Directions: Suppose you are asked to give advice on whether to major in science or humanities at college, write an essay to state your opinion. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
After becoming president of Purdue University in 2013, Mitch Daniels asked the faculty to prove that their students have actually achieved one of higher education’s most important goals: critical thinking skills. Two years before, a nationwide study of college graduates had shown that more than a third had made no【C1】______ gains in such mental abilities during their school years. Mr. Daniels needed to【C2】______ the high cost of attending Purdue to its students and their families. After all, the percentage of Americans who say a college degree is “very important” has fallen【C3】______ in the last 5-6 years.
Purdue now has a pilot test to assess students’ critical thinking skills. Yet like many college teachers around the U. S. , the faculty remain【C4】______ that their work as educators can be measured by a “learning【C5】______ such as a graduate’s ability to investigate and reason. However, the professors need not worry so much. The results of a recent experiment showed that professors can use【C6】______ metrics to measure how well students do in three key areas; critical thinking, written communication, and quantitative literacy.
Despite the success of the experiment, the actual results are worrisome, and mostly【C7】______ earlier studies. The organizers of the experiment concluded that far fewer students were achieving at high levels on a critical thinking than they were doing for written communication or quantitative literacy. And that conclusion is based only on students nearing graduation.
American universities, despite their global【C8】______ for excellence in teaching, have only begun to demonstrate what they can produce in real-world learning. Knowledge-based degrees are still important, but employers are【C9】______ advanced thinking skills from college graduate. If the intellectual worth of a college degree can be【C10】______ measured, more people will seek higher education—and come out better thinkers.
A) accurately I) predominance
B) confirm J) presuming
C) demanding K) reputation
D) doubtful L) significant
E) drastically M) signify
F) justify N) simultaneously
G) monopolized O) standardized H) outcome
Rich Children and Poor Ones Are Raised Very Differently
[A] The lives of children from rich and poor American families look more different than ever before.
[B] Well-off families are ruled by calendars, with children enrolled in ballet, soccer and after-school programs, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. There are usually two parents, who spend a lot of time reading to children and worrying about their anxiety levels and hectic schedules.
[C] In poor families, meanwhile, children tend to spend their time at home or with extended family. They are more likely to grow up in neighborhoods that their parents say aren’t great for raising children, and their parents worry about them getting shot, beaten up or in trouble with the law.
[D] The class differences in child rearing are growing—a symptom of widening inequality with far-reaching consequences. Different upbringings set children on different paths and can deepen socioeconomic divisions, especially because education is strongly linked to earnings. Children grow up learning the skills to succeed in their socioeconomic stratum(阶层) , but not necessarily others.
[E] “Early childhood experiences can be very consequential for children’s long-term social, emotional and cognitive development,” said Sean Reardon, professor of poverty and inequality in education at Stanford University. “And because those influence educational success and later earnings, early childhood experiences cast a lifelong shadow.” he cycle continues; Poorer parents have less time and fewer resources to invest in their children, which can leave children less prepared for school and work, which leads to lower earnings.
[F] American parents want similar things for their children, the Pew report and past research have found: for them to be healthy and happy, honest and ethical, caring and compassionate. There is o best parenting style or philosophy, researchers say, and across income groups, 92% of parents say they are doing a good job at raising their children. Yet they are doing it quite differently. Middle-class and higher-income parents see their children as projects in need of careful cultivation, says Annette Lareau, whose groundbreaking research on the topic was published in her, book Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life. They try to develop their skills through close supervision and organized activities, and teach children to question authority figures and navigate elite institutions.
[G] Working-class parents, meanwhile, believe their children will naturally thrive, and give them far greater independence and time for free play. They are taught to be compliant and respectful to adults. There are benefits to both approaches. Working-class children are happier, more independent, complain less and are closer to family members, Ms. Lareau found. Higher-income children are more likely to declare boredom and expect their parents to solve their problems. Yet later on, the more affluent children end up in college and on the way to the middle class, while working-class children tend to struggle. Children from higher-income families are likely to have the skills to navigate bureaucracies and succeed in schools and workplaces, Ms. Lareau said.
[H] “Do all parents want the most success for their children? Absolutely,” she said. “Do some strategies give children more advantages than others in institutions? Probably they do. Will parents be damaging children if they have one fewer organized activity? No, I really doubt it. “
[I] Social scientists say the differences arise in part because low-income parents have less money to spend on music class or preschool, and less flexible schedules to take children to museums or attend school events. Extracurricular activities reflect the differences in child rearing in the Pew survey, which was of a nationally representative sample of 1,807 parents. Of families earning more than $75,000 a year, 84% say their children have participated in organized sports over the past year, 64% have done volunteer work and 62% have taken lessons in music, dance or art. Of families earning less than $30,000, 59% of children have done sports, 37% have volunteered and 41% have taken arts classes.
[J] Especially in affluent families, children start young. Nearly half of high-earning, college-graduate parents enrolled their children in arts classes before they were 5, compared with one-fifth of low-income, less-educated parents. Nonetheless, 20% of well-off parents say their children’s schedules are too hectic, compared with 8% of poorer parents.
[K] Another example is reading aloud, which studies have shown gives children bigger vocabularies and better reading comprehension in school. 71% of parents with a college degree say they do it every day, compared with 33% of those with a high school diploma or less. White parents are more likely than others to read to their children daily, as are married parents. Most affluent parents enroll their children in preschool or day care, while low-income parents are more likely to depend on family members. Discipline techniques vary by education level: 8% of those with a postgraduate degree say they often beat their children, compared with 22% of those with a high school degree or less.
[L] The survey also probed attitudes and anxieties. Interestingly, parents’ attitudes toward education do not seem to reflect their own educational background as much as a belief in the importance of education for upward mobility. Most American parents say they are not concerned about their children’s grades as long as they work hard. But 50% of poor parents say it is extremely important to them that their children earn a college degree, compared with 39% of wealthier parents.
[M] Less-educated parents, and poorer and black and Latino parents are more likely to believe that there is no such thing as too much involvement in a child’s education. Parents who are white, wealthy or college-educated say too much involvement can be bad. Parental anxieties reflect their circumstances. High-earning parents are much more likely to say they live in a good neighborhood for raising children. White bullying is parents’ greatest concern over all, nearly half of low-income parents worry their child will get shot, compared with one-fifth of high-income parents. They are more worried about their children being depressed or anxious.
[N] In the Pew survey, middle-class families earning between $30,000 and $75,000 a year fell right between working-class and high-earning parents on issues like the quality of their neighborhood for raising children, participation in extracurricular activities and involvement in their children’s education.
[O] Children were not always raised so differently. The achievement gap between children from high-and low-income families is 30 -40% larger among children born in 2001 than those born 25 years earlier, according to Mr. Reardon’s research. People used to live near people of different income levels; neighborhoods are now more segregated by income. More than a quarter of children live in single-parent households—a historic high, according to Pew—and these children are three times as likely to live in poverty as those who live in with married parents. Meanwhile, growing income inequality has coincided with the increasing importance of a college degree for earning a middle-class wage.
[P] Yet there are recent signs that the gap could be starting to shrink. In the past decade, even as income inequality has grown, some of the socioeconomic differences in parenting, like reading to children and going to libraries, have narrowed.
[Q] Public policies aimed at young children have helped, including public preschool programs and reading initiatives. Addressing differences in the earliest years, it seems, could reduce inequality in the next generation.
American parents, whether rich or poor, have similar expectations of their children despite different ways of parenting.
While rich parents are more concerned with their children’s psychological well-being, poor parents are more worried about their children’s safety.
The increasing differences in child rearing between rich and poor families reflect growing social inequality.
Ms. Lareau doesn’t believe participating in fewer after-class activities will negatively affect children’s development.
Open data sharers are still in the minority in many fields. Although many researchers broadly agree that public access to raw data would accelerate science, most are reluctant to post the results of their own labors online.
Some communities have agreed to share online—geneticists, for example, post DNA Sequences at the GenBank repository (库) , and astronomers are accustomed to accessing images of galaxies and stars from, say, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a telescope that has observed some 500 million objects—but these remain the exception, not the rule. Historically, scientists have objected to sharing for many reasons: it is a lot of work; until recently, good databases did not exist; grant funders were not pushing for sharing; it has been difficult to agree on standards for formatting data; and there is no agreed way to assign credit for data.
But the barriers are disappearing, in part because journals and funding agencies worldwide are encouraging scientists to make their data public. Last year, the Royal Society in London said in its report that scientists need to “shift away from a research culture where data is viewed as a private preserve”. Funding agencies note that data paid for with public money should be public information, and the scientific “community is recognizing that data can now be shared digitally in ways that were not possible before. To match the growing demand, services are springing up to make it easier to publish research products online and enable other researchers to discover and cite them.
Although calls to share data often concentrate on the moral advantages of sharing, the practice is not purely altruistic (利他的). Researchers who share get plenty of personal benefits, including more connections with colleagues, improved visibility and increased citations. The most successful sharers— those whose data are downloaded and cited the most often—get noticed, and their work gets used. For example, one of the most popular data sets on multidisciplinary repository Dryad is about wood density around the world; it has been downloaded 5,700 times. Co-author Amy Zanne thinks that users probably range from climate-change researchers wanting to estimate how much carbon is stored in biomass, to foresters looking for information on different grades of timber. “I’d much prefer to have my data used by the maximum number of people to ask their own questions,” she says. “It’s important to allow readers and reviewers to see exactly how you arrive at your results. Publishing data and code allows your science to be reproducible. “
Even people whose data are less popular can benefit. By making the effort to organize and label files so others can understand them, scientists become more organized and better disciplined themselves, thus avoiding confusion later on.
What is the attitude of most researchers towards making their own data public?
Opposed.
Ambiguous.
Liberal.
Neutral.
According to the passage, what might hinder open data sharing?
The fear of massive copying.
The lack of a research culture.
The belief that research data is private intellectual property.
The concern that certain agencies may make a profit out of it.
What helps lift some of the barriers to open data sharing?
The ever-growing demand for big data.
The advancement of digital technology.
The changing attitude of journals and funders.
The trend of social and economic development.
Dryad serves as an example to show how open data sharing ______.
is becoming increasingly popular
benefits sharers and users alike
makes researchers successful
saves both money and labor
Macy’s reported its sales plunged 5.2% in November and December at stores open more than a year, a disappointing holiday season performance that capped a difficult year for a department store chain facing wide-ranging challenges. Its flagship stores in major U. S. cities depend heavily on international tourist spending, which shrank at many retailers due to a strong dollar. Meanwhile, Macy’s has simply struggled to lure consumers who are more interested in spending on travel or dining out than on new clothes or accessories.
The company blamed much of the poor performance in November and December on unseasonably warm weather. “About 80% of our company’s year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to shortfalls (短缺) in cold-weather goods,” said chief executive Terry Lundgren in a press release. This prompted the company to cut its forecasts for the full fourth quarter.
However, it’s clear that Macy’s believes its troubles run deeper than a temporary aberration (偏离) off the thermometer. The retail giant said the poor financial performance this year has pushed it to begin implementing $400 million in cost-cutting measures. The company pledged to cut 600 back-office positions, though some 150 workers in those roles would be reassigned to other jobs. It also plans to offer “voluntary separation” packages to 165 senior executives. It will slash staffing at its fleet of 770 stores, a move affecting some 3,000 employees.
The retailer also announced the locations of 36 stores it will close in early 2016. The company had previously announced the planned closures, but had not said which locations would be affected. None of the chain’s stores in the Washington metropolitan area are to be closed.
Macy’s has been moving aggressively to try to remake itself for a new era of shopping. It has plans to open more locations of Macy’s Backstage, a newly-developed off-price concept which might help it better compete with ambitious T. J. Maxx. It’s also pushing ahead in 2016 with an expansion of Bluemercury, the beauty chain it bought last year. At a time when young beauty shoppers are often turning to Sephora or Ulta instead of department store beauty counters, Macy’s hopes Bluemercury will help strengthen its position in the category.
One relative bright spot for Macy’s during the holiday season was the online channel, where it rang up “double-digit” increases in sales and a 25% increase in the number of orders it filled. That relative strength would be consistent with what was seen in the wider retail industry during the early part of the holiday season. While Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday all saw record spending online, in-store sales plunged over the holiday weekend.
What does the author say about the shrinking spending of international tourists in the U. S.?
It is attributable to the rising value of the U. S. dollar.
It is a direct result of the global economic recession.
It reflects a shift of their interest in consumer goods.
It poses a potential threat to the retail business in the U. S.
What does Macy’s believe about its problems?
They can be solved with better management.
They cannot be attributed to weather only.
They are not as serious in its online stores.
They call for increased investments.
In order to cut costs, Macy’s decided to ______.
cut the salary of senior executives
relocate some of its chain stores
adjust its promotion strategies
reduce the size of its staff
Why does Macy’s plan to expand Bluemercury in 2016?
To experiment on its new business concept.
To focus more on beauty products than clothing.
To promote sales of its products by lowering prices.
To be more competitive in sales of beauty products.
What can we learn about Macy’s during the holiday season?
Sales dropped sharply in its physical stores.
Its retail sales exceeded those of T. J. Maxx.
It helped Bluemercury establish its position worldwide.
It filled its stores with abundant supply of merchandise.
明朝统治中国276年，被人们描绘成人类历史上治理有序、社会稳定的最伟大的时代之一。这一时期，手工业的发展促进了市场经济和城市化。大量商品，包括酒和丝绸，都在市场销售。同时，还进口许多外国商品，如时钟和烟草。北京、南京、扬州、苏州这样的大商业中心相继形成。也是在明代，由郑和率领的船队曾到印度洋进行了七次大规模探险航行。还值得一提的是，中国文学的四大经典名著中有三部写于明代。
They are of little value.
They make good reading.
They are worthy of a prize.
They need improvement.
He writes several books simultaneously.
He draws on his real-life experiences.
He often turns to his wife for help.
He seldom writes a book straight through.
Writing a book is just like watching a football match.
Unlike a football match, there is no end to writing a book.
He likes watching a football match after finishing a book.
Writers actually work every bit as hard as footballers.
They make money for the college but often fail to earn a degree.
They have difficulty finding money to complete their studies.
They are better at sports than at academic work.
They display great talent in every kind of game.
College degrees do not count much to them.
They have little interest in academic work.
Schools do not deem it a serious problem.
Coaches lack the incentive to graduate them.
About 136 million.
About 183.8 million.
About 50% of holiday shoppers.
About 20-30% of holiday shoppers.
They appeal to elderly customers.
They find it hard to survive.
They have fewer customers.
They are thriving once more.
Higher employment and wages.
Better quality of consumer goods.
Greater varieties of commodities.
People having more leisure time.
Routine operations have become complex.
Large amounts of tax money are wasted.
Many infections are no longer curable.
Antibiotics are now in short supply.
They protect students’ rights.
They promote globalization.
They uphold the presidents’ authority.
They encourage academic democracy.
His eagerness to find a job.
His thirst for knowledge.
His potential for leadership.
His contempt for authority.
They contain names of the most familiar states.
They are exactly the same as is shown in the atlas.
They include more or less the same number of states.
They present the states in a surprisingly different order.
Making sensible decisions while choosing your answers.
Reviewing your lessons where the exam is to take place.
Having a good sleep the night before.
Focusing on what is likely to be tested.
Follow the example of a marathon runner.
Give yourself a double bonus afterwards.
Discover when you can learn best.
Change your time of study daily.
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