An increase in students applying to study economics (经济学) at university is being attributed to （归因于）the global economic crisis (危机) awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financial 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 70% last year. But there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people’s renewed interest in careers 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 (使…有能力) to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty.” 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 |
Careers in the public sector are more attractive because of their .
| A．greater stability | B．higher pay |
| C．fewer applications | D．better reputation |
In the opinion of most parents , .
| A．economics 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 |
According to Hocking , the global economic crisis might make the youngsters_____.
| A．wiser in money management |
| B．have access to better equipment |
| C．confident about their future careers |
| D．get jobs in Child Trust Funds |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Universities have received more applications. |
| B．Economics is attracting an increasing number of students |
| C．college students benefit a lot from economic uncertainty |
| D．parents are concerned with children’s subject selection. |
Sitting in the play area of the doctor’s office, my children, Paul, four, and Bailey, three, built a Lego tower while we waited to be called for Paul’s examination.
“Good job, you guys,”I said, trying not to sound too tired. My husband was away on business, and it was difficult being alone with the kids. At times I felt like I was living in the jungle(丛林) rather than the suburbs.
“Don’t put the Lego in your mouth, Bailey,”I said. Paul grabbed(抓取) it from him.“That’s not nice, Paul,”I said. He gave back the Lego. I looked around the waiting room. A woman was eating something, a couple were talking, and an old gentleman in a blue jacket was reading a magazine. I wished I could sit quietly for a while. I wanted to be able to take a rest, or go shopping alone. At once, I was ashamed of myself. What kind of mother was I? “God,”I thought, “help me to be the very best mom I can be.”
The nurse came into the waiting room to get us. Just at that moment, the old gentleman in the waiting room put down his magazine and came up to me. With a smile on his face, he said, “Your children are most certainly lucky to have such a wonderful mother.”“Thank you,”I replied in a low voice and watched him walk back to his seat. We followed the nurse into the examination room. While she weighed Paul, I told her how that man had made my day.
Motherhood is still a jungle sometimes, but now when I feel tired I remember the encouraging words of the old gentleman.The writer went to the doctor’s office because .
| A．one of her children liked to play there |
| B．her son Paul needed an examination |
| C．she was tired and needed to see her doctor |
| D．she wanted to have all her children examined |
.From Paragraph 2, we know the writer felt that looking after her children alone was .
| A．unfair | B．happy | C．hard | D．interesting |
The writer criticized(批评) Paul when he .
| A．put the Lego into Bailey’s mouth |
| B．took away the toy from Bailey |
| C．made trouble in the waiting room |
| D．didn’t follow her advice |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The writer often went shopping alone. |
| B．The writer’s husband was always on business. |
| C．The writer doesn’t know how to be a good mother. |
| D．The writer was greatly encouraged by the old gentleman’s words. |
One night recently, I was driving down a two-lane highway at about 60 miles an hour. A car approached from the opposite direction at about the same speed. As we passed each other, I caught the other driver’s eye for only a second. I wondered whether he might be thinking, as I was, how dependent we were on each other at that moment. I was relying on him not to fall asleep, not to be distracted (分心) by a phone conversation, not to cross over into my lane and bring my life to a sudden end. Though we had never spoken a word to each other, he relied on me in just the same way.
Multiplied a million times over, I believe that is the way the world works. At some level, we all depend upon one another. Sometimes that dependence requires us simply not to do something like crossing over the double yellow line. And sometimes it requires us to act cooperatively, with friends or even with strangers.
As technology makes our world smaller and smaller, the need increases for cooperative action among nations. In 2003, doctors in five nations were quickly organized to identify the SARS virus, which saved thousands of lives. The threat of international terrorism has shown itself to be a similar problem, one requiring team action by police and intelligence forces across the world. We must recognize that our fates are not ours alone to control.
In my own life, I used to put great stock in personal responsibility. But, as time has passed, I’ve also come to believe that there are moments when one must rely upon the good faith and judgment of others. So, while each of us faces the case of driving alone down a dark road, what we must learn with experience is that the approaching light may not be a threat, but a shared moment of trust.The author considers it very important ______.
| A．to drive with a companion | B．to have personal independence |
| C．to gain certain responsibility | D．to share trust and cooperation |
The author said that they depended on each other in the same way because ______.
| A．the approaching car was very dangerous |
| B．they both drove their car at a terrific speed |
| C．he might be killed out of the other’s careless driving |
| D．it was dark and the road was not wide enough |
From the second paragraph, we know the author drew the important lesson from ______.
| A．only one experience | B．many similar experiences |
| C．a driver on a dark road | D．many friends and strangers |
The need for cooperation increases because ______.
| A．people’s fates can’t be controlled by themselves |
| B．certain viruses can spread in a quick way |
| C．terrorism can happen everywhere and every day |
| D．the world has become much more dangerous |
We can infer from the last paragraph that the author has ______.
| A．believed in one’s own personal responsibility |
| B．counted upon himself alone in everything |
| C．had no trust in others’ good faith and judgment |
| D．had a change on his viewpoint of life |
A popular saying goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” However, that’s not really true. Words have the power to build us up or tear us down. It doesn’t matter if the words come from someone else or ourselves— the positive and negative effects are just as lasting.
We all talk to ourselves sometimes. We’re usually too embarrassed to admit it, though. In fact, we really shouldn’t be because more and more experts believe talking to ourselves out loud is a healthy habit.
This “self-talk” helps us motivate ourselves, remember things, solve problems, and calm ourselves down. Be aware, though, that as much as 77% of self-talk tends to be negative. So in order to stay positive, we should only speak words of encouragement to ourselves. We should also be quick to give ourselves a pat on the back. The next time you finish a project, do well in a test, or finally clean your room, join me in saying “Good job!”
Often, words come out of our mouths without us thinking about the effect they will have. But we should be aware that our words cause certain responses in others. For example, when returning an item to a store, we might use warm, friendly language during the exchange. And the clerk will probably respond in a similar manner. Or harsh (刻薄的) and critical language will most likely cause the clerk to be defensive.
Words possess power because of their lasting effects. Many of us regret something we once said. And we remember unkind words said to us! Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves: Is it true? Is it loving? Is it needed? If what we want to say doesn’t pass this test, then it’s better left unsaid.
Words possess power: both positive and negative. Those around us receive encouragement when we speak positively. We can offer hope, build self-esteem (自尊) and motivate others to do their best. Negative words destroy all those things. Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? The choice is ours.The main idea of the first paragraph is that _________.
| A．words have a lasting effect on us |
| B．inspiring words give us confidence |
| C．negative words may let us down |
| D．not sticks and stones but words will hurt us |
There is no need for us to feel embarrassed when we talk to ourselves because _________.
| A．almost everybody has the habit of talking to themselves |
| B．talking to ourselves always gives us courage |
| C．we can benefit from talking to ourselves |
| D．it does no harm to have “self-talk” when we are alone |
The underlined part in the third paragraph means that we should also timely ________.
| A．remind ourselves | B．praise ourselves |
| C．make ourselves relaxed | D．give ourselves amusement |
The author would probably hold the view that _________.
| A．encouraging words are sure to lead to kind offers |
| B．negative words may motivate us to make more progress |
| C．people tend to remember friendly words |
| D．it is better to think twice before talking to others |
In which column of the newspaper can you most likely read this passage?
| A．News. | B．Advice column. | C．Health. | D．Language. |
When you make a mistake, big or small, cherish (珍视) it like it’s the most precious thing in the world, because in some ways, it is.
Most of us feel bad when we make mistakes, beat ourselves up about it, feel like failures, get mad at ourselves.
And that’s only natural. Most of us have been taught from a young age that mistakes are bad, and we should try to avoid mistakes. We’ve been scolded when we make mistakes—at home, school and work. Maybe not always, but probably enough times to make feeling bad about mistakes an unconscious（无意识的）reaction.
Yet without mistakes, we could not learn or grow. If you think about it that way, mistakes should be cherished and celebrated for being one of the most amazing things in the world. They make learning possible; they make growth and improvement possible.
By trial and error—trying things, making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes—we have figured out how to make electric light, to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to fly.
Mistakes make walking possible for the smallest toddler, make speech possible, and make works of genius possible.
Think about how we learn：We don’t just consume information about something and instantly know it or know how to do it. You don’t just read about painting，or writing，or computer programming，or baking, or playing the piano, and know how to do them right away. Instead, you get information about something, from reading or from another person or from observing usually...then you construct a model in your mind...then you test it out by trying it in the real world...then you make mistakes...then you revise the model based on the results of your real world experimentation...and repeat, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, until you’ve pretty much learned how to do something. That’s how we learn as babies and toddlers, and how we learn as adults. Mistakes are how we learn to do something new—because if you succeed at something, it’s probably something you already knew how to do. You haven’t really grown much from that success—at most it’s the last step on your journey, not the whole journey. Most of the journey is made up of mistakes, if it’s a good journey.
So if you value learning，if you value growing and improving，then you should value mistakes. They are amazing things that make a world of brilliance possible.Why do most of us feel bad about making mistakes?
| A．Because mistakes make us suffer a lot. |
| B．Because it’s a natural part in our life. |
| C．Because we’ve been taught so from a young age. |
| D．Because mistakes have ruined many people’s careers. |
According to the passage, what is the right attitude to mistakes?
| A．We should try to avoid making mistakes. |
| B．We should owe great inventions mainly to mistakes. |
| C．We should treat mistakes as good chances to learn. |
| D．We should make feeling bad about mistakes an unconscious reaction. |
The underlined word “toddler” in Paragraph 6 probably means ________.
| A．a small child learning to walk |
| B．a kindergarten child learning to draw |
| C．a primary pupil learning to read |
| D．a school teenager learning to write |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．most of us can really grow from success |
| B．growing and improving are based on mistakes |
| C．we learn to make mistakes by trial and error |
| D．we read about something and know how to do it right away |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Value Mistakes | B．Mistakes Make Things Possible |
| C．Try to Avoid Mistakes | D．Life is a Journey Full of Mistakes |
The old man walked slowly into the restaurant. With head tilted, and shoulders bent forward he leaned on his trusty stick with each unhurried step. His torn cloth jacket, patched trousers, worn out shoes, and warm personality made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. He stopped, turned with his whole body, and winked at a little girl seated by the door. She flashed a big smile right back at him.
A young waitress named Mary watched him walk toward a table by the window. She ran over to him, and said, “Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair.” She pulled the chair away from the table. Steadying him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she moved the table up close to him, and leaned his stick against the table where he could reach it.
In a soft, clear voice he said, "Thank you, Miss. And bless you for your kind gestures."
“You're welcome, Sir.” She replied. “And my name is Mary. I'll be back in a moment, and if you need anything at all in the mean time, just wave at me!”
After he had finished a hearty meal, Mary brought him the change from his ticket. He left it on the table. She helped him and walked with him to the front door. Holding the door open for him, she said, “Come back and see us, Sir!” He turned and nodded a thank-you. “You are very kind.” he said softly, smiling.
When Mary went to clean his table, she almost fainted. Under his plate she found a business card, and a note scribbled on a napkin. Under the napkin was a one-hundred-dollar bill.
The note on the napkin read, “Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you.”
The man she had waited on was the owner of the restaurant where she worked. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees had ever seen him in person.The old man left $ 100 under the napkin because he ________．
| A．was grateful for Mary's kindness |
| B．wanted to encourage Mary to do more good deeds |
| C．appreciated Mary's kindness and work attitude |
| D．thought highly of the tasty meal in the restaurant |
What do we know about Mary and the old man?
| A．Mary knew who the old man was from the note． |
| B．Mary recognized the old man when she served him． |
| C．The old man intended to have Mary as his secretary． |
| D．Mary had never seen her boss face to face before． |
It can be inferred that the old man went to the restaurant to ________．
| A．have a good meal | B．enjoy good service |
| C．have an on-site visit | D．show his generosity |
The passage is developed mainly by________．
| A．following the order of space | B．following the order of time |
| C．making comparisons | D．providing examples |
The best title of the passage would be ________．
| A．Employer and Employee | B．The Secret of Happiness |
| C．A Gift from the Manager | D．Good Service in the Restaurant |
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