1 . Student loan (贷款) debt has become a worldwide problem. In America, the country's overall student debt reached a record of $1.6 trillion in 2019. The average person with student loan debt owed between $20,000 and $25,000. A recent Japanese government report says it has been lending over $9 billion yearly to students since 2010. Similar conditions exist in Africa and South America.
Several factors account for high student loan debt. One is that employers everywhere have increased their demands for skilled workers, making higher education a requirement for many jobs. The students, however, after graduation, often find that their country's economy is not strong enough to support their financial needs, so their ability to pay back the loan becomes a problem.
To solve the problem, many countries are seeking their ways. Australia has developed a system where students do not have to pay anything back until they are earning at least $40,000 a year. In America, several candidates running for president in the 2020 election have offered more extreme solutions that all or at least some of these loans will be forgiven.
Some professors in several universities recently studied what the effects of debt forgiveness might be. They found that, overall, sudden debt relief greatly improved the borrowers' lives. Not only did they have more money, but they were more likely to move to a new area and seek better paying work.
Yet the professors' research doesn't include what might happen to financial institutions or the overall economy if debt were totally forgiven. It only looks at how debt forgiveness would help the borrowers. They warn of some other possible negative effects. If a borrower knew that if he ran into any trouble he would be saved because he could get the debt relief, then he might actually become more reckless (轻率的) with his borrowing in the future.
No matter what, the professors agree that if countries do decide to approve some student debt relief the neediest students should be helped first.
1. How does the author introduce the problem of student loan?| A．By making a comparison. | B．By making classifications. |
| C．By presenting some statistics. | D．By setting down general rules. |
| A．It will surely provide some benefits to borrowers. |
| B．It has already been carried out in the United States. |
| C．It aims to encourage more students to borrow money. |
| D．It will prevent a person from landing a well-paying job. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Positive. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Student loan debt is the most serious problem worldwide. |
| B．Growing global student debt fuels search for solutions. |
| C．Student loan debt tends to pull the needy out of trouble. |
| D．People hold different opinions on debt forgiveness. |
2 . I’ll never forget driving away from my village in war-torn Vietnam. I was five and my mum, Can, told me and my brother Tam we were going on holiday, but as she hugged us goodbye, she began to sob so much her whole body was shaking. I gripped my little brother’s hand as I watched the tiny village grow smaller in the rear view window. Like many Vietnamese children, we were adopted by an Australian family.
It was a scary, lonely and confusing time, and I missed my birth family horribly. “When am I going home?” I’d ask again and again in Vietnamese, but no one would answer me because they didn’t understand. I’d ask about my birth mother so often that my new parents told me she had died. I cried myself to sleep every night until I was eight or nine. My adoptive family were dysfunctional and home life was tough.
At 15, my adoptive mother died. After that, I was going through my adoptive father’s filing cabinet (橱柜) and I found an old letter, with a Vietnamese postmark. I felt delighted as I realized it was from my birth mum. Straight away, I wrote a long letter to the address she had given, explaining who I was and asking if Can was alive.
Soon after, I got a simple fax back, saying, “Mother still alive, very happy to hear from you.” My heart soared as I read her words. For the next few years, I exchanged letters with her and was thrilled to finally have contact with her. I was so grateful for that.
1. Why did the author’s mum begin to sob in Paragraph 1?| A．Because she felt excited when hugging her children. |
| B．Because her children were going on holiday. |
| C．Because her children were leaving her. |
| D．Because her whole body was shaking. |
| A．Hard. | B．Happy. |
| C．Easy. | D．Free. |
| A．Can didn’t like the author. | B．Can didn’t know where the author was. |
| C．Can was dead. | D．Can was not allowed to contact the author. |
| A．Upset. | B．Excited. |
| C．Lonely. | D．Moved. |
3 . Abraham Lincoln turns 200 this year, and he’s beginning to show his age. When his birthday arrives, on February 12, Congress will hold a special joint session in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall, a wreath (花环) will be laid at the great memorial in Washington, and a webcast will link school classrooms for a "teach-in" honoring his memory.
Admirable as they are, though, the events will strike many of us Lincoln fans as inadequate, even halfhearted — and another sign that our appreciation for the 16th president and his towering achievements is slipping away. And you don’t have to be a Lincoln enthusiast to believe that this is something we can’t afford to lose.
Compare this year’s celebration with the Lincoln centennial, in 1909. That year, Lincoln’s likeness made its debut on the penny, thanks to approval from the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury. Communities. and civic associations in every comer of the country erupted in parades, concerts, balls, lectures, and military displays. We still feel the effects today: The momentum unloosed in 1909 led to the Lincoln Memorial, opened in 1922, and the Lincoln Highway, the first paved transcontinental thoroughfare (大道) .
The celebrants in 1909 had a few inspirations we lack today. Lincoln’s presidency was still a living memory for countless Americans. In 2009 we are farther in time from the end of the Second World War than they were from the Civil War; families still felt the loss of loved ones from that awful national trauma (创伤) .
But Americans in 1909 had something more: an unembarrassed appreciation for heroes and an acute sense of the way that even long-dead historical figures press in on the present and make us who we are.
One story will illustrate what I’m talking about.
In 2003 a group of local citizens arranged to place a statue of Lincoln in Richmond, Virginia, former capital of the Confederacy (南方联邦). The idea touched off a firestorm of controversy. The Sons of Confederate Veterans held a public conference of carefully selected scholars to “reassess” the legacy of Lincoln. The verdict — no surprise — was negative: Lincoln was labeled everything from a racist totalitarian to a teller of dirty jokes.
I covered the conference as a reporter, but what really unnerved me was a counter-conference of scholars to refute the earlier one. These scholars drew a picture of Lincoln that only our touchy-feely age could recall. The man who oversaw the most savage war in our history was described — by his admirers, remember — as “nonjudgmental,” “unmoralistic,” “comfortable with ambiguity (模棱两可) .”
I felt the way a friend of mine felt as we later watched the unveiling of the Richmond statue in a subdued (征服) ceremony: “But he’s so small!”
The statue in Richmond was indeed small; like nearly every Lincoln statue put up in the past half century, it was life-size and was placed at ground level, a conscious rejection of the heroic — approachable and human, yes, but not something to look up to.
The Richmond episode taught me that Americans have lost the language to explain Lincoln’s greatness even to ourselves. Earlier generations said they wanted their children to be like Lincoln: principled, kind, compassionate, resolute. Today we want Lincoln to be like us.
“This helps to explain the long string of recent books in which writers have presented a Lincoln made after their own image. We’ve had Lincoln as humorist and Lincoln as manic-depressive, Lincoln the business sage, the conservative Lincoln and the liberal Lincoln, the emancipator and the racist, the stoic philosopher, the Christian, the atheist (无神论者) — Lincoln over easy (两面煎的) and Lincoln scrambled (把…搅乱) .
What’s often missing, though, is the timeless Lincoln, the Lincoln whom all generations, our own no less than that of 1909, can lay claim to. Lucky for us, those memorializers from a century ago — and, through them, Lincoln himself — have left us a hint of where to find him. The Lincoln Memorial is the most visited of our presidential monuments. Here is where we find the Lincoln who endures: in the words he left us, defining the country we’ve inherited. Here is the Lincoln who can be endlessly renewed and who, 200 years after his birth, retains the power to renew us.
1. The author thinks that this year’s celebration inadequate and even halfhearted because ________.| A．no Lincoln statue will be unveiled. |
| B．no memorial coins will be issued. |
| C．no similar appreciation of Lincoln will be seen. |
| D．no activities can be compared to those in 1909. |
| A．approved of the judgment by those carefully selected scholars. |
| B．offered a brand new reassessment perspective. |
| C．came up with somewhat favourable conclusions. |
| D．resulted in similar critical remarks on Lincoln. |
| A．conforms to traditional images. |
| B．reflects the present-day tendency of worship. |
| C．shows the present-day desire to match Lincoln. |
| D．reveals the variety of current opinions on heroes. |
| A．Lincoln’s greatness remains despite the passage of time. |
| B．The memorial is symbolic of the great man’s achievements. |
| C．Each generation has its own interpretation of Lincoln. |
| D．People get to know Lincoln through memorializers. |
4 . A Guide to the University
Food
The TWU Cafeteria is open 7am to 8pm. It serves snacks, drinks, ice cream bars and meals. You can pay with cash or your ID cards. You can add meal money to your ID cards at the Front Desk. Even if you do not buy your food in the cafeteria, you can use the tables to eat your lunch, to have meetings and to study.
If you are on campus in the evening or late at night, you can buy snacks, fast food, and drinks in the Lower Café located in the bottom level of the Gouglas Centre. This area is often used for entertainment such as concerts, games or TV watching.
Relaxation
The Globe, located in the bottom level of McMillan Hall, is available for relaxing, studying, cooking, and eating. Monthly activities are held here for all international students. Hours are 10 am to 10 pm, closed on Sundays.
Health
Located on the top floor of Douglas Hall, the Wellness Centre is committed to physical, emotional and social health. A doctor and nurse is available if you have health questions or need immediate medical help or personal advice. The cost of this is included in your medical insurance. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to noon and 1;00 to 4;30pm.
Academic Support
All students have access to the Writing Centre on the upper floor of Douglas Hall. Here, qualified volunteers will work with you on written work, grammar, vocabulary, and other academic skills. You can sign up for an appointment on the sign-up sheet outside the door two 30-minute appointments per week maximum. This service is free.
Transportation
The TWU Express is a shuttle service. The shuttle transports students between campus and the shopping centre, leaving from the Mattson Centre. Operation hours are between 8am and 3pm. Saturdays only. Round trip fare is $1.
1. What can you do in the TWU Cafeteria?| A．Do homework and watch TV. |
| B．Buy drinks and enjoy concerts. |
| C．Have meals and meet with friends. |
| D．Add money to your ID and play chess. |
| A．The McMillan Hall, Sunday. |
| B．The Lower Café, Sunday. |
| C．The TWU Cafeteria, Friday. |
| D．The Globe, Friday. |
| A．is open six days a week | B．gives advice on mental health |
| C．trains students in medical care | D．offers services free of charge |
