Ⅰ.Supply the missing conclusion(20 points)
Study the following passage carefully and write a conclusion of about 100
words. Make sure that the tone and vocabulary you use are in unity with the
passage provided.
Big Ideas in Small Words
In English, most often short words are as good as long ones, and simple words
like"bright sun","fresh air"and"sweet home" are best of all. Though small,
these words can meet our needs with grace, charm and strength, and can cast a
clear light on big things like：war and peace, love and hate, and life and
death.
As has been said in THE MIRACLE OF ALNGUAGE by Richard Lederer, many of the
pithy proverbs use very simple words in the expression of excellent ideas,
"Where there is a will, there is a way","Rome was not built in a day","Two
heads are better than one", to name only a few. Many of the ancient poets and
orators recognized the power of small words in making a straight line between
two minds.
Several hundred years ago, William Shakespeare used small simple words in his
play KING LEAR:"And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life! Why should a
dog, a horse, a rat have life, and thou no breath at all?…"
In the Bible, with which many English speakers are familiar, the short words
which describe the beginning of human life sound like this: And God said, let
there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, and it was good.
Modern great leaders or poets have also been using simple English words in
their speeches or writings. During World War Ⅱ when Hitler was nearly
occupying the whole of Europe, and many people thought the end of mankind was
drawing near, Winston Churchill responded in his ringing words:"Let's fight
by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God
can give us."A tit-for-tat struggle was forged, and Hitler was defeated. And
now let's hear what Robert Frost said in his poem THE DEATH OF THE HIRED
MAN:"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take
you in."Even more terse words are probably ten two-letter words by William H.
Johnson when he described his secret of success,"If it is to be, it is up to
me."
Ⅱ.Write an outline(20 points)
Read the following passage carefully and compose a"sentence outline"for it.
Foreign Graduates Dominate US Programs
For at least 10 years, most students earning doctoral degrees in science or
engineering in the United States have been from other countries. In 1996,
about 40 percent of the science and engineering doctorates awarded in the
United States went to foreign students, and three out of four went to foreigh-born
minorities, according to the National Science Foundation. At the University
of Texas at Austin, for example, 108 of the 187 graduate students studying
computer science are non-US citizens with temporary visas, according to a
recent report. Some complain that foreign students are being educated, in
part, at US tax- payers' expense. A recent National Research Council study
found that more than 70 percent of non-US citizens cited university support
as their primary source of financing.
"I think what it comes down to, frankly, is... an unwillingness to finally do
something about our own system of selecting graduate students,"said John F.
Alderete, president of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native
Americans in Science. But other educators say the selection of graduate
students is colorblind. They say US minorities just don't perform as well on
standardized tests. With a flood of foreign applications, a graduate program
might have little incentive to"go and tramp around the University of Texas at
El Paso trying to find smart Hispanic kids,"said Michael S. Teitelbaum, an
analyst with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Based on the above facts,
universities can draw upon the economic, educational and cultural elite of
other nations. Overall, US minorities are less likely to be able to afford
graduate school tuition, so some promising minority students are taking
lucrative jobs in the private sector instead. High-paying jobs in a booming
economy lure top minority students away from graduate programs, said Bill
Perry, dean of faculty at Texas A and M University. In some cases, students
choose to pursue a graduate degree in business or on other lucrative fields,
such as law or medicine.
Ⅲ.Composition(60 points)
Throughout China, there has been a strong emphasis on quality education.
However, schoolwork is still a heavy weight on pupils' back. Write a short
argumentative essay(about 300 words)explaining your point of view.
|