阅渎下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的4个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项，并在答题卡相应位置上将该项涂黑。

     I have a friend named Monty Roberts who let me use his horse ranch in San Ysidro to put on fund-raising events for youth at risk programs.
     The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, "I want to tell you why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young man, the son of an itinerant horse trainer who went from ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write paper about, what he wanted to do when he grew up.
     “That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning: a horse ranch some day. He wrote about his dream in great detail and drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on the ranch. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, 'See me after class”.
     “The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, ‘Why did I receive an F?' The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a boy like you, having no money and from an itinerant family. If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’"
     "The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. Finally, after sitting with it for a week, he turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream.’”
     Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, ”I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, "Two summers ago, that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. When the teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Look, Monty, when I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. I stole a lot of kids' dreams. Fortunately you were bold and ambitious, enough not to give up on yours.’" 

概括段落大意和补全句子：阅读下面短文，请完成短文后的二项测试任务：(1)从第1~4题后所给的五个选项中为第❶~❹段每段选择一个正确的小标题；(2)从第5~10题后所给的七个选项中选择六个正确选项，分别完成每个句子。

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

阅读选择
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     A recent study shows that sixteen out of every 100 American couples have violent confrontations of one sort or another during the course of a year. In six of these cases there is severe kicking, biting, punching or hitting with objects. Almost four of every 100 wives are seriously beaten by their husbands. Three of every 100 children are kicked or punched by their parents. More than a third of all brothers and sisters severely attack each other.
     As expected, the incidence of violence is highest among the urban poor (many of them minorities), blue-collar workers, people under 30 or without religious beliefs, families with a husband who is jobless and those with four to six children. But the study also showed that violence occurs among wealthy families as well. Indeed, the wife of a university president once quietly called Straus, one of the sociologists who conducted the study, to ask what she could do about her husband, who often beat her. Straus suggested seeking assistance from marriage advisors.
     Straus and his colleagues found out that there are various root causes that give rise to such behavior. "The reasons are mixed—psychological, sociological, situational, " says Straus. "The husband, for example, may feel under particular stress because he has been out of work too long. Violence may also be an echo of the past, "Straus explains. "When Mummy gives her two-year-old a slap(巴掌)for putting something dirty in his mouth, he is learning from infancy that those who love you hit you. "Another reason may be the worsening economic situations. "If we have a real economic decline, it's going to get worse, "says Gelles, one of Straus' colleagues.
     These sociologists have no easy answer to violence in the American family. While they welcome such move as the opening of shelters for beaten wives and the establishment of a National Center for Child Abuse and Neglect, they believe that there must be more basic attack on violence, including the reduction of “macho"（大男子主义的） themes on the television, the outlawing of physical punishment in schools and perhaps even the elimination of death sentences. As Straus explains, "Violence is an acceptable solution to problems in American society. And that is how it is used in families."

Reading Comprehension 
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。
     In downtown Detroit there is a concert hall called the Ford Auditorium, a reminder that Detroit owes its rapid growth and one-time prosperity to the automobile, and above all to Henry Ford.
      Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, but he was the first man to mass-produce it, thus making it available to the ordinary man. Automobiles were built by hand at the turn of the last century and were much too expensive for all but the wealthy. In 1903, Henry Ford''s first mass-produced Model T cars cost $850. By the early 1920s, he was able to reduce the price to $350. Between 1903 and 1927, Ford manufactured 15 million Model T Fords and earned a profit of $700 million. In 1927, he produced his sedan Model A, which was much more comfortable than the open, windswept Model T. 

     Henry Ford was himself a born mechanic and could build a car all by himself.He respected his workers and treated them well. In 1914, when the basic wage for an industrial worker in Detroit was $11 a week, Ford announced that he would pay his workers $5 a day. Ford believed in the dignity(尊严) of work, and did not want his men to become underpaid robots. He also built for them a special town on the suburbs of the city.
     Ford's wage policy of $5 a day caused not only a wage explosion in the city as well as a population explosion. Blacks from the South poured into the city, and there were almost as many blacks in Detroit as whites. Other industries connected with the automobile were attracted to Detroit, and more and more factories sprang up in and around the city. Other automobile corporations also made Detroit their headquarters. General Motors an amalgamation(融合,合并)of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Buick, built factories in Detroit as did Chrysler. In the 1960s, one in three who lived in Detroit worked in the automobile industry.

阅读判断： 
下面的短文后列出了十个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子作出判断：如果该句提供的是正确信息，选择A；如果该句提供的是错误信息，选择B；如果该句的信息文中没有提及，选择C。 

阅读判断
下面的短文后列出了10个句子，请根据短文内容对每个句子作出判断：如果该句提供的是正确信息，选择A；如果该句提供的是错误信息，选择B；如果该句的信息文中没有提及，选择C。

Work is a Service 

     Young people may ask themselves questions like this when they apply for employment: “What are my working hours? What are my extra benefits besides wages? What holidays will I have off? Will I have enough time to hang out with my friends or pursue my hobbies?” With questions like these, however, when we focus on our hours instead of our working hours, we may be prevented from seeing a much greater opportunity.
     Good work attitudes, habits, and skills are learned through successful work experiences. Let me illustrate. On the ranch where I grew up, the cows had to be milked before dawn everyday. When I was just 10 years old, I would enter our barnyard where there were about 10 to 12 cows waiting for me to let them into the milking barn. My mother and father used to say out loud to the cows, “Good morning. It’s good to see you!” I have to confess that as a young boy I didn’t feel quite the same way toward the cows.
     After each cow was milked, I poured the milk from the pail into a 10-gallon can. Each can weighed about 80 pounds when full. It made me stretch my young muscles as I carried them to the road for the dairy to pick up.
     My father and mother quite frequently helped me with milking the cows. I remember my father and mother continued to milk until they were in their late 80s. But Father didn't milk the cows because he had to; he milked them because they needed to be milked. There is a difference. To him, these animals were not just cows—they were Big Blackie and Bossie and Sally and Betsy. He wanted them to be content. He always said that contented cows give good milk. To my father, milking cows—as unsophisticated as it may seem—was not an extra burden; it was an opportunity. Milking was not a job for him; it was a service.
     This philosophy is something that helped me as I grew up. It helped me to find out that all honest work is honorable. Within a few years I realized that routinely performing these chores actually began to give me a sense of confidence and empowerment. I took pride in my work. We control our own attitudes towards work. Self-confidence and empowerment can serve us well—in the classroom or on Wall Street. 

阅读判断：
下面的短文后列出了十个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子作出判断：如果该句提供的是正确信息，选择A；如果该句提供的是错误信息，选择B；如果该句的信息文中没有提及，选择C。 

     One day Mark was riding his bike when it began to rain. He started to feel cold so he looked for a tree to go under for shelter. He was disappointed when he struggled to find a tree. “Someday I am going to inspire people to plant trees.”
     Once he got home, he took out his social studies homework and went up to his room to do it. While he was going to his room, he saw his dad throwing away a piece of paper which was used only on one side. He was about to stop him but it was too late. “Someday I am going to inspire people to use both sides of the paper”, Mark thought.
     When he woke up the next morning, Mark figured out a way to inspire people. He would put posters around the school. Then he took out eight sheets of poster paper. He made four saying "PLANT A TREE FOR ME," and another four saying “PAPER HAS TWO SIDES, SO USE BOTH”.
     He went to school early and put the posters around the school. After class, his teacher told him to go to the principal’s office. Mark had never been to the principal’s office before. What if the principal had to punish him about the posters because they never asked him to put them up?
     When Mark walked in nervously and took a seat, Principal Marcus told him "I would like to thank you for inspiring people to help other living things. When I was on the way back from my lunch break, I saw seven fifth graders planting a tree and heard a few others telling someone else to use both sides of the paper and I'm pretty sure it's because of your posters." Mark couldn't believe his ears. He had finally inspired people. Mark felt very proud.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     One of the chief causes of fatigue （疲倦） is boredom. To illustrate this point, let's take the case of Alice, a corporate employee who lives on your street. Alice came home one night completely exhausted. She acted fatigued. She was fatigued. She had a headache. She had a backache. She was so exhausted that she wanted to go to bed without waiting for dinner. Persuaded by her mother, she sat down at the table. The telephone rang. The boyfriend! An invitation to a dance! Her eyes sparkled. Her spirits soared. She rushed upstairs, put on her Alice-blue gown, dashed out and danced until three o’clock in the morning; and when she finally did get home, she was not the slightest bit exhausted. She was, in fact, so excited that she couldn’t fall asleep 

     Was Alice really and honestly tired eight hours earlier, when she looked and acted exhausted? Sure, she was. She was exhausted because she was bored with her work, perhaps bored with life. There are millions of Alices. You may be one of them.
     It is a well-known fact that your emotional attitude usually has far more to do with producing fatigue than has physical exertion. A few years ago, Joseph E. Barmack, Ph.D, published in the Archives of Psychology a report of some of his experiments, showing how boredom produces fatigue. Dr. Barmack put a group of students through a series of tests in which, he knew, they could have little interest. The result? The students felt tired and sleepy, complained of headaches and eyestrain, felt irritable. In some cases, even their stomachs were upset. Was it all ”imagination”? No, Metabolism（新陈代谢）tests were taken of these students. These tests showed that the blood pressure of the body and the consumption of oxygen actually decrease when people are bored, and that the whole metabolism picks up immediately as soon as they begin to feel interest and pleasure in their work!

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     I heard the noise first. A car, obviously out of control, was running straight toward me and my four-year-old son as we stood on the sidewalk waiting to cross the street. There was no time to do anything; it all happened in a second.
     The vision of that big black car hitting the sidewalk a few feet from us will never be erased from my memory. I don't know how close the car came to us, because I turned away at the last second, but it was close. People stopped their cars and asked if we were okay.
     "It didn't hit us," I remember saying. Then I bent down and hugged my son. "Mom, that car nearly hit us," Scott said brightly, still holding the construction-paper cat he’d made at school. He has no idea what a ton of metal going 50 m.p.h. can do to 39 pounds of a little boy. Much of his world view comes from cartoons, especially Spider-Man, who he believes can fly down to help anyone out of danger. I found myself walking to the car. A woman of about 60 sat inside, still holding the steering wheel. "Are you all right?" I asked her. Translation: Did you just have a heart attack? Why did you just try to kill me and my little boy?
     "Someone cut me off, "she started. Interrupting her, I said we'd both better say our prayers that night. I didn't begin to get angry until later.
     The woman who nearly killed us was in a hurry. Very likely she was speeding to make the next traffic light at the crossroads .The driver she said cut her off was probably in a hurry, too, trying to turn into traffic.
     Nor am I blameless. We had stopped on the sidewalk because I wanted to shave two minutes off my busy day by running across the street rather than walking the half block to the light at the crossroads. Instead, I nearly shaved off two lives.
     Just a week before, I had returned from a trip to Japan, flying almost 60,000 miles in six different planes. That makes six takeoffs and landings, 12 opportunities to be the top story on the nightly news. To think I'd survived 16,000 miles of air flight, only to be almost killed three blocks from home.
     Today I resolve to slow down and think about the spring, the flowers and our children — our innocents, our contracts with the future.

Reading Comprehension 
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     My top priorities are school, sports and my family. Track and tennis are the sports I enjoy most. During the track season, I have practice Monday through Friday, mostly at 7: 30 a. m. Tennis is a yearlong sport for me, and I never get a break. I don't mind this, and look forward to practices, which are three hours, three times a week. The only thing I dislike about running and tennis is when they conflict. It pains me whenever I have to choose between them.
     I also take school extremely seriously. I am a straight-A student and am looking to keep this up. Unlike many parents, mine do not get angry if I get a grade lower than an A. They simply advise me to go talk to my teachers to find out if there is any work I could do to bring the grade up. I appreciate this because it seems as though I get enough criticism from myself.
     One of my greatest struggles is trying to find time to spend with my family and friends. I hate that something has to be sacrificed. For me, that thing is my friends. At times my friends get angry with me, which annoys me because I really want to hang out with them but can't because of my time constraints. I wish they knew that I miss them. I also long for the nights when I used to relax with my family. Now I come home from meets and practices to eat and finish homework. Many times I am exhausted.
     It may sound as though there must be someone making me live in this manner. Well, there is: me. I choose to spend my time this way, even though it may mean less time for friends, family and relaxing. Call me crazy, but the reason for my overscheduled lifestyle is the love I have for all my chosen activities. Just like with my schooling, I have long-term goals for the sports with which I am involved. Those goals drive me to keep up the hard work. I enjoy what I do, not planning to stop anytime soon.

     Why does the Foundation concentrate its support on basic rather than applied research? Basic research is the very heart of science, and its cumulative product is the capital of scientific progress, a capital that must be constantly increased as the demands upon it rise. The goal of basic research is understanding, for its own sake. Understanding of the structure of the atom or the nerve cell, the explosion of a spiral nebula(星云)or the distribution of cosmic dust, the causes of earthquakes and droughts, or of man as a behaving creature and of the social forces that are created whenever two or more human beings come into contact with one another-the scope is shocking, but the commitment to truth is the same. If the commitment were to a particular result, conflicting evidence might be overlooked or with the best will in the world, simply not appreciated. Moreover, the practical applications of basic research frequently cannot be anticipated. When Roentgen, the physicist, discovered X-rays, he had no idea of their usefulness to medicine.
     Applied research, undertaken to solve specific practical problems, has an immediate attractiveness because the results can be seen and enjoyed. For practical reasons, the sums spent on applied research in any country always far exceed those for basic research, and the proportions are more unequal in the less developed countries. Leaving aside the funds devoted to research by industry-which is naturally far more concerned with applied aspects because these increase profits quickly--the funds the U.S. Government allots to basic research currently amount to about 7 percent of its overall research and development funds. Unless adequate safeguards are provided, applied research invariably tends to drive out basic. Then as Dr. Waterman has pointed out, "Developments will inevitably be undertaken prematurely career incentives will gravitate strongly toward applied science, and the opportunities for making major scientific emphasis upon pure science tend to degrade the quality of the nation’s technology in the long run, rather than to improve it.”

Reading Comprehension 
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。
     Among the company was a lawyer, a young man of about twenty-five. On being asked his opinion, he said, "Capital punishment and life imprisonment are equally immoral. If I were to make a choice between them, I would rather choose the latter. Anyway, it's better to live than not to live at all.
     A lively discussion followed. A banker, who was then younger and more nervous than the lawyer, suddenly lost his temper and cried out, "It's a lie. I bet you two millions. You wouldn't stick in a cell even for five years."
     "If you mean it," replied the young lawyer, " bet I''ll stay there longer; make it fifteen instead of five."
     "Fifteen! Done!" cried the banker. "Gentleman, I bet you two millions."
     "Agreed. Two millions for my freedom,” said the lawyer.
     So this wild, ridiculous bet came to pass. The banker could not hide his excitement. During supper he said to the lawyer jokingly,“Come to your senses, young man, before it's too late. Two millions are nothing to me, but you stand to lose three or four of the best years of your life. I say three or four because you''ll never stick it out any longer. Don't forget that voluntary imprisonment is much harder to put up with than an enforced one. The idea that you have the right to free yourself any moment will poison your life in the cell. pity you.''
     And now the banker, pacing from corner to corner, recalled all this and asked himself, "Why did I make this bet? What's the good? The lawyer lost fifteen years of his life and threw away two millions. Will it convince people that capital punishment is worse or better than imprisonment for life? No, no! Rubbish! On my part, it was the caprice(心血来潮) of well-fed millionaire; on the lawyer's part, it's the pure greed of gold.”

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     The long summer holidays are finally over and some parents are pleased. "We worry more about their safety in the holidays, explains one mother from North London. If teenagers are not wandering around on public transport in a big and potentially dangerous city, they are chatting to strangers in an internet chat room! Well, that's an extreme picture of the UK today, but many parents are worried about how much freedom they can give their children during the holidays and at weekends..
     Weekends are not the only time to worry! Newspapers are full of stories about too many school kids going to school by car because their parents do not want them to travel alone on a bus or train. This summer there were more frightening stories of many teenagers disappearing with questionable friends that they met on the net. All the Media stories help increase parents fears, but is the UK really so dangerous?
     Many young people feel that life for their parents was easier. In the 1960s young people played in the streets more and traveled around town without their parents. "At least our parents can keep tabs on us," says 16-year-old Julia. "So many people have mobile phones now and their parents ring to find out where they are. I use my mobile to get Dad to come to the station when I arrive late. " Mobiles are not just expensive toys; they help keep young people safe. Most significantly, they make parents feel better. Only one problem is, though, that some young people have been attacked by thieves who want to steal their mobile phones.
     Young people like going out with friends, but they now need to learn how to get home safely. Five million young people in the UK between the ages of 9 to 16 use chat rooms to make friends, but they, too, need to be careful and never give their personal details to a stranger, Young people today have more opportunities to meet new people and go out at night more than their parents ever did. Now schools, television programs and newspapers must help teenagers to enjoy their freedom and to be responsible for their own safety.

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     This green and blue planet spinning in space is under severe stress. If we continue to exploit the planet at the present rate, human and animal life will be threatened. Human pride will be followed by nature's punishment. To save our earth and ourselves, we need first develop an unbiased understanding of ourselves, nature and life.
     Everyone understands the meaning of the sentence "Man should respect animal life and nature". But the exact meaning of man, nature and animal life is not always clear. Many refer to man and animals as if they were essentially different. I consider man to be an animal and only differing in degree and not in kind from other animals. Although I discuss in conventional terms human rights and animal rights as if they were separate, strictly speaking, human rights should be considered a branch of animal rights.
     The word "nature" is one of the most complex words in the language, but it has developed three main areas of meaning. These are, first, the essential quality and character of something (as in human nature, or the nature of wood); second, the inherent force: which influences the world (as in Mother Nature); third, the entire world itself. The last can be taken to include or to exclude human beings, as the phrase man and the natural world implies.
     I consider humans to be an integral part of nature, although they are also the beings most capable of interfering with its processes. Unfortunately a central drive of Western "man" has been to conquer “nature”, as if it were an object separate from him. Hence it has become common to distinguish between what is natural (existing without man's interference) and artificial (man-made). In this way, natural growth is opposed to education, civilization to the natural state. For many urban people living permanently among concrete and glass, nature itself has come to mean little more than the countryside. And this notion of opposition is where the seed of potential destruction lies.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     There will be a major shift in the age distribution in the American workforce. As the baby boomers （born between 1946 and 1963） begin to hit retirement age, they will be replaced by the so-called ”Generation Y” or ”Millennial Generation,” who number almost 80 million. And the qualified workers of this generation are soon going to be desperately needed, leaving businesses no choice but to figure out how to attract and keep them.
     People often say that members of the ”Millennial Generation” can’t take care of themselves and are going to bring the world down with them. Some people might think Millennials are spoiled internet addicts （上瘾者） who feel a strong sense of entitlement and aren’t willing to work hard for the great rewards they expect.
     In reality Millennials are the first generation of “digital natives,“ that is, they have never known a world without digital technology. As a result Millennials experience the world in a completely different way than previous generations. They experience the world through technology, as older generations experience the world through their organic senses. This intimacy（亲密接触） with the digital world is one of the Millennials’ greatest strengths. It also presents the greatest challenge to those companies that need highly qualified applicants. Managers need to determine ways to use their strengths and work with their weaknesses with business goals in mind.
     The key to attracting and managing Millennials is to create an experience of the company that matches their technological experience of the world. It’s about finding a balance between youthful enthusiasm, cooperative spirit, and the realities of the business world.
     The business world is experiencing a continued breakdown of the authoritarian management style that in some ways still remains as a legacy（遗留做法）from the early 20th century. Managers are going to have to be patient and flexible to a large extent because one thing is for sure, nothing makes Millennials unhappier than doing tasks with traditional methods that can be done better and more efficiently with the right technology or more sophisticated methods.
     They need to be given the opportunity to use the technologies they are familiar with to cooperate with each other and do business. The best candidates are going to be attracted to companies that are willing to give employees what they need and want.

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     In 1945, Reuben, a 12-year-old boy, saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. The price—five dollars—was beyond his means, but he went inside the shop anyway. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack（面粉袋）shirt and washed-out trousers, he asked the shopkeeper to hold it for him for some time. “I'll try,” the shopkeeper smiled.
     Reuben decided to raise the five dollars. Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, he suddenly had an idea. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in sacks from a local factory. The sacks were sometimes discarded and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece.
     Every day after school, Reuben went around the town, collecting nail sacks. When the school closed for the summer, Reuben wandered around the town, searching for his treasures. Often he was tired and hungry, but the thought of the object in the shop window kept him going. Sometimes his mother Dora would ask: “Reuben, where were you? We were waiting for you to have dinner.”
     “Playing, Mum. Sorry.”
     Dora would look at his face and shake her head. Boys.
     One day in spring, he counted the coins and found that he needed 20 cents more. Could there be any sacks left anywhere in town? He had to find four and sell them before the day ended.
     When Reuben arrived at the factory in the late aftemoon, the sack buyer was about to lock up. “Mister! Please don't close up yet.” The man turned and saw Reuben, dirty and sweat-stained.
     With four more coins in his pocket, Reuben headed for the shop and got what he wanted. Racing home, he burst through the front door. “Here, Mum! Here!” He exclaimed as he ran to her side. He placed a small box in her work-roughened hand.
     Dora unwrapped it carefully, to save the paper. A blue-velvet jewel box appeared. She lifted the lid and saw an almond-shaped brooch（胸针）with the word “Mother.” It was Mother's Day, 1946. Dora had no jewels except her wedding ring. Speechless, she smiled radiantly and gathered her son into her arms.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     Lately it has become fashionable in America to question whether it is really worth it to go to college. According to a new survey released by the Pew Research Center, only 40 percent of Americans felt that colleges provided a good value for the cost. At the same time, 86 percent of college graduates still felt the investment was a good one for them.

     There are a number of reasons for the widespread dissatisfaction with college. First, there are plenty of problems with higher education—poor quality and out-of-control costs are two of the biggest.Second, it is true that college is not for everyone. There are plenty of rewarding and important careers that do not require college. And due to the slow economy, there may in fact be more graduates than the current job market needs. Besides, anti-college sentiment is nothing new· Today, Microsoft’s Bill Gates or Apple’s Steve Jobs—both college dropouts-is often held up as evidence of why all that time sitting in class is better spent elsewhere.

     However, getting a college education is still a good idea. College graduates earn more, and are more likely to have a job in the first place. According to the statistics last year, the average weekly earnings for someone with some college but no degree were $712, compared to $1,038 for a college graduate. That is almost $17,000 over the course of a year and there is an even bigger divide for those with less education. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent for those with only some college and more than 10 percent for those with just a middle school degree, but it was 5.4 percent for college graduates. The economic gaps between college completers and those with less education are getting larger·    

     Although most Americans surveyed by Pew feel doubtful about the value of a college degree, an overwhelming majority of parents Pew surveyed still expect their children to go to college. “It can be inferred that the increased doubt has not significantly influenced decision making, ’’Pew’s Taylor says.“Despite the concern about rising costs and other problems, college remains a universal desire in this country.”