You're busy filling out the application form for a position you really need. Let's assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn't it appealing to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University? More and more people are turning to cheat like this to land their job or to move ahead in their careers, for personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.

Registrars（登记员） at most well-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one per week. Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms, then. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are unwilling to accuse the applicant directly. One Ivy League school calls them "cheats"; another refers to them as "special cases". One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says that these claims are made by "no such people". To avoid outright(彻底的) lies, some job-seekers claim that they "attending" means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that "being associated with" a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century—that's when they began keeping records, anyhow. If you don't want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a false diploma.

　　One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of nonexistent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from "Smoot State University". The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the "University of Purdue". As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.

The main idea of this passage is that ______.

　　A. employers are checking more closely on applicants now

　　B. lying about college degrees has become a widespread problem

　　C. college degrees can now be purchased easily

　　D. employers are no longer interested in college degrees

According to the passage, "special cases" refers to cases that ______.

　　A. students attend a school only part-time

　　B. students never attended a school they listed on their application

　　C. students purchase false degrees from commercial firms

　　D. students attended a famous school

We can infer from the passage that _______.

　　A. performance is a better judge of ability than a college degree

　　B. experience is the best teacher

　　C. past work histories influence personnel officers more than degrees do

　　D. a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage over others in job competition

This passage implies that ______.

　　A. buying a false degree is not moral

　　B. personnel officers only consider applicants from famous schools

　　C. most people lie on applications because they were dismissed from school

D. society should be greatly responsible for lying on applications

Recently we’ve observed an increasing request from disadvantaged and regional schools for attending one of our zoo areas at no cost or partly paid some organizations. Zoos Victoria believes that all children should have the opportunity to have an early memory of visiting the zoo, and gain an understanding of the wild and natural world that humans share with animals. Zoos Victoria wins the support of the Ian Potter Foundation to help achieve this goal.

Funding available for schools to enter an educational program at Zoos Victoria in 2012

Applications are open from November 23, 2011 to February 12, 2012.

Children from disadvantaged and originally isolated schools are provided with the opportunity to visit the zoo and attend an interactive education experience at no charge.

The program objectives are:

·To start developing “environmentalists” within low social and economic groups.

What is covered under the program?

·Travel to the zoo — transport costs will be partly or fully paid back to the school on the basis of the number of children applied for the program.

·Student entry to one area of Zoos Victoria and an educational experience.

Which schools are able to take part in the program?

·Open to schools in Victoria.

·Consideration will be given to schools that have not previously been able to enter one of our zoo areas, list as “disadvantaged” ones or come from regionally isolated areas.

·Able to visit an area of Zoos Victoria within the 2012 school year.

·Applications must be supported by the school principal.

·Able to complete a short evaluation（评估，评价）of the program.

How to apply for the program?

·Download the application forms.

·Complete all the details, including a signature from your principal and attaching a quote for transport costs.

·Return the application forms to Margaret Harwood at Zoos Victoria by email to mharwood@zoo.org.au or by post to PO Box 74, Parkville, VIC 3052.

·Please contact Margaret Harwood at 03 9285 9462, if there are any further questions.

59. Zoos Victoria wanted to help students in disadvantaged and regional schools _______.

　 A. take action to protect wildlife in isolated areas

　 B. develop a passion for wildlife and nature

　 C. raise money for wildlife in the zoo

　 D. learn more about plants and animals in the wild

60. Whether your transport costs are free or partly charged depends on _______.

　 A. if you have a deep ecological understanding

　 B. what connections you build with nature

　 C. how many applications there are for the program

　 D. which area of Zoos Victoria you will visit

61. Which of the following schools is most likely to take part in the program?

　 A. A disadvantaged school in New York.　 B. A school from an isolated area of Victoria.

　 C. A poor private adult school in America.　 D. A school with a lack of wildlife education.

62. To be qualified for the program, you have to _______.

A. come from a school near Zoos Victoria　

B. pay a visit to Zoos Victoria all the year round

C. get your parents’ support for the application　

D. make a short comment on the program

Mount Ebenczer is in the center of Australia. Not many people live in “The Centre”. There are no schools with desks and blackboards and no teachers in “The Centre”. School is a room at home with a two-way radio. The teacher also has a two-way radio. Every morning she calls each student on the radio. When all the students answer, lessons begin. Think of your teacher 300 miles away!

1. The children in “The Centre” do not go to a school because_______.

A. they live too far away from each other

B. they do not like school

C. they are not old enough to go to school

D. their families are too poor

2. In order to send their children to school, parents in “The Centre” of Australia need to provide_______.

A. a desk　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. a car

C. a school room at home　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. a special radio

3. Teachers in “The Centre” of Australia teach_______.

A. not in a classroom but at the homes of the students

B. by speaking only and not showing anything in writing

C. without using any textbooks or pictures

D. without knowing whether the students are attending

4. When children are having a lesson, they can hear their teacher, _______.

A. but their teacher cannot hear them

B. and their teacher can hear them too

C. but cannot hear classmates

D. and see him or her at the same time