A group of 1,309 passengers boarded the MS Balmoral on Sunday, in Southampton, England, on a voyage to retrace (重走) the path of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest ship in the world when it sailed on its ill-fated first voyage on April 10, 1912. Of the 2,227 passengers and crew aboard, more than l,500 died. The ship, which was headed for New York City, carried the rich and famous on its first voyage. It also carried immigrants who were seeking a better life in America.
Relatives of people who sailed on the Titanic, historians, authors and people fascinated by the story of the unsinkable ship were on the Balmoral. They wanted to remember the Titanic and those who died on her first and last voyage.
The Balmoral was following Titanic’s original route from Southampton. First, the modern-day cruise liner docked (进港) in the port of Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic had picked up more passengers. On Monday afternoon, the Balmoral stopped in Cobh, Ireland, the Titanic’s last port of call before sailing to New York.
The Balmoral then sailed the North Atlantic Ocean to the location where the Titanic hit an iceberg. On Sunday, April 15, at 2:20 a.m. — the time the Titanic went down － passengers and crew held a memorial service. The next two days were spent in Halifax, Canada, where many victims of the Titanic are buried. Then, the Balmoral reached its final destination in New York City, where the Titanic was supposed to dock — but never did.
So far, several teams of divers have explored the site. They have recovered items such as dishes and silverware and put them on public display. And the Titanic and its passengers and crew have been remembered in books, movies and TV programs. But there’s a much more important contribution that the Titanic has given us. After she sank, lawmakers and ship builders made ships safer. It took a terrible tragedy to make ship travel safer for all.
【小题1】We learn from the first paragraph that _____.

When next year’s crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall, they will be joined by a new face: Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost (教务长) of Yale, who will become Oxford’s vice-chancellor –– a position equal to university president in America.
Hamilton isn’t the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc. have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Yet the talent flow isn’t universal. High-level personnel (人员) tend to head in only one direction: Outward from America.
The chief reason is that American schools don’t tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university’s budget. “We didn’t do any global consideration,” says Patricia Hayes, the board’s chair. The board finally picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a particularly American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.
Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student numbers. The decline in government support has made fund-raising an increasingly necessary ability among administrators (管理人员), and has made hiring committees hungry for Americans.
In the past few years, well-known schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2011, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen (监督) “ a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position”.
Of course, fund-raising isn’t the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind to promote international programs and attract a global student body. Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective (视角) on established practices.
【小题1】 What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the text?

When next year’s crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall, they will be joined by a new face: Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost (教务长) of Yale, who will become Oxford’s vice-chancellor –– a position equal to university president in America.
Hamilton isn’t the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc. have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Yet the talent flow isn’t universal. High-level personnel (人员) tend to head in only one direction: Outward from America.
The chief reason is that American schools don’t tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university’s budget. “We didn’t do any global consideration,” says Patricia Hayes, the board’s chair. The board finally picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a particularly American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.
Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student numbers. The decline in government support has made fund-raising an increasingly necessary ability among administrators (管理人员), and has made hiring committees hungry for Americans.
In the past few years, well-known schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2011, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen (监督) “ a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position” .
Of course, fund-raising isn’t the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind to promote international programs and attract a global student body. Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective (视角) on established practices.
【小题1】What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the text?

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
I found the imagination of becoming a grandmother somewhat discouraging. I was younger than I thought a grandmother should be when I got the news that I was going to become one myself. I admit, it was not a role that I was emotionally ready to accept. I had been a young mother, and had certainly hoped my daughter would not face that same challenge. I remarried when she was a teenager, and then had two more children. On getting the news that she was expecting(怀孕), I remember thinking “What do I know about being a grandmother? —I haven’t even finished raising my own kids yet!” I don’t like to be unprepared, so I read a few books about grandparenting. That gave me a little help, but I was still uncertain. I thought about other grandmothers I knew, and got a few ideas I liked and a few more that I didn’t. But I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of grandmother I wanted to be. Then I thought about my own grandmother, Granny, as she’s known by most people, and I knew I had the answer.
I didn’t realize it until that moment, but my own grandmother was the example for the kind of grandmother I wanted to be. I am fortunate that I got to spend a lot of time with my grandparents when I was a little kid. Here is what I learned from my Granny：
Grandmothers always have a cookie jar. For my whole life, Granny always had a cookie jar full of cookies. When I was a little tiny girl, just at eye level with the counter, Granny would get the cookie jar down for me. When I was a little older I learned how to pull the chair over so I could reach. As I got taller, if I really stretched, I could reach the cookie jar with my finger tips and move it close enough to get it down off the counter to find out what kind of treat was inside. Always the first thing I did when I went to Granny’s house was check the cookie jar, and there were always cookies in it. Many years later, I’ll drive my own children to Granny’s house and the first thing to do is get us all a cookie.
So grandmothers must have a cookie jar, and on my granddaughter’ s first Christmas，my daughter bought me my own cookie jar. She said when they came to see me，her daughter would find the treat the way she did and I did.
【小题1】The writer thought it was a little discouraging to be a grandmother because________.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

I found the imagination of becoming a grandmother somewhat discouraging. I was younger than I thought a grandmother should be when I got the news that I was going to become one myself. I admit, it was not a role that I was emotionally ready to accept. I had been a young mother, and had certainly hoped my daughter would not face that same challenge. I remarried when she was a teenager, and then had two more children. On getting the news that she was expecting(怀孕), I remember thinking “What do I know about being a grandmother? —I haven’t even finished raising my own kids yet!” I don’t like to be unprepared, so I read a few books about grandparenting. That gave me a little help, but I was still uncertain. I thought about other grandmothers I knew, and got a few ideas I liked and a few more that I didn’t. But I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of grandmother I wanted to be. Then I thought about my own grandmother, Granny, as she’s known by most people, and I knew I had the answer.

I didn’t realize it until that moment, but my own grandmother was the example for the kind of grandmother I wanted to be. I am fortunate that I got to spend a lot of time with my grandparents when I was a little kid. Here is what I learned from my Granny：

Grandmothers always have a cookie jar. For my whole life, Granny always had a cookie jar full of cookies. When I was a little tiny girl, just at eye level with the counter, Granny would get the cookie jar down for me. When I was a little older I learned how to pull the chair over so I could reach. As I got taller, if I really stretched, I could reach the cookie jar with my finger tips and move it close enough to get it down off the counter to find out what kind of treat was inside. Always the first thing I did when I went to Granny’s house was check the cookie jar, and there were always cookies in it. Many years later, I’ll drive my own children to Granny’s house and the first thing to do is get us all a cookie.

So grandmothers must have a cookie jar, and on my granddaughter’ s first Christmas，my daughter bought me my own cookie jar. She said when they came to see me，her daughter would find the treat the way she did and I did.

1.The writer thought it was a little discouraging to be a grandmother because________.

2.The underlined phrase “that same challenge ” in the first paragraph refers to “________”

3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that________.

4.What kind of grandmother did the writer want to be?

5.Which of the following can be the best title of this text?