____________ of college seniors at a party.

A．the College seniors

B．real teens

C．adults

D．groupies

？

A.survey

B.review

C.convey

D.surfing

What can we learn from the last but one paragraph？

A．The reason why seniors put money into schools is to evade taxes on earnings.

B．Giving away one"s money can ensure his descendants a better education.

C．Donors have no right to change the beneficiary once designated in the college savings plan.

D．Seniors can add some of their wishes to trust agreements to ensure their money is well spent.

Woman: I just can't believe this is our last year. College is going by fast.

Man: Yeah, we'll have to face the real world soon. So have you figured out what you are going to do after you graduate？

Question: What do we learn from the conversation？

A．The two speakers are at a loss what to do.

B．The man is worried about his future.

C．The two speakers are seniors at college.

D．The woman regrets spending her time idly.

听力原文：W: I just can't believe this is our last year. College is going by fast.

M: Yeah, we'll have to face the real world soon. So have you figured about what you are going to do after you graduate？

Q: What do we learn from the conversation？

(18)

A．The two speakers are at a loss about what to do.

B．The man is worried about his future.

C．The two speakers are seniors at college.

D．The woman regrets spending her time idly.

US Higher Education

Lurking behind the gleaming promise of every wide-eyed freshman is a dark fact of US higher education: Half of those who enroll at four-year colleges and universities will never graduate. That means about 600,000 students each year will not complete their bachelor's degree, concludes a new US Department of Education study. And it asks: "Is there too much emphasis on getting a four-year college degree？" It is almost a heretical question. A college degree has never been more coveted — or sought after. A record 14.9 million students enrolled this year. More than 96 percent of high school seniors say college is important — and two-thirds expect to earn a bachelor's degree.

It's a significant change from the early 1980s, when just 52 percent of seniors expected to enroll in any college. Now, "College for all" is the new mentality — urged by parents, guidance counselors, and political leaders of all stripes. College has become a default decision. Tons of unprepared high school graduates are shoveled into four-year colleges. But they just don't know why they're there.

So something is not quite right with this picture. The bachelor's degree is being oversold to many high schoolers who do not truly want the experience or have only a slim chance of attaining a four-year degree. As a result, many students end up on campus without a clear sense of what they expect to gain from a college education. And that can affect everything from choosing the right school at the. outset to picking a major or setting a career path — or even dropping out, as growing numbers are doing.

Perhaps as significant a factor in boosting the "college for all" view has been a shift in college counseling. In the 1960s, high school counselors viewed themselves as gatekeepers. Criticized for elitism, they changed. One study shows counselors recommending college to 66 percent of high school seniors in 1992, double the rate of a decade earlier.

Higher education has been very accommodating of this shift. Open-admissions policies expanded to roughly three-quarters of all higher-education institutions, with remedial education available at the vast majority. About 40 percent of those chasing a four-year degree are only marginally academically qualified.

Critics say the trend is a result of a "one-way-to-win" mentality. Too many families cling to the mythology that their child can be a success only if he or she has a college degree. And the assumption poorly serves candidates who might benefit from either delaying the experience, taking a few career-related courses, attending a vocational-training school, or learning about the myriad other ways to enter the work force.

A dark fact of US higher education is

A．only half of the college students succeeded in graduation.

B．too many high school graduates are shoveled into college.

C．only 12,000,000 students are enrolled to college every year.

D．only two thirds of the students expect a bachelor degree.

d postal system with news of who has won a place in next fall's freshman class. For more than a few families, a difficult decision will follow: is it worth paying some $125,000 to give their child an education at an elite private college？ Or would her future be just as bright if she went to a less expensive school？

These questions have no easy answers. It is tree that big law firms as well as those leading American establishments—Sullivan & Cromwell—a gilt-edged diploma is a distinct advantage. However, there is plenty of evidence to prove that an elite education is not that necessary. According to a survey by Fortune, the majority of top CEOs did not attend an elite college(though a small number did.)

So what kind of return is there likely to be on that $125,000 investment？ On average, a person with an undergraduate degree now earns almost twice as much as someone with only a high school diploma. Some researchers found that those who attend more prestigious schools reported higher earnings.

Then Alan Krueger, an economist at Princeton and Dale, a researcher designed a study. They found no economic advantage in attending a selective college. Their study looked at freshman class at 30 schools, ranging from Yale to Denison. Krueger and Dale's research while intriguing is not definitive. Even they themselves find it odd that the results seem to show that while there is a correlation between college selectivity and future income, the more a college costs, the higher the earning of its graduates.

Critics have questioned their research—the limited number and range of schools evaluated, and conclusions. Under such circumstances, it is hard to say which is right and which is wrong. What can be said is that 1) An elite education gives students—especially less rich ones—better access to certain kinds of elite jobs. 2) There is no economic advantage to choosing an expensive, but not very good private schools. 3) Talented students everywhere rise to the top. So the future is in the hands of young men themselves.

Why is April the cruelest month for American high school seniors？

A．Because April is the month when they have the college entrance examination.

B．Because April is the time when the high school will decide whether they can graduate or not.

C．Because April is the time for high school seniors to find jobs.

D．Because April is the month for colleges to inform. the students who will have the chance to have further education.

s. Penn rejected 400 valedictorians salutatorians. And it's not just the Ivy League and other top universities that are besieged by well-qualified seniors. At Washington University in St. Louis, the number of applicants has doubled in the last five years. St. John's University, a commuter college in the New York City borough of Queens, now has so many out-of-town applicants that it is building the first dorm in its 129-year history.

Just your luck: you face the stiffest competition in the history college admissions. Your competitors are more numerous than eve about two thirds of all high-school graduates will go on to some form. higher education next fall, compared with just over half in the late 1960s. And by most yardsticks, your fellow applicants have the best qualifications ever. The class of 2004 will start freshman year with twice as many college credits-earned from advanced-placement courses and other special high-school work--as their counterparts had a decade before. Their SAT and ACT scores will be the highest in 15 years. "When we receive phone calls from students in April asking why they were not admitted, we sometimes have difficulty finding a reason," says Lee Stetson, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania.

But the tough competition isn't just your problem. It's also a huge challenge for the colleges. They are swamped with applicants, many of whom are applying to a dozen or more institutions--partly as a kind of failsafe, and partly because the students can't decide what they want. Admissions offices have to separate the serious prospects from the window shoppers and the multiple hookers. For you, the good news is that there's a place somewhere for just about everyone. The question is, how will you and your ideal college find each other？

There are lots of choices out there. When Bob Kinnally, Stanford's director of admissions and financial aid, gets complaints from parents whose kids were rejected, he asks them where their offspring did get in. "They rattle off this amazing list of choices," he says. "I tell them Congratulations, school so-and-so is an excellent match for your child. It's all about a good match."

Harvard has turned down more than 200 high-school seniors who had perfect SAT scores this year because ______.

A．good scores don't secure good performance

B．there are students with higher scores

C．Harvard has changed its admission policy

D．Harvard is unable to enroll all of them

听力原文： Like many other seniors, Wang Ying, at Wuhan University, has been busy preparing for the postgraduate entrance exams since the new semester began. But in another way she's different. Her motivation comes not from wanting to get a master's degree to find a good job. She wants to pursue further studies because she hopes to learn more about the history and culture of her country.

Wang is majoring in Chinese traditional culture, an unusual major for college students all across the country. These majors are studying a way of life that existed thousands of years ago.

"We read articles loud together. And the teachers explain them word by word. It's quite similar to class in a private school in ancient times, ' says Ye Daiyin, a junior.

Wuhan established the major four years ago. The students take courses based on the classical culture of ancient China, such as literature, philosophy, and history. Their curriculum has classic works like the Four Books (Si Shu), the Five Classics (Wu Jing), the Song of Chu (Chu Cf), and Lao Zi.

Many of the students have joined the Chunying Poetry Association, which is open to anyone interested in classical poetry. They usually practise composing ancient poems.

(30)

A．She is looking for a part-time job.

B．She is working in a motor factory.

C．She is doing some research on classic music.

D．She is busy preparing for the postgraduate entrance exams.