The other day my aunt paid me a visit. She was overjoyed. "I got the highest mark in the mid-term examination!" She said. Don't be surprised! My aunt is indeed a student, exactly, a college student at the age of 45. "Compared with the late 70s," she says, "now college students have many doors." I was shocked when she first told me how she had had no choice in her major. Look at us today! So many doors are open to us! I believe there have never been such abundant opportunities for self-development as we have today. And my aunt told me that we should reach our goals by grasping all these opportunities. The first door is the opportunity to study different subjects that interest us. My aunt was happy to study management, but she could also attend lectures on ancient Chinese poetry and on Shakespearean drama. As for myself, I am an English major, but I may also go to lectures on history. The second door is the door to the outside world. Learning goes beyond classrooms and national boundaries. I have many fellow international classmates, and I am applying to an exchange program with a university abroad. As for my aunt, she is planning to get an MBA degree in the U.K. The third door is the door to life-long learning. Many of my aunt's contemporaries say she's amazingly up-to-date for a middle-aged woman. She simply responds, "Age doesn't matter. What matters is your attitude. I don't think I'm too old to learn." Yes, she is right. Since the government removed the age limit for college admissions, there are already some untraditional students, sitting with us in the same classrooms. Like them, my aunt is old but young in spirit with incredible energy and determination. The doors open to us also pose challenges. For instance, we are faced with the challenge of a balanced learning, the challenge of preserving our fine tradition while learning from the West, and the challenge of learning continuously while carrying heavy responsibilities to our work and family. So, each door is a test of our courage, ability and... Which of the following words can best replace the "door" in the passage? A) challenge B) knowledge C) learning D) opportunity
D
(Question)
American cities are similar to other cities around the world.In every country, cities reflect the values of the culture.American cities are changing,just as American society is changing. After World War II,the population of most large American cities decreased;however, the population in many Sun Belt cities increased.In the late 1940s and early 1950s,city residents became wealthier.They had more children so they needed more space.They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy their own homes.They bought houses in the suburbs . Now things are changing,the children of the people who left the cities in the 1950s are now adults.Many, unlike their parents,want to live in the cities.They continue to move to Sun Belt cities and older ones of the Northeast and Midwest.Many young professionals are moving back into the city.They prefer the city to the suburbs because their jobs are there;or they just enjoy the excitement and possibilities that the city offers. This population shift is bringing problems as well as benefits.Countless poor people must leave their apartments in the city because the owners want to sell the buildings or make apartments for sale instead of for rent.In the 1950s,many poor people did not have enough money to move to the suburbs;now many of these same people do not have enough money to stay in the cities. Only a few years ago,people thought that the older American cities were dying.Some city residents now see a bright,new future.Others see only problems and conflicts.One thing is sure:many dying cities in America are alive again. We can conclude from the text that _ . A) American cities are changing for the worse B) people have different views on American cities C) older people prefer the city to the suburbs in America D) the population is decreasing in older American cities
(Answer)
B
Ques: It was graduation day at the university where I work and a beautiful day quite unlike the first graduation I attended as a young professor.On that cold day years ago, as we watched the students walking into the hall, one of my colleagues turned to me and said, "Graduation will be one of the happiest and one of the saddest time of your life." At my inquiry, he answered, "Because the students you have gotten to know have to leave." As years went by, my previous confusion about my colleague's words no longer existed.When I came across naughty students, I have had to rethink why I chose to be a teacher.It obviously isn't the money.Once a former computer science student of mine called me, asking me if I wanted to have a change.He was working at Nintendo Corporation.His salary was higher than my current one, though I have more education and have worked for over a decade.With my programming skills, he said he could get me hired.I thanked him, but declined his kind offer. A few days before this current graduation, while working on final grades, I found a note a student had slipped in with her homework.She thanked me for being her teacher and said the things she had learned in my class--not about math, but about life--would be things she would remember long after the math skills had faded away.As I finished reading, I remembered why I had become a teacher. Now, on this sunny graduation day, as I again observed the sea of _ , I did so with renewed dedication and a deeper sense of satisfaction--I will always be grateful that I am a teacher. The computer science student called up the author because he _ . A) wanted to inform the author of his present job B) tried to persuade the author to work with him C) wanted the author to share his joy and satisfaction D) thought the author wasn't fit to be a teacher
Ans: B
Question: Tests administered to most elementary and high-school students in the United States exert an unfavorable influence on science and math teaching, according to a new $1 million study performed for the National Science Foundation.And because schools with high minority enrollments generally place a greater reliance on scores from these tests, the study finds,there tends to be "a gap in instructional emphases between high and low minority classrooms that differs from our national concern for the quality of education." George F.Madaus and his colleagues at Boston College analyzed not only the six most widely used national standardized tests, but also the tests designed to accompany(go with)the four most commonly used science and math texts in fourth-grade,eighth-grade,and high-school classrooms.Though curriculum(teaching program)experts argue that schools should place greater emphasis on problem solving and reasoning, the new study shows that the tests focus on lower-level skills--primarily mechanical memorization of routine formulas . Researchers surveyed more than 2,200 math and science instructors,interviewing in depth some 300 teachers and administrators.Especially in schools with high minority enrollments,teachers reported feeling pressured to help students perform well on these tests.Some states judge schools and some schools determine teacher assignments based on students' test scores. "With so much worry,"Madaus says,"teachers feel forced to focus their instruction on drilling what the tests will measure--at the expense of the more valuable,higher-level skills." According to Madaus' opinion,teachers are forced to _ . A) evaluate students' skills every year B) suffer so much worry on the texts C) teach what will be tested D) focus their instruction on useful drillings
Answer:
C