More students than ever before are taking a gap year(间隔年) before going to university. It used to be the “year off” between school and university. The gap-year phenomenon originated(起源) with the months left over to Oxbridge applicants between entrance exams in November and the start of the next academic year.

This year, 25,310 students who have accepted places in higher education institutions have put off their entry until next year, according to statistics on university entrance provided by the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS).

That is a record 14.7% increase in the number of students taking a gap year. Tony Higgins from UCAS said that the statistics are good news for everyone in higher education. “Students who take a well-planned year out are more likely to be satisfied with, and complete, their chosen course. Students who take a gap year are often more mature and responsible,” he said.

But not everyone is happy. Owain James, the president of the National Union of Students (NUS), argued that the increase is evidence of student hardship – young people are being forced into earning money before finishing their education. “New students are now aware that they are likely to leave university up to￡15,000 in debt. It is not surprising that more and more students are taking a gap year to earn money to support their study for the degree. NUS statistics show that over 40% of students are forced to work during term time and the figure increases to 90% during vacating periods,” he said.

1.What do we learn about the gap year from the text?

A. It is flexible in length.

B. It is a time for relaxation

C. It is increasingly popular

D. It is required by universities

2.According to Tony Higgins, students taking a gap year ____.

A. are better prepared for college studies

B. know a lot more about their future job

C. are more likely to leave university in debt

D. have a better chance to enter top universities

3.How does Owain James feel about the gap-year phenomenon?

A. He’s puzzled B. He’s worried

C. He’s surprised D. He’s annoyed

4.What would most students do on their vacation according to NUS statistics?

A. Attend additional courses.

B. Make plans for the new term

C. Earn money for their education

D. Prepare for their graduate studies

Choose Your One-Day-Tours!

Tour A - Bath &Stonehenge: including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge -￡37 until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter.

Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Costume Museum, Stonehenge is one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.

Tour B - Oxford & Stratford including entrance fees to the University St Mary's Church Tower and Anne Hathaway's -￡32 until 12 March and ￡36 thereafter.

Oxford: Includes a guided tour of England's oldest university city and colleges. Look over the "city of dreaming spires(尖顶）"from St Mary’s Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.

Tour C - Windsor Castle &Hampton Court including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace -￡34 until 11 March and ￡37 thereafter.

Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry VIII's favorite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle (entrance fees not included).With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze (迷宫)where it is easy to get lost!

Tour D -Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great -￡33 until 18 March and ￡37 thereafter.

Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.

1.Which tour will you choose if you want to see England’s oldest university city?

A. Tour A B. Tour B C. Tour C D. Tour D

2.Which of the following tours charges the lowest fee on 17 March?

A. Windsor Castle & Hampton Court. B. Oxford & Stratford.

C. Bath & Stonehenge. D. Cambridge

3.Why is Hampton Court a major tourist attraction?

A. It used to be the home of royal families. B. It used to be a well-known maze

C. It is the oldest palace in Britain. D. It is a world-famous castle

A student walks into his first class and realizes he forgot all about the midterm exam. He knows he needs to bring his grades up, and getting a zero will make it nearly impossible. He quickly jots down some notes and shoves them under his lap hoping it will help him pass. Cheating is a major concern in all academic environments. Students are creating new and more outrageous(令人吃惊的）ways of cheating every day: some claim that certain accounts of cheating can be justified, but overall it can always be prevented.

Cheating has been around forever, and millions of ways to cheat have been fashioned. Copying homework and cheat sheets are some of the most basic ways students in all education levels have cheated. Some students think nothing about writing a few answers on their hand, in a gum wrapper, or boldly using a study guide to cheat. Desperate students have even gone as far as to steal the test or scan in bottle wrappers and put answers into the nutrition label. The internet has now become available in almost every location. Computers can be accessed at school, at home, and now even on cell phones. This opens a doorway for even more methods of cheating to be born.

There are countless opinions on whether or not cheating can be justified. The truth is this behavior will always be a matter of opinion with each scenario of cheating. Students often rationalize their cheating by claiming they forgot to look over the material or did not understand what the teacher or professor was saying. Some may counter these arguments by saying that the student could have set reminders or asked the teacher to explain the material before the day of the test. Some other reasons students believe cheating is justified are their heavy workloads and trying to find time for school, sports, friends, and family. This may be true in certain instances, however, all students have these problems, and it is unfair to the students refrain(制止) from cheating when the student who is dishonest receives a better grade. The majority of students who think cheating is acceptable may believe the reason for this is that sometimes students are unaware they are cheating, there is not enough time given for assignments, or that the information is too much for the course.

It may be difficult to accomplish, hut cheating can be prevented. 1'eachers and professors have tried many options to stop cheating. These options can range anywhere from simply spreading test-takers out in a room, to expelling（驱逐）a student, which will most likely hinder their plans of getting into another college. One simple way to fix the problem is to scold the student when caught. They may be so scared or embarrassed that they never do it again. This is a risky way to prevent cheating in some cases, however, because it can possibly damage self-esteem. Another simple way 10 avoid cheating is to create many different kinds of the same test. This prohibits students from getting the answers off of a neighbor's test, but students still have the option of using other cheating tactics.

There may be a million ways to cheat and get away with it, but there are few times, if any, that it is justified. Cheating never has to be a necessity and is never worth compromising morals and losing years worth of working towards a degree. This problem is spreading throughout America; with everyone's help, it can be stopped.

1.Which is the best title of this passage?

A. To cheat or not to cheat B. Show your opinion on cheating

C. Debates on cheating D. Different ways of cheating

2.The second paragraph mainly tells us that .

A. cheating through the Internet is the most basic way

B. students who cheat in exams are cleverer

C. millions of ways to cheat have been fashioned

D. students cheat in exams to score better grades

3.The reason that is given by most students who think cheating is understandable is that .

A. they don't understand their teachers' words

B. they bury themselves in a lot of homework

C. they don't have enough time to complete the study tasks

D. they forget to look over the material

4.What is the disadvantage of scolding the cheating students according to the passage?

A. They may continue to cheat next time.

B. They may be hurt mentally.

C. They may use other cheating tactics.

D. They may get on badly with their teachers.

5.What is the author's attitude towards cheating?

A. It is reasonable B. It is necessary

C. it can be praised D. It must be prevented

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。

Training for a marathon requires careful preparation and steady, gradual increases in the length of the runs.1., buy the best-fitting, best-built running shoes you can find. No one can say which brand will work best for you or feel best on your feet, so you have to rely on your experience and on the feel of each pair as you shop. When you have found shoes that seem right, walk in them for a few days to double-check the fit.2..As always, you should stretch(仲展) at least ten minutes before each run to prevent injuries.

During the first week, do not think about distance, but run five minutes longer each day.3. it is wise to take a day off to rest. But during the next week, set a goal of at least a mile and a half per run.4..After two weeks, start timing yourself. 5..Depending on the kind of race you plan to enter, you can set up a timetable for the remaining weeks before the race.

A. After six days

B. For a good marathon runner

C. Before you begin your training

D. With each day, increase the distance by a half mile

E. If they still feel good, you can begin running in them

F. Time spent for preparation raises the quality of training

G. Now you are ready to figure out a goal of improving distance and time

Where do you go when you want to learn something? A friend? A tutor? These are all _______places of learning. But it may well be that the learning you really want _______somewhere else instead. I had the______ of seeing this first hand on a ______.

My daughter plays on a recreational soccer team. They did well this season and so_______ a tournament, which normally was only for more skilled club teams. This led to some ______experiences on Saturday as they played against teams ______ trained. Through the first two games, her_______ did not get one serious shot on goal. As a parent, I______ seeing my daughter playing her best, _______still defeated.

It seemed that something clicked with the ______ between Saturday and Sunday. When they _______for their Sunday game, they were  _____ different. They had begun to integrate (融合) the kinds of play and teamwork they had _______the day before into their______ . They played aggressively and _______scored a goal.

It _______me that playing against the other team was a great _____ moment for all the girls on the team. I think it is a general principle. _____is the best teacher. The lessons they learned may not be________what they would have gotten in school, but are certainly more personal and meaningful, because they had to work them out on their own.

1.A. public B. traditional C. official D. special

2.A. passes B. works C. lies D. ends

3.A. dream B. idea C. habit D. chance

4.A. trip B. holiday C. weekend D. square

5.A. won B. entered C. organized D. watched

6.A. painful B. strange C. common D. practical

7.A. less B. poorly C. newly D. better

8.A. fans B. tutors C. class D. team

9.A. imagined B. hated C. avoided D. missed

10.A. if B. or C. but D. as

11.A. girls B. parents C. coaches D. viewers

12.A. dressed B. showed up C. made up D. planned

13.A. slightly B. hardly C. basically D. completely

14.A. seen B. known C. heard D. read

15.A. styles B. training C. game D. rules

16.A. even B. still C. seldom D. again

17.A. confused B. struck C. reminded D. warned

18.A. touching B. thinking C. encouraging D. learning

19.A. Experience B. Independence C. Curiosity D. Interest

20.A. harmful to B. mixed with C. different from D. applied to

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

The adobe dwellings(土坯房)1.(build) by the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest are admired by even2. most modem of architects and engineers. In addition to their simple beauty, what makes the adobe dwellings admirable is their3. (able) to “air condition” a house without4. (use)electric equipment. Walls made of adobe take in the heat from the sun on hot days and give out that heat 5. (slow) during cool nights, thus warning the house. When a new day breaks, the walls have given up their heat and are now cold enough 6. (cool) the house during the hot day;7.the same time, they warm up again for the night. This cycle8. (go) day after day; The walls warm up during the day and cool off during the night and are thus always a timely offset（抵消 for the outside temperatures. As9. (nature) architects, the Pueblo Indians figured out exactly10.thick the adobe walls needed to be to make the cycle work on most days.

1.The necklace was well______(保存).

2.The______(改编本）of the play by the famous writer for children became very popular in many big cities.

3.There was an arrow _______（指示）north, so we headed north.

4.In our minds the Spring Festival is______with happy family reunions. (把…和...联系起来）

5.Will it be______for you to start work tomorrow? (方便的）

1.A person who______ _____ ______(遵守诺言) is always welcome in the group.

2.When seeing the frightening bear, the little boy________ _____ _______.(屏住呼吸）

3.Who is ______ _____ ______ (因……受责备）starting the fire?

4._______ _____ ______ (暴露在）nuclear radiation, even for a short time, may produce variants(变异体）of genes in human bodies.

5.I think teachers need to______ _____ ______students.(对…严格）

文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1.每处错误及其修改仅限一词。2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

One day, little Tony went to a shopping center with his parent. It was very crowded. Tony saw a toy on a shop window. He liked it so very much that he quickly walked into the shop. After looks at the toy for some time, he turned around and found where his parents were missing. Tony was scared and begun to cry. A woman saw him crying and telling him to wait outside a shop. Five minutes later, Tony saw parents. Mom said, “How nice to see you again! Dad and I were terrible worried.” Tony promised her that this would never happen again.

假如你是李华，计划和同学去敬老院（nursing home)陪老人们过重阳节（the Double Ninth Festival) 。请给外教Lucy写封邮件，邀她一同前往，内容包括：

1. 出发及返回时间：

2. 活动：包饺子、表演节目等。

注意：

1. 词数100左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3. 结语已为你写好。

Dear Lucy,

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Looking forward to your reply.

Yours,

Li Hua