According to a study by SallieMae, 84 percent of undergraduate students have credit cards, and by the time they are seniors, they have accumulated US＄4,100 in debt, on top of whatever student loans they may have taken out.
Credit cards are the most convenient form of payment, and they are aggressively marketed to college students. Reportedly, a typical college student carries 4.6 credit cards and US＄3,173 in credit card debt.
Credit cards seem to be a fact of life, not just student life. In the long term, using a credit card properly and paying off the balance can help establish a card history and increase your credit score, which will come in handy when you need an important loan, for a house or car, for example. Your credit score can affect even unrelated things like insurance rates. Credit cards also offer more protection for users than debit cards （借记卡）.Under federal law, the credit card holder is only responsible for the first US＄50 in fraudulent(欺诈的)purchases in cases of theft or loss. However, debit card users are responsible for the first US＄500.
SallieMae found some good news in the fact that two thirds of students had discussed credit issues with their parents, but 84 percent said they needed more information. Those who didn’t get any guidance were more likely to be surprised when they found out how much they owed.
While credit cards offer the easiest access to money, they make it easy to live outside your means. Less than a fifth of students surveyed paid off their balance every month, and carrying a balance brings finance charges, sometimes at a very high interest rates.
SallieMae found that almost 40 percent of students chose their first credit card based on direct mail, which is probably why students get credit card offers in the mail. But when the credit card offers flow in, be sure that you read the fine print. Offers of low or no interest rates can disappear, leaving you a debt that climbs beyond your ability to pay it off. What does the first paragraph imply?
| A．Most of the senior students are shocked to see how much they owed. |
| B．Students can only take out loans from credit cards. |
| C．Most of students’ loans come from credit cards. |
| D．Credit cards have a bad effect on college students. |
The underlined part “come in handy” in the third paragraph probably means “_______”.
| A．bring trouble | B．make mistakes | C．be important | D．be useful |
According to SallieMae, what is the possible reason why students get so many credit card offers in the mail?
| A．Many students’ first credit card is based on direct mail. |
| B．It costs the banks little to mail out credit cards. |
| C．Students don’t like to go to the bank to open a credit card account. |
| D．Banks have no other way to let students use their credit cards. |
What is the theme of the third paragraph?
| A．The advantages of using debit cards. |
| B．The similarities between credit cards and debit cards. |
| C．The advantages of using credit cards. |
| D．Credit cards are the most convenient form of payment. |
Earlier this year，my oldest daughter got braces (牙箍) on her teeth，and let's just say she did not go quietly into that dentist's chair. Fear and hate pretty much describe the days leading up to her first appointment.
So when she finally walked out with shiny teeth，a sore mouth and a broken spirit, I told her I was proud of her and took her to Ben & Jerry's for an ice cream reward. Two weeks later, we returned to the scene of the crime.The dentist spent about 45 seconds checking her teeth before sending her on her merry way. Before I could start the car, she was placing her ice cream order. She was shocked when I told her that she wasn't going to get a reward every time we got her teeth checked.
Apparently，she's not alone. According to some parenting experts, kids are easily addicted(上瘾的)to a benefitproducing system of parental rewards and bribes(贿赂)—not all ice creams, candies and cool toys.Some parents are offering their children novel prizes just to let them sit down and behave in a restaurant—or sleep in their own beds—or score a goal in the next soccer game.
While the experts agree that occasional awards are okay，the danger lies in the system's overuse.Kids quickly gain a sense of entitlement(应得权益)，where they come to expect a big reward for every good thing that they do, no matter how small.To keep things in check，experts say parents should reduce the number of rewards they offer, make sure rewards match the behavior and explain the real benefits of behaving.The intended readers of the passage are________.
| A．children | B．parents |
| C．doctors | D．teachers |
Misguided by the parental reward system，children easily believe________.
| A．they should benefit from their every desired behavior |
| B．they can be successful as long as they work hard |
| C．their parents will give them more presents in the future |
| D．their parents will feel happy when they behave well |
In the experts' opinion，parents________.
| A．should provide their children with many luxurious things |
| B．shouldn't give their children too many rewards |
| C．should give their children more spiritual rewards |
| D．should tell their children the benefits of rewards |
What would be the BEST title for the passage?
| A．Do Parents Know How to Help Their Children Behave? |
| B．Is Your Child Afraid to Visit A Dentist? |
| C．Are Parents Rewarding Their Children Too Much? |
| D．Does Your Child Show Interest in Rewards? |
A close friend of mine lives with six hundred wild animals on the Greek Island of Kyklos.Ever since he left school (where I first knew him)，he has travelled all over the world collecting animals for his very own zoo.He hoped to collect at least two examples of every sort of animal on his island before the Great Flood. But the flood that my friend was afraid of was a flood not of water, but of people. I expect you have heard of my friend: he writes books about his travels，and about the wild and wonderful animals that he collects. The money from the books helps to pay for all the food that these animals eat.
My friend told me that when he was out looking for water last week，(there is not enough water on the island，though there is plenty all round it，)he found oil.He needs money for his travels，and for his zoo，and a little oil would buy enough water for a lifetime；but he knows that if he tells anybody else about it，it will be the end of his zoo, and his life's work.
So，if I know my friend，he will not tell anybody (but you and me)about what he found—because oil and water do not mix.My friend lives________.
| A．on an island in the middle of great flood |
| B．at the school that we used to go to on Kyklos |
| C．on a Greek island with six hundred animals |
| D．all over the world；he is always travelling |
Since he left school________.
| A．he has collected books about every sort of animal |
| B．he has lived in zoos all over the world |
| C．he has lived all the time on a Greek island |
| D．he has travelled all over the world collecting animals |
The flood，of which my friend was afraid, was ________.
| A．a flood of too many people |
| B．a great flood of water |
| C．a flood of too many animals on his island |
| D．a flood of oil |
On March 25, 2013, two pandas were shipped from China to Canada. The pandas received a warm welcome to the North America from Canada’s Prime Minister Step
hen Harper and Chinese ambassador(大使)Zhang Junsai.
The pandas will spend five years at the Toronto Zoo, and then spend another five years at the Calgary Zoo. This is the first time in 20 years that pandas have been sent to a Canadian zoo. “I want to offer my sincere thanks to the government of China for sharing these two pandas, symbolizing peace and friendship, with all Canadians, ”said Prime Minister Harper.
The pandas are named Er Shun and Da Mao. Er Shun, a five-year-old female, came from the Chongqing Zoo, in southwest China. Da Mao, a four-year-old male, traveled from Chengdu. The panda passengers were given plenty of snacks throughout the flight. Each panda received more than 200 pounds of bamboo and 100 pounds of apples.
The number of pandas is decreasing and now there are only 1, 600 pandas left in the wild. And this is partly due to the loss of their primary food source, bamboo. According to a recent study, warming temperatures are causing a shortage of bamboo in at least one region of China where pandas live.
The climate in Er Shun and Da Mao’s new home in Canada isn’t perfect for growing bamboo. Twice a week, the Memphis Zoo, in Tennessee, will ship about 700 pounds of the green plant up north to the Toronto Zoo. While the pandas are far from China, zookeepers plan to make Canada feel like their home. We can know from the second paragraph that.
| A．China often sends pandas to Canada |
| B．Canada is very thankful for China’s help |
| C．the two pandas will spend ten years in Canada |
| D．the two pandas will only live in one place. |
According to the passage, the two pandas.
| A．are both four years old |
| B．are from the same Chinese zoo |
| C．can eat as many as 100 pounds of apples in a day |
| D．were given over 400 pounds of bamboo on the flight |
What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
| A．The reason for the decreasing number of pandas. |
| B．The primary food source of pandas. |
| C．The lifestyle of pandas in the wild. |
| D．The effects of warming temperatures on bamboo. |
It can be learned from the passage that.
| A．pandas eat nothing but bamboo and apples |
| B．the climate in Toronto is unfit for bamboo to grow |
| C．the animal that all Canadians like best is pandas |
| D．China lent the two pandas just in order to help Canada |
On a wet Wednesday evening in Seoul, six government employees gathered at the office to prepare for a late-night patrol(巡逻). The mission is to find children who are studying after 10 p. m. and stop them.
In South Korea, it has come to this. To reduce the country’s addiction to private, after-hours tutoring academies(called hagwons), the authorities have begun enforcing a curfew(宵禁令)—even rewarding citizens for turning in violators.
But cramming(临时死记硬背)is deeply anchored in Asia, where top grades have long been prized as essential for professional success. Before toothbrushes or printing presses, there were civil service exams that could make or break you. Chinese families have been hiring test preparation tutors since the 7th century. Nowadays South Korea has taken this competition to new extremes. In 2010, 74% of all students engaged in some kind of private after-school instruction, sometimes called shadow education, at an average cost of KRW 2, 600 per student for a year. There are more private instructors in South Korea than school teachers, and the most popular of them make millions of dollars a year from online and in-person classes. When Singapore’s Education Minister was asked last year about his nation’s reliance on private tutoring, he found one reason for hope, “We are not as bad as the Koreas. ”
In Seoul, legions of students who failed to get into top universities spend the entire year after high school attending hagwons to improve their scores on university admission tests. And they must compete even to do this. At the prestigious Daesung Institute, admission is based on students’ test scores. Only 14% of applicants are accepted. After a year of 14-hour days, about 70% gain entry to one of the nation’s top three universities.
South Koreans are not alone in their discontent. Across Asia, reformers are pushing to make schools more “American”—even as some U. S. reformers make their own schools more “Asian”. In China, universities have begun fashioning new entry tests to target students with talents beyond book learning. And Taiwanese officials recently announced that kids will no longer have to take high-stress exams to get into high school. In South Korea, the apogee of extreme education, gets its reforms right, it could be a model for other societies.
The problem is not that South Korea kids aren’t learning enough or working hard enough, but that they aren’t working smart. When I visited some schools, I saw classrooms in which a third of the students slept while the teacher continued lecturing, seemingly undisturbed.
The government has repeatedly tried to humanize the education system, but after each attempt, the hagwons come back stronger. But this time, its reforms are targeting not just the dysfunctional symptom but also the causes. It is working to improve normal public schools by putting teachers and principals through rigorous(严格的)evaluations—which include opinion surveys by students, parents and peer teachers—and requiring additional training for low-scoring teachers. At the same time, the government hopes to reduce the pressure on students. Admissions tests for high schools have been abolished. Middle schoolers are now judged on the basis of their regular grades and an interview. And 500 admissions officers have been appointed to the country’s universities, to judge applicants not only on their test scores and grades but also other abilities.The six government employees were asked to.
| A． arrest the students who work late at night |
| B． reward citizens who turn in violators |
| C． conduct a survey among students |
| D． prevent students from studying too late |
In Paragraph 3 toothbrushes and printing presses are mentioned in order to.
| A． tell us that they were invented in Asia |
| B． show that hagwons play an important role in people’s daily life |
| C． show that private tutoring has a long history |
| D． tell us that civil service exams are of equal importance as them |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A． Hagwons are the source of South Korea’s educational problem. |
| B． Students in South Korea don’t learn efficiently. |
| C．It is the teachers and headmasters who are to blame for the educational problem. |
| D． Private tutoring is not common in Singapore. |
The main point of the last paragraph is that.
| A． it is very difficult to get rid of hagwons |
| B． the causes of hagwons have been found |
| C． teachers will have a hard time because of the reforms |
| D． the government is determined to reform the present education system |
It is often said that you cannot “teach an old dog new tricks”, but three New Zealand dogs have decided to prove otherwise 
by learning a skill—driving a car!
What’s even more impressive is that the three who have become skilled in just eight weeks are not special dogs that belong to some rich owners, but abandoned ones at New Zealand’s SPCA.
To get their training started, 10-month-old Porter, 18-month-old Monty and one-year-old Ginny were selected from a pool of seven potential candidates and moved to Animal Q, a talent agency that teaches animals tricks for movies and television shows.
The driving classes began with teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques like turning the steering wheels(方向盘)and applying the brakes. After that the dogs practiced everything they had learnt behind the wheels of a motorized(装上发动机的)car. Then finally, it was time for the big test-driving a real car!
Human cars are not really built for four-legged animals, so the car they drove was adjusted so that the dogs could sit comfortably and easily reach the steering wheel with their paws.
Though they all seemed to do very well, the real test came on Monday night when Monty, the best driver of the three, showed his great driving skill on live television.
Why would the SPCA go through so much trouble to highlight the skills of homeless dogs? The reason is to show that adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean owners are getting a pet that is worse than one purchased from a keeper. The CEO of the SPCA is hoping that this unusual event will be enough to convince the residents of New Zealand to consider them, when searching for a pet. We surely hope so, meanwhile we are almost certain that these three pioneers have at least landed their names in the Guinness World Records, creating a category that probably does not even exist today!Who do the three dogs belong to?
| A． Some rich owners. | B． Animal Q. |
| C． A shelter. | D． A zoo. |
The car the dogs drove was adjusted.
| A． because it was too big for the dogs to drive |
| B． because it had no steering wheels and brakes |
| C． to ensure the dogs could sit comfortably and drive easily |
| D． to motorize the car and turn it to be a real one |
Why does the SPCA decide to teach the three dogs to learn to drive a car?
| A． To prove old dogs can learn new tricks. |
| B． To teach them performing tricks for movies and television shows. |
| C． To provide amusing performances for homeless children. |
| D． To encourage people to adopt the abandoned dogs. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A． A new Guinness category for driving dogs will probably be created. |
| B． Abandoned dogs are much cleverer than house-kept ones. |
| C． All the dogs at New Zealand’s SPCA will soon be adopted. |
| D． New Zealand has the most homeless dogs among all countries. |