Grammar and Vocabulary
Universities Show “ Red Card” to English Majors
An increasing number of Chinese universities are showing English the “red card” and sending it off the academic playing field. Just last month, five more universities announced that they would no longer offer English as a major, 1. CET-4 (大学英语四级考试) will still be required for graduation.
At first sight, it may appear that these universities are downgrading the importance of learning English. In actual fact, they are responding to the economic reality 2.English majors do not have good job prospects after graduation. And the same holds true for graduates in other Arts majors.
According to MyCOS, the Beijing-based education research group, English graduates, along with those in history, literature and law, have 3.(low) starting salaries and lowest employment rate. Engineering, economics and science graduates have better job prospects and make twice as much money, with IT graduates 4. (make) the most.
In 5. 1980s, the Chinese government made the study of English a priority as part of its reform and opening-up policy. English majors were in high demand in business and in government because people with good English-language skills were so rare. Today, about 350 million Chinese have studied, or are studying, English. Ten million of them 6. (consider) functionally bilingual. So, when an employer looks at a graduate’s résumé , it is assumed that he or she has good English skills.
However, for those of you who truly love English, you should not be discouraged. The demand for English teachers is still high at all levels of education, 7.in public schools and in private institutions.
Zhang Lu is probably familiar to most of you as the elegant young woman 8. (see) standing or sitting slightly behind top government officials when they meet leaders from English-speaking countries. Zhang is a translator. In 2015, she made 54 overseas trips accompanying various leaders such as Li Keqiang. Over the years, she has been the official Chinese/English translator 9.major international conferences.
Zhang studied English and law at university. She 10.(plan) to be a teacher, but her skills attracted the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . They offered her a job in the diplomatic service . It is not the career she had planned, but her abilities enabled her to grasp the opportunity.
So, if English is really your passion, let Zhang be your model and just choose a university that has not shown it the “red card.”
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的概要。
Look inside any family home in the evening, and you might see a typical enough scene: Mom and Dad, each on their own laptop or tablet, streaming movies, catching up on work or maybe answering emails on their smartphones. Meanwhile, one child is chatting online with one school friend while texting another. The other is playing a video game with a friend on the other side of the city at the same time. Each member of the family is totally absorbed in his or her own piece of technology.
According to some experts, the effect of technology on human relationships is worrying as technology becomes a substitute for face-to-face human relationships. It appears to be the case that many people would much rather spend time with their electronic gadgets(电子产品) than with one another. Young people say it is difficult to get their parents’ attention and they have to compete with smartphones, tablets and other technology.
However, a report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project offers a more helpful and encouraging view, suggesting that far from replacing human contact, technology can actually better family relationships. Just over half of the 2,253 people surveyed agreed that technology had enabled them to increase their contact with distant family members and 47 percent said it had improved the communication with the people they lived with. Moreover, even the closest members of families need time away from each other at some point to seek their own interests. Family members who might otherwise have sat in separate rooms can now be in the same one while still occupying a different mental space.
Look back at our typical family scene above. Is it any different from four people reading their own books? Or is it driving families apart? Where technology will lead us remains to be seen. Yet there is no need to worry. As a matter of fact how it affects our family relationships depends on our attitude toward technology.
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假定你是李华，你受学生会委托给英国来你校交流的学生Michael写一封邮件，邀请他观看一部英语短片Growing Together，邮件内容包括：
1. 介绍短片内容：学校的发展；
2. 告知放映时间、地点：1月20日晚上6:00、学校大礼堂 (conference hall)；
3. 欢迎对短片提出意见。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Michael,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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 State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, is the second-largest art museum in the world after the Louvre, France, both of which 1. (visit) by millions of people 2. (annual). Hermitage holds not only artistic treasures but also 3. collection of living history as well.
The Hermitage was built as part of the royal Russian family’s Winter Palace. Empress Elizabeth had cats brought in 4. (rid) the several palace buildings of mice. The cats 5. (do) their job well and were given homes in the basements of the buildings and the title of Hermitage cats.
The 74 Hermitage cats live at the museum 6. they now lead an extremely 7. (comfort) life. A press secretary is in charge of the cats, with three full-time caretakers 8. (attend) to their every need. There are even kitchens for preparing meals for the cats 9. every cat has its own preference. This may all seem over the top, but Russian and foreign visitors alike love seeing the Hermitage cats while admiring some of the world’s 10. (great) artistic treasures.
Frey is on her way to the Pottery (陶器) Workshop in Shanghai. She willingly ______ the training courses of the workshop every Tuesday.
After five weeks of ______, she is eager to take home the first bowl she makes with her own hands as a (n) ______ souvenir. She’s enjoyed every minute at the workshop. She feels very comfortable in the workshop, which creates a ______ atmosphere like classroom in which people from different backgrounds gather ______ to create their works. As a foreigner, Frey has adopted pottery making to ______ her own ideas and thoughts. “The whole process of making a pottery piece may look rather ______ to a beginner, but I still keep on,” Frey says.
Sharing the same enthusiasm, Maggie Guo, a former clothes ______ and now a housewife is trying to complete her "pottery dream". “I ______ to study pottery when I applied to university many years ago, but I eventually got engaged in clothes design, which became my ______,” Guo says. Now, after years in that field, she still ______ learning pottery. She attends the workshop to finally realize the ______ she had put on the shelf for so many years. I am always surprised and happy to see the final works of my own, and it ______ me to learn the real meaning of being an artist.”
They both think more people should ______ into the world of pottery making to experience the ______ of creativity with simple materials.
1.A.conducts B.attends C.instructs D.intends
2.A.activities B.skills C.findings D.classes
3.A.special B.traditional C.original D.initial
4.A.familiar B.stable C.pleasant D.dull
5.A.secretly B.regularly C.nervously D.perfectly
6.A.express B.introduce C.advocate D.acquire
7.A.reasonable B.artificial C.typical D.complex
8.A.collector B.performer C.designer D.advertiser
9.A.meant B.predicted C.pretended D.continued
10.A.entertainment B.motivation C.consideration D.career
11.A.ends up with B.looks forward to C.catches up with D.looks up to
12.A.value B.possession C.dream D.victory
13.A.adapts B.allows C.reminds D.expects
14.A.break B.move C.step D.turn
15.A.celebration B.impression C.principle D.magic
One of the great benefits of being able to record sound is to make books available for listening. With the appearance of audio recordings, many people were able to hear literary classics read aloud. Audio books are, of course, books read aloud and recorded to be listened to on some kind of player. As sound technology has changed, audio books have changed, as well. 1. Now, books are also available on audio tape or CD.
Talking books are books created for people who have sight problems. Some of these talking books often need special players to be used. Many visually damaged people are able to receive players for free. 2.
CD technology has caused great changes in the talking book industry, since more data can be written on a single disc. 3. So the visually damaged person has a multi-use machine.
4. Some are even read in the form of a play, in which different actors take the parts of the characters in the book. They may also have sound effects or music to help improve the listening experience.
Some book clubs have started offering audio books as part of their services. Libraries also have audio books available and they may also be purchased online or at any book store. 5. Those who feel they do not have time to enjoy the pleasure of a good book may find audio books to be the next best thing.
A.They are no longer available only on volumes.
B.Many talking book players will also play music CDs.
C.Audio books are popular with travelers and busy individuals.
D.Many audio books also feature famous actors reading the books.
E.People can listen to a personal music player whenever they want.
F.It is an affordable option if you typically listen to more than one book a month.
G.These players enable them to play their talking books independently, without the help of a sighted person.
