This summer, Monika Lutz’s life took an unusual turn. Instead of heading off to college, the high school graduate packed her bags for a Bengali jungle. Lutz, like a growing number of other young Americans, is taking a year off. Gap(间隔) years are quite common in Britain and Australia, but they are just beginning to catch on in the U.S. Lutz, who grew up in Boulder, Colo., has put together a 14-month schedule that includes helping deliver solar power to some communities in India and interning (实习) for a fashion designer in Shanghai---experiences that are worlds away from the lecture halls and university dormitories that await other students. “I could not be happier,” she says.
Why are students attracted to the gap-year concept? According to new survey data from Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, education-policy experts and co-authors of The Gap-Year Advantage, the most common reason for this is to avoid burnout. “I felt like I was focused on college as a means to an end,” says Kelsi Morgan, an incoming Middlebury College freshman who spent last year interning for a judge in Tulsa, Okla., and teaching English at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. The hope is that after a year out of the classroom, students will enter college more energized, focused and mature. That can be an advantage for colleges too. Robert Clagett, dean of admissions at Middlebury, did some research a few years ago and found that a single gap semester was the strongest predictor of academic success at his school.
Most experts recommend securing a spot in college before taking a gap year and warn against using the time off to lengthen your resume. “Most admissions folks can see right through that,” says Jim Jump, the academic dean of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va. But for students like Lutz, who, after getting rejected from five Ivies, decided to take time off, a gap year can help focus interests. Lutz now plans to apply mostly to non-Ivies that have strong marketing programs. “This experience has really opened my eyes to the opportunities the world has to offer,” she says.
But at least one education expert doesn’t want schools spreading the gap-year message. In a study that followed 11,000 members of the high school class of 1992 for eight years after graduation, Stefanie DeLuca, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, found that, all things being equal, those who delayed college by a year were 64% less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than those who didn’t. DeLuca did not say whether these students voluntarily started college late, but at the very least, her work indicates that taking a gap year doesn’t guarantee success. “I’m not going to say that time off does not have benefits,” says DeLuca. “But I think we should not be so enthusiastic.”
The students take gap years mainly because ______.
| A．they want to be more unusual |
| B．they want to refresh themselves |
| C．some experts advise them to do so |
| D．their parents think it good for them |
According to Lutz, the gap year has made her more ______.
| A．energetic | B．relaxed |
| C．practical | D．enthusiastic |
Stefanie DeLuca probably agrees that ______.
| A．students should think twice before taking gap years |
| B．taking gap years enables students to achieve success |
| C．schools should encourage their students to take gap years |
| D．taking gap years increases students’ chances of getting a good job |
What’s the author’s attitude towards gap years?
| A．Sceptical. | B．Positive. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Objective. |
A few years ago I had an “aha!” moment regarding handwriting.
I had in my hand a sheet of paper with handwritten instructions on it for some sort of editorial task. It occurred at first that I did not recognize the handwriting，and then I realized whose it must be. I finally became aware of the fact that I had been working with this colleague for at least a year，maybe two，and yet I did not recognize her handwriting at that point.
It was a very important event in the computerization of life—a sign that the informal. Friendly communication of people working together in an office had changed from notes in pen to instant messages and emails. There was a time when our workdays were filled with little letters，and we recognized one another's handwriting the way we knew voices or faces.
As a child visiting my father’s office，1 was pleased to recognize，in little notes on the desks of his staff，the same handwriting 1 would see at home in the notes he would leave on the fridge—except that those notes were signed “dad” instead of “RFW”.
All this has been on my mind because of the talk about The Rise and Fall of Handwriting，a book by Florey. Sire shows in her book a deep concern about the fall of handwriting and the failure of schools to teach children to write well，but many others argue that people in a digital age can’t be expected to learn to hold a pen.
I don’t buy it.
I don’t want to see anyone cut off from the expressive，personal associations that a pen still promotes better than a digital keyboard does. For many a biographer，part of really getting to know their subjects is learning to read their handwriting.
What some people advocate is teaching one of the many attractive handwritings based on the handwriting of 16th-century Italy. That may sound impossibly grand—as if they want kids to learn to draw by copying classical paintings. However，they have worked in many school systems.
51. Why was the author surprised at not recognizing his colleague’s handwriting?
A. He had worked with his colleague long enough.
B. His colleague’s handwriting was SO beautiful.
C. His colleague’s handwriting was SO terrible.
D. He still had a 1ot of Work to do.
52. People working together in an office used to ____________.
A. talk more about handwriting
B. take more notes on workdays
C. know better one another's handwriting
D. communicate better with one another
53. The author’s father wrote notes in pen _________.
A. to both his family and his staff
B. to his family in small letters
C. to his family on the fridge
D. to his staff on the desk
54. According to the author，handwritten notes _______.
A. are harder to teach in schools
B. attract more attention
C. are used only between friends
D. carry more message
55. We can learn from the passage that the author __________.
A. thinks it impossible to teach handwriting
B. does not want to lose handwriting
C. puts the blame on the computer
D. does not agree with Florey
We once had a poster competition in our fifth grade art class.
“You could win prizes，’’our teacher told US as she wrote the poster information on the blackboard. She passed out sheets of construction paper while continuing，“The first prize is ten dollars. You just have to make sure that the words on the blackboard appear somewhere on your poster. ”
We studied the board critically. Some of US looked with one eye and held up certain colors against the blackboard，rocking the sheets to the fight or left while we conjured up our designs. Others twisted their hair around their fingers or chewed their erasers while deep in thought. We had plans for that ten—dollar grand prize，each and every one of US. I'm going to spend mine on candies，one hopeful would announce，while another practiced looking serious，wise and rich.
Everyone in the class made a poster. Some of us used parts of those fancy paper napkins，while others used nothing but colored construction paper. Some of US used big designs，and some of us preferred to gather our art tidily down in one comer of our poster and let the space draw the viewer's attention to it. Some of US would wander past the good students’ desks and then return to our own projects with a growing sense of hopelessness. It was yet another grown-up trick of the soil they seemed especially fond of。making all of US believe we had a fair chance，and then always—always—rewarding the same old winners.
I believe I drew a sailboat，but I can’t say that with any certainty. I made it. I admired it. I determined it to be the very best of all of the posters I had seen，and then I turned it in.
Minutes passed.
No one came along to give me the grand prize，and then someone distracted me，and I probably never would have thought about that poster again.
I was still sitting at my desk，thinking，What poster? When the teacher gave me an envelope with a ten-dollar bill in it and everyone in the class applauded for me.
46. What was the teacher's requirement for the poster?
A. It must appear in time.
B. It must be done in class.
C. It must be done on a construction sheet.
D. It must include the words on the blackboard.
47. The underlined phrase in paragraph 3 most probably means _____________.
A. formed an idea for
B. made an outline for
C. made some space for
D. chose some colors for
48. After the teacher’s words，all the students in the class _________.
A. 1ooked very serious
B. thought they would be rich
C. began to think about their designs
D. began to play games
49. After seeing the good students’ designs，some students _________.
A. 1oved their own designs more
B. thought they had a fair chance
C. put their own designs in a comer
D. thought they would not win the prize
50. We can infer from the passage that the author ______________.
A. enjoyed grown-up tricks very much
B. 1oved poster competitions very much
C. felt surprised to win the competition
D. became wise and rich after the competition
Lisa was running late. Lisa，25，had a lot to do at work，plus visitors on the way: her parents were coming in for Thanksgiving from her hometown. But as she hurried down the subway stairs，she started to feel uncomfortably warn. By the time she got to the platform，Lisa felt weak and tired--maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to give blood the night before，she thought. She rested herself against a post close to the tracks.
Several yards away，Frank，43，and his girlfriend，Jennifer，found a spot close to where the front of the train would stop. They were deep in discussion about a house they were thinking of buying.
But when he heard the scream，followed by someone yelling，“Oh，my God，she fell in!” Frank didn’t hesitate. He jumped down to the tracks and ran some 40 feet toward the body lying on the rails. “No! Not you! ”his girlfriend screamed after him.
She was right to be alarmed. By the time Frank reached Lisa，he could feel the tracks shaking and see the light coming. The train was about 20 seconds from the station.
It was hard to lift her. She was just out. But he managed to raise her the four feet to the platform so that bystanders could hold her by the grins and drag her away from the edge. That was where Lisa briefly regained consciousness，felt herself being pulled along the ground，and saw someone else holding her purse.
Lisa thought she’d been robbed. A woman held her hand and a man gave his shirt to help stop the blood pouring from her head. And she tried to talk but she couldn’t，and that was when she realized how much pain she was in.
Police and fire officials soon arrived，and Frank told the story to an officer. Jennifer said her boyfriend was calm on their 40-minute train ride downtown—just as he had been seconds after the rescue，which made her think about her reaction at the time. “I saw the train coming and 1 was thinking he was going to die，”she explained.
41. What was the most probable cause for Lisa’s weakness?
A. She had run a long way.
B. She felt hot in the subway.
C. She had done a 1ot of work.
D. She had donated blood the night before.
42. Why did Jennifer try to stop her boyfriend?
A. Because they would miss their train.
B. Because he didn’t see the train coming.
C. Because she was sure Lisa was hard to lift.
D. Because she was afraid the train would kill him.
43. How did Frank save Lisa?
A. By lifting her to the platform.
B. By helping her rise to her feet.
C. By pulling her along the ground.
D. By dragging her away from the edge.
44. When did Lisa become conscious again?
A. When the train was leaving.
B. After she was back on the platform.
C. After the police and fire officials came.
D. When a man was cleaning the blood from her head.
45. The passage is intended to _____________
A. warn us of the danger in the subway
B. show US how to save people in the subway
C. tell US about a subway rescue
D. report a traffic accident
An increase in students applying to study economics at university is being attributed to （归因于）the global economic crisis awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financia
l system works. Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A. spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were also up. Professor john Beath, the president of the society and a leading lecture at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures-which are open to students from all departments—were drawing crowds of 400, rather than the usual 250. “There are a large number of students who are not economics majors, who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to relate my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasn’t traditionally done. ” He added. University applications rose 7% last year. But there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people’s renewed interest in caters in the pubic sector（部门）, which are seen as more secure in economic crisis. A. recent study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial matters, and almost half said their children had asked them what was going on, although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain. Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: “It’s possible that one good thing to arise from the downturn will be a generation that’s financially wiser and better equipped to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty.” 71. Professor John Beath’s lectures are ______ . A. given in a traditional way B. connected with the present situation C. open to both students and their parents D. warmly received by economics 72. Incomes in the public sector are more attractive because of their_____. A. greater stability B. higher pay C. fewer applications D. better reputation 73. in the opinion of most parents ______ . A. eccentrics should be the focus of school teaching B. more students should be admitted to universities C. the teaching of financial matters should be strengthened. D. children should solve financial problems themselves 74. According to Hocking, the global economic crisis might make the youngsters_____ . A. wiser in money management B. have access to better equipment C. confide about their future careers D. get jobs in Child Trust Funds 75. What’s the main idea of the text? A. Universities have received more applications. B. Economics is attracting an increasing numbers students C. college students benefit a lot from economic uncertainty D. parents are concerned with children’s subject selection.
Few laws are so effective that you can see results just days after they take effect. But in the nine days since the federal cigarette tax more than doubled—to $1. 01 per pack—smokers have jammed telephone “quit lines” across the country seeking to kick the habit. This is not a surprise to public health advocates. They’ve studied the effect of state tax increases for years, finding that smokers, especially teens, are price sensitive. Nor is it a shock to the industry, which fiercely fights every tax increase. The only wonder is that so many states insist on closing their ears to the message. Tobacco taxes improve public health, health, they raise money and most particularly, they deter people from taking up the habit as teens, which is when nearly all smokers are addicted. Yet the rate of taxation varies widely. In Manhattan, for instance, which has the highest tax in the nation, a pack of Marlboro Light Kings cost ＄10.06 at one drugstore Wednesday. Charleston, S, C., where the 7-cent-a-pack tax is the lowest in the nation. The price was $4. 78. The influence is obvious. In New York, high school smoking hit a new low in the latest surveys—13.8%, far below the national average. By comparison, 26% of high school students smoke in Kentucky, Other low-tax states have similarly depressing teen-smoking records. Hal Rogers, Representative from Kentucky, like those who are against high tobacco taxes, argues that the burden of the tax falls on low-income Americans “who choose to smoke.” That’s true, But there is more reason in keeping future generations of low-income workers from getting hooked in the first place, As for today’s adults, if the new tax drives them to quit, they will have more to spend on their families, cut their risk of cancer and heart disease and feel better. 66 The text is mainly about___________. A. the price of cigarettes B. tie rate of teen smoking C. the effect of tobacco tax increase D. the differences in tobacco tax rate 67 What does the author think is a surprise? A. Teen smokers are price sensitive. B. Some states still keep the tobacco tax low. C. Tobacco taxes improve public health. D. Tobacco industry fiercely fights the tax rise. 68. The underlined word "deter” in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______ . A. discarding B. remove C. benefit D. free 69. Rogers’ attitude towards the low-income smokers might be that of _____ . A. tolerance B. unconcern C. doubt D. sympathy 70. What can we learn from the last paragraph? A. The new tax will be beneficial in the long run. B. Low-income Americans are more likely to fall ill. C. Future generations will be hooked on smoking. D. Adults will depend more on their families.