When introducing American universities, some of the first institutions to mention are the Ivy League schools. Originally, the Ivy League was an athletic conference made up of 8 private institutes of higher learning in northeastern United States. However, as time went on, these schools also became known for their excellence in academics besides athletics. Until now, these 8 schools have been recognized as some of the best colleges and universities in the United States.
Harvard University is a private institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The university includes a number of graduate and professional schools, as well as a college for undergraduates. In 2012, Harvard ranked number one in US News’ ranking of national universities again. Founded in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institute of higher education in the United States. It can be said that first there was Harvard, then the United States of America. Also, Harvard’s library contains the oldest collection of books in the United States as well as the largest private collection in the world. Harvard has also been described by Forbes Magazine as one of the “billionaire universities” as of their recent list of 469 billionaires, 50 received a degree from Harvard.
Harvard College (the institute for undergraduate students) is one of the most famous schools in the United States. It offers over 40 undergraduate fields of study, including astrophysics, mathematics, neurobiology(神经生物学), etc. And the financial aid program there is amazing. Even though the tuition is about 37,576, and there are other expenses throughout the year, about 70% of undergraduate students received financial aid. Out of those students, over 90% of them had their full need met. And the policies for international students are the same for U.S. citizens.
Harvard College is very selective, as it only admits about 6% of their applicants. For admission into Harvard College, it is required that students take the SAT or the ACT, as well as 2 SAT Subject Tests. Harvard will also look at other factors during admission such as your application essay, high school transcript, recommendations, and most importantly, your character and personal qualities.
What are the Ivy League schools famous for?
| A．Athletics and location. | B．Academics and history. |
| C．Financial aid and training. | D．Athletics and academics. |
Harvard University includes .
| A．only one college |
| B．a number of colleges for undergraduates |
| C．a kindergarten, a middle school and a college |
| D．many graduate and professional schools and a college for undergraduates |
Why is Harvard called one of the “billionaire universities”?
| A．Because people can get a lot of money from Harvard. |
| B．Because there are 50 billionaires in Harvard. |
| C．Because nearly one ninth of the billionaires once studied in Harvard. |
| D．Because 469 billionaires sponsor Harvard. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．90% students in Harvard have their full need met. |
| B．About 70% of undergraduate students received financial aid. |
| C．Harvard College is the institute for graduate students. |
| D．The policies for international students are different for U.S. Citizens. |
“When one of the doctors criticizes(批评) me, I get defensive. I feel like a child again, being scolded, and I want to explain that I’m not wrong,” says Viola, a nurse. This is a common reaction（反应） to criticism, but not a good one. There are better ways of dealing with criticism.
Try to be objective(客观的).When Sol was criticized by his new employer for not having made a sale, Sol’s reaction was to feel sorry for himself. “I had put everything I had into making that sale,” Sol says. “And I felt that I had failed as a person.I had to learn through experience not to react like that to each failure.”
Take time to cool down. Rather than react at once to criticism, take some time to think over what was said. Your first question should be whether the criticism is fair from the other person’s position. The problem may be a simple misunderstanding of what you did or your reasons for doing it.
Take positive（积极的） action. After you cool down, consider what you can do about the situation. The best answer may be “nothing”. “I finally realized that my boss was having personal problems and taking them out on me because I was there ,” says Sheila. “His criticisms didn’t really have anything to do with my work, so nothing I said or did was going to change them.” In Sheila’s case, the best way to deal with it was to leave her job However, that’s an extreme(极端的) reaction.
You may simply explain your opinion without expecting an in-depth（深入的） discussion. You may even decide that the battle isn’t worth fighting this time. The key, in any case , is to have a reasonable plan.
64. When Sol was criticized by his employer, he________.
A. argued bitterly with his employer
B. was angry and gave up his job
C. was sorry for what he did
D. was sad and self-pitying
65. According to the writer, you should take time to think about criticism because ________.
A. people may have a mistaken idea of what you did
B. you should welcome other people’s opinions
C. people may discuss it with you in depth
D. you need time to understand yourself
66. When the writer says that “The best answer may be ‘ nothing’ ”,he means you may
decide _________.
A. to take no notice of the criticism B. to argue with your boss
C. you need to change your job D. you’ve done nothing wrong
67.The writer thinks Sheila might decide to leave her job because her boss______.
A.didn’t like her appearance B. refused to change his opinion
C.made an unreasonable critcism D.refused to talk to her about the criticism
Last April, on a visit to the new Mall of America near Minneapolis, I carried with me a small book provided for the reporters by the public relations office. It
included a variety of “fun facts” about the mall, for example, 140,000 hot dogs are sold each week, there are 10,000 full-time jobs, 44 sets of moving stairs and 17 lifts, 12,750 parking places, 13,000 tons of steel and $ 1 million is drawn weekly from 8 ATMs. Opened in the summer of 2005, the mall was built where the former Minneapolis Stadium had been. It was only a five-minute drive from the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. With 4.2 million square feet of floor space ----- twenty-two times the size of the average American shopping center –the Mall of America was the largest shopping and family recreation center under one roof in the United States.
I know already that the Mall of America had been imagined by its designers, not only as a marketplace, but as a national tourist attaction. Eleven thousand articles, the small book informed me, had been written about the mall. Four hundred trees had been planted in its gardens, $ 625 million had been spent to build it, and 350 stores were already in business. Three thousand bus tours were expected each year along with a half-million Canadian visitors and 200,000 Japanese tourists. Sales are expected to be at $ 650 million for 2008 and at $ I billion for 2009. Pop singers and film stars such as Janet Jackson and Amold Schwarzenegger visited the mall. It was five times larger than Red Square and it included 2.3 miles of hallways and used almost twice as Knott’s Camp Snoopy.
60. We know from the text that the Mall of America is _________.
A.near an old stadium B.close to an airport
C.higher than the Eiffel TowerD.bigger than most American parks
61. Why are the pieces of information provided by the Mall of America referred to as “fun facts”?
A.They are largely imagined. B.They are surprising figures（数字）
C.They give exact descriptions. D.They make people feel uneasy.
62. Why does the author mention popular stars who have been to the mall?
A.To show its power of attraction.
B.To show that few rich people like to shop there.
C.To tell the public about a new movie being made about it.
D.To tell people that they have chances of meeting famous stars there.
63. We can infer from the text that _______.
A.Japanese visitors are most welcome to the mall
B.Canadian visitors would spend $ I billion at the mall
C.Knott’s Camp Snoopy was next to the Mall of America
D.the Mall of America was designed to serve more than one purpose（目的）
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。
I began to work as a salesgirl in a department store. I got there that morning and was introduced to all the salesmen and saleswomen. Throughout the day,one of the salesmen talked with me.I thought we might become friends.That evening after work we went out for dinner. We sat together and talked,but our numbers were never exchanged.
Around 10 pm I began my 2-hour drive back. For the first part of the drive I was thinking to myself how stupid I had been for not giving him my number. Then all of a sudden, when I had gone around a corner I was completely over in another lane(车道).There was no time to even hit the brakes（刹车）. I hit at once. The police came and cut the top of my car off to get me out. They sent me to the hospital quickly.
My mother got there late that night, and saw me lying in the emergency room. The next morning, mom called the manager and told him what had happened, and that I would be in the hospital for a long time. A few hours later, I received a phone call--- it was the guy（小伙子） I hadn’t given my number. Well, he came to visit me that night and the next night. We spent a lot of time together.
It was months before I would be walking and driving again, but he’d sit by me. I don’t think I could have pulled through it without him. Now I can walk freely, and just this
week we are planning on getting married one year after the day we met. It’s just amazing
how a tragedy like a car accident could bring about such a wonderful relationship!
56.The car accident happened because______.
A.the girl drank a lot before driving
B.it was so dark that the girl couldn’t see very clearly
C.another car appeared on the girl’s lane suddenly
D.the girl didn’t drive with great care
57.We can infer that the girl __________.
A.couldn’t say anything at hospital
B.would lose her job in the store
C.was badly injured in the accident
D.was careless with making friends
58.The guy got the news that the girl was in hospital possibly from ________.
A.the manager B.the girl’s mother C.the doctor D.the girl herself
59.The girl thought that ________.
A.a traffic accident might bring good luck
B.it was the car accident that brought about their marriage
C.a true friend is one who helps you in need
D.there was true love and friendship in the world
ALBANY，New York—Students who rely on working at night to improve their
grades might want to sleep on that strategy: A new survey in the US says those who never study all night have slightly higher grades than those who do.
A survey of 120 students at St.Lawrence University found that students who had never pulled an allnighter on average had higher grades than those who had. The survey found those who did not study through the night had a grade point average of 3.2 compared to 2.95 for those who did.
The study, by assistant professor of psychology Pamela Thacher, is to be included in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.
“It's not a big difference，but it's pretty striking, ” Thacher said, “I am primarily a sleep researcher and I know nobody thinks clearly at 4∶00 in the morning. You think you can do，but you can't.”
Many college students, of course, have inadequate or irregular sleep, for reasons ranging from excessive caffeine to poor time management.
“A lot of students were under the impression that allnighters were a very useful tool for accomplishing work, and that caffeine intake was very useful in meeting deadlines and stuff like that, ”said Mr Chatani, who had a 3.4 grade point average last term.
Dr Howard Weiss, a physician at St.Peter's Sleep Center in Albany, said the study results made sense.
“Certainly that data is out there showing that short sleep duration absolutely interferes with concentration and performance on objective testing, ”he said.
“Some night owls do get good grades, of course，which may be explained by circadian (昼夜节律的，生理节奏的) rhythms, ”Weiss said, “Some people have different 24hour body clocks from others, and may do better depending on classes and testing time.”
63.The purpose of the passage is to tell us
A. the bad effects of pulling an allnighter
B. pulling an allnighter leads to sleep problems
C. Thacher's doubt about allnighters
D. allnighters influence students' grades
64. According to Thacher's study，around 4 o'clock in the morning is a time when .
A. one can think more clearly
B. one has his/her best memory
C. one can't learn efficiently
D. one's brain falls into a period of deep sleep
65.What can we know from Dr Howard Weiss' words？
A. Thacher's study is not convincing enough.
B. He believes in Thacher's study.
C. Thacher's study makes no sense.
D. Thacher should take exceptions into consideration.
Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. Then I was born in E1 Paso，Texas and when I was four, my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles.
Even though we struggled to make ends meet, my parents stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They influenced us with the concepts of family, faith and nationalism.
I got my first real job when I was ten. My dad injured his back working in a cardboardbox factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rented space in a little shopping mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr.Ben’s Coiffure.
The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week，which meant getting up at 3 a．m..To pick up rubbish, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I’d sleep in the car on the way home.
I did this for two years，but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired discipline and a strong work ethic(道德), and learned at an early age the importance of balancing life’s competing interests－in my case，school，homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of a high school, when I worked 40 hours a week flipping burgers at a fastfood joint while taking a full load of college preparation courses.
The hard work paid off. I attended the U．S.Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California State Assembly(州议会)．In these jobs and in everything else I’ve done, I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families that is something we should honor.
59. Before my father got injured，we________.
A. didn’t like living in the USA B. lived a poor but happy life
C. were lucky to move to the USA D. had many ways to make money
60. When he recovered，to make a living my father________.
A. ran a small shopping mall B. did a parttime job
C. worked as a barber D. became a street cleaner
61. Working in the parking lot for two years had taught me________.
A. how to obey school discipline B. how to do two things well at a time
C. that discipline and work were of equal value
D. that I must do as many things as possible at a time
62. The author tells us in the last paragraph that we should be proud of those who________.
A. have done all kinds of jobs B. are cleaning the parking lot
C. have achieved a lot in their lives D. are bearing their responsibilities