1 . More students than ever before are taking a gap year (间隔年) before going to university. It used to be called the “year off” between school and university. The gap-year phenomenon originated (起源) with the months left over to Oxbridge applicants between entrance exams in November and the start of the next academic year.
This year, 25,310 students who have accepted places in higher education institutions have put off their entry until next year, according to statistics on university entrance provided by the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS).
That is a record 14.7% increase in the number of students taking a gap year. Tony Higgins from UCAS said that the statistics are good news for everyone in higher education. “Students who take a well-planned year out are more likely to be satisfied with, and complete, their chosen course. Students who take a gap year are often more mature and responsible.” he said.
But not everyone is happy. Owain James, the president of the National Union of Students (NUS), argued that the increase is evidence of student hardship—young people are being forced into earning money before finishing their education. “New students are now aware that they are likely to leave university up to £ 15,000 in debt. It is not surprising that more and more students are taking a gap year to earn money to support their study for the degree. NUS statistics show that over 40% of students are forced to work during term time and the figure increases to 90% during vacation periods,” he said.
1. What do we learn about the gap year from the text?| A．It is flexible in length. | B．It is a time for relaxation. |
| C．It is increasingly popular. | D．It is required by universities. |
| A．are better prepared for college studies |
| B．know a lot more about their future jobs |
| C．are more likely to leave university in debt |
| D．have a better chance to enter top universities |
| A．He’s puzzled. | B．He’s worried. |
| C．He’s surprised. | D．He’s annoyed. |
| A．Attend additional courses. | B．Make plans for the new term. |
| C．Earn money for their education. | D．Prepare for their graduate studies. |
2 . The jobs of the future have not yet been invented.
Your children need to be deeply curious.
True creativity is the ability to take something existing and create something new from it.
Understanding how others feel can be a challenge for kids. We know what’s going on inside our own head, but what about others? Being able to read people helps kids from misreading a situation and jumping to false conclusions.
| A．Encourage kids to cook with you. |
| B．And we can’t forget science education. |
| C．We can give kids chances to think about materials in new ways. |
| D．So how can we help our kids prepare for jobs that don’t yet exist? |
| E．Gardening is another great activity for helping kids develop this skill. |
| F．We can do this in real life or ask questions about characters in stories. |
| G．Being able to communicate ideas in a meaningful way is a valuable skill. |
3 . Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment. “We didn’t know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement .Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many， many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first. According to US government reports, emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9. Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with, the world is a safer and healthier place. A kind of “Green thinking” has become part of practices.
Great improvement has been achieved. In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600. Advanced lights, motors, and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution.
Twenty –five years ago, there were hardly any education programs for environment. Today, it’s hard to find a public school, university, or law school that does not have such a kind of program. “Until we do that, nothing else will change!” says Bruce Anderson.
1. According to Anderson, before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___.| A．the social movement | B．recycling techniques |
| C．environmental problems | D．the importance of Earth Day |
| A．The grass –roots level. | B．The business circle. |
| C．Government officials. | D．University professors. |
| A．They have cut car emissions to the lowest. |
| B．They have settled their environmental problems. |
| C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities. |
| D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures. |
| A．Education. | B．Planning |
| C．Green living | D．CO reduction |
4 . Cheating is when a person misleads, deceives or acts dishonestly on purpose.
| A．Some kids cheat because they're lazy. |
| B．Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways. |
| C．But it doesn't solve the problem of not knowing the material. |
| D．Some kids cheat once and feel so bad that they never do it again. |
| E．For kids, cheating may happen at school, at home, or while playing a sport. |
| F．There are plenty of reasons why a kid shouldn't cheat, but some kids have already cheated. |
| G．Kids may also cheat by copying a book report off the Internet and handing it in as it's his or her original work. |
Many techniques can be used to manage school phobia. But research suggests that much more effective treatment is required for school phobia to prevent problems developing in later life. Children with this condition usually benefit from seeing a psychologist or doctor.
Changes at home can include supportive language from parents, along with support like assistance with homework. If a child lacks confidence, parents may encourage the child to take up new hobbies.
| A．It will help children to feel good about themselves. |
| B．But a child with phobia refuses to accept adults’ support. |
| C．A child with school phobia usually refuses to go to school. |
| D．Adjustments can be made at home and in the classroom to help. |
| E．This common phobia is associated with a wide variety of causes. |
| F．The most effective treatment is to help the child have a sense of success. |
| G．And the assistance can help parents and school officials support the child. |
A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the all-singing, all-dancing mobile phone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles.
The study by technology retailer Pixmania reveals the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further two hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls. More than 90 percent of office workers have email-enabled phones, with a third accessing them more than 20 times a day. Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers confess(承认) they are on call almost 24 hours a day, with nine out of ten saying they make work emails and calls outside their normal working hours. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., with more than a third checking their first emails in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11 p.m. and midnight.
Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said, “The ability to access literally millions of apps, keep in contact via social networks and take photos and video as well as text and call has made smartphones invaluable for many people. However, there are drawbacks. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smartphones mean that people literally cannot get away from work. The more constantly in contact we become , the more is expected of us in a work capacity(容量).”
1. What can we conclude from the text?
| A．All that glitters is not gold. |
| B．It never rains but pours. |
| C．Every coins has two sides. |
| D．It’s no good crying over spilt milk. |
| A．calling | B．reaching | C．getting | D．using |
| A．The average UK working time is between nine and twelve hours. |
| B．Nine- tenths spent over three hours checking work emails. |
| C．One-fourth check their first mail between 11 p.m. and midnight. |
| D．The average time for first checking emails is between 6 a.m. and 8 .am .. |
| A．Workaholics like smartphones. |
| B．Smartphones bring about extra work. |
| C．Smartphones make our life easier. |
| D．Employers don’t like smartphones. |
Women received about 57 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded this year from colleges and universities in the United States.The figure of 57 percent has been the highest since World War Ⅱ ended in 1945.During the war，many men were in the military.
The gap between men and women is greater among African Americans and Hispanics.Two AfricanAmerican women receive a degree for every AfricanAmerican man.Only 40 percent of Hispanics who get a degree are males.
The USA Department of Education estimates 698,000 females received bachelor’s degree this year.The number of male graduates was 529,000.The trend toward more female graduates began in the mid1980s.Nobody seems to know why.However，many theories exist.
Researchers say the trend could lead to social problems.They also say this may indicate two things.It may reflect the increasing success of women.But it also may show the educational problems affecting men.
High school graduation rates are slightly lower for men than for women.Males also make up the vast majority of students in special education classes.
The Business Roundtable is studying the trend.The group is an organization of chief executives of some of the nation’s largest corporations.Susan Traiman is the director of the group’s education policy.Traiman said the nation couldn’t afford to let half its population fail to develop skills needed for the future.
1. Some people worry about the future because ________.
| A．there are many social problems in America |
| B．more and more men don’t like the life in college |
| C．more AfricanAmerican women receive a degree |
| D．fewer and fewer men receive a degree than women in America |
| A．There must be something wrong with the education system. |
| B．40% of the Hispanics get a degree in America. |
| C．Nobody knows the reason why more women get a degree than men. |
| D．More than half of the men received bachelor’s degrees this year. |
| A．guesses | B．explains | C．introduces | D．discovers |
| A．the nation should prevent the women from receiving further education |
| B．the nation would be too poor to develop its education |
| C．the nation didn’t have enough money for women’s further education |
| D．the nation should encourage men to develop skills for the future |
| A．Women are more successful in America than men. |
| B．More women than men are graduating from college. |
| C．Men are more successful in America than women. |
| D．There are two kinds of social problems in America. |
8 . You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings,you say hello,and the drama starts.The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to.You are still in a wonderful mood?Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.
Life brings ups and downs,but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win others' pity or respect.
When you communicate with positive people, your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger（匕首）of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down.
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a coworker, or a relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person, but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to（附着）you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible.
1. The purpose of the first paragraph is to______.| A．make a comparison |
| B．offer an evidence |
| C．introduce a topic |
| D．describe a daily scene |
| A．By influencing our emotion. |
| B．By telling us the nature of life. |
| C．By changing our way of thinking. |
| D．By comparing their attitude to life with ours. |
| A．other people's pity for them |
| B．making other people unhappy |
| C．building up a positive attitude |
| D．other people’s respect for them |
| A．to change negative people’s attitude to life |
| B．to show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| C．to make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
| D．to communicate with negative people as little as possible |
9 . Which comes first, happiness or money? Are richer people happier? And if so, how do people get much richer? A recent study could tell you the answer.
The study looked into thousands of teenagers and found that those who felt better about life as young adults tended to have higher incomes by the time they turned 29. Those who were happiest earned an average of $8, 000 more than those who were the most depressed.
The researchers, from University College London and the University of Warwick, say that very gloomy teens, no matter how tall or smart they were, earned 10% less than their peers, while the happier ones earned up to 30% more.
Happier teenagers have an easier time getting through school, college and a job interview, chiefly because they always feel better about life. It may also be true that happier people find it easier to make friends, who are often the key to homework help or networking.
A report in June suggested that professional respect was more important than dollars in terms of workplace happiness. In August scientists announced that they had found the gene for happiness in women, Alas (the same gene doesn't appear to have the same effect on men). And in October researchers in the UK and in the US announced that people who eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day report being the happiest.
The big question is: if it really is true that happier kids end up being wealthier kids, is it necessary for parents to get their kids to do the homework? The fact is that no homework will make kids happy but surely hurt their grades. Studies do show, after all, that more education leads to better-paid jobs, which may give us a deep thought.
"These findings show that the teenagers’ happiness is important to their future success," one of the report's authors writes. "But what is the most important is that we should find a way to help children gain more satisfaction from doing schoolwork."
1. What conclusion can the researchers draw from the recent study?| A．Happy teenagers grow up to be wealthier. |
| B．Money can make people become happier. |
| C．Wealth has nothing to do with happiness at all. |
| D．Schoolwork can help teens achieve success. |
| A．they are easy to communicate with others |
| B．they are good at doing their schoolwork |
| C．they are hopeful and optimistic about their life |
| D．they eat much more fruit and vegetables a day |
| A．upset | B．glorious |
| C．happy | D．wealthy |
| A．The way to educate kids | B．The source of happiness |
| C．How to achieve your goal | D．The secret of being wealthier |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线( \)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Jimmy is one of my closely friends. Two months ago, his mother bought a computer to him as a birthday present. She hoped Jim will study hard with the help of the computer. To his surprise, Jimmy just wasted plenty of time play computer games every day. Now she regrets buying the computer. As matter of fact, a computer can do a lot of everyday jobs for us. It is wide used in factories, hospitals, banks and so on. Many computers scientists are now trying to make the computer to “think” like a man. In my opinion, the key is what we should use it wisely.
