Hungry for the brightest students, many of the country’s stronger universities are actively discounting tuition （学费）．And it’s the high achievers, rather than the needy students, who are getting a good chunk of the money．The practice is remarkably widespread, reaching almost all but the 30 or so Ivy and other top colleges that forbid good grades-based financial aid．Schools are also becoming more aggressive in raising their discounts．At the DePauw University Website, enter an SAT or ACT score, grade point average and class rank, and a computer program immediately tells you what kind of "award"．Only "the real unlucky" pay full price any more．
About 76% of first-year students got some form of discount this year at 331 private schools．Average award per student: $7,000．At small schools with tuition under about $20,000, the average discount is even higher, with some schools returning over half their tuition．
Carnegie Mellon even tells students it will "negotiate（讨价还价）" and perhaps match financial-aid packages if kids are offered bigger awards at other schools．Much as banks and insurers offer special rates to their best customers, schools are giving the biggest breaks to their top students．Public four-year colleges, too, are offering discounts．
The flip side of big discounts is that less money is available to improve academic programs and keep school infrastructure （基础设施） up to date．Universities that have sharply increased their tuition discount rates have seen graduation rates fall, and that’s true even among highly selective schools．They get the students in the door, but don’t have the services to keep them．From the first paragraph, we can judge that _______．
| A．all the universities don’t offer tuition discounts． |
| B．Ivy and other top colleges offer financial aid to the high achievers |
| C．the needy students get more money from the universities |
| D．the graduation rates of the students from highly selected schools fall |
The underlined words “flip side” in the last paragraph probably mean “_______”．
| A．advantage | B．disadvantage | C．bad practice | D．good function |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The brightest students are not at all hungry for stronger universities． |
| B．About 76% of first-year students got an award of $ 20,000 per year． |
| C．Public colleges never offer discounts to the students． |
| D．Colleges should concentrate more on the services to keep the students |
This passage mainly talks about _______．
| A．the great benefit of offering lower tuition |
| B．college tuition discounts in popularity |
| C．the top students in need of tuition discounts |
| D．reducing graduation rates due to big discounts |
An old woman had two large pots (罐), one on each end of a pole (扁担). She carried the pole with the pots across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack (裂缝) in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered (递送) a full pot of water. At the end of the long walk from the well to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half-full.
For two years this happened daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection.
One day, the cracked pot spoke to the woman by the well: “I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”
The old woman smiled: “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your crack, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you water them.”
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate (装饰) the table. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty.”
Each of us has our own cracks. But it’s these cracks that make our lives together so interesting and meaningful.How did the cracked pot feel about itself at first?
| A．Proud. | B．Happy. | C．Excited. | D．Ashamed. |
Where were the flowers growing?
| A．On both sides of the path. |
| B．In the woman’s house. |
| C．On the perfect pot’s side. |
| D．On the cracked pot’s side. |
Which is the correct order of the following events?
① The woman picked the flowers and decorated the table.
② The woman told the truth to the cracked pot.
③ The cracked pot talked to the woman about its crack.
④ The woman found a crack on one pot.
⑤ The woman planted some flower seeds.
| A．④⑤①③② | B．⑤④③②① |
| C．④③①②⑤ | D．④⑤③①② |
What does the passage mainly want to tell us?
| A．Never laugh at old women. |
| B．Imperfection makes life meaningful. |
| C．Try your best to be perfect in life. |
| D．Don’t use a cracked pot to carry water. |
Why do Chinese people love hot pot so much? As the winter months begin to settle in, I find myself wondering what it is about this traditional meal, which has existed for more than 1，000 years, that makes it a Chinese food favorite．But it seems that the answer lies beyond the dish itself．
Hot pot isn't just designed to keep you warm during the cold months; it's also a social experience．It's a "theater” cuisine that turns a meal into an event．There is a lot of fun for everyone to have in adding ingredients to the hot pot．
Hot pot is eaten over two to three hours．For this reason, it is often, considered an evening's entertainment, and time to spend with friends and family．However, many westerners would be put off by the idea of other people sticking chopsticks in their food．When we come to eat at the table in the UK, we tend to have our own individual portions （份额）, although the experience is still a social one．
A similar experience to the hot pot one can be found in Korean barbecue restaurants, which let you cook your own meat．This allows people to have their meat done however they want．
For most Westerners, the idea of going to a restaurant to cook their own food is bizarre （古怪的）．But having given hot pot a go, I find it's now one of my favorite meals in Beijing．The steam from the pot left my clothes smelling of food when I got home, but perhaps this is also part of the experience．When the chilly （刺骨的） wind is blowing outside, just grab （抓） some chopsticks, some good friends, and dig in．For me it's like throwing a dinner party where my taste buds （味蕾） and my appetite are equally satisfied in the warm company of friends．According to the author, hot pot is popular in China because ________．
| A．it is a fun social experience |
| B．it has been developing for over 1,000 years |
| C．it involves many unique ingredients |
| D．it keeps people warm in winter and it is creative |
We can conclude from the article that generally British people _______.
| A．prefer a Korean barbecue to Chinese hot pot |
| B．find it interesting to cook their own food in restaurants |
| C．don't like sharing food with others |
| D．don't mind the smell of food staying on their clothes after dinner |
The underlined word "put off" in the third paragraph probably means _____
| A．excited | B．disappointed | C．puzzled | D．discouraged |
What is the tone of the article?
| A．Appreciative | B．Longing | C．Humorous． | D．Serious． |
In some urban centers, workaholism is so common that people do not consider it unusual．They accept the lifestyle as normal．Government workers in Washington D．C．, for example, frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week．They do this because they have to; they do it because they want to．
Workaholism can be a serious problem．Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they probably don't know
how to relax; that is, they might not enjoy movies, sports, or other
types of entertainment．Most of all, they hate to sit and do nothing．The lives of workaholics are usually stressful, and this tension and worry can cause health problems such as heart attacks or stomach ulcers．In addition, typical workaholics don't pay much attention to their
families．They spend little time with their children, and their marriages may end in divorce．
Is workaholism always dangerous? Perhaps not．There are, certainly, people who work well under stress．Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in life．Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy．For most workaholics, work and entertainment are the same thing．Their jobs provide them with a challenge; this keeps them busy and creative．
Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work．It provides people with paychecks, and this is important．But it offers more than financial security It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they have produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say," I made that．" Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity; by working, they get a sense of self and individualism．In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others．A workaholic is a person who____．
| A．tends to work long hours |
| B．behaves in a strange way |
| C．has to do many social jobs |
| D．holds high social positions |
What can be the problem of workaholism?
| A．Being late． |
| B．Being lazy． |
| C．Being hopeless． |
| D．Being unhealthy． |
According to some studies, most workaholics .
| A．live a hard life |
| B．regard work as something enjoyable |
| C．like to be under stress |
| D．are good at both work and entertainment |
What are the advantages one can get by working according to the text?
a． popularity b． satisfaction c． good payment
d． self-confidence e． higher positions f． social acceptation
| A．a; b; d; e | B．b; c; e; f | C．a; c; d; f | D．b; c; d; f |
The world's native languages are dying out at an unprecedented(空前的) rate, taking with them irreplaceable(不能替代的) knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.
The study identified five global "hot spots" where languages are vanishing faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. "Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction," linguistics(语言学的) professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world's 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.
Native people had an intimate(详尽的) knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. "Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it's only in people's heads," he said. "We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base."
Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. "The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them," he said. "When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,‘This is a dying language, we need to learn it'." Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct.
The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues.What does this text mainly talk about?
| A．A study on native languages endangered. |
| B．The knowledge of native languages. |
| C．People's efforts in saving native languages |
| D．Harrison and his study on languages. |
According to Harrison, language extinction .
| A．causes the researchers lots of worries |
| B．speeds up the pace of species extinction |
| C．threatens the existing of Spanish and English |
| D．brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment |
Which of the following can be described as good news?
| A．Native languages became less endangered in Australia. |
| B．A man was found with knowledge of the Amurdag language. |
| C．Researchers were well received by native people in Australia. |
| D．Many schoolchildren showed interest in the Yawuru language. |
We're one of the biggest ESL professional organizations in Shanghai, China and we have 10 primary schools, 2 middle schools, and 5 kindergartens in Shanghai and 1in Suzhou. For these schools, we only need oral English teachers.
We also own an international school whose name is Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary and Middle School. For this school, we need classroom teachers and subject teachers to teach Science, PE, and Music in English.
We prefer to hire experienced teachers with TESOL or Teacher's Certificate. If you want to know more about us, please visit our website at http://www.shyulun.com/.
●Dates and Durations
We need 1 teacher for every position as below:
1. Classroom Teacher Position in Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School (From 17th Feb 2009, 12 months)
2. Subject Teacher Position in Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School (From 1st Sep 2009, 10 months)
3. Oral English teachers in Shanghai Changning Experimental Primary School (From 3rd March 2009, 3 months)
●Basic requirements for the Positions
1. Native English speakers for all of the above positions
2. Bachelor Degree at least (Position 1 and 2) with related teaching experience
3. TESOL or related certificate (Position 3)
●Working Conditions and Environment
The schools are the top schools in Shanghai with libraries and public computer rooms. Every teacher will have the office desk, free access to the Internet. We provide teaching materials and teaching guidelines.
●Salary, International Travel Allowance and Bonus
The salary ranges from 6,000 RMB to 10,000 RMB per month according to the position you apply for, which can ensure you have a comfortable life in Shanghai.
We will offer you part or full international travel allowances depending on how long you will work for us. Generally, we will pay you a return ticket for one year contract.The ESL professional organization in Shanghai wants to take on .
| A．some language teachers to work in Shanghai |
| B．some native English teachers to work in Suzhou |
| C．some language teachers to work in Suzhou |
| D．some native English teachers to work in Shanghai |
Those who are going to work for the organization will .
| A．prepare teaching materials themselves |
| B．get at least $6,000 a month |
| C．get international travel allowances |
| D．buy their return tickets themselves |
If you want to be hired as a classroom teacher by the above organization, you should .
| A．speak several languages |
| B．have Bachelor Degree |
| C．present good teaching plans |
| D．know how to teach middle school students |
The passage is probably taken from a .
| A．novel | B．travel guide | C．news report | D．website |
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