Picking a university is a tense period of asking yourself which institution is most relevant. That's why university rankings play such an important role in students searching for their next academic direction. Rankings are also an inescapable part of the reputation and brand image of universities. "No university website is complete without the claim to be in the top 100 for something or other," reported the BBC. The reason is simple: Rankings help them to attract students, staff and research investment.
Currently there are numbers of university rankings, and each has its own list of criteria. But the main categories are the same: academic reputation, graduates' performance and faculty(全体员工) resources.
However, experts point out the ranking process isn't entirely reliable. Mark Kantrowitz, a US financial aid researcher, said university rankings were mostly just for show. He wrote in The New York Times. "It may give your parents better bragging（吹牛）rights, but that's about it. "
Moreover, it's not difficult to see the limitations of university rankings. Many rankings focus on the number of times research work is cited(引用) by other researchers. It helps British and US universities to dominate(控制) global rankings because English is the favored language of academia, John O'Leary, a member of the QS academic advisory board, told The Gunrdian,. Also, rankings such as QS mainly focus on the qualities of the university rather than its students. "Any university ranking is likely to help students make better decisions about where to study, but the need to balance them with other more human factors is also important," said Phil Moss, an education and admissions consultant. "Advice from graduates or current students can be as valuable in providing a genuine insight into the experience or quality of a particular degree program. It can also add an element that rankings can never convey the actual emotion of a university experience. "
Why do universities consider rankings important?
| A．Rankings make them more appealing. |
| B．Rankings are students' only reference. |
| C．Rankings can increase their academic level. |
| D．Rankings help them complete their websites. |
What does the underlined "It" in paragraph 4 refer to?
| A．Academic research work. |
| B．The number of researches. |
| C．The way of ranking universities. |
| D．The limitation of university ranking. |
According to John O'Leary, what helps British and US universities rank well?
| A．The wide use of English in academia. |
| B．Their outstanding qualities. |
| C．Their graduates' excellent performance. |
| D．The academia's favor to them. |
Besides ranking, what does Phil Moss suggest you should refer to if you're picking a university?
| A．Investment in education. |
| B．Guidance from professors. |
| C．Information on websites. |
| D．Suggestions from students. |
Jeffrey Bezos, founder, president and chairman of the board of Amazon.com, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother’s ancestors were early settlers in Texas, and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre farm at Cotulla. Jeffrey spent most summers of his youth working with his grandfather on their farm.
Jeffrey showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He set up an electric alarm to keep his younger sisters and brothers out of his room and changed his parents’ garage into a laboratory for his science projects.
After he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, Jeffrey Bezos found employment on Wall Street, where computer science was increasingly in demand to study market trends. He rose quickly, becoming a senior vice president, and looked forward to a bright career in finance, when he made a discovery that changed his life, and the course of business history.
In 1994, there was still no internet commerce to speak of. One day that spring, Jeffrey Bezos observed that Internet usage was increasing by 2300 percent a year. He saw an opportunity for a new circle of commerce, and immediately began considering the possibilities.
Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994, setting up the original company in his garage. The company was called Amazon for the seemingly endless South American river with its numberless branches. It started as an online bookstore but soon diversified to all kinds of products. His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most excellent dot-com entrepreneurs. He was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999. In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders. Bezos’ Amazon has become “the Earth’s biggest anything store”. Amazon.com is now called “one of the smartest strategies in business history”.
Today, Jeffrey Bezos lives north of Seattle and is increasingly concerned with charity activities. “Giving away money takes as much attention as building a successful company,” he said. In his childhood, Bezos ______.
| A．had to work with his grandfather on their farm all day long |
| B．showed great interest in science |
| C．didn’t get along well with his brothers and sisters |
| D．wanted to become a businessman |
Jeffrey changed the course of business history because he ______.
| A．looked forward to a bright career in finance on Wall Street |
| B．considered the possibility of setting up an original company |
| C．founded a new form of commerce that developed fast later |
| D．was the first to speak of Internet commerce |
Which of the following isn’t mentioned in the passage?
| A．How hard Bezos studied in Princeton University. |
| B．“Amazon.com” only sold books in the beginning. |
| C．Bezos not only devoted his life to Internet commerce but also to charity. |
| D．The reason why Jeffrey Bezos decided to found Amazon.com. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
| A．it was Bezos’s grandfather on the farm who helped him a lot |
| B．Bezos invented e-commerce to win the world fame overnight |
| C．Bezos has a sharp business mind and a kind heart |
| D．Bezos aimed at setting up “the Earth’s biggest bookstore” |
Warm water freezes（结冰） more quickly than cold water. Sir Francis Bacon said that almost four hundred years ago. But few people believed him until 1970. In that year a Canadian scientist George Kill proved the English professor was right. Dr Kill filled an open oil pail(桶) with cold water. He filled another with warm water. He put both in the same low temperature. The warm water froze first. The lack of covers on the pails is the secret. Some of the warm water changed into vapor. This meant that less of the warm water was left to be frozen. And so the warm water froze faster than the cold water even though it had a greater temperature drop to make.Hundreds of years ago, Sir Francis Bacon found _______.
| A．the temperature of warm water drops faster than that of cold water |
| B．warm water is heavier than cold water |
| C．warm water has the same temperature as cold water |
| D．warm water is not as useful as cold water |
What Sir Francis Bacon said was right, but people didn't believe him until _______.
| A．late in the 19th century | B．early in the 20th century |
| C．three years ago | D．late in the 20th century |
Leave a pail with warm water and another pail with cold water in the same low temperature, you’ll find that _______.
| A．cold water freezes first |
| B．warm water turns into ice before cold water |
| C．warm water and cold water freeze at the same time |
| D．much of cold water is changed into air. |
Why does warm water freeze first in the same freezing weather?
| A．Because some of the warm water turns to vapor, the amount(数量) becomes less than that of cold water. |
| B．Because warm water is lighter than cold water. |
| C．Because the temperature of warm water is lower than that of cold water. |
| D．Because cold water freezes with more difficulty than warm water. |
It doesn’t matter if you have one friend or 20, because there are only a few people in this world that can make you truly happy. For me, my family and my three best girlfriends mean everything to me.
Some days I didn’t want to go to school because I felt so disappointed in myself but I don’t regret a thing. It makes you stronger as a person, and if you are able to mend your friendships like I have done, then you can do anything.
My mom always told me, “Stephanie, remember that a friend is a gift that you give to yourself. A friend will always be there for the good and the bad. A true friend will never make fun of you. If a friend is a piece of work, then he or she has never been a friend at all. A friend is the biggest gift to you.”
Everyone is going to make mistakes but please don’t push them away, especially if it’s someone you really care about. I know when I make mistake I beat myself up about it. I just wish someone would have reached out a hand to help me back up on my feet like my best friend did. If someone is new or doesn’t have a friend, please reach out and befriend them because that small action could mean the world to them. Now that I’m older, I understand what my mom has been trying to tell me, and now I know that the friends that I choose will also be the kinds of friends that I would want to be surrounded by forever.The writer was unwilling to go to school because ______.
| A．she was disappointed in herself |
| B．she regretted something he had done |
| C．she was busy trying to fix a friendship |
| D．she went to by a gift for her mother |
According to passage, a true friend should be a person that ______.
| A．often gives you gifts |
| B．makes you happy |
| C．does both good and bad things to you |
| D．never makes fun of you |
It can be inferred(推测) from the passage that the writer ______.
| A．doesn’t have many friends |
| B．doesn’t think that friends will make her truly happy |
| C．understands what a friend means to her |
| D．has nothing except her family and three girlfriends |
According to the passage, which is WRONG?
| A．Making friends with some lonely people will bring them warmth |
| B．Your friend should not make mistakes in face of you. |
| C．Mother told me what friend is. |
| D．You should care about your friend. |
When I was at university, I studied very hard. But a lot of my friends did very little work. Some did just enough to pass exams. Others didn’t do quite enough. Fred Baines was one of them. He spent more time drinking in the Students’ Union than working in the library. Once, at the end of the term, we had to take an important test in chemistry. The test had a hundred questions. Beside each question we had to write “True” or “False”. While I was studying in my room the night before the test, Fred was watching television. Fred usually worried a lot the night before a test. But that night he looked perfectly calm. Then he told me of his plan. “It’s very simple. There are a hundred questions and I have to get fifty correct to pass the test. I’ll take a coin into the examination room. I haven’t studied a chemistry book for months, so I’ll just toss the coin. In that way, I’m sure I’ll get half the questions right.” The next day, Fred came cheerfully into the examination room. As he sat tossing a coin for half an hour he marked down his answers. Then he left half an hour before the rest of us. The next day, he saw the chemistry professor in the corridor.
“Oh good,” he said, “Have you got the results of the test?”
The professor looked at him and smiled.
“Ah, it’s you, Baines, just a minute.”
Then he reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He threw it into the air, caught it in his hand and looked at it.
“I’m terribly sorry, Baines,” he said, “You failed!” Fred often went to the Students’ Union where he ________ .
| A．worked extra hours | B．enjoyed himself in the bar |
| C．borrowed books | D．attended a few lectures |
This time Fred expected to get ________ .
| A．an excellent mark | B．a low mark | C．his usual mark | D．the pass mark |
The chemistry professor ________ .
| A．didn’t mark the test papers correctly |
| B．tossed a coin when he marked test papers |
| C．knew about Fred’s method |
| D．thought Fred’s method was good |
According to the text, we can know working hard is ________ .
| A．unnecessary | B．valuable | C．useless | D．a waste |
Dear Editor,
I’m a Senior I study in a middle school. This term, my favorite teacher, Miss Mao, no longer teaches us. I want to see her, but I’m afraid that she no longer likes me and I don’t want to trouble her. I really miss her. What should I do?
Tian Yan
Dear Tian Yan,
It’s bad luck that you have lost your favorite teacher, But if she is still in your school , nothing can stop you going to see her. When she isn’t busy, ask her if she minds having a quick chat. You can then tell her she was your favorite teacher------ everyone is happy to know that they are liked!
If she has left the school, it will be more difficult to meet her. It will be hard, but remember people always come and go in their lives. We can’t rely on them to be with us all the time.
You may be sad to say goodbye to her, but we can remember and learn from her. Think of her best qualities.
You could also try looking for similar qualities in your other teachers. Study hard and give your new teacher a chance. In time, you might start to see that he or she has different qualities to learn from.
Finally, you can not completely rely on other people to get you through your studies , or even your life.
Editor The letters are from________.
| A．book | B．newspaper | C．poster | D．advertisement |
Which of the following does the editor advise Tuan Yan NOT to do?
| A．Find a time to see Miss Mao | B．Have a short chat with Miss Mao |
| C．Tell Miss Mao she likes her | D．Keep quiet about the thing |
. According to the passage, students can make progress in their studies _______.
| A．completely by their favorite teachers |
| B．completely by their favorite classmates |
| C．mainly by their parents |
| D．mainly by themselves |
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