Text comprehension
I. Decide which of the following best states the author's purpose. B
II. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false. 1. T. Refer to Paragraph 2.
2. F. The author had graduated from a second-echelon Philadelphia university, but he had managed to carve out a nice little niche for himself. Refer to Paragraph 4. 3. T. Refer to Paragraph 7. 4. T. Refer to Paragraph 9.
5. F. These parents had once dreamed of their children going to some top-flight universities when their children were born. Refer to Paragraph 11.
6. F. The campus tour did not change the author's attitude about college selection. Instead, it confirmed his view \III. Answer the following questions.
1. The problem is that while the local university proves affordable for the family, the father is afraid that education in a less prestigious university might put his daughter on a less advantageous road in the future. This would make him feel guilty.
2. The author responds to the man's story by relating his own experience, his university days, his high school friends and his present career, because this account would hopefully suggest to the man that a second echelon university could equally provide an illuminating and rewarding learning experience, and help to secure a career that turns out quite successful.
3. The author is relatively open-minded. Like all other parents, he would be deeply effected when sending his children to college and feel sorry to see them off. But every dark cloud has a silver lining;he would not have to participate in conversations concerning college selection, because they are mind-numbing, and either self-aggrandizing or self-flagellatory.
4. Some parents would congratulate themselves on the job well done for two reasons. One is that admission to a top university provides their children with a passport to success and a guarantee for a good life in the future. The other reason is that their job of child rearing has proved to be successful and is now over. But the author expresses his disagreement that a good university does not necessarily guarantee a successful career, and parents' responsibility does not end when their children leave home for universities.
5. The author believes that life has many \and failure in admission to first-echelon universities is only \some could achieve success without degrees from prestigious universities, and even some could become accomplished people even if they are university dropouts.
6. The author humorously restates his lack of interest in college selection, since I never prepared myself for a prestigious university such as MIT, peopre may call me insensitive or flat-out dumb. IV. Explain in your own words the following sentences taken from the text.
1 ....entering a prestigious university will undoubtedly put a child on the road to guaranteed/certain success and promise a life of material comfort.
2. Nobody can tell what parents are really interested in, because it seems to them that the fame of a university, to some extent, matters more than the institution itself does. Writing strategies
The essay has the following subtopics as main components:
1) the author's own situation and experiences in college education and college selection (Paragraphs 3 - 8);
2) his probe into and comments on the two classes of college selection obsessives (Para-graphs 9-12).
The two incidents are respectively related with the first and the second subtopics: the encounter puts the author and the man in a similar situation (both the man and the author have kids who are going to attend college); the campus tour provides support to the author's comments on the matter.
The two incidents help to clarify the subtopics by means of full and progressive explanation of the author's attitude towards the matter (the author's college days, his high school chums, examples of failures and successes, etc. ) Language work
I. Explain the italicized part in each sentence in your own words. 1. Not having much money, children who are going to go to college 2. regret not having studied in the first-class university 3. find a job which was very suitable 4. will go to college too
5. are going to be poor, living on welfare, without a job or a place to live, and often drinking too much alcohol
6. measure up to a certain standard 7. are ... causing suffering
8. making jokes about, a place where boring personalities are fostered 9. On one occasion --
10. the process of reducing a large number of universities to a much smaller number, with regard to panini
II. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words.
1. illumination 2. inspiration 3. biographical 4. devastated 5. neurotic
6. infuriating 7. obsessive 8. fixation 9. obligatory 10. interjections
III. Fill in each of the blanks with a word or phrase taken from the box in its appropriate form. 1. dragooned into 2. in question 3. in jeopardy 4. follow suit 5. screwed up 6. taken their toll 7. stemmed from 8. sotto voce 9. fork over 10. Tick off 11. winnowed down 12. flat out IV. Explain the meaning of the underlined word or phrase in each sentence. 1. is never a one-hundred-percent pleasant experience 2. his wish to argue with people all the time 3. an embarrassed smile
4. he had $100, 000 more than he had in the past 5. secretly listening to
6. Traffic which is traveling north 7. extreme shock and sadness 8. concluding
9. it is not necessary for you to
10. shook violently and stopped
V. Correct the errors in the following passage. The passage contains ten errors, one in each
indicated line. In each case, only one word is involved.
( 1 ) one in two (one out of two) to express odds/chances ( 2 ) hide main verb
( 3 ) shaking gerunds are rarely countable ( 4 ) being lead to + noun/gerund (5 ) cause confusion
(6 ) of or avoiding ==> avoidance avoid + direct object; avoidance of (7 ) on the on the increase = growing
(8 ) of verb lack + direct object noun lack + of (9 ) facing it necessary object (10) in advance wrong preposition
VI. Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE appropriate word. 1. lifetimes 2. turn 3. times 4. China 5. Greek 6. urban 7. Unlike 8. like 9. government 10. conduct 11. birth 12. apart 13. focused 14. potential 15. did 16. inferior 17. of 18. little 19. considered 20. Both Translation
I. Translate the following sentences into English, using the words or phrases given in the brackets.
1. Being the eldest son in the family, he was the only one to have gained the undivided attention of his parents.
2. He lacked the requisite skills for the job.
3. The United Nations mediated between the local government and the rebels during the crisis. 4. He has carved out a niche for himself as a leading researcher in his field of study. 5. Everyone feigned surprise when I told them how old I was.
6. The data is validated automatically by the computer after it has been entered. 7. He looked somewhat shamefaced when he realized his mistake.
8. Set in the last century, the novel tells a story about a girl who was disowned by her parents when she married a foreigner.
9. I've got to speak to James vis-a-vis the arrangements for Thursday.
10. At this juncture, it is impossible to say whether she will make a full recovery. II. Translate the following passage into English.
Summer means internships for thousands of American college students. They work in the kinds of jobs they might want to have some day. Experts say at least one-third of all American college students complete an internship before they graduate. Some students work for large companies. Some work for small organizations. Some work for the United States government. Many interns do not earn money at their summer jobs. Some college students get an internship to gain experience in the kind of job they want to get after graduation.
Others do not yet know what kind of permanent job they want. So they may get internships in several different companies or organizations. In this way, they can find out what kind of job they like best. Why are internships so popular? Students can learn about different kinds of jobs. They can do interesting work. They can learn skills and gain valuable experience. And they can meet important people. Students often describe internships as a chance that happens once in a lifetime.