Increasing affluence（富裕）and currency appreciation are behind the spike in Chinese students traveling abroad for their undergraduate studies, industry insiders said.

The Ministry of Education last month reported that a record 840,000 high school graduates did not register for the gaokao (university entrance exam) this year. Those numbers are fueling speculation that this was due to the increasing number of Chinese students wanting to study abroad.

The total number of students traveling abroad to study increased from 144,000 in 2007 to 170,000 last year. This figure will probably top 200,000 this year, said Feng Jishang, marketing manager of Wiseway, a consulting firm that advises students and their parents about overseas schools.

Years ago, most Chinese students who went abroad would first complete their undergraduate studies in China before applying to an overseas graduate school. But this traned is changing. According to industry estimates, the proportion of students seeking their first degree abroad has risen to 30 to 50 percent of all overseas-bound students. That means there could be as many as 60,000 to 100,000 such students this year—— triple the number in 2003.

Foreign college campuses are beginning to notice the trend. A source tat the University of San Francisco told China Business Weekly that the campus used to accept three or four Chinese undergraduate students every year. Today, the number has hit 80, the university source said.

Rapid economic growth, coupled with a currency that has risen by more than 20 percent against the US dollar over the last four years, is making an overseas education more affordable for Chinese students. That’s making US campuses such as the University of San Francisco, or USF, more of a bargain. “ Students used to tell me that they did not have the money to go to USF, and they needed full scholarships. That is not the case now,” said Stanley Nel, vice-president of international relations at the San Francisco campus.

Another reason is that there simply aren’t enough places in Chinese colleges, especially the higher-rated ones, to satisfy the demand for a university education. “ Four in ten students taking the gaokao won’t get university places. Furthermore, of those that do many don’t get into the schools of their choice. That is why more are going abroad,” Feng of Wiseway said.

A widespread perception among students is that going overseas for college improves their career prospects, sources said. “ For Chinese students, capability is not a problem, but they need work experience and communication skills,” said Alan McNeilly, assistant dean at Teeside University in the United Kingdom. “ If they get a degree overseas, they can expect higher salaries and better positions when they return,” McNeilly said. His university will set up an office in China next month to attract more students, Mc Neilly added.

1.More and more Chinese students have recently traveled abroad for studines because______.

A．they don’t want to take part in the gaokao

B．most Chinese students want to study abroad

C．many Chinese people become richer and US dollar has been devalued

D．it is easy to complete their undergraduate studies

2.Which of the following statistics-related statements is NOT true?

A．The number of students seeking their first degree abroad is around 20,000 to 33,000 in 2003.

B．The increment of the total number of students traveling abroad to study is probably bigger from 2008 to 2009 than that from 2007to 2008.

C．The number of Chinese undergraduate students accepted at USF is about 20 to 26 times of that in the past.

D．200,000 out of the 840,000 high school graduates who did not take the gaokao this year started their undergraduate study abroad.

3.Students interested in studying abroad take the following factors into account EXCEPT_____.

A．financial affordability    

B．work opportunities after graduation

C．a(chǎn)ccommodation standard

D．the chance of getting into a more desirable university

4.What can be inferred from this passage?

A．If the Chinese RMB decreases 20 percent against the US dollar, the number of Chinese students traveling abroad to study will decrease 20 percent.

B．If more universities are established in China, fewer students will choose to study abroad.

C．Teeside University will set up an office in China to attract those students who have been admitted to USF but have not been offered full scholarships.

D．Without a degree overseas higher salaries and better positions are not impossible if you are experienced and have outstanding communication skills.

Vampires (吸血鬼), creatures of myth, have been around in one form or another for centuries. Terrifying but also attractive, they are as popular in the early 21 st century as ever, as the current popularity of Twilight series, and its hero Edward Cullen, show.

Vampires first appeared in fiction in the 1700s. in 1895 Irish novelist Bram Stoker published Dracula, introducing the world’s most famous vampire.

But just what is it about these drinkers of human blood that continues to fascinate us? Speaking to Eric Lewis of the Times and Transcript website, academic Deborah Wells said that vampires are “culturally adaptive”. “We create very different vampires to fit different times. Edward Cullen is not the same as Count Dracula,” she said.

Different as they are, Wells believes vampires are “the perfect containers into which we can pour our current cultural anxieties”, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is powerful, yet old and physically ugly. Stoker’s book dealt with fear of the fall of the British Empire, real fears in the day in which it was written.

According to the website Bookrags, today’s vampires have all our cultural desires, money, power and sexual attraction. Represented by Cullen, they are noble, handsome young men whom women find irresistible. What’s more, vampires challenge traditional ideas about death, science and parental authority. This may be why teenagers are drawn to vampire tales.

“In many ways, the vampire story shows up teenage concerns,” said wells. “The emotional intensity (強(qiáng)度) of the relationship with the vampire matches the intensity of how it feels to have your first real love affairs. Your first real love, it really feels like life and death.”

1．The best title for this passage should be_________.

       A．Vampires may continue to drink our blood

       B．Vampires have been around us for long

       C．Why Twilight is so popular nowadays

       D．We still like the story about vampires

2．What is the image of the vampire in Bram Stoker’s book?

      A．Anxious but perfect.

       B．Powerful, old and ugly.

       C．Terrifying but also attractive.

       D．Afraid of the fall of the British Empire.

3．According to the website Bookrages, today’s vampires_________.

       A．desire money, power and sexual attraction

       B．may not think highly of parental authority

       C．dare to give up traditional ideas

       D．a(chǎn)re likely to be resisted by women

4．Which of the following statements is true according to Wells?

       A．People need different vampires in different times.

       B．Our current cultural anxieties are hidden in vampires.

       C．The vampire story reflects the conches of the teenagers.

D．The relationship with the vampire equals your first real love.

第二節(jié)：完形填空（共20小題；每小題1.5分,滿30分）

閱讀下面短文,從短文后所給各題的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)(A、B、C、D)中,選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。

Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together. However, I was not thinking about the golden chain when I had to help people who   31   their way and parked in front of my house.

I was growing tired of helping so many people. Almost every   32   I was awoken during a sound night’s sleep and had to   33   someone out. Many times I was   34   by some penniless motorists who did not even thank me for the helps that they received and some even complained that I could have done   35   .

One day, a young man with a week – old beard climbed out of a  36   automobile. He had no money and no food. He asked if I could give him some   37 , offer him gasoline and a meal. I told him that   38   he wanted to work for me, he could cut the grass, but   39   the work wasn’t necessary.

Though sweaty and hungry, he worked hard. After working all day, he sat   40   to cool himself. I thanked him for his work and gave him the money he needed. I then offered him some

  41   money for a task particularly well done, but he shook his head,   42  .

I never saw him again. He probably thinks I helped him out that day,   43   that is not the way it was. I didn’t help him. He helped me to   44   people again to repay their trust in me. He helped me to once again want to do something for those who are   45  . I wish I could thank him for   46  some of my belief in the basic   47   of others and for giving me back a little of the   48   I had lost. Because of him, I once again felt part of a golden chain of kindness that

  49   us to others.

I may have fed his body that day, but he fed my   50  .

31．A．fought      B．found       C．made D．lost

32．A．morning   B．a(chǎn)fternoon  C．night D．evening

33．A．bring B．help  C．carry D．drive

34．A．taken for granted     B．put up with      C．turned down     D．taken up with

35．A．less   B．more C．worse       D．enough

36．A．fashionable      B．famous     C．tidy   D．shabby

37．A．money      B．food  C．help  D．work

38．A．when    B．because     C．if      D．though

39．A．a(chǎn)ctually    B．specially   C．particularly     D．generally

40．A．in the sun B．in the shade      C．in the field       D．in the car

41．A．old    B．extra C．small D．good

42．A．a(chǎn)ccepted   B．received    C．refused     D．denied

43．A．but    B．still   C．however   D．therefore

44．A．believe in B．watch over       C．look after  D．care about

45．A．in trouble B．in danger  C．in tears     D．in fear

46．A．forgetting B．losing       C．restoring   D．finding

47．A．goodness  B．happiness  C．pleasure    D．nature

48．A．weakness  B．strength    C．optimism  D．courage

49．A．a(chǎn)dapts      B．a(chǎn)djusts      C．devotes     D．connects

50．A．heart B．soul   C．head  D．mouth

．As is _______ known, a good knowledge of basic physics helps us better understand natural phynomenons.

   A. universally          B. specifically        C. adequately         D. completely

．On Sunday he denied all knowledge of it, but on the __________ day he’d admitted to me that he knew all about it.

       A. previous                   B. former                            C. original                    D. primitive

 —What were you doing when Tony phoned you?

—I had just finished my work and ______ to take a shower.

A. had started             B. started       C. have started         D. was starting

---My daughter nearly set the chicken on fire when cooking some dishes.

---You can’t stress ______the importance of using the fire.

A. too       B. much       C. yet      D. enough

A man with a bleeding hand hurried in and asked, “Is there a hospital around ________I can get my hand treated.

A. that       B. which      C. what        D. where

He said that doing part-time jobs did no good to students, but few     ______ his view. 

A. agreed B. permitted C. shared D. nodded

You can’t complain of being lonely  ____   you don’t make any effort to communicate with others.

A. when   B. until     C. unless    D. once