7 January, 2014
A new report says more and more international students are attending colleges and universities in the United States. It also notes a large increase in the number of international students from China.
These findings are from the latest Open Doors Report. The report documents the record number of international students in the United States during 2012, 2013 school year. It says more than seven hundred sixty-four thousand four-hundred such students were attending American colleges and universities during the last two years. That represents an increase of almost six percent than one year earlier. On the other hand, the number of Americans studying overseas(海外) increased by one percent, which reached nineteen thousand this year.
The report says one hundred ninety-four thousand students at American colleges and universities were from China .That is an increase of more than twenty-three percent over the year before. Peggy Blumenthal, an expert（专家）of international education, described the effect of the increase in Chinesestudents.
"Now they have been coming for some time. But this year was the highest level ever." She says many Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children. The children mainly choose to study in America.
"We know many of them have enough income to be able to afford to send them anywhere in the world if they want to go. And for the most part, looking around the world, Chinese students still prefer to come to the United States as their choice."
Chinese students are not the only ones who want to attend American colleges and universities. After China, India sends the second largest number of students to the United States for higher education. India has about one hundred thousand students in American schools. South Korea is third with about seventy-two thousand students.
Why do so many foreign students study in the United States? Peggy Blumenthal provides one reason.
"The advantage America has is that we have a huge system (系统)and a very perfect system. So there are over four thousand universities and colleges in the United States. Among them are some top ones in the world, and what that tells us is there is still a lot of room to host international students.
Foreign students represent less than four percent of the total student population in American higher education. And from Learning English, that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty. Thanks for listening. Bob Doughty seems to be ________.
| A．an exchange student from the USA |
| B．an expert of international education |
| C．a viewer of VOA |
| D．a reporter from VOA |
Which country below has the fewest students studying overseas?
| A．South Korea | B．India | C．China | D．America |
Which is NOT the reason why so many Chinese students go to the USA for further study?
A. Lots of Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children
B. The USA has a huge and a very perfect education system.
C. There is a lot of room to host international students in the USA.
D. The USA has some top universities and colleges in the world.Which of the following statement is true?
| A．China has 122,000 more students than South Korea at American colleges and universities. |
| B．The number of Americans studying overseas is becoming smaller and smaller. |
| C．The number of Asian students has an increase of 6% over the past two years. |
| D．Most of the international students in the United States are Chinese. |
Several days ago，I went to my aunt's home and saw my cousin who is studying English linguistics in a university．He showed me his learning materials．Here are two pages of them．
Now I know at some point in history，the meanings of some common words that we see every day meant something much different．The English languages is developing all the time．
26．When did"nice"come to mean"shy and nervous"？
A．In the late 12th century
B．In the 13th century
C．During the 14th century
D．In the 18th century
27．The underlined word"these"refers to （指代）the following except that ．
A．a loved one passes away
B．we expect too much progress in an exam
C．the store is out of our favourite drink
D．we have eaten too much food at dinner
28．The purpose of the passage is to tell us ．
A．the meanings of all words are different at some point in history
B．my cousin learns English well because of his learning materials
C．we should know about all the different meanings of words in history
D．the meanings of some words are changing because language is developing．
D
Picture the scene：It's midnight．You're very hungry after studying for a long time．Then you
see a nice pie in the fridge．Do you eat it？It seems that you shouldn't，for many reasons，including its influence on your studies．
Scientists have long known that eating late at night can make us gain weight．But now a new
study has shown that late﹣night eating can also have a bad influence on our brains﹣it might hurt
our ability to learn new things and store memories．
"We believe that late﹣night eating may affect （影响） our learning by affecting the parts of the
brain that control learning and memory，"Dawn Loh，PhD，a project scientist at the University of
California，Los Angeles，said，"We believe the timing of when we eat is the main cause of the
damaged （受损的） memory．"
For the study，the researchers looked at mice with strict feeding plans．For two weeks，the
mice were either allowed to eat during the time when they are usually the most active，or during
the time when they usually sleep．The mice received the same amount（数量） of sleep and calories．
Then the researchers tested the brains of the mice．In one test，the researchers tried to find out
whether the mice could remember that a room was connected to an electric shock（电击） after 24
hours had gone by．
The researchers noticed that，when the mice were put in the room again，those mice that ate
when they should have been sleeping were less likely（可能的） to get scared than those mice that
ate during usual hours．It means that they didn't remember．
So think twice before the midnight snack﹣it might be bad for more than your weight．
42．What does the underlined word"it"in Paragraph 2refer to（指代）？
A．Studying for long．B．A nice pie．C．A new study．D．Late﹣night eating．
43．For the study，the researchers need ．
A．to check the brains of the mice before the test started
B．to feed the mice only during the time when they usually sleep
C．to keep the mice in a room with an electric shock all the time
D．to let the mice receive the same amount of sleep and calories
44．According to the passage，which of the following sentences is TRUE？
A．A recent study shows late eating affects weight．
B．What we eat can affect learning and memory．
C．The mice that ate during sleeping hours didn't remember．
D．The mice that ate during usual hours didn't remember．
45．Which of the following could be the best title of the passage？
A．Eating snacks affects memory B．Late eating hurts brain
C．Never stay up late D．Keep away from snacks．
C
William Shakespeare died on April the 23rd in 1616．This year's 400th anniversary of his death is not just a chance to remember one of the greatest writers of all time．It is a moment to celebrate his ongoing influence．Just as Ben Jonson，another great English writer of his times，said，"he is not of an age，but for all time．"
People like Shakespeare's plays because the characters show real human feelings．Romeo and Juliet，who are young lovers，they don't quite know how to get ahead with their lives．And they disagree with their parents．Their story has a sad ending．When we take the characters out of his period，they really speak to almost any time and place．
The language of Shakespeare is alive and well in modern，everyday English．Even if an English﹣speaker knows nothing about Shakespeare，they will surely know some sayings that come from his plays．When we have problems making up our mind，we say"to be or not to be：that is the question"（Hamlet）．When a friend eats all the food in the house，we say he's"eating me out of house and home"（Henry IV）．
But Shakespeare's influence is felt far beyond his language and his culture．"Cowards die many times before their death，the valiant （英勇的） never taste of death but once．"This saying from Shakespeare's historical play Julius Caesar encouraged Nelson Mandela to fight on when he was a prisoner．Shakespeare's influence is everywhere，from Goethe （a German writer） to Tchaikovsky．
As Shakespeare himself put it in his comedy As You Like It，"all the world's a stage．"More than 400 years later，stages around the world still show his plays．Through his works，Shakespeare lives on．Perhaps we'll still be attracted by his works 400years from now．
38．What is the writer's main purpose in writing the article？
A．To introduce the life story of William Shakespeare．
B．To explain why Shakespeare's writing lives on．
C．To recommend some of Shakespeare's best﹣known works．
D．To explore the influences of Shakespeare's comedies．
39．Which of these sayings can be used to express the main idea of Paragraph 2？
A．All the world's a stage．
B．To be or not to be：that is the question．
C．The valiant never taste of death but once．
D．He is not of an age，but for all time．
40．Paragraph 4 is mainly about ．
A．some famous Shakespearian sayings
B．some Shakespearian historical stories
C．Shakespeare's influence on modern English
D．Shakespeare's influence on wider society
41．By the last sentence"Perhaps we'll still be attracted by his works 400years from now"，the writer means ．
A．Shakespeare's influence will last for a long time
B．Britain will remember William Shakespeare forever
C．Shakespeare's works will be gone and forgotten some day
D．Shakespeare's works will have a stronger influence than ever before．
B
Last summer，after 16years in America，I travelled to Moscow where I grew up．I was the
first in my family to return．Mom gave me a hand﹣drawn map showing the location of my
grandfather's grave（坟墓）．She asked me to visit it．I promised her it would be the first thing I'd
do．
But it wasn't until a day before I was leaving that I found time to visit．
By the entrance to the cemetery（公墓），a lady was selling flowers．She had only seven left．I
bought them all，but it was then that I realized the map was lost and never found．
I could call my mom．It was already morning in New York．
But the problem was that I had already told her I'd gone to the cemetery．What was I going to
say？That I decided to go again but lost the map？
Then I found the office．An old woman searched the records and found two Abraham
Pikarskis with no further details．
I set off to look for them，hoping that at least one would have a picture on the stone．
I found the two graves．Both said Abraham Pikarski，no pictures，nothing else．
Which grave was mine？
I put three flowers on the grave in front of me and went back to the first one．I also put three flowers there．
I stood there with the last flower．Which Abraham Pikarski should it go to？Should I just
discard it so that each Abraham Pikarski got an equal number？Finally，I put the flower on the
grave．If this is really my grandfather's，he got the most．If not，let this be a respect to the stranger．
I flew home to New York the next day．When Mom saw me，she started crying．
"Mom，it's only been a week…"
She said，"Son，thank you for visiting Grandfather's grave．It really means so much to me．
When you called and told me you went there，I thought you were just comforting me．But this
morning，my cousin called from Moscow，saying she saw your flowers on your grandpa's grave．"
Should I ask her how many flowers her cousin saw？Three or four？
34．Why didn't the writer call Mom for the location of his grandfather's grave？
A．Because it was midnight in New York．
B．Because he found the hand﹣drawn map．
C．Because he didn't want Mom to know he broke his promise．
D．Because his mom didn't know where Grandfather's grave was．
35．The writer's mother cried because ．
A．she missed her father so much
B．she hadn't seen her son for a week
C．the writer visited his grandfather's grave for her
D．the writer put four flowers on his grandfather's grave
36．In which situation does the writer have no difficulty making a decision？
A．How to deal with the last flower．
B．Whether to visit his grandfather's grave．
C．Whether to phone Mom for the grave's location．
D．Whether to ask Mom how many flowers her cousin saw．
37．This passage shows the writer's character mostly through the use of ．
A．description of his thoughts and actions
B．his long dialogues with other people
C．description of his looks and personality
D．other people's thoughts about him．
A
The website www．lifehacker．com connects people to helpful recourses．Here's the webpage on"The best places to…"
Keep a wireless router（路由器）
On a bookshelf
Situate it on a desk or a tall shelf in a central location in your house．A router works best when put high，since it sends signals（信号） in all directions．The worst place to have a router：in the kitchen．Metal things can also weaken or stop its signals．
Solve a problem
In the shower
Simple tasks，like lathering up（抹肥皂），may allow the mind to run free and have creative
thinking．In a science study，those who completed a simple task between solving creative problems performed better on the problems than those who completed difficult tasks or no task at all．
Hide valuable items
In the kid's room
Find a place in a young child's room，where you can put away valuable items．Put emergency cash（应急现金） in an envelope inside a toy which is no longer played with，like a teddy bear on a high shelf．
Add a houseplant
To the bathroom
Plants are important in your living space，but you probably haven't thought to put one next
to，say，your shower．They can make indoor air clean，and they're helpful for small spaces like
bathrooms．Ferns（蕨类） are a good and cheap choice in a bathroom．
31．According to the passage，you'd better hide your jewellery ．
A．in the kitchen B．in the living room C．in the kid's room D．in the bathroom
32．Which of the following sentences is TRUE？
A．You'd better put a wireless router in a lower place．
B．You'd better not have a router in the kitchen．
C．Difficult tasks make the mind work fast．
D．Ferns are expensive but a good choice in a bathroom．
33．The webpage is mainly about ．
A．daily life tips B．room decoration C．gardening tips D．social problems．
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