(B) The U．S．birthrate began to decline in the middle 1950’s, resulting in a smal

（B）

The U．S．birthratebegan to decline in the middle 1950’s, resulting in a smaller college agepopulation starting in the middle 1970’s．Something else happened in the 1970’s: the price of oil increasedgreatly, driving up the price of almost everything and making Americans awarethat their large automobiles used a lot of gasoline．At the same time, foreign carmanufacturers had begun to produce small fuel efficient cars in largequantities for the export market．Suddenly, the large, gas guzzling American cars were no longerattractive to American buyers, who began buying foreign cars by the thousands．The American automobileindustry went into a recession．Thousands of automotive workers were laid off, as were thousands ofpeople in industries indirectly connected with the auto industry．

People who are laid off tend to keep whatmoney they have for necessities, like food and housing．They do not have the extramoney needed to send their children to college．Their children cannot pay their own college costs,because during a recession they cannot find jobs．High unemployment means that more state funds mustbe used for social service-----unemployment benefits, and to aid dependentchildren, for example-----than during more prosperous times．It also means, that the stateshave fewer funds than usual, because people are paying fewer taxes．Institutions of highereducation depend on two major sources of income to keep them functioning:tuition from students and funds from the states．At the present time, there are fewer students thanin the past and fewer state funds available for higher education．The colleges and universitiesare in trouble．

60．What is the main idea of this passage??

A．The rising of oil price drove up the price of everything．

B．There were many reasons why higher education was in trouble in the1970’s．

C．Birthrate began to decline in the USA in 1950’s．

D．High unemployment caused a lot of social problems．

61．American cars were not popular in their domestic markets becausethey were____．

A．small             B．gasconsuming             

C．fuel efficient         D．not attractive

62．The colleges and universities were in trouble because of thefollowing reasons except that ____．

A．they couldn’t get enough income to keep them running

B．young people couldn’t afford the tuition fees

C．keeping them running at the same level would cost much more

D．social services need more state funds because of the recession

63．All of the following statements are true EXCEPT ____．

A．young people couldn’t afford their own tuition in the 1970’s

B．it’s difficult for graduates from colleges to find a job in the1970’s

C．fewer parents could afford to send their children to college becauseof the recession in 1970’s

D．Birthrate dropped in the 1970’s because of the recession

试题答案

【答案】

60-63:   BBCD 

【解析】略