The Cost of Higher Education

       Individuals (個人) should pay for their higher education.

       A university education is of huge and direct benefit to the individual. Graduates earn more than non-graduates. Meanwhile, social mobility is ever more dependent on having a degree. However, only some people have it. So the individual, not the taxpayers, should pay for it. There are pressing calls on the resources (資源) of the government. Using taxpayers' money to help a small number of people to earn high incomes in the future is not one of them.

       Full government funding (資助) is not very good for universities. Adam Smith worked in a Scottish university whose teachers lived off student fees. He knew and looked down upon 18th-century Oxford, where the academics lived comfortably off the income received from the government. Guaranteed salaries, Smith argued, were the enemy of hard work; and when the academics were lazy and incompetent, the students were similarly lazy.

       If students have to pay for their education, they not only work harder, but also demand more from their teachers. And their teachers have to keep them satisfied. If that means taking teaching seriously, and giving less time to their own research interests, that is surely something to celebrate.

       Many people believe that higher education should be free because it is good for the economy (經(jīng)濟). Many graduates clearly do contribute to national wealth, but so do all the businesses that invest (投資) and create jobs. If you believe that the government should pay for higher education because graduates are economically productive, you should also believe that the government should pay part of business costs. Anyone promising to create jobs should receive a gift of capital from the government to invest. Therefore, it is the individual, not the government, who should pay for their university education.

1. The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 2 refers to____________

      A. taxpayers                     B. pressing calls

      C. college graduates              D. government resources

2. The author thinks that with full government funding____________

      A. teachers are less satisfied

      B. students are more demanding

      C. students will become more competent

      D. teachers will spend less time on teaching

3. The author mentions businesses in Paragraph 5 in order to ____________

      A. argue against free university education

      B. call on them to finance students' studies

C. encourage graduates to go into business

D. show their contribution to higher education

第二節(jié)    書面表達（滿分25分）

       假如你將參加某英語雜志社開展的一次征文活動，征文的內(nèi)容要求你在電視、手機(cell)和網(wǎng)絡(luò)三考中，放棄其中一個并陳述理由。請你以“Which would you give the TV, cell, or Web ”為題，寫一篇英語短文。

       注意：1.字數(shù)100左右；

       2.可以適當增加細節(jié)，以使行文連貫。

——How did you like Nick’s performance last night ?

—— To be honest ,his singing didn’t ________to be much?

A. appeal               B. belong          C. refer     D. occur

. People have always been_______about exactly how life on earth began.

A. curious    B. excited      C. anxious      D. careful

 Just be patient .You            expect the world to change so soon

    A can’t    B needn’t    C may not    D will not

Tim is in good shape physically__________he doesn't get much exercise.

     A. if              B. even though      C. unless           D. as long as

第二部分  閱讀理解(共兩節(jié)，滿分50分)

第一節(jié)  閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。(共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分)

I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (觀點) by creating worlds we could step into, take part. in. and live in.

     With this unshakable belief, I, at. fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.

Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文學(xué)作品)．As a. law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter—the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.

1. What can be inferred about the author as a child?

A.  He never watched TV.

B.  He read what he had to.

C.  He found reading unbelievable.

D.  He considered reading part of his life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

2. The underlined word "voice" in the second paragraph most probably means “____________”.

A.  an idea      B. a sound quality  C. a way of writing    D. a world to write about

3. What effect does reading have on the author?

A.  It helps him to realize his dream.

B.  It opens up a wider world for him.

C.  It makes his college life more interesting.

D.  It increases his interest in worldwide travel.

4. Which of the following can be the best title of this text?

A.  Why do I read?  B.  How do I read?  C.  What do I read?   D.  When do I read?

In_________most countries, a university degree can give you________flying start in life.

 A. the; a        B. the; 不填      C.不填; 不填       D.不填; a

 Mary made coffee___________her guests were finishing their meal

    A so that    B although   C while    D as if

   C

Thousands of people living in the Chinese eapital will celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year by heading for the ski resorts(滑雪場).Never mind that Beijing’s dry weather seldom produces

Now. It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the hills north to

The capital. And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for this

New craze(熱潮).

Since Beijing’s first ski resort was opened ten years ago, the sport has enjoyed an astonishing increase.There are now more than a dozen resorts. Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections. Mr.Wei, a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing, sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe. In recent years ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China. But many are in faraway areas of the country and can’t really match the equipment and services of some ski resorts

In Europe.

Beijing’s sking craze is partly a result of the recent increase in private(私有的)cars. This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capital’s suburbs(郊區(qū)).which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people. According to Mr. Wei,About 40％ of the visitors to his resort some in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools, businesses or government offices.

The problem is making money.Starting ski resorturequires quite a lot of money:hiring land from the local government,preparing the hills,buying snow machines,making sure there are enough

water and electricity to run them,and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers.The ski resort where Mr.Wei works cost nearly $4m to set up.And,as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea,many others rush in and price wars break out.Beijing now offers some of

the cheapest ski training classes in the world,though with most people rather new to the sport, expecting a few more doing the same job.

50.What does this text mainly talk about?

A．Convenience for skiers brought about by private cars

B．Skiing as a new way of enjoying one’s spare time

C．Things to be considered when starting a ski resort

D．A sudden increase of ski training classes in Beijing

51.Why are some Chinese likely to go skiing in Burope?

A．To visit more ski areas

B．To ski on natrual snow

C．For a large collection of ski suits

D．For better services and equipment

52.The underlined words”leisure industry”in Paragraph 3 refer to        

A．transport to ski resorts

B．production of familycars

C．business of providing spare time enjoyments

D．part-time work for people living in the suburbs

53.What is the main problem in running a ski resort?

A．Difficulty in hiring land

B．Lack of business experience

C．……ski resorts.

D．Shortage of water and electricity