D
The U.S. Department of Labor statistics
show that there is an oversupply of college trained workers and that this oversupply is increasing. Already there have been more than
enough teachers, engineers, physicists, aerospace experts, and other specialists. Yet colleges and graduate schools continue every year
to turn out highly trained people to compete for jobs that arent there. The result is that graduates cannot enter the professions for which
they were trained and must take temporary jobs which do not require a college degree. On the other hand, there is a great need for skilled
workers of all sorts: carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, TV repairmen. These people have more work than, they can deal with,
and their annual incomes are often higher than those of college graduates. The old gap that whitecollar workers make a better living than
blue collar workers no longer holds true. The law of supply and demand now favors the skilled workmen. The reason for this situation is the
traditional myth that college degree is a passport to a prosperous future. A large part of American society matches success in life equally
witha college degree. Parents begin indoctrinating their children with this myth before they are out of grade school. High school teachers
play their part by acting as if high school education were a preparation for college rather than for life. Under this pressure the kids fall in line.
Whether they want to go to college or not doesnt matter.Everybody should go to college, so of course they must go. And every year college
enrollmentsgo up and up, and more and more graduates are overeducated for the kinds of jobs available to them.One result of this emphasis
on a college education is that many people go to college who do not belong there. Of the sixty percent of high school graduates who enter
college, half of them do not graduate with their class. Many of them drop out within the first year. Some struggle on for two or three years
and then give up.
68. It’s implied but not stated in the passage that ___________.
A. many other countries are facing the same problem
B. white-collar workers in the US used to make more money than blue-collar workers
C. fewer students will prefer to go to college in the future
D. the law of supply and demand has a strong effect on American higher education.
69. Which of the following is NOT a reason why college enrollments go up every year?
A. High school teachers urge their students to go to college.
B. Many parents want their children to go to college.
C. Every young man and woman wants to go to college.
D. Many people believe that the only way to success is a college education.
70. By saying that “many people go to college who do not belong there”, the author means that____________. A. many people who do not have enough money go to college
B. many people who go to college have their hopes destroyed
C. many people who go to college drop out within the first year
D. many people who are not fit for college education go to college
71. We can infer from the passage that the author believes that ________.
A. college education is a bad thing
B. every young man and woman should go to college
C. people with a college education should receive higher pay
D. fewer people should go to college while more should be trained for skilled jobs
E
a moment of personal crisis how much help can you expect from a New York taxi driver?
I began studying this question and found the answers interesting. One morning I got into three different taxis and announced: “Well, its
my first day back in New York in seven years. Ive been in prison. “ Not a single driver replied, so I tried again, “Yeah, I shot a man in Reno.”
I explained, hoping the driver would ask me why, so I could say casually, “Just to watch him die. “ But nobody asked. The only response
came from a Ghanaian driver:” Reno? That is in Nevada?” Taxi drivers were uniformly sympathet ) when I said Id just been fired. “This is
America, “ a Haitian driver said, “One door is closed. Another is open.” He argued against my plan to burn down my boss’ house: “if you
do something silly and they put you away, you cannot look for another job.” A Pakistani driver even turned down a chance to profit from
my loss of hope. He refused to take me to the middle of the George Washington Bridge, a $20 trip. “Why you want to go there? Go home
and relax. Dont worry. Take a new job. “ One very hot weekday in July, while wearing a red ski mask and holding a stuffepillowcase with
the word “BANK” on it, I tried hailing (呼) a taxi five times outside different banks. The driver picked me up every time. My ride with Guy
Caaude Thevenain, a Haitian driver, was typical of the superb assistance I received. “Is anyone following us?” “No,” said the driver,
looking in his rearview mirror at traffic and me“Lets go across the park,” I said. “I just robbed the bank there. I got $25,000. “ “$25,000?” he asked.“Yeah, you think it was wrong to take it?” “No, man. I work 8 hours and I earn just $70. If I can do that, I do it too.”
As we approached the 86th of Lexington, I pointed to the Chemical Bank“Hey, theres another bank,” I said, “Could you wait here a minute while I go inside?” “No, I cant wait. Pay me now.” His reluctance
may have something to do with money taxi drivers think the rate for waiting time is too low but I think he wanted me to learn that even a
bank robber can’t expect unconditional support.
72. From the Ghanaian driver’s response, we can infer that _________.
A. he was not caring about the killing
B. he thought the writer was crazy
C. he thought the writer was a criminal
D. he was frightened to hear what the writer said
73. Why did the Pakistani driver refuse to give the writer a ride?
A. The place was far away.
B. He was in a hurry to go home and relax.
C. He thought the writer was going to kill himself.
D. He didn’t want to help the writer get over his career crisis.
74. The underlined word “reluctance” in the last paragraph most probably means _________.
A. eagerness
B. unwillingness
C. opportunity
D. anger
75. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Problem of taxi drivers’ attitudes towards riders.
B. Taxi riders’ awareness of possible dangers.
C. Importance of the education of taxi drivers.
D. Honesty of taxi drivers in New York.