They are forbidden _____, for they are still middle school students.

A. to smoking     B. to smoke       C. smoked         D. smoke

“The price of books for our students is just getting higher and higher and，combined with the rising cost of tuition，it’s killing these students，”said Peter Jason，a college professor．“Remember，students are one of the poorest groups of people in America．Almost half of them have at least one part-time job．In fact，one of my students has three jobs．And she still manages to have high scores and go to school full-time.”
Textbook prices are traditionally high．Adding to that problem，many college teachers change textbooks year after year；they either upgrade to a new edition or switch to an entirely different textbook．This further hurts students because if an instructor no longer uses a particular textbook，that book has no resale value．
Dr．Jason decided to make lire a little easier and a lot cheaper for his students by writing his own book on public speaking．“Many books have an increased price because of CD-ROMs，lots of color photographs and pictures．I talked to my students，and many of them，like me，prefer to keep things simple! So，a few years ago，I wrote my own textbook．Compared to most other public speaking books，mine is half the number of pages，and one-third the price．That is，$30 instead of $90．When I wrote a second edition last year，students only had to buy the 35 new pages, For only $7．00，they had almost a new book. Now my loose-leaf textbook enjoys great popularity among the students．Maybe in the future more writers and publishers will try it．”   
【小题1】What did Dr. Jason say about students at college?

Strange things were happening in the  51  in northeast Hebei Province. For three days the   52   in the village wells rose and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep  53  in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide. Fish jumped out of ponds. People saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could be heard outside Tangshan even when no  54   were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst. But the one million people of the city, who thought little of these events, went to bed  55   that night.

At 3:42 am everything began to  56  . It seemed that the world was at an end! Eleven kilometers directly below the city the greatest earthquake of the 20th century  57  . It was heard in Beijing, which is one hundred kilometers away. One-third of the nation felt it. A huge crack that was eight kilometers long and thirty meters   58   cut across houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen   59   seconds a large city lay in ruins. Two-thirds of the people died or were injured during the   60  . Thousands of families were killed and many children were left without parents. The   61   of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000.

But how could the   62   believe it was natural? Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed. All of the city’s hospitals, 75% of its factories and buildings and 90% of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however, could blow them away. Two dams fell and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for   63  . The railway tracks were now useless pieces of   64  . Tens of thousands of cows would never give   65   again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens had died. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were   66  . Then, later that afternoon, another big quake shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More buildings fell down. Water, food, and electricity were   67   to get. People began to wonder how long the disaster would last.

All hope was not lost. The army sent 150,000   68   to Tangshan to help the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people were   69  . The army organized teams to dig out those who were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10.000 miners were rescued from the coalmines. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train, truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to   70   again.

A. city           B. school      C. bookstore        D. countryside

A. fish           B. water      C. pigs             D. chicken

A. cracks         B. holes       C. pictures          D. colours

A. cars          B. truck       C. ship          D. planes

A. as usual         B. as follows C. as to            D. as for

A. run            B. fly          C. shake           D. stop

A. ended        B. continued C. began           D. went

A. high          B. wide        C. round           D. away

A. terrible             B. lovely       C. happy            D. ordinary

A. meeting       B. class         C. rain          D. earthquake

A. number       B. house       C. money          D. goods

A. workers      B. teachers          C. survivors         D. death

A. playing       B. digging     C. sleeping        D. traveling

A. wood         B. plastics     C. steel            D. paper

A. milk        B. water        C. Cola             D. birth

A. pleased        B. shocked    C. frightened        D. interested

A. hard       B. easy             C. ready            D. expensive

A. volunteers    B. soldiers     C. farmers         D. students

A. helped         B. killed       C. injured         D. trapped

A. shake         B. die        C. build            D. breathe

In the past, people who graduated from college felt proud of their academic achievement and confident that their degree would help them find a good job.

    However, in the past four years the job market has changed dramatically. This year’s college graduates are facing one of the worst job markets in years. For example, Ryan Stewart, a graduate of San Jose University, got a degree in religious studies, but no job prospects. He points out that many people already working are getting laid off and don’t have jobs, so it’s even harder for new college graduates to find jobs.

    Four years ago, the future looked bright for the class of 2003. There were many high-tech job opportunities. Graduates received many job offers, and they were able to get jobs with high salaries and benefits such as insurance and paid vacations. However, “Times have changed and it’s a new market,” according to Cheryl Allmen- Vinnidge of the San Jose State Career Center.

    Allmen-Vinniage says students who do find jobs started preparing two years ago. They worked during summer vacations, they have had several internships（实习）, and they’ve majored in one of the few fields that are still hot, like chemical engineering, accounting, or nursing, where average starting salaries have actually increased over last year. Other popular fields (like information system management, computer science, and political science) have seen big declines in starting salaries.

    Ryan Stewart (he had hoped to become a teacher) may just end up going back to school. “I’d like to teach college some day and that requires more schooling, which would be great in bad economy.” he said.

    In conclusion, these days, to some students a degree may not be a ticket to instant wealth. For now, they can only hope its value will increase over time.

The word in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.

A. skill                         B. interests                   C. opportunities                   D. applications

Which of the following majors can get a job easily?

A. teaching                   B. accounting                C. political science               D. computer science

The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means ________.

A. the best way to get rich is not to get a college degree                                       

B. most students with degrees will not be able to find jobs

C. having a college degree does not qualify one for travel discounts         

D. a college degree does not mean that one will find a well-paid job

Ryan Stewart will have to ________.

A. change his major                                       B. get a job teaching   

C. go back to school                                       D. become a religious leader

The main idea of this passage is that ________.

A. a lot of graduates are losing their jobs    

B. Ryan Stewart has not been able to find a job

C. salaries in some fields have increased in the past year                                

D. the job market has changed dramatically over the past 4 years

"USA? Britain? Which country is better to study in?" We often hear such discussions. As China opens its doors, studying abroad has become a dream for many Chinese students. They want to learn about the world.
It's true that studying abroad can help students develop themselves. Language skills will improve and it may be easier to find jobs.
But there are problems that should be considered(考虑). Language is the first. Students must spend a lot of time learning another language and getting used to a different culture.
Students must also learn to live without parents' care and deal with all kinds of things they haven't had to do before, like looking after themselves. There are reports about Chinese students abroad sinking into an ocean of difficulties and giving up easily. When they have to take care of themselves, it is hard for students to study well.
Finally, studying abroad brings a heavy burden(负担) to the family. For most Chinese parents, the cost of studying abroad is very high. But is it worth it?
We know that there are many famous people who succeed in great things through their hard work in China. Liu Xiang is a good example. Once an American teacher invited him there but he refused. He kept training hard with his Chinese teacher. He surprised the world when he won a gold medal(金牌) at the Athens Olympics. So when you wonder which country is better to study in, consider whether studying abroad is the right choice(选择).
【小题1】From the passage, we learn that many Chinese students dream about studying abroad to __________.