Text 3
Today,widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in conjunction withincreasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students tocompletely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year. After all, ifeveryone you know is going to college in the fall, it seems silly to stay backa year, doesn’t it？ Andafter going to school for 12 years, it doesn’t feel natural to spend a yeardoing something that isn’t academic.
Butwhile this may be true, it’s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years.There’s always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the sociallyperpetuated “race to the finish line,” whether that be toward graduate school,medical school or lucrative career. But despite common misconceptions, a gapyear does not hinder the success of academic pursuits—in fact, it probablyenhances it.
Studiesfrom the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year aregenerally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who donot. Rather than pulling students back, a gap year pushes them ahead bypreparing them for independence, new responsibilities and environmentalchanges—all things that first-year students often struggle with the most. Gapyear experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college andbeing thrown into a brand new environment, making it easier to focus onacademics and activities rather than acclimation blunders.
Ifyou’re not convinced of the inherent value in taking a year off to exploreinterests, then consider its financial impact on future academic choices.According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 80 percent ofcollege students end up changing their majors at least once. This isn’tsurprising, considering the basic mandatory high school curriculum leavesstudents with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on theircollege applications, but switching to another after taking college classes.It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the school, it can be costlyto make up credits after switching too late in the game. At Boston College, forexample, you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to thenursing school from another department. Taking a gap year to figure things outinitially can help prevent stress and save money later on.
31.Oneof the reasons for high-school graduates not taking a gap year is that ______.
[A] theythink it academically misleading
[B] theyhave a lot of fun to expect in college
[C] itfeels strange to do differently from others
[D] it seemsworthless to take off-campus courses
[答案][C] it feels strange to do differently fromothers
32.Studiesfrom the US and Australia imply that taking a gap year helps ______.
[A] keepstudents from being unrealistic
[B]lower risks in choosing careers
[C] easefreshmen’s financial burdens
[D]relieve freshmen of pressures
[答案][D] relieve freshmen of pressures
33.Theword “acclimation” （Line 8,Para. 3） isclosest in meaning to ______.
[A]adaptation
[B]application
[C]motivation
[D]competition
[答案][A] adaptation
34.A gapyear may save money for students by helping them ______.
[A]avoid academic failures
[B]establish long-term goals
[C]switch to another college
[D]decide on the right major
[答案][D] decide on the right major
35.Themost suitable title for this text would be ______.
[A] InFavor of the Gap Year
[B] TheABCs of the Gap Year
[C] TheGap Year Comes Back
[D] TheGap Year：ADilemma
[答案][A] In Favor of the Gap Year
Text 4
Thoughoften viewed as a problem for western states, the growing frequency ofwildfires is a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars,says Professor Max Moritz, a specialist in fire ecology and management.
In 2015,the US Forest Service for the first time spent more than half of its $5.5billion annual budget fighting fires—nearly double the percentage it spent onsuch efforts 20 years ago. In effect, fewer federal funds today are goingtowards the agency’s other work—such as forest conservation, watershed andcultural resources management, and infrastructure upkeep—that affect the livesof all Americans.
Anothernationwide concern is whether public funds from other agencies are going intoconstruction in fire-prone districts. As Moritz puts it, how often are federaldollars building homes that are likely to be lost to a wildfire？
“It’salready a huge problem from a public expenditure perspective for the wholecountry,” he says.” We need to take a magnifying glass to that. Like, “Wait aminute, is this OK？” “Do wewant instead to redirect those funds to concentrate on lower-hazard parts ofthe landscape？”
Such aview would require a corresponding shift in the way US society today viewsfire, researchers say.
For onething, conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive. Over the pastdecade, the focus has been on climate change—how the warming of the Earth fromgreenhouse gases is leading to conditions that worsen fires.
Whileclimate is a key element, Moritz says, it shouldn’t come at the expense of therest of the equation.
“Thehuman systems and the landscapes we live on are linked, and the interactions goboth ways,” he says. Failing to recognize that, he notes, leads to “an overlysimplified view of what the solutions might be. Our perception of the problemand of what the solution is becomes very limited.”
At thesame time, people continue to treat fire as an event that needs to be whollycontrolled and unleashed only out of necessity, says Professor Balch at theUniversity of Colorado. But acknowledging fire’s inevitable presence in human lifeis an attitude crucial to developing the laws, policies, and practices thatmake it as safe as possible, she says.
“We’vedisconnected ourselves from living with fire,” Balch says. “It is reallyimportant to understand and try and tease out what is the human connection withfire today.”
36.Morefrequent wildfires have become a national concern because in 2015 they ______.
[A]exhausted unprecedented management efforts
[B]consumed a record-high percentage of budget
[C]severely damaged the ecology of western states
[D]caused a huge rise of infrastructure expenditure
[答案][B] consumed a record-high percentage ofbudget
37.Moritzcalls for the use of “a magnifying glass” to ______.
[A]raise more funds for fire-prone areas
[B]avoid the redirection of federal money
[C] findwildfire-free parts of the landscape
[D]guarantee safer spending of public funds
[答案][D] guarantee safer spending of public funds
38.Whileadmitting that climate is a key element, Moritz notes that ______.
[A]public debates have not settled yet
[B]fire-fighting conditions are improving
[C]other factors should not be overlooked
[D] ashift in the view of fire has taken place
[答案][C] other factors should not be overlooked
39.Theoverly simplified view Moritz mentions is a result of failing to ______.
[A]discover the fundamental makeup of nature
[B]explore the mechanism of the human systems
[C]maximize the role of landscape in human life
[D]understand the interrelations of man and nature
[答案][D] understand the interrelations of man andnature
40.ProfessorBalch points out that fire is something man should ______.
[A] doaway with
[B] cometo terms with
[C] paya price for
[D] keepaway from
[答案][B] come to terms with
