Aspiring college students will be able to apply for financial aid three months earlier than now and submit a previous year’ s tax return, changes aimed at helping more people pay for school, the White House said Sunday. Under the current system, students planning to start school in the fall of 2017 must wait until January of that year to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The new system will let them complete the form as early as October 2016, the month that marks the traditional start to the college application season. The government uses that form to determine eligibility for Pell Grants and federally backed student loans. The White House said requiring applicants to wait until January slows down the aid process and makes it harder for prospective students to determine whether they can afford to go to college. Some 2 million college students are eligible for federal Pell Grants but miss out because they never apply, said James Kvaal, the deputy director of the White House’ s Domestic Policy Council. “If we are not even reaching students who are currently enrolled in college, we wonder how many more students would be in college if they knew this aid was available, “ Kvaal said in an interview. President Barack Obama planned to announce the revisions during a meeting Monday with high school students in Des Moines, Iowa. Trying to make college more affordable, Obama has capped some student loan payments and signed legislation lowering certain interest rates. To assess a student’ s financial background, the federal aid system crunches the numbers from a family’ s tax returns, which can be electronically downloaded from the IRS for students who apply online. In advancing the start date to October, the Obama administration will allow students to use earlier tax information so they do not have to wait until the following year’ s returns are filed. For example, a student applying for aid for the 2017-2018 academic year currently must use their 2016 tax return. The new system will let them use their 2015 return. Using older tax information could cause significant changes for some students, such as those who take a“ gap year“ to work after high school but whose ability to pay for college would still be based on their senior year. Kvaal said the administration will ask colleges to use their freedom with Pell Grants to take students’ unique circumstances into account when necessary. “We anticipate there may be a little more work for colleges to do to adjust financial aid packages , “Kvaal said. “But overall, we believe that the earlier tax data is a sound basis for awarding federal student aid. “

[*]1. Many people were injured in an accident on Freeway 65 yesterday afternoon. Two buses collided in the rain, and 20 of the passengers had to be taken to the hospital. Fortunately, none of the injuries were serious. 2. Fire destroyed a video factory near an oil plant yesterday, running a collection of over 20, 000 video cassettes. Old electric wiring is being blamed for the fire. 3. The oldest living woman in France turned 120 years old today. Although she can not see well, her mind is sharp and her health is good. When she was asked, “How do you see your future?“ she replied, “Very short“. 4. A briefcase containing over $ 10, 000 in cash was found on a United Airlines flight that arrived from New York on Tuesday night. The bag is believed to belong to a passenger. So far, no one has contacted the airline to claim the money. 5. And lastly, it has been announced that the winner of last year’ s Miss Universe contest, 20-year-old Wendy Thomas from New Zealand has been arrested for shoplifting in a Miami department store.

When were the first x-rays discovered?Karl Wilhelm Rontgen(1845 - 1923) astounded people with the first x-rays in 1895: this was followed three years later by the discovery of radium by Pierre and Marie Curie. But who were they? In 1894, Marie and Pierre Curie met while studying in Paris. Their marriage on 25 th July 1895 marked the start of a partnership which was to receive worldwide recognition. The Curies discovered radium, a radioactive substance , in uranium oxide ore. They developed techniques for extracting it, but first did not fully understand its properties. Pierre Curie used to carry radium around in his waistcoat pocket and could not understand why he was developing a massive sore on his chest. This would have been fatal, but Pierre’ s life was cut short in 1906 when he was knocked down and killed by a horse and cart in the street. From then on, Marie devoted herself to completing the work that they had begun together. Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded a joint Nobel Prize in 1904, followed up by a second one for Marie in 1911. Their research was crucial in the development of x-rays in surgery. During World War I Marie Curie helped to equip ambulances, which she drove to the front lines, with x-ray equipment. The International Red Cross made her head of its Radiological Service and she held training courses for medical orderlies and doctors in the new techniques. Despite her success, Marie faced great opposition from male scientists in France and she never received the recognition she deserved. She died in 1934 from leukaemia, due to exposure to high-energy radiation used in her research. Radiation has since been used to treat cancer worldwide. In 1894. In 1895. In 1904. In 1911.

Which of the following is NOT a way to punish the one who commits a crime?In Britain, if you are found guilty of a crime, you can be sent to prison or be fined or be ordered to do community work such as tidying public places and helping the old. You may also be sent to special centers when you learn special skills like cooking, writing and car maintenance. About 5 percent of the present population are women. Many prisons were built over one hundred rears ago. But the government will have built 11 new prisons by next year. There are two sorts of prisons. The open sort and the closed sort. In the closed sort, prisoners are given very little freedom. They spend three to ten hours outside their cells when they exercise, eat, study, learn kills, watch TV and talk to other prisoners. All prisoners are expected to work. Most of them are paid for what they do, whether it is doing maintenance or cooking and cleaning. Prisoners in open prisons are locked up at night, but for the rest of the time, they are free within the prison grounds. They can exercise, have visitors, or study. And some are allowed out of the ground to study or to do community work. To be sent to a prison. To be tortured physically. To be ordered to do community work. To be fined.

What are the students going to do during this class period?OK, in the last class we talked about the classification of trees and we ended up with a basic description of angiosperm. You remember that those are plants with true flowers and seeds that develop into fruits. The common broadleaf trees we have on campus fall into this category. But our pines don’ t. Now I hope you all followed my advice and wore comfortable shoes because as I said today we are going to do a little field study. To get started let me describe a couple of broadleaf trees we have in front of us. I’m sure you’ ve all noticed that this big tree next to Brett Hall. It’ s a black walnut that must be 80 feet tall. As a matter of fact there is a plaque identifying. It is the tallest black walnut in the state. And from here we can see the beautiful archway of trees at the commons. They are American elms. The ones along the commons were planted when the college was founded 120 years ago. They have distinctive dark green leaves that look lopsided because the two sides of the leaf are unequal. I want you to notice the elm right outside the Jackson Hall. Some of the leaves have withered and turned yellow, maybe due to Dutch elm disease. Only a few branches seem affective so far but if this tree is sick it’ll have to be cut down. Well, let’ s move on and I’ll describe what we see as we go. Watch a slide show about trees. Learn how to prevent Dutch elm disease. Study the history of the campus buildings and grounds. Look at examples of trees on campus.

The authors attribute each tower’ s collapse to three separate but related“loading events“. 【T1】The first event was a Boeing aircraft hitting the building, cutting through the exterior structure and creating a fireball that immediately consumed some of the estimated 10, 000 gallons(38 kiloliters) of jet fuel. The high-rises, structural systems were sufficiently redundant. However, that this major damage by itself did not cause the collapse. According to the report, “ most of the load supported by the failed columns is believed to have been transferred to adjacent perimeter columns through Vierendeel behavior of the exterior wall frame“. 【T2】The second event was the continuing fire, fed both by the remaining jet fuel and the office contents of furniture and paper. 【T3】This fire heated and weakened the structural systems, adding stress to the damaged structure. Meanwhile, the sprinklers were not operating as designed. “Even if these systems had not been compromised by the impacts, “ says the report, “ they would likely have been ineffective... 【T4】the initial flash fires of jet fuel would have opened so many sprinkler heads that the systems would have quickly depressurized and been unable to effectively deliver water to the large area of fire involvement. “ The third event was a progressive collapse: 【T5】“ As the large mass of the collapsing floors above accelerated and impacted the floors below, it caused an immediate progressive series of floor failures, punching each in turn onto the floor below, accelerating as the sequence progressed. Freestanding exterior walls... buckled at the bolted column splice connections and also collapsed. “

Read the following text and write an essay to 1) summarize the main points of the text, 2) make clear your own viewpoint, and 3) justify your stand. In your essay, make full use of the information provided in the text. If you use more than three consecutive words from the text, use quotation marks (“ “). You should write 160 -200 words on the ANSWER SHEET. However you view credit cards, it’ s hard to live in the modern world without one. And if you have one, you owe it to yourself to use it properly. Although credit cards are becoming a more acceptable part of the financial scene, they are still regarded with suspicion by many as being a major part of the “live now pay later“ syndrome. Along with hire purchase, rental and leasing schemes, they provide encouragement to spend more money. They can allow you to pile up debts that you have difficulty paying off, they can also let you spend next month’ s salary today. Advertising campaigns have, however, promoted a growing realization of the advantages of these small pieces of plastic. They obviate the need to carry large amounts of cash and are always useful in emergencies. All the credit card organizations charge interest on a monthly basis which may work out as high as 25 percent a year, yet judicious purchasing using a card can mean that you obtain up to seven weeks interest free credit. It is worthwhile shopping around before deciding on a particular credit card. It is necessary to consider the amount of credit granted: interest rates, which may vary slightly: the number and range of outlets, though most cards cover major garages, hotels, restaurants and departments stores, and of course, what happens if your card is lost or stolen. Using a credit card wisely takes discipline and a little self-control. Once you realize your debt is someone else’ s profit margin, your approach to your plastic will change. With a bit of discipline and some practical knowledge, you can make your cards work for you, rather than the other way round. As a matter of fact, a credit card can cost nothing or at least help to tide you over a period of financial difficulty.

Shortages of flu vaccine are nothing new in America, but this year’ s is a whopper. Until last week, it appeared that 100 million Americans would have access to flu shots this fall. Then British authorities, concerned about quality-control problems at a production plant in Liverpool, barred all further shipments by the Chiron Corp. Overnight, the U. S. vaccine supply dwindled by nearly half—and federal health officials found themselves making an unusual plea. Instead of beseeching us all to get vaccinated, they’ re now urging most healthy people between the ages of 2 and 64 not to. “This re-emphasizes the fragility of our vaccine supply, “ says Dr. Martin Myers of the National Network for Immunization Information, “ and the lack of redundancy in our system. “ Why is such a basic health service so easily knocked out? Mainly because private companies have had little incentive to pursue it. To create a single dose of flu vaccine, a manufacturer has to grow live virus in a 2-week-old fertilized chicken egg, then crack the egg, harvest the virus and extract the proteins used to provoke an immune response. Profit margins are narrow, demand is fickle and, because each year’ s flu virus is different, any leftover vaccine goes to waste. As a result, the United States now has only two major suppliers(Chiron and Aventis Pasteur)—and when one of them runs into trouble, there isn’ t much the other can do about it. “A vaccine maker can’t just call up and order 40 million more fertilized eggs, “ says Manon Cox, of Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corp. “There’ s a whole industry that’ s scheduled to produce a certain number of eggs at a certain time. “ Sleeker technologies are now in the works, and experts are hoping that this year’ s fiasco will speed the pace of innovation. The main challenge is to shift production from eggs into cell cultures— a medium already used to make most other vaccines. Flu vaccines are harder than most to produce this way, but several biotech companies are now pursuing this strategy, and one culture-based product (Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ Invivac)has beencleared for marketing in Europe. For America, the immediate challenge is to make the most of a limited supply. The government estimates that 95 million people still qualify for shots under the voluntary restrictions announced last week. That’ s nearly twice the number of doses that clinics will have on hand, but only 60 million Americans seek out shots in a normal year. In fact, many experts are hoping the shortage will serve as an awareness campaign—encouraging the people who really need a flu shot to get one.

Being a man has always been dangerous. There are about 105 males born for every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance at the age of maturity, and among 70-year-olds there are twice as many women as men. But the great universal of male mortality is being changed. Now, boy babies survive almost as well as girls do. This means that, for the first time, there will be an excess of boys in those crucial years when they are searching for a mate. More important, another chance for natural selection has been removed. Fifty years ago, the chance of a baby(particularly a boy baby) surviving depended on its weight. A kilogram too light or too heavy meant almost certain death. Today it makes almost no difference. Since much of the variation is due to genes, one more agent of evolution has gone. There is another way to commit evolutionary suicide: stay alive, but have fewer children. Few people are as fertile as in the past. Except in some religious communities, very few women have 15 children. Nowadays the number of births, like the age of death, has become average. Most of us have roughly the same number of offspring. Again, differences between people and the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished. India shows what is happening. The country offers wealth for a few in the great cities and poverty for the remaining tribal peoples. The grand mediocrity of today—everyone being the same in survival and number of offspring—means that natural selection has lost 80% of its power in upper-middle-class India compared to the tribes. For us, this means that evolution is over: the biological Utopia has arrived. Strangely, it has involved little physical change. No other species fills so many places in nature. But in the past 100, 000 years—even the past 100 years—our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not. We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us. Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evolution: “ they look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension“. No doubt we will remember a 20th century way of life beyond comprehension for its ugliness. But however amazed our descendants may be at how far from Utopia we were, they will look just like us.

[*]M: Hi, Mary. Do you want to start writing a lab report after we finish this experiment? W: I can’ t. In fact I need to finish early because I’ m going over to the psychology department to talk to Professor Smith about a job opening. M: You mean a job on campus? W: Yeah. And it sounds pretty interesting. It involves helping with your study on learning style. You know, about how some people learn best by sight, while others learn best by hearing or touching. M: Yeah. I know that’ s an area of expertise. W: Right. Anyway, for her study, she ’ s taking some high school students who aren’ t doing very well in their classes and testing them to find out what their learning styles are. Then tutors, people like me, will work with them presenting material to them in their particular learning style. M: Hey. That is interesting. Now will you mostly do the testing or the tutoring? W: Both I hope. I want to be involved from start to finish. M: Are you getting paid for this? W: I’ m sure we’ll get something though, probably not much. Anyway it doesn’ t matter to me, I just want to have some hands-on experience. M: Yeah. And it’ll be nice to help those high school students too. W: That’ s what I thought when I saw the ad. You know you could do it, too. You don’ t have to be in her classes to work on the study. M: Really? Do you have any idea what the schedule is like? W: Late afternoon then evening for tutoring, I think. After all, the kids are in regular classes until three thirty. M: Actually that’ s perfect for me. W: Then come along. We will save the lab report for later. But we’ d better make sure we do a good job on our experiment first. M: Yeah. First thing’ s first.

The United States leads all industrial nations in the proportion of its young men and women who receive higher education. Why is this? What motivates a middle-income family with two children to 【C1】______loans for up to $ 120, 000 so that their son and daughter can【C2】______private universities for four years? Why would both parents in a low-income family take jobs to support their three children at a state university—each【C3】______an annual cost of $4, 000? Why should a woman in her forties quit her job and use her savings to 【C4】______for the college education she did not receive when she was 【C5】______? Americans place a high personal value 【C6】______higher education. This is an attitude that goes【C7】______to the country’ s oldest political traditions. People in the United States have always believed that education is necessary for【C8】______—a democratic government. They believe that it prepares the individual【C9】______ informed intelligent, political participation, including voting. Before World War II , a high school education seemed adequate for【C10】______most people’ s needs, but the post-war period produced dozens of new questions for Americans. How should atomic 【C11】______be used? Should scientists be【C12】______to experiment in splitting genes? Should money be spent on 【C13】______astronauts into space—or should it be used for aid to another nation? Americans rarely express a direct vote on such complex matters, but the representatives they elect【C14】______decide such issues. In recent years, 【C15】______a result, many Americans have begun to regard a college education as necessary to becoming an informed American voter.

Tips to Help New Grads Land Job Offers In order to get a job out of college these days, new grads should be overachievers with internships and other real-life business experience, and they should expect to have to go above and beyond the typical job search. Based on our findings, here are some ways to build your resume and position yourself to create the best odds of getting a job offer: 【K1】______ Sure, technical skills and experience are great. But in the study, we found that when hiring for entry-level positions, almost all employers view communication and teamwork skills, as well as having a positive attitude, as being important or very important. These skills demonstrate how well an applicant will fit into the corporate culture, and give an indication of how long a new hire will stay at the company. The best way to develop such skills is to become more self-aware, and to get feedback on how you come across from the people you trust who work in your desired field. Also, actively put yourself in situations where you ’ re communicating with others inperson. Interacting online isn’ t enough. 【K2】______ A lot of students and young professionals think that social networking via Facebook, LinkedIn, and the like is the best route to finding a job. Yet our research reveals that only 16% of employers recruit on social networks all or most of the time. Nearly half(48%) , meanwhile, utilize job boards, and 44% use employee referrals. My advice is to use all of the above in your job search—social networks, job boards, career fairs, your personal and professional network, and every other option under the sun. What works for you might not work for someone else, and vice versa. Ask family and friends for referrals too, and don’ t feel embarrassed about it. 【K3】______ If you want to be more positive during interviews, the best approach is to only apply to jobs you’ re really excited about. Use this approach and you will exude a positive, if possibly nervous, energy during interviews, showing you care. And if this is something you care about, you’ll be more prepared for the interview, which will boost your chances. If, on the other hand, you’ re just applying to a job because it’ll pay the bills, you probably won’t get it. 【K4】______ 42% of employers say they are turned off by how unprepared students are in interviews. At the very least, do some research on the company at its website. It’ s wise to take things a step further, though, and review the hiring manager’ s profile on Linkedln. By learning about their work history, you will be able to better connect with them during the interview. You should also search the company ’ s name at Google News to get up to speed with recent announcements and industry trends. Doing your homework will show you care, and the employer will be impressed. 【K5】______ The workplace is constantly changing, as are the needs of corporations. That’ s why it’ s important now, more than ever before, to spread yourself out and get as many internships and experiences under your belt as humanly possible. Try to get a range of different experiences as well. Diversifying will increase your chances of success in at least one line of work. In the stock market, if you only invest in one stock and it doesn’ t do well, then you’ re broke. Similarly, it’ s unwise to only have one internship or only pursue one narrow career field. [A]Have an entrepreneurial mindset [B] Get your eggs out of any one basket [C] Prepare yourself before interviews [D] Search using every resource possible [E] Develop your“ soft skills“ [F] Focus on the jobs you’ re most passionate about [G] Get internships and experiences as early as possible

To make college affordable for more students, the government will______.

The current federal student aid system has its disadvantage in that______.

According to James Kvaal, the reason why a lot of students haven’ t got federal Pell Grants is______.

It can be inferred from Paragraph 7 that using earlier tax information might______.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the text?