Britain no longer dominates Anglophone education. Students want more, and the old empire is happy to give it to them. A good name and a British campus are no longer enough to pull in high-paying overseas recruits. The competition within the world of English-language higher education is growing increasingly intense. Today’s international students don’t automatically head to the United States or the United Kingdom; they consider a slew of factors before making their pick. Already, Britain is starting to suffer as it finds itself in a fierce three-way contest for market share.
On the one hand, U.S. colleges are recovering fast in overseas recruitment. On the other, a batch of commonwealth countries is coming on strong and eating into Britain’s market share. Consider Singapore, which four years ago set out to lure branches of foreign colleges. The number of overseas students there has since climbed 46 percent. And in the first three years of the decade, the number of foreign students in New Zealand almost quadrupled. Then there’s Australia. Foreigners now make up about a quarter of its entire student body. Australia shows that the secret to success often has as much to do with government policy as with academic philosophy. Lavish grants can offset the Brits’ and the Americans’ edge in prestige. Foreign students at state-run schools in Singapore now get an 80 percent discount. An engineering degree that costs about $30,000 a year at Harvard runs just $2,000 at the University of Malaya, thanks to heavy subsidies.
The biggest factor today seems to be the prospect of employment. A degree from an Australian university now puts graduates on the fast track to permanent residency. And London offers an automatic 12-month work permit to most overseas recruits. But Britain can’t do anything about its location. Why go all the way to the United Kingdom -- or to the United States -- when there’s now a good English- language college just a few hours’ flight from Shanghai or Mumbai But few countries can match Australia’s main selling point. Its sunny outdoors image works strongly to its advantage among international students. Yet no country can afford to throw in the towel. Cuts in government spending have forced colleges to look elsewhere for money. Overseas recruits have thus become an increasingly critical source of cash: in Britain the average university now looks to foreign students to provide at least 10 percent of its income.
Other trends could soon make things even more desperate. Today China is one of the biggest sources of traveling students. But for how much longer The country is now busy developing its own elite institution and ordinary colleges. If this trend continues, the developed world is going to lose its largest client. The scramble for business in the Anglo world is already ferocious(激烈的), while the market is expanding. Just wait till it starts to contract.
According to the text, "no country can afford to throw in the towel" probably means ______.

A:No country can admit to be defeated by Australia. B:No country has the resources to beat Australia. C:No country can imitate Australia’s outdoor image. D:No country has the same advantages with Australia.

Britain no longer dominates Anglophone education. Students want more, and the old empire is happy to give it to them. A good name and a British campus are no longer enough to pull in high-paying overseas recruits. The competition within the world of English-language higher education is growing increasingly intense. Today’s international students don’t automatically head to the United States or the United Kingdom; they consider a slew of factors before making their pick. Already, Britain is starting to suffer as it finds itself in a fierce three-way contest for market share.
On the one hand, U.S. colleges are recovering fast in overseas recruitment. On the other, a batch of commonwealth countries is coming on strong and eating into Britain’s market share. Consider Singapore, which four years ago set out to lure branches of foreign colleges. The number of overseas students there has since climbed 46 percent. And in the first three years of the decade, the number of foreign students in New Zealand almost quadrupled. Then there’s Australia. Foreigners now make up about a quarter of its entire student body. Australia shows that the secret to success often has as much to do with government policy as with academic philosophy. Lavish grants can offset the Brits’ and the Americans’ edge in prestige. Foreign students at state-run schools in Singapore now get an 80 percent discount. An engineering degree that costs about $30,000 a year at Harvard runs just $2,000 at the University of Malaya, thanks to heavy subsidies.
The biggest factor today seems to be the prospect of employment. A degree from an Australian university now puts graduates on the fast track to permanent residency. And London offers an automatic 12-month work permit to most overseas recruits. But Britain can’t do anything about its location. Why go all the way to the United Kingdom -- or to the United States -- when there’s now a good English- language college just a few hours’ flight from Shanghai or Mumbai But few countries can match Australia’s main selling point. Its sunny outdoors image works strongly to its advantage among international students. Yet no country can afford to throw in the towel. Cuts in government spending have forced colleges to look elsewhere for money. Overseas recruits have thus become an increasingly critical source of cash: in Britain the average university now looks to foreign students to provide at least 10 percent of its income.
Other trends could soon make things even more desperate. Today China is one of the biggest sources of traveling students. But for how much longer The country is now busy developing its own elite institution and ordinary colleges. If this trend continues, the developed world is going to lose its largest client. The scramble for business in the Anglo world is already ferocious(激烈的), while the market is expanding. Just wait till it starts to contract.

According to the text, "no country can afford to throw in the towel" probably means （）

A:No country can admit to be defeated by Australia. B:No country has the resources to beat Australia. C:No country can imitate Australia’s outdoor image. D:No country has the same advantages with Australia.

Passage One
DAME EDNA EVERAGE is one of Australia’s best known performers. A comedienne and entertainer, she has had regular TV shows and has performed on stage in Australia and England. Dame Edna has interviewed such famous people as Charlton Heston, Barry Manilow, Jane Fonda, Sean Connery and many, many more.
In the 1970s the then Prime Minister of Australia, Cough Whitlam, awarded her the title of ’Dame’; a high British honour. Her motto is ’I’m sorry, but I care’. She is a flambouyant dresser, wearing elaborate evening gowns and outlandish glasses. Her trade- mark is a hunch of those famous flowers, Gladioli which she tosses in to the audience.
The funny thing about Dame Edna is that she is really a man, the lesser known comedian and performer, Barry Humphries.

Dame Edna is famous （　）

A:throughout the world B:only in Australia C:in at least two countries D:in America

Passage One
DAME EDNA EVERAGE is one of Australia’s best known performers. A comedienne and entertainer, she has had regular TV shows and has performed on stage in Australia and England. Dame Edna has interviewed such famous people as Charlton Heston, Barry Manilow, Jane Fonda, Sean Connery and many, many more.
In the 1970s the then Prime Minister of Australia, Cough Whitlam, awarded her the title of ’Dame’; a high British honour. Her motto is ’I’m sorry, but I care’. She is a flambouyant dresser, wearing elaborate evening gowns and outlandish glasses. Her trade- mark is a hunch of those famous flowers, Gladioli which she tosses in to the audience.
The funny thing about Dame Edna is that she is really a man, the lesser known comedian and performer, Barry Humphries.

Dame Edna is famous （）

A:throughout the world B:only in Australia C:in at least two countries D:in America

The idea of test-tube babies may make you starry-eyed with delight at the wonders of modern medicine or bleary-eyed with considering the moral/legal implications of starting life in a laboratory. But if you’ve ever been pregnant(怀孕)yourself, one thing is certain: You wonder what it’s like to carry a test-tube baby. Are these pregnancies normal Are the babies normal
The earliest answers come from Australia, where a group of medical experts at the Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne have taken a look at the continent’s first nine seemed to proceed according to plan, but at birth some unusual trends did show up. Seven of the nine babies turned out to be girls. Six of the nine were delivered by Caesarean section(剖腹产术). And one baby, a twin, was born with a serious heart defect and a few days later developed life-threatening abdominal problems.
What does it all mean Even the doctors don’t know for sure, because the numbers are so small. The proportion of girls to boys is high, but until there are many more test-tube babies no one will know whether that’s pure coincidence(巧合)or something special. The same thing is true of the single heart defect; it usually shows up in only 15 out of 60,000 births in that part of Australia, but the fact that it occurred in one out of nine test-tube babies does not necessarily mean that they are at special risk. One thing the doctors can explain is the high number of Caesareans.
The Australian researchers report that they are quite encouraged. All the babies are now making nomal progress--even the twin with the birth defects.
The passage imples that the first test-tube babies were born in______.

A:Canada B:Britain C:America D:Australia

{{B}}第二篇{{/B}}

The passage imples that the first test-tube babies were born in______.

A:Canada B:Britain C:America D:Australia

{{B}}第二篇{{/B}}

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

第二篇 　　 Declining Interest in Developing Foreign Language Skills 　　Australians’ foreign language skills are declining, Voice of America 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. 　　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 (缺陷) 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 languages, 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 (经济体), Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep. 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.

第二篇 　　 Declining Interest in Developing Foreign Language Skills 　　Australians’ foreign language skills are declining, Voice of America 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. 　　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 (缺陷) 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 languages, 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 (经济体), Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep. Why has the Australian government been keenly interested ,n 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