Mike Maietta was eating lunch when he got a text message from his mom.
“Notre Dame,” it said. “Big envelope!”
Mike, a senior at a Californian high school, shouted with joy. The big envelope meant that the excellent university in Indiana had offered him a place in its Class of 2013. But the $51,300 annual fee is a big obstacle. So Mike and his parents are considering offers from several other colleges and are calculating the costs of tuition, housing and holiday trips home.
This year, money is the driving factor for a growing number of high school seniors, who have to decide what colleges to attend this fall. Less jobs and plunging house prices have changed family spending.
“We’re excited that Mike got into eight great schools,” said Mike’s father, an engineer at Microsoft. “But if you consider going to school out of state, you’ve got to think about all of the other costs: moving, flying back and forth for the holidays. You’re looking at about $3,000 a year, just for travel.”
As families weigh their choices, some are going back to financial aid offices hoping help packages can be increased.
Rachel Brown was happy to get a thick envelope from New York University (NYU). Although she has always wanted to live in Manhattan, she is seriously considering the University of California San Diego (UCSD), because of the high cost in New York.
“The tuition for NYU is twice as much as UCSD,” said Rachel, 17. “My mom doesn’t want me to have a big debt when I graduate, and I don’t want that either. I’d have to take out a loan of $15,000. I’ll check and see if there’s any way that NYU can offer me any financial aid.”
More than 7.6 million American students have filled out the Free Application for Students Aid, a 19.9 percent increase over last year.
This month the Federal Department of Education urged college financial aid officers to give more help to certain families. A record 30,428 students applied for 2,300 places at Stanford, partly because the university increased financial aid for families earning below $10,000.
1.Mike may give up Notre Dame because of ______.
A.travel fees B.financial concerns
C.poor exam results D.worries about living far away from home
2.The phrase “Big envelope” in paragraph 2 probably refers to “______”.
A.A text message B.A large gift package
C.An admission letter D.A scholarship letter
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A.The number of American senior students applying for financial aid is increasing.
B.Rachel Brown has given up NYU because of its high tuition and big debts.
C.It is inevitably hard for college students to borrow money to cover costs.
D.An interest-free loan for students helps more students apply for Stanford.
4.The passage mainly focuses on ______.
A.the calculation of different costs including tuition
B.the extremely hard financial situation in America
C.the excitement of students’ being able to enter ideal colleges
D.the financial crisis of families over college entrance
You know the feeling — you have left your phone at home and feel anxious, as if you have lost your connection to the world. “Nomophobia” (无手机恐惧症) affects teenagers and adults alike. You can even do an online test to see if you have it. Last week, researchers from Hong Kong warned that nomophobia is infecting everyone. Their study found that people who use their phones to store, share and access personal memories suffer most. When users were asked to describe how they felt about their phones, words such as “hurt” (neck pain was often reported) and “alone” predicted higher levels of nomophobia.
“The findings of our study suggest that users regard smartphones as their extended selves and get attached to the devices,” said Dr. Kim Ki Joon. “People experience feelings of anxiety and unpleasantness when separated from their phones.” Meanwhile, an American study shows that smartphone separation can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
So can being without your phone really give you separation anxiety? Professor Mark Griffiths, psychologist and director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, says it is what is on the phone that counts — the social networking that creates Fomo (fear of missing out)．
“We are talking about an Internetconnected device that allows people to deal with lots of aspects of their lives, ” says Griffiths. “You would have to surgically remove a phone from a teenager because their whole life is ingrained in this device.”
Griffiths thinks attachment theory, where we develop emotional dependency on the phone because it holds details of our lives, is a small part of nomophobia. For “screenagers”, it is Fomo that creates the most separation anxiety. If they can’t see what’s happening on Snapchat or Instagram, they become panicstricken about not knowing what’s going on socially. “But they adapt very quickly if you take them on holiday and there’s no Internet,” says Griffiths.
1.Which of the following may Dr. Kim Ki Joon agree with?
A.Phones have become part of some users.
B.We waste too much time on phones.
C.Addiction to phones makes memories suffer.
D.Phones and blood pressure are closely linked.
2.According to Griffiths, we get nomophobia because ________.
A.we are accustomed to having a phone on us
B.we worry we may miss out what our friends are doing
C.we need our phones to help us store information
D.we fear without phones we will run into a lot of trouble
3.Which of the following phrases has the closest meaning to the underlined phrase “ingrained in” in Para4?
A.approved of. B.opposed to.
C.relied on. D.determined by.
4.Where can you probably find the above passage?
A.In a research report. B.In a popular science magazine.
C.In a science textbook. D.In a fashion brochure.
Considering that Sundarbans National Park is situated in the tropics，September to March is the ideal time to come here．April，May and June are too hot while July and August often bring heavy season winds that limit travel and don’t make for a very pleasant sightseeing experience．You can really enjoy doing lots of charming things in the Sundarbans during September to March．
Take a river tour
Most tourists who explore the Sundarbans arrive in Khulna City first．From there，you can join a boat tour that travels south along the Ganges River through miles of preserved forest all the way to Kotka，where there is a beautiful beach along the Bay of Bengal．
Visit a bird habitat
This bird habitat is a nesting place for dozens of tropical birds found in the Sundarbans．The best way to observe these birds is climbing up the Sajnekhali Watchtower．If you’re lucky，you’11 also catch the famed Bengal Tiger making its rounds through the swampy jungle．
Visit the Mangrove(红树林)Interpretation Centre
If you wish to spend some time indoors out of the sweaty heat，go to the Mangrove Interpretation Centre．This place is very educational with many posters，maps and exhibits showing the wildlife and varieties of mangrove plants found within the park．You’ll also get to see crocodiles in a small pool．
Take a tour of local villages
Experience village life that has largely remained unchanged for centuries．In this vast tropical region，there are villages made up of various ethnic groups who rely on fishing，farming and working in the local through growing tourist industry for their livelihoods．The Sundarbans is a UNESCO world heritage site where you can visit villages and talk to locals，who will gladly share their culture with you．
1.Which month is suitable for a visit to Sundarbans National Park?
A.December． B.August．
C.June． D.May．
2.What can visitors do in the Mangrove Interpretation Centre?
A.See some plants and animals．
B.Put up posters about wildlife．
C.Feed crocodiles in a small river．
D.Observe birds by climbing up the trees．
3.What is the author’s main purpose in writing the text?
A.To advertise some natural animal habitats．
B.To advocate the protection of forests in Khulna City．
C.To introduce several charming villages in the vast tropical region．
D.To show visitors something attractive to do in the Sundarbans．
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。
Located halfway up the Italy’s Apennine Mountain，about 1 00 miles northeast of Rome，the Hotel Rigopiano has never been easy to reach. But its isolation(隔绝)only adds to its appeal，attracting a great number of tourists.
Snow began to fall across the Apennines in January and lasted for days. From his home in the Rome suburbs，Matrone watched the weather with concern. He and his wife，Cicioni，had planned an overnight getaway to the hotel. But now he wondered whether they should go. After phoning the hotel，they decided to make the trip. By the time they neared the hotel six hours later，they were battling a snowstorm. When they finally arrived，they were both cold and exhausted. They checked into their room and went to bed early.
As they awoke the next day，they discovered that their difficulty had worsened overnight. The cars in the parking lot were invisible. The phone and power lines were down. They were having breakfast when the hotel began to shake. An earthquake with a magnitude(震级)of 5. 7 had struck the mountain. “Get out of here!”Matrone shouted to his wife. They headed quickly to the parking lot，where others were digging their cars. Fifteen minutes after the first earthquake，another quake hit，this one measuring 5. 6.
With a dozen vehicles freed by noon，the guests set off down the driveway. But when they reached the main road，the path was blocked by a six-foot-high wall of snow. Matrone climbed out of his car and investigated it. There was no road in sight，“We’re trapped!”he told his wife. So they had no choice but to make their way back to the hotel.
As it was getting dark，they managed to be back. That was when the snow on the mountain began to slide. They heard the avalanche(雪崩)before they saw it. The avalanche gathered speed and size，grabbing rocks and trees and anything else in its way down the mountain，tearing the hotel from its foundation. When the avalanche came to a stop，those caught inside the hotel were left buried in the icy rocks and ruins.
Para1， When Matrone came to himself，he was stuck in the darkness.
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Para 2 It was not until the next morning that the rescuers finally arrived.
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假定你是李华，你的英国笔友David来邮件想了解你们学校近期举行万米接力赛的情况。请给他回复邮件，内容包括：
1. 比赛目的；
2. 时间和地点；
3. 过程及意义。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结束语己为你写好。
Dear David，
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes!
Yours，
Li Hua
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
The giant panda，also 1. (know)as panda bear or simply panda，is a bear native 2.south central China. In the past many years，the giant panda 3. (drive)out of the lowland areas where it once lived as a result of farming，deforestation and other 4. (develop). Wild population estimates vary：one estimate shows that there are about 1，590 individuals 5.(1ive)in the wild，while a 2006 study estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that 6. number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise.
The West first learned of the giant panda on March 11，1869，7. the French missionary(传教士)Armand David received a panda skin from a hunter. In 1936，Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner 8. (bring)a live giant panda named Su Lin to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. To protect the pandas，in 2012，Earthwatch Institute，a global nonprofit that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important 9. (science)research，launched a program called“On the Trail of Giant Panda”. This program，based in the Wolong National Nature Reserve，allows volunteers to work up close with pandas cared for in captivity (圈养)，and help them 10. (gradual)adapt to life in the wild.
