Every year, it costs British students more and more to attend university. Students are graduating with larger and larger debts. So is a college degree really worth it？ In 2006, the UK government started to allow universities in England and Wales to charge British students tuition fees （学费). As a result, more than 80 percent of students in England and Wales now take out a student loan （贷款) in order to go to university. They use the loan to pay for tuition fees and living expenses. Although the interest on student loans is quite low, it begins as soon as the student receives the loan. The average student in England and Wales now graduates from university with a debt of around $12,000 （122,952yuan). It means graduates have to struggle to pay rent on a flat, because they have to start paying back the student loan when they reach the April after graduating. If you start to earn over $ 15,000 （153,639yuan) a year, the government takes repayments directly from your monthly salary. You might think that a person with a degree would find it easy to get a well-paid job. However, most people in “white collar jobs” seem to have a degree, so there is a lot of competition. Also, British companies tend to value work experience over a piece of paper. All of the above is beginning to make British people question whether a university degree is really worth the money. Even before the credit crisis started, the BBC stated: “The number of British students at UK universities has fallen for the first time in recent history, from 1.97 million in 2007 to 1.96 million last year （2008).” “Student poverty” is now considered a real problem. Meanwhile, the British universities offer more and more of the available places to richer international students rather than poorer British students. What does the future hold for British higher education？
What makes British students question the worth of a university degree？A. Higher university expenses. B. Lower education quality. C. A higher interest rate on student loans D. Grater difficulty obtaining student loans.
According to the article, which of the following statements is TRUE？A. University tuition fees in all parts of Britain have been on the rise since 2006. B. Interest on a student loan starts as soon as the student receives it. C. People have always questioned the worth of a university degree. D. University graduates need to pay off their loans right upon graduation.
Which of the following is NOT a factor that concerns a British university graduate？A. Fierce competition in the job market. B. The burden of a large debt. C. Lack of experience. D. Fewer job openings.
What is the title of this passage？A. Student poverty B. Is college worth it？ C. The UK government started to charge students tuition fees. D. British students use the loan to pay for tuition fees and living expenses.
D
Build the highway and watch the town grow.At first a few shops appear and maybe a restaurant.Then a hotel opens. Eventually new house are built. A village is born.
This is also how the virtual world has developed. Think of the Internet as the road carrying information between two computers.Think of the World Wide Web as the village. At first it is just a place on the virtual road where travelers meet. More travelers come bringing new kinds of information. New travelers come bringing new kinds of information.New villages are started.
Every willage has a founder.Tim Berners-Lee is the man who wrote the software programme that led to the foundation of the Word Wide Web.How did he get the idea？ He tells us on his own web site. "One of the things computers were not able to do was store in formation from different sources. The dream behind the Web is of a common space in which we communicate by sharing information."
In 1991 his programmmes were placed on to the Internet.Everyone was welcome to use them.
Tim Berners-Lee could have followed the Microsoft route by forming a company to sell the programmes he invented. Or he could have joined another company. But in his view the Web is a language,not a pproduct. Charging a gee for using his programmes would have slowed the growth of the Web.And other companies would make similar products to compete. Instead of one World Wide Web there would be several smaller Webs. Each would use incompatible （不相容的) software. They Web is valuable because it uses a common computer language to reach people and share information. Competing webs would lose this value.Imagine if somebody sent you a bill every time you spoke a world of English.
In 1994 Tim Berners-Lee formed the World Wide Web Consortium,or W3C.More than 200 leading companies and laboratories are represented by W3C. Together they make sure that everyone, no matter what their equipment or solftware,can work equally on the Web.
"The Web can help people to understand the way that others live and love. It helps us understand the humanity of people," he says.
68.The writer's purpose in writing the first two paragraphs is to ______.
A.give us some idea of the Internet
B.give us some idea of the Web
C.tell us how the idea of Web started
D.tell us the idea of the Web is wonderful
69.Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in order to ___
A.place his programmers on the Internet
B.stop smaller webs appearing
C.help people to form a web site
D.let people share all kinds of information
70.According to the text,the disadvantage of competing webs is that they would ______.
A.slow the development of the Web
B.destroy the whole web system
C.lose the value of information
D.waste a lot of money
第三部分阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Soon it may be harder to stop and smell the roses.
Growing levels of air pollution from power plants and automobiles have reduced flower fragrances （芬芳) by up to 90 percent in the US.That is compared with pre-industrial levels,a new study has found.
The trend is unpleasant for human noses,but may be life - threatening for bees and butterflies.
"Many insects find flowers by folowing the scent（香味) produced by those flowers," said the studies lead author Jose D.Fuentes,an environmental scientist at the University of Virginia.
"The increasing pollution makes it difficult for them to locate the flowers and feed on their nectar（花蜜)."
Scientists have alrady known that flowers produce scent molecules（分子) that bond with pollutants.The process breaks down the plants' sweet smell.
With more pollution in the air,the scent molecules don't remain effective as long and travel shorter distances on the wind.
The new study suggests that in the mid - 19th century,when pollution levels were first recorded,scent molecules would have been able to travel some 1,000 to 1,200 meters.
Today,in the polluted air found downwind of large cities,scentst may only make it some 200 to 300 meters.
The report was recently published in the journal,Atmospheric Environment.
Bee farmers have reported that bee populations are dropping dramatically in many parts of the world in recent years. Could these missing scents be a factor？
Scientists trying to hind the cause of bee population declines have blamed bacteria,pesticides,and even cellphone radiation.
Jay Evans,an entomologist（昆虫学者) at the US Department of Agriculture's bee research laboratory,was interested in the new study.But he says he hasn't seen bee behavior that suggests trouble with scents.
"Over the last couple of summers I don't think the bees in this area were bringing in much less food,"he said.
"It might be that they had to work harder,but it seems like as long as there were bees to collect food they were finding flowers somewhere."
But Fuentes fears that the fading smell of flowers may stress insects that are already faced with other threats.
"The effects shown in these studies will simply exacerbate whatever the bees are going through right now,"he said.
"It's something that is really worthwhile paying attention to."
56.What's the passage mainly about？
A.How greatly air plooution affects our lives.
B.Effects of air pollution on bee populations.
C.Measures to fight air pollution.
D.The rapid decline of bee populations in the world.
57.According to the passage,Jay Evans probably agrees that __ .
A.bees are the insect that suffers most from air pollution
B.bees are at risk of dying out owing to air pollution
C.the fading smell of flowers doesn't affect bees so greatly as was thought
D.as is often the case,bees fail to locate the flowers because of the missing scents
58.The word"exacerbate" in the last paragraph but one probably means ______.
A.worsen B.improve C.get rid of D.decrease
59.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage？
A.The more air pollution there is in a region,the greater the destruction of the flower scents.
B.Bacteria,pesticides,and cellphone radiation are blamed for causing the decline of bees.
C.The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment oculd travel longer and farther.
D.Air pollution does more harm to insects such as bees and butterflies than human beings.
After finishing my shopping, I headed for the checkout
counter but was blocked in the narrow passage by a young
man that appeared to be about sixteen years old. I wasn’t in a
hurry, so I patiently waited for the boy to realize that I was
there.
After a little while, he waved his hands excitedly, in the air and shouted in a loud voice, "Mommy, I'm here．Mommy, I'm here．" It was obvious now, he was mentally challenged．Suddenly, he turned and saw me standing so close to him．His eyes widened and watched me surprisingly．He turned and saw me standing so close to him. His eyes widened and watched me surprisingly. I stepped back and asked, " Hey, buddy, what’s your name？ " " My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother," he responded proudly．"Wow," I said, "that's a cool name．I wish my name was Denny, but my name is Hal．" "Hal like Halloween？" he asked．"Yes," I answered．"How old are you, Denny？" "How old am I now．Mommy？" he asked his mother as she came over from the next passage．"You' re fifteen years old, Denny; now be a good boy and let the lady pass by．" I continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer vacation, bicycles and school．I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement．
As we were talking, he suddenly ran toward the toy section．
Denny's mom thanked me for taking the time to talk with her son．She told me that most people wouldn' t even look at him, much less talk to him…I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said, " Denny is a blue rose and if I didn' t stop and smell that rose with my heart, I would miss a blessing from God．"
She looked more puzzled．I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in God's garden, however, blue roses are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness （特殊之处）．Denny is such a "blue rose" in God's garden．
46．The story may happen ．
A．in a school B．during the summer vacation
C．in a super market D．in the toy section
47．The boy's brown eyes dance with excitement because ．
A．he was the center of someone's attention
B．Denny is a cool name
C．he is shopping with his mother
D．he likes summer vacation
48．We can infer from the passage that Danny ______.
A．was mentally challenged B．is 15 years old
C．was often very lonely and neglected D．is a ‘blue rose1’ in God's garden
49．From the passage we can learn that _______.
A．there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in God’s garden
B．blue roses'are very rare and should be appreciated
C．most people wouldn’t even look at Denny
D．every person should be appreciated in our life
（D）
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have．It’s likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen will have a washing machine and a microwave oven．Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need． You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week．
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for．Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world．They feel that the long-hour work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes．Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting_is one of them．
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year．One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz．They used to work in central London．He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank．They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs （郊区）, leaving their two children with a nanny（保姆）．Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings．They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by．
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales．“I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift．It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s been worth it．We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays．However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier．”
Liz, however, is not quite sure．“I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours．I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals．One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children．My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all．”
68．What do the first two paragraphs tell us？
A．People seldom work long hours to make money．
B．People hardly buy more things than necessary．
C．People are sure everything they own is in the right place．
D．People realize more is involved in life than just making money．
69．Daniel agrees that the move to the farm ______．
A．was easy to organize B．has improved family life
C．was extremely expensive D．has been a total success
70．The underlined word "downshifting" in the second paragraph means ________．
A．repairing your car by yourself
B．spending money carefully
C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life
D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week
第二部分阅读理解:（共两节, 满分50分） Ⅲ. 第一节（共20小题; 每小题2分, 满分40分）阅读下列短文, 从每题后面所给的选项 （A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。 A We may encounter various setbacks （挫折) in our life and these setbacks may never repeat themselves. They appear differently in different periods of life. Students may have problems in learning, for example, the goal and motivation of learning, the method and attitude of study, and their school performances as well. If they fail to deal with these matters properly, they may have problems in study and even develop psychological problems. Job-hunting, career choosing, capability and unemployment are matters often leading to psychological problems of the contemporaries （当代人). How to choose a career, how to make a plan for life and how to keep competence in position and for promotion, etc., these are all factors to bring us worries and anxieties. Interpersonal relationship leads to one of the major psychological setbacks of the human being. The symptoms show that it is hard to get along with others, lacking necessary skills to communicate with others. These may lead to sad feelings of loneliness, bitterness, short of concerns and cares. The old often suffer from supersession of the old by the new, stepping down from leading positions, retirement, being isolated and helpless. How to look at these rules of law in life, get used to the change, handle domestic emptiness when children grow up and the bitterness facing death of the beloved, all these have to be dealt with properly, to avoid the development of depression and disease. Now, it comes to the key — how to handle them. Keeping a good mood: Do not make your ambitions too high and never seek for perfection when doing things. Do not expect too much from others. Otherwise, you will be disappointed if she/he fails to meet your expectation. When angry, you’d better calm yourself so as to avoid doing something stupid. Be tolerating and forgiving. Toleration and forgiveness can either smooth your own mood or benefit interpersonal relationship. When you encounter setbacks you’d better leave it alone and begin to do something you like, for example, go to the theater or take exercise, etc. You may ease yourself by telling your unhappiness to your good friends, parents, teachers or even making a telephone call to psychological hotlines. Do something good for others. In this way, you will not only forget your worries but also find your own value and at the same time make friends with others. To evaluate your ability and role properly, thus you will not develop unnecessary psychological pressure on yourself.
The writer is mainly trying to tell us _______.A. who knows about setbacks B. how to deal with setbacks C. when we have setbacks D. what causes various setbacks
Setbacks may result from the following EXCEPT _______.A. learning problems at school B. weak competence in career C. poor skills in communication D. the rules of law in life
Guess the right meaning of the underlined word “supersession”.A. depression B. replacement C. loneliness D. emptiness
From the “key” given by the writer, we can infer that _______.A. anger can be turned into useful power B. those without ambitions are the happiest C. psychological problems can be solved by yourself D. doing something good for others adds to your worries