smiles so benignly on the motorist and seems to condone his behaviour. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy tragic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is desecrated by road networks; and the mass annual slaughter becomes nothing more than a statistic, to be conveniently forgotten.
It is high time a world code were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are notoriously lax and even the strictest are not strict enough. A code which was universally accepted could only have a dramatically beneficial effect on the accident rate. Here are a few examples of some the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through stringent annual tests for safety. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can impair a person’s driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws (where they exist) should be mad much stricter. Maximum and minimum speed limits should be imposed on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for manufacturers, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may sound inordinately harsh. But surely nothing should be considered as too severe if tit results in reducing the annual toll of human life. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars.
52. The main idea of this passage is__________-
A. Traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists.
B. Thousands of people the world over are killed each year.
C. The laws of some countries about driving are too lax.
D. Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents.
53.What does the author think of society toward motorists?
A. Society smiles on the motorists.
B. Huge car parks are built in the cities and towns.
C. Victims of accidents are nothing.
D. Society condones their rude driving.
54.Why does the author say:’ his car becomes the extension of his personality?’
A. Driving can show his real self.
B. Driving can show the other part of his personality.
C. Driving can bring out his character.
D. His car embodies his temper.
55.Which of the followings is NOT mentioned as a way against traffic accidents?
A. Build more highways.
B. Stricter driving tests.
C. Test drivers every three years.
D. raise age limit and lay down safety specifications.
56.The attitude of the author is
A. ironical B. critical C. appealing D. positive
C
Toronto---A pleasant attitude can do wonders for patients’recovery, according to researchers who reviewed 16 studies that looked at patients’ attitudes toward health. The studies lasted 30 years and looked at patients’ attitudes after operation.
“In each case the better a patient’s expectations about how they would do after operation or some health procedure, the better they did,” said the author Donald Cole,
of the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto.
“This mind-body connection that we have been toying with for the past couple of decades really does have hard science behind it. The result shows that the power of positive thinking is real,” Cole said.
New York-A Pable Picasso painting sold at Christie’s auction house in New York Wednesday for 55-million dollars. The price set a new auction record for a Picasso,and is the fifth-highest price ever paid for any work of art at auction.
The painting---Woman with her arms crossed---was purchased by an telephone bidder(投标者).Painted in 1902 in Barcelona, the portrait is one of the best-known works from what is called Picasso’s blue period.
Christie’s says the painting by the famous Spanish artist is of a quality not seen on the market in more than 10 years.It sold for more than twice its pre-sale estimate.
Xinhua Agency---It had not come up until the very last minute in Premier Wen Jiabao’s two-hour press conference that concludes the annual sessions of the national legislature and political advisory body. But when it did it, it became an immediate catch phrase at home.
“I think fairness and justice are more glorious than the sun.” said Wen, responding to the laast question in yesterday’s press session. Which turned out to be the most-quoted lines in domestic media.
49.News Item 1 intends to make us believe that______.
A. positive thinking can make people healthy
B. a better attitude results in a better operation
C. researchers have observed 16 patients’ recovery during the past 30 years
D. great attention has been paid to how attitudes affect health
50.Which of the following is NOT true about the painting Woman with her arms crossed?
A. The painting was once thought to be worth around $25 million.
B. The painting is one of the most expensive pictures ever sold at auction.
C. The painting was purchased through telephone.
D. The painting has not been seen on the market for more than 10 years.
51. “I think fairness and justice are more glorious than the sun.” where does Wen say this?
A.At an online interview
B.At a press conference
C.At a meeting to all the leaders
D.At a speech in Beijing University