New York Times-The already crazed competition for admission to the nation’s most famous universities and colleges became even more intense (激烈的) this year, with many recording the lowest acceptance rates.
Harvard College, for example, offered admission to only 7.1 percent of the 27,462 high school seniors who applied — or, put another way, it rejected 93 of every 100 applicants, many with extraordinary achievements, like a perfect score on one of the SAT exams. Yale College accepted 8.3 percent of its 22,813 applicants. Both rates were records.
Columbia College admitted 8.7 percent of its applicants, Brown University and Dartmouth College about 13 percent, and Bowdoin College and Georgetown University 18 percent — also records.
“We love the people we admitted, but we also love a very large number of the people who we were not able to admit,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean (主任) of admissions and financial aid at Harvard College.
Some colleges said they placed more students on their waiting lists than in recent years, in part because of uncertainty over how many admitted students would decide to enroll （登记入学）. Harvard and Princeton stopped accepting students through early admission this academic year; that meant that more than 1,500 students who would have been admitted in December were likely to have applied to many famous schools in the regular round.
Many factors contributed to the tightening of the competition at the most selective colleges, admissions deans said. The number of high school graduates in the nation has grown each year over the last decade and a half, experts estimate that the figure will reach the highest point this year or next, which might reduce the competition a little.
Other factors were the ease of online applications, expanded financial aid packages, an ambitious students’ applying to ever more colleges.
1．What’s the passage mainly about?
A．Harvard has the lowest admission rate this year.
B．Many factors have led to the intense competition.
C．Famous universities prefer to have more students on their waiting lists.
D．Admission to famous universities became even more difficult this year.
2．Which of the following has the highest acceptance rate this year?
A．Yale College.                 B．Georgetown University.  
C．Columbia College.         D．Dartmouth College.
3．How many of the 20,000 applicants would be rejected by Columbia College this year?
A．18,260     B．1,740        C．18,350         D．1,950

B
Can you imagine traveling to work in a one-man submarine? Some scientists believe that some day one-man submarines will be as numerous (许多) as automobiles are today. A famous French driver says, “One day soon, men will walk on the ocean floor as they do on the street!” Perhaps during your lifetime people will travel, work, and live in the sea.
If human beings want to live in the ocean, many human problems will need to be studied first. Some of these problems, similar to those of living in outer space, are pressure, lack of oxygen and weightlessness. Many questions remain unanswered．For example, can our blood adjust itself to underwater surroundings? What will happen to our muscle if we live in the water very long? Scientists are searching for answers.
Perhaps in the future man will live in the sea, away from the crowded and noisy cities on land．The sea has plenty of space, not only for floating communities (团体) and parks, but also for storing supplies and for underwater travel.
Some scientists believe that ocean living will benefit man in more than physical ways. In the freedom and beauty of the deep sea, man may find new sources of joy.
60．According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A．Man will live in the sea just like living on the earth in time.
B．Human beings can now freely walk on the ocean floor just like walking on the street.
C．There are as many submarines as automobiles in the ocean.
D．A famous French driver found a safe way to travel to the ocean floor.
61．If human beings want to live in the ocean, _____.
A．problems such as pressure, lack of oxygen and weightlessness have to be solved
B．people have to answer many questions asked by scientists
C．underwater surroundings must be improved to fit the human bodies
D．human muscle must be exposed in the water for a long time
62．Which of the following might not be the reason for the people who want to live in the ocean?
A．The sea has plenty of space.
B．The cities on land are crowded, noisy and polluted.
C．Ocean living will do good to them in physical ways and spiritual ways.
D．There are communities and parks on the ocean floor.
63．What’s the best title of the passage?
A．The Use of One-man Submarine        B．Living Things in the Ocean
C．Ocean Living                            D．Beauty of Ocean Floor

For photographers lacking training, experience and even the ability to click a shutter button, they produce remarkable pictures．Under the sea, deep in the woods and high in the sky, furry, feathery and leathery-skinned creatures are opening up vistas（远景）by taking cameras where no human can go．
This is the world of animal-borne imagine celebrated last month at a conference sponsored(supported) by the National Geographic Society for the 20th anniversary of its Crittercam, the device that started it all．
Since its debut（首次公开露面）in 1987 on the back of a turtle, the Crittercam and similar devices developed by others have grown smaller and more powerful．
“It’s more than just a camera now,” said Greg Marshall, the marine biologist and now filmmaker who invented the Crittercam．“We are now including more instruments to gather more data while at the same time reducing everything in size．”
The idea of attaching video cameras to animals came to Mr．Marshall in 1986 on a dive off Belize when a shark apporached him．When the animal quickly turned away, he noticed a shark with a sucker fish on its belly．He came up with the idea that putting a camera in place of the sucker fish would allow people to witness the shark’s behavior without disturbing it．
Crittercams have been attached to sharks, sea lions and other marine animals, and, more recently, to land animals．
Birds are a new addition, Mr．Marshall said．Dr．Christian Rutz of Oxford recently reported on tiny cameras called feathercams that monitor the crows in the South Pacific．It has discovered that crows are smarter than anyone knew they not only use twigs（嫩枝）and grass stems as tools to root out food, but they also save their favorite tools to use again．
Tracey L．Rogers, director of the Australian Marine Mammal Research Center in Sydney, said crittercam was a powerful tool in her work with leopard seals（豹斑海豹）in Antarctica．“In studying animals,” Dr．Rogers said at the meeting, “you want to see how our animal models align（与……一致）with reality．With a camera, you actually see what they do．You don’t have to guess．”
【小题1】What’s the text mainly about?

Say you meet with difficulty, what’s the first thing you do? Call your best friend and ask for help? It turns out that doing this may be better for you than you think. Researchers find that friendship has a big influence on your health, well-being and business.
One study from scientists recently found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22% less likely to die during a 10-year period than those with fewer friends. Other researchers discovered that having a strong social network could improve brain health as we age.
Even more interesting, feeling close to your friends may give you a different view on things. Researchers gathered 34 college students out side and asked them to estimate the steepness(估计陡峭程度) of a hill after climbing it. Those standing with friends gave lower estimates, and the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
What is the reason that friends can make obstacles seem less difficult? “People with stronger friendship networks feel that there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center of the hospital at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is a valued resource (宝贵的资源).”
It is truly the fact. Friends make your life better. They provide support in hard times. They inspire you to make changes in your life, encourage you to set goals and cheer you on every step of the way until you reach them.
Want to find out more about the power of friendship? Read “Be a Better Friend”, “Make New Friends” and “Keep the Old”.
1. According to the author, if you’ve lost your job you should        .
A. turn to your best friend      B. ask for advice from your teacher
C. face it bravely by yourself    D. ask your parents for help
2. We can learn from the study in Paragraph 2 that        .
A. people with a lot of friends can stay away from illnesses
B. people with many friends may enjoy a longer life
C. 22% of the people who have fewer friends have a short life
D. those who have fewer friends may die 10 years earlier.
3. The underlined word “obstacles” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to some thing___________
A. that you are hoping to achieve by a plan
B. that happens to you when you are working
C. that makes it difficult for us to achieve something
D. that you have been trying to do
4. The fifth paragraph was written to tell us that        .
A. we should make many friends  B. true friendship lives long
C. friend ship has changed us     D. friendship should be valued

Researchers in Britain are driving the environmental movement to a new level. A team from the University of Warwick has built what it calls the world’s first completely environmentally friendly Formula Three racing car.
The car is made mainly of renewable materials, like plants and vegetables. The structure around the car is made from natural plant fibers and potatoes. The steering wheel(方向盘) is made from root vegetables like carrots. The engine uses bio-fuel made from vegetable oil and waste chocolate.
The new racing car is extremely fast. The car has a top speed of two hundred fifteen kilometers an hour. And it can go from zero to ninety-five kilometers an hour in just two and a half seconds. The racing car meets all of the Formula Three racing requirements except for its biodiesel(生物柴油) engine.
Automobile racing is one of the most widely watched sports in the world. But it is also considered one of the least friendly sports to the environment. Racing cars burn a lot of fuel, and create a lot of air pollution. In recent years, the racing industry has taken steps to protect the environment. More racing companies are now producing cars that use less energy. These cars produce less pollution than cars that depend on traditional fuel, like gasoline.
Last month, the new racing car was set to run in its first competitive race at the Formula Three Championship Final at Brands Hatch. It would have been the first biodiesel-powered car to race at Formula Three. Current Formula Three rules let only gasoline-powered car to compete. Officials needed permission from all of the Formula Three racers for the biodiesel-powered car to compete. They were unable to contact one of the drivers, so the new racing car didn’t appear in the event. In test runs, the new racing car was the fifth fastest among the Formula Three race cars. Supporters are hoping to have the fuel problem solved in time to compete in the next season.
【小题1】. What’s the second paragraph mainly about?