New York Times-The already crazed competition for admission to the nation’s most famous universities and colleges became even more intense (激烈的) this year, with many recording the lowest acceptance rates.
Harvard College, for example, offered admission to only 7.1 percent of the 27,462 high school seniors who applied — or, put another way, it rejected 93 of every 100 applicants, many with extraordinary achievements, like a perfect score on one of the SAT exams. Yale College accepted 8.3 percent of its 22,813 applicants. Both rates were records.
Columbia College admitted 8.7 percent of its applicants, Brown University and Dartmouth College about 13 percent, and Bowdoin College and Georgetown University 18 percent — also records.
“We love the people we admitted, but we also love a very large number of the people who we were not able to admit,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean (主任) of admissions and financial aid at Harvard College.
Some colleges said they placed more students on their waiting lists than in recent years, in part because of uncertainty over how many admitted students would decide to enroll （登记入学）. Harvard and Princeton stopped accepting students through early admission this academic year; that meant that more than 1,500 students who would have been admitted in December were likely to have applied to many famous schools in the regular round.
Many factors contributed to the tightening of the competition at the most selective colleges, admissions deans said. The number of high school graduates in the nation has grown each year over the last decade and a half, experts estimate that the figure will reach the highest point this year or next, which might reduce the competition a little.
Other factors were the ease of online applications, expanded financial aid packages, an ambitious students’ applying to ever more colleges.
48．What’s the passage mainly about?
A．Harvard has the lowest admission rate this year.
B．Many factors have led to the intense competition.
C．Famous universities prefer to have more students on their waiting lists.
D．Admission to famous universities became even more difficult this year.
49．Which of the following has the highest acceptance rate this year?
A．Yale College. B．Georgetown University.
C．Columbia College. D．Dartmouth College.
50．How many of the 20,000 applicants would be rejected by Columbia College this year?
A．18,260 B．1,740 C．18,350 D．1,950
Recently a professor of philosophy(哲学)in the United States has written a book called Money and the Meaning of Life. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our day to day life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he has asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value(重视)in life．
The professor says our relation with others often becomes clearly defined(明确)when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you are very good friends. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend you some money．If he does，it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before. Otherwise it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn’t．
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who are rich to be very important. The professor interviews some rich people in his research for his book．
Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich?
Answer : The most surprising thing is why people give me so much respect(尊重). I am nothing．I don’t know much．All I am is rich．
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? How much money do I need for any given purpose in my life? In his book，the professor uncovered an important need in modern society：to bring back the idea that money is a tool rather than the end．Money plays an important role in the material world，but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life..
The students are asked to keep a record of every penny they spend to______.
| A．learn how to spend money | B．learn how to make more money |
C．know what to write in a record |
D．know what is important in life |
.
In the second paragraph, the professor mainly tells us ________.
| A．never to borrow money from a friend |
| B．friendship disappears when it comes to money |
| C．money can influence friendship |
| D．money can weaken friendship |
.
．Through his book，the professor seems to tell us ．
| A．money is very important in the material world |
| B．the purpose of our life is to make money |
| C．money does not surely mean happiness |
| D．we should value money in our life |
.
We consider rich people important because ．
| A．they have a meaningful life | B．they are successful people |
| C．we sometimes borrow money from them | D．we think money is important in life |
.
Which of the following might the author disagree?
| A．Money is important in modern society. |
| B．The meaning of life does not completely lie in money. |
| C．Wealth will surely bring the owner happiness. |
| D．Happiness is not necessarily the result of wealth. |
An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow(乌鸦) landed on their window.
The father asked his son, “What is that?”
The son replied, “That is a crow.”
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is that?”
The son said
, “Father, I told you just now. It is a crow.”
After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, “What is this?”
This time his son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already. ‘IT IS A CROW.’ Are you not able to understand this?”
A minute later the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page:
Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I did not at all feel angry, but instead felt affection for my son.
If you parents reach old age, do not look at them as a burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, “I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will take care of my old parents in the BEST way no matter how they behave.”.
The writer mainly intends to ______.
| A．tell us the function of a diary | B．call on us to love our parents |
| C．teach us what a crow is | D．introduce a pair of son and father |
.
According to the passage, the son felt _____ when his father kept asking the same question.
| A．puzzled | B．angry | C．grateful | D．surprised |
.
We can know that the father wrote this diary at the age of ______.
| A．eighty | B．forty-give | C．thirty-eight | D．thirty-five |
.
The old man brought out the diary, which he had kept since his son was born, because ___.
| A．he forgot what had happened | B．he would like his son to read it |
| C．it could remind himself of the past | D．he wanted to find what a crow was in his diary |
Why is setting goals important? Because goals can help you do, be, and experience everything you want in life. Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen.
Successful people imagine how their life should be and set lots of goals. By setting goals you are taking control of your life. It’s like having a map to show you where you want to go. Think of it this way. There are two drivers. One has a destination in mind (her goal) which can be found on a map. She can drive straight there without any wasted time or wrong turns. The other driver has no goal or destination or map. She starts off at the same time from the same place as the first driver, but she drives aimlessly around, never getting anywhere, just using up gas. Which driver do you want to be?
Winners in life set foals and follow through on them. They decide what they want in life and then get there by making plans and setting goals. Unsuccessful people just let life happen by accident. Goals aren’t difficult to set---and they aren’t difficult to reach. It’s up to you to find out what your goals really are. You are the one who must decide what to achieve and in what direction to aim your life.
Research tells us that when we write a goal down we are more likely to achieve it. Written goals can be revi
ewed regularly, and have more power. Like a contract with yourself, they are harder to neglect or forget. Also when you write your goals in a particular way, you are able to make yourself continuously aware of situations that will bring you nearer to your goals..
The article is written to throw light on ______.
| A．the importance of setting goals | B．the way of setting goals |
| C．the winners of competitions | D．the goals in life |
.
The example of two drivers is adopted in order to ______.
| A．compare the difference of goals | B．explain the traffic rules |
| C．help readers understand the importance of goals | D．tell the function of a map |
.
The main idea of the fourth paragraph is that ______.
| A．it’s better to write a goal down | B．written goals can’t be forgotten easily |
| C．try to make yourself aware of your goals | D．written goals can be reviewed regularly |
Research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behavior when they are watched. Do you?
A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act. Even images of eyes on a charity donation, collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a
collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box.
Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin, the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behavior. Their report also referred to other research showing that this response of behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans and people respond this way unconsciously, or without realizing it.
It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched. A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning.
The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption 'I Want You' It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese..
According to the report, why does a person behave better when he feels he is being watched?
| A．He does not want to be shamed by others. |
| B．He needs to show he is a good person. |
| C．He desires others to like him more. |
| D．He feels he will receive some social reward. |
.
．What is the text mainly about?
| A．It describes changed behavior when observed. |
B．It details ways to control people's be havior. |
| C．It tells how to make people work harder. |
| D．It discusses different advertising methods. |
.
According to the text, which of the following statements is true?
| A．People pretend to behave better when they are watched. | |
| B．Fish bite other fish in a fish tank when they are alone. | C．People donate more money when they feel they are watched. |
| D．Soldiers fought better during World War II because of a poster. |
.
．Where would the study described in the text most likely be found?
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a scientific journal. |
| C．In an advertising magazine. | D．In a science textbook. |
What’s your dream vacation? Watching wildlife in Kenya? Boating down the Amazon? Sunbathing in Malaysia? New chances are opening up all the time to explore the world. So we visit travel agents, compare packages and prices, and pay our money.
We know what our vacation costs us. But do we know what it might cost someone else? It’s true that many poorer countries now depend on tourism for foreign income. Unfortunately, though, tourism often harms the local people more than it helps them.
It might cost their homes and lands. In Myanmar, 5,200 people were forced to leave their homes among the pagodas（佛塔）in Bagan so that tourists could visit the pagodas.
Tourism might also cost the local people their livelihood a
nd dignity. Local workers often find only menial（卑微的）jobs in the tourist industry. And most of the profits do not help the local economy. Instead, profits return to the tour operators in wealthier countries. When the Maasai people in Tanzania were driven from their lands, some moved to city slums. Others now make a little money selling souvenirs or posing for photos.
Problems like these were observed more than 20 years ago. But now some non-government organizations, tour operators and local governments are working together to begin correcting them. Tourists, too, are putting on the pressure.
The result is responsible tourism, or“ethical tourism.”Ethical tourism has people at its heart. New international agreements and codes of conduct can help protect the people’s lands, homes, economies and cultures. The beginnings are small, though, and the problems are complex.
But take heart. The good news is that everyone, including us, can play a part to help the local people in the places we visit. Tour operators and companies can help by making sure that local people work in good conditions and earn reasonable wages.
They can make it a point to use only locally owned hotels, restaurants and guide services. They can share profits fairly to help the local economy. And they can involve the local people in planning and managing tourism.
What can tourists do? First, we can ask tour companies to provide information about the conditions of local citizens. We can then make our choices and tell them
why. And while we’re abroad, we can:
★Buy local foods and products, not imported ones.
★Pay a fair price for goods and services and not bargain for the cheapest price.
★Avoid flaunting(炫耀) wealth.
★Ask before taking photographs of people. They are not just part of the landscape! Let’s enjoy our vacation and make sure others do, too..
．What is probably the best title for the article?
| A．Tourism Causes Bad Effects | B．Tourism Calls for Good Behavior |
| C．Vacations Bring a Lot of Fun | D．Vacations Cost More Than You Think |
.
The underlined phrase“take heart”means“ ”.
| A．pay attention | B．take care | C．cheer up | D．calm down |
.
According to the passage, the writer thinks .
| A．tourism is not a promising industry. |
| B．dream vacations should be spent abroad |
| C．the problems caused by tourism are easy to settle. |
| D．tourists should respect local customs and culture |
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