Is the ‘Go to College’ Message Overdone?
Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” Ms. Sawhill said. “On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don’t graduate, that is a very bad situation.”
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April’s national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn’t attended college was 7.4%, compared with 3.9% for those with a bachelor’s degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16-24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists cautions that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one’s major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two avenues for improving the situation: increasing vocational(職業(yè)的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe’s focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. “The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized(資助).”
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.
【小題1】People usually think that _____.

A．the cost of technical schooling is a problem
B．one will not succeed without a college degree
C．technical skills are most important for landing a job
D．there is an increased competition in getting into a college
【小題2】What does the underlined part “taking a page from” mean?
A．Hearing from.B．Changing from.
C．Differing from.D．Learning from.
【小題3】What can we infer from the passage?
A．Public institutions charge more for education.
B．European universities are stricter with students.
C．Students with certain skills are in great demand.
D．Canadian students prefer to major in engineering.
【小題4】Ms. Sawhill may probably agree that _____.
A．too much stress has been put on the value of college degrees
B．technical training is more important than college education
C．a(chǎn) college degree will ensure promising employment
D．it’s easier for art students to find favorite jobs


【小題1】B
【小題2】D
【小題3】C
【小題4】A

解析試題分析：文章介紹我們過(guò)分強(qiáng)調(diào)大學(xué)學(xué)位的重要性，實(shí)際上大學(xué)學(xué)位并不能保證就業(yè)和光明的未來(lái)，反而技術(shù)工人現(xiàn)在需求很大，我們可以增加技術(shù)院校的比例或向歐洲國(guó)家學(xué)習(xí)，重視初期的教育，保證大學(xué)的質(zhì)量。
【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第二段的句子：“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” 可知人們通常認(rèn)為沒(méi)有上大學(xué)就不會(huì)成功，選B
【小題2】猜詞題：從后面的句子：“The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized(資助).”可知?dú)W洲更重視早期的教育，這種做法是很好的，所以應(yīng)該向他們學(xué)習(xí)，“taking a page from”="learn" from，選D。
【小題3】細(xì)節(jié)題：從最后一段的句子：She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.可知技術(shù)工人現(xiàn)在需求很大，選C。
【小題4】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第一段的句子：Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, 可知Ms. Sawhill認(rèn)為我們過(guò)分強(qiáng)調(diào)大學(xué)學(xué)位的重要性，選 A
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

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【小題1】 Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?

A．Both can continue for generations .
B．Both are about where to draw the line
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【小題2】 What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
A．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.
B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict
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【小題3】Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ________.
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

While Jennifer was at home taking an online exam for her business law class, a monitor（監(jiān)控器）a few hundred miles away was watching her every move.
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Although online classes have existed for more than a decade, the concern over cheating has become sharper in the last year with the growth of "open online courses." Private colleges, public universities and corporations are jumping into the online education field, spending millions of dollars to attract potential students, while also taking steps to help guarantee honesty at a distance.
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In 1901, H．G．Wells, an English writer, wrote a book describing a trip to the moon．When the explorers landed on the moon, they discovered that the moon was full of underground cities．They expressed their surprise to the “moon people” they met．In turn, the “moon people” expressed their surprise．“Why,” they asked, “are you traveling to outer space when you don’t even use your inner space?”
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; _________________, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s. In the same way children, learning to do all the other things without being taught to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle, compare their own performances（表現(xiàn)）with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he became dependent on the teacher.
Why should we teachers waste time on such tiring work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let’s end all this nonsense（荒謬的）of grades, exams and marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must someday learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.
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Teachers seem to think that a child can’t find out a mistake or correct it without their help.
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A teacher should ______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

To many students, high school is just a basic routine. You go to class in the morning, take a break for lunch and go home in the afternoon.
This isn't quite that simple for pupils at Royal West Academy. As if classes and homework weren’t already enough, students are also required to complete a range of extracurricular activities, or ECAs.
The range of ECAs being offered at the school is various, including everything from guitar and jewelry-making clubs, fund-raising marches, to student committees, swimming and tennis.
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ECAs can cut into study and homework time if you’re not careful. You really have to get organized or you’ll fall apart.
【小題1】The students at Royal West Academy may do the following ECAs except ______.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

There has been much discussion recently about reducing the weight of English in China's high-stake tests such as the national college entrance examination. It is argued by some applauding the recent change to reduce the importance of English in tests so that it will lead students to focus more on learning Chinese. The TV program Writing in Chinese has exposed the problem that students and the general public cannot write in Chinese as they used to do.
Some blame the design of the curriculum for giving English an equal or greater amount of emphasis, which might have contributed to the failure in teaching Chinese. But this is probably not a fair accusation since children in English speaking countries cannot spell either.
I doubt that studying English in itself hurts the study of Chinese. In fact, high achievers in English or another foreign language are more likely to be high achievers in Chinese. It has been proved many times in recent Chinese history that those capable of using a foreign language are also masters in their mother tongue. Qian Zhongshu, Lu Xun and Lin Yutang are just a few examples.
Another trend of thought for curriculum reform is related to the perception of "worth". It is true that English is one of the subjects that students do spend too much time on, with pitiful results. This makes some doubt if it is worth giving it priority. But this is not a sound argument either as students still need to study things that matter more to their future in spite of challenges learning English presents to them.
Improvements in Chinese language education should not be achieved by sacrificing another important subject. There should be a robust(健康的) foreign language education program, as a foreign language improves a student's future job prospects. Bashing(抨擊) English education as a waste of time or using it as a goat for failures in Chinese education are both harmful tendencies.
To be constructive, we ought to start a dialogue on ways to make improvements in learning outcomes so that students' time learning English is spent more effectively. There are a few things that could improve English education, such as assessment design，learner motivation and teaching style，
I am sure there are many other areas where changes can greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of English learning. The public discourse at present is a little oversimplified. People are arguing for or against English having less weight in major tests, when the dialogue should be taken a step further, to the improvement of learning or teaching methods that may benefit the teaching of other subjects as well, Chinese included.
【小題1】In paragraph 3 Qian Zhongshu, Lu Xun and Lin Yutang are mentioned to _____.

A．show respect for their capabilities of learning languages
B．prove English and Chinese are not contradictory
C．confirm the importance of learning English in China
D．tell the readers English Education is to blame
【小題2】According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?
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B．Good results of learning English are not worth so much time.
C．Some are in favor of attaching less importance to English in exams.
D．Sacrificing English can improve Chinese language education.
【小題3】In the writer’s opinion, what should be done to solve the argument?
A．Increasing time spent in learning Chinese.
B．Increasing time spent in learning English.
C．Reducing the weight of English in examinations.
D．Improving the learning outcomes effectively.
【小題4】Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
A．English education is still important in China.
B．Chinese education is more important in China.
C．English contributes to the failure in teaching Chinese
D．Ways to make improvements in learning Chinese.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

Homework and stress are rarely reduced inside the classroom. Meanwhile, outside the classroom, the pressure is on to find scholarships for college.
According to Braintrack, a higher education database with worldwide reach, more than 3 billion US dollars (18 billion yuan) in private scholarships are awarded to college students annually. Average awards range from $2,000 to $3,000.
The scholarship application process is similar to the college application process: forms to be completed, test scores and transcripts to be sent, essays to be written and often interviews to be prepared for.
A few great places to start looking for scholarships are: www.fastweb.com, www.finaid.org and www.collegexpress.com.Check out the annual scholarship guidebooks Scholarships, Grants & Prizes by Peterson’s and the Ultimate Scholarship Book: Billions of Dollars in Scholarships, Grants and Prizes by Gen Tanabe and Kelly Tanabe.
Be selective. Thoroughly research the qualifications required by each of the scholarships. Don’t waste your time applying for those that are need-based if you can’t produce the appropriate documents.
Research past recipients (接受者). Check out the websites of the organizations sponsoring the scholarships. Many post the biographies of past recipients. You don’t need to have cured cancer, but if you don’t think your résumé (履歷) measures up to the past winners’, you might be better served by moving onto the next scholarship on your list. Prepare for the interview.
You’ll want to dazzle them with your personality, but above all you’ll want to be prepared. Find someone you trust to conduct a similar interview with you – someone who will be honest with you and provide valuable suggestions.
Let your personality shine through in your essays. The essays are the best way for students to share who they are, where they’ve come from, what they’ve overcome and so on. Tell your story in an interesting and persuasive  way. And if you do have an interview, send a thank-you note afterward.
By Lee Bierer
【小題1】What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A．To explain where to find scholarships for US colleges.
B．To inform readers of the scholarship application process.
C．To introduce some typical scholarships offered by US colleges.
D．To give tips on applying for US college scholarships.
【小題2】If you want to learn about past recipients of a scholarship, you can use __.
A．www.collegexpress.com
B．the annual scholarship guidebooks published by Peterson’s
C．the websites of the organizations sponsoring the scholarships
D．The Ultimate Scholarship Book: Billions of Dollars in Scholarships, Grants and Prizes
【小題3】The underlined word “dazzle” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to ___.
A．influence B．impress C．guide D．present
【小題4】To increase your chance of winning a scholarship, you are advised to ____.
A．a(chǎn)pply for as many scholarships as you can
B．tell an interesting story in your essay
C．do a similar interview to help you prepare for the real one
D．have a talk with past recipients and try to talk like they do

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