7 January, 2014

A new report says more and more international students are attending colleges and universities in the United States. It also notes a large increase in the number of international students from China.

These findings are from the latest Open Doors Report. The report documents the record number of international students in the United States during 2012, 2013 school year. It says more than seven hundred sixty-four thousand four-hundred such students were attending American colleges and universities during the last two years. That represents an increase of almost six percent than one year earlier.

On the other hand, the number of Americans studying overseas (海外) increased by one percent, which reached nineteen thousand this year.

The report says one hundred ninety-four thousand students at American colleges and universities were from

China. That is an increase of more than twenty-three percent over the year before. Peggy Blumenthal, an expert(专家) of international education, described the effect of the increase in Chinese students.

"Now they have been coming for some time. But this year was the highest level ever." She says many Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children. The children mainly choose to study in America.

"We know many of them have enough income to be able to afford to send them anywhere in the world that they want to go. And for the most part, looking around the world, Chinese students still prefer to come to the United States as their choice."

Chinese students are not the only ones who want to attend American colleges and universities. After China, India sends the second largest number of students to the United States for higher education. India has about one hundred thousand students in American schools. South Korea is third with about seventy two thousand students.

Why do so many foreign students study in the United States? Peggy Blumenthal provides one reason.

Can you imagine a world without the Internet? It’s surprising to think about it. Now, China has more than 162 million Internet users, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre. This is the second largest number of users in the world after the United States. Today, 66% of Chinese “netizens(网民)” are teenagers. “They spend about thirteen hours every week online,” said Qian Hulin, an Internet expert. Doctor Song in Beijing Xuanwu Hospital said about 14% of Chinese netizens who are teens often went on playing online games for over ten hours.

The main reasons why teenagers surf the web are to search for information, to communicate with others and to have fun. On the Internet, teenagers can find out almost anything. And surfing the web can help students with their homework and widen their knowledge.

Li Dong, a teacher at No. 41 Middle School in Shijiazhuang, is for her students using the Internet. “When we talk in class, students who surf the Net usually know more background information than the others,” she said.

In addition, people can use the Internet to write letters or stories and send emails. Many teens keep in touch with their friends online. It is cheaper than phoning somebody far away and also much quicker.

1.______ has the most Internet users in the world according to this article.

A. China    B. America      C. Canada     D. Russia

2.There are about ____Chinese netizens to surf the web about 13 hours every week.

A. 107 million old    B. 22.7 million old   

C. 107 million young   D. 22.7 million young

3.Doctor Song said some teenagers continued ________ more than ten hours.

A. playing online games    

B. searching for information 

C. chatting with their friends  

D. sending emails to others

4.Li Dong in No.41 Middle School is for her students using the Internet because she _       .

A. thinks surfing the Net can help students spend less time on homework

B. thinks the students surfing the Net can get more background information than the others

C. wants her students to talk to her about their hobbies and interests

D. wants to know what her students do and think about at home

5.Which of the following is NOT true?

A. China has the second largest number of Internet users in the world.

B. From the first paragraph we can know that Doctor Song works in Beijing Xuanwu Hospital.

C. Surfing the web can widen the students’ knowledge.

D. “It” in the last paragraph only refers to sending emails.

Two Chinese spacecrafts successfully completed China’s first space docking early November 3, 2011, which has taken the country a step closer to building its own space station.

Nearly two days after its launch, the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou VIII docked with the space lab module Tiangong I more than 343 km above the earth surface. Shenzhou VIII and Tiangong I took apart after flying together for 12 days. On the 14th of November, the two spacecrafts finished the second docking. Then Shenzhou VIII parted from Tiangong I again and returned to the earth safely on the 17th. Tiangong I is still traveling around the earth in the space, waiting for the arrival of Shenzhou IX and X and so on in the near future.

That marked another great leap for China’s space program and made China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the space docking technique (空间对接技术).

The world’s first space docking was achieved in 1966, when the manned U.S, spacecraft Gemini 8 (双子星8号) docked with an unmanned Agena Target Vehicle (阿金纳目标飞行器). Space docking is necessary to explore space beyond Earth’s orbit. “The capability increases China’s ability to act independently in space, as well as its ability to work together with others,” said Gregory Kulacki, a U.S. space scientist and senior analyst.

“With the success of its first space docking, China is now equipped with the basic technology and ability required for the construction of a space station,” said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s manned space program.” The country is on its way to building a permanent manned space station around 2020.”

1.What did the success of the first space docking mean to China?

      A. China has caught up with the United States in the space exploration field.

      B. China took a step closer to building its own space station.

      C. China became the first country to master the space docking technique.

      D. China has the ability to build a permanent manned space station right now.

2.What does the underlined word “That” in the third paragraph refer to?

A. Shenzhou VIII.

B. Tiangong I

C. The Space Station

D. The success of China’s first space docking

3.What can we learn from the passage? 

A. Tiangong I will fly in the space for 12 days.

B. The first space docking of the world was achieved in 1966, by Russians.

C. Without space docking technique people can’t explore space beyond Earth’s orbit.

D. The U.S.A helped China achieve the first space docking.

4.What’s the best title of this passage?

A. The first space docking of China.

B. The history of space docking.

C. The first space docking of the world.

D. The space docking technique

B

Sun Liping, 6 , lives in a small village in Yunnan. Her biggest wish is to have running water in her home. All 35 families in Sun’s village have a serious problem--- they don’t have enough water. Every day, the villagers have to walk 20 minutes to get water.

Last year, the worst drought since the 1950s hit Yunnan, making more than 2 million people short of drinking water. This year, the drought is even worse.

Not only Yunnan, but many other provinces in China are short of water as well, such as Gansu and Qinghai.

According to a report on February 17, each Chinese person has about 28% of the world’s average（平均的） person’s amount of available(可用的) water. Two thirds of China’s cities are short of water and nearly 300 million people in rural areas don’t have safe water for drinking.

Every drop of water is important. Waste a drop of water a day and you lose a bucket(桶) a year. How can we use water in a smart way? Here are some tips for you to save water in your daily life:

1. Put plastic bottles of water in your toilet to cut down the water waste when you flush (冲洗) your toilet.

2. Don’t keep the water running while you’re brushing your teeth or washing your face and hands.

3. Use low-flow(低流量) shower heads .

4. Use a bucket to collect shower water while you wait for it to warm up.

5. Make your shower time shorter.

6. Set up a rain bucket to collect rainwater for watering plants or flowers.

1. What is the problem in Sun’s village?

2. What does the underlined word drought mean in the second paragraph?

3. According to the report, __________________________________.

A. China has just 28 percent of the world’s available water.

Each Chinese person can use more water than the world’s average person.

There is not enough water in two thirds of China’s cities.

D. There are about 300 million people in China’s cities who don’t have enough water.

4.Which of the following would lead to a waste of water?

B
Sun Liping, 6 , lives in a small village in Yunnan. Her biggest wish is to have running water in her home. All 35 families in Sun’s village have a serious problem--- they don’t have enough water. Every day, the villagers have to walk 20 minutes to get water.
Last year, the worst drought since the 1950s hit Yunnan, making more than 2 million people short of drinking water. This year, the drought is even worse.
Not only Yunnan, but many other provinces in China are short of water as well, such as Gansu and Qinghai.
According to a report on February 17, each Chinese person has about 28% of the world’s average（平均的） person’s amount of available(可用的) water. Two thirds of China’s cities are short of water and nearly 300 million people in rural areas don’t have safe water for drinking.
Every drop of water is important. Waste a drop of water a day and you lose a bucket(桶) a year. How can we use water in a smart way? Here are some tips for you to save water in your daily life:
1. Put plastic bottles of water in your toilet to cut down the water waste when you flush (冲洗) your toilet.
2. Don’t keep the water running while you’re brushing your teeth or washing your face and hands.
3. Use low-flow(低流量) shower heads .
4. Use a bucket to collect shower water while you wait for it to warm up.
5. Make your shower time shorter.
6. Set up a rain bucket to collect rainwater for watering plants or flowers.
【小题1】 What is the problem in Sun’s village?