My oldest child, Emma, just returned to campus after a long holiday break to fin
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My oldest child, Emma, just returned to campus after a long holiday break to finish up her last period of college. These days, friends and family have begun flooding me with one question: What is she going to do after graduation?
The job market is, after all, awfully tough. Just this month the Federal Reserve Bank published a study showing that “recent graduates are increasingly working in low-paid jobs or working part-time.” The bright spot, according to the study, is for students who majored(主修) in STEM— science, technology, engineering and mathematics — areas in which recent graduates “have tended to do relatively well”.
But Emma is a student of the humanities(人文) at a small college. She’s an American Studies major with a focus on the politics and culture of food. For quite a while, I think her field of study is so fashionable right now that I’m not the least bit worried she will find a good job. Yet the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve decided to be honest. “I’m not sure what Emma is going to do,” I now say. “But she’s gotten a great education and has really found her interest. — and I know those things will serve her well over the course of her life.”
Nowadays, more and more universities and colleges are being measured by the salaries of their recent graduates. In this climate, encouraging your kid to study the humanities, seems, at best, unwise or, at worst, unconcerned with earning a living. But a college is not a vocational(职业) school. And promoting STEM subjects should not be society’s only answer to helping the next generation grow in a competitive world.
From the beginning, we never urged Emma to pick a college or a major with an eye on its expected return on money, as more and more families are doing. To Emma, what really matters will be something that we may not be able to measure for quite a long time: Emma’s contribution to the world and how happy she is in it.
小题1:The author’s friends and family_________.| A．are worried about Emma’s safety | | B．have been worrying about the flood | | C．are concerned about Emma’s future | | D．are worried about the job market |
小题2:What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．The number of the graduates is increasing. | | B．STEM graduates can be better employees. | | C．STEM graduates are in relatively greater demand. | | D．More and more graduates like to do a part-time job. |
小题3:Why did Emma choose a major in the humanities?| A．Because she is interested in it. | | B．Because her mother told her to. | | C．Because it is increasingly popular. | | D．Because she wants further education. |
小题4:According to the author, what matters most in choosing a major is that_________. | A．it should be among the STEM | | B．it should be fashionable and interesting | | C．it should allow a good job and a high salary | | D．it should bring achievements and happiness |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:C
小题3:A
小题4:D |
解析
试题分析：文章介绍如何在大学选专业的事情，现在热门的专业是STEM，意味着毕业后有更好的工作和更高的报酬，但是作者的女儿却凭兴趣选择了人文专业，作者认为选择专业重要的是应该带来成就和快乐。
小题1:细节题：从文章第一段的句子：These days, friends and family have begun flooding me with one question: What is she going to do after graduation?可知作者的朋友和家人担心Emma的安全，选C
小题2:细节题：从第二段的句子：The bright spot, according to the study, is for students who majored(主修) in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — areas in which recent graduates “have tended to do relatively well”.可知STEM 毕业生需求量更大，选C
小题3:细节题:从文章第三段的句子: I now say. “But she’s gotten a great education and has really found her interest. — and I know those things will serve her well over the course of her life.”
可知Emma 选择人文是对它感兴趣，选A
小题4:细节题：从文章最后一段的句子: To Emma, what really matters will be something that we may not be able to measure for quite a long time: Emma’s contribution to the world and how happy she is in it.
可知作者认为选择专业重要的是应该带来成就和快乐，选D |
举一反三
I’m afraid to grow old—we’re all afraid. In fact, the fear of growing old is so great that every aged person is an insult and a threat to the society. They remind us of our own death, that our body won’t always remain smooth and responsive, but will someday betray(背叛) us by aging. The ideal way to age would be to grow slowly invisible, gradually disappearing, without causing worry or discomfort to the young. In some ways that does happen. Sitting in a small park across from a nursing home one day, I noticed that the young mothers and their children gathered on one side, and the old people from the home on the other.
Whenever a youngster would run over to the “wrong” side, chasing a ball or just trying to cover all the available space, the old people would lean forward and smile. But before any communication could be established, the mother would come over, murmuring embarrassed apologies, and take her child back to the “young” side.
Now, it seemed to me that the children didn’t feel any particular fear and the old people didn’t seem to be threatened by the children. The division of space was drawn by the mothers. And the mothers never looked at the old people who lined the other side of the park. These well-dressed young women had a way of sliding their eyes over, around, through the old people; they never looked at them directly. The old people may as well have been invisible; they offended the aesthetic eye of the mothers.
My early experiences were somewhat different; since I grew up in a small town, my children had more of a nineteenth-century flavor. I knew a lot of old people, and considered some of them friends.
小题1:People are afraid of growing old because it is usually associated with ______.| A．insult | B．threat | C．death | D．betrayal |
小题2:In the author’s opinion, it is a perfect way to ______.| A．grow old slowly and then die unnoticed | | B．grow old suddenly and then die | | C．shut oneself up from others when growing old | | D．remain young all one’s life and then die suddenly |
小题3:It can be inferred that young mothers would try to keep their children away from the old because ______.| A．they feared their children might hurt the old | | B．they didn’t like their children to take up the space belonging to the old | | C．they felt it was wrong to play balls near where the old stayed | | D．they didn’t want their children to have anything to do with the old |
小题4:The author believes the division between the old and the young is _____.| A．made by people | B．understandable | | C．formed naturally | D．traditional |
小题5:From the passage, we learn that the author ______.| A．used to have the same experience as the young have today | | B．has never been afraid of getting old | | C．was quite free to know and befriend old people in his childhood | | D．both B and C |
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Italy is one country where beauty is prized more than any other virtue. That is, except in the small town of Piobbico, the self-declared World Capital of Ugly People. The road sign at the edge of the town even warns visitors that they are entering the ugly zone. People who consider themselves ugly have been gathering in Piobbico since the 1960s. That’s when Ugly Club president Telesforo Lacobelli established a dating agency for women who believed they were too ugly to attract husbands. Lacobelli believes that he is ugly himself because he has a short nose in a country where long or large noses have always been considered beautiful.
People from around the world travel to Piobbico to tell their sad stories of ugliness. During the annual Festival of the Ugly, which occurs on the first Sunday of every September, hundreds of people gather in Piobbico’s town square to elect the president of the Ugly Club. Lacobelli wins the election every year. The Ugly Club has over 20, 000 members. They carry ID cards that grade their ugliness from bearable to extreme. A prize is awarded to Ugly Club members who qualify as extremely ugly.
The Ugly Club president insists that ugliness is a virtue. Since beautiful people get a lot of attention for their beauty alone, they have to work hard to prove their other virtues. Ugly people, on the other hand, are genuine and do not have to prove anything to anybody, according to Lacobelli.
Lacobelli is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. He believes that the uglier one is, the better life can be. Though the club enjoys making fun of beauty, especially beauty contests, Lacobelli has a serious side as well. He believes that too many people suffer from financial and emotional pressures because they don’t meet society’s standards of beauty. The fact that beautiful people are more successful in the workforce is a problem that Lacobelli has attempted to bring forward to the Italian public and government.
小题1:Piobbico is rather special in that . | A．it is a very small town | B．it is home to ugly people | | C．it receives no visitors | D．it is the capital of Italy |
小题2:Why is Lacobelli elected the president of the Ugly Club every year?| A．Because he is the ugliest person in the whole world. | | B．Because his ugliness is always graded as bearable. | | C．Because he is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. | | D．Because he has won the members’ trust and admiration. |
小题3:Which of the following is true according to the passage?| A．Ugly people are most respected in Italy. | | B．The Festival of the Ugly is held every two years. | | C．Ugly people are unfairly treated in society. | | D．The uglier one is, the better life he or she lives. |
小题4:Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?| A．The Ugly Capital of the World | B．The Ugliest Person of the World | | C．Festival of the Ugly | D．Beauty Contests Should be Banned |
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根据短文内容，从短文后的七个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。
The Importance of Accessibility Awareness
At a recent Teen Leadership of Jewish Family Services meeting, people with disabilities talked about their lives. 小题1: However, what amazed me most was the great importance of education about handicap accommodations (残疾人便利设施).
One school-teacher who is blind, and a woman who has used a wheelchair all her life are two important members of the National Group for Disabled Persons, devoted to raising awareness about disabilities. 小题2: These include handicap parking spots, handrails, and wheelchair ramps. One big concern is the people who take advantage of aids, such as handicap parking spaces. 小题3: And the meeting focused on educating the public.
Some handicap spots have extra room next to them, marked with the “No Parking” signs. “As long as I"m not in the spot, I can take the no-parking area next to it,” some people say. However, the woman who uses a wheelchair disagrees to this. The space exists to allow someone in a wheelchair to have room to get in or out of their car. 小题4:
Some walkways have handrails next to them to help those who require extra assistance. Whether it is a blind person seeking guidance or an elderly person seeking support, the rail is there for walking. Sometimes the rail is blocked, by a parked bicycle for instance, and consequently made useless. 小题5: People who are informed of the rail’s use would be less likely to mistake it for a bike rack.
Meeting some of the people who are affected by the lack of education about accommodations made me see that there is work to be done. If more people were educated about the proper uses of accommodations, there would be fewer challenges for people with physical disabilities.| A．Accommodations will vary according to the needs of the disabled. | | B．As with the parking spot, this is more likely a case of lack of education. | | C．They educate about all the accommodations for people with disabilities. | | D．Improvement must be made so that disabled people can fully participate. |
E. If there is a car in that space, the handicap parking spot is no longer useful.
F. So people without disabilities need to be educated about these accommodations.
G. I was amazed to hear about the challenges faced by people with physical disabilities. |
We all like watching online videos of dogs and cats doing funny things. But if you had to decide, which of the two animals would you say you might like better? Your answer may say something about your personality.
According to a 2010 study led by Sam Gosling, a scientist at the University of Texas, US, dog people are about 15 percent more outgoing and 13 percent more pleasant to be friends with than cat people.
This is not hard to understand, since cats and dogs behave differently themselves. “Cats will occasionally engage in social activities, but usually after only a few minutes, they will abandon the game. Dogs, on the other hand, will often engage in play, like fetching a thrown ball, for hours at a time,” said Modern Dog Magazine.
Although cat people are less social, Gosling’s study showed that they are 11 percent more open-minded than dog people. They usually like art, adventures and unusual ideas. They also have more imagination and curiosity. But dog people are more likely to stick to old beliefs and traditional interests.
However, their love of a free lifestyle also means that cat people dislike making plans. They just follow whatever ideas pop into their heads without planning ahead. But dog people are different. They usually have strong self-control and like to carry out their plans.
Despite these big differences between dog people and cat people, there are some things that they have in common, “Both types of people consider themselves close to nature, dislike animal-print clothing, and are generally optimists,” noted Mother Nature Network.
But can personality change? Can a cat person become a dog person, or the other way around? In a study done by Stanley Coren, a scientist based in Canada, he asked cat owners: “If you had enough living space and there were no objections form other people in your life, and someone gave you a puppy as a gift, would you keep it?”
About 68 percent of them said they would not accept a dog as a pet. But when dog owners were asked the same question about a kitten, almost 70 percent said they would allow a cat into their lives.
小题1:According to the article, dog people _____________ cat people.| A．perform better in school than | B．are more open-minded than | | C．have closer friends than | D．are more traditional than |
小题2:The underlined phrase “engage in” in Paragraph 3 probably means_____________.| A．take little interest in | B．take part in | C．benefit from | D．suffer from |
小题3:What do cat people and dog people have in common?| A．Both of them like planning ahead | | B．Both of them love travelling and adventures | | C．Both of them are imaginative and curious | | D．Both of them care about nature. |
小题4:What can we conclude from the last two paragraphs?| A．Cat people are more likely to become dog people. | | B．Dog people are more likely to accept cats into their homes than cat people are to accept dogs. | | C．Neither dog nor cat people like to accept a new pet. | | D．It is difficult to find out whether dog people or cat people will make a change. |
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How cool can libraries be in an era（时代）of iPods and Kindles? More than you think．Only if you know where to go．
Central Library: Seattle, Washington, United States
The Central Library in Seattle is modern and fashionable and has tourists from around the world paying visits and taking tours．It was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and American designer Joshua Ramus．Tours began in 2006, two years after its opening．The library holds various art exhibitions, book signings and other events, while visitors can stop by the Chocolate cart for a coffee and scan through the gift shop anytime
Trinity College Library: Dublin, Ireland
The Trinity College Library in Dublin is the oldest library in Ireland, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I．It is the largest single library in the world, also known as the Long Room, which contains more than 200,000 0fthe library"s oldest books．The Long Room houses one of the oldest harps（竖琴） in Ireland．Dating to the 15th century, the old harp is the model for the symbol foreland．
Geisel Library, University of California: San Diego, United States
At first glance, it looks like a spaceship．Architect William Pereira, who helped design actual space launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in Houston, Texas, designed the library in 1970．It has been featured in sci-fi films, short stories and novels．The library hosts "Dinner in the Library," which invites readers for cocktails, and also a special speech from distinguished authors．
TU Delft Library: The Netherlands
The library at the Delft University of Technology was constructed in 1997 and has more than 862,000 books, 16,000 magazine subscriptions and its own museum．The building itself exists beneath the ground, so you can"t really see the actual Library．What makes it interesting is the roof, which is a grassy hill．The roof covers 5,500 square meters．And it has become one of the most striking and greenest structures in the area．
小题1:Which of the four libraries has the longest history?| A．Central Library． | | B．Trinity College Library． | | C．Geisel Library． | | D．TU Delft Library． |
小题2:What makes Geisel Library different from the others is that| A．famous writers often deliver speeches there | | B．it has a reoffer grassy hill | | C．Queen Elizabeth I founded the library | | D．it is the largest single library in the world |
小题3:In Central Library, you can| A．buy souvenirs | | B．drink cocktails | | C．enjoy sci-fi films | | D．see the old harp |
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