There is no denying that over the years college education has been accepted without the slightest doubt. All high school graduates should go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn more, become “better” citizens and be more responsible than those who don’t go.
But college can never work its magic for everyone. Now with half our high school graduates attending college, those unfit for the pattern are getting more. College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the fierce competition for admission into graduate schools. Others find no stimulation (激励) in their studies, and consequently have to drop out, which is often encouraged by college administrators.
Some observers say the fault lies with young people themselves --- they are spoiled and expecting too much. But that’s a condemnation (谴责）of the students as a whole, and doesn’t explain all campus unhappiness. Others blame our society. Both are partly right. We have been told that young people have to go to college because our economy can’t absorb an army of untrained eighteen-year-olds. But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained twenty-two-year-olds, either.
Some campus watchers suggest that college may not be the best, the proper or the only place for every young person after finishing high school. It seems that through the rosy (玫瑰的) glow of our own college experiences, we may have been looking at those surveys and statistics upside down. Perhaps college does not make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, or quick to learn things—maybe it is just the other way around. Intelligent, ambitious, happy, quick-learning people are merely those who are attracted to college in the first place. And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful even without college education. This is heresy (异端邪说) to those who have been brought up to believe that if a little schooling is good, more has to be much better. But contrary evidence is beginning to pile up.
1.According to the first paragraph, ______.
A. people now no longer challenge college education
B. people have great expectations for college education
C. the author thinks youngsters should all go to college
D. people still have a low opinion of college education
2.More young people drop out of college because ______.
A. they are no longer motivated in their studies
B. they can start selling shoes and driving taxis
C. they compete for admission to graduate schools
D. college administrators encourage them to do so
3.Who does the author think is responsible for campus unhappiness?
A. young students who are all spoiled and expecting too much.
B. our society that can’t offer enough jobs to college graduates.
C. our society that has not enough jobs for high school graduates.
D. young people as well as our society are to blame for all this.
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE about those surveys and statistics?
A. They prove high school graduates are smarter than college graduates.
B. They are so convincing that we think of our rosy college experiences.
C. They may have been misread because of our rosy college experiences.
D. They prove wrong because they contradict our rosy college experiences.
5.What is the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?
A. It is just the opposite B. There is no right way
C. It is the wrong way D. There’s no other way
6.What is the main purpose of this passage?
A. To inform young people college education is no longer important now.
B. To prove college education doesn’t make young people more intelligent.
C. To argue against the idea that college is the first choice for all youngsters.
D. To tell young people that there’s something wrong with college education.
Back in the early 1900s, American physician Byron Robinson wrote a book proposing an interesting theory: humans actually have two brains --- one in our heads and the other in our stomachs, and the two “communicate” all the time. Interestingly, in Chinese culture, thoughts are also related to the belly in phrases and idioms like fugao (腹稿, a draft), manfu jinglun (满腹经纶, a bellyful of ideas), and yiduzi weiqu (一肚子委屈, a bellyful of complaints).
This may sound a little ridiculous at first. But try to think of a time when you were extremely nervous. Chances are that you also felt uncomfortable in your stomach, didn’t you? This is probably why people use the idiom “butterflies in one’s stomach” to refer to being nervous.
Now scientists from Canada and the US have found that our guts (肠道), if not as bright as our actual brains, are much more than just where we digest the food we eat. They also affect our emotions and even behavior, all thanks to the bacteria in them, reported Scientific American.
In the study, scientists fed timid mice stomach bacteria from mice that were more active and daring. After eating the bacteria, the timid mice grew more energetic and fearless. Sure enough, when bold mice got the bacteria from timid ones, they became more anxious. The mice’s behavior also changed when scientists disturbed the bacteria in their guts by changing their diets and feeding them antibiotics (抗生素).
“If something goes wrong in the gut, that change is reflected in the brain,” Emeran Mayer, a professor at University of California, Los Angeles, told The Huffington Post.
The brain-and-gut connection also works in the opposite way. Scientists studied children with autism (自闭症) --- a mental illness that makes people unable to socialize with others --- and found that they also have a lot of stomach problems. They have fewer types of stomach bacteria and lower totals of a few key bacteria than healthy children.
This research raises the possibility that scientists could treat patients with brain problems simply by feeding them the right food, which would be much more efficient than providing psychological therapy (疗法).
According to CBC News, you can get “good” bacteria that lift your spirits from food like yogurt while “bad” bacteria are usually in high fat and high sugar foods.
1.What is the author’s attitude toward Byron Robinson’s theory of two human brains?
A. Unsatisfied. B. Doubtful. C. Positive. D. Negative.
2.The author mentioned the idiom “butterflies in one’s stomach” in the second paragraph to _____.
A. describe the symptoms of nervousness
B. suggest a connection between our stomach and our emotions
C. hint at the danger of nervous feelings
D. encourage people to calm down and relax
3.What’s the closest meaning of the underlined word “bold” in Paragraph 4?
A. anxious B. fearless C. energetic D. sharp
4.According to the article, ______.
A. people with mental illnesses are more likely to have stomach problems
B. the use of antibiotics can turn timid mice into daring ones
C. timid mice have fewer types of stomach bacteria than daring mice
D. people must consider changing their diets when they feel anxious
5.We can infer from the article that______.
A. psychological therapy has never worked before for autistic children
B. yogurt is the best solution for anxiety problems
C. high fat and high sugar foods are responsible for many mental diseases
D. diet changes can lead to mood changes
“You are going abroad and will live there? Oh, wonderful! You are so lucky.”
Perhaps your family and friends said similar things to you when you left home. But is it true all the time? Is your life in the new country always wonderful and exciting?
Specialists say that it isn’t that easy to get used to life in a new culture. “Culture shock” (冲击) is the term specialists use when talking about the feelings that people have in a new environment. “There are three stages of culture shock,” say the specialists. In the first stage, the newcomers like their new environment. Then, when the fresh experience dies, they begin to hate the city, the country, the people, and everything else. In the last stage, the newcomers adapt to their surroundings and finally enjoy their life there.
Culture shock arises from many obvious factors. The weather may be unpleasant. The customs may be different. The public service systems such as the telephone, post office, or transportation may be difficult to work out. Even the simplest things become headaches. Still worse, the language may be difficult.
Who feels culture shock? Everyone does in this way or that. But culture shock surprises most people. Very often the people having the worst culture shock are those who never had any difficulties in their home countries and were successful in their community. Coming to a new country, these people find they do not have the same established positions. They find themselves without a role, almost without an identity. They have to build a new selfimage.
Culture shock leads to a feeling of disorientation (迷惘). This feeling may be homesickness. When homesick, people feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the strange environment, and create and escape inside their room for a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to make the person familiar with the culture. Getting to know the new environment and gaining experience are the long term solutions to the problem of culture shock.
1.When people move to a new country, they ________.
A. find their new life always wonderful and exciting.
B. dislike the new surroundings from the beginning.
C. quickly get accustomed to the new culture there.
D. will get used to the new life with certain difficulty.
2.Based on the passage, which of the following results from culture shock?
A. weather conditions and customs
B. public service and transportation
C. feeling homesick and disoriented
D. language communication issues
3.According to the passage, the more successful you are at home, ________.
A. the fewer difficulties you will meet with abroad
B. the more problems you may have to face abroad
C. the greater success you are likely to make abroad
D. the less homesick you will eventually feel abroad
4.Which of the following statements is correct according to the passage?
A. Cultural shock affects and surprises those who live in a new culture.
B. A new culture makes everything difficult except the simplest things.
C. Since culture shock is painful, we can never get over it completely.
D. Escaping by staying inside does solve the problem of culture shock.
Once, there was a woman who had so many problems, so many worries, so many troubles… that at times she felt she had more troubles than anyone else in the world!
She was depressed. She thought she could never overcome her troubles, so she decided to end her life. That night she went to sleep early and she planned to commit suicide the next morning. But that night she had a dream…
She found herself in a large cave, surrounded by gray bundles (包袱) of all shapes and sizes. Walking toward her was a woman with flowing long white hair.
“Who are you?” asked the dreamer, “and what is this place?”
“This is the cave of bundles of troubles and I am the keeper of the cave.”
“Bundles of troubles?”
“Yes,” the keeper explained, “each person who walks on the earth carries a bundle of troubles on their left shoulder.” The dreamer turned to look and there was a gray bundle on her left shoulder—it had been there all the time and she never noticed!
“If you wish,” the keeper continued,” you can take your bundle down and exchange it for another.”
“Really?” The woman lowered the bundle from her left shoulder. Oh, it felt so good to put it down. Then she picked up a beautiful bundle.
The keeper said, “Why don’t you open it and look inside?”
So the woman opened it and looked inside. “But these are the same troubles I brought here!”
The keeper of the cave smiled softly and nodded. “That’s usually what happens, but do not despair, for there is another bundle on your right shoulder that should help lighten your load.”
The woman turned and saw another bundle on her right shoulder. It had been there all the time and she never noticed! The woman took it down and opened it. Inside were her talents, her gifts, her hopes and opportunities. The woman felt her heart filled with joy and she looked up to thank the keeper of the cave, but she was gone; all were gone. And she found herself sitting up in her own bed with the morning sun streaming through the window, shining on her face.
1.Why did the woman decide to end her life?
A. Because there were two gray bundles on her shoulders.
B. Because she always had bad dreams at night.
C. Because the keeper of the cave told her to do so.
D. Because she felt she had too many troubles to overcome.
2.According to the keeper of the cave, _____ .
A. there were good things such as talents in beautiful bundles
B. each person carries a bundle on each shoulder
C. different bundles contain different troubles
D. it is impossible for people to take their bundles down from their shoulders
3.What did the woman feel when she opened the bundle on her right shoulder?
A. Delighted. B. Moved. C. Depressed. D. Confused.
4.The story of the woman is to show that _____ .
A. dreaming a dream can save people’s life
B. the bundles on our shoulders can make us happy
C. attitude towards life plays an important role in people’s life
D. we must ignore the troubles in life
5.What do you think happened to the woman when she woke up?
A. She still felt depressed.
B. She committed suicide.
C. She looked for the keeper of the cave.
D. She didn’t want to end her life any more.
I was walking down a dimly (昏暗) lit street late one evening when I heard coming from behind bushes. , I slowed down to listen and panicked when I realized that what I was hearing were the sounds of a struggle. Only yards from where I stood, a woman was being attacked.
Should I get ?
I was frightened for my own safety, and I hated for having suddenly decided to take a(n) route home that night. “What if I’m hurt too? Shouldn't I just run to the nearest phone and call the police? Although it felt like a century, my thought process had only seconds. But already the cries were growing .
I knew I had to act fast. “How could I walk away from this?” I asked myself.
“No”, I finally resolved (决心), I could not turn my on the fate of this unknown woman, it means my own life.
I am not a brave man, nor am I . I don't know where I found the moral (道德) courage and physical strength, but I had finally decided to help the girl, I became suddenly changed.
I ran behind the bushes and the attacker off the woman. Struggling, we fell to the ground, we fought for a few minutes until the man jumped up and escaped.
heavily, I got to my feet and the girl, who was sobbing behind a tree. In the darkness, I could certainly her trembling shock. Not wanting to frighten her any further, I at first spoke to her from a .
“It’s OK,” I said soothingly. “The man ran away. You’re safe now.”
There was a long pause and then I heard the words, uttered (说) in .
“Dad, is that you?”
And then, from behind the tree, my youngest daughter, Katherine.
God has a way of allowing us to be in the right place at the right time.
1.A. laughterB. whispersC. whistlesD. screams
2.A. AlarmedB. ShockedC. SurprisedD. Impressed
3.A. helpedB. involvedC. attackedD. attached
4.A. itB. myselfC. thisD. that
5.A. ordinaryB. normalC. newD. old
6.A. takenB. usedC. spentD. paid
7.A. softerB. strongerC. weakerD. louder
8.A. bodyB. backC. faceD. shoulder
9.A. as ifB. in caseC. even ifD. if only
10.A. riskingB. ruiningC. damagingD. hurting
11.A. energeticB. athleticC. intelligentD. accessible
12.A. whileB. untilC. onceD. since
13.A. pulledB. pushedC. placedD. put
14.A. thereB. thenC. laterD. where
15.A. WalkingB. SighingC. SobbingD. Breathing
16.A. foundB. huggedC. approachedD. searched
17.A. tellB. considerC. observeD. sense
18.A. treeB. placeC. distanceD. bush
19.A. shockB. amazementC. doubtD. disappointment
20.A. steppedB. pacedC. struggledD. hid
The climbers succeeded in climbing to the top of the mountains, and they owed their success to the preparations they ______.
A. make B. had made C. made D. have made
