The old idea that child prodigies (神童) “burn themselves” or “overtax their brains” in the early years, therefore, suffer from failure and (at worst) mental illness is just a myth. As a matter of fact, the outstanding thing that happens to bright children is that they are very likely to grow into bright adults.

To find this out, 1,500 gifted persons were followed up to their thirty-fifth years with these results:

On adult intelligence tests, they scored as high as they did as children. They were, as a group, in good health, physically and mentally. Eighty-four percent of their group were married and seemed content with their life.

About 70 percent had graduated from colleges, though only 30 percent had graduated with honors. A few had even flunked out (退学), but nearly half of these had returned to graduate.

Of the men, 80 percent were in one of the professions or in business, managerial or semiprofessional jobs. The women who had remained single had offices, business, or professional occupations.

The group had published 90 books and 1,500 articles in scientific, scholarly, and literary magazines and had collected more than 100 patents.

In a material way they didn’t do badly either. Average income was considerably higher among the gifted people, especially the men, than for the country as a whole, despite their comparative youth when last surveyed.

In fact, far from being strange, maladjusted (难以适应) people locked in an ivory tower, most of the gifted were turning their early promises into practical reality.

The main idea of the passage is __________.

A. that gifted adults can be as intelligent as when they were young

B. that bright children are unlikely to be physically and mentally healthy

C. that gifted children are most likely to become bright grown-ups

D. that when the bright children grow up, they become ordinary

From the passage, we can conclude that ____________.

A. most of the gifted children became white-collar workers

B. half of the gifted followed up graduated from colleges

C. each of the talented published at least one article

D. successful men got higher income than successful women

Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?

A. The gifted could not be fit for their social positions.

B. Most of the bright and successful women remained single.

C. The gifted men got full marks on intelligence tests.

D. Most of the gifted appeared satisfied with their life.

The explanation of the underlined part “turning their early promises into practical reality” is _____________.

A. earning their living and keeping promises             

B. doing practical jobs and facing reality

C. doing what they have promised                     

D. realizing what they were expected

Japan's post-World War II value system of diligence, cooperation, and hard work is changing. Recent surveys show that Japanese youth have become a "Me Generation" that rejects traditional values.

"Many Japanese, especially young people, abandoned the values of economic success and began searching for new sets of values to bring them happiness," writes sociologist Yasuhiro Yoshizaki in Comparative Civilizations Review. Japanese youth are placing more importance on the individual's pursuit of happiness and less on the values of work, family, and society. Japanese students seem to be losing patience with work, unlike their counterparts in the United States and Korea. In a recent survey of college students in the three countries, only 10% of the Japanese regarded work as a primary value, compared with 47% of their Korean counterparts and 27% of American students. A greater proportion of Japanese aged 18 to 24 also preferred easy jobs without heavy responsibility.

Concern for family values is waning among younger Japanese as they pursue an inner world of private satisfaction. Data collected by the Japanese government in 2005 shows that only 23% of Japanese youth are thinking about supporting their aged parents, in contrast to 63% of young Americans. It appears that many younger-generation Japanese are losing both respect for their parents and a sense of responsibility to the family. Author Yoshizaki attributes the change to Japanese parents' over-indulgence of their children, material affluence, and growing concern for private matters.

The shift toward individualism among Japanese is most pronounced among the very young. According to 2003 data from the Seimei Hoken Bunka Center of Japan, 75% of Japanese youth aged 16 to 19 can be labeled "self-centered", compared with 53% among those aged 25 to 29. To earn the self-centered label, the young people responded positively to such ideas as "I would like to make decisions without considering traditional values" and "I don't want to do anything I can't enjoy doing".

Diminishing social responsibility, according to Yoshizaki, is tied to the growing interest in pleasure and personal satisfaction. Yoshizaki concludes that the entire value system of Japanese youth is undergoing major transformation, but the younger generation has not yet found a new organized value system to replace the old.

1. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “waning” in paragraph 3?

A. becoming less          B. increasing      C. missing         D. becoming popular

2. What is Yoshizaki’s attitude towards most Japanese parents’ way of parenting?

A. Supportive      B. Negative        C. Satisfied        D. Worried

3. What might be one of the possible reasons of Japanese young people’s change?

A. World War II leaves such a heavy impact on them that they have lost the interest of work.

B. Most of them are the only child at home so they don’t need to work hard.

C. Japanese younger generation place too much emphasis on personal satisfaction and interest now.

D. Most of the younger generation lose the confidence in their own country so they don’t work hard.

4. Why do we say that Japanese youth have become a “Me Generation”?

a. Because they don’t regard a better education a pride.

b. Because a greater proportion of Japanese young people prefer easy jobs without heavy       responsibility.

c. Because most of the teenagers become self-centered according to the 2003 survey.

d. Because only 10% of the Japanese young people regard work as a primary value.

A. a            B. a, b                  C. b, d           D. b, c, d

5. According to the survey, which country’s young people work harder?

A. Japanese          B. Korean              C. American         D. Chinese

信息匹配 (共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分)

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

以下是为留英学生编写的系列留学指南的简介：

A. The number—one guide to what to study in the UK

B. The A to Z of where to study in the UK

C. The essential online guide to UK education

D. The practical guide to making the most of your UK experience

E. New guide to choosing the right UK course

F. The magazine that shows why so many international students choose to study in the UK

以下是留英指南图书或杂志的封面，请匹配封面与其对应的简介：

Ⅱ. Grammar and Vocabulary 25%

Part A: Grammar 16%

25. ______ good knowledge of several languages is essential to ______ study of comparative literature because without it one can read books only in translation.

(The Guardian)：              More UK universities should be profiting from ideas

　　A repeated criticism of the UK's university sector is its noticeable weakness in translating new knowledge into new products and services.

　　Recently, the UK National Stem Cell Network warned the UK could lose its place among the world leaders in stem cell research unless adequate funding and legislation could be assured, despite an annual £40m spent by the Department of Health on all kinds of research.

　　However, we do have to challenge the unthinking complaint that the sector does not do enough in taking ideas to market. The most recent comparative data on the performance of universities and research institutions in Australia, Canada, USA and UK shows that, from a relatively weak starting position, the UK now leads on many indicators of commercialization activity.

　　When viewed at the national level, the policy interventions (interference) of the past decade have helped transformed the performances of UK universities. Evidence suggests the UK's position is much stronger than in the recent past and is still showing improvement. But national data masks the very large variation in the performance of individual universities. The evidence shows that a large number of universities have fallen off the back of the pack, a few perform strongly and the rest chase the leaders.

　　This type of uneven distribution is not strange to the UK and is mirrored across other economies. In the UK, research is concentrated: less than 25% of universities are receiving 75% of the research funding. These same universities are also the institutions producing the greatest share of PhD graduates, science citations, patents and license income. The effect of policies generating long-term resource concentration has also created a distinctive set of universities which are research-led and commercially active. It seems clear that the concentration of research and commercialization work creates differences between universities.

　　The core objective for universities which are research-led must be to maximize the impact of their research efforts. Their purpose is not to generate funds to add to the bottom line of the university or to substitute other income streams. Rather, these universities should be generating the widest range of social, economic and environmental benefits. In return for the scale of investment, they should share their expertise (expert knowledge or skill) in order to build greater confidence in the sector.

　　Part of the economic recovery of the UK will be driven by the next generation of research commercialization spilling out of our universities. On the evidence presented in my report, there are three dozen universities in the UK which are actively engaged in advanced research training and commercialization work.

　　If there was a greater coordination（协调）of technology transfer offices within regions and a simultaneous (happening at the same time) investment in the scale and functions of our graduate schools, universities could, and should, play a key role in positioning the UK for the next growth cycle.

1.What does the author think of UK universities in terms of commercialization?

A．They have lost their leading position in many ways.

B．They still have a place among the world leaders.

C．They do not regard it as their responsibility.

D．They fail to change knowledge into money.

2.What does the author say about the national data on UK universities’ performance in commercialization?

A．It masks the fatal weaknesses of government policy.

B．It indicates their ineffective use of government resources.

C．It does not rank UK universities in a scientific way.

D．It does not reflect the differences among universities.

3.We can infer from Paragraph 5 that “policy interventions (in Paragraph 4)” refers to _____.

A．concentration of resources in a limited number of universities

B．compulsory cooperation between universities and industries

C．government aid to non-research-oriented universities

D．fair distribution of funding for universities and research institutions

4.What dose the author suggest research-led universities do?

A．Fully use their research to benefit all sectors of society.

B．Generously share their facilities with those short of funds.

C．Advertise their research to win international recognition.

D．Spread their influence among top research institutions.