Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21-year-old twin sons: a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart.
"I have two kids in college, and I want to say come home. ' but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education," says Jacobs.
The Jacobs family, did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid from the schools, and each son increased his' borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program. They will each graduate with $ 20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to finish school.
With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear from more families like the Jacobses. More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans. College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around.
At the same time, tuition (学费) continues to rise. A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147% . Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade.
"If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won't have an affordable system of higher education," says Patrick M. Calan, president of the center. "The middle class families have been financing it through debt. They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt."
Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them. The good news, however, is that federal loans account for about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1. why did the plan of the Jacobs family fail?

A．The twins wasted too much money.	B．The father was out of work.
C．Their saving ran out.	D．The family fell apart.

【小题2】How did the Jacobses manage to solve their problem?

A．They asked their kids to come home.

B．They borrowed $20, 000 from the schools.

C．They encouraged their twin sons to do part-time jobs.

D．They got help from the schools and the federal government.

【小题3】Financial aid administrators believe that________.

A．more families will face the same problem as the Jacobses

B．the government will receive more letters of complaint

C．college tuition fees will double soon

D．America's unemployment will fall

【小题4】What can we learn about the middle class families from they text?

A．They blamed the government for the tuition increase.

B．Their income increased steady in the last decade.

C．They will try their best to send kids to college.

D．Their debts will be paid off within 25 years.

【小题5】According to the last paragraph the government will________.

A．provide most students with scholarships

B．dismiss some financial aid administrators

C．stop the companies from making student loans

D．go on providing financial support for college students

Everyone would like to be a millionaire , a person with a lot of money, but can you imagine having over $30 million and only being 20 years old? Britney Spears from Kentwood, a small town in Louisiana, is only 20 years old. She is a world famous film star with not only $30 million but also a $2 million house in LA. At her young age, she can look after her family financially (经济上) all her life. This year is a big year for Britney. She is now on a 31-day tour of the US and every concert is a sell-out. That means she plays in front of a crowd of around 18,000 people every time. It’s a tiring schedule but brings her a lot. When touring, she goes to bed around 1 a.m. and then has a lie-in until 1 p.m. the next day. Her philosophy (人生观) is to take care of the body and relax but always make sure you work hard and have fun.

Spears is not pleased with only touring and selling nearly 40 million records so she decided to step into the movie business and try a bit of acting. She made an appearance in “Austin Power 3” this year and she is filming a teenage light play that will come out in March 2003. In this movie, she has a starring role.

For Britney, acting is another way to express herself and she is enthusiastic (热心的) about it all. If her movies are successful, her money in the bank is sure to grow by another few million dollars but she does it for the love, not the money, as she herself tells the reporters .

We can infer (推断) from the text that most millionaires are __________.

   A. older than 20     B. around 20     C. in their 30s     D. in their 40s

The underlined word “you” in the first paragraph refers to __________.

   A. a person in general                  B. a special person

   C. Britney Spears                     D. a person interested in money

Which of the following is not true according to the text?

   A. Though young, Britney can support her family now.

   B. While touring, Britney sleeps about 12 hours a day.

   C. The teenage comedy movie was based on Britney’s own story.

   D. Britney will be even richer with her movies successful.

According to Britney Spears, she works __________.

   A. to be a great actress   B. for the enjoyment   C. for money    D. to be more famous

I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant , and ancient for a sportsman, Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to ave hung on me．Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age．but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means．

A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying,  “ Fifty is what forty used to be ．”He had made an inspirational point, Am I over the hill ?People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling hem that he high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now．

“ Your are not getting older, you are getting better ．” says Dr．Joyce Brothers ．This, however, is the kind of doctor who inspires a second opinion．

And so．as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net．I am moves to share some thoughts on aging with you．I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally．Getting older．of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies（悼词）．In fact , a poet named Robert Browning considered it the best change of all :

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to me．

Whether or not Browning was right , most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by．I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend （混合）of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher（哲学家） was right when he said ．”Old is always fifteen years from now．”

20．The author seems to tell us in Paragraph I that _____

       A．time alone will tell B．time goes by quickly

       C．time will show what is right   D．time makes one forget the past

21．When the author turned fifty , people around him _____

       A．tried to comfort him      B．got inspiration with him

       C．were friendlier with him        D．found him more talkative

22．The author considers his fifty years of life ______

       A peaceful            B．ordinary                              

       C．satisfactory             D．regretful

23．We can infer from the passage that _____

       A．the old should led a simple life      B．the old should face the fact of aging

       C．the old should take more exercise   D．the old should fill themselves with curiosity

Some myths are stories told since ancient times to explain the causes for natural happenings. The Greek myth that explains why there are changes of   21   is about Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. She had a daughter, Persephone, whom she loved very much. Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone, and he asked Zeus, the   22   of the gods, to give Persephone to him as his   23  . Zeus did not want either to disappoint Hades or to upset Demeter, so he said he would not agree to the marriage, but neither would he   24   it. Hades, therefore, decided to take the girl without   25  . When Persephone was picking flowers in the garden, he seized her and took her to the underworld. When Demeter   26   what happened to Persephone, she became so   27   that she caused all plants to   28  . People were in   29   of starving. But Demeter was determined not to let crops grow   30   her daughter, Persephone, was returned to her.   31  , still not wanting to disappoint Hades, decided upon a condition for Persephone's   32  . She could go back to her mother if she had not   33   anything while she was in the underworld. Demeter   34   it because she did not know that Persephone had eaten several pomegranate (???) seeds in the underworld. When Zeus   35   this, he agreed that Persephone could spend part of the year with her   36  , but he added that since she had eaten the seeds, she must spend part of the year in the underworld. And so it   37   that when Persephone is in the underworld, Demeter is sad and therefore   38   not let the crops grow. That is   39   we have winter when plants do not grow. When Persephone returns, Demeter is   40  , it is spring, and plants begin to grow again.

 

1.A. periods           B. time                C. seasons                D. age

2.A. winner           B. ruler               C. advisor                D. fighter

3.A. wife               B. lover               C. partner                      D. daughter

4.A. accept         B. forgive            C. admit             D. forbid      

5.A. arrangement   B. warning           C. permission         D. reason      

6.A. let out            B. worked out         C. thought out         D. found out

7.A. excited           B. angry                    C. tired                  D. serious

8.A. grow fast        B. start growing         C. stop growing         D grow slowly

9.A. danger           B. hope                     C. turn                      D. case

10.A. since         B. until                  C. after                     D. when

11.A. Persephone  B. Zeus                        C. Demeter                   D. Hades

12.A. return           B. change                         C. marriage            D. journey

13.A. stolen           B. found                    C. eaten                     D. heard

14.A. understood    B. refused                     C. doubted                    D. accepted

15.A. discovered    B. studied                     C. forgot                   D. prepared

16.A. daughter              B. mother                         C. god                          D. ruler

17.A. works           B. remains                    C. happens                    D. starts

18.A. should          B. can                          C. dare                         D. will

19.A. where           B. because                    C. why                         D. how

20.A. happy           B. friendly                    C. fresh                  D. nice

 

BEIJING—Seven prestigious universities in China announced Sunday that they would begin using the same independent exam —besides the national one —to test students hoping to gain entrance to them in 2011.
The seven are Peking University, Beihang University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Fudan University, Xiamen University and Hong Kong University.
Students who want to gain entrance to any of the seven universities will only have to sit one independent exam, according to the joint announcement.
“This will help lighten the students’ load, otherwise they must take several exams for different universities ,”said the announcement.
Passing the exam could result in more than one interview chance, giving the students more opportunities to choose their favorite universities.
China’ s college entrance exam system is undergoing reform as universities aim to select students based on independent criteria rather than just using the results of the national exam.
In 2003, Peking University and another 21 universities were allowed to pilot (试用) the reform by using their own criteria to independently select five percent of their students.
Now nearly 80 universities across the country have the right to select talented students based on their own exams.
Education experts regard universities selecting students according to independent examinations as conducive (有助的) to better understanding where the students’ talents lie.
Although this may be the case, it has also created problems as students may sit many different exams as they often apply for a number of universities.
To relieve students from such pressures, the national education outline (2010—2020) released in July this year encourages high-level universities to group together to use the same exams.
【小题1】If students want to be admitted to the seven prestigious universities, they can______.

A．only pass the interview.

B．only take the national exam.

C．only take the independent exam.

D．either take the national exam or take the independent exam.

【小题2】What’s the purpose of students sitting one independent exam to gain entrance to the seven universities?

A．It can reduce students’ load to take several exams.

B．The universities will have the same standard to test students.

C．There will be less trouble marking students’ test papers.

D．It can avoid fierce competition among these universities.

【小题3】If students pass the independent exam, they will ______.

A．take the national exam.

B．have one or more interview chances.

C．be admitted to one of the universities.

D．he trained to be adapted to universities life and studies.

【小题4】What is the advantage of universities selecting students according to independent examinations?

A．Students needn’t take the national exam.

B．Students ’education cost can be lowered.

C．Students’ abilities and talents can be better found.

D．It can encourage middle schools to recommend more qualified students.