Passage 7
出国留学也许是很多学生梦寐以求的事情。很多家长也愿意让孩子出国去“镀金”，或丰富人生经历。但或许他们没有想到过留学在外也会面临着一些潜在的危险。
Studying Overseas
Study overseas can be the adventure of a lifetime, and the majority of these experiences are healthy and safe. But, unless some simple precautions are taken, a young person living without a parent in a foreign country can encounter cultural disorientation and real, physical dangers. While auto and motorcycle accidents are a primary cause for concern, there are a host of other factors that need to be considered①, preferably, well in advance of a students departure②.
There are the familiar risks of unsafe sex and illegal drugs. No different from home, you say? Traveling students and their parents often dont realize how cultural and legal differences can enhance these “risk factors.” Simply put, what is “safe” or tolerated behavior in the United States can be interpreted quite differently in a foreign country.
In a strange place with new rules, even responsible teenagers may occasionally “lose their heads” and take chances that they wouldnt normally take, like traveling unaccompanied to a strange country, not telling anyone where they are, or buying or selling on the black market. As a result, young travelers can easily find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Still, college students often reason that “horror stories” about incarcerated Americans overseas “will never happen to me!” In his MP article Legal Rights of Travelers, international law expert Jeffrey R. Miller describes some of the penalties facing the errant traveler. These can be extreme by American standards.
However, safety is indeed everyones responsibility. The school program, the parents and the student all need to take part. Avoid potentially troublesome situations because as a foreigner you are more vulnerable. Be more cautious than at home. Heres an obvious but critically important safety rule: Always let someone know where you are and never travel alone.
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文章第一段便指出，出国留学除了考虑健康和人身安全之外，还要考虑到更多其他的因素。第二段指出最常见的安全隐患。第三段指出陌生环境下孩子们可能的反常行为。第四段指出孩子们对安全问题掉以轻心的态度。第五段总结全文，并提出了一些安全建议。
本文语句十分地道，句式多样。段落之间存在的一些具有连接功能的词语，如still, however等，让文章连贯性更强。
留学在外
我们将出国留学看作是生命中的一次冒险。在留学过程中，最需要考虑的是你的健康和人身安全。除非你预先做一些安排，否则的话，一个年少的孩子生活在远离父母的异地他乡，可能会面临一些文化困扰，或者某种真正的、伤及人身的危险。尤其是由汽车或者摩托车而造成的事故。另外我们最好在孩子临行之前，预先考虑到更多其他的因素。
其中最常见的就是被视为洪水猛兽的性和毒品问题了。你认为这和你在国内没有什么不同吗？留学生和他们的父母并没有认识到这种文化和法律的差异会加剧这类冒险因素。简单地说，美国人眼中所谓的安全或者可容忍的行为，在别的国家里却可能不是。
在一个规矩完全不同的陌生地方，即便是一个很有责任感的孩子也会偶尔迷失自己，会做出一些违反常理的事情。比如说孤身去一个陌生的城市旅行，不告诉其他人自己在哪儿，或者出入于黑市做些买卖。结果，这些年轻的游子们经常会发现自己不合时宜地出现在不该出现的地方。
然而，大学生们却常常认为那些监禁海外美国人的恐怖故事永远都不会发生在自己身上。国际法专家Jeffrey R. Miller在他呈交给议会的论文《旅游者的合法权益》中指出，应对那些行踪不定的旅行者加以某种惩罚。在美国人眼里，这样做是有点过分了。
然而，保障自身安全是每个人的责任。学校里有些课程是要求学生及其家长一起参加的。因为作为一个外国人，你会更加容易受伤害。所以一定要比在国内更小心，尽量不要找麻烦。还有一条简单却极为重要的规律：无论你去哪儿，一定要让别人知道；千万不要单独外出旅行。
precaution n.预防，防备，警惕
encounter vt.遇见，遭遇
disorientation n.迷失
interpret vt.解释，诠释
incarcerate v.将某人监禁
penalty n.触发，惩罚
errant a.为冒险而周游的
vulnerable a.易受伤害的
①【注释】a host of sb/sth 大群，众多，许多（人或事物）
【临摹】I cant come, for a whole host of reasons.由于种种原因，我来不了。
②【注释】in advance of sth 预先；事前
【临摹】Galileos ideas were well in advance of the age in which he lived.伽利略的思想远远超越了他所在的那个时代。佳句临摹
Look before you leap. 三思而后行。
When at Rome, do as the Romans do. 入乡随俗。
Passage 8
“十年树木，百年树人”，教育从来都是一个十分有意义的话题。让我们看看，世界经济最发达的美国，高等教育是如何开展的。
Higher Education in America
There is evidence that even incomplete university study gives a person better career prospects than none at all. So, it is accepted that the benefits of a university career are useful.
All this effort in Americas higher education is very expensive. Some of the costs come from fees and benefactions, particularly towards research, but most have to be paid from public funds. Parents favor big expenditures on higher education; a wider public opinion favors them for idealistic and cultural reasons, and because of the supposed value of education as an investment by society.
The first universities were developed by private charitable organizations. The private universities are still very important, and most of the bestknown institutions, like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, are private.
Most of the principal state universities have between 10, 000 and 30, 000 students, and some have increased rapidly in the past few years. Private universities and colleges are generally smaller, and although they are more numerous than public institutions they have a smaller total number of students than those in public institutions. The private colleges vary very much in standards and reputation, from the worldfamous and select to the cranky and the obscure①. The best known of all is Harvard.
There are also many junior colleges to which students may be admitted at the end of their high school career, providing only the first two years of university work.
For the most part Americans think that theres some advantage in attending one of the betterknown private institutions, in spite of the higher cost, rather than a state university. However, state universities are becoming increasingly important, and some of them, particularly in the Midwest have a reputation practically equal to that of the private ones. Almost every state by now has several university institutions directly under the authority of the state government.
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文章开篇就指出接受教育总是颇有好处的，为后文作了一个很好的铺垫。紧接着第二段就讲到美国社会各界在教育上花费巨大，引出了文章的话题——美国的教育。第三，四，五段就具体的阐述了美国的教育体系是由私立学校，州立大学和大专学校构成的。最后一段讲述了州立大学的发展前景。
美国的高等教育
有迹象表明，一个人大学肄业也比从未上过大学有更好的就业前景。因此，人们相信，接受大学教育总是颇有益处的。
美国在高等教育上的投入是十分巨大的。某些费用，尤其是科研费用，来自学费和捐款，但是多数费用还得由公共基金支付。家长乐意将大笔经费投入高等教育；基于理想上和文化上的缘由，加上教育具有一种被认定为社会投资的价值，社会舆论也比以前更加普遍地支持在高等教育上花费巨资。
美国最早的大学是由私立慈善机构兴办发展的。现在私立大学仍然十分重要，且多数最著名的高等院校，如哈佛大学、耶鲁大学和普林斯顿大学，都是私立大学。
美国大多数主要的州立大学在校学生人数在1万至3万名之间，其中有些大学近年来学生人数激增。私立高等院校一般规模较小，尽管其数量超过公立院校，其学生总人数却比公立院校的要少。私立院校的水平与名望彼此相差甚远，从举世闻名、出类拔萃到动荡不定或默默无闻的都有。所有大学中，哈佛大学最负盛名。
美国还有许多只开设大学头两年课程的大专学校，高中生毕业后就可上此类学校。
尽管私立院校费用较高，大多数美国人认为，就读于名气大一些的私立院校有某种优越性，故不愿上州立大学。然而，州立大学日趋重要，其中部分院校，尤其是中西部地区的州立大学，现在已与私立大学齐名。如今，几乎各州都有几所隶属于州政府直接管辖的高等院校。
benefaction n.恩惠, 善行, 施予
expenditure n.经费，费用，支出额
charitable organizations 慈善机构
cranky a.任性的, 暴躁的
obscure a.不著名的，不重要的
prominent a.突出的，杰出的
①【注释】vary from sth to sth 改变，变动，变化
【临摹】Her mood varied from optimism to extreme depression.她的情绪由乐观变为极度消极。佳句临摹
The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas. 教育之艰苦在于从意念中获得经验。
The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions. 教育惟一的真正目的，就是让一个人进入这种状态：不断提出问题。
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