Hungry for the brightest students, many of the country’s stronger universities are actively discounting tuition (学费).And it’s the high achievers, rather than the needy students, who are getting a good chunk of the money.The practice is remarkably widespread, reaching almost all but the 30 or so Ivy and other top colleges that forbid good grades-based financial aid.Schools are also becoming more aggressive in raising their discounts.At the DePauw University Website, enter an SAT or ACT score, grade point average and class rank, and a computer program immediately tells you what kind of "award".Only "the real unlucky" pay full price any more.
About 76% of first-year students got some form of discount this year at 331 private schools.Average award per student: $7,000.At small schools with tuition under about $20,000, the average discount is even higher, with some schools returning over half their tuition.
Carnegie Mellon even tells students it will "negotiate(讨价还价)" and perhaps match financial-aid packages if kids are offered bigger awards at other schools.Much as banks and insurers offer special rates to their best customers, schools are giving the biggest breaks to their top students.Public four-year colleges, too, are offering discounts.
The flip side of big discounts is that less money is available to improve academic programs and keep school infrastructure (基础设施) up to date.Universities that have sharply increased their tuition discount rates have seen graduation rates fall, and that’s true even among highly selective schools.They get the students in the door, but don’t have the services to keep them.From the first paragraph, we can judge that _______.
A.all the universities don’t offer tuition discounts. |
B.Ivy and other top colleges offer financial aid to the high achievers |
C.the needy students get more money from the universities |
D.the graduation rates of the students from highly selected schools fall |
The underlined words “flip side” in the last paragraph probably mean “_______”.
A.advantage | B.disadvantage | C.bad practice | D.good function |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.The brightest students are not at all hungry for stronger universities. |
B.About 76% of first-year students got an award of $ 20,000 per year. |
C.Public colleges never offer discounts to the students. |
D.Colleges should concentrate more on the services to keep the students |
This passage mainly talks about _______.
A.the great benefit of offering lower tuition |
B.college tuition discounts in popularity |
C.the top students in need of tuition discounts |
D.reducing graduation rates due to big discounts |
Our cat has a sweet nature, and she can let us know what she wants. When we fail to meet her needs, she gently leads us in the proper direction. When I forget to fill her water bowl early in the morning, she runs after my legs, and then pushes me in the direction of her bowl. She doesn’t get irritated (生气的); instead, she expresses her wishes in the best way. And I always understand what she is telling me.
One day I found myself envying her simple expression. How many times had I expected my husband or my children to know my wants without my ever giving voice to them? How many times had I been disappointed that they couldn’t understand when I needed a hug, a compliment or a chocolate bar?
After a pleasant afternoon with my husband, I wanted to stop somewhere nice and have dinner, but he didn’t understand my hints (暗示). “Couldn’t you see that I wanted to go out to dinner?” I complained when he pulled into our driveway.
“Why didn’t you say so? I can’t read your mind,” he answered in impatience. His words gave me pause. Had I expected him to read my mind? Why hadn’t I expressed my desire more clearly? I realized I had fallen into the female trap of “If you love me, you can read my mind.”
Now, I state my needs clearly and directly. I look at my cat and know she agrees.
1. Why was the author disappointed in her husband or her children?
A. Her husband didn’t give her a hug. B. Her children didn’t give her a chocolate bar.
C. They didn’t give her a compliment. D. They didn’t understand her mind.
2. What will the author do if she wants something from her husband now?
A. She will give him her hints. B. She lets him guess what she wants.
C. She tells him her needs directly. D. She buys what she wants herself.
3. What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph?
A. I realized what I did was wrong. B. My husband stopped me from saying something.
C. I stopped and didn’t go with my husband. D. My husband prevented me from going on.
4. What would be the best title of the text?
A. How does a cat ask for something? B. Learn how to read your cat’s mind
C. A lesson from a cat D. Guess what others think
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每题2分)
Bamboo (竹子) is one of nature’s (自然) most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist reported one bamboo plant which grew 1.5 meters (4 feet) in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1, 000 kinds of bamboo.
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters (1 foot) across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.
Bamboo has been used to make many things such as hats and kitchen tools(厨房用具). Because it is strong, bamboo is also used to build buildings.
Many Asian countries have used bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for buildings and supporting (支撑) new buildings and bridges while they are being built.
In Africa, poor farmers are taught how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap way to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water.Bamboo pipes (管子) help poor farmers bring water to their thirsty fields without spending a lot of money.
1.How is bamboo like grass?
A.It grows quickly. B.It’s wood. C.it is easy to cut. D.It is very thin.
2.Though you can see bamboo everywhere, it doesn’t grow.
A.in China B.in Europe C.on mountains D.in Africa
2.Why is bamboo used by African poor farmers? Because.
A.it is cheap B.it has different colors C.it is strong D.it has been used by Asians
3.In Asia, bamboo has been used for.
A.a short time B.many thousands of years
C.many hundreds of years D.about 100 years
BEIJING——China will further open its financial sector in “an active and safe” way, the country’s central bank vowed on Friday.
“China will gradually broaden the chance for the participation of foreign capital in the domestic financial market,” said the People’s Bank of China in a report.“We will strengthen the connections between China’s financial market and international ones by attracting more foreign capital in Renminbi-denominated financial products,” the report said.
Meanwhile, channels will also be expanded to allow Chinese investment in foreign financial markets.
The bank said it would ease restrictions on enterprises and individuals possessing and using foreign currencies and increase the number of qualified foreign institutional investors and the value of their investment quotas(份额). “We will make use of the financial market to achieve balanced international payments,” said the bank.
Last year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) raised the annual quota for individuals buying foreign currency from US $ 20,000 to US $ 50,000.
“China will work hard for a more efficient and vigorous financial market that can better serve international needs,” the bank said.
The country will adjust its financial market rules so they are accepted around the world, encourage reforms and promote more flexible, diversified ways of trading, according to the bank.
China fully opened its financial market to foreign capital on December 11 last year, ending a five-year transitional (过渡的) period after entering WTO.
1. The passage is_______________
A. a piece of news B. an advertisement
C. a poster D. an explanation
2. China is working hard to_____________
A. reduce the interest rate of foreign currencies
B. increase the interest rate of foreign currencies
C. bring in more foreign investment by promising to further open its financial sector
D. adjust its financial markets to resist the invasion of foreign investment
3. To further open financial sector, China has taken many measures EXCEPT
A. Giving more chances to the participation of foreign capital
B. Strengthening the connections between China and other countries by the leaders’ paying visits to each other’s countries
C. Broadening the quotas of enterprises and individuals possessing and using foreign currencies
D. Opening its domestic financial market step by step
4. We can draw a conclusion that___________
A. China’s financial market will be conquered by foreign one
B. China will create a more active and various way of trading and its market will become stronger
C. China will end the transitional period of opening financial sector in five years
D. China will be blind to the foreign investment
Primary teachers are responsible for guiding children through the formation of many important life skills, and also watching over their students’ social development. Primary teachers come into contact with about 30 students every day, and teach them a variety of subjects. Many hours are spent before and after class on planning, preparation and correction. One should be a very patient, caring, yet firm person to be able to deal with the demands of children in the four to twelve-year-old age group.
Secondary teachers teach specific subjects to various groups of students. Just like primary teachers, they spend an amount of time planning and preparing lessons and correcting homework—their duties are not restricted to face-to-face teaching. Dealing with twelve to eighteen-year-olds requires a wide range of skills.
If you become a primary teacher, you will need to decided whether to be a “generalist (多面手)”, teaching a wide range of subjects, or a "specialist", teaching only one or two. Most primary teachers are specialists. Generalist teachers spend the greatest part of their day with one class, which means that they spend more time with the same children. Specialist teachers have more time away from their students. It is therefore very important for generalist teachers to develop a strong working relationship with their students.
The unique rapport (和谐) you can develop with a particular set of students is one of teaching’s greatest pleasures. However, the disadvantage of primary teaching is that if you have a difficult student, you will be forced to deal with him or her, all day, every day, throughout the school year. Teachers need to work out strategies to get themselves and their students through such difficulties.
Primary teachers today are generally four-year trained. They usually do a three or four-year undergraduate degree, and if this degree does not include teacher training, they will have to undertake postgraduate study in education as well.
1. After class primary teachers usually_____________
A. come into contact with students
B. teach students a variety of subjects
C. deal with the demands of children
D. make planning, preparation and correction
2. What does the third paragraph mainly discuss?
A. What a primary teacher needs to do in the classroom.
B. The differences between generalist and specialist teaching.
C. How a primary teacher should try his best in the school.
D. The relationship between the primary teachers and students.
3. We can learn from this passage that___________
A. a primary teacher needs a wide range of skills
B. the disadvantage of primary teaching is having difficult students
C. teacher training is not important for a primary teacher
D. secondary teachers mainly teach children two subjects
4. The author writes the article in order to_________
A. tell teachers how primary teachers guide students
B. tell teachers what you should do as a primary teacher
C. let readers know more about primary teachers
D. let readers know how to be a primary teacher
Cellphone feels like a part of your body? A global survey has found that most people can’t live without their mobiles, never leave home without them and, if given a choice, would rather lose their wallet.
Calling mobile phones the “remote control” for life, market research firm Synovate’s poll said cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year more humans owned one than did not.
Three-quarters of the more than 8,000 respondents polled online in 11 countries said they take their phone with them everywhere, which Russians and Singaporeans the most attached.
More than a third also said they couldn’t live without their phone, topped by Taiwanese and again Singaporeans, while one in four would find it harder to replace the mobile than their purse.
Some two thirds of respondents go to bed with their phones nearby and can’t switch them off, even though they want to, because they’re afraid they’ll miss something.
Mobiles have changed the nature of relationships, with the survey finding a fifth of all respondents set up first dates via text and almost the same number use the same method to end a love affair.
Apart from the obvious calling and SMS-ing, the top three features people use regularly on their mobile phones globally are the alarm clock, the camera and the games.
As for email and Internet access, 17 percent of respondents said they checked their inboxes or surfed the Web on their phones, led by those in the United States and Britain.
One in 10 respondents log onto(注册) social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace regularly via mobile, again led by Britain and the United States.
Not everyone is tech savvy(科技通), however,37 percent of respondents said they don’t know how to use all the functions on their phone.
1. How many people of all respondents end a love affair via text?
A. About 4,800. B. About 3,600.
C. About 2,400. D. About 1,600.
2. According to the survey, like surfing the Internet with a cellphone most.
A. Singaporeans B. RussiansC. Americans D. Chinese
3. Which of the following functions of cellphones is the least used?
A. Calling. B. Playing games.
C. Taking photos. D. Surfing the Internet.
4. Which would be the best title of the passage?
A. People can live better without the cellphone.
B. People would rather lose their wallet than their cellphone.
C. Different uses of the cellphone.
D. New functions of the cellphone.