Educators across the US are calling for major changes to the admission process in higher education. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that U.S. colleges and universities received more than 9 million applications between 2013 and 2014. The schools admitted more than 5 million students in that time.

But a new report says that the problem is not about the number of students that are being admitted, but rather how students are selected. The Harvard School of Graduate Education, along with 80 other schools and organizations, released the report in January 2016, called “Turing the Tide---Making Caring Common”. The report argues that the process schools use to choose students causes major problems.

David Hawkins, the Executive Director for Educational Policy, says that most colleges and universities require many things from students when they apply. Schools usually ask for an essay describing a student’s interests or why they want to study at that school. The schools also ask for letters from teachers or other responsible adults describing why a student is a good candidate. But, Hawkins says, the area that schools are most concerned with a student’s high school grades and standardized test results.

The report suggests that paying attention to academic success over other qualities works well for some students but hurts others. In addition, academic success is not the most important quality a student should have. More attention should be paid to showing whether or not a student wants to do good in the world. The report also suggests that schools should ask for evidence that students care about other people. Moving attention away from academic ability will make process less about competition, the report says. Students will feel less stress about meeting higher and higher expectation.

But the report does have its critics. Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director, said that every few years, someone makes the same argument for change. He said that no real change has happened yet and that even many of the schools that agree with the report still make no changes. “Many of the institutions that have supported the findings in the report are the very institutions that have the most competitive admission processes in the country," Schaeffer said.

1. What is the problem of the admission process according to the report?

A．The schools ask social responsibilities from the applying students

B．The schools attach importance to students’ academic records

C．The number of students getting admitted is too small

D．Admission officers only consider personal qualities

2. Which of the following do colleges ask of applicants except ?

A．Their reasons to attend the school.

B．A description of their interests.

C．Recommendation letters from adults

D．Evidence that students care about others

3. What does the author’s attitude to the report of the admission process?.

A．Supportive.

B．Doubtful

C．Neutral

D．Negative

4. The critic, Bob Schaeffer, thinks that .

A．some schools don't do what they believe is right

B．the largest schools are expected to make changes first

C．not enough schools currently agree with the report

D．history has proved that all changes are good

阅读下面材料，在空白处填写1个适当的词或括号内单词的正确形式。

It is said that a course offered at     1     university in East China will link students’ weight loss     2     (direct) to their marks in a bid to limit student obesity.

The course from Zhou Quanfu, a teacher at Nanjing Agricultural University in Jiangsu Province, aims     3     (encourage) overweight students to control their diets and increase their exercise.

Zhou said 60 percent of a student’s grade will     4     (determine) by their weight loss. If they manage to reduce 7 percent of their     5     (origin) weight, they can pass the course.

One student     6     declined to give her real name said that the students run on treadmills（踏步机）in the school’s fitness room and walk 10 kilometers every Monday and Friday evening. Every Wednesday afternoon, the teacher leads them on a mountain-climbing trip.

“We use mobile apps to record daily food intake.” added the student. Before     7     (eat), they send photos of their food via a mobile app for     8     (suggest) from nutritionists.

“Only students     9     more than 30 percent body fat or a body mass index（指数）over 28 can sign up for the course,” said Zhou.

Physical fitness test data showed that between 2013 and 2014, around 13 percent of the students in Zhou’s university were obese. He hopes the course will help them lose weight and become more confident in     10     (them) day by day.

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式
Dr．Barone has helped many kids smile who were born with defects(缺陷)，including me．She did my first operations when I was a baby，which were the most important and    1    (effect)．
I don’t remember the first two operations very well．but I do recall    2    third．Dr．Barone was kind and eased me into the process．She let me choose my sleep medicine，    3    (make)sure that I was okay．I recently saw a picture of me before my operation，and I know    4    a big job she did．
Dr．Barone    5    (operate)on people with all types of birth defects．She also goes to other countries where people cannot afford this treatment and helps them    6    free．
Many people benefit from her new ways    7    (invent)to fix birth defects of the head and face．She has won many awards．A few of the most recent    8    (be)Best Doctors in America 2013-2014，America’s Top Plastic Surgery，and many others．
Dr．Barone was my doctor when I was a kid，and even though I was    9    (probable) just another patient to her，to me she was    10    (much)than just my doctor．She was and is my hero，and she gave me back my smile．

The poaching, or illegal killing, of rhinos(犀牛) in South Africa is growing worse each year. The government recently reported that a record number of rhinos were poached in 2014, a year which had more rhino killings in South Africa than ever before.

The World Wildlife Fund, or WWF, says about 20,000 rhinos live in South Africa. That is more than 80 percent of the rhinos in the world. Edna Molewa, South Africa’s environmental issues minister, says, “During 2014, we are sad to say this,1,215 rhinos were killed. This is a rise in the number of poached rhinos from 1004 in 2013 and indeed very worrying.”

The animals are hunted for their horns(犀牛角). Many people in Asia believe the horn has curing power, which drives poachers, at all costs, mad for more horns. But there is no scientific evidence for this belief. The horn is made of keratin. That is the same thing as human hair, fingernails and toenails.

Ms. Mo1ewa said 386 suspected poachers were arrested last year, an increase from the year before. But rhino protection workers say poachers often go unpunished after arrest. South Africa’s legal system is ineffective. Ms. Molewa said more needs to be done and South Africa is taking strong measures to protect rhinos. The efforts include moving some of the animals to secret places in neighboring countries. “Now approximately 100 rhinos have been moved to neighboring states in the SADC region during 2014 and 200 more rhinos will be moved this year” Molewa said.

Jo Shaw, the rhino program manager at the WWF, said, “we’re talking about a loss of a hundred rhinos a month. Or more than three a day. We really need to see effective action not just at a national level but internationally.” She says officials should find the criminal groups responsible for the poaching and punish them. Government officials are to meet in Botswana in March at the Inter-governmental Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade.

1. What do we know about rhinos?

A．Half of the rhinos live in South Africa.

B．Less than 1,000 rhinos were killed in 2013.

C．The killing reached the highest point in 2014.

D．There are only 20,000 rhinos left in the world.

2. What is the main reason for people to hunt rhinos?

A．To get more keratin.

B．To protect the farmland.

C．To use them for decoration.

D．To make money from horns.

3. Jo Shaw thinks that_________.

A．many criminal groups are well organized

B．new laws are needed to punish the killers

C．rhino protection needs international cooperation

D．conferences about protecting rhinos are to be held every year

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．Rhino protection has a long way to go.

B．No one would like to buy horns in the future.

C．The illegal killing of rhinos will soon disappear.

D．Rhinos living in South Africa will move to other countries.

There will be a big library in our school at the end of 2014. There are more than twice_________________ in 2013.

A．books than	B．as many books as
C．many books as	D．many more books than

We're so attached to plastic, but we're careless consumers. Waste plastic is entering our ecosystems and food chains with untold consequences. Cleaning up our polluted world of plastic may seem a noble, but thankless task. However, some people are seeing economic opportunity in the mission.

Plastic Bank, a social enterprise from Canada, is monetizing plastic recycling while empowering those most affected by the waste. It works to prevent waste plastic from entering oceans by encouraging people in developing countries to collect plastic from their communities in exchange for cash, food, clean water or school tuition for their children. After collection, plastic is weighed, sorted, chipped, melted into balls and sold on as“raw material”to be made into everything from bottles for cleaning products to clothing.

“I saw in large quantities; I saw an opportunity,”CEO David Katz told the audience at the Sustainable Brands Oceans conference in Porto, Portugal on November 14.“We reveal the value in this material,”he added.

Plastic Bank was founded in 2013 and launched on the ground operations in 2014 in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western, Hemisphere, where close to 60% of the population live under the poverty line. As result of poor waste disposal and recycling infrastructure (基础设施)，plastic waste enters rivers or is burned and poses the health threats to the local residents.

The company says i has over 2,000 collectors working in the country, with its full- time collectors on average 63% above the poverty line thanks to the income they make from the project. Through its app based payment system, many collectors now have bank accounts for the first time, and are able to ultimately escape ultra poverty.

“Nothing we're doing is against the laws of physics,”said Katz. “All the technology exists for us to solve and save the world. It's only creative thought.”

1. What is Plastic Bank aimed to do?

A．Test out creative ideas.

B．Discover new material.

C．Promote plastic recycling.

D．Stop people using plastic.

2. Which of the following shows the process of monetizing in Paragraph 2?

A．Purchasing- collecting—recycling.

B．Exchanging collecting—purchasing.

C．Collecting- exchanging—reproducing.

D．Persuading consuming—reproducing.

3. What do the numbers in Paragraph 5 indicate?

A．Haiti attaches great importance to recycling.

B．Many locals benefit greatly from the project.

C．Collecting is an efficient way to recycle waste.

D．The project has solved unemployment in Haiti:

4. What maybe the best title for the text?

A．Companies stand to ban plastic consumption

B．Technology finds its way to kick off poverty

C．David Katz speaks at the conference in Porto

D．Plastic Bank is fighting against plastic waste

In America，the number of people killed in car crashes in 2016 was above 40，000 for the   first time in a decade，data released on Wednesday shows．

“Americans believe there is nothing we can do to stop crashes from happening，but that isn't true．We are behind the rest of the developed world in addressing highway fatalities(死亡)．We just haven't been willing to do what needs to be done，”said Deborah A．P．Hersman，president of the National Safety Council．

The National Safety Council data shows a 6 percent increase in deaths in 2018 when compared with 2015 and a 3 percent increase in the number of miles Americana drove in 2016．

“Motor vehicle fatality numbers have been ringing the alarm for two years，”Hersman said．“Unfortunately，we have been blind to the data and the killings on our roadways．If we fail to take action，the death tell will continue to rise．”

“The trend is clear：After years of progress，highway deaths are heading in the wrong direction，”said Jonathan Adkins，a state safety official．

The number of people killed reached a record low of 32，675 in 2014，according to NHTSA statistics．That record followed a fairly steady downward track for the past six years that experts attributed it primarily to safety features that have been built into cars and trucks．

Safety advances including increased seat-belt use，air bags，anti-lock braking，stability controls and electronic warnings and cameras．

The bad economy and high gas prices also influenced the reduction in deaths．Now，with unemployment and gas prices both low，more people are driving for work and pleasure trips．

“It’s not just that Americans drive more miles when the economy improves ；it’s the kind of miles they drive，”said Adrian Lund，president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety．

1. What’s Hersman’s attitude towards the present situation?

A．It has been getting better．	B．It can hardly be improved．
C．The efforts are far from enough．	D．Much work hart already been done．

2. What do we learn about the number of highway deaths in 2013 in America?

A．It’s lower than that in 2014．	B．It’s lower than that in 2010．
C．It’s the lowest in recent years．	D．It’s the highest in recently years．

3. What will happen with the economic recovery?

A．The gas prices will go up．	B．The gas price will go down．
C．There will be more highway deaths．	D．There will be fewer highway deaths．

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Traffic Deaths Are on the Rise	B．Highway Deaths Will Drop off
C．Measures to Handle Car Crashes	D．Safety Advances in Cars Are Made

While many countries love their tea, UK citizens are particularly proud of being “tea people”. The average UK citizen consumes nearly 2 kilograms of tea each year.

Tea only made its way to England in large quantities in the first years of the 17^th century. Tea from China and a few other Asian countries was being sold more widely in England at that time. Then tea was getting more and more popular among different social classes.

There are many varieties of tea. Black tea mixtures are still the most common type drunk in the UK. Black tea is dark in colour, because the leaves have been allowed to oxidize (氧化) before drying. This is why we usually serve it with milk, although it is not uncommon to drink it black or with lemon. You may still find tea made with loose tea leaves, served up in a pot, and poured into the best china cups with saucers (茶托) for visitors.

Tea is still a large part of daily life in the UK today, but it seems to be on the decrease. The amount of tea sold in the UK fell by more than 10% in the five years leading up to 2002, and has been dropping ever since. Tea sales fell by 6% in 2014 alone, and most restaurants report selling more than twice as many cups of coffee as they do tea. More than ￡1 billion was spent on coffee in high street stores in 2013, more than twice what was spent on tea bags.

Still, what goes around comes around; it’s sure to become fashionable again.

1. Which of the following is true according to the first three paragraphs?

A．Tea made its way to England in the early years of the 16th century.

B．The UK usually serves black tea with lemon.

C．Tea from China was being sold more widely in England now.

D．UK citizens take pride in being “tea people”.

2. What can we infer from the fourth paragraph?

A．Tea sales fell by 6% in 2014 alone.

B．Since 2002, the sales of tea has been on the decrease.

C．In 2013, the money spent on tea was ￡3 billion.

D．Most restaurant like selling tea than coffee.

3. What does the underlined sentence mean in the last paragraph?

A．It can never succeed again	B．The tea can become popular again.
C．Coffee is more popular than tea	D．The tea is becoming less popular.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To introduce tea in the UK.	B．To show the author’s preference for tea.
C．To introduce the functions of tea.	D．To compare tea in China and UK.