23. The underlined word “detrimental” probably mean_____.
A. disadvantageous B. common C. beneficial D. accessible 24. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. The messier the desks are, the more efficient the employees are. B. Messy desks in the office can have a positive effect on employees. C. We should make our office messy to improve our work efficiency. D. Clean desks can promote the employees’ productivity and creativity.
B
While it is expected that students come to university with the ability to take a good set of notes, this is not always the case. High school may not have demanded it, so good listening and note-taking skills may need to be developed. TRY HOW? Being a positive, active listener. Sit down front and do not read or talk. Pay particular attention during the second 20 minutes (when you tend to lose it) and to the last minutes when a summary might be given or conclusions drawn. TRY HOW? Being a positive, active learner. Come to class with an interest in the material and with questions to be answered. You can develop these by thinking about and anticipating the lecture and by pre-reading the text (the latter is especially helpful if you find yourself having difficulty keeping up with the material). TRY WHY? TRY WHY? Getting accurate notes, with special attention to the main ideas. There may be an overhead projector; if so, get that material down. In addition, look for points of emphasis---from the prof’s verbal language, body language, or careful reading of his notes. If you still feel you’re missing the main points, try showing your notes to a classmate or the prof. Leaving lots of space between ideas. Because you want lots of room to continue to add notes in your own words; this will help you learn the material on a deeper level by integrating it with what you
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TRY WHY? TRY HOW? already know. Also, the extra space will make it easier for you to find material when you are studying. Going over new notes---10 minutes for each class---within 24 hours Because you lose 50—80% of the material if you don’t. Setting your notes up so you can study effectively from them. Leave wide left margins (页边空白): here you will write questions from which to study your notes. Leave the back of the page blank, so you can fold the page, cover the notes, and answer the questions when studying. 25. During a listening lesson _____.
A. the students might lose interest after 20 minutes B. most students might be absent-minded C. students prefer to talk to each other
D. students don’t have to pay attention to the last part of the lesson 26. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Pre-reading what you read might help you understand the material better. B. Taking notes in class can help you master the main idea better.
C. The writer of the passage is not quite satisfied with high school education. D. One should learn to go over one’s lessons within 24 hours. 27. The article is probably written for _____. A. high school students C. university students
B. grown-ups
D. teachers of English C
Olaf Stapledon wrote a book called First and Last Men, in which he looked millions of years ahead. He told of different men and of strange civilizations, broken up by long “dark ages” in between. In his view, what is called the present time is no more than a moment in human history and we are just the First Men. In 2,000 million years from now there will be the Eighteenth or Last Men.
However, most of our ideas about the future are really very short-sighted. Perhaps we can see some possibilities for the next fifty years. But the next hundred? The next thousand? The next
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million? That’s much more difficult.
When men and women lived by hunting 50,000 years ago, how could they even begin to picture modern life? Yet to men of 50,000 years from now, we may seem as primitive in our ideas as the Stone-Age hunters do to us. Perhaps they will spend their days gollocking to make new spundels, or struggling with their ballalators through the cribe. These words, which I have just made up, have to stand for things and ideas that we simply can’t think of.
So why bother even to try imagining life far in the future? Here are two reasons. First, unless we remember how short our own lives are compared with the whole human history, we are likely to think our own interests are much more important than they really are. If we make the earth a poor place to live because we are careless or greedy or quarrelsome, our grandchildren will not bother to think of excuses for us.
Second, by trying to escape from present interests and imagine life far in the future, we may arrive at quite fresh ideas that we can use ourselves. For example, if we imagine that in the future men may give up farming, we can think of trying it now. So set you imagination free when you think about the future.
28. A particular mention made of Stapledon’s book in the opening paragraph _____. A. serves as a description of human history
B. serves an introduction to the discussion D. shows the popularity of the book
C. shows a disagreement of views
29. The text discusses men and women 50,000 years ago and 50,000 years from now in order to show that _____.
A. human history is extremely long B. life has changed a great deal
C. it is useless to plan for the next 50 years D. it is difficult to tell what will happen in the future
30. Spundels and ballalators are used in the text to refer to _____. A. tools used in farming
B. ideas about modern life D. hunting skills in the Stone Age
C. unknown things in the future
31. According to the writer of the text, imagining the future will _____. A. serve the interests of the present and future generations B. enable us to better understand human history
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C. help us to improve farming D. make life worth living
D
Every year, thousands of new high school graduates pack their bags, move to new cities, and sign papers accepting loans, the money borrowed from a bank or lenders etc., which they might not be able to pay back. Without proper education on personal finance, especially as it relates to paying for college, young adults are guided into improper loan plans that result in years of debt after graduation. In order to set students up to succeed financially, it is important to educate students and parents on their financial options before school in the fall. The best way to support families heading for college is to require that every high school student take a personal finance class before graduation. This will help smooth the transition into adulthood.
The average student takes out at least one loan to cover the costs of their education each year. In 2014 the average student graduating from college carried a negative balance of about $20,000 in debt, which often spread over multiple lenders. Upon graduation, students rarely know exactly how much money they owe, and even though they are in the state of being unable to pay their debts, they cannot wipe out student loans. These students spend much of their adult lives paying off the gradual increasing debts.
A personal finance course would teach students how to manage their income and expenses, while helping to significantly reduce the amount of debt students carry into adulthood. By teaching students how to save money and live within their means, this course will provide the next generation with a foundation to progress financially. Students choosing to get a job straight out of high school would also benefit from finance education for these very reasons. With education on how to manage their finances, all young people will have the knowledge to make healthy decisions, leading them to improve good credit and purchase needed items like cars and homes with skill and confidence.
While not every young person makes financial mistakes, those who do can face years of difficulty trying to get their finances back under control. Rather than help them through these hard times when they happen, we should try to prevent them from happening at all. Making the completion of personal finance coursework a requirement for graduation would ensure that young people are at least aware of the basics of preserving a financial stability.
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