For many businessmen online education has been a dream. Now it has come true. The investment (投资) in higher education, whether financial or in terms of time, has long been impossible for many of them. But well-known educational institutions have chosen to deliver an internet-based program, and these barriers have been lifted.

That is good news for people eager to improve themselves and is more attractive to employers. It is also a benefit to industry with better qualified candidates applying for jobs at every level.

Having the benefits of a higher qualification without going to the university campus is attractive to many students. Campus study means greater cost, while online programs are flexible and save time, whether at home or at work. Students can achieve their degrees without causing too much disruption to their career or home life.

In addition to affordable, flexible classes and greater convenience, students also have access to the online learning resources of many of the world’s top educational institutions. They can also communicate with their tutors no matter what time it is or whether either party is away for any reason.

This has opened up the possibility of getting a qualification from a university or college that many students could only have dreamed of in the past. It also allows specialists to get the precise qualifications and focus on their studies. As well as seeing the increase of applicants from lower-incomes and housewives, studying online in the US is even becoming popular with younger people of college age.

Employers have become increasingly welcome and positive to online qualifications as more candidates earn them, especially if they’re properly approved by the US Department of Education.

US institutions have led the way in online education provision. Many top US colleges and universities offer a range of online programs that are highly respected and in every way perfectly fit for adults who need to combine their studies with a working life.

1.According to Paragraph 1, many US colleges and universities      .

A．have begun to lift the barriers to financial investment

B．have had a dream of offering online education

C．have begun to run an internet-based program

D．have gained financial investment

2.Why do people choose online education?

A．They can find jobs more easily than on-campus graduates.

B．They can get qualifications from US Department of Education.

C．They can invest money in different courses provided online.

D．They can save money and arrange their time and courses freely.

3.The underlined word “disruption’’ in the third paragraph probably mean     .

A．interruption       B．attention          C．attraction         D．dissatisfaction

4.Which would be a good title for the passage?

A．Adult Education Online

B．Top US Universities Offering Online Education

C．The Best of USA’s Online Education

D．Online Education Taking the Place of Campus Education

The nervous-looking young man had waited for a few moments—outside the jeweler’s before he got enough courage to enter. He was warmly greeted by a young assistant. James felt a rush of blood to his face as he explained he would be bringing in his future wife to choose a birthday present. The assistant listened carefully and told him he’d better buy a necklace. He wasn’t used to buying jewellery and was a little worried about over-spending. After some discussion as to a reasonable price and the type, the assistant showed him dozens of necklaces and helped him to choose. At last James chose one and left the shop promising to return at five o’clock. When, half an hour later than planned, James did return to the shop with his future wife, Laura, the assistant acted as if she had never seen him before. When she was asked to show them some necklaces, she first brought out some inexpensive ones for them to choose, and then gave them the one she had prepared. A choice was soon made and they went away satisfied. James would certainly come back to buy what he wanted.
52. A good title for this passage is________.
A. A Clever Assistant                 B. Buying a Birthday Present
C. How to Choose a Necklace          D. A Brave Young Man
53.The word “overspending” in this passage means__________.
A. spending too much money
B. spending too much time
C. spending more time than he planned
D. spending too much time and too much money
54. When James told the assistant why he wanted to buy a present, his face_______.
A. turned pale                   B. turned  red       C. turned yellow                 D. turned black
55. James and Laura reached the shop at        .
A. 4:30       B.5:00         C.5:30         D.6:00
56. James would come back to buy what he wanted because_______.
A. the assistant knew how to satisfy the people who came to buy things
B. the necklace was good
C. Laura liked the necklace
D. the assistant who served James was very beautiful

Eleven-year-old Angela was stricken with a debilitating disease involving her nervous system.She was unable to walk and her movement was restricted in other ways as well.The doctors did not hold out much hope of her ever recovering from this illness.They predicted she’d spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.They said that few,if any,were able to come back to normal after contracting this disease.The little girl was undaunted.There,lying in her hospital bed,she would vow to anyone who’d listen that she was definitely going to be walking again someday.

She was transferred to a specialized hospital in the San Francisco Bay area.Whatever therapies could be applied to her case were used.The therapists were charmed by her undefeatable spirit.They taught her about imaging—about seeing herself walking.If it would do nothing else,it would at least give her hope and something positive to do in the long waking hours in her bed.Angela would work as hard as possible in physical therapy,in whirlpools and in exercise sessions.But she worked just as hard lying there faithfully doing her imaging;visualizing herself moving,moving,moving!

One day,as she was staining with all her might to imagine her legs moving again,it seemed as though a miracle happened:The bed moved!It began to move around the room!She screamed out,“Look what I’m doing!Look!Look!I can do it!I moved,I moved!”

Of course,at this very moment everyone else in the hospital was screaming,too,and running for cover.People were screaming,equipment was falling and glass was breaking.You see,it was the recent San Francisco earthquake.But don’t tell that to Angela.She’s convinced that she did it.And now only a few years later,she’s back in school. You see,anyone who can shake the earth between San Francisco and Oakland can conquer a piddling little disease,can’t they?

The underlined word “undaunted” in the first paragraph can probably be replaced by _________.

A.encouraged                B.not discouraged          C.losing heart               D.excited

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

A.The girl got over her disease just by imagining.

B.It was because of her strong determination and constant efforts that she got walking again.

C.The girl was on top of the world when she moved the bed in her room.

D.Doctors believe imagining being healthy helps patients recover.

By saying the last sentence in the last paragraph,the author means that_________.

A.where there is a will,there is a way

B.a person who is strong enough to shake the earth can get over any disease

C.just as it is impossible for one to shake the earth,so it is to conquer a serious disease

D.though one can shake the earth,he can’t defeat a little disease

What might be a good title for the text?

A.Did The Earth Move For You?

B.A Miracle Made by a Young Girl

C.A Young Girl Conquered Disease

D.Strong Will Defeats Illness

Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.

Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.

People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.

Today, we know that the little iron in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.

It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.

1.A good title for this reading passage is______.

A. Popeye the Sailor                                      B. The Truth About Spinach

C.A Mistake with Numbers                                     D. Folic Acid Makes You Strong

2.Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?

A. They thought spinach made them strong.

B. They thought Popeye was funny.

C. Spinach had a lot of iron.

D. People liked folic acid.

3.A research group told people that spinach______.

A. made Popeye strong

B. was a green vegetable

C. had less iron than other green vegetables

D. had more iron than other green vegetables

4.The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.

A. iron                         B. folic acid                 C. spinach          D. exercise

Greece today is a small country in southeastern Europe. The population is about nine million, and the capital city is Athens.

   High mountains with rich, fertile land between them cover northern Greece. The hilly southern part is a peninsula called the Peloponnesus. Hundreds of islands surround the mainland. The largest island is Crete.

    No part of the nation is far from water. The Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea carved deep bays and gulfs into the long coastline. Greece has been a seafaring nation for centuries, and Greece is very well known for its shipping industry.

    More than three thousand years ago, the Greek people developed a very sophisticated society. They have a great civilization, one of the greatest that the Western would have ever seen. Greek architecture, thinking and art influenced other languages, including English. For example, the English words alphabet, democracy, and arithmetic come from Greek.

    Today Greece is one of the most popular nations with the tourists who visit Europe. Thousands of people are attracted to the country because of its beautiful scenery, magnificent ancient buildings, and its excellent summer weather.

A good title for this reading passage is _______

The Earliest Civilizations              B. The Influence of the Sea on Greece.

C. The Small but Important Nation of Greece  D. The Ionian Sea

The underlined word “carved” means _______

A. cut, made      B. said, told         C. lost, wasted       D. attracted

We may conclude that most of the food is grown in the _______.

A. north       B. east         C. south            D. west

Hills can be found _______.

A. in the southern part          B. on the Peloponnesus

C. both A and B               D. in the Aegean Sea

The Greeks had a great civilization around _______

A. 5000B.C.       B. 3000B.C.      C.1000B.C.     D.2000B.C.