Putting a bunch of college students in charge of a $300,000 Dance Marathon, fundraiser surely sounds a bit risky.1 When you consider the fact that the money is supposed to be given to. Children in need of medical care, you might call the idea crazy.

　　Most student leaders don't want to spend a large amount of time on something they care little about, said 22-year-old University of Florida student Darren Heitner. He was the Dance Marathon's operations officer for two years.

　　Yvonne Fangmeyer, director of the student organization office at the University of Wisconsin, conducted a survey in February of students involved in campus organizations.2 She said the desire for friendship was the most frequently cited reason for joining.

　　At large universities like Fangmeyer's, which has more than 40,000 students, the students first of all want to find a way to "belong in their own comer of campus".

　　Katie Rowley, a Wisconsin senior, confirms the survey's findings. "I wanted to make the campus feel smaller by joining an organization where I could not only get involved on campus but also find a group of friends."

　　All of this talk of friendship, however, does not mean that students aren't thinking about their resumes. "I think that a lot of people do join to ‘fatten up their resume’," said Heitner. "At the beginning of my college career, I joined a few of these organizations, hoping to get a start in my leadership roles."

　　But without passion student leaders can have a difficult time trying to weather the storms that come. For example, in April, several student organizations at Wisconsin teamed up3 for an event designed to educate students about homelessness and poverty. Student leaders had to face the problem of solving disagreements, moving the event because of rainy weather, and dealing with the university's complicated bureaucracy.

　　"Outside-of the classroom learning really makes a big difference," Fangmeyer said.

　　词汇：

　　Bunch n. 群

　　Marathon n. 马立松;耐力活动

　　fundraiser n. 募捐

　　weather v. 经受风雨

　　bureaucracy n. 官僚机构

　　注释：

　　1.Putting a bunch of college students in charge of a$300，000 Dance Marathon，fundraiser surely sounds a bit risky.让一群大学生去负责募集30万美元的马拉松式的跳舞活动，这种募捐听起来肯定有点儿冒险。“putting...in charge of...”是“让……负责”。

　　2.Yvonne Fangmeyer, director of the student organization office at the University of Wisconsin, conducted a survey in February of students involved in campus organizations.Yvonne Fangmeyer是威斯康星大学学生组织办公室主任，在二月组织了一次学生参加校园组织的调查。“a survey of students involved in campus organizations”太长了，所以“in February”插到了中间。

　　3.“teamup”是“参加”。

　　练习：

　　1. An extracurricular activity like raising a fund of $300,000 is risky because most student leaders

　　A) are lazy.

　　B) are stupid.

　　C) are not rich enough.

　　D) wilt not take an interest in it.

　　2. American students join campus organizations mostly for

　　A) making a difference.

　　B) gaining experience.

　　C) building friendship.

　　D) improving their resumes.

　　3. Who is Katie Rowley?

　　A) She's a senior professor.

　　B) She's a senior student.

　　C) She's a senior official.

　　D) She's a senior citizen

4. What do student leaders need to carry an activity through to a successful end?

　　A) Passion.

　　B) Money.

　　C) Power.

　　D) Fame.

　　5. The phrasal verb fatten up in paragraph 6 could be best replaced by

　　A) invent.

　　B) rewrite.

　　C) polish.

　　D) complete.

　　答案与题解：

　　1.D 问题问的是：像募集30万美元的的课外活动有点冒险是为什么?答案可以从第二段的第一句话中找到。第一句话是这么说的：大多数学生头头并不想在它们不感兴趣的事上花大量的时间。

　　2.C 问题问的是：美国学生参加校园组织的主要目的是什么?答案可以从第三段找到。第三段是这么说的：威斯康星大学学生组织办公室主任Yvonne Fangmeyer在二月组织了一次学生参加校园组织的调查。她说，寻求友谊是最经常列举的理由。

　　3.B问题问的是：Katie Rowley是谁?文章提到了好几个人，Katie Rowley是其中的一个。第五段讲到了Katie Rowley。“a Wisconsin senior”是“威斯康星四年级学生”。

　　4.A 问题问的是：为了把一项活动顺利地贯彻到底学生头头需要什么?答案可以从倒数第二段找到。第一句话是这么说的：但是，如果没有激情(passion)，学生头头试图经受急风暴雨的考验是会有困难的。

　　5.C 问题问的是：哪个词替换第6段中的“fatten up”最合适?“fatten up”原义是“使

　　人或动物变肥”，在这里可以解释为使一个人的履历更充实一些，因此也好看一些。因此意思上最接近的是“polish”(润色)。

　　Life at Aichi University

　　I'm Yamamoto Mika, a 22-year old Japanese girl. I'd like to invite you to Aichi University so you can understand my life.

　　Our university has a close relationship with China and my department is the only one of its kind in Japan. My courses include the Chinese language, modem Chinese politics and economics. I love the Chinese culture and I have been to Tianjin as an exchange students.1

　　In Japan, our courses are divided into compulsory, optional and specialized courses.2 However, we have a flexible schedule. We can choose classes from a wide range of options.

　　Many students finish the compulsory courses in three years so that they can have one year without any classes. They often use this period of time to study abroad, conduct research and travel. Many students even suspend their study for additional study-abroad opportunities.

　　Japanese universities encourage students to choose their own ways of study, so it is quiet easy for us to apply for study suspension.

　　Japanese students participate in various kinds of extracurricular activities. They attend clubs from elementary schools, so many have already been accustomed to clubs when they enter university.

　　Our university now has 42 art clubs and 45 sports clubs. The annual University Festival is the grandest carnival of Japanese universities. In the festival, students promote their clubs and organize various activities. Our university's festival attracted about 150,000 people last year. I really like this festival.

　　In school, I participate in the journalism club. When we have the club promotion, we cook "tonnjiru", a kind of pork soup, and sell it to other students at the fair.

　　We also go to different places to interview celebrities who attend our festival as guests. It is a wonderful experience to talk to those stars face to face.

　　Japanese students like to hold parties. We have two kinds of parties. One is the Mochiyori party. If you want to attend this party you have to cook a course3 and take it to the party. The organizer buys drinks and snacks.

　　Another kind of party is the Nomikai, which mainly involves alcohol. We drink something called chu-hai, which is a combination of soda and wine. We also drink Japanese sake and beer. There are parties for many occasions, like welcoming new students, graduation, celebrating victories, birthday parties or just for promoting friendship.

词汇：

　　compulsory adj. 必修的

　　extracurricular adj. 课外的

　　carnival n. 狂欢节

　　celebrities n. 名人

　　sake n. (日本)清酒

　　注释：

　　1.I have been to Tianjin as an exchange student作为交换生我在天津学习过

　　2.compulsory, optional and specialized courses必修、选修、专修课

　　3.course是个多义词。本文出现两种意思：课程;(一道)菜

　　练习：

　　1. Which statement is NOT true of Yamamoto Mika?

　　A) She is a Japanese student.

　　B) She has never been to China.

　　C) She loves the Chinese culture.

　　D) She wants you to understand her life.

　　2. Many Japanese students finish the compulsory courses in three years because

　　A) they want to get married.

　　B) they want to stay at home.

　　C) they want to study abroad.

　　D) they want to make money.

　　3. Which of the following is NOT a feature of the University Festival?

　　A) Inviting government officials to dinner.

　　B) Organizing various activities.

　　C) Interviewing celebrities.

　　D) Promoting clubs.

　　4. When you attend a Mochiyori party, you need

　　A) interview celebrities.

　　B) buy drinks and snacks.

　　C) get permission from the organizer.

　　D) take to it a course you have cooked.

　　5. The word compulsory could be best replaced by

　　A) forced.

　　B) required.

　　C) requested.

　　D) demanded.

答案与题解：

　　1.B 问题问的是：下面的哪个有关Yamamoto Mika的命题是不对的? 第一段的最后一句话是这么说的：我酷爱中国文化，并且作为交换生在天津学习过。所以认为Yamamoto Mika从来没有去过中国是不对的。

　　2.C 问题问的是：为什么许多日本学生在三年里把所有的必修课都读完? 第四段是这么说的：许多日本学生在三年里把所有的必修课都读完是为了空出一年来，他们常常用这一段时间去国外学习、做研究和旅行。

　　3.A 问题问的是：下面的哪一种活动不是大学节的特色? A说的是：要求政府官员吃饭。文章没有提到过在大学节有请政府官员吃饭这种事。

　　4.D 问题问的是：当参加一种叫做Mochiyori的聚会时你需要做什么?倒数第二段的第三句话是这么说的：如果你想参加这种聚会的话，你要带一个你自己做的菜。

　　5.B “compulsory course”也可以说“required course”。

　　Declining Interest in Developing Foreign Language Skills

　　Australia's foreign language skills are declining, Voice of America1 has reported. New figures show that only 13 percent of high school graduates can speak a foreign language. But four decades ago, 40 percent had foreign language skills.2

　　Professor Elise Tipton, from the University of Sydney, says increasingly students do not feel the need to learn another language to boost their career. She believes that Australia's economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demand for its minerals, is helping mask serious deficiencies in its language skills.

　　Australia does business very successfully in English with most of its trading partners. But as the world's economic power shifts to emerging regions such as Asia, its language gap could soon be exposed. According to the new figures, less than 6.5 percent of high school graduates are proficient in an Asian language. Academics worry that this means Australia will increasingly be isolated from its economically important Asian neighbors. Dilip Dutta, from the economics and business faculty at Sydney University, says language skills can enhance trading opportunities. If Australians want to trade with Asian countries, it is very important for them to learn the language that will help them to get closer to the culture.

　　But students have different opinions about Asian language learning. Pippa McCowage, a 22-year-old Australian student, says many young Australians have a half-hearted approach to foreign languages3, and the language curriculum is often weak. "While we're encouraged in high school to learn another language, it's not really apparent to me as a realistic expectation that you will have to speak it," said McCowage. "For example, I learned Japanese in high school, when I went on an exchange in Year 10, I found that the Japanese students of my age had a much greater proficiency in English than I did in Japanese. So in that sense, it almost discourages you.

　　At present, about 70 percent of Australia's major exports go to Asia and the Australian government has been keen on developing closer economic and diplomatic ties with Asia. Academics say that, as Asia becomes one of the world's economic powerhouses, Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.

　　词汇：

　　red-hot adj. 非常有活力的

　　academic n. 学者

　　half-hearted adj. 不热心的

　　powerhouse n. 经济体

　　注释：

　　1.Voice of America 美国之音

　　2.She believes that Australia’s economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demand for its minerals, is helping mask serious deficiencies in its language skills.她相信，由疯狂的矿物需求驱动的澳大利亚经济的繁荣进一步掩盖了该国语言技能方面存在的严重缺陷。

　　3.a halfhearted approach to foreign languages半心半意地对待外国语言

　　练习：

　　1. How much percent of high school graduates were proficient in foreign languages forty years ago?

　　A) 70.

　　B) 13.

　　C) 40.

　　D) 6.5.

2. What can be inferred from paragraph 2?

　　A) Australia has rich deposits of minerals.

　　B) Australia is essentially a self-sufficient country.

　　C) Australia has no intention to trade with Asian countries.

　　D) Australian students are not required to learn a foreign language.

　　3. What does Dilip Dutta think language skills can do?

　　A) Improve your relation with your partner.

　　B) Help settle international conflicts.

　　C) Remove barriers in negotiations.

　　D) Increase trading opportunities.

　　4. Why has the Australian government been keenly interested in strengthening ties with Asia?

　　A) Because Asia is where Australia is located.

　　B) Because Asia is where Australia's major exports go.

　　C) Because Asia is where Australians go and spend their holidays.

　　D) Because Asia is where Australia can play a big role in international affairs.

　　5. The word faculty in paragraph 3 can be replaced by

　　A) college.

　　B) institute.

　　C) university.

　　D) department.

　　答案与题解：

　　1.C 问题问的是：四十年以前多少百分比的高中毕业生外语是熟练的?答案在第一段。该段是这么说的：根据美国之音的报道，澳大利亚的外语技能在滑坡。新的数字表明，只有13%的高中毕业生能说一种外语，而四十年前是40%。

　　2.A 问题问的是：从第2段我们能推出什么?答案可以从第二句话中找到，见注释2。

　　3.D 问题问的是：DilipDutta认为语言技能能干什么?答案在第三段的一句话中，这句话是这么说的：Dilip Dutta, from the economics and business faculty at Sydney University, says language skills Can enhance trading opportunities.悉尼大学经济和商务系的Dilip Dutta说道，语言技能可以增加就业机会。

　　4.B 问题问的是：澳大利亚政府为什么热心于加强与亚洲的联系?最后一段的第一句话是这么说的：目前，澳大利亚主要的出口货物的70%流向了亚洲，因此澳大利亚政府热心于发展与亚洲的经济和外交联系。

　　5.D 问题问的是：第3段中的“faculty”(系)由哪个词替换最合适?“department”也是“系”。

　　Immigration and Problems

　　Hundreds of thousands of people supporting immigration rights in the US filled streets all over America in early 2006. Many held signs and American flags and asked to be treated as citizens - not criminals. Many of these supported legislation from Senator John McCain that would open a path to citizenship to immigrants who were already in the country illegally. Proposed legislation from other politicians called for stricter measures - including rounding up1undocumented immigrants and sending them back to their home countries.

　　Canadian officials say that immigration applications continue to rise. Some want to keep the doors open. They need the labor. About 400,000 immigrants were allowed into the country in 2005, according to the Canadian Government statistics. However, all this growth means that cities need to adapt. Newcomers don't always make a smooth transition into jobs for which they are skilled. So industries are using mentoring programs to help new immigrants find proper jobs.

　　With the large numbers of undocumented African immigrants arriving in the Canary Islands and showing no sign of abating, the Spanish Government has decided to get tough2. There will be no more mass amnesties for illegals, and anyone coming to Spain without permission will be sent back, the government has announced. About 23,000 migrants landed on the islands in 2006, and riots have erupted in some crowded reception centers. This has promoted local authorities to appeal to the United Nations for help.

　　France's new immigration and integration law gives the government new powers to encourage high-skilled migration. It takes effect in 2007. The new law authorizes the government to identify particular professions where France has a talent shortage. Then the government will help these identified employers find immigrant workers with needed skills or qualifications. The selected foreign employees will be granted "skills and talents" visas, valid for three years. But some concern that it'll cause brain drain3 in developing countries.

词汇：

　　mentor v. 指导

　　undocumented adj. 无文件证明的

　　abate v. 减弱

　　amnesty n. 大赦

　　注释：

　　1.roundup是“逮捕”、“捕捉”。

　　2.get tough是“决心采取严厉的措施”。

　　3.brain drain是“人才枯竭”。

　　练习：

　　1. Many immigrants swarmed into streets in the US in early 2006, demanding that they should be treated as

　　A) animals.

　　B) citizens.

　　C) civilians.

　　D) criminals.

　　2. Some Canadian officials want to keep the door open because

　　A) Canada is in desperate need of talented people.

　　B) Canada can feed a much larger population.

　　C) Canada is suffering from labor shortage.

　　D) Canada is a multicultural country.

　　3. What has the Spanish Government decided to do?

　　A) Help immigrants find proper jobs.

　　B) Let immigrants freely enter the country.

　　C) Integrate immigrants into the Spanish culture.

　　D) Take tough measures against illegal immigration.

　　4. After France's new immigration and integration law takes effect, it will

　　A) lure overseas students back home.

　　B) undermine the unity of the country.

　　C) drain developing countries of talent.

　　D) induce resentment among the French workers.

　　5. The phrasal verb rounding up in paragraph 1 could be best replaced by

　　A) capturing.

　　B) encircling.

　　C) separating.

　　D) frightening.

答案与题解：

　　1.B 问题问的是：2006年初在美国许多移民涌入街道，他们要求受到怎样的对待?答案可以从第一段的第二句话中找到。这句话说的是：许多移民举着标语和美国国旗，要求按公民二不是罪犯对待。

　　2.C 问题问的是：一些加拿大官员想把门开着的原因是什么?答案可以从第二段中找到。前三句话是这么说的：加拿大官员说移民申请继续高涨。一些官员想把门开着。他们需要劳动力。

　　3.D 问题问的是：西班牙政府决定做什么?答案可以从第三段中找到。第一句话是这么说的：随着大批的无证非洲移民来到加里那群岛并且没有表明有减弱的迹象，西班牙政府决定采取严厉的措施。

　　4.C问题问的是：法国的新的移民和融入法案生效后，会发生什么情况?答案可以从最后一段的最后一句中找到。这句话是这么说的：但是有些人担心，这个法案会导致发展中国家的人才流失。

　　5.A 问题问的是：第一段中的短语“rounding up”由哪个词替换最合适?在注释1中我们已经讲述了“round up”的意思了。“capturing”(捕捉)是对的。

　　Older Volcanic Eruptions

　　Volcanoes were more destructive in ancient history, not because they were bigger, but because the carbon dioxide they released wiped out life with greater ease.

　　Paul Wignall from the University of Leeds was investigating the link between volcanic eruptions and mass extinctions. Not all volcanic eruptions killed off large numbers of animals, but all the mass extinctions over the past 300 million years coincided with huge formations of volcanic rock. To his surprise, the older the massive volcanic eruptions were, the more damage they seemed to do. He calculated the "killing efficiency" for these volcanoes by comparing the proportion of life they killed off with the volume of lava that they produced. He found that size

　　for size, older eruptions were at least 10 times as effective at wiping out life as their more recent rivals.

　　The Permian extinction, for example, which happened 250 million years ago, is marked by floods of volcanic rock in Siberia that cover an area roughly the size of western Europe. Those volcanoes are thought to have pumped out about 10 gigatonnes of carbon as carbon dioxide. The global warming that followed wiped out 80 per cent of all marine genera at the time, and it took 5 million years for the planet to recover. Yet 60 million years ago, there was another huge amount of volcanic activity and global warming but no mass extinction. Some animals did disappear but things returned to normal within ten thousands of years. "The most recent ones hardly have an effect at all," Wignall says. He ignored the extinction which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, because many scientists believe it was primarily caused by the impact of an asteroid. He thinks that older volcanoes had more killing power because more recent life forms were better adapted to dealing with increased levels of CO2.

　　Vincent Courtillot, director of the Paris Geophysical. Institute in France, says that Wignall’s idea is provocative. But he says it is incredibly hard to do these sorts of calculations. He points out that the killing power of volcanic eruptions depends on how long they lasted. And it is impossible to tell whether the huge blasts lasted for thousands or millions of years. He also adds that it is difficult to estimate how much lava prehistoric volcanoes produced, and that lava volume may not necessarily correspond to carbon dioxide emissions.

　　词汇：

　　dioxide n. 二氧化物

　　lava n. 熔岩

　　Permian adj. 二叠纪

　　gigaton n. 十亿吨梯恩梯

　　genera n. 种类

　　dinosaurs n. 恐龙

　　asteroid n. 小行星

　　注释：

　　The Permian extinction 二叠纪物种灭绝

　　练习：

　　1. Why did older volcanic eruptions do more damage than more recent ones?

　　A) Because they killed off life more easily.

　　B) Because they were brighter.

　　C) Because they were larger.

　　D) Because they were hotter.

2. How did Wignall calculate the killing power of those older volcanic eruptions?

　　A) By estimating how long they lasted.

　　B) By counting the dinosaurs they killed.

　　C) By studying the chemical composition of lava.

　　D) By comparing the proportion of life wiped out with the volume of lava produced.

　　3. When did dinosaurs become extinct?

　　A) 300 million years ago.

　　B) 250 million years ago.

　　C) 60 million years ago.

　　D) 65 million years ago.

　　4. What can be inferred from paragraph 3 concerning dinosaurs?

　　A) They were killed off by an asteroid.

　　B) They died of drastic climate change.

　　C) They were wiped off by a volcanic eruption.

　　D) The cause of their extinction has remained a controversial issue.

　　5. What is the main thesis of the article?

　　A) Volcanic eruptions are not always deadly.

　　B) Older volcanic eruptions were more destructive.

　　C) Carbon dioxide emissions often give rise to global warming.

　　D) It is not easy to calculate the killing power of a volcanic eruption.

　　答案与题解：

　　1.A 问题问的是：为什么远古的火山爆发比近期的火山爆发破坏性更大?第一段是这么说的：古代的火山更具破坏力，不是因为它们更大，而是因为它们释放出的二氧化碳更能容易地毁灭生命。

　　2.D 问题问的是：Wignall是如何计算出远古火上爆发的杀伤力的?答案在第二段。第二段有这样一句话：He calculated the "killing efficiency" for these volcanoes by comparing the proportion of life they killed off with the volume of lava that they produced.他通过比较火山释放出的熔岩的体积与杀死生命的比例计算这些火山的杀伤效力。

　　3.C 问题问的是：恐龙是什么时候灭绝的?答案在第三段。其中有这么一句话：He ignored the extinction which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, because many scientists believe it was primarily caused by the impact of an asteroid.他没有提及6千5百万年前恐龙的灭绝是因为许多科学家相信恐龙的灭绝是受一颗小行星的影响。

　　4.D 问题问的是：第三段还可以推导出有关恐龙的什么样的信息?在讨论第三题的答案时，我们已经注意到了，Wignall没有提6千5百万年前恐龙的灭绝是否跟火山爆发有关是因为许多科学家相信恐龙的灭绝是受一颗小行星的影响。这就说明，关于恐龙灭绝的原因在科学家之间是有分歧的。

　　5.B 问题问的是：文章的主要论点是什么?答案在文章的第一句：Volcanoes were more destructive in ancient history, ...(古代火山更具破坏力)。