Section Ⅰ Use of English
Directions: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.(10 points)
In an ideal world, the nation’s elite schools would enroll the most qualified students. But that’s not how it _(1_). Applicants whose parents are alums get special treatment, as _(2)_ athletes and rich kids. Underrepresented minorities are also given_ (3)_. Thirty years of affirmative action have changed the character of _(4)_ white universities; now about 13 percent of all undergraduates are black or Latino. _(5)_ a recent study by the Century —Foundation found that at the nation’s 146 most _(6)_schools, 74 percent of students came from upper- middle-class and wealthy families, while only about 5 percent came from families with an annual income of _(7)_$35,000 or less.
Many schools say diversity—racial, economic and geographic—is (8) to maintaining intellectually (9) campuses. But Richard Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation says that even though colleges (10) they want poor kids, “they don’t try very hard to find them.” (11) rural students, many colleges don’t try at all. “Unfortunately, we go where we can (12) a sizable number of potential applicants,” says Tulane admissions chief Richard Whiteside, who (13) aggressively—and in person—from metropolitan areas. Kids in rural areas get a glossy (14) in the mail.
Even when poor rural students have the (15) for top colleges, their high schools often don’t know how to get them there. Admissions officers (16) guidance counselors to direct them to promising prospects. In (17) high schools, guidance counselors often have personal (18) with both kids and admissions officers. In rural areas, a teacher, a counselor or (19) an alumnus “can help put a rural student on our radar screen,” says Wesleyan admissions dean Nancy Meislahn. But poor rural schools rarely have college (20) with those connections; without them, admission “can be a crapshoot,” says Carnegie Mellon’s Steidel.
1. [A] promises [B] tries [C] works [D] manages
2. [A] do [B] are [C] will [D] be
3. [A] preference [B] prejudice [C] preposition [D] preclusion
4. [A] strictly [B] mostly [C] generally [D] honestly
5. [A] And [B] But [C] So [D] Then
6. [A] excellent [B] wealthy [C] popular [D] competitive
7. [A] mainly [B] roughly [C] totally [D] exactly
8. [A] access [B] basis [C] key [D] solution
9. [A] vital [B] smart [C] interactive [D] functional
10.[A] claim [B] affirm [C] insist [D] declare
11.[B] Except for [B] As for [C] But for [D] Just for
12.[A] require [B] ensure [C] locate [D] generate
13.[A] admits [B] accepts [C] recalls [D] recruits
14.[A] bronze [B] broom [C] browser [D] brochure
15.[A] guts [B] grounds [C] grades [D] guarantees
16.[A] call on [B] rely on [C] try on [D] hold on
17.[A] affluent [B] affiliated [C] alternative [D] advanced
18.[A] innovations [B] judgments [C] relationships [D] suggestions
19.[A] else [B] so [C] even [D] if
20.[A] acquaintances [B] executives [C] tutors [D] advisers
Section ⅡReading Comprehension
Part A 基础阅读理解
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C, or D.
Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
The Catholic Church is changing in America at its most visible point: the parish church where believers pray, sing and clasp hands across pews to share the peace of God. Today there are fewer parishes and fewer priests than in 1990 and fewer of the nation’s 65 million Catholics in those pews. And there’s no sign of return.
Some blame the explosive 2002 clergy sexual abuse scandal and its financial price tag. But a study of 176 Roman Catholic dioceses shows no statistically significant link between the decline in priests and parishes and the $772 million the church has spent to date on dealing with the scandal.
Rather, the changes are driven by a constellation of factors:
• Catholics are moving from cities in the Northeast and Midwest to the suburbs, South and Southwest.
• Mass attendance has fallen as each generation has become less religiously observant.
• Bishops — trained to bless, not to budget — lack the managerial skills to govern multimillion-dollar institutions.
All these trends had begun years before the scandal piled on financial pressures to cover settlements, legal costs, care and counseling for victims and abusers. The Archdiocese of Boston, epicenter of the crisis, sold chancery property to cover $85 million in settlements last year, and this year will close 67 churches and recast 16 others as new parishes or worship sites without a full-time priest. Archbishop Sean O’Malley has said the crisis and the reconfiguration plan are "in no way" related. He cites demographic shifts, the priest shortage and aging, crumbling buildings too costly to keep up. Fargo, N.D., which spent $821,000 on the abuse crisis, will close 23 parishes, but it’s because the diocese is short more than 50 priests for its 158 parishes, some with fewer than a dozen families attending Mass.
They know how this feels in Milwaukee. That archdiocese shuttered about one in five parishes from 1995 to 2003. The city consolidations "gave some people who had been driving back into the city from new homes in the suburbs a chance to say they had no loyalty to a new parish and begin going to one near their home," says Noreen Welte, director of parish planning for the Milwaukee Archdiocese. "It gave some people who already were mad at the church for one reason or another an excuse to stop going altogether."
21. Which of the following reflects the change of Catholic Church ?
A. Fewer prayers in the church.
B. Fewer pews in the parish.
C. Fewer Catholics in America
D. Fewer signs in the peace of God
22. The relationship between the first two paragraphs can be described as _____________.
A. the Catholic Church of the past compared with that of today
B. the problem with the Catholic Church revealed and explained
C. the reform of the Catholic Church argued for and against
D. the practice of the Catholic Church introduced and condemned
23. Attendance of the Church has declined because ____________________.
A. there are fewer parishes and priests now
B. few Catholics observe religious rules
C. people are losing enthusiasm for religion
D. the financial pressures are overwhelming
24. The “reconfiguration plan” (para. 4) probably refers to ___________________.
A. selling the Church property
B. covering the cost of settlements
C. shutting and remolding churches
D. keeping up crumbling buildings
25. Noreen Welte seems to suggest that some people ________________________.
A. had difficulty adopting a new parish
B. preferred to go to the church near their home
C. disliked the church for several reasons
D. meant to escape the church
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