Because of the financial crisis in the US and UK, college students are beginning to struggle to find ways to pay their tuition fees and accommodations. 
Recently, two major US student loan lenders—Citibank and JPMorgan Chase—announced they were leaving the student loan industry altogether. Because banks currently have a lack of credit(存款额), they are reluctant to offer students lowinterest loans(贷款) that need a severalyear wait for any return of interest.
In the US, many undergraduates top up their financial needs with a private loan, although the majority can get governmentfunded loans. In the 20052006 academic year, $17 billion in private student loans was used to finance higher education. The shortfall in private funding has yet to be covered and will hit many US students hard.
Across the Atlantic, UK students have been less troubled by the crisis. Most undergraduates in the UK cover their university expenses with governmentfunded loans and grants(助学金). Their biggest concern is a sudden steep increase in student rent.
Most young professionals now rent houses, since 80 percent of UK mortgage schemes(住房抵押贷款计划) have disappeared—a direct result of the credit crisis. This has boosted the house rent market.
In large cities, UK students are paying almost 6.5 percent more in rent than the previous year. Figures from the UK organization Accommodation for Student show students in big cities such as London paying an average weekly rent of $103.
Yet, despite students' suffering, the number of this year’s university applications is expected to grow. During economic slumps, people regard further education as a way to survive tough job markets.According to the passage, banks are unwilling to offer students loans because ________.
| A．the students are poor and sometimes they can’t pay off the debt |
| B．banks prefer lending the money to the young professionals |
| C．banks don’t have enough money left at the present time |
| D．they think college students are not studying hard |
The underlined phrase “top up” in Paragraph 3 probably means ________.
| A．put up | B．make up | C．fill up | D．pick up |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．UK college students have to pay more if they want to rent houses. |
| B．More UK students want to further their study in college. |
| C．It is not so easy for US students to loan money now. |
| D．College students' tuition fees have risen greatly. |
It can be inferred that ________.
| A．there are no private student loan lenders in the UK |
| B．loans for US college students will be increased next year |
| C．private funding falls a little because of higherinterest loans in the US |
| D．private loans play a very important role in financing US students’ education |
The passage mainly tells us ________.
| A．college students in the US and UK are faced with their financial crisis |
| B．it is the duty of the governments to solve college students' financial crisis |
| C．private student loan is a good way for college students to overcome the difficulties |
| D．further education is a good way for college students to survive tough job markets |
Mark Zukerberg is the founder and CEO of Facebook, an extremely popular social working website that started in the United States.
Now, millions of student users visit Facebook daily and the website is one of the top ten widely visited sites on the Internet worldwide. College and high school students use Facebook to communicate with friends and share both information and pictures for free. The company earns money through advertising.
Many other companies have been rumored(谣传）to be interested in buying Facebook. Just a few years after Mark started the company, he was approached by Terry Semel, who was the CEO of Yahoo. Terry offered Mark one billion dollars($1,000,000,000) to sell Facebook to Yahoo. Mark said no, though. He stands behind his dreams at the very beginning. He knows the value of the company could fall down; however, he is in this to build something unbelievable, not be bought out by another company.
Maybe he was smart. Now Facebook is rumored to be worth billions of dollars and bigger companies like Microsoft or Google want a share of the company. Some private firms are also interested. Facebook could sell 15billion dollars if Mark decides to sell it at all. Perhaps Mark will just keep working from his California office to continue his dream of building something cool..Facebook makes money from _____ .
| A．members | B．advertisements | C．pictures | D．students |
.Terry Semel was the CEO of _______.
| A．Microsoft | B．Facebook | C．Google | D．Yahoo |
.Which of the following words best describes Mark Zukerberg according to the passage?
| A．Determined | B．Humorous | C．Gentle | D．Selfless |
Is there anything more important than health? I don’t think so. “Health is the greatest wealth(财富),” wise people say. You can’t be good at your studies or work well when you are ill.
Speaking about health, I can’t help telling you a funny story.
An old gentleman came to see the doctor. The man was very ill. He told the doctor about his weakness, memory loss and serious problems with his heart and lungs. The doctor examined him and said there was no medicine for his disease.
He told his patient to go to a quiet place for a month and have a good rest. He also advised him to eat a lot of meat, drink two glasses of red wine every day and take long walks. In other words, the doctor advised him to follow the rule: “Eat at pleasure, drink with measure and enjoy life as it is.” The doctor also said that if the man wanted to be well again, he shouldn’t smoke more than one cigarette a day.
A month later the gentleman came into the doctor’s office. He looked cheerful and happy. He thanked the doctor and said that he had never felt a healthier man.
“But you know, doctor,” he said, “it’s not easy to begin smoking at my age.”The writer thinks that .
| A．health is more important than wealth |
| B．work is as important as studies |
| C．medicine is more important than pleasure |
| D．nothing is more important than money |
. The doctor usually tells his patient what to do .
| A．without examining the patient |
| B．after he has examined the patient |
| C．if the patient doesn’t take medicine |
| D．unless the patient feels pain |
The underlined part means “ ”.
| A．he will be well again | B．he wasn’t a healthy man |
| C．he was feeling worse than before | D．he was feeling better than ever |
From the last sentence of the passage, we learn the man before the doctor told him not to smoke more than one cigarette a day.
| A．didn’t smoke | B．has smoked so much |
| C．was a heavy smoker | D．began to learn to smoke |
Mini Book Excerpts（节选）
Biography
When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land, the middle-aged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it… The townspeople never forgot the rescue and came to help their most famous neighbor.
J. D. Salinger：A Life by Kenneth Slawenski（Random House,$27）Mystery（疑案小说）
“You’re a smart boy. Benny’s death was no accident, and you’re the only who saw it happen. Do you think the murderer should get away with it ? ”The boy was staring stubbornly at his lap again.
A thought suddenly occurred to Ammika,“ Did you …You recognized the man in the car, didn’t you?”
The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers,“ Maybe,” he said quietly.
Red Wolf by Liza Marklund（Atria Books, $25. 99）
Short Stories
She wants to say to him what she has learned, none of it in class：Some women are born stupid, and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give ,and some women only know how to take. Some women learn who they want to be from their mothers, some who they don’t want to be. Some mothers suffer so their daughters won’t. Some mothers love so their daughters won’t.
You Are Free by Danzy Senna （Riverhead Books,$15）
Humor
Do your kids like to have fun? Come to Fun Times! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times!’s “amusement cycling”is the most fun you can have, legally, in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half to that within a day’s drive of most cities?
Happy And Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle（Ecco,$14. 99）. If the readers want to know about the life of Salinger , they should buy the book published by .
| A．Ecco | B．Atria Books | C．Riverhead Books | D．Random House |
. The book Happy And Other Bad Thoughts is intended for.
| A．young children | B．Disney World workers |
| C．middle school teachers | D．parents with young children |
. Which book describes women with characters of their own?
A. Happy And Other Bad Thoughts
B. J. D. Salinger: A Life
C. You Are Free
D. Red Wolf After finishing the book Red Wolf, the readers would learn that .
| A．the boy helped arrest the murderer |
| B．Benny died of an accident |
| C．the murderer got away with the crime |
| D．Ammika carried out the crime |
When I decided to get married, my father decided to share some wisdom. “Lori, it is just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man, “ he said. My boyfriend didn’t have much money, but I loved him. “What?” I cried. “ How can you say that? I want to marry for love, NOT for money.” “ But why not marry someone you love who has money?” he asked. “Rich men are materialistic（物质主义的）. I’d rather marry a poor man who loves me,” I said and he gave in.
And as we went on, with my family growing, I learned why my father put such importance on money. We had to cover the rent, car, electricity, food, and medical bills. We were under lot of pressure. The worries over whether we would be asked to move out or if we had the money to wash our clothes at the Laundromat this week made me question if I did the right thing by marrying a “poor” man.
I realized that I had entered the ranks of the poor. Not that I’d ever been rich. Most of my life, I considered us in the lower middle-class rank. We had a house of our own, food on the table, cars, clothes, and money for college. But now, as I listened to an apartment neighbour talk about her monthly “Mother’s Day” gift, I realized she was talking about her welfare check（政府发放的救济金）. And another young mother tried to “help” me out by connecting me with a friend who stole baby clothes from a department store. “ For a small cut,” she said, “ I could return my ‘purchase’(购买的东西）for cash.” It made me sick. How poor was I?
I had a college education but wasn’t using it. I insisted on not missing a minute of our children’s childhood and it came at a price. My husband was working as hard as he could and it wasn’t enough. But somehow we made it.
The kids grew. Today, we look back and see the great values gained by going through those hard years. My children are not materialistic. They never thought they were poor growing up because we always managed to give a little bit of food, money, or clothes to the “poor”. They were satisfied with the simple things in life that come free such as a beach day or a horse back ride from their dad.
We had our worries, but we still treasured our very favorite part of the day when we’d nest (栖息地）under the covers and talked about our future, the kids and how much we loved each other. Sure our financial(财政的) troubles caused a lot of fights, but we didn’t leave each other. We began to live a better life. We moved to a better community(社区）with good schools for the kids. And soon, we’ll face a new challenge with wealth. But we’ll never give up.
My father died three years ago. Before he died, he knew I made the right choice. I’m proud of my decision..The writer argued with her father because _________________.
| A．she thought her father didn’t love her at all |
| B．her father thought her boyfriend was too materialistic |
| C．her father wanted her to marry a rich man while she didn’t |
| D．she thought her father loved her boyfriend’s money more than him. |
.After getting married, the writer questioned if she had done the right thing to marry her husband because___________.
| A．she was often scolded(责骂)by her father |
| B．she found her husband was irresponsible(不负责任的） |
| C．he didn’t think her husband loved her deeply |
| D．they lived a poor life with children to support |
.After their children were born, the writer_______________.
| A．often regretted not using her college education |
| B．worked very hard in order to make more money |
| C．had to steal baby clothes from a department store |
| D．looked after her children as a professional (职业的,专业的）housewife |
. Why didn’t the writer’s children think they were poor growing up?
| A．Because the writer always gave them whatever they wanted |
| B．Because the writer and her children often helped other people. |
| C．Because the writer didn’t let her children play with their rich neighbours |
| D．Because the writer let her children have a good life through receiving help from others. |
.What do you think is the theme(主题）of the story?
| A．Women should always make a decision by themselves |
| B．Listening to the old is important when people get married |
| C．Money doesn’t matter as much as love in marriage |
| D．Children don’t mind whether they have a poor family or not |
Experts say it is not easy to get used to life in a new culture. “ Culture shock” is the term these experts use when talking about the feelings that people have in a new environment. There are three stages of culture shock, say the experts. In the first stage, the newcomers like their new environment. Then, when the fresh experience dies, they begin to hate the city, the country, the people and everything else. In the last stage, the newcomers begin to adjust to their surroundings and, as a result, enjoy their life more.
There are some obvious factors in culture shock. The weather may be unpleasant. The customs may be different. The public service systems---the telephone, post office ,or transportation --may be difficult to work out. The simplest things seem to be big problems. The language may be difficult.
Who feels culture shock? Everyone does in this way or that. But culture shock surprises most people. Very often the people having the worst culture shock are those who never had any difficulties in their home countries and were successful in their community. Coming to a new country, these people find they do not have the same established positions. They find themselves without a role, almost without an identity. They have to build a new self-image.
Culture shock causes a feeling of disorientation (迷惘）. This feeling may be homesickness. When homesick, people feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the strange environment, and create an escape inside their room for a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to make the person familiar with the culture. Getting to know the new environment and gaining experience--these are the long-term solutions to the problem of culture shock.According to the passage, the more successful you are at home, _________________.
| A．the fewer difficulties you may have abroad |
| B．the more difficulties you may have abroad |
| C．the more money you will earn abroad |
| D．the less homesick you will feel abroad |
.Which of the following is NOT right according to the passage?
| A．“Culture shock” is a term used to describe the feelings that people experience in a new environment |
| B．In the second stage of “ Culture shock”, people may hate the life in the new environment |
| C．When you are homesick, you had better not stay at home all the time |
| D．Every one of us doesn’t feel culture shock in this way or that |
.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Escape unfamiliar environment |
| B．The feeling of homesickness |
| C．The best way to overcome (克服、战胜）culture shock: get familiar with the new culture |
| D．Homesickness can solve the problem of culture shock |