As a society we might want to rethink the time and money spent on education,so that these resources can benefit a greater percentage of the population.Ideally,both high schools and colleges can prepare individuals for the ever-changing roles.

High school degrees offer far less in the way of preparation for work than they might,or than many other nations currently offer,creating a growing skills gap in our economy.We encourage students to go on to college whether they are prepared or not,or have a clear sense of purpose or interest,and now have the highest college dropout rate in the world.

We might look to other countries for models of how high schools can offer better training,as well as the development of a work ethic(美德)and the intellectual skills needed for continued learning and development.

Meanwhile,the liberal arts(人文学科)become more important than ever.In a knowledge economy where professional roles change rapidly and many college students are preparing for positions that may not even exist yet,the skill needed is one that prepares them for change and continued learning.

Learning to express ideas well in both writing and speech,knowing how to find information,and knowing how to do research are all solid background skills for a wide variety of roles,and such training is more important than any particular major in a liberal arts college.We need to continue to value broad preparation in thinking skills that will serve for a lifetime.

Students also need to learn to work independently and to make responsible decisions.The lengthening path to adulthood appears exacerbated(恶化)by parental involvement in the college years.Given the rising investment in college education,parental concern is not surprising,but learning where and when to intervene will help students take more ownership of the outcomes of these increasingly costly educations.

1.What kind of education does the author think is ideal?

A.It benefits the great majority of the general population.

B.It prepares students to meet the future needs of society.

C.It encourages students to learn throughout their lives.

D.It ensures that students’ expectations are successfully fulfilled.

2.What is the feature of a knowledge economy?

A.People have to receive higher education to qualify for a professional position.

B.Students majoring in liberal arts usually have difficulty seeking a job.

C.New positions are constantly created that require people to keep learning.

D.Colleges find it hard to teach students how to cope with the changing economy.

3.According to the author,a liberal arts college should focus on________?

A.solid background knowledge in a particular field

B.practical skills urgently needed in current society

C.basic skills needed for change and lifelong learning

D.useful thinking skills for advanced academic research

4.What suggestion does the author offer to parents?

A.Rethinking the value of higher education.

B.Investing wisely in their children’s education.

C.Helping their children to bring their talent into full play.

D.Avoiding too much intervention in their children’s education.

Taking exams in a large group setting can be stressful for students and for the staff members who are watching over them.

When classrooms are crowded and desks are close together, cheating might be tempting.

One university in Thailand came up with an anti-cheating hat that makes it almost impossible for students to see other students’ papers.A photo of the students wearing the anti-cheating hats made its way to the Internet, and the university was criticized for making students wear those ridiculous looking homemade hats.The hats were made by stapling pieces of paper onto a headband, one to each side of the head.

After being criticized, senior academic staff at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, released a statement saying that the hats idea came from students.They said that in a bid to prevent cheating they asked the students for ideas on how to prevent cheating in the upcoming exam, which was being taken by almost one hundred students.Students came up with different ideas, then the paper hat idea was selected by them as the most suitable.

The university claimed that no one was forced to use the hat, but they all chose to do so.“When wearing the hat during the exam, students felt more relaxed, ”Nattadon Rungruangkitkrai, a lecturer at the university said.“It was not meant to indicate that Kasetsart students often cheat on exams.I apologize if the photo makes other people look at my students in a negative way, ”Rungruangkitkrai added.

1.According to the text, in which case cheating will become easy?

A.When desks are crowded into a classroom.

B.When students are too stressful.

C.When too many students are sitting in a classroom.

D.When the staff members who are watching over them are not responsible.

2.Why was the university criticized?

A.The university was too strict.

B.The university made students wear strange looking hats.

C.The university prevented students cheating.

D.The students chose to use the hats.

3.What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A.The students are not forced to wear the hats when taking the exam.

B.The senior academic staff at the university made the paper hat idea.

C.The students felt more stressful when wearing the hat during the exam.

D.The students don’t like wearing the hats when taking the exam.

4.What’s the best title of the text?

A.How to make the anti-cheating hat

B.Anti-cheating hat was criticized

C.Anti-cheating hat was considered the most suitable choice

D.Anti-cheating hat

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone's life? If yes, don't care about sex or age! Come and join us, then you'll make it!

Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant

(No Pay with Free Meals)

Place: Manchester

Hours: Part Time

We are now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left.Don't miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others!

Role:

You will provide people with learning disabilities with all aspects of their daily lives.You will help them to develop new skills.You will help them to protect their rights and their safety.But your primary concern is to let them know they are valued.

Skills and Experience Required:

You will have the right values and great listening skills.You will be honest and patient.You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you'll have to help those people with different learning disabilities.Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.

1.The text is meant to ______ .

A.leave a note

B.send an invitation

C.present a document

D.carry an advertisement

2.What does the underlined part mean?

A.You'll make others' lives more meaningful with this job.

B.You'll arrive home just in time from this job.

C.You'll earn a good salary from this job.

D.You'll succeed in getting this job.

3.The volunteers’ primary responsibility is to help people with learning disabilities ______ .

A.to get some financial support

B.to properly protect themselves

C.to learn some new living skills

D.to realize their own importance

4.Which of the following can first be chosen as a volunteer?

A.The one who can drive a car.

B.The one who has done similar work before.

C.The one who has patience to listen to others.

D.The one who can use English to communicate.

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

A.A girl can’t apply for the position.

B.You can get salaries from the position.

C.Free meals are available.

D.You can get the position in 5 days.

Across the United States, universities and colleges have been looking to become more sustainable (可持续发展的) and more than 600 schools have already planned to become eco-friendly. The EcoDorm, home to 36 students at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, was designed to be sustainable from top to bottom, or in this case, from its rainwater-collection system to its garden. The dormitory is bringing new meaning to the concept of living “green” at college.

At Warren Wilson College, a biological science school with fewer than 1,000 students, the sustainability drive came from the student body. The EcoDorm concept was presented ten years ago by two students; a planning committee firstly suggested using building materials like corncob. Although the architects disagreed with the idea, they came up with other creative solutions: Wood siding was taken from the trees grown in the school yard that were suffering from a disease, and rainwater was collected in an old railway car and pumped back into the house to clean the toilets.

All in all, the dorm uses nearly two-thirds less electricity than a similar-sized traditional building world. But even the most sustainable homes need continued efforts from its livers. And in the case of EcoDorm, students live by their words. Most also take advantage of the dorm’s bio-garden, planting and harvesting fruits and vegetables. “I didn’t have to worry about paper towels being wasted or feel bad about drying my clothes outside,” Jeremy Lekich, the dorm’s gardener, said. “Basically, it has made my life easier.”

1.We can learn from the text that the EcoDorm in the US .

A. offers students the chances to have a natural living at college

B. was firstly built by two college students

C. was designed for saving building materials

D. is only applicable in few schools

2.The second paragraph is mainly about .

A. where the EcoDorm was built

B. when the EcoDorm got its name

C. what the EcoDorm is made of

D. how the concept of EcoDorm started

3.What is the advantage of the EcoDorm?

A. It helps students to enjoy life at college.

B. It saves a lot of money and energy for the college.

C. It makes students study harder.

D. It brings new energy to the college.

4.What can be inferred from the text?

A. A long-term development calls for students’ efforts.

B. Students’ ideas should be encouraged at college.

C. Green living is a new trend at American colleges.

D. Students can learn to protect the environment through practice.

Exhausted and unhappy, you still have to squeeze a smile to your friends, or teachers. That’s just life, you may think. But new research suggests that putting on a fake smile can worsen people’s mood and even lower work efficiency.

Lead researcher Brent Scott with other researchers studied a group of bus drivers for two weeks. They tried to find out what happened when the drivers were involved in “surface acting” or fake smiling, and the opposite, “deep acting” which means people put on real smiles by recalling pleasant memories or thinking about their current situation more positively.

The results showed that on days when drivers were forced to smile, they felt depressed and didn’t want to work. On days when they smiled due to positive thoughts, their mood improved a lot as well as their work efficiency.

The research goes against the popular belief among companies that employees should be cheerful to customers at all times. They include employees of shops, banks, call center workers and others who have face-to-face contact with members of the public. “Smiling for the sake of(为了) smiling can lead to emotional exhaustion and coldness, and that’s bad for the organization,” Scott told the Daily Mail.

The study also showed that women were harmed more by fake smiling than men. Their mood and work performance both worsened more. But they were helped more by deep acting — their mood became better and they worked more efficiently.

However, while deep acting seemed to improve mood in the short term, Scott says it’s not a long-term solution for unhappiness.

“There have been some suggestions that if you do this over a long period that you start to feel inauthentic(不真实的),” Scott said. “You may be trying to cultivate positive emotions, but at the end of the day you may not feel like yourself anymore.”

1.Brent Scott and others’ experiments on bus drivers suggest that ______.

A. depression among bus drivers is common

B. thinking in a positive way helps with work efficiency

C. bus drivers with pleasant memories tend to be less efficient

D. the bus drivers’ work efficiency is determined by their mood

2.According to the article, which of the following statements about “fake smiling” is TRUE?

A. It is good for the business but bad for the employees.

B. It doesn’t work on people who are emotionally expressive.

C. It is a widely accepted cultural practice in the US.

D. It causes more harm to women than men.

3.We can conclude from the article that the researchers think that ______.

A. people should be true to their feelings

B. smiling helps to put people in a good mood and become more efficient

C. it is unnecessary to cultivate positive emotions

D. deep acting can improve mood in the long run

4.The article is mainly about ______.

A. the importance of smiling during face-to-face contact

B. a new study on fake smiling and its influence on people

C. suggestions on improving work efficiency

D. how to cheer up when you are exhausted

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