Many foreign students report feeling lonely or unwelcome in Australia. Those feelings are among the reasons why Australia is taking a close look at its international education industry. But wherever international students go, making friends may not always be easy. Elisabeth Gareis of Baruch College in New York surveyed 454 international students. They were attending four-year colleges and graduate schools in the American South and Northeast.

Students from English-speaking countries and from northern and central Europe were more likely to be happy with their friendships. But 38% of the international students said they had no close friends in the United States. And half of the students from East Asia said they were unhappy with the number of American friends they had. Thirty percent said they wished their friendships could be deeper and more meaningful.

Professor Gareis says, “Students from East Asia have cultures that are different on many levels from the culture in the United States. There are also language problems, and maybe some social skills, such as small talk, which are possibly not as important in their native countries, where it's not as important to start friendships with small talks. Many East Asian students blamed themselves for their limited friendships with Americans, for not speaking the language well enough and for not knowing the culture well enough.

VOA's Student Union blogger Jessica Stahl did her own survey to find out how American students and foreign students relate to each other. More than 100 students, about half of them American, answered her online questions.

Half of the international students and 60% of the Americans said they related as well or better to the other group than to their own group.

Professor Gareis says: "International students who make friends with host nationals are, overall, more satisfied with their stay in the host country. They have better language skills, they have better academic performance and they have better attitudes toward the host country."

1.What can be the best title for the text?

A. Making Friends Is Not Always Easy for Foreign Students

B. Students from East Asia Are Not Good at Making Friends

C. International Education Industry in Australia and America

D. The Relation between Foreign Students and Host Countries

2.Professor Gareis tends to think that ___________.

A. culture shock should be blamed for many levels of American culture

B. foreign students don’t know small talks mean a lot to Americans

C. foreign students should learn some basic social skills first of all

D. foreign students have difficulty making friends for different reasons

3.How did Jessica Stahl carry out her survey?

A. By doing questionnaires from Students Union

B. By asking questions on the Internet

C. By forming the students into groups

D. By doing a survey through VOA

4.Which of the following statements will the writer probably agree with?

A. International students like to make more friends in their own group

B. International students are more likely to remain in the host country after graduation

C. Students who make more friends at home have better academic performance

D. Students who make friends in their host countries feel happier with their experience

The Internet brings us many advantages.

With the Internet, people can send and receive e-mails. On the Internet, people can skim over news. Using the Telnet, the user anywhere on the Internet can log into any other machine on which he has an account. It is possible to use the FTP program to copy files from one machine on the Internet to another.

But the Internet also brings us troubles.

Internet use seems to cause a fall in psychological (心理的) health, according to research at Carnegie Mellon University. Even people who spent just a few hours a week on the Internet experienced more depression and loneliness than those who logged on less often, the two-year study showed. And it wasn’t that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually seemed to cause the bad feelings.

Researchers are puzzling over the results, which were completely opposite to what they had expected. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose their information and to communicate with others.

The fact that Internet use reduces time used for family and friends may be the reason for the drop in health, researchers said. Faceless, bodiless “virtual” (虚拟的) communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations, and the relationships formed through it may not be so deep. Another possibility is that exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives.

But it’s important to remember this is not about the technology; it’s about how it is used,” said one of the researchers. “It really points to the need for considering social factors (因素) when you design new inventions.”

1.The writer mainly wants to tell us that _________.

A. the Internet can bring people many advantages

B. the Internet use may cause psychological problems

C. the Internet users are not satisfied with their lives

D. we shouldn’t use the Internet

2.Why are the researchers puzzling over the results?

A. Because the results were completely different from what they had thought.

B. Because the Net proved socially healthier than television.

C. Because the Internet users were all healthier.

D. Because the Internet users experienced less depression and loneliness.

3.What may be the reasons why the Internet use causes a fall in psychological health?

A. Internet use reduces time used for family and friends.

B. Virtual communication is less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations.

C. Exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives.

D. All the above.

4.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. Users anywhere on the Internet can log into any other machine.

B. The two-year study showed that using the Net seemed to cause the bad feelings.

C. People who are already feeling bad spend much more time on the Internet.

D. Relationships formed through the Internet are usually deep.

5.What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?

A. What matters is not the technology but how it is used.

B. This passage is not about the technology but about how it is used.

C. We should remember to learn about the technology.

D. We should remember to learn how to use computers.

London Underground

The world's first subway was built in London in 1863. At the time, the government was looking for a way to reduce traffic problems in the city of London. The poor areas of the city were so crowded with people that it was almost impossible for horse carriages to get through. The city officials were interested in trying to make it possible for workers to live outside of London and travel easily to work each day. If people had a cheap and convenient way that they could depend on to go to and from work, they would relocate their homes outside of the city. This would help ease(减轻) the pressure of too many people living in the poor parts of London. From these problems, the idea of the London Underground, the first subway system, was born.

The plans for building the Underground met with several problems and delays, but the fast track was finally opened in January 1863. A steam train pulled the cars along the fast underground track which was 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) long. About 30,000 people got on the subway the first day. Riders were treated to comfortable seats (standing up while the train was moving was not allowed), and pleasant decorations inside each of the cars. However, the smoke from the engine soon filled the air in the tunnels with ash and soot(煤灰), as well as chemical gases. Fans had to be put in the tunnels later to keep the air clean enough for people to breathe. Even with its problems, riding in the Underground did catch on. It carried 9 million riders in its first year.

1.What led the British government to build the London Underground?

A. Traffic jams and pollution.

B. Population and pollution.

C. Overcrowding and traffic jams.

D. The poverty and subway problems.

2.How did the London Underground solve the smoke problem?

A. It made the tunnels larger.

B. It put fans in the tunnels.

C. It cleaned the chemical gases in the tunnels.

D. It reduced the number of passengers riding in the train.

3.The underlined phrase “catch on” most probably means “  ”.

A. be troublesome

B. become popular and fashionable

C. keep up with

D. seize

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. To relocate the workers' homes outside London, the government built the subway.

B. There were so many problems and delays that in 18th century the first subway opened.

C. The subway greatly eased the pressure of traffic.

D. There were not enough seats for the passengers the first day the subway opened.

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