More students than ever before are taking a gap-year (间隔年) before going to university. It used to be called the “year off” between school and university. The gap-year phenomenon originated with the months left over to Oxbridge applicants between entrance exams in November and the start of the next academic year.

This year, 25,310 students who have accepted places in higher education institutions have put off their entry until next year, according to statistics on university entrance provided by University and College Admissions Service (UCAS). That is a record 14.7% increase in the number of students taking a gap year. Tony Higgins from UCAS said that the statistics are good news for everyone in higher education. “Students who take a well-planned year out are more likely to be satisfied with, and complete, their chosen course. Students who take a gap year are often more mature and responsible,” he said.

But not everyone is happy. Owain James, the president of the National Union of Students(NUS), argued that the increase is evidence of student hardship – young people are being forced into earning money before finishing their education. “New students are now aware that they are likely to leave university with up to £15,000 in debt. It is not surprising that more and more students are taking a gap year to earn money to support their study for the degree. statistics show that over 40% of students are forced to work during term time and the figure increases to 90% during vacation periods,” he said.

1.What do we learn about the gap year from the text?

A. It is flexible in length.

B. It is a time for relaxation.

C. It is increasingly popular.

D. It is required by universities.

2.According to Tony Higgins, students taking a gap year_________.

A. are better prepared for college studies

B. know a lot more about their future jobs

C. are more likely to leave university in debt

D. have a better chance to enter top universities

3. What would most students do on their vacation according to NUS statistics?

A. Attend additional courses.

B. Make plans for the new term.

C. Earn money for their education.

D. Prepare for their graduate studies

Large companies need a way to reach the savings of the public at large. The same problem, on a smaller scale, faces practically every company trying to develop new products and create new jobs. There can be little prospect of raising the sort of sum needed from friends and people we know, and while banks may agree to provide short-term finance, they are generally unwilling to provide money on a permanent basis for long- term projects. So companies turn to the public, inviting people to lend them money, or take a share in the business in exchange for a share in future profits. This they do by issuing stocks and shares in the business through the Stock Exchange. By doing so, they can put the savings of individuals both at home and overseas into circulation.

When the saver needs his money back, he does not have to go to the company with which he originally placed it. Instead, he sells his shares through a stockbroker to some other savers who are seeking to invest their money.

Many of the services needed both by industry and by each of us are provided by the government or by local authorities. Hospitals, roads, electricity, telephones, equipment and new development, if they are to serve us properly, require more money than it is raised through taxes alone. The government, local authorities, and nationalized industries therefore frequently need to borrow money to finance major capital spending, and then too, come to the Stock Exchange.

There is hardly a man or a woman in this country whose job or whose standard of living does not depend on the ability of his or her employers to raise money to finance new development. In one way or another, new money must come from the savings of the country. The Stock Exchange exists to provide a channel through which these savings can reach those who need finance.

1.How does a company get the public to invest their savings for it according to the passage?

A. By paying them very high interests for borrowing their savings.

B. By providing a share to them in the future profits.

C. By offering favorable terms to attract them to buy its products.

D. By selling its stocks and shares to them through the Stock Exchange.

2.According to the passage, many services wanting to serve people properly have to_______.

A. get as much finance as possible through taxes

B. get the support from the government or local authorities

C. be able to provide what people really need

D. get persistent financial support

3.According to the passage, what factor has a great effect on the workers’ job and living standard?

A. Their employers’ policy for offering good welfare to them.

B. Their employers’ strategy for the company’s development.

C. Their employers’ capacity of raising money to finance new development.

D. Their employers’ ability to make the company obtain a great profit.

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively(被动地). We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor(谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping(打上标记)it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

1.According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.

A. doing a medical experiment

B. solving a math problem

C. visiting an exhibition

D. doing scientific reasoning

2.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

A. active learning B. knowledge

C. communication D. passive learning

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. Active learning is less important.

B. Passive learning may not be reliable.

C. Active learning occurs more frequently.

D. Passive learning is not found among scholars.

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