When times get tough, we all look for ways to cut back. When we’re hungry, we eat at home instead of going out. We take buses instead of taxis. And we wear our old designer jeans just a few months longer. With college expenses at all-time highs, high school students are eager to do anything to cut the cost of a university education.
One cost-cutting proposal is to allow college students to get a bachelor’s degree in three years instead of four. Educational institutions have been actively exploring ways to make the learning process more efficient. But there’s a question: Would the quality of undergraduate(本科生)education suffer? Few US universities have formally approved a “three-year degree” model.
I doubt that mainstream North American colleges will carry out a three-year curriculum(课程) any time soon. For one thing, most universities already allow highly qualified students to graduate early by testing out of certain classes and obtaining a number of college credits(学分). In addition, at famous universities, the committee who determine which courses are required and which courses are electives are unlikely to suddenly “throw out” one quarter of the required credits. Professors will resist “diluting(稀释)” the quality of the education they offer.
In my opinion, a quality four-year education is always superior to a quality three-year education. A college education requires sufficient time for a student to become skilled in their major and do coursework in fields outside their major. It is not a good idea to water down education, any more than it’s not a good idea to water down medicine. If we want to help students find their way through university, we should help them understand early on what knowledge and skills they need to have upon graduation. We should allow students to test out of as many courses as possible. We should give them a chance to earn money as interns(实习生)in meaningful part-time jobs that relate to their university studies, such as the five-year co-op program at Northeastern University.
小题1:The first paragraph serves as a(n)________．| A．explanation | B．definition | C．introduction | D．comment |
小题2:We can learn from the passage that ________.| A．most American universities are against the “three-year degree” model | | B．many famous US universities are considering adopting the “three-year degree” model | | C．professors are willing to accept the “three-year degree” model | | D．the “three-year degree” model can make college learning more efficient |
小题3:In most US universities，________.| A．college students are offered the co-op program | | B．electives’ credits make up one quarter of the required credits | | C．all students are required to finish four-year education before graduation | | D．some excellent students can graduate ahead of time |
小题4:We can infer that________.| A．the author is a college professor | | B．the author thinks the cost of a university education is too high for people to afford | | C．the author considers the university education quality very important | | D．the author pays special attention to the all-round development of college students |
小题5:Which of the following can be the best title?| A．It’s time to shorten the learning process | | B．Best learning takes place over time | | C．University education should be watered down | | D．College education calls for reform |
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小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:C
小题5:B |
试题分析：文章大意：作者认为把大学四年的学制缩短为三年不是一个好主意，保证足够的时间才能保证大学教育的质量。
小题1:C篇章结构题。本题要求学生推断文章的结构。根据第一段的内容可知第一段是用来引入话题的，故C项最佳。
小题2:A细节理解题。根据第二段中的Few US universities have formally approved a “three-year degree” model可知几乎没有几所美国大学认可“三年本科学位”模式。
小题3:D细节理解题。根据第三段中的most universities already allow highly qualified students to graduate early可知特别优秀的大学生可以提前毕业。
小题4:C推理判断题。在第四段作者给出了自己的观点，从“A college education requires sufficient time for a student to become skilled in their major...”“It is not a good idea to water down education”等处可以看出作者非常看重大学教育质量。
小题5:B主旨大意题。作者认为把大学四年的学制缩短为三年不是一个好主意，学好大学功课是需要付出时间的，故B项最佳。 |
核心考点
试题【When times get tough, we all look for ways to cut back. When we’re hungry, we ea】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
We all need a healthy environment. ____, we produce waste every day and it ____ harm to our environment. Though we are young, we can still do ____ to help. In fact, even the simplest everyday activities can make a real ____ to the environment. Here are some ideas for you to live a ____ life.
Remember these three _____: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Reduce means “use less”. Don"t ____ things. This saves money and reduces pollution and waste going into the environment. Before we buy something new, think if it is really ____ or maybe the ____ one will be just as good! When we do buy things, choose local products if possible, and try not to buy too many things from a ____ country.
Reuse means “use again”. Use things for ____ possible. When we buy things, make sure that they ____ a long time. We should take care of them ____ they will last, and we should ____ them if we can instead of throwing them away and buying new ones. Don"t use a paper cup or a paper bag. It’s better to use a china cup and a lunch box because you can use them ____.
Recycle means “change things into something else”. Although it ____ energy to change something into something else, it’s better than ____ things or burning them. Find out ____ can be recycled in your neighbourhood and take part in recycling programmes. We should also buy ____ made from recycled materials, such as recycled paper, to help save ____.
| 小题1: | | A．Therefore | B．However | C．Otherwise | D．Besides |
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| 小题2: | | A．gives | B．takes | C．causes | D．does |
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| 小题3: | | A．something | B．everything | C．nothing | D．everything |
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| 小题4: | | A．difference | B．mistake | C．effect | D．help |
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| 小题5: | | A．busy | B．hard | C．green | D．happy |
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| 小题6: | | A．letters | B．words | C．sentences | D．lessons |
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| 小题7: | | A．buy | B．produce | C．save | D．waste |
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| 小题8: | | A．necessary | B．important | C．helpful | D．useful |
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| 小题9: | | A．cheap | B．expensive | C．new | D．old |
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| 小题10: | | A．rich | B．developed | C．foreign | D．poor |
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| 小题11: | | A．as soon as | B．as long as | C．as much as | D．as well as |
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| 小题13: | | A．so that | B．if | C．because | D．though |
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| 小题14: | | A．sell | B．lend | C．throw | D．repair |
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| 小题15: | | A．less | B．more | C．again | D．better |
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| 小题16: | | A．costs | B．spends | C．takes | D．pays |
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| 小题17: | | A．throwing away | B．putting away | C．taking away | D．giving away |
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| 小题19: | | A．cups | B．bags | C．boxes | D．products |
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| 小题20: | | A．money | B．trees | C．paper | D．time |
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There are various aspects that go into making a successful school, and success can be measured in various ways. Often, the teachers are praised for a school’s success and blamed for its failure. Yet, in order for a school to be effective, it must be a place where teaching and learning can easily take place, and that requires the hard work of more than just educators. Students must take learning into their own hands and feel as if what they are doing is as important as it actually is. This can only be done with the cooperation of every adult that is involved in the students’ life. Some of these individuals often go unnoticed, yet the role they play in the students’ lives is immeasurable.
In the school, administrative assistants greet students at the start of the day and answer a large quantity of questions. When an assistant remembers a student’s name or even something special about that student, it communicates to him that he is cared for. The assistant can also give that extra encouragement for a student to make better choices, especially when they are visiting the principal’s office.
Meanwhile, though cafeteria workers have a short space of time to interact with students, they can make a big difference as well. Beyond meeting nutritional needs, cafeteria workers may also on occasion meet the emotional needs of the students they serve. Students benefit from positive interaction with adults, and cafeteria workers may give that extra bit of encouragement that a child needs.
Custodians (管理员) are usually underappreciated for what they offer to schools. They have to be knowledgeable about everything from cleaning to fixing the most intricate (复杂的) tools. They get to school early in the morning before teachers arrive and lock up late at night after the last student has left from the after-school event. They also make sure teachers are equipped with the necessary items and prepare the rooms so that they are ready for learning. A great custodian also gives that kind word or extra smile to that student who needs it most.
小题1:The purpose of the passage is to _______.| A．emphasize the role teachers play in a school | | B．highlight the contributions of other staff at school besides teachers. | | C．tell us who make the greatest contributions to a school | | D．explain what contributes to the success of a student |
小题2:If an assistant remembers a student’s name, the student will feel that _________. | A．he is paid particular attention to | B．he is special | | C．he has done something wrong | D．he has made progress in study |
小题3:Which of the following is TRUE about cafeteria workers? | A．It’s enough for them to cook for the students. | | B．It’s hard for them to interact with the students. | | C．They have the most interaction with students at school. | | D．They can also meet the emotional needs of the students. |
小题4:How does the author feel about the staff mentioned in the text? | A．Disappointed. | B．Dissatisfied. | C．Appreciative. | D．Doubtful. |
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Do people ever consider the possibility that, if they’re exposed to increased reports about a social problem, it’s the reporting that has increased rather than the problem? It’s increasingly clear that this is the case with school bullying（欺凌）：Only news reports about it have increased, not the behavior itself. In fact, both bullying and fear of it are down among US middle school students
The rate of students who reported fearing an attack or harm at school at all has dropped dramatically, from nearly 12% in 1995 to less than 4% in 2011. For black and Hispanic students, it’s an even more encouraging shift—from more than 20% of both groups of students worried about being attacked at school to less than 5% in 2011.
The decline in actual physical violence in schools is even more dramatic: It was down 74% between 1992 and 2010, according to the latest US Department of Justice data.
What about cyberbullying? Online harassment increased from 6% in 2000 to 9% in 2005 to 11% in 2010 between, and it’s interesting to note that it increased less between 2005 and ’10 than in the first 5 years tracked. Because social media is very much a reflection of school social life for young people, the peer aggression seen in social media is a lot like the peer aggression seen on school bathroom walls. So once it finds its “dead level,” it will probably decline in the same way verbal and written aggression have.
Besides education and crime prevention at the social level, medicine treatment and better access to mental healthcare also contribute to this downward trend in victimization of self and others.
The rise of social media is what people don’t typically think of as a positive force in society. But Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire says, “These technologies might have prevented crime and bullying by providing more ways of help, more forms of social supervision, and interesting activities that destroy forms of alienation(异化) that lead to crime”.
小题1:From the first paragraph we learn that __________.| A．school bullying has increased because of increased reports | | B．school bullying has decreased because of increased reports | | C．the number of reports on school bullying has increased | | D．the number of reports on school bullying has decreased |
小题2:The underlined word is closest in meaning to "_________".| A．crime | B．aggression | C．surfing | D．communication |
小题3:The cyberbullying is still increasing probably because ________.| A．it isn"t as easy to control as the other school bullying | | B．it hasn"t been concerned by the governments | | C．it isn"t part of school social life | | D．it hasn"t come to its top level |
小题4:Finkelhor believes that social media have a ________ influence on the falling trend of school bullying.| A．positive | B．negative | C．major | D．slight |
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Global warming is causing more than 300,000 deaths and about $125 billion in economic losses each year, according to a report by the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization led by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.
The report, to be released Friday, analyzed data and existing studies of health, disaster, population and economic trends. It found that human-influenced climate change was raising the global death rates from illnesses including malnutrition and heat-related health problems.
But even before its release, the report drew criticism from some experts on climate and risk, who questioned its methods and conclusions. Along with the deaths, the report said that the lives of 325 million people, primarily in poor countries,were being seriously affected by climate change. It projected that the number would double by 2030.
Roger Pielke Jr., a politicalscientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies disaster trends, said the Forum’s report was “a methodological embarrassment” because there was no way to distinguish deaths or economic losses related to human-driven global warming amid（在...中间） the much larger losses resulting from the growth in populations and economic development in vulnerable(易受伤害的) regions. Dr. Pielke said that “climate change is an important problem requiring our utmost attention.” But the report, he said, “will harm the cause for action on both climate change and disasters because it is so deeply flawed(有瑕疵的).”
However, Soren Andreasen, a social scientist at Dalberg Global Development Partners who supervised the writing of the report, defended it, saying that it was clear that the numbers were rough estimates. He said the report was aimed at world leaders, who will meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a new international climate treaty.
In a press release describing the report, Mr. Annan stressed the need for the negotiations to focus on increasing the flow of money from rich to poor regions to help reduce their vulnerability to climate hazards while still controling the emissions of the heat-trapping gases. More than 90% of the human and economic losses from climate change are occurring in poor countries, according to the report.
小题1: What is the finding of the Global Humanitarian Forum? | A．Rates of death from illnesses have risen due to global warming. | | B．Global temperatures affect the rate of economic development. | | C．Malnutrition has caused serious health problems in poor countries. | | D．Economic trends have to do withpopulation and natural disasters. |
小题2: What do we learn about the Forum’s report from the passage? | A．It caused a big stir in developing countries. | | B．It was warmly received by environmentalists. | | C．It caused a lot of interest in the scientific circles. | | D．It was challenged by some climate and risk experts. |
小题3: What is Soren Andreasen’s view of the report? | A．Its conclusions are based on carefully collected data. | | B．It is vulnerable to criticism if the statistics are closely examined. | | C．It will give rise to heated discussions at the Copenhagen conference. | | D．Its rough estimates are meant to draw the attention of world leaders. |
小题4:What does Kofi Annan say should be the focus of the Copenhagen conference? | A．How human and economic losses from climate change can be reduced. | | B．How rich countries can better help poor regions reduce climate hazards. | | C．How emissions of heat-trapping gases can be reduced on a global scale. | | D．How rich and poor regionscan share responsibility in curbing global warming. |
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Online Communication
In an age when technology moves faster than most can keep up with, a small group of people still remain in the time of old-fashioned letter. Frankly speaking, I was once certain that traditional letters could never be replaced by other means of communication.
But a story about online communication changed my mind.
An old man, who suffered a lot from Parkinson’s disease, was not able to talk clearly and could hardly write his name. Living totally alone, he managed to keep in touch with nearly all the members of his family. How did he achieve this? He clicked out words on his computer keyboard.
I, therefore, managed to get an E-mail box as soon as the opportunity came. My life changed. E-mail, and all online communication, is something truly different. It has capabilities（能力） that few other products can match.
E-mail is convenient. It takes less time with its fast speed and 24-hour connection. The slow postal service is no match. If you wouldn’t want to have a face-to-face talk with your manager, you might talk with him through E-mail even if you are in the same office.
Naming all the good things about online communication is not easy. But wait. E-mail can be inconvenient. It can waste time and energy. Just think what may happen when you take a short vacation and return to find your e-mail box filled with 200 unread messages. You could easily spend half a day clearing junk ads.
Then, online communication will keep us staying at our computer while it connects us to distant strangers. Once we throw ourselves into the machine, we may forget the human touches we once held so dear. I’m sure there is and always will be a place for the old-fashioned letter, phone call, and face-to-face meeting… even in the world of modern communication.
As I listen to the sound of the modem(调制解调器), I was excited at stepping out to the outside world but, at the same time, I sensed a loss of control over something valuable in my personal life.
小题1:What is the most probable meaning of the underlined word “junk” in paragraph6?| A．old and useless | B．New and useful | C．Short but valuable | D．Long but clear |
小题2:What does the writer think of online communication?| A．It should replace old-fashioned letters completely. | | B．It is perfect and always does good to you. | | C．It is extremely useful and convenient, but it may be inconvenient or even harmful. | | D．It does more harm than good. |
小题3:What caused the writer to become interested in E-mail and online communication?| A．The sound of the modem. | B．His own illness. | | C．The changing of his life. | D．A sick old man’s experience. |
小题4:According to the writer, traditional means of communication will never disappear because ________.| A．they are convenient and popular though they are slow | | B．they help to keep the friendly relationship between people | | C．most people cannot keep up with the development of technology | | D．modern means of communication does too much harm |
小题5:How did the sick old man keep in touch with his family members?| A．With the help of his computer. | B．By writing letters with his pen. | | C．By making telephone calls. | D．By visiting them regularly. |
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