Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality, but when it comes to my college education, I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any sensible student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, famous reputation and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that’s not what I did.
　　I chose to study engineering at a small liberal arts（文科）university that doesn’t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my career. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren’t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a sensible choice. They told me I was wise and mature beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.
　　I headed off to college, sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering “factories”, where they didn’t care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical genius and sensitive humanist（人文学者）all in one.
　　Now I’m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideals crashed into reality, as all noble ideals eventually do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile（协调）engineering with liberal arts courses in college.
　　The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don’t mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways; together they threaten to confuse. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.

57. The author chose to study engineering at a small liberal arts university because

　 he _____.
　A. wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality
　B. intended to be a combination of engineer and humanist
　C. wanted to coordinate engineering with liberal arts courses in college
　D. intended to be a sensible student with noble ideals.

58. In the eyes of the author, a successful engineering student is expected ______.

　 A. to have an excellent academic record
　B. to be wise and mature
　C. to be imaginative with a value system to guide him
　D. to be a technical genius with a wide vision
59. The author’s experience shows that he was _______.
　A. creative　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. ambitious
　C. unrealistic　　　　　　　　　　　 D. irrational
60. The word “they” in “…together they threaten to confuse.” refers to ______.
　A. engineering and the liberal arts.
　B. reality and noble ideals
　C. flexibility and a value system
　D. practicality and rationality

While income worry is a rather common problem of the aged, loneliness is another problem that aged parents may face. Of all the reasons that explain their loneliness, a large geographical distance between parents and their children is the major one. This phenomenon(现象)is commonly known as “Empty Nest Syndrome”(空巢综合症).
　　In order to seek better chances outside their countries, many young people have gone abroad, leaving their parents behind with no clear idea of when they will return home. Their parents spend countless lonely days and nights, taking care of themselves, in the hope that someday their children will come back to stay with them. The fact that most of these young people have gone to Europeanized or Americanized societies makes it unlikely that they will hold as tightly to the value of duty as they would have if they had not left their countries. Whatever the case, it has been noted that the values they hold do not necessarily match what they actually do. This geographical and cultural distance also prevents the grown-up children from providing response(回应)in time for their aged parents living by themselves.
　　The situation in which grown-up children live far away from their aged parents has been described as “distant parent phenomenon”, which is common both in developed countries and in developing countries. Our society has not yet been well prepared for “Empty Nest Syndrome”.
【小题1】 According to the passage, the loneliness of aged parents is mainly caused by _________.

A water bearer in India had two large pots;  each hung on the ends of a pole. The water bearer often  carried the pole __36__ his neck. One of the pots had a crack(裂缝) in it, __37__ the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house,  the cracked pot __38__ only half full. For a full two years,  this went on __39__，  with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course,  the perfect pot was __40__ of its advantages. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection,  and __41__ that it was able to __42__ only half of what it had been made to do.  __43__ two years of what  sensed to be a bitter __44__，  it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself,  and I want to __45__ to you. I have been able to  __46__ only half my load because this crack  in my side __47__ water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my __48__，  you have to do a lot of this work,  and you don't get full value from your __49__，”  the pot said.

 The bearer said to the pot,  “Did you __50__ that there were flowers only on your side of the path,  __51__ not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always __52__ your fault,  and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path,  and every day while we walk back,  you've __53__ them.

For two years I have been able to __54__ these  beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the __55__ you are,  there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

36．A.above　　  B．over　　　  C．across　　　  D．through

37．A.as                        B．while                  C．when                    D．so

38．A.arrived                 B．realized            C. made                 D．concluded

39．A.weekly          B．daily                        C．monthly                    D．yearly

40．A.ashamed                B．proud        C．happy              D．disappointed

41．A.sad                             B．pleased                   C．comfortable                D．safe

42．A.admit      B．achieve      C．reduce         D．attract

43．A.Before                  B. Since                      C．After                     D．By

44．A.failure                  B．success                 C．excitement            D．satisfaction

45．A.apologize                  B. talk                         C．admit                    D．apply

46．A.develop         B．permit     C．depend           D．deliver

47．A.takes                    B．causes                   C．makes                   D．reminds

48．A.fault              B．success                 C．kindness                D．sorrow

49．A.effects                 B．efforts                   C．operation                      D．attempt

50．A.look                            B．pay                       C．notice                   D．watch

51．A.but                             B．and                              C．since                     D．after

52. A．known about  B．told about C．worried about       D．come about

53．A.cared                   B．watered              C．planted                  D．pulled

54．A.pick     B．buy               C．sell         D．borrow

55．A.attitude                B．way                          C．measure            D．appearance

Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. based      B. schedule      C. individual     D. determined     E. achieving

F. ambitious   G. success       H. studying       I. marvel         J. smarter

The Secret of Success

The secret of success is that there is no secret. Some people succeed because they are just __1__ than other people. Some people succeed because they just work harder than other people. And some people succeed because they are just plain lucky.

　　Ma Donghan is a student at Tsinghua University who is __2__ to be successful and she’s not going to leave it to luck. Ma is obviously smart because she’s a student at the best university in China, but her plan for success is __3__ on the old fashion value of hard work. You can see that by the weekly schedule she’s set up for herself which was recently posted online.

　　Every hour of every day is accounted for. There is her classroom __4__, of course, but then blocks of time are set aside for __5__ each subject and also for a few activities like playing sports. There are no hours set aside for just relaxing and there are only five hours allotted (分配) each night for sleeping. She has set a very __6__, almost punishing schedule for herself, but it seems to be working.

　　Other students __7__ at Ma’s diligence and discipline but doubt that they could achieve the same level of success. Perhaps not, but Ma is obviously a unique and special __8__. She has set high goals, made a plan to achieve those goals, and worked hard to keep to her plan. This is what other students can learn from Ma.

In school, as in life, __9__ is never guaranteed and not everyone will find him or herself at the top of the pyramid. The important thing to remember is that having a plan and working hard to stay with the plan will bring you a level of success that just being smart and lucky cannot.