“The more you learn, the more you earn,” said the pop singer Cyndi Lauper as she accepted her high school diploma(证书) , at the age of 35 ! Although Cyndi made it without a high school degree, most people don't. In the USA today, about 75% of jobs need some education or technical training further than high school. The lowest wage earners in the USA are those without high school degrees; college graduates(毕业生) outearn those without a college education. People with master's degrees（硕士学位）outearn those with only a bachelor (学士学位); and the highest incomes of all are earned by people with advanced professional or academic degrees. These generalizations explain why most of young Americans go to college. However, despite the averages, more diplomas don't always mean more money. Many skilled blue-collar workers, salespeople, business executives, and entrepreneurs(企业家)outearn college professors and scientific researchers. And great athletes and entertainers outearn everyone else!

1.Cyndi Lauper ______. 

A．had been studying in high school before she was thirty-five

B．wasn't clever because she graduated from high school too late

C．got her high school diploma when she was already thirty-five

D．didn't like studying

2.According to the passage,______.

A．high school diploma and high school degree are the same thing

B．people can't get both high school diploma and degree

C．people must get both high school diploma and degree

D．people can get both high school diploma and degree or either

3.Why do most American young people go to college?

A．Because their parents force them to go to college.

B．Because they can't get a job if they don't go to college.

C．Because the situation of the society make them go to college.

D．Because they like studying.

4.What may the underlined word “outearn” mean?

A．Earning more money.                    B．Earning less money.

C．Earning no money.                       D．Working better.

5.Which of the following is right?

A．If you don't have a diploma, you can't earn money.

B．Those who have diplomas always earn more money than those who don't have diplomas.

C．Less diplomas always mean less money.

D．Great athletes may earn more money than other people.

I returned to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, after graduation. I had been there before my mother became a minister.  Two weeks later, I told my mother I was bored. She said, “Here’re the car keys. Go and buy some fruit.” ____ 1____, I jumped into the car and speeded off.

Seeing me or rather my ___ 2____, a boy sprang up（跳起来），   3__ to sell his bananas and peanuts. “Banana 50 naira. Peanut 200 naira!” Looking at his black-striped bananas, I    4__ to 200 total for the fruit and nuts. He    5__ . I handed him a 500 naira note. He didn’t have    6__ , so I told him not to worry. He was    7__ and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

When, two weeks later, I    8__ this same boy, I was more aware of my position in Nigerian society. I should    9__ this country as the son of a    10___. But it was hare to find pleasure in a place where it was so    11___ to see a little boy who should have been in school selling fruit.

“What’s up?” I asked. He answered in    12___ English, “I … I no get money o buy book.” I took out two 500 naira notes. He looked around    13___ before sticking his hand into the car    14___ the bills. One thousand naira means a lot to a family that    15___ only 50,000 each year.

The next morning, security officers told me, “In this place, when you give a little, people think you’re a fountain of opportunity（机会）.”    16__ it’s right, but this happens everywhere in the world. I wondered if my little friend had actually used the money for    17___. After six months’ work in northern Nigeria, I returned and saw him again standing on the road.  “Are you in school now?” He nodded. A silence fell as we looked at each other, then I    18___ what he wanted. I held out a 500 naira note. “Take this.”  He shook his head fiercely and stepped back    19__ hurt.  “It’s a gift.” I said. Shaking his head again, he handed me a basket of bananas and peanuts. “I’ve been waiting to     20___ these to you.”

A. Encouraged     B. Disappointed  C. Delighted   D. confused

A. car   B. mother   C. driver   D. keys

A. willing   B. afraid   C. eager   D. ashamed

A. got down  B. bargained down  C. put down  D. took down

A. explained   B. promised   C. agreed   D. admitted

A. change   B. notes   C. checks   D. bills

A. troubled  B. regretful  C. comfortable  D. grateful

A. ran after  B. ran into  C. ran over  D. ran to

A. protect  B. enjoy  C. help   D. support

A. minister  B. headmaster  C. manager  D. president

A. lucky  B. amazing  C. funny   D. common

A. old  B. broken   C. traditional  D. modern

A. proudly  B. madly   C. curiously  D. nervously

A. for   B. with   C. at   D. upon

A. spends   B. pays   C. makes   D. affords

A. possibly  B. actually  C. certainly  D. fortunately

A. joys   B. nuts   C. books   D. bananas

A. asked   B. imagined  C. reminded  D. realized

A. when   B. as if   C. even if   D. after

A. send   B. provide   C. sell    D. give

Wherever in the world you’re reading this right now, you will be aware of just how mixed modern society has become in terms of race. Within the UK, mixed-raced children are the largest   1  ethnic minority. Bringing home a partner of a different   2  to yourself is no longer viewed as, “strange” or “different” in a lot of families. When Joseph brought home Hari, the   3  that she was of Indian parentage was never even talked about — she made him happy. They made each other happy. And that was all that   4 .
But the reason why they were together for 11 years before they got   5  is that Hari was afraid of telling her   6  about the person that she’d fallen in love with. She was afraid of the consequences it would   7  for her younger sisters. Would they be packed off to India? Would they end up in arranged   8  they may not want? At 22 years old, when she first fell in love with him — it was a large burden to   9 .
But she loved him, and   10  they moved in together… and then bought a house by the Brighton coast, where they have   11  for almost 8 years. All the while her parents didn’t know. Her sisters did, and they too loved Joseph — they   12  him as the brother they’d never had.
But after nine years together, she finally had to tell her father (her mother   13  away a few years ago). We were on tenderhooks（惶恐不安）the weekend she went up North to tell him.
It was emotional and as a family we were worried. Hari had been   14  of our family for so long, we felt for her. We knew how   15  it would be. She loved her father, but knew this would hurt him, who was a very traditional Sikh man.

I tend to accept any idea put forward by experts on TV. One day, a sociologist proposed that the   31  society has been consuming modern humans little by little. For fear that I would become a victim of the consumer society, I   32  hurried to a bicycle shop in my neighborhood.   33  the shopkeeper Mr. Johnson was selling me the bicycle, he said, “This is the best thing you   34  have done. Life has become hopelessly   35  . A bicycle is simple, and it brings to you   36  things: fresh air, sunshine and exercise.” I agreed. Happy as a child, I got on the bicycle and headed out onto the streets. After some time, I   37   at the other end of the town. I was   38   that this simple vehicle could let me   39   long distances in a fairly short time. But how   40  did I really go?
Since I hated to be   41  , I went back to Mr. Johnson and asked him to   42  an odometer (里程表) on my bicycle. He agreed, but   43  , “An odometer without a speedometer (速度计) is like a   44  without a knife.” I admitted he was right and in a few minutes, the two devices (装置) were   45  to the handlebars of my bicycle. “What about a horn?” he then asked. “Look, this horn is no larger than a matchbox and has many   46  .” Attracted by these functions, I bought the horn.
“You can’t leave the back part   47  ,” noted Mr. Johnson. He fixed a metal box with buttons   48  the seat, and said, “Is there anything better than this oven when you feel   49   on your way? I can give you a special discount.” I was not strong enough to   50   the offer.
“I congratulate you once more; this is the best thing you could have done,” said Mr. Johnson in the end.

"Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television?" How often we hear statements like this! Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admit the one-eyed monster into our homes,  we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theaters, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talk occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the "goggle-box". We rush home or gulp down（吞咽）our meals to be in time for this or that program. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do-anything providing it doesn't interfere with the program. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a program, he is quickly silenced.
The whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly (television). Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly is universal pacifier（抚慰者）．It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.It doesn’t matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or violence－so long as they are quiet.
There is little limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of programs are bad:  it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programs,  the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate（无文字的）communities. We become completely dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with secondhand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We got so lazy; we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountain, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the repetitive oppression of King Telly.
【小题1】According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?