I went to Arizona earlier this month to see what the college of the future might look like. What I found is an exciting new era of higher education that will help more students get a great, personalized education at an affordable price.

This future may not always include the lecture halls, dormitories, and other features of the traditional college experience. Instead, the colleges I visited are experimenting with ways for students to get their degrees online, allowing them to take courses any place and at any time.

These “colleges without walls,” as they are sometimes called, are at the forefront of the effort to broaden access to higher education, especially for low-income students with full-time jobs and families. During my visit, I heard encouraging stories of students who were taking advantage of these flexible learning models to pursue degrees that could put them on paths to new careers.

One of those students was Shawn Lee. He had a compelling story: After dropping out of college decades ago, he found himself in a series of low-paying, often back-breaking jobs. He recently decided to get his degree when he had his first child and wanted to start building a better life.

Tucked away in an industrial park in Tempe, Rio Salado didn’t look much like a traditional institute of higher education. There were no students running to class. Just a couple of glass-faced office buildings. The college had just 22 full-time faculty serving 60,000 students, with more than half of them attending classes online.

Several students I met during my visit said they liked learning online. “I’ve taken college classes in a big auditorium with herds of people. There was no personal connection,” one student said. “Now I can reach my teacher with the click of a mouse.”

After several days’ visit, I left Arizona feeling quite optimistic about what the future holds for higher education.

1.What does “colleges without walls” in the third paragraph refer to?

A. Colleges that have no walls around.

B. Colleges that students attend online.

C. Colleges that can be entered freely.

D. Colleges that give students more freedom.

2.What made Shawn Lee return to attend college again?

A. That he has nothing to do.

B. That he couldn’t find a job.

C. That the cost of the college is low.

D. That he wanted to find a better job.

3.How did the writer feel after the visit?

A. Hopeful. B. Dissatisfied. C. Disappointed. D. Upset.

4.What is the writer’s purpose by writing this passage?

A. To explain what “colleges without walls” are.

B. To advertise the colleges.

C. To encourage people to attend higher education.

D. To introduce a new model of education.

Regrowth Poetry Competition is open to all published and unpublished, UK and non-UK based male and female writers over 16 years of age. This competition is open to poetry submissions. Poems must be based around the theme of “regrowth, birth, survival, and new life” and in any genre. The poem should be between 5 and 30 lines in length (including title).

Entry details, rules and regulations to the competition are listed below:

1. All entries must be sent using the form online.

2. Entry will cost £4.00. You can pay online via PayPal or credit card. You can also pay by cheque, making it payable to Susan Cawte. The postal address is 412 Thorold Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 4HF. Multiple entries are allowed.

3. Entries will not be returned.

4. All entries submitted must be work which has not been published elsewhere or submitted to another competition which is currently still open.

5. All entries must be your own work. Any entry found to be plagiarized or printed elsewhere will be disqualified.

6. All entries submitted must clearly state the author's name, address, email address and contact telephone number on the submission.

7. The winner will be notified within one month of the closing date.

8. The closing date for entries is midnight (BST) 30th April 2016.

Prizes:

1st: £50, published story in the magazine, and a feature article about the winning author.

2nd: £25, story published in the magazine.

The 20 shortlisted authors will be listed online in May. Winners will be announced on 1st June 2016.

1.What should be the theme of the poems in the competition?

A. Peace. B. Friendship.

C. Regrowth. D. Health.

2.If you want to take part in the competition, ____.

A. you can only submit one entry

B. you must be a British boy of 16

C. you have to pay the entry fee by cheque

D. you must send the entries before 30th April 2016

3.What is the probably meaning of the underlined word “plagiarized”?

A. Written. B. Copied. C. Typed. D. Read.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Life getting you down? Learn to bounce back

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger” Nietzsche said. There are a number of ways that can get us through tough times, help us to bounce back and make us happier. ____1.____

Find something you can control

___2.___ But taking small, positive steps in any area of our life can have a ripple effect, enabling us to move forward in the problem area.

____3.____

As a species, we tend to focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right. But we can benefit a lot from paying attention to what’s going right. Psychologists have shown consciously focusing on these good things helps to increase our experience of positive emotions.

Check your thinking

___4.___ Leading psychologist Martin Seligman found that the way we interpret the causes of everyday setbacks can have a significant impact on our ability to cope and our physical health. He also showed we can learn more resilient thinking styles.

Distract yourself

When we are immersed in a problem, it is hard to think creatively about ways to deal with it. It often helps to take time out from the things you are worrying about. ____5.___ Not only does this give us a break from what we’re doing and our worries; it’s also great for our minds.

A. Always do something that is right.

B. It’s true that there are lots of things we can’t control.

C. An effective ways of taking time out is exercise.

D. Next time you are feeling stressed or stuck, give them a try.

E. Focus on what’s right

F. Next time something goes wrong for you, pause for a moment

G. The way we think can destroy our own resilience(弹力).

完形填空

阅读下面的短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Every Friday I went to a senior nursing home which was the lowest rating – one star out of five. It seemed as if it needed ________ , but little did I know it would help me too.

During my first visit I helped to polish some female residents’ ________. One woman asked me many questions. After she was satisfied with my ________ , she started to share some of her hidden ________ . By listening to her, I realized I had actually helped her: she looked relieved, ________ of some of her past pains.

When she was finished, she told me something that ________ me to visit the nursing home every week. She said, “You’re the ________ person I was able to tell this to. The other ladies are too busy to listen to me, and the other ________ don’t care. You’ll come back next week, right?” After ________ blowing on her newly coated nails, I smiled and ________ , “Yes, I’ll see you next Friday.”

That day, I was gladdened by the ________ that I had helped somebody. I realized an action as simple as ________ became something much more.

During every second I spent there, I realized how much of a difference my ________ could have on the lives of others, and I also found energy in a place not ________ known for it.

But the most ________ aspect of living there is that it breaks the human ________ between those in today’s society and the nursing home residents.

Every moment I spend chatting is an opportunity to ________ that connection again, to unwrap their troubles, and to shape someone’s life. In ________, that moment also shapes me. I not only learn about life and experiences outside of school, but also receive the ________ of being part of this process – this connection between humans. Those ________ of sharing and listening are magical for both the giver and the receiver.

1.A. care B. help C. money D. repair

2.A. bags B. coats C. nails D. shoes

3.A. answers B. performances C. appearance D. behaviors

4.A. secrets B. truths C. facts D. hurt

5.A. uninformed B. unburdened C. unsure D. unaware

6.A. inspired B. invited C. allowed D. persuaded

7.A. right B. last C. very D. only

8.A. nurses B. females C. residents D. volunteers

9.A. gently B. hurriedly C. simply D. comfortably

10.A. admitted B. promised C. shouted D. declared

11.A. belief B. truth C. courage D. fact

12.A. polishing B. sharing C. listening D. talking

13.A. actions B. dreams C. measures D. hopes

14.A. rarely B. typically C. actually D. entirely

15.A. interesting B. conflicting C. surprising D. troubling

16.A. memory B. personality C. connection D. custom

17.A. tie B. find C. continue D. break

18.A. sum B. turn C. all D. general

19.A. welcome B. message C. invitation D. gift

20.A. thoughts B. occasions C. moments D. activities

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Mary: Paul, do you like 1. (play) computer games?

Paul: Yes, I do. It’s my hobby. My mother is worried about me sometimes 2. I’ve always been playing computer games 3. I was little. I love them. I’d like 4. (create) computer games one day.

Mary: What do you think is 5. (good) game?

Paul: My favorite games are two. The first game is a role playing game. You can be any characters you like such as a farmer, a knight and a hunter. You can discover things, fight battles, solve lots of puzzles and find out lots of secrets. That’s 6. I like.

Mary: Is the setting now 7. the future or the ancient?

Paul: The setting is a fantasy world. That’s one of the nice things about computer 8. (game) — you can escape the real world. The second game is a city building game. You can be a mayor of the city and you have to build up your city over hundreds of years and develop 9. . It’s almost like playing dolls houses, but much more 10. (advance). It’s always fun.

短文改错

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

Dear Mary,

I’m glad to hear of you. Learning that you had developed a deep interest in Tang poems, I feel happiness and proud and I’d like to give you a brief introduction to them.

In China, Tang poems are popular with the people of all ages. The Tang dynasty is common recognized as the golden age of poetry. During this period, a lot of excellent poems was written. Tang poems are easy to read but recite. Some of them have translated into many foreign languages.

Now that you are interesting in Tang poems, I will send you the collection of Tang poems by post. I hope you will love it.

Best wishes!

Yours,

Li Hua

书面表达

假设你是李华，你的笔友Peter给你发来一封电子邮件，信中讲述他和同学发生了冲突，心情很不好。请你写一封邮件对他进行劝告。内容必须包含以下三个方面：

1. 介绍和同学产生冲突的不良影响。

2. 分析发生冲突的主要原因。

3. 谈谈应如何处理好同学们之间的关系。

注意：1. 词数：100词左右；

2．文章的开头结尾已经给出，不计入总词数；

3．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Peter,

I have received your e-mail saying that you conflicted with your classmate and is in a bad

mood._______________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

I do hope my suggestions can be of help to you.

Yours,

My wife and I have always been friendly with the clerks at the local store. I don’t think many people appreciate what a difficult job these clerks have. They work for a little money and I often wonder how they make ends meet.

One of the clerks, Charlie, was always wearing his glasses but he didn’t one day. I asked him about it and he said they’d been out of order and that he couldn’t afford a new pair. His family needed money. It was clear that he was having a difficult time.

We wanted to help him, so we turned to our own eye doctor for help with a plan. We had his secretary contact him, asking him to come in for an eye exam for free. We told the doctor to let him order whatever glasses he wanted and that we would pay for them. Although Charlie questioned what was going on, the doctor just told him that someone had offered the money for his new glasses. When we went in to pay the bill, the doctor told us he was touched by our idea so that he waived the exam fee and only charged us for half the price of the glasses!

It was so wonderful to see Charlie in his new glasses and he enjoyed telling all the regular customers how the gift came about. I’m sure that upon hearing his story, ideas of kindness may have come in the minds of many people.

1.Why didn’t the clerk Charlie wear glasses one day?

A. It was very warm and fine.

B. His glasses were missing.

C. His old glasses were broken.

D. He forgot to wear his glasses.

2.From the passage, we can infer that ______.

A. Charlie was a young man with skills

B. Charlie knew who paid the money for the new glasses

C. Charlie completely accepted the money for the new glasses

D. Charlie couldn’t support his family with enough money

3.The underlined word “waived” in the third paragraph can be replaced by ______. waive

A. took up B. gave up

C. cut down D. put off

4.Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A. Customers’ Gift to an Employee

B. A Friendly Clerk — Charlie

C. The Wonderful Feeling of Helping others

D. An Expensive Pair of Glasses

You may know the English letters A, B and C. But do you know there are people called ABC? You may like eating bananas. But did you know there is such a thing as a “banana person”? How strange! Are these people from “another earth”? No. They are just Chinese people like you and me.

ABC means American-born Chinese. An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States. Sometimes, people call an ABC a “banana person”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside. So, when a person is a banana, he or she is white inside-thinking like a Westerner and yellow outside-looking like a Chinese.

Do you know why? Usually, ABCs know little about China or the Chinese language. Some of them don’t speak Chinese. Also, they are not interested in Chinese politics.

But if ABCs cannot speak Chinese, can we still call them Chinese people? Yes, of course. They are Chinese. They are overseas Chinese. These people may be citizens of another country like the US, Canada or Singapore. But they have Chinese blood. Their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were from China. They all have black eyes and black hair. But they are not Chinese citizens. They are not people of the People’s Republic of China. For example, we all know the famous scientist C. N. Yang. He got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957. Chinese people love him. But he is an American citizen.

1.“ABC” in this text stands for “_______”.

A. three English letters B. a kind of banana

C. Chinese born in America D. Americans born in China

2.Chinese in Western countries are called “banana persons” because __________.

A. their bodies are white inside but yellow outside

B. they think like Westerners but look like Chinese

C. they were born in China but go to study in America

D. they are Chinese who look like bananas

3.C. N. Yang is mentioned here to show that ________.

A. American Chinese are great

B. we love American Chinese

C. Chinese people can win Nobel Prizes

D. American Chinese are not Chinese citizens

4.This text is mainly about _________.

A. different kinds of bananas

B. overseas Chinese

C. the Nobel Prize

D. the life story of C. N. Yang

Lomography was first officially introduced to China when the Lomography World Congress was held in Beijing in July, 2004. The Lomography World Congress is the greatest annual event of the Lomographic Society. It has been held in Madrid, New York, Tokyo, Cologne and Vienna, etc. The 2004’s great affair(盛会) took place in Beijing and ran a full week.

The first non-official affair of Chinese Lomographers was held in August, 2005 and it attracted much attention. A lot of energetic young people got together under the banner of “I Loma you” which was the slogan of this big party. In China Lomo is more of a symbol of fashion and youth, and most of the Lomographers are stylish young people who work with or study art. The organizer told the editor that the oldest Lomographer who came here is in his forties while the youngest one is about nine years old, but most of the people who are into Lomo are about 20 years old. In China the concept of Lomography is not only about Lomographyer taking photos with Lomo camera, but also a kind of spirit. “I think, generally, the Lomo spirit is everyone trying to love one’s own life and discover the beauty of everyday life,” the organizer said, “what I think more important is the idea of freedom and creativity. The 10 th Golden Rule is ‘don’t worry about any rules’, I think it introduces to us a concept: It’s you who make the rules and it’s you who break the rules. So free your mind and let your creativity work, and your life will be fantastic.”

1.People who are into Lomo are mostly _________________.

A. about 9 years old B. in their forties

C. teenagers D. about 20 years old

2.We can learn from what the organizer said that _________________.

A. everyone should make rules in your life

B. no one can break the rules

C. freedom and creativity can enrich your life

D. the beauty of life is easy to discover

3.In China the concept of Lomo is _________________.

A. to search for the beauty of life

B. to take photos with Lomo camera and a kind of spirit

C. to make your life wonderful and amazing

D. to free your mind and break rules

4.We may find this passage in _________________.

A. a newspaper B. a textbook

C. a notebook D. an advertisement