The organization representing British universities has expressed concern about the potential effect of tuition fees（學(xué)費(fèi)）after figures showed a drop of more than 6% in student applications with less than a month to go before the deadline for 2013 applications.
Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) showed there were 265,784 university applications by UK-based candiates up to 17 Decemeber, 6.3% down on the parallel period in the admissions cycle the year before. While this is less than the 8.4% year-on-uear fall seen in earlier Ucas figures, released in mid-November, the coming January deadline makes it ever more likely that the total 2013 applicant figure will see a second sizeable fall following the introduction of annual fees of up to ￡9,000.
Nicola Dandridge, the chairman of Universities UK, said : “However, we must be concerned about any drops in the numbers applying to university and in particular, we must look closely at how the increase in graduate contributions in England may be affecting the decisions of promising students. However ,the December figures show a drop in numbers across the UK, suggesting that it is not only a question of tuition fees in England putting off from applying.”
A report of the Uncas figures to mid-December shows a 6.5% fall for applicants in England and 11.7% for those in Wales, with smaller drops of 3.9% for Scotland and 0.5% for Nortern Ireland. Scotiish students at home insitiutions pay on fees, while those from Nothern Ireland have fees capped to ￡3,575 for Northern Irish universities.
Dandridge added: “No one should be put off applying to university because of worries about finance.”
“It is important that no one is put off applying to university because they do not have information about the student support available to them. Most new students don’t need to pay directly. There will be more financial support for those from poorer families and everyone will make lower loan repayments thatn they do now once they are in well paid jobs.”

1. 1.

   A drop of more than 6% for 2013 applications is probably the effect of        

   1. A.
      the increased tuition fees
   2. B.
      the approaching deadline
   3. C.
      the concern from applicants
   4. D.
      the difficulties with applications
2. 2.

   Compared with the previous year, the fall in student applications is         

   1. A.
      3.9%
   2. B.
      6%
   3. C.
      6.3%
   4. D.
      8.4%
3. 3.

   Why is the fall for application the smallest in Soctoland and Northem lreland?

   1. A.
      Because they have more financial support
   2. B.
      Because the tuition is much cheaper for them
   3. C.
      Because the education is better there
   4. D.
      Because the universities are free for them
4. 4.

   Which of the following is true?

   1. A.
      The application for universities is on a rise continuously
   2. B.
      The fall for applications is due to family problems
   3. C.
      The education in Scotland and Northern Ireland is worse
   4. D.
      The rise of tuition fees has an effect on applications
5. 5.

   The last paragraph tells us that        

   1. A.
      everyone should apply to university
   2. B.
      students may get financial supports
   3. C.
      lower loan repayments is unavailable
   4. D.
      most new students will not pay fees

I want to let you know about an event that changed my life many years ago. We were living in College Station, Texas and my wife and I were on our way home from Houston, Texas one Sunday morning. We decided to stop at a local gas station to get something to eat since we had enough time.
When we finished, we got back into our car and before I started it, we noticed a homeless man standing in front of the building. His clothes were worn and it looked as if he didn’t have any money. It was cold and I was sure he wanted something to drink. However, it was not this that moved(感動(dòng)) me.
　　A dog was also walking up to the front of the building. Being a dog lover, I noticed that the dog was a mother and that she had just had some puppies(小狗). She was hungry and weak and I felt so bad for her. I knew if she didn’t eat soon, she and her puppies would not live on.
　　People walking by didn’t even notice her. She might not have been as pretty and clean as most, but she still deserved(值得) better. But we still did not do anything, someone else did. The homeless man, who I thought could not afford anything to eat, went back into a store and bought dog food with all the money he had

1. 1.

   From the passage we can know that______

   1. A.
      the author didn’t like dogs
   2. B.
      the dog was not pretty enough to be loved
   3. C.
      the author wanted to help the dog but he was unable to
   4. D.
      the dog and her puppies were in danger of dying of hunger
2. 2.

   Which of the following moved the author?

   1. A.
      Most people walking by the dog didn’t notice her
   2. B.
      The homeless man wore worn clothes on the cold day
   3. C.
      The homeless man bought food for the dog with all of his money
   4. D.
      The homeless man had not any money to buy any food for himself
3. 3.

   The author did the following except that he_______

   1. A.
      had pity on the dog that was in danger
   2. B.
      bought dog food with all the money he had
   3. C.
      was a person who treasured dogs very much
   4. D.
      went home from Houston one Sunday morning
4. 4.

   According to the passage, we know that the homeless man was _______

   1. A.
      kind and helpful
   2. B.
      brave and kind
   3. C.
      clever and helpful
   4. D.
      clever and brave
5. 5.

   The best title for this passage would be_______

   1. A.
      My Memory　　
   2. B.
      My wife and I
   3. C.
      Animals Are Parents Too
   4. D.
      A Mother Dog and Her Puppies

—______ he come to see you as he promised?
—Of course,please and I’d rather he ______ me the truth.

1. A.
   Shall;told
2. B.
   Should;will tell
3. C.
   Can;covers　
4. D.
   Will;informed

—What do you think of the book?
—Oh,great.It’s　  　a second time.

1. A.
   worth to read
2. B.
   worth of reading
3. C.
   worthy to be read
4. D.
   worthy of reading

The interviewee has no inner shame to show his edge over others. ______ the outer fear.

1. A.
   As he has
2. B.
   So had he
3. C.
   Nor did he have
4. D.
   Neither does he have

WASHINGTON---At least four more U.S. air-traffic controllers are caught nodding off on the job at three separate airports across the nation, the government said Wednesday.
The controller working alone in the tower fell asleep and was out of communication for 16 minutes while a medical flight carrying a patient was trying to land at about 2 A.M. Wednesday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
The FAA announced that it is also investigating a controller who fell asleep Monday at Boeing King County International Airport in Seattle and two controllers who were unresponsive at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee on Feb.19.
“I am sick of this,” Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in a statement. “We can’t have a system where some of the people responsible for safety are asleep at the switch.”
As the incidents pile up, sleep experts say it demonstrates that the agency faces a systemic issue with the thousands of people expected to work through the night in safety-critical jobs. Scientific research shows that workers on midnight shifts make more errors because it is so difficult for the body to adapt to sleeping during the day, they say.
The agency will add an extra controller at the 27 towers staffed with one worker on the midnight shift, the FAA statement said.
Representative John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House transportation committee, criticized the decision to add controllers. “Only in the federal government would you double up on workers, averaging $161,000 per year in salary and benefits, that aren’t doing their job,” Mica said in a statement. Mica has pushed legislation that would allow as many as 90 smaller airports to switch from federal to private controllers.
“People have known these problems with fatigue（疲勞）have existed for years,” said John Goglia, a Boston-based aviation safety consultant. “They’re now showing up. The FAA is admitting they exist. Now the FAA needs to work on it.”
The four controllers in Nevada, Seattle and Texas have been suspended(暫時(shí)停職) during the investigations, the FAA said

1. 1.

   The underlined part “double up on workers” means “______”

   1. A.
      add two more workers
   2. B.
      staff two workers at a post
   3. C.
      settle two workers in a double room
   4. D.
      give the workers double pay
2. 2.

   According to John Goglia, fatigue problem ______

   1. A.
      is a known potential danger
   2. B.
      has never appeared before
   3. C.
      is common for day-time shift workers
   4. D.
      seldom shows up at night
3. 3.

   Which statement is true?

   1. A.
      A controller fell asleep without communication for 16 minutes in Knoxville, Tennessee
   2. B.
      A medical flight carrying a patient failed to land with the controller asleep
   3. C.
      Jay Rockefeller pays little attention to sleeping at the switch
   4. D.
      Mica refused to support the decision to staff more controllers on the midnight shift
4. 4.

   We can infer from the passage that ______

   1. A.
      All the controllers in the US were working alone while they were on duty
   2. B.
      The incidents are rooted in fatigue problems and those on midnight shifts need an extra nap
   3. C.
      In the U.S. , thousands of people expect to work through the night in safety-critical jobs
   4. D.
      The agency has added an extra controller at the 27 towers

Cast your mind back to the past twenty years and hardly did anyone have their own email account. The Internet had just taken off in 1991 and people were only using office and PC­based email exchanges.
In the mid 1990s external email providers appeared. The most famous of these was Hotmail, the first free email provider and web­based email service. Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith launched Hotmail on July 4, 1996. And Microsoft took note of and bought Hotmail for $400 million on December 30, 1997, a nice birthday present for Bhatia who turned 29 that day. It was relaunched as MSN Hotmail and in 2007 was relaunched again as Windows Live Hotmail.
Fast forward the present day and most of us have at least a personal web­based email account. It seems impossible to live without them. One of the biggest advantages of email is the fact that communication has become so much easier, especially with those across different time zones. Email takes seconds to send a message whereas letters, as we used to communicate by, could take weeks. Of course there was the fax, that beeping invention from the 1980s, but it wasn’t as secure as email and you never knew if the person on the other end had picked up your fax or if it had got lost somewhere in the office.
In conclusion, one of the best inventions from the 1990s has to be email. But sometimes people are too closely connected to their email and have a compulsion to check it several times a day. At work, people have become lazy and instead of going to speak to the person sitting next to them, they send an email，causing an in box to pile up with more time spent reading email and responding rather than working. Clearly, an invention that saved time because of its quick and speedy connection can now also cause us to waste a lot of time

1. 1.

   The earliest web-based email came into being probably _______

   1. A.
      in 1991
   2. B.
      in 1996
   3. C.
      in 1997
   4. D.
      in 2007
2. 2.

   The author mentions “fax” in the third paragraph in order to tell us that _______

   1. A.
      it is exactly as good as email
   2. B.
      it is much better than email
   3. C.
      it is less convenient than email
   4. D.
      it is easier and faster than email
3. 3.

   The underlined word “compulsion” in Paragraph 4 probably means “_______”

   1. A.
      strong desire
   2. B.
      common sense
   3. C.
      special curiosity
   4. D.
      general idea
4. 4.

   Which is the main idea of the last paragraph?

   1. A.
      We should check email boxes frequently
   2. B.
      Lazy people like sending an email
   3. C.
      Email brings us great convenience
   4. D.
      Good inventions also cause problems

Who owns the large American companies that produce cars, washing machines, and television sets? They are owned by a large group of people called stockholders.
　　A company must have money to build factories and to buy machinery. To get this money, it sells shares of stock（股份）. Each share of stock is a share in the ownership of the company. The person who buys a share of stock becomes a part owner of the company. He is called a stockholder. A company can have thousands of stockholders. Sometimes a very large company is owned by millions of stockholders.
　　Few persons can afford to buy a whole company, but the average individual can become part owner of a business. He can save his dollars and buy a share of stock in a large company. A person does not have to be wealthy to be a stockholder.
　　When a company makes money, each stockholder may receive a dividend(股息) check, which is his share of the profits（利潤(rùn)）. Parts of a company’s profits are not paid out to the stockholders. This money is used by the company so it can grow larger. If the company does well, its shares of stock become more valuable.
　　More than 20 million people own shares of stock in America’s companies. By owning stock, they are helping America’s businesses grow. They are also putting their money to work to earn more money

1. 1.

   The story makes you think that _____

   1. A.
      a farmer is not allowed to buy the shares of stock
   2. B.
      if a company does well, its shares of stock have no value
   3. C.
      a person may own a part of the company that makes TV sets
   4. D.
      the only people who can buy stocks are those who are wealthy
2. 2.

   A dividend is the stockholder’s share of the _____

   1. A.
      company’s profits
   2. B.
      company’s savings
   3. C.
      company’s income
   4. D.
      products made by the company
3. 3.

   Why do companies keep part of their profits?

   1. A.
      They want to buy the shares of stock, too
   2. B.
      They cannot find all the names of their stockholders
   3. C.
      They use the money to help the company grow larger
   4. D.
      They think they have sent their stockholders enough money

Every year, I tell my sons what I'd like for Mother's Day: a letter. Something written from the heart and offered freely rather than bought from a store and wrapped neatly. I don't always get my wish, nor do I always take the time to write to my own mother.
This year, my boys will be in two different states on Mother's Day. My mom and dad will be away together, and I'11 be driving home from a writer's workshop in Massachusetts. Thinking of the fact that many friends have already lost their mothers and that a few have lost children, I am deeply grateful that what separates us, for now at least, is merely distance. It won't always be so, and there is no way to prepare for that fact other than to appreciate the moment that is. My sons know that they can please me on Sunday with a phone call or an e-mail, and that is enough as I love their words. The very best gift they can possibly give me is their own happiness, the very fact of their busy. full and well-lived lives.
Still, knowing that my years of staying with my sons are over, I do Feel doleful. The truth is, I miss being the center of the universe to two little boys. And this holiday can be a bit painful.
I wonder if my own mother ever felt nostalgic ('VTIH WJ) for the passing of my childhood. I wonder if she realizes that she is still at the center of my universe and always has been. I don't often pause to think about it. but of course she is the one who has been right there, at my side from the moment I drew my very first breath. How to ever fully appreciate the woman whose presence and 1ove and example have shaped me into the adult I am? How to describe even a small part of the sharing. sacrificing. and support she has given me over the years?

1. 1.

   The author mainly wants to tell us through the first paragraph that _____

   1. A.
      she hopes to get her son's letters very much
   2. B.
      her sons don't often write to her on Mother's Day
   3. C.
      Mother's Day is the very date that she longs for most
   4. D.
      she is very sorry not to write to her mother often
2. 2.

   The author is deeply grateful for the present life because ____

   1. A.
      her sons don't live far away from her home
   2. B.
      her parents and children are still alive
   3. C.
      her parents are coming to her house to spend Mother's Day
   4. D.
      her sons can please her on Sunday with a phone call
3. 3.

   According to the author ______

   1. A.
      young people nowadays tend to ignore their parents
   2. B.
      parents should not give their children too much freedom
   3. C.
      children's happiness and success are the biggest comfort to parents
   4. D.
      parents are not the center of their children's universe when children grow up
4. 4.

   What does the underlined word "doleful" in paragraph 3 mean?

   1. A.
      sad
   2. B.
      excited
   3. C.
      guilty
   4. D.
      proud
5. 5.

   What will the author probably tell about after the last paragraph?

   1. A.
      She'll tell the reader about her mother's present situation
   2. B.
      She'll recall how her mother educated and cared for her
   3. C.
      She'll describe the reunion of her family on Mother's Day
   4. D.
      She'll tell the reader about her mother's achievements in her career

1. 1.

   What will be exhibited in Geneva?

   1. A.
      A watch
   2. B.
      A kind of shoes
   3. C.
      A bracelet
   4. D.
      A photo
2. 2.

   A newly-developed car has been produced by ________

   1. A.
      Vans and Hermes
   2. B.
      Christian Dior
   3. C.
      Champion Motorsport
   4. D.
      Panerai
3. 3.

   It can be inferred that ________

   1. A.
      Goose liver is the favorite food of the Japanese people
   2. B.
      Some children have built up a toy-brick-liked building
   3. C.
      Mixing up olive oil with ordinary oil makes high-quality oil
   4. D.
      Badly behaved designers used not to get what they deserved