You may have heard of the American Dream, an ideal that has powered the hopes of Americans for generations.
It began as a belief that the US was a land of opportunity, and that anyone could achieve success through hard work. At times, the dream has referred to home ownership, a good job, retirement security or each generation doing better than the last.
Yet today, this concept seems to have greatly changed. As Time magazine pointed out, quite different from the older generation, many Millennials (the generation born after 1980) redefine(重新定义) the American Dream as “day-to-day control of your life”. They “prize job mobility, flexible schedules, any work that is more interesting than typing, and the ability to travel”, said the magazine.
Home ownership, once the cornerstone of the American Dream, is becoming a smaller priority for this generation. Meanwhile, nearly 40% of them choose travel as part of their dream. And entrepreneurship(创业) is a rising favorite, as nearly 26% of Millennials consider self-employment as part of their dream.
So what has led to this huge change?
Many point fingers at the poor economy. “Modern young Americans seem bound to face a world stamped by ever narrowing opportunity and social stagnation(停滞),”noted The Daily Beast.
“The rate of 16-to 24-year-olds out of school and out of work is unusually high at 15%. Many college graduates have taken jobs that don’t require a degree,” Time reported.
The magazine worries that these difficulties may lead to a lost generation who are “unable to ever truly find their feet on the corporation’s ladder”.
Dan Kadlec, a reporter of Time, sees Millennials as resetting their expectations. “This situation is different for young adults today,” he wrote. “A true American dream has to feel attainable, and many Millennias are feeling they can only attain a day-today lifestyle that suits them.”
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．Meaning of American Dream |
| B．Redefinition of American Dream |
| C．Value of Achieving American Dream |
| D．History of Changing American Dream |
The underlined word “cornerstone” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to “ ”.
| A．growth | B．balance |
| C．purpose | D．basis |
According to the passage, what has changed Millennials’ view of the American Dream?
| A．A lack of confidence in themselves |
| B．Fierce competition in the job market |
| C．The discouraging economy and unemployment |
| D．Their dissatisfaction with the government |
Dan Kadlec thinks Millennials’ new definition of the American Dream is ______.
| A．understandable | B．beautiful |
| C．worrying | D．Positive |
The amazing image shows the world’s largest ever cruise ship, complete with beach pool, shopping mall, rock-climbing walls, outdoor amphitheater（圆形剧场）and New York-style loft suites（套间）．The “traveling city” is being built on dry-docks in Finland by Royal Caribbean International, and she is named Oasis of the Seas．
Almost 1,200 feet long, 154 feet wide and rising 213 feet above the water line, the Oasis of the Seas will be able to host 3,000 crew to service every passenger’s need．In addition to the size, the Oasis of the Seas will also be the first ship that attracts people by the cruise line’s new
neighborhood concept: 7 distinct themed areas, including Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone．Of all these areas, the excellent zone will be “Central Park”．
Protected from the weather by a clear screen to let in the light, the Central Park area will be themed on Caribbean plants and leaves reflecting the area which the ship will eventually cruise in．And the park zone will have different restaurants, bars and boutique shops, bringing the idea of “floating city” to reality．
In addition, Oasis of the Seas will also include a rock wall, over 15 restaurants and bars, a casino(娱乐场), a theatre, two night-clubs and the largest freshwater pool on any cruise liner．
“Royal Caribbean is proud to introduce a number of ‘firsts’ that the world has never seen before,” said Adam Goldstein, “Oasis of the Seas is the ultimate expression of the creativity and imagination found on all of our ships, providing guests with a collection of experiences that will offer an incredible cruise vacation．”
49．In the passage, Oasis of the Seas refers to ______．
A．a traveling city B．a cruise ship
C．a deserted island D．an ocean park
50．It can be inferred from the passage that ______．
A．the Oasis of the Seas hasn’t been built well so far
B．7 distinct themed areas are being built on dry-docks
C．the “traveling city” can hold 3,000 passengers
D．the “traveling city” is a beauty spot
51．The main idea of the third paragraph would be _____．
A．what the Central Park is B．the location of the Central Park
C．the features of the Central Park D．the theme of the Central Park
52．The Oasis of the Seas includes a number of ‘firsts’ EXCEPT _____．
A．the world’s largest ever cruise ship
B．its way of attracting tourists
C．the largest freshwater pool on any cruise liner
D．its most delicious food in the world
Want to be a happy married couple? Consider having kids．
A new study found that having children boosts happiness．And the more, literally, the merrier．
But unmarried couples shouldn’t expect to find greater happiness through child-raising．The study, published in the Oct．14 online edition of the Journal of Happiness Studies, suggests that having children has little or no effect on boosting happiness among couples who aren’t hitched(和谐)．
The findings contradict previous research that suggested that having more offspring doesn't lead to greater happiness and might even make people less satisfied with their lives．One theory behind the conclusion is that parents don’t receive many rewards in return for the hard work of raising children．
The new study, however, notes that parents say children are one of the most important things in their lives, if not the most important．
The study found that life satisfaction for married people -- women especially -- goes up the more kids they have．Single, separated and co-habiting people, by contrast, report negative experiences．
“One is tempted to advance that children make people rich under the ‘right conditions’ -- a time in life when people feel that they are ready, or at least willing, to enter parenthood,” Dr．Luis Angeles, of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, said in a news release from the journal’s publisher．“This time can come at very different moments for different individuals, but a likely signal of its approach may well be the act of marriage．”
57．The underlined word “offspring” in the fourth paragraph can be replaced by _____．
A．generation B．children C．mothers D．marriage
58．The best title of this passage should be _______．
A．Children Are the Source of Happiness
B．Are You Happy Married Couple?
C．Married with Children Paves Way to Happiness
D．The Right Conditions of Having Children
59．Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A．The more children women have, the happier they are．
B．The more children the married women have, the more unsatisfied they become．
C．Raising kids can give any person happiness．
D．Without marriage, one woman had better not raise kids．
60．In the passage, the underlined part ‘right conditions’ refers to _______．
A．a time when the couple are ready and willing to become parents
B．the situation where the family is rich enough to raise a child
C．the situation where the couple are very happy
D．a time when the couple thinks raising children can boost happiness
The surprising experiment I am about to describe proves that air is all aroud you and that it proves down upon you．Air pressure is a wonderful force．When you swim underwater, you can feel water push down your body．The air all around you does the same．However, your body is so used to it that you do not notice this ．The pressure is caused by a layer of air called the atmosphere．This layer surrounds the Earth , extending to about five kilometers above the Earth’s surface．
The following experiment is an easy one that you can do at home．But make sure that you are supervised , because you will need to use matches．Now for the experiment！
What you need
·A hard-boiled egg without the shell
·A bottle with a neck slightly smaller than the egg
·A piece of paper
·A match
Metheod
1) Check that the egg will sit firmly on the neck of the bottle．
2) Tear the paper into strips and put the strips into the bottle．
3) Light the paper by dropping a burning match into the bottle．
4) Quickly sit the egg on the neck of the bottle．
Result
Astonishingly,the egg will be sucked into the bottle．Your friends will be amazed when you show them the experiment．But be careful when you handle matches．
Why it happened
As the paper burns,it needs oxyen and uses up the oxygen(air) in the bottle．The egg acts as a seal in the neck of the bottle,so no more air can get inside ．This reduces the air pressure inside the bottle．The air pressure must equalize,so more air from outside must enter the bottle．The outside air pressure against the egg and then the egg is pushed into the bottle!The proves that air is all around and that it is pressing down on it．
53．When you do the experiment, why need you a person beside you?
A．You couldn’t place the egg on the bottle by yourself．
B．The egg needs to be shelled．
C．You need to use matches．
D．The bottle can’t sit firmly on the desk．
54．The purpose of doing this experiment is to prove ______．
A．air pressure is a wonderful force
B．water can push down your body when you swim underwater
C．the air pressure is not equalized around us
D．the earth is surrounded by a layer of air called the atmosphere
55．How did the egg put into the bottle？
A．The oxygen inside the bottle suckde the egg in．
B．It became solt without the shell．
C．The neck of the bottle was wide enough．
D．The outside air pressure forced it into the bottle．
56．The passage is ______．
A．an experiment report B．a scientific story
C．a research report D．an interesting novel
If you know exactly what you want, the best way to get a job is to get specialized training. A recent report shows that companies like graduates in such fields as business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training.
That’s especially true of booming fields that are challenging for workers. At Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor's degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement. Large companies especially like a background of formal education coupled with work experience. But in the long run, too much specialization does not pay off. Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree an automatic stamp of approval. The MBA may open doors and command a higher salary initially, but the impact of a degree washes out after five years.
As further evidence of the erosion of corporate faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State’s Scheetz cites a pattern in corporate hiring practices. Although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out generalists for middle and upper-level management. This sounds like a formal statement that you approve of the liberal-arts(文科) graduate. Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have: writing and communication skills, organizational skills, open-mindedness and adaptability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems. David Birch, manager of the Boston Red Sox, says that he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree. “I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things,” says Birch.
For a liberal – arts degree, students focus on some basic courses that include literature history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior and a computer course or two. With these useful and important courses, you can feel free to specialize, “A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the marketplace,” says Scheetz.
67．The job market is in great need of people with .
A．special training in special fields
B．a bachelor’s degree in education
C．formal schooling and work experience
D．an MBA degree from top universities
68．The underlined sentence in Paragrph 2 means .
A．an MBA degree does not help in future promotion
B．MBA programs will not be as popular as they are now
C．people will not forget the degree the MBA graduates have got
D．most MBA programs fail to provide students with a foundation
69．David Birch says that he only hires liberal – arts people because .
A．they will follow others’ ways of solving problems
B．they can do better in bundling changing situations
C．they are well trained in a variety of specialized fields
D．they have attended special programs in management
70．The author supports the idea that .
A．on – the – job training is less costly in the long run
B．formal schooling is less important than job training
C．specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists
D．generalists will do better than specialists in management
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Why People Get Tattoos
Jack lay, quiet and unmoving, for thirty minutes while a stranger |
CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub – point (次要点) C: Conclusion
