第二部分：阅读理解 (共45分)

第一节（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项

A

If you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy in recent years, you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial crisis. From there, you might move on to the automakers in Detroit.

    But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee(被提名): public education.

At its top level, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world. Yet in terms of its core mission(核心使命)---turning teenagers into educated college graduates--- much of the system is failing.

   The United States does a good job enrolling (招生) teenagers in college, but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree.

   So identifying the causes of the college dropout crisis in the world’s largest economy matters enormously, and a new book called “Crossing the Finish Line” tries to do precisely that. Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael McPherson, and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chingos. The first problem they diagnose is something they call under-matching. It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into. They instead go to a less selective one, perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive. About half of the low-income students with an average of at least 3.5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have. “I was really astonished by the degree to which well-qualified students from poor families under-matched,” said Mr. Bowen.

   In fact, well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates. Meanwhile, lower-income students -–even when they are better qualified—often go to colleges that excel（擅长）in producing drop-outs. “It’s really a waste,” Mr. Bowen said, “and a big problem for the country.” As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate significantly is to lift it among poor and working-class students. Instead, it appears to have fallen.

   What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer.

41.Which of the following would people first think of as a factor responsible for the American financial crisis according to this passage?

    A. The government.                      B. Public education

    C. The Detroit automakers.                        D. The Wall Street firms.

42. What is a big problem with American higher education?

    A. It is hard to enroll enough students into college.

    B. Many colleges are experiencing low rate of graduation.

    C. Many college students stay away from classes.

    D. It is hard for many colleges to get financial aid from the government. 

43. The title of the book Crossing the Finish Line probably means______.

    A. running to the end of the line               B. going to college

    C. finishing college education                    D. working hard in college

44. Why do some students under--match ?

    A. Because they have financial difficulty.  B. Because they face ambition crisis.

    C. Because they lack confidence.              D. Because they can’t get guidance.

45. The passage is mainly about _______.

    A. problems with secondary American education and possible solutions

    B. America’s financial crisis, its cause and influence

    C. low rate of American college graduation, its cause and its influence

    D. relationship between American education and its economy

第二节 根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项.选项中有两项为多余选项（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）(请把答案填在答案卷的横线上)

Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance.  71 

The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration.  72  Others get a monthly allowance.

In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the children is expected to pay for with the money.

  73  If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance.

The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics.

Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life.

Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful.  74 

Allowances give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with money.  75  They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it.

A. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause.

B. The purpose is to let children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.

C. They are not less likely to make mistakes.

D. Some children get a weekly allowance.

E. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.

F. Their parents will teach them a hard lesson.

G. At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it.

第二部分：英语知识运用（共两节，满分45分）

第一节：语法和词汇知识（共15 小题；每小题1分，满分15分）

从A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

21. Unfortunately, when I dropped in, Doctor Li _____ for Beijing to join in the fight against SARS, so we had not enough time for a talk.

A. just left         B. has just left         C. is just leaving       D. was just leaving

The president is reported _______ that country last week.

   A. to visit    B. visiting    C. to have visited    D. visited

—I've never found a better job.?

—_______.?

A.I don't think so.  B. Too bad    C. Congratulations  D. Don't worry

. Society as a whole has a responsibility towards its weaker members, ________ as a result of circumstances they could not control, such as illness and disaster.

  A) people suffered  B) who suffering   C) people who suffered  D) which suffer

. I still remember/will never forget the day ________ I first came to the college.

  A) which       B) in which       C) on that        D) on which      E) in that

. It was great joy ________ he received the news that his lost daughter had been found.

  A) because         B) which             C) since             D) that

�. While teaching students, teachers should take into consideration _________ students develop at different rates.

  A) the fact that     B) since           C) as long as       D) despite of

. In no other countries ________ so large a proportion of their space to the activities of the movie and football stars.

  A) devote so many newspapers          B) do so many newspapers devote

  C) so many newspaper devote           D) so many newspaper do devote