题目内容
BOLTON，Vermont-Fourteen-year-ole Ashley Stevens fell out of his canoe into the frigid Winooski River in Vermont, US, climbed onto the muddy bank and picked fiddleheads for five hours as his wet clothes stiffened and dried in the frosty spring air.It was worth it. On that early May day. Ashley made $50 for the 86 pounds of ferns he hauled in to the weigh station.
And he’s made about that much every day of the fiddlehead season.
“I know where to go, ”said Ashley, who grew up along the Winooski.
For four or five weeks a year in Vermont, fiddleheads, young ferns found near water in the northeast, are big business for anyone who cares to pick them. Before they uncurl to their mature height, the plants resemble violin heads.
The ferns, which taste like asparagus when cooked, are usually fried in butter or olive oil and served as side dish.
Restaurants offer them as a seasonal specialty; supermarkets sell them by the pound.
John Farrar, the fiddlehead king of Richmond, Vermont, parks his pickup every evening and waits for the pickers to bring in their mesh bags of fiddleheads for weighing. Farrar often collects more than 450 kilograms of the tightly curled green discs.
He drives them to WS Wells and Son in Wilton, Maine, where they are prepared for sale fresh, in cans, and dried in soup mix. Wells processes about 35 tons a year, all from local pickers who bring in the fiddleheads by bag or bucket.
Farrar is careful to take only ostrich ferns. Some other kinds are said to cause cancer in cows or stomach upset in humans.
“They all kind of look like fiddleheads, ”said Butch Wells, owner WS Wells and Son, “I’ve had people drive for two hours with 90 kilograms of the wrong kind. ”
He said he believed he was having some fiddleheads for supper that night, “I’ve had them in stews , and I’ve had them in quiches, which all sometimes called Impossible Pie. And we just have them plain, as a side dish. ”
Even his kids cat fiddlebads.
“They like pickled fiddleheads, ”Wells said.
“They don’t like them any other way. ”
1. Fiddleheads are______.
A. musical instruments B. young ferns
C. Vermont pickup truck D. Ashley Stevens
2. The young plants look like______.
A. photograph discs B. hunches of asparagus
C. he head of a violin D. a fish
3. The ferns must be gathered when they are young because when the plants mature they______.
A. lose their green color B. weigh close to 90kg
C. can cure cancer D. uncurl
4. The tightly curled discs______.
A. grow in the Northeastern United States
B. are picked 45 weeks a year
C. can cause stomach problems
D. must be eaten within five hours
5. People who harvest fiddleheads______.
A. look for the plants all year round
B. sell the ferns for a good price
C. are usually able to cook side dishes
D. needed to keep an eye on their canoes
提示：
| 1
For four or five weeks a year in Vermont, fiddleheads, young ferns found near
water in the northeast可知本题选选B
2 Before they uncurl to their mature height, the plants resemble violin heads.可知本题选C 3 必须在未成熟之前收获它们，否则它们将失去绿色，本题选A 4 young ferns found near water in the northeast. Farrar often collects more than 450 kilograms of the tightly curled green discs.可知本题选A 5 从文章中可知，主要是以一个好价钱卖掉，故本题选B
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What do you do if you don’t get into your first choice of university? That’s the dilemma that faces thousands of British students every year.
Many candidates turn to Clearing, the service that helps find university places for students at the last moment. If they don’t have the marks to get into their first choice of institution, Clearing tells them about places available at other universities, though they might have to read another subject.
But this year has seen a record number of people applying to university. This, combined with the weak economy, an uncertain job market and budget cuts at universities, means that there's been even more of a scramble for places than usual. Some sources say six students have applied for each remaining undergraduate university place.
The British university admissions service, UCAS, says up to a quarter of this year’s university applicants --- almost 190,000 people --- still don’t have a place on a degree course. That’s a rise of over 46,000 students from last year.
Faced with these figures, some British students might be thinking of an interesting alternative: studying abroad. The University of Nottingham, for example，is offering places at its campuses in Ningbo, near Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Students here can gain University of Nottingham degrees in business, accounting, engineering and English. Similarly, the University of Bolton says it has ‘unlimited’ places at its campus in the United Arab Emirates.
Given the problems getting into university, the UK’s Higher Education Minister, David Willetts, encourages students who haven't made the grade to consider alternatives to university, such as apprenticeships and studying at home.
"There are a range of options available," he says. "People are able to reapply. They should think how they can spend their year adding that bit to their CV, which would help their application --- getting practical work experience or extra skills --- anything that strengthens their chances next year."
But some experts say that rising university costs, poor long-term job prospects, and a drop in graduate recruitment mean it’s the worst time to be a university student in the UK.
【小题1】When the author says this year “there’s been more of a scramble for places” (Para. 3), he means_________________.
| A．more people have applied to university |
| B．there is more competition between the candidates |
| C．there are more services that help find university places |
| D．more places are available |
| A．190,000 | B．46, 000 | C．236, 000 | D．760, 000 |
| A．to consider apprenticeships and studying at home |
| B．to study at campus outside the UK |
| C．to reapply next year |
| D．not to go to university in the UK |
| A．It costs more to study at university. |
| B．Long-term job prospects are worse. |
| C．Universities offer places in other countries. |
| D．There are fewer chances to do graduate study. |
| A．They can go to work in Clearing. |
| B．They can get practical work experience or skills and reapply next year. |
| C．They can spend the year writing a better CV. |
| D．They do graduate study at home. |