单选题 Why do we make people do exams? It"s a strange form of torture to go through just for a piece of paper.
In the months before the exam it seems all right. You tell yourself that what you don"t know today you can learn tomorrow. Then come the last few weeks, and the desperate rush to learn all the things you put off till tomorrow that never comes, culminating (达到顶点) in the last few days, as you realize that what you don"t know you"ll never learn.
The day of the exam arrives, and you have to make sure you go to the right place on time, well supplied with pens, pencils and tranquillizers (镇静剂). What really undermines your confidence is that all the other candidates seem so calm and self-assured.
When you finally look at the paper, it"s a bit of an anti-climax (令人扫兴的结局). It"s never as bad as you feared, and you remember most of the things you thought you"d forgotten.
单选题 The word "torture" (in Paragraph 1) most probably means ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第一段说：“我们为什么要让人们参加考试?这是一种仅仅为了一张纸而受折磨的奇怪形式。”选项A．happiness幸福，B．punishment惩罚，C．sadness伤心，D．damage损失。根据上下文意思，正确答案是B．惩罚。
单选题 It is ______ in the months before the exam.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 原文“In the months before the exam it seems all right.”选项A．serious严肃的，B．relaxed放松的，C．fair还可以、中等的、适度的，D．great伟大的。其中C．fair比较接近原文中all right的意思。
单选题 "What you don"t know today you can learn tomorrow" is ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 选项A和B是指一种好的或坏的学习方法，但原文并非是指学习方法，而是指不想努力学习的借口，所以C是正确答案。
单选题 Which of the following statements is correct according to the text?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章2、3、4段的内容，采用逐条比对的办法可发现每条都对，所以D是正确答案。
单选题 What can the author most probably be?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 全文主要是关于考试、对考试的态度及做法，作者很可能是名教师，所以A是正确答案。