One of our expectations about education is that it will pay off in terms of upward mobility. Historically, the relation between education and income has been strong. But in the early 1970s, a contradiction developed between education and the economy. Our value of education and our average educational attainment（获得）run faster than the capacity of the economy to absorb the graduates.
Since the 1970s, high-school graduates have experienced a striking decrease in earnings, making them the first generation since World War Ⅱ to face a lower standard of living than their parents had. Experts have argued that this contradiction is at the heart of the problem of public education today. It is not, as business leaders claim, that the schools are failing to properly educate students, that they are turning out young people who are inadequately prepared to function in the workplace. The real problem is a shortage of economic opportunities for students who are not continuing on to college. College graduates also are having difficulty finding jobs. Even when they do, the jobs may not be consistent with their training and expectations. Part of the problem is that too many young Americans expect to have professional jobs, making disappointment and frustration unavoidable for some.
Many students assumed that what was true of an individual— that the higher the education, the better the job opportunities — would also be true for an entire society. But when the numbers of better-educated young people became too great, the economy could no longer absorb them. Another part of the problem is the assumption that greater educational attainment guarantees career advancement. In fact, employers do not routinely reward educational attainment; rather, they reward it only when they believe it will contribute to the employee’s productivity.
We should not overlook the fact that there is still a strong relationship between education and occupation and income. College graduates have a strong advantage over those with less education. But the payoff is neither as large nor as certain as it once was. Unfortunately, Americans have focused so strong on the economic payoff that many consider their college education useless if it does not create a desirable, well-paying job. Only in this sense can we speak of an “oversupply” of college graduates.
We could argue that all or at least the majority of Americans would profit by some degree because higher education can enable the individual to think more deeply, explore more widely, and enjoy a greater range of experiences.
1. The underlined phrase “turning out” in Paragraph 2 probably means ________.| A．bringing up | B．putting out |
| C．bringing out | D．putting up |
| A．It offers better job opportunities. |
| B．It makes for higher productivity. |
| C．It guarantees career advancement. |
| D．It brings a definite advantage over others. |
| A．our expectations about education |
| B．the problem of public education today |
| C．the contradiction between education and economy |
| D．the connection between education and occupation |
| A．Objective | B．Indifferent |
| C．Disapproving | D．Favorable |
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【推荐1】Cervantes was born to poor parents. His future looked dark as he grew to see a life of sadness and poverty before him. He joined the army as a common soldier and was hurt so badly that he could not use his left arm.
He later failed to find a job and, on two occasions, was sent to prison. He continued to have brushes with the law and struggled just to survive.
But, despite these troubles of his life, he never let go of his dream - to write a book. He realized his dream and he wrote a book. In the book he told of a beautiful story which came from his heart’s deepest dreams. It is about a man who saw the world differently than everyone else. Though created in suffering, the book is an inspiring (鼓舞人的) story of hope. This man’s story has been put to music and film, translated into many languages and remains a literary classic after some 400 years. It has moved many people in the world. The author was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and the book is Don Quijote de la Mancha (《唐吉可德》). Perhaps Cervantes himself believed that “the world sees people as they are - I see them as they can be! Cervantes may never have written such a wonderful work if he had not seen some potential（潜能） within himself. He knew, and has taught others ever since, that great truth: What we see will come to be. Some see situations as they are, others as they can be.
Some see people as they are, others as they can be. And some see themselves as they are, others as they can be. But when we set our sights upon the best that is within a situation or a human being, what we see will come to be. And we’ll know the power of hope.
1. The author writes this passage to remind us that .| A．we should be brave to deal with troubles |
| B．nothing is hard if we put our heart into it |
| C．we all have great potential inside ourselves |
| A．To be a writer. |
| B．To be a solider. |
| C．To be a banker. |
| A．he was sent to prison |
| B．his left arm got hurt |
| C．he was refused by the army |
【推荐2】I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died “full of years”, as the Bible would say. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence(吊唁) calls on the two families on the same afternoon.
At the first home, the son of the deceased(已故的)woman said to me, “If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died.” At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take. It’s my fault that she’s dead.”
You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out bad, they believe that the opposite course would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?
There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens that leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds. The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believe that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.
A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to its tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.
1. The author had to conduct the two women’s funerals probably because ______.| A．he was an official from the community | B．he had great pity for the deceased |
| C．he was minister of the local church | D．he wanted to comfort the two families |
| A．they believe that they were responsible |
| B．they didn’t know things often turn in the opposite direction |
| C．they couldn’t find a better way to express their sorrow |
| D．they had neglected the natural course of events |
| A．there is an explanation for everything in the world |
| B．everything in the world is predetermined |
| C．we have to be sensible in order to understand the world |
| D．the world can be explained in different ways |
| A．Every story should have a happy ending. |
| B．Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault. |
| C．In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away. |
| D．Life and death is an unsolved mystery. |
【推荐3】I always had the preference to take on more than I should when I was young. At times, I wanted to prove to myself that I could handle it. At other times, my purpose was to please someone and gain recognition for my efforts. Sometimes this led to stress or frustration.
When I was an IT manager after college graduation I was assigned to work with a wealthy customer and be a go-between (中间人)for my company. I took on the assignment happily, thinking that this might be my time to shine. However, the customer’s demands proved to be more than I could do with. And the company chose to stand by the customer and try to meet his unreasonable requirements rather than stick to what we had originally offered in the contract. As you can imagine, this led to a lot of unexpected problems and arguing with some of the staff who refused to do anything outside their scope (范围) of work. I remember walking into my office one morning, opening my laptop and staring at the blank screen for long, thinking to myself: What should I do? That was a difficult time in my life and then I finally had to give up my first job and left that company sadly.
Perhaps, I thought then, I could find the job that didn’t involve dealing with difficult people and difficult situations. But later I realized: Is this possible in our modern world? No, it is impossible. Now, I know, I shouldn’t run away from the challenges I faced in life: I had to learn how to deal with them. I regret not persevering ( 坚 持 ) in my job. We should train ourselves to look at things from a positive point of view, because that is far better than being trapped in the bad circle depression. I’ve come to see that when faced with difficulties, I should not give up, but persevere.
1. Why did the author take the work assigned to him happily?| A．He wanted to please the boss. |
| B．The work was very easy for him to do. |
| C．He failed to find a job many times before. |
| D．He thought it was time to prove his ability. |
| A．Arguing with some of the staff. |
| B．Meeting the customer’s unreasonable requirements. |
| C．Accepting the assignment without hesitation. |
| D．Sticking to what had been originally offered in the contract. |
| A．The depressing job situation. | B．The low payment. |
| C．His lack of ability. | D．A better job waiting for him. |
| A．Running away from challenges. | B．Persevering instead of giving up. |
| C．Refusing to argue with customers. | D．Leaning to take on more than one can. |
【推荐1】About 1.3 billion years ago, two massive black holes hit each other and formed a new one. The energy set free by the collision created a ripple(波纹)in the space-time structure and spread outward in gravitational waves.
Then, on September 14, 2015, a group of scientists discovered the waves. Or February 11, 2016, an announcement came from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory(LIGO)in the US that, for the very first time, a gravitational wave was directly observed and recorded.
“We discovered gravitational waves. We. did it, “David Reitze, the director of LIGO, said in. the press conference on February. 11, “It's exactly what Einstein's theory of general relativity predicted.”
Einstein's 1915 theory re-imagined the framework for the universe. According to Einstein, the framework for the universe-or the space-time structure-is not fixed, but changed by matter and energy, “in a way a heavy sleeper causes a mattress. to sag(下陷), producing the effect we call gravity”, explains a:New York Times article.
“A disturbance in the universe could cause space-time to become larger, break into pieces and even move up and down, like a mattress shaking when that sleeper rolls over, producing ripples of gravity:gravitational waves, “ explains the article.
Compared with the other three forces in the universe(electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force), gravity is relatively weak, making gravitational waves hard to discover.
The discovery by LIGO would open a new chapter in astronomy. “Everything else in astronomy is like the eye, “ Szabolcs Marka, a Columbia University professor, told The New York Times. “Finally, astronomy grew ears. We never had ears before.”
1. What is a gravitational wave according to the passage?| A．It's a disturbance in the universe. |
| B．It's the crash of the two black holes. |
| C．It's a ripple in the space-time structure. |
| D．It's an effect caused by energy. |
| A．It took LIGO 4 months to confirm the discovery of the waves. |
| B．The framework for the universe can be changed. |
| C．One produces gravity because he sleeps heavily. |
| D．There are more than four forces in the universe. |
| A．Astronomy calls for more attention. |
| B．Never before has astronomy achieved much. |
| C．Astronomy is more about what we can hear in space. |
| D．A better understanding of the universe is made possible. |
【推荐2】When dealing with children, we find that the carrot is much more powerful than the stick. Children focus on tasks up to 30% more when teachers praise them for good behavior rather than punish them for being troublemaking. If they want to improve students’ behavior in classrooms, the teachers should praise more and punish less.
Unfortunately, previous research has shown that teachers tend to punish students for problem behavior more than they praise them for appropriate behavior, which can have an opposite effect and worsen students' behavior.
Researchers attended 151 classes in 19 elementary schools across Missouri, Tennessee and Utah. During a three-year period they observed 2,536 students from kindergarten to sixth grade.
The idea that praise can result in greater focus than punishment is not surprising.
When kids receive praise, it activates certain feel-good chemicals in the brain. These chemicals can improve the functioning in the parts of the brain that are responsible for things like focus, attention, planning and problem-solving.
Punishment has the opposite effect. When severe criticism or punishment is used, it can activate the part of the brain responsible for fear. When fear responses are activated, the chemicals can actually cloud the parts of the brain that are needed for focus.
Researchers in the past have given a specific ratio of praise to criticism that leads to the greatest focus in classrooms, but what we found out was that there is no particular ratio. The higher the praise is, the better the results are.
This study suggests that praise is an important tool for teachers and can help motivate students to work harder, especially children who are troublemaking in class or struggle academically. Using praise over criticism or punishment would have benefits outside of the classroom as well.
Instead of punishment, constructive criticism can be used, but it should be balanced with praise in order to create a safe environment where kids are motivated to focus, learn and grow.
1. What does the underlined word “stick” mean in Paragraph 1?| A．A long thin branch from a tree. | B．A piece of wood used for walking. |
| C．The wrong idea or misunderstanding. | D．Physical punishment or severe criticism. |
| A．Elementary students. | B．Kindergarten students. |
| C．Middle school students. | D．College students. |
| A．Punishment can benefit the troublemaking students. |
| B．Praise can result in better focus and attention greatly. |
| C．Praise may contribute to the students' impractical pride. |
| D．Punishment can force the students to concentrate better. |
| A．Criticism is completely harmful to the children. |
| B．It is impossible to know whether criticism is good. |
| C．Used correctly, proper criticism is recommended. |
| D．Criticism can be only used outside the classrooms. |
【推荐3】Liverpool, my hometown, is a unique city. It is so unique that in 2004 it became a World Heritage Site.
I recently returned to my home city and my first stop was a museum on the River Mersey. Blanketed in mist(薄雾), Victorian architecture rose from the banks of the river, responded to the sounds of seabirds, and appeared unbelievably charming. When I headed toward the centre, I found myself surrounded by buildings that mirror the best palaces of Europe. It is not hard to imagine why, on first seeing the city, most visitors would be overpowered by the beauty of the noble buildings, which are solid signs of Liverpool’s history.
As if to stress its cultural role, Liverpool has more museums and galleries than most cities in Britain. At the Walker Art Gallery, I was told that it has best collections of Victorian paintings in the world, and is the home of modern art in the north of England. However, culture is more than galleries. Liverpool offers many music events. As Britain’s No.1 music city, it has the biggest city music festival in Europe, and its musicians are famous all over the world. Liverpool is also well-known for its football and other sports events. Every year, the River Festival Liverpool attracts thousands of visitors, making the city a place of wonder.
As you would expect from such a city, there are restaurants serving food from around the world. When my trip was about to end, I chose to rest my legs in Liverpool’s famous Philharmonic pub. It is a monument(纪念碑) to perfection, and a heritage attraction itself.
Being a World Heritage Site, my home city is certainly a place of Outstanding Universal Value. It is a treasure house with plenty of secrets for the world to explore.
1. What can first catch visitors’ attention in Liverpool?| A．Charming banks. |
| B．Famous museums. |
| C．Wonderful palaces. |
| D．Attractive buildings. |
| A．By analyzing causes. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following the order of time. |
| D．By providing different examples. |
| A．To show Liverpool is a well-known city for its restaurants. |
| B．To prove Liverpool is an impressive place full of attractions. |
| C．To explain a pub is a wonderful place for visitors to relax themselves. |
| D．To stress a pub is a perfect choice for visitors to end their journey. |
| A．The universal value of Liverpool. |
| B．The beautiful historic sites of Liverpool. |
| C．The special cultural atmosphere of Liverpool. |
| D．The author’s exciting experience in Liverpool. |
