1 . The actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among 50 wealthy people, charged Tuesday in what Department of Justice officials called the largest college cheating scam (骗局) it has ever accused. The FBI alleged that parents spent up to $6.5 million to guarantee their children’s admission to elite universities by inflating entrance-exam scores and bribing college officials.

It’s the extreme, illegal version of what parents often do, attempting to bend the college-admissions system to their will to ensure their children’s privilege, convinced that a college name will lead to “success.” Parents believe that an elite school will make their kids happy or give them an edge in life. But the misleading focus on a “roadmap to success” not only isn’t a guarantee of either result — it’s also terrible for kids.

At a time when one in five college students reports having had suicidal thoughts over the past year, we must hammer home to families the message that tunnel-visioning toward selective schools is not only misguided, but dangerous. Instead of focusing on a college “search” to find the schools that will best fit a student, too many families are focusing on college “prep,” molding the student to fit a school. This practice tells teenagers they aren’t good enough unless they get a certain acceptance letter, a harmful message that lingers long after the application process. And for what? Students aren’t automatically happier at name-brand schools.

Yet so many families continue to have name-brand fever. Parents want the name of the college to reflect all the effort and hard work that they and their children put into the high-school years, and they want the name of their college to make up for the lack of sleep and other sacrifices they made along the way. But names don’t necessarily reflect substance. Names are empty. Yet not to mention the destruction of one’s childhood. As an Illinois high-school senior told me, “many students view their young life as “a conveyor belt,” making monotonous scheduled stops at high school, college, graduate school, a job, more jobs, some promotions, and then you die.”

Parents might tell themselves that they’re pushing so hard for the sake of their children. But whether they’re bribing officials, or donating buildings, the children are the ones who suffer.

1. According to the FBI, families invested a lot of money in their kids’ admission __________.

A．to defend their children against the college cheating scam

B．to guarantee the legal version of admission to elite universities

C．for they have to bribe college officials for higher scores

D．for they want to ensure their kids’ access to elite schools

2. The author suggests that what parents often do__________.

A．is sensible enough to ensure their children’s advantage in life

B．is more of a disaster than a guarantee for happiness and advantage

C．is in essence extreme and illegal

D．cannot guarantee their kids’ entrance exam results

3. We can infer from Paragraph 3 that families should __________.

A．lay more stress on the choice of suitable colleges than pursuing name-brand schools

B．bring home the reports about many college students’ suicide to alert the kids

C．do more to help teenagers acquire acceptance letters

D．continue keeping an eye on their kids’ happiness at name-brand schools

4. Which of the following statements is true about college names according to Paragraph 4?

A．The name of the college is meant by children to reflect their sacrifices along the way.

B．College names are empty so they cannot reflect the essence of life.

C．For all the grave consequences, parents are still obsessed with elite universities’ names.

D．Elite Schools’ names will destroy many young people’s “conveyor belt”.

2 .
1. In order to be popular on the show, an item should have one of the following selling points except ________.

A．reasonable price

B．multiple functions

C．home automation

D．eco-friendly system

2. Which of the following is true about these products?

A．Apart from facial recognition, there is no other way to lock or unlock Elecpro’s US:E.

B．De’ Longhi air purifier can only be used in summer because it gives a chilly feeling.

C．The Galanz ToastWave has not come onto the market yet.

D．Despite the germ-away experience it provides, the Flatbox Cheers itself is hard to clean.

3. Where is it most likely to find this article?

A．Scientific journal.	B．Education magazine.
C．Advertisement brochure.	D．Local newspaper.

3 . Apple on Tuesday said its revenue fell 5 percent in the first quarter, compared with $ 88.3 billion a year earlier, as chief executive Tim Cook admitted that people are holding on to their iPhones longer.

Revenue from the maker of iPhones came in at $ 84.31 billion, slightly higher than the company estimated earlier this month, when it warned that sales would fall to about $84 billion. At the time, Cook cited a slowdown in China's economy as well as President Trump's trade war for weakening iPhone demand. It was Apple's first warning in more than 15 years.

Apple's stock jumped more than 4 percent in after-hours trading.

In its results, Apple aid net sales of iPhones were down by more than $9 billion compared with the same quarter last year. Cook conceded that many Apple users are "holding on to their older iPhones a bit longer than in the past," which contributed to lower iPhone demand. But he also pointed to shifts in foreign exchange (外汇) values that made Apple products more expensive in certain markets.

Consumers are holding on to their smart-phones for three years or longer. The Washington Post reported last month. But higher selling prices - with some high-end models costing over $1,000 - have been able to compensate for fewer new phones sold.

Sales increased in other categories such as services, wearables and tablets. Altogether, Apple reported net income of $ 19.97 billion for the quarter compared to $ 20,01 billion in the same period a year earlier. The popularity of Apple's smart-watch has driven significant growth in the company's wearables segment, according to the company.

"Our wearables business is approaching the size of a Fortune 200 company," said chief financial officer Luca Maestri.

While Cook acknowledged the continuing economic slowdown in China, he said it is "not in our DNA to stand around waiting for macroeconomic conditions to improve." One effort Apple is undertaking in response, Cook added, is to encourage customers to trade in their old devices and receive credit toward purchasing new phones. Apple offered deep discounts on its iPhone XR around the holidays, for instance, for people trading in recent devices.

More than two-thirds of Apple customers in China who bought an iPad or a Mac last quarter were first-time purchasers of those devices, Cook said.

Apple, which became the world's first company worth $1 trillion (万亿) last year, also said it is expecting lower revenues next quarter - between $ 55 billion and $ 59 billion - compared with the same time last year, when it reported revenues of % 61.6 billion. The company attributed the lower guidance to the same foreign exchange and macroeconomic factors it cited for the quarter that ended in December.

Shareholders were already reeling from (感受到……的负面影响) Apple's acknowledgement this week of a major flaw in its mobile operating system that allowed attackers to eavesdrop (窃听) on the recipient of Face-Time calls. Apple told users it is aware of the issue and that it plans to release a software update this week.

Tuesday marked the first of Apple's earnings reports in which the company did not report the number of iPhones it sold in the quarter. But the company did say that the total number of iPhones active world-wide now stands at 900 million - a positive sign for Apple as it seeks to convert many of its customers into users of its services such as Apple Pay and Apple Music.

1. According to Tim Cook, all of the following accounted for weakening iPhone demand EXCEPT ________.

A．Apple users keep their Apple devices longer than before

B．the macroeconomic conditions home and abroad were not ideal

C．the changing foreign exchange values

D．a major bug in its mobile operating system

2. What can we learn from the underlined sentence?

A．Apple is about to take the initiative to turn around its business.

B．Apple is not good at dealing with macroeconomic conditions in a foreign country.

C．Apple is not worried about China's economic slowdown because of its huge consumer base.

D．Apple is sure of overcoming the temporary downturn in sales with its technology.

3. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．One of Apple's goals is that its services can appeal to more consumers.

B．On Tuesday, Apple didn't publicize its earnings reports because of its poor performance.

C．Apple's wearables category has a good chance of surpassing a Fortune 200 company.

D．iPhone's increased prices contribute to the drop in iPhones sold worldwide.

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Apple has sold 900 million iPhones around the world.

B．Apple was the world's most valuable company at one point last year.

C．Tim Cook was confident about Apple's future revenues despite current difficulty.

D．An increasing number of users began to dislike their Apple devices.

4 . Forks trace their origins back to the ancient Greeks. Forks at that time were fairly large with two tines that aided in the carving of meat in the kitchen. The tines prevented meat from twisting or moving during carving and allowed food to slide off more easily than it would with a knife.

By the 7th century A.D., royal courts of the Middle East began to use forks at the table for dining. From the 10th through the 13th centuries, forks were fairly common among the wealthy in Byzantium. In the 11th century, a Byzantine wife brought forks to Italy; however, they were not widely adopted there until the 16th century. Then in 1533, forks were brought from Italy to France. The French were also slow to accept forks, for using them was thought to be awkward.

In 1608, forks were brought to England by Thomas Coryate, who saw them during his travels in Italy. The English first ridiculed forks as being unnecessary. “Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?” they asked. Slowly, however, forks came to be adopted by the wealthy as a symbol of their social status. They were prized possessions made of expensive materials intended to impress guests. By the mid-1600s, eating with forks was considered fashionable among the wealthy British.

Early table forks were modeled after kitchen forks, but small pieces of food often fell through the two tines or slipped off easily. In late 17th century France, larger forks with four curved tines were developed. The additional tines made diners less likely to drop food, and the curved tines served as a scoop so people did not have to constantly switch to a spoon while eating. By the early 19th century, four-tined forks had also been developed in Germany and England and slowly began to spread to America.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The different designs of forks.

B．The spread of fork-aided cooking.

C．The history of using forks for dining.

D．The development of fork-related table manners.

2. By which route did the use of forks spread?

A．Middle EastGreeceEnglandItalyFrance

B．GreeceMiddle EastItalyFranceEngland

C．GreeceMiddle EastFranceItalyGermany

D．Middle EastFranceEnglandItalyGermany

3. How did forks become popular in England?

A．Wealthy British were impressed by the design of forks.

B．Wealthy British thought it awkward to use their hands to eat.

C．Wealthy British gave special forks to the nobles as luxurious gifts.

D．Wealthy British considered dining with forks a sign of social status.

4. Why were forks made into a curved shape?

A．They could be used to scoop food as well.

B．They looked more fashionable in this way.

C．They were designed in this way for export to the US.

D．They ensured the meat would not twist while being cut.

5 . This Is How Scandinavia Got Great

Almost everybody admires the Nordic model. Countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland have high economic productivity, high social equality, high social trust and high levels of personal happiness.

Nordic nations were ethnically homogeneous(同质的) in 1800, when they were dirt poor. Their economic growth took off just after 1870, way before their welfare states were established.     1    

The 19th-century Nordic elites did something we haven’t been able to do in our country recently. They realized that if their countries were to prosper they had to create truly successful “folk schools” for the least educated among them. They realized that they were going to have to make lifelong learning a part of the natural fabric of society.

    2     The German word they used to describe their approach, bildung, doesn’t even have an English equivalent. It means the complete moral, emotional, intellectual and civic transformation of the person. It was based on the idea that if people were going to be able to handle and contribute to an emerging industrial society, they would need more complex inner lives.

Today, Americans often think of schooling as the transmission of specialized skill sets — the student can read, do math and recite the facts of biology.     3     It is devised to help them understand complex systems and see the relations between things — between self and society, between a community of relationships in a family and a town.

The Nordic educators worked hard to cultivate each student’s sense of connection to the nation. Before the 19th century, most Europeans identified themselves in local and not national terms.     4     The idea was to create in the mind of the student a sense of wider circles of belonging — from family to town to nation — and an eagerness to assume shared responsibility for the whole.

That educational push seems to have had a lasting influence on the culture. Whether in Stockholm or Minneapolis, Scandinavians have a tendency to joke about the way their sense of responsibility is always nagging at them. They have the lowest rates of corruption in the world. They have a distinctive sense of the relationship between personal freedom and communal responsibility.

A．Bildung is the way that the individual matures and takes upon him or herself ever bigger academic responsibility.

B．What really launched the Nordic nations was generations of phenomenal educational policy.

C．Bildung is designed to change the way students see the world.

D．But the Nordic curriculum conveyed to students a pride in, say, their Danish history, folklore and heritage.

E．They look at education differently than we do.

F．The Nordic educators also worked hard to develop the student’s internal awareness.

6 . There was a time when we thought humans were special in so many ways. Now we know better. We are not the only species that feels emotions, or follows a moral code. Neither are we the only ones with personalities, cultures and the ability to design and use tools. Yet we have all agree that one thing, at least, makes us unique: we alone have the ability of language.

It turns out that we are not so special in this aspect either. Key to the revolutionary reassessment of our talent for communication is the way we think about language itself. Where once it was seen as an unusual object, today scientists find it is more productive to think of language as a group of abilities. Viewed this way, it becomes apparent that the component parts of language are not as unique as the whole.

Take gesture, arguably the starting point for language. Until recently, it was considered uniquely human - but not any more. Mike Tomasello of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and others have collected a list of gestures observed in monkeys and some other animals, which reveals that gestures plays a large role in their communication. Ape(猿) gestures can involve touch, vocalising or eye movement, and individuals wait until they have another ape’s attention before making visual or auditory gestures. If their gestures go unacknowledged, they will often repeat them.

In an experiment carried out in 2006 by Erica Cartmill and Richard Byrne from the University of St Andrews in the UK, they got a person to sit on a chair with some highly desirable food such as banana to one side of apes and some undesirable food such as vegetables to the other. The apes, who could see the person and the food from their enclosures, gestured at their human partners to encourage them to push the desirable food their way. If the person showed incomprehension and offered the vegetables, the animals would change their gestures - just as a human would in a similar situation. If the human seemed to understand while being somewhat confused, giving only half the preferred food, the apes would repeat and exaggerate their gestures - again in exactly the same way a human would. Such findings highlight the fact that the gestures of the animals are not merely inborn but are learned, flexible and under voluntary control - all characteristics that are considered preconditions for human-like communication.

1. It is agreed that compared with all the other animals, only human beings ________.

A．own the ability to show their personalities

B．are capable of using language to communicate

C．have moral standards and follow them in society

D．are intelligent enough to release and control emotions

2. According to the passage, humans are not so special in language ability because language ________.

A．involve some abilities that can be mastered by animals

B．is a talent impossibly owned by other animals

C．can be divided into different components

D．are productive for some talented animals

3. What can we learn from that experiment by Cartmill and Byrne?

A．Apes can use language to communicate with the help of humans.

B．Repeating and exaggerating gestures is vital in language communication.

C．Some animals can learn to express and communicate through some trials.

D．The preferred food stimulates some animals to use language to communicate.

4. What is probably the best title of the language?

A．Language involves gestures!	B．Animals language - gestures!
C．So you think humans are unique?	D．The similarity between humans and apes.

7 . Money Survey

A recent survey has investigated the way American teenagers aged 16-18 relate to money — what they do with it, how they are affected by the recent financial problems in the world and what they expect in the future. The results make interesting reading.

Of those surveyed, almost all have a mobile phone and more than three-quarters have iPod or MP3 player. 66% own a computer, 46% own a TV and 27% own a car.     1     Three out of four teens reported that they have bought new clothes in the past three months, and for girls this figure was much higher (86%). If they were given the choice, 63% said they would choose a new pair of jeans rather than tickets to a concert, and 75% would choose a new pair of shoes rather than 50 new MP3 downloads.

Over two-thirds of these young people do some form of work in order to earn money. The average earnings are $1,630 per year, with boys earning more than girls.     2     Only 21% of teens are not saving at all. However, if they were given $500, over half of those surveyed said they would spend the money rather than saving it.

    3     Most of them are finding that they have less to spend and therefore they are shopping more carefully. 55% wait for items to go on sale at reduced prices and 42% do research to compare prices and choose the best deals. Sales of tech gadgets to teens remain strong, but spending on expensive clothing has dropped. More teens are shopping in cheaper stores and looking for second-hand bargains, while some are starting to make their own clothes.

Many teenagers are worried about rising university costs and the difficulty of finding jobs.     4     At the same time, 65% expect that their choice of career will be based on their passion for the job, while only 15% think it will depend on how much money they can earn.

A．However, 59% still believe they will be in a better financial position than their parents in the future.

B．Most teens also save money - they are usually saving up for clothes, a piece of technology, future university expenses or a car.

C．Nevertheless, many of them still reported asking parents for money to buy clothes.

D．The world has been hit hard by financial problems lately and 93% of the teens said that this had affected them and their family.

E．However, most of their own money is spent on clothes.

F．They also talk about what matters most in terms of their choice of career.

8 . There's a loud bang, and then it starts: A battery of an electric car is on fire in the test tunnel. A video of the test impressively shows the energy stored in such batteries: meter-long flames flee in disorder and produce enormous amounts of thick, black smoke. The visibility in the previously brightly lit tunnel section quickly approaches zero. After a few minutes, ashes have spread throughout the room.

"In our experiment we were considering in particular private and public operators of small and large underground or multi-storey car parks," says project leader Lars Derek Mellert,"all these existing underground structures are being used to an increasing extent by electric cars. And the operators ask themselves: “    1    ?"But until now there has been hardly any meaningful technical literature, let alone practical experience for such a case. So Mellert developed three test scenarios（场景）, the results of which were published in a final report in August 2020.

“    2    . Besides, they are possibly fatal regardless of the type of drive or energy storage system." says the final report. The primary objective has to be to get everyone out of the danger zone as quickly as possible. The highly poisonous hydrofluoric（氢氟）acid has often been discussed as a particular danger in burning batteries.    3    . The real problem, however, is the extinguishing and cooling water that is produced when fighting such a fire and storing a burnt-out battery in a water basin. The analyses showed that some chemical substances in the extinguishing water goes beyond the limit values for industrial wastewater by a factor of 70; the cooling water is even up to 100-times above limit values.

    4    Firefighters know that the battery of an electric car is impossible to extinguish and that it can only be cooled with large amounts of water. But this is already known to the specialists and is being practiced.

A．The pollutants emitted by a burning vehicle have always been dangerous

B．What on earth causes Lithium batteries to catch fire

C．Even the fire brigades do not have to learn anything new on the basis of the tests

D．The acid can possibly result in death, while its effects may delay after exposure

E．But in the three tests in the tunnel the concentrations remained far below critical levels

F．What will happen if such a car catches fire

9 . Explore some of New Zealand's best skiing & snowboarding field. Whatever your ability, Cardrona has the snow for you!

The 2018 winter season runs from June 16 — October 14,2018.

Half Day & 1 Day lift passes are split into Peak & Off Peak pricing:

Peak — July, August & September                    Off Peak — June & October

2018 Single Day Ski Passes	Half Day* Off Peak	Half Day* Peak	1 Day Off Peak	1 Day Peak	1 Day Learner	1 Lift
Adult	$80	$85	$99	$115	$65	$35
Child	$45	$50	$50	$60	$42	$25
Student	$70	$75	$85	$95	$65	$35
Senior	N/A	N/A	$75	$85	$65	$35

* Half day passes: 8.30am — 12.30pm morning, 12.30 — 4pm afternoon

* Rocky Mountain Super Pass holders must book lodging with Cardrona to be eligible for free day passes. Please email reservations@cardrona.com with an accommodation booking request & the lift ticket benefit request.

What pass am I eligible for? Read our lift pass age definitions below to find out.

* Multi passes are valid for both consecutive & non-consecutive days & can be used any time throughout the 2018 winter season at Cardrona only.

Your lift pass will be stored on an electronic RFID pass. To make the most of your clever pass, activate your personal profile online. Once you' re logged into your profile you can:

·Top up your card with lift passes, rental gear, lift & rental packages and lessons.

·Keep track of your on-slope stats at Cardrona (days spent, run count, activities taken, etc. )

Definitions for Lift Passes:

Student: 18+yrs enrolled full time (minimum 32 weeks in a calendar year)with a New Zealand or Australian tertiary institution. Student ID & proof of full time status (letter from institution) is required. ID card must be in English & include a valid expiry date.

Child: Currently attending school, 6-17yrs inclusive. Kids under 6 ski for free in winter, & kids under 9 bike for free in summer! Photo ID will be required.

Senior: 65-74yrs of age. Photo ID will be required.

Under 6yrs &75 Years+: Under 6yrs & over 75yrs, as at June 1, 2018, ski for free. Please collect a complimentary lift pass from the ticket office. Photo ID will be required.

1. After activation of your online profile, what can you do to maximize the value of your pass?

A．You can open up the online account of your clever pass.

B．You can store your lift pass on an electronic RFID pass.

C．You can monitor what activities you have done at Cardrona.

D．You can participate in most tutor lessons without any charge.

2. Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?

A．Cardrona is only open to those who are skilled at snowing or skiing.

B．Anyone with Rocky Mountain Super Pass can have free access to Cardrona.

C．Those with 1 Day Off Peak pass are entitled to ski at Cardrona on Oct. 24th

D．One can get in Cardrona from 8.30 am to 4 pm with 1 Day Peak pass.

3. How much will the Half Day Peak passes cost for a family of two parents, one 12-year-old boy, one freshman at Auckland University, one 5 year old, and one grandmother of 76?

A．$295.

B．$275.

C．$320.

D．$270.

10 . If we look at education in our own society, we see two sharply different factors. First of all, there is the overwhelming majority of teachers, principals, curriculum planners, school superintendents, who are devoted to passing on the knowledge that children need in order to live in our industrialized society. Their chief concern is with efficiency, that is, with implanting the greatest number of facts into the greatest possible number of children, with a minimum of time, expense, and effort. Children in the usual classroom learn very quickly that creativity is not rewarded, while repeating a memorized response is, and then concentrate on what the teacher wants them to say, rather than understanding the problem.

The difference between the intrinsic (内在的) and the extrinsic aspects of a college education is illustrated by the following story about Upton Sinclair. When Sinclair was a young man, he found that he was unable to raise the tuition money needed to attend college. Upon careful reading of the college catalogue, however, he found that if a student failed a course, he received no credit for the course, but was obliged to take another course in its place. The college did not charge the student for the second course, reasoning that he had already paid once for his credit. Sinclair took advantage of this policy and not a free education by deliberately failing all his courses.

In the ideal college, there would be no credits, no degrees, and no required courses. A person would learn what he wanted to learn. A friend and I attempted to put this ideal into action by starting a serials of seminars at Brandeis called “Freshman Seminars Introduction to the Intellectual Life.” In the ideal college, intrinsic education would be available to anyone who just wanted it, and that should be enough — since anyone can improve and learn. The student body might include creative, intelligent children as well as adults; morons as well as geniuses(for even morons can learn emotionally and spiritually). The college would be ubiquitous — that is, not restricted to particular buildings at particular times, and teachers would be any human beings who had something that they wanted to share with others. The college would be lifelong, for learning can take place all through life. Even dying can be a philosophically illuminating, highly educative experience.

The ideal college would be a kind of education retreat in which you could try to find yourself; find out what you like and want; what you are and are not good at. The chief goals of the ideal college, in other words, would be the discovery of identity, and with it, the discovery of vocation.

1. In the author’s opinion, the majority of education workers________.

A．emphasize independent thought rather than well-memorized responses

B．tend to reward children with better understanding rather than with a goal for credits

C．implant children with a lot of facts at the expense of understanding the problem

D．are imaginative, creative and efficient in keeping up with our industrialized society

2. An extrinsically oriented education is one that________.

A．focuses on oriented education	B．lays emphases on earning a degree
C．takes students’need into account	D．emphasizes learning through discussion

3. To enter the author’s ideal college, a student________.

A．will enjoy learning all though his life	B．should be very intelligent and diligent
C．needn’t worry about the admission test	D．can be best stimulated for creative work

4. The author’s purpose of writing the article is________.

A．to publicize his views	B．to criticize college students
C．to stress self-teaching attitude	D．to advocate technological education