A. helps create a lot of middle-skill jobs
B. may narrow the gap in working-class jobs
C. is expected to yield a better-trained workforce
D. indicates the overvaluing of higher education
25. The author’s attitude toward Koziatek’s school can be described as_____.
A. supportive
B. disappointed
C. tolerant
D. cautious
答案及解析：
21. 选C. practical ability
答案在第二段第二句，学校教授的不是书本和死记硬背的内容，而是practical，实际的。因此选C
22. 选B. are not academically successful
答案在第四段第二句话和第三句话，a mark of inferiority，自卑的标志和kids who can’t make it academically, 那些在学术上失败的孩子。
23. 选C. used to have more job opportunities
答案在第五段第三句话，“美国经济过去提供的工作安全感现在消失了。”
24. 选D. indicates the overvaluing of higher education
第六段第一句话，“…没有抓住重点：这并不仅仅是美国经济唯一需要的东西。”
25. 选A. supportive
从文章第二段开头一句，“…是先锋人物”，为称赞句。
Text 2
While fossil fuels-coal, oil, gas-still generate roughly 85 percent of the world’s energy supply, it's cleaner than ever that the future belongs to renewable sources such as wind and solar. The move to renewables is picking up momentum around the world：They now account for more than half of new power sources going on line.
Some growth stems from a commitment by governments and farsighted businesses to fund cleaner energy sources. But increasingly the story is about the plummeting prices of renewables, especially wind and solar. The cost of solar panels has dropped by 80 percent and the cost of wind turbines by close to one-third in the past eight years.
In many parts of the world renewable energy is already a principal energy source. In Scotland, for example, wind turbines provide enough electricity to power 95 percent of homes. While the rest of the world takes the lead, notably China and Europe, the United States is also seeing a remarkable shift. In March, for the first time, wind and solar power accounted for more than 10 percent of the power generated in the US, reported the US Energy Information Administration.
President Trump has underlined fossil fuels – especially coal – as the path to economic growth. In a recent speech in Iowa, he dismissed wind power as an unreliable energy source. But that message did not play well with many in Iowa, where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation—and where tech giants such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are being attracted by the availability of clean energy to power their data centers.
The question “what happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine?” has provided a quick put-down for skeptics. But a boost in the storage capacity of batteries is making their ability to keep power flowing around the clock more likely.
The advance is driven in part by vehicle manufacturers, who are placing big bets on battery-powered electric vehicles. Although electric cars are still a rarity on roads now, this massive investment could change the picture rapidly in coming years.
While there’s a long way to go, the train lines for renewables are spiking. The pace of change in energy sources appears to be speeding up—perhaps just in time to have a meaningful effect in slowing climate change , what Washington does, or doesn't do—to promote alternative energy may mean less and less at a time of a global shift in thought.
26. The word “plummeting” (Line 3, Para. 2) is closest in meaning to ________.
A. stabilizing
B. changing
C. falling
D. rising
27. According to Paragraph 3, the use of renewable energy in America ________.
A. is progressing notably
B. is as extensive as in Europe
C. faces many challenges
D. has proved to be impractical
28. It can be learned that in Iowa, ________.
A. wind is a widely used energy source
B. wind energy has replaced fossil fuels
C. tech giants are investing in clean energy
D. there is a shortage of clean energy supply
29. Which of the following is true about clean energy according to paragraphs 5&6?
A. Its application has boosted battery storage.
B. It is commonly used in car manufacturing.
C. Its continuous supply is becoming a reality.
D. Its sustainable exploitation will remain difficult.
30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that renewable energy ________.
A. will bring the US closer to other countries.
B. will accelerate global environmental change.
C. is not really encouraged by the US government.
D. is not competitive enough with regard to its cost.
答案及解析：
26. 选C. falling
定位到文章的第二段，根据最后一句知道价格是在下降，所以对应的是falling。
27. 选A. is progressing notably
定位到第二段的倒数一二两句，虽然世界其他地方处于领先位置，特别是中国和欧洲，美国见证了一个显著的转变。三月，风能和太阳能首次占比超过了美国所产能源的10%。可知美国是取得了显著的进步。
28. 选A. wind is a widely used energy source
定位到第四段最后一句, 根据 where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation可知，风能在Iowa应用广泛。
29. 选C. Its continuous supply is becoming a reality
第五段中But后面提到电池储存容量的增加使得能量流动变得更加可能，第六段的最后一句可知，虽然电动汽车现在在路上很少见，但是这种大量的投资在接下来的几年中可以很快改变这种情况。
30. 选C. is not really encouraged by the US government
根据题干renewable energy可以定位到出题点在最后一句话，且句中Washington可完美替换选项C中US government，所以选择C。
Text 3
The power and ambition of the giants of the digital economy is astonishing-Amazon has just announced the purchase of the upmarket grocery chain Whole Foods for $13.5bn, but two years ago Facebook paid even more than that to acquire the WhatsApp messaging service, which doesn't have any physical product at all. What WhatsApp offered Facebook was an intricate and finely detailed web of its users’ friendships and social lives.
Facebook promised the European commission then that it would not link phone numbers to Facebook identities, but it broke the promise almost as soon as the deal went through. Even without knowing what was in the messages, the knowledge of who sent them and to whom was enormously revealing and still could be. What political journalist, what party whip, would not want to know the makeup of the WhatsApp groups in which Theresa May's enemies are currently plotting? It may be that the value of Whole Foods to Amazon is not so much the 460 shops it owns, but the records of which customers have purchased what.
Competition law appears to be the only way to address these imbalances of power. But it is clumsy. For one thing, it is very slow compared to the pace of change within the digital economy. By the time a problem has been addressed and remedied it may have vanished in the marketplace, to be replaced by new abuses of power. But there is a deeper conceptual problem, too. Competition law as presently interpreted deals with financial disadvantage to consumers and this is not obvious when the users of these services don't pay for them. The users of their services are not their customers. That would be the people who buy advertising from them—and Facebook and Google, the two virtual giants, dominate digital advertising to the disadvantage of all other media and entertainment companies.
The product they're selling is data, and we, the users, convert our lives to data for the benefit of the digital giants. Just as some ants farm the bugs called aphids for the honeydew that produce when they feed, so Google farms us for the data that our digital lives yield. Ants keep predatory insects away from where their aphids feed; Gmail keeps the spammers out of our inboxes. It doesn’t feel like a human or democratic relationship, even if both sides benefit.
31. According to Paragraph 1, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for its _______.
A. digital products
B. user information
C. physical assets
D. quality service
32. Linking phone numbers to Facebook identities may _______.
A. worsen political disputes
B. mess up customer records
C. pose a risk to Facebook users
D. mislead the European commission
33. According to the author, competition law _______.
A. should serve the new market powers
B. may worsen the economic imbalance
C. should not provide just one legal solution
D. cannot keep pace with the changing market
34. The White House claims that its power of enforcement ________.
A. they are not defined as customers
B. they are not financially reliable
C. the services are generally digital
D. the services are paid for by advertisers
35. The ants analogy is used to illustrate _______.
A. a win-win business model between digital giants
B. a typical competition pattern among digital giants
C. the benefits provided for digital giants' customers
