You were _______ to take your shoes off when you entered the school lab, but you didn’t.

     A. invited                 B. supposed      C. selected             D. approved

第二部分：阅读理解 (共45分)

第一节（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项

A

If you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy in recent years, you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial crisis. From there, you might move on to the automakers in Detroit.

But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee(被提名): public education.

At its top level, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world. Yet in terms of its core mission(核心使命)---turning teenagers into educated college graduates--- much of the system is failing.

The United States does a good job enrolling (招生) teenagers in college, but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree.

So identifying the causes of the college dropout crisis in the world’s largest economy matters enormously, and a new book called “Crossing the Finish Line” tries to do precisely that. Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael McPherson, and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chingos. The first problem they diagnose is something they call under-matching. It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into. They instead go to a less selective one, perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive. About half of the low-income students with an average of at least 3.5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have. “I was really astonished by the degree to which well-qualified students from poor families under-matched,” said Mr. Bowen.

In fact, well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates. Meanwhile, lower-income students -–even when they are better qualified—often go to colleges that excel（擅长）in producing drop-outs. “It’s really a waste,” Mr. Bowen said, “and a big problem for the country.” As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate significantly is to lift it among poor and working-class students. Instead, it appears to have fallen.

What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer.

41.Which of the following would people first think of as a factor responsible for the American financial crisis according to this passage?

A. The government.                      B. Public education

C. The Detroit automakers.                       D. The Wall Street firms.

42. What is a big problem with American higher education?

A. It is hard to enroll enough students into college.

B. Many colleges are experiencing low rate of graduation.

C. Many college students stay away from classes.

D. It is hard for many colleges to get financial aid from the government. 

43. The title of the book Crossing the Finish Line probably means______.

A. running to the end of the line                B. going to college

C. finishing college education                    D. working hard in college

44. Why do some students under--match ?

A. Because they have financial difficulty.  B. Because they face ambition crisis.

C. Because they lack confidence.             D. Because they can’t get guidance.

45. The passage is mainly about _______.

A. problems with secondary American education and possible solutions

B. America’s financial crisis, its cause and influence

C. low rate of American college graduation, its cause and its influence

D. relationship between American education and its economy

C
BCAC
If you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy in recent years, you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial crisis．From there, you might move on to the automakers in Detroit．
But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee: public education．
At its top level, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world．Yet in terms of its core mission---turning teenagers into educated college graduates--- much of the system is failing．
The United States does a good job enrolling （招生） teenagers in college, but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree．
So identifying the causes of the college dropout crisis in the world’s largest economy matters enormously, and a new book called “Crossing the Finish Line” tries to do precisely that．Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael McPherson, and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chingos．The first problem they diagnose is something they call under-matching．It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into．They instead go to a less selective one, perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive．About half of the low-income students with a grade-point average of at least 3．5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have．“I was really astonished by the degree to which well-qualified students from poor families under-matched,” said Mr．Bowen．
In fact, well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates．Meanwhile, lower-income students -–even when they are better qualified—often go to colleges that excel（擅长）in producing drop-outs．“It’s really a waste,” Mr．Bowen said, “and a big problem for the country．” As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate significantly is to lift it among poor and working-class students．Instead, it appears to have fallen．
What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer．
63.  Which of the following would people first think of as a factor responsible for the American financial crisis according to this passage?
A．The government．           B．Public education
C．The Detroit automakers．   D．The Wall Street firms．
64．What is a big problem with American higher education?
A．It is hard to enroll enough students into college．
B．Many colleges are experiencing low rate of graduation．
C．Many college students stay away from classes．
D．It is hard for many colleges to get financial aid from the government．
65．The title of the book Crossing the Finish Line probably means______．
A．running to the end of the line        B．going to college
C．finishing college education     D．working hard in college
66．Why do some students under--match ?
A．Because they have financial difficulty．       B．Because they face ambition crisis．
C．Because they lack confidence．         D．Because they can’t get guidance．
67．The passage is mainly about _______．
A．problems with secondary American education and possible solutions
B．America’s financial crisis, its cause and influence
C．low rate of American college graduation, its cause and its influence
D．relationship between American education and its economy

The following conversation is between Susan Russell-Robinson from the US Geological （地质学的）Survey and Barbara Reynolds from USA Today .

Q: Why , after 600 years of no activity , did Mount Pinatubo in Philippines erupt（喷发）in 1991 ?

A: Volcanoes （火山）each have their own eruption styles . This volcano probably has a rule which makes it erupt in the order of every 500 to 1000 years , but a volcano in Hawaii seems to erupt every year , and some of the Alaskan volcanoes might erupt every 10 or 20 years .

Q: So nothing caused it ?

A: There’s nothing out of the ordinary . If you were to take an ordinary calendar year , 50 to 75 or 80 volcanoes erupt around the world every year . There are 20 to 30 volcanoes every month that show signs of unrest . That might be a full-blown eruption or a whole host of activities like that .

Q: What is “the ring of fire” ?

A: If you look at where active volcanoes are placed around the world , there are somewhere between 500 and 600 of them . There is what appears to be almost a necklace that goes around the Pacific Ocean . It makes a ring where 60% of the world’s volcanoes lie .

Q: Why such a concentration（集中）there ?

A: That’s based on a theory that the oceans and the continents are like separate pieces . When continents and when that happens it seems to produce magma（熔岩）at depth and then you have volcanoes in the same ring .

1.What kind of writing do you think this passage is ?

A．A text taken from a geography book .           

B．An interview published in the press .

C．A conversation carried out in a film .             

D．An oral test recorded as an example .

2.Which of the following statements can correctly explain why we have so many volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean ?

A．The movement of the surface of the earth makes it possible.         

B．The Pacific Ocean produces magma and presses it everywhere.

     C．The oceans and the continents are separated from each other.

     D．The earth’s surface around the Pacific is thinner than any other part.

3.Barbara Reynolds’ main purpose here is          .

A．to show how dangerous volcanoes are to the world

     B．to learn what signs a volcano gives us before its eruption

     C．to warn the world of the existence of “the ring of fire”

     D．to introduce some general idea of volcanoes to the public

4.Which of the following can be considered as the best conclusion of the conversation?

A．There are so many volcanoes in the world and we are always in danger.

     B．Volcanoes have erupted more frequently than ever before.

     C．Volcanoes are waiting to be better known.

D．Something must be done to protect the people near the ring of fire.