“The gaokao,China's national college entrance exam,is winning more recognition as a way for universities overseas to evaluate Chinese students,”recruiting officers said.

    Stanley Nel,vice-president of international relations at the University of San Francisco in the United States,who is responsible for the university's admissions from China,said he had had several inquiries from US universities about how to recruit Chinese students on the basis of their gaokao scores.

    The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) have long been two musts for students from other counties,including China,to apply to study in the US.

    USF,a private university in California,started a pilot program to accept Chinese students based on their gaokao scores in 2015.The idea came from USF President Paul Fitzgerald's belief that standardized tests like the SAT are not very good predictors of how well students will do at the university."We are aware of the many criticisms that have been made of the gaokao,but it has the advantage of being what educational experts call a 'criterion-referenced' exam: It tests whether students are able to master a given body of knowledge,"he said.

    Currently,at least four higher education institutions in the US are recruiting Chinese students based on their gaokao performances.The Illinois Institute of Technology,a private institution in Chicago,started the practice first,in 2009.Outside the US,countries including Spain,Italy,Singapore,France and Australia also recognize gaokao scores.

    More than 200 students from China requested an interview with USF last year.74 of them were selected for a follow-up interview,44 received offers and 20 accepted the invitation and joined USF for the 2015 fall semester. Students admitted in this way have done "exceptionally well" in the past academic year,Nel added."The average GPA for all gaokao students is about 3.5 out of 4.For all other students—American and non-gaokao international students—American and non-gaokao international students—the average GPA is 3.2,"he said.

    Zhu Zihao gained admission in computer sciences at USF in 2015 through the program and performed well in his first academic year.He said that students who had experienced China's gaokao usually had comprehensive basic knowledge,which helps them excel in studies.

    Nel said,"students admitted through China's gaokao are not only smart but extremely conscientious（认真的）and hardworking."

    "This year we hope to recruit about 50 students in this way,and even more in years to come,"he said.

    It is now mandatory(强制) for drivers or passengers to wear seatbelts while in a car in all states. In addition, it is also mandatory for kids of be in some kind of specialized car seat. Given the strict requirements in other vehicles, why don't buses have seatbelts?

    The main answer, at least for school buses, is that seatbelts do not make school buses safer. Overall, traveling on school buses is the safest way to travel—40 times safer than riding in a car—with only a handful of deaths occurring to passengers on school buses every year. The seats on the school bus are placed very close to each other and have high backs that are thickly padded. As a result, in an accident the students would be propelled forward a very short distance into a padded seatback that in a way is like an airbag. In addition, the fact that people sit high off the ground on school buses also makes it safer to travel on them.

    While school buses feature high backed seats and elevated seating locations, the same cannot be said of city buses. However, from a practical angle, there's little need to require seatbelts on city buses. Although the design of the modern low—floor city bus is less safe than the design of school buses, the fact that city buses rarely travel at speeds greater than 35 miles per hour means that any collision is likely to be small, Also, given that most trips on city buses are short and that many trips have standing passengers, the presence of seatbelts will make even less of a difference.

    Another answer why buses do not have seatbelts is cost. It is estimated that adding seatbelts to buses would add between $8,000 and $15,000 to the cost of each bus. In addition, seatbelts would take up room currently used as seats, meaning that each bus would have fewer seating places. The additional room in the bus taken up by seatbelts would mean that bus fleets would have to increase by as much as 15% just to carry the same number of people. Such an increase would be especially difficult in cities that experience overcrowding on their vehicles.

    Regardless of whether their passengers have seatbelts, all buses provide seatbelts for drivers and most bus companies make their drivers wear seatbelts in order not to be influenced by a collision.

    We've all experienced peer pressure (同伴压力). It happens to everybody. However, people have different reactions. Confident people refuse to do things they don't want to do, but shy and anxious people often give in. It may be because they want to be liked. It may be because they worry that their friends will make fun of them, or perhaps they're just curious about trying something new. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    It's hard being the only one who says no and the question is：how do you do it? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}If you think that missing maths, or smoking, or going somewhere you know your parents wouldn't like is a bad idea then the answer is simple：don't do it. It's your decision, nobody else's. You don't need to be aggressive. You don't need to shout and scream, but you must be confident and you must be firm. You need to say, "No thanks. I don't want to do that."

    Being on your own against everybody else is very hard, so it can really help to have at least one other peer, or friend, who will say no too. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You want friends who will support you when you're in trouble. You don't want people who will always agree with the majority. Remember, the most popular people aren't always the most trustworthy.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  You can learn a lot from people your own age. They can teach you great football skills or the best way to do your maths homework. They can recommend music and advise you on fashion. And don't forget you can tell them things too, and that always feels great. So, find friends who have similar interests. And remember, friendship isn't about feeling depressed and guilty. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Choose your friends carefully.

B. Firstly, you must decide what you believe.

C. It's about sharing experiences and having fun.

D. Of course, peer pressure isn't completely bad.

E. It may be because they were all born to be stubborn.

F. Depression and guilt will surely give you peer pressure.

G. Whatever the reason, some people end up doing things they really don't want to.

Why Do People Enjoy Extreme Sports?

    In recent years, the term extreme sports has evolved on grand scale. It can be divided into three main types: Air, Land and Water. Now you'll start wondering how they work and why people enjoy them.

    Often popular in younger-than-average crowd, the extreme sports are not organized by schools. These sports are practiced mostly on individual level, while in many cases professional coaching is also available.

    Now we tell you the secret recipe of their popularity:

    Control and Physics: The reason why people enjoy these sports is that they are normally played, exercised or practiced in free or uncontrolled environment like base jumping and sky diving. It means while traditional athletes play in controlled environment like fields and gyms, extreme athletes have to operate and display their skills in free-flowing natural environment. For this reason, the understanding of laws of physics and how to apply and use them are really crucial for success.

    Thrill: This is the single most attractive factor in people's interest in extreme sports. It makes extreme sports different from any other type of sports. The thrill one can get from extreme sports is the highest. But the athletes are fully exposed to direct danger. Thus, you have to fully understand the consequences before you decide to enjoy the thrill.

    Pushing the Limits: Extreme sports, as the name goes, is about pushing the limits. The response, nerves and the control over the un-controllable are the main reasons why people enjoy it.

    Man against Nature: As we mentioned earlier that it is about natural elements—Air, Water and Land, these games are loved because the natural elements react to human extreme. The passion of man to overcome the natural barriers is an addiction for these athletes.

    Some of the mainstream extreme sports are base jumping, bungee jumping, sky diving, gliding, extreme skiing, mountain biking, cliff diving, scuba diving and wind surfing. No matter what extreme sports you may enjoy, the No. 1 rule is to know your limits, or you'll be pushed.

    While many students raise their hands in class to ask or answer questions, some people outside school raise their hands to get others' attention. Recently, the project "Raise Your Hands for Luca" has made people realize they can also do something amazing by raising their hands to help a brave boy named Luca Williams.

    Luca comes from England. When he was three, he lost his legs because of a terrible illness. Luca's parents started the Raise Your Hands for Luca Project. They hoped to raise 1.5 million pounds to buy Luca prosthetic legs (假肢) and to pay for the care he needs.

    Since then, many people have joined up by writing "For Luca" on their hands and putting the picture of it onto the website. The project has also caught many big stars' eyes such as the world famous football star Maradona. Mickey Mouse also joined the project to help Luca. By now, the project has raised about 225, 000 pounds for the little boy.

It is certainly difficult to make money. But should money be difficult to give away? In The Gilded Age, industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller worried about waste and misuse; Carnegie wrote in 1889 that $950 of every $1,000 that went to charity was "unwisely spent". {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Donors ran lengthy application processes, provided funds and fulfilled painstaking reporting requirements. In 2006 The Economist called it "philanthrocapitalism (慈善资本主义)".

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} The 400 richest Americans have given away just 6% of their combined fortunes, according to Forbes. At the last count in 2022, almost $1.2 trn was sitting in American private foundations and $230bn in donor-advised funds, a sort of savings account for donors. Plenty of money is being marked for charity. But it is not getting to worthy causes fast enough.

Fortunately, a new generation of donors is once again shaking up the world of big philanthropy (慈善事业). Leading the mission is MacKenzie Scott, who simplified the process of giving and is donating billions of dollars a year with few conditions. This "no-strings giving" is changing mega-donors' long-held assumptions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

One is the recognition that philanthropists do not have to do everything themselves. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} An upside of a decades-long trend for businesslike philanthropy is that armies of consultants have emerged to help donors draw up a strategy and conduct due diligence on potential recipients. Donors can team up and share the work, too.

Another lesson from the no-strings crowd is that philanthropists can trust recipients to put money to good use once the proper due diligence is in place. That means analyzing a nonprofit organization's annual reports and interviewing its leaders and other funders.

A. It offers lessons for those struggling to get money out of the door.

B. In addition to that, her charity work is too numerous to mention.

C. However, this idea that charities' money is wasted has been proven wrong by evidence.

D. Mega-donors no longer need to endure the trouble of setting up a foundation and hiring staff.

E. Two decades on, however, it's become clear that all this paperwork puts the brakes on giving.

F. Around the turn of the millennium donors looked to data and rules as a way to stop waste.