1 . Early decision-you apply to one school，and admission is binding--seems like a great choice for nervous applicants，Schools let in a higher percentage of early-decision applicants,which arguably means that you have a better chance of getting in.And if you do，you're done with the whole process by December.But what most students and parents don't realize is that schools have hidden motives for offering early decision.

Early decision，since it's binding，allows schools to fill their classes with qualified students；it allows admissions committees to select the students that are in particular demand for their college and know those students will come.It also gives schools a higher yield rate，which is often used as one of the ways to measure college selectivity and popularity.

The problem is that this process effectively shortens the window of time students have to make one of the most important decisions of their lives up to that point.Under regular admissions，seniors have until May 1 to choose which school to attend；early decision effectively steals six months from them，months that could be used to visit more schools，do more research，speak to current students and alumni and arguably make a more informed decision.

There are，frankly，an astonishing number of exceptional colleges in America，and for any given student，there are a number of schools that are a great fit.When students become too fixated（专注）on a particular school early in the admissions process，that fixation can lead to severe disappointment if they don't get in or，if they do，the possibility that they are now bound to go to a school that，given time for further reflection，may not actually be right for them.

Early decision offers a genuine admissions edge，but that advantage goes largely to students who already have numerous advantages.The students who use early decision tend to be those who have received higher-quality college guidance，usually a result of coming from a more privileged background.In this regard，there's an argument against early decision，as students from lower-income families are far less likely to have the admissions know-how to navigate the often-confusing early deadlines.

Students who have done their research and are confident that there's one school they would be thrilled to get into should，under the current system，probably apply under early decision.But for students who haven't yet done enough research，or who are still constantly changing their minds on favorite schools，the early decision system needlessly and prematurely narrows the field of possibility just at a time when students should be opening themselves to a whole range of thrilling options.

1. What are students obliged to do under early decision？

A．Consult the current students and alumni.	B．Think twice before they accept the offer.
C．Attend the school once they are admitted.	D．Look into a lot of schools before they apply.

2. What is said to be the problem with early decision for students？

A．It places too high a demand on their research ability.

B．It makes their application process more complicated.

C．It exerts much more psychological pressure on them.

D．It allows them little time to make informed decisions.

3. Why are some people opposed to early decision？

A．It is biased against students at ordinary high schools.

B．It interferes with students' learning in high school.

C．It causes unnecessary confusion among college applicants.

D．It places students from lower-income families at a disadvantage.

4. What does the author advise college applicants to do？

A．Look beyond the few supposedly thrilling options.

B．Find sufficient information about their favorite schools.

C．Avoid choosing early decision unless they are full prepared.

D．Refrain from competing with students from privileged families.

2 . Directions: Read the following three passages. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Absent-mindedness

“Most events of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room—are caused by a simple lack of attention,” says Dr. Daniel Schacter, a distinguished psychologist and memory scientist. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded it deeply.”

“Encoding,” Schacter explains, “is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later.” Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket of a jacket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget where exactly you put your mobile phone. Your memory itself isn’t failing you. Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.

As many people accept, women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that. Yes, visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness. But be sure the cue is clear and available. If you want to remember to take a medication with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don't leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.

Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox,” says Zelinski, a scientist from New York University. There are many cases in life where women can remember prices of bags of different brands while they tend to forget the specific place where they put their bags.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . To live in the United States today is to gain an appreciation for Nahrendorf's declaration that social change exists everywhere. Technology, the application of knowledge for practical ends, is a major source of social change.

Yet we would do well to remind ourselves that technology is a human creation; it does not exist naturally. A spear or a robot is as much a cultural as a physical object. Until humans use a spear to hunt game or a robot to produce machine parts, neither is much more than a solid mass of matter. For a bird locking for an object on which to rest, a spear or robot serves the purpose equally well. The explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the Russian nuclear accident at   Chernobyl drive home the human quality of technology; they provide cases in which well-planned systems suddenly went haywire and there was no ready hand to set them right. Since technology is a human creation, we are responsible for what is done with it. Pessimists worry that we will use Our technology eventually to blow our world and ourselves to pieces. But they have been saying this for decades, and so far we have managed to survive and even flourish. Whether we will continue to do so in the years ahead remains uncertain. Clearly, the impact of technology on our lives deserves a closer examination.

Few technological developments have had a greater impact on our lives than the computer revolution. Scientists and engineers have designed specialized machines that can do the tasks that once only people could do. There are those who declare that the switch to an information-based economy is in the same camp as other great historical milestones, particularly the Industrial Revolution. Yet when we ask why the Industrial Revolution was a revolution, we find that it was not the machines. The primary reason why it was revolutionary is that it led to great social change. It gave rise to mass production and, through mass production, to a society in which wealth was not restricted to the few.

In somewhat similar fashion, computers promise to revolutionize the structure of American life, particularly as they free the human mind and open new possibilities in knowledge and communication. The Industrial Revolution supplemented and replaced the muscles of humans and animals by mechanical methods. The computer extends this development to supplement and replace some aspects of the mind of human beings by electronic methods. It is the capacity of the computer for solving problems and making decisions that represents its greatest potential and that poses the greatest difficulties in predicting the impact on society.

1. Why does the author give the examples of the Challenger and Chernobyl?

A．To show that technology could be used to destroy our world.

B．To stress the author's concern about the safety of complex technology.

C．To prove that technology usually goes wrong, if not controlled by man.

D．To demonstrate that being a human creation, technology is likely to make an error.

2. What does the phrase '"went haywire" in paragraph 2 most probably mean?

A．were out of range	B．got out of control
C．fell out of use	D．went out of date

3. According to the author, the introduction of the computer is a revolution mainly because________.

A．it has a great potential impact on society

B．it has helped to switch to an information technology

C．the computer has revolutionized the workings of the human mind

D．the computer can do the tasks that could only be done by people before

4. In the passage, the author clearly shows his____.

A．keen insight into the nature of technology

B．sharp criticism of the role of the Industrial Revolution

C．thorough analysis of the replacement of the human mind by computers

D．comprehensive description of the negative consequences of technology

6 . Although identical twins look exactly alike, they differ in many small ways, and these differences increase with age. They may also differ in more_________ways. One may die of cancer at age 59 and the other may live a healthy life until 85. Because identical twins share virtually the same genes, it has been thought that_________between twins are due to environmental factors.

Lately, however, studies of identical twins have led scientists who are working on the cutting edge of genetics research to a different and brand-new conclusion: Genes and the environment are not the only_________forces at work. According to recent research, a third factor also_________: the epi-genome. (The prefix epi-means “above”.) A genome is a complete set of genes, which is composed of DNA. The epi-genome (“above the genes”) controls genes. It is a complex set of biochemical controls, called tags，that does not alter genes but can turn genes on or off. Epi-genetics is the study of epi-genomes and how they_________who we are.

To understand epi-genetics, think of our DNA as a script for a play. Every actor —_________every gene — has the same script. However, each actor has a different role to play and different words to say. Like a play script, epi-genetic tags can determine the role that each cell plays._________, even though every cell contains the same DNA, one may become a muscle cell and another may become a skin cell. These epi-genetic tags can also control which genes are turned on, or expressed, and which are turned off, or suppressed. This is a normal part of the_________of our body. Some epi-genetic changes, however, are_________normal. For example, an epi-genetic change may turn off a gene for__________cell growth, leading to cancer or obesity.

Scientists are not entirely sure why such__________epi-genetic changes occur, but they are sure that the environment plays a big part. The environment includes your physical surrounding as well as your__________choices，like what you eat, drink, and do. Epi-genetic changes may also be caused by factors you cannot always__________, such as toxins in your environment or high stress. These changes explain why identical twins grow more different as they age, with each living his own life.

What has astonished scientists is that these effects could be passed on to the next generation. This was surprising because genes and the environment had always been considered__________ factors. However, with the discovery of the epi-genome they were forced to conclude that this was not the case. For example, if epi-genetic changes lead to obesity in parents, they may pass this change on to their children, as was seen in a study of several generations of residents in an isolated part of Sweden.

Although the environment cannot alter the genetic code, it can change gene__________—the position of the on-off switch— in future generations. As a famous quote states, “You are what you eat.” It seems that you may also be what your mother, father, and even grandparents ate … and drank, and smoked.

1.

A．effective

B．practical

C．appropriate

D．dramatic

2.

A．distinctions

B．comparison

C．interaction

D．connection

3.

A．alternative

B．fundamental

C．physical

D．maximum

4.

A．takes place

B．comes into existence

C．comes into play

D．takes shape

5.

A．shape

B．reflect

C．foresee

D．diagnose

6.

A．in other word

B．to name a few

C．in this case

D．by contrast

7.

A．For example

B．In addition

C．However

D．Otherwise

8.

A．recovery

B．transformation

C．nursing

D．development

9.

A．especially

B．hardly

C．mostly

D．nearly

10.

A．annual

B．proper

C．essential

D．speedy

11.

A．harmful

B．basic

C．alarming

D．obvious

12.

A．favourable

B．initial

C．creative

D．behavioural

13.

A．consider

B．identify

C．control

D．explain

14.

A．casual

B．independent

C．external

D．limiting

15.

A．therapy

B．defect

C．pool

D．expression

7 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper from of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Witches’ Loaves

Miss Martha Meacham kept the little bakery on the comer (the one where you go up three steps, and the bell rings when you open the door.)

Miss Marths was forty, her bank-book showed a credit of two thousand dollars, and she possessed two false teeth and a sympathetic heart. Many people have married     1    chances to do so were much inferior to Miss Martha’s.

Two or three times a week a customer came in, in whom she began to take an interest. He was a middle-aged man, wearing glasses and a brown beard     2    (shape) to a careful point. He spoke English with a strong German accent. His clothes were worn in some places, and wrinkled in     3    . But he looked neat, and had very good manners.

He always bought two loaves of stale bread. Fresh bread was five cents a loaf. Stale ones were two for five. Never     4    he call for anything but stale bread.

Once Miss Martha saw a red and brown stain on his fingers. She was sure then     5    he was an artist and very poor. No doubt he lived in a garret (阁楼), where he painted pictures and ate stale bread and thought of the good things to eat in Miss Martha’s bakery.

Often     6    Miss Martha sat down to her chops and light rolls and jam and tea, she would sigh, and wish that the gentle-mannered artist might share her tasty meal instead of eating his dry bread in his draughty garret. Miss Maltha’s heart, as you have been told, was a sympathetic one.

In order to test her theory     7    his occupation, she brought from her room one day a painting that she had bought at a sale, and set it against the shelves behind the bread counter. It was a Venetian scene. A splendid marble palazzo stood in the foreground—or rather fore-water. For the rest there were boats-with a lady     8    (dip) her hand in the water—clouds, sky, and shades of color in plenty.

No artist could tail to notice it.

Two days afterward the customer came in.

“Two loaves of stale bread, if you blease.”

“You haf here a fine bicture, madame,” he said while she     9    (wrap) up the bread.

“Yes?” says Miss Martha, indulging in her own calculation. “I do so admire art and” (no, it would not do to say “artists” thus early) “and paintings,” she changed her tone. “You think it is a good picture?”

“Der balance,” said the customer, “is not in good drawing. Derbairspective of it is not true. Goot morning, madame.”

He took his bread,     10    (bow), and hurried out.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.

A．May 19th.	B．May 20th.
C．May 23.	D．May 16th.

2.

A．Three meals a day.	B．Train fare.
C．Competition entrance fee.	D．Floor space.

3.

A．The entrance fee is 16 euros this year.

B．College basket teams abroad can enter for the game by phone.

C．It is the 80th anniversary of the Tampere Student Game.

D．The game will end with a ceremony in the last evening.

4.

A．Students can enjoy a reduced rate during that period.

B．All the basketball teams live in that hotel.

C．It will provide three meals to the players living there.

D．It is close to where all the matches are held.

9 . At the 4th Street Photo Gallery on the comer of the Bowery, many photos are strung together like clothes on a laundry line. There are portraits of Muhammad Ali and Jean-Michel Basquiat, plus a series of cityscapes detailedly captured over 60 years by Alex Harsley, a neglected but talented New York photographer.

The city has been Mr Harsley’s home since 1948, when, aged ten, he moved there from South Carolina. He took his first photograph ten years later, and became the first black photographer to work for the city’s district attorney’s office. His vivid pictures freeze moments in New York’s evolution from the 1950s to the present. “It could start with the smell of something burning.” he says of his method. “And then you see a family sitting on the steps of a funeral home sadly looking at the firemen going through their routine.”

Some of the scenes in the collection were captured from the window of his old apartment in Harlem; they include images of black activists, streets submerged in snow and shots of the Crown Heights riots of 1991. A.D. Coleman, a photography critic, says Mr. Harsley has been able to capture the lives of minority groups by making himself “invisible”. His aim has been to assemble these fragments (片段) into an extended history of the city.

Mr. Harsley’s gallery is a time capsule. For decades, it is also a hub for the city’s artistic underworld. In the 1970s New York’s photography scene was flourishing, but exclusive. As Mr. Harsley puts it, “a number of great artists were swept aside” because they lacked connections. Helping talent became part of his mission. In 1971 he established The Minority Photographers, an organization that helps up-and-coming artists exhibit their work. He opened his gallery two years later; many photographers have had their first shows there.

1. How does the author describe Alex Harsley in the first paragraph?

A．Undervalued but expert.	B．Gifted but exclusive.
C．Unknown but devoted.	D．Gifted but awkward.

2. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．His pictures show freezing weather in New York from the 1950s to the present.

B．His pictures capture the cheerful moments in New York since the 1950s.

C．His pictures record some historic occasions of New York over the past decades.

D．His pictures illustrate the vivid lives of minority groups in New York over the past decades.

3. Why does Mr. Harsley make himself “invisible”?

A．To assemble the minority groups of the city.

B．To highlight the lives of minority groups.

C．To help promising artists attract more public attention.

D．To build connections between the minority groups and himself.

4. How did Mr. Harsley help the other artists?

A．He excluded those who looked down upon the unknown artists.

B．He set an organization displaying their works.

C．He established the connections between up-and-coming artists and famous ones.

D．He reduced the rents of the gallery where their photography works were shown.

10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. benefits                 B. attract               C. engagement        D. track               E . measuring     F. committed           G. promoting     H. rewards               I . motivated            J. seeking       K. satisfaction

Work is necessary to earn an income. And if you get good job    1     , it’s a bonus! But what can make it more worthwhile are the extra perks(工资外的补贴) that your employer offers you as reward for your loyalty and commitment.

Employee    2     are commonplace these days. Traditionally, these have included a good pension and extra days off work. But when a job used to be for life, there wasn’t much incentive to try and keep staff. Now when millennials are    3    a position, they want to know the benefits they’ll get on top of their pay.

But these perks come at a cost to an employer, and now technology is being used to discover if and when they offer value for money. The idea aims to enable a company to tailor what it can offer to    4    and retain the right staff.

As an example, at the merchant bank, Close Brothers, Al has been used to develop chatbots that can help employees to find information on subjects ranging from mental health to saving for retirement at any time. And Microsoft has developed software to help businesses    5    their employee’s well-being needs. Anna Rasmussen, founder of Open Blend, told the BBC “It shows companies what their employees need to stay     6     and reach their full potential in real-time?” Insurance company Vitality offer wearable technology to track employees’ movements. Staff can earn ‘    7    ’ by having their activity tracked. A study found that by     8    the participants’ performance, they did the equivalent of 4.8 extra days of activity per month.

It seems that if used in the right way, technology can provide greater    9    between an employee and the company. That can lead to a happier, healthier and    10     work force. But HR experts warn against relying solely on tech for deciding on employee benefits provision, they say.