May the first is an important date in the college admission process in the United States．This is the last day for high school seniors to accept or reject offers of admission in the fall．But according to a recent report, there is a great change. Acceptance rates at the top colleges this year were lower than ever.   

These days, college applicants are applying to more colleges because online and common applications make the process easier.     On the other hand, deciding students for top colleges to accept can be difficult because it takes much time. Students may not like being put on waiting lists. Also, common colleges work more to get the students they accept to accept them. Some colleges hold visiting days that offer a chance to attend classes and stay overnight. Some universities send gifts.    

For many families, the most important thing colleges can do is show them the money, especially this year; the weak economy makes parents nervous.     The recent problems that spread from the housing market to credit markets have even affected student’s loans. So lately, top schools have to spare lots of money to increase their financial aid for students.

   The Education Department expects the number of high school graduates to start to go down. This will happen as the last of the children of the baby boom generation finishes high school. The number is not expected to start rising again until 2015.

A. Besides, top colleges are facing changes in the population.

B. What contributes to it?

C. But a mistake can be costly if it happens.

D. But top colleges ignore them.

E. They have international students who know English.

F. It can mean several acceptances to choose from.

G. They cannot afford college as planned.

The dictionary published by Oxford University Press recently has really ______ because it is of great use to the learners of English.

A. taken away       B. taken down       C. taken off          D. taken out

 Obviously, the old soldier’s knowledge of English＿＿＿very weak.

A.seems     B.rised     C.remained     D.looked

短文改错 （共10小题； 每小题1分，满分10分）

短文中共有10处语言错误。错误涉及到添加、删除或修改。

添加：在缺词处加符号Λ，并在其下面写出该加的词。删除：把多余的词用／划掉

修改：在错词下面划个横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

Attention please, everyone!

       About 50 students from American will come to our school for the visit on October 4th,

Sunday. Our class will greet them. We will meet at the school gate at 8:40 am and giving them a

warm welcome. They will arrive at 9:00 am, and then we will show the American students to the

schoolyard, the lab building or the teaching building. There will have a friendly basketball game

on the playground at 10:00. we will leave our schools at 11:00. We should polite to our guests

and talk with them in the English.

That’s all. Thank you.

The average person learns most of the 30 000～40 000 words whose meanings he or she recognizes by hearing them or getting familiar with them in the context or simply absorbing them without conscious(意识到的) effort. The best way to build a good vocabulary, therefore, is to read a great deal and to participate in a lot of good talks. There are relatively few words that we learn permanently(永久的)by purposefully referring to dictionaries or keeping word lists. However, even those extra few are of value, and no one will make a mistake by working on developing a larger vocabulary. Here are some suggestions of how to do it.

Read plenty of good books. When you come across a new word, or a new meaning of an old word, stop and see if you can understand it from its context. If you can't, and if you can manage without interrupting the thought of the book too much, look it up in a dictionary or ask somebody and then repeat its meaning to yourself a couple of times. If you are really conscientious(认真的), write the word and its meaning in a personal vocabulary list — preferably using it in a sentence, or you can keep a special vocabulary notebook. Go over the list from time to time. Further, try to use a new word in writing or conversation a few times over the next several days.

Listen to good talks and be alert to new words you hear or to new meanings of words you already know. Then treat them just as you treat the new words you read.

Learn and be alert to the parts of words: prefixes, suffixes and roots. Knowing them enables you to make intelligent guesses about the meaning of words.

If you are studying a foreign language, be alert to words in that language which relate to words in English. English has inherited(继承) or borrowed much of its vocabulary of 500 000～600 000 words from Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and German.

When you meet a new word in reading, what should you do?

A. Guess its meaning.                       B. Ask somebody.

C. Look it up in a dictionary.                     D. All of the above.

According to this passage, the best way to build a good vocabulary is _______.

A. to remember a lot                          B. to read a great deal

C. to take part in a lot of good talks            D. both B and C

The phrase “be alert to” in the third paragraph may best be replaced by “_______”.

A. look at                                        B. pay attention to 

C. write down                                  D. learn by heart

In the fourth paragraph, the word “them” refers to _______.

A. the parts of words                          B. prefixes

C. suffixes                                         D. roots