The U.S. Department of Labor statistics (统计) show that there is an oversupply of college-trained workers and that this oversupply is increasing. Already there have been more than enough teachers, engineers, physicists, aerospace experts, and other specialists. Yet colleges and graduate schools continue every year to turn out highly trained people to compete for jobs that aren't there. The result is that graduates cannot enter the professions for which they were trained and must take temporary jobs which do not require a college degree.
On the other hand, there is a great need for skilled workers of all sorts: carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, TV repairmen.
These people have more work than they can deal with, and their annual incomes are often higher than those of college graduates. The old gap that white-collar workers make a better living than blue-collar workers no longer holds true. The law of supply and demand now favors the skilled workmen.
The reason for this situation is the traditional myth that college degree is a passport to a prosperous future. A large part of American society matches success in life equally with a college degree. Parents begin indoctrinating (灌输) their children with this myth before they are out of grade school. High school teachers play their part by acting as if high school education were a preparation for college rather than for life. Under this pressure the kids fall in line. Whether they want to go to college or not doesn't matter. Everybody should go to college, so of course they must go. And every year college enrollments (入学) go up and up, and more and more graduates are overeducated for the kinds of jobs available to them.
One result of this emphasis on a college education is that many people go to college who do not belong there. Of the sixty percent of high school graduates who enter college, half of them do not graduate with their class. Many of them drop out within the first year. Some struggle on for two or three years and then give up.
1. It's implied but not stated in the passage that .
A. many other countries are facing the same problem
B. white-collar workers in the US used to make more money than blue-collar workers
C. fewer students will prefer to go to college in the future
D. the law of supply and demand has a strong effect on American higher education
2. Which of the following is NOT a reason why college enrollments go up every year?
A. Many people believe that the only way to success is a college education.
B. Many parents want their children to go to college.
C. High school teachers urge their students to go to college.
D. Every young man and woman wants to go to college.
3. By saying that“many people go to college who do not belong there,” the author means that .
A. many people who are not fit for college education go to college
B. many people who do not have enough money go to college
C. many people who go to college drop out within the first year
D. many people who go to college have their hopes destroyed
4. We can infer from the passage that the author believes that .
A. every young man and woman should go to college
B. college education is a bad thing
C. people with a college education should receive higher pay
D. fewer people should go to college while more should be trained for skilled jobs
As one comes to some crossroads, he or she sees a sign which says that drivers have to stop when they come to the main road ahead. At other crossroads, drivers have to go slow, but they do not actually have to stop unless, of course, there is something coming along the main road; and at still others, they do not have either to stop or to go slow, because they are themselves on the main road.
Mr. Williams, who was always a very careful driver, was driving home from work one evening when he came to a crossroad. It had a “SLOW” sign. He slowed down when he came to the main road, looked both ways to see that nothing was coming, and then drove across without stopping completely.
At once he heard a police whistle, so he pulled into the side of the road and stopped. A policeman walked over to him with a notebook and a pen in his hand and said, “You didn’t stop at that crossing.”
“But the sign there doesn't say ‘STOP’.” answered Mr. Williams, “It just says ‘SLOW’, and I did go slow.”
The policeman looked around him, and a look of surprise came over his face. Then he put his notebook and pen away, scratched his head and said, “Well, I’m in the wrong street!”
Mr. Williams was driving ________ one evening.
| A．to a party | B．to his office |
| C．home after work | D．to work from home |
When he was stopped by a policeman, he ____.
| A．was driving at a high speed | B．was driving onto the main road |
| C．was going to stop his car | D．was pulled into the crossroad |
Though slowly, Mr. Williams continued driving at the crossing because________ .
| A．he saw a “STOP” sign in the opposite street |
| B．he paid no attention to the traffic rules |
| C．he didn't have to stop |
| D．he was eager to get home |
Looking round Mr. Williams, the policeman was surprised because__________ .
| A．he met a mad man |
| B．he realized that he himself was mistaken |
| C．Mr. Williams dared to speak to him like that |
| D．Mr. Williams would not apologize to him |
People bury treasure to stop other people from taking it. They choose a quiet place, dig a deep hole and bury the treasure in it. Then they make a map of where the treasure is or write down other clues（线索）that will help them or someone else to find it again.
In Britain a few years ago, a writer wrote about some treasure that he had buried. He put clues in the story to help readers find it. Thousands of people hunted for the treasure. They dug holes all over Britain, hoping to find it.
One of the most popular adventure stories ever written is Robert Louis Stephenson's “Treasured Island”, an exciting story about a young boy, Jim Hawkins, who is captured by pirates (海盗) and later finds some buried treasure.
Then there is the true story about a man who had to travel overseas for a year. He did not trust
banks, so he buried his life savings in a park. Then he went away. On his return, he went straight to the park. But the park was no longer there. In its place there was a huge building.
And then there was the man who buried his savings, all in bank notes, in a waterproof（防水的）bag. When he dug it up years later, there was nothing left. Worms and insects had eaten the bag and everything in it.
And of course, these are stories about people who bury things and either forget where they have buried them or lose the map.
Although it is true that people sometimes lose their money because a bank fails, banks are still the safest place to keep our savings and treasures.
People who bury treasure usually .
| A．do not trust banks |
| B．have a little money . |
| C．want to live in a quiet place. |
| D．expect to lose it |
The writer in Britain .
| A．really had buried something. |
| B．started a nationwide treasure hunt. |
| C．had lost his treasure and wanted people to help him find it. |
| D．caused trouble because people dug holes everywhere. |
. “Treasure Island” .
| A．is a story about pirates. |
| B．is about the adventures of Jim Hawkins. |
| C．is the most popular story ever written. |
| D．is a well-known fairy tale. |
The man who buried his money in a park .
| A．thought his money was safer there than in a bank. |
| B．travelled on the sea for a year. |
| C．got his life savings back again. |
| D．stayed away longer than he expected. |
From these stories we understand that .
| A．we cannot trust banks. |
| B．we should not trust anyone. |
| C．a waterproof bag is not proof against worms and insects. |
| D．insects eat anything. |
In one way of thinking, failure is a part of life. In another way, failure may be a way towards success. The “spider story” is often told. Robert Bruce, leader of the Scots in the 13th century, was hiding in a cave from the English. He watched a spider spinning a web（蜘蛛织网）. The spider tried to reach across a rough place in the rock. He tried six ti
mes without success. On the seventh time he made it and went on to spin his web. Bruce is said to have taken heart and to have gone on to defeat the English… Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, made hundreds of models that failed before he found the right way to make one.
So what? First, always think about your failure. What caused it? Were conditions right? Were you in top from yourself? What can you change so things will go right next time?
Second, is the goal（目标）you’re trying to reach the right one? Try to do some thinking about what your real goals may be. Think about his question, “If I do succeed in this, where will it get me?” This may help you prevent failure in things you shouldn’t be doing anyway.
The third thing to bear in mind about failure is that it’s a part of life. Learn to “live with yourself” even though you may have failed. Remember, “You can’t win them all.” This passage deals with two sides of failure. In paragraph 1, the author talks mainly about __ .
| A．the value of failure |
| B．how people would fail |
C．famous failure s |
| D．the cause of failure |
The underlined phrase “made it” means ______ .
| A．succeeded |
| B．failed |
| C．gave |
| D．got |
The lesson the spider taught Robert Bruce seems ______ .
| A．productive |
| B．straight forward |
| C．sorrowful |
| D．deep |
The author tells you to do all things except ______ .
| A．The think about the cause of your failure |
| B．to check out whether your goals are right for you |
| C．to consider failure as a part or life |
| D．to bear in mind that you will never fail in your life |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Bruce and Edison were successful examples. |
| B．Failure may be regarded as a way toward success. |
| C．Edison learned a lot from the lesson the spider taught Robert Bruce. |
D．One may often raise a question  whether his goals are worth attempting. |
The greatest recent changes have been in the lives of women, during the twentieth century there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances （家用电器）and convenience foods.
This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each them. According to the passage, around the year1990 most women married .
A. at about twenty five B
. in their early fifties
C. as soon as possible after they were fifteen D. at any age from fifteen to forty fiveWe are told that in an average family about1990
.
| A．many children died before they were five |
| B．the youngest child would be fifteen |
| C．seven of eight children lived to be more than five |
| D．four of five children died when they were five. |
When she was over fifty, the late 19th century mother .
| A．would expect to work until she died |
| B．was usually expected to take up paid employment |
| C．would be healthy enough to take up paid employment. |
| D．was unlikely to find a job. |
Many girls, the passage says, are now likely to .
| A．marry so that they can get a job |
| B．Leave school as soon as they can |
| C．give up their jobs for good after they are married |
| D．continue working until they are going to have a baby |
According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to .
| A．stay at hone after leaving school |
| B．marry men younger than themselves |
| C．start working again later in life |
| D．Marry while still at school |
In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation（模仿） is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes (菜谱) and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.
In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.
In the field of entertainment, those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.
Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.
.Imitation proves useful when you .
| A．know you are unique | B．lose the balance of life |
| C．begin to learn something new | D．get tired of routine practice |
To avoid the bad result of imitation, we should________.
| A．forget daily fear and pain | B．choose the right example |
| C．ask others for decisions | D．stay away from stars |
According to the author, the world moves on because of those who are .
| A．eager to influence others with their knowledge |
| B．ready to turn their original ideas into reality |
| C．eager to discover what their ancestors did |
| D．willing to accept others’ ideas |
The trouble a creator faces is .
| A．the lack of strong motivation | B．the absence of practical ideas |
| C．how to search for more materials | D．how to use imagination creatively |
The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to __________.
| A．emphasize the importance of creativity. |
| B．criticize the characters of role models. |
| C．compare imitation with creation. |
| D．explain the meaning of success. |
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