I entered college in China in 1981. Many things seemed to remain the same. For many things are dominated by one thing: the national entrance examination to get into college. In my year, about 4% high school students went to college. Now the number is 22%, as compared to 40% in the US. The significant increase in the entrance rate doesn't seem to have relieved the anxiety. As a parent to a freshman college student, I can prove that junior and senior years in high school are not much fun even for students in the US. Once a country has vastly increased the rate of college entrance, students will still want to get into "better" colleges. _ , no matter where you are. The NYT Magazine article also mentioned the Soviet-style over-specialized education in Chinese colleges. My class in college had maybe 60 students specialized in compressors, another 60 students specialized in refrigeration, and yet another 60 students specialized in welding . I was among the 60 specialized in mechanics. I cannot recall the numbers exactly, but you get the picture. It really wasn't as terrible as it sounds. In order to specialize in mechanics, we had to study math, physics and chemistry. We studied electrical circuits, alloy treatment, mechanical drawing, Fortran. We even had a continuous stream of humanity courses: history of communist party, political economics... I'm not sure I enjoyed all the courses, but I cannot claim that these courses damaged my brain, either. I remember some of the humanity courses required writing, which turned out to be a useful skill. As a consequence of specialization, we did learn a lot of mechanics. By the end of college, we had courses on analytical mechanics, strength of materials. I often feel sorry for American students in my undergraduate class, knowing that strength of materials will be their first and last course in the mechanics of materials. So many beautiful sights unseen! But they also seem to turn out to be OK. A liberal and superficial eduction doesn't damage their brains, either. All... why doesn't the rising entrance rate seem to have relieved people's anxiety? A) The rate of college entrance is still not high in China. B) There not enough colleges for students. C) Students are not contented with "common"college. D) Students want to receive further education after college.
C
Americans, generally speaking, make an effort to be friendly with their colleagues, neighbours and other people they often run into. This often takes the form of a simple greeting like "How's it going?" or "What's up ?" This is simply a way of saying I see you and I recognize you. Americans also show this friendliness in "small talk". Small talk is a casual conversation that Americans engage in when they meet on the street, in the shop or in the office before a meeting. Usually the topics of such small talk will be something that everyone is familiar with, the weather, sports, traffic, hobbies or what's on television. The topic of the conversation is not as important as the effort make to spend a few minutes with the other person. Small talk shows that you are a considerate person who is interested in others and who is willing to take the time to get to know people. Small talk is used in the business world to create a friendly atmosphere and to put everyone at ease before the serious matters of business are discussed. Often businessmen will spend a few minutes talking about the weather or sports before a meeting. This form of small talk only lasts a few minutes before the American businessman wants to "get down to business." Asians are very skilled at making casual conversation. However, they often find it difficult to make small talk with Americans because they don't know what to say, how to say it and who to say it to. Americans may see Asians who are reluctant to make small talk as unfriendly and cold. The word "reluctant" means _ . A) willing B) eager C) unwilling D) skilled
C
Q: A busy public square in the Chinese city of Nanjing is home to an unusual experiment. For almost two months, the country's first "honesty bookshop" has occupied a sidewalk on HanZhong Road in the city's Gulou District. With no cashier or other staff, the store relies on trust for payment. Making money isn't the company's main goal and they don't punish those who take books without paying. "If they can really finish the books, it doesn't matter if they took the books for free," Zhu Yu, the marketing director of the company says. "In fact, we are really happy to witness so many people taking books from the honesty bookshop." After browsing the four wooden bookshelves, customers must drop their money in a locked box. Prices are set at 30% of the usual cover price. Zhu hopes that his sidewalk store, which sells, on average, 60 books a day, will make more people interested in reading. Like elsewhere, e-books are affecting sales of traditional books, and traditional books and many independent booksellers are struggling. Zhu got permission from the city government to use the sidewalk and says he's determined to make it a long-term project. He says the store is open every day, except when it rains, and it's locked up each night. In September last year, the company laid out 1,000 books and reading lamps on the ground and encouraged people "to go on a date" with a book. "Independent bookshops represent the well-being of the city." Zhu told CNN in 2013, "when a city is losing its bookshops, it's actually losing something in its soul." If the success of the Honesty Bookstore is any guide, Nanjing's soul is in pretty good shape. What can we learn from the text? A) The shop is only open on weekends. B) The books in the shop are more expensive than shoes in other shops. C) 30% of the normal cover price is charged for each book. D) The shop is not locked at night.
A: C
Q: Put an ice cube from your fridge into a glass of water. You have a piece of string 10 centimeters long. The problem is to take out that piece of ice with the help of the string. But you must not touch the ice with your fingers. You may ask your friends to try to do that when you are having dinner together. There is a saltcellar on the table. You must use salt when you carry out this experiment. First you put the string across the piece of ice. Then put some salt on the ice. Salt makes ice melt . The ice round the string will begin to melt. But when it melts, it will lose heat. The cold ice cube will make the salt water freeze again. After a minute or two you may raise the piece of string and with it you will raise your piece of ice! This experiment can be very useful to you. If, for example, there is ice near the door of your house, you must use very much salt to melt all the ice. If you don't put enough salt, the water will freeze again. How many things at least are used in this experiment? A) Three. B) Four. C) Six. D) Seven.
A: B