“Thepriceofbooksforourstudentsisjustgettinghigherandhigherand,combinedwiththerisingcostoftuition,it’skillingthesestudents,”saidPeterJason,acollegeprofessor.“Remember,studentsareoneofthepoorestgroupsofpeopleinAmerica.Almosthalfofthemhaveatleastonepart-timejob.Infact,oneofmystudentshasthreejobs.Andshestillmanagestohavehighscoresandgotoschoolfull-time.”
Textbookpricesaretraditionallyhigh.Addingtothatproblem,manycollegeteacherschangetextbooksyearafteryear;theyeitherupgradetoaneweditionorswitchtoanentirelydifferenttextbook.Thisfurtherhurtsstudentsbecauseifaninstructornolongerusesaparticulartextbook,thatbookhasnoresalevalue.
Dr.Jasondecidedtomakelirealittleeasierandalotcheaperforhisstudentsbywritinghisownbookonpublicspeaking.“ManybookshaveanincreasedpricebecauseofCD-ROMs,lotsofcolorphotographsandpictures.Italkedtomystudents,andmanyofthem,likeme,prefertokeepthingssimple!So,afewyearsago,Iwrotemyowntextbook.Comparedtomostotherpublicspeakingbooks,mineishalfthenumberofpages,andone-thirdtheprice.Thatis,$30insteadof$90.WhenIwroteasecondeditionlastyear,studentsonlyhadtobuythe35newpagesForonly$7.00,theyhadalmostanewbook.Nowmyloose-leaftextbookenjoysgreatpopularityamongthestudents.Maybeinthefuturemorewritersandpublisherswilltryit.”
小题1:WhatdidDr.Jasonsayaboutstudentsatcollege?A.Theyareshortofmoney.B.TheyneedbettertextbooksC.Theyshoulddopart-timejobs.D.Theyaretryingtogethighscores.小题2:WhatdidDr.Jasondecidetodotohelpthestudents?A.Tochoosecheapertextbooks.B.Towriteatextbookhimself.C.Tospeaktohisstudents.D.Touseoldtextbooks.小题3:Howmuchdoesapublicspeakingtextbookusuallycost?A.About7dollars.B.About30dollars.C.About37dollars.D.About90dollars.小题4:Whichofthefollowingcanbeinferredfromthepassage?A.DrJason'stextbookhasCD