Not long ago, people thought babies were notable to learn things until they were five or six months old．Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life．
Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment．They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes．A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver．This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings．
One study shows that babies can learn before they are born．The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman．Then, they played a recording of a short story．On the day the baby was born, the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother．They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby．
The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way．If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story．The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born．They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again．
Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children．
Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years．The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers．The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere unnecessarily．They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old．Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression．
The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression．The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear．
These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people．The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children．Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression．
1.What does the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories prove?
（no more than 5 words）
2.In the passage, what factors are mentioned that influence intelligence development in babies?
（no more than 8 words）
3.Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?
（no more than 11 words）
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
（no more than 8 words）
D. R. Gaul Middle School is in Union, Maine, a blueberry-farming town where the summer fair finds kids competing in pig scrambles(争夺) and pie-eating contests.
Gaul, with about 170 seventh- and eighth-graders, has its own history of lower level academic achievement. One likely reason: Education beyond the basic requirements hasn't always been a top priority(优先) for families who've worked the same land for generations. Here, few adults have college degrees, and outsiders(局外人) (teachers included) are often kept at a respectful distance.
Since 2002, Gaul's students have been divided into four classes, each of them taught almost every subject by two teachers. The goal: To find common threads across disciplines to help students create a big picture that gives fresh meaning and context to their class work -- and sparks(激发) motivation for learning.
Working within state guidelines, each team makes its individual schedules and lesson plans, incorporating non-textbook literature, hands-on lab work and field trips. If students are covering the Civil War in social studies, they're reading The Red Badge of Courage or some other period literature in English class. In science, they study the viruses and bacteria that caused many deaths in the war.
Team teaching isn't unusual. About 77 percent of middle schools now employ some form of it, says John Lounsbury, consulting editor for the National Middle School Association. But most schools use four- or five-person teams, which Gaul tried before considering two-person teams more effective. Gaul supports the team concept by "looping" classes (跟班) so that the same two teachers stick with the same teens through seventh and eighth grades. Combining teams and looping creates an extremely strong bond between teacher and student. It also, says teacher Beth Ahlholm, "allows us to build an excellent relationship with parents."
Ahlholm and teammate Madelon Kelly are fully aware how many glazed looks they see in the classroom, but they know 72 percent of their eighth-graders met Maine's reading standard last year -- double the statewide average. Only 31 percent met the math standard, still better than the state average (21 percent). Their students also beat the state average in writing and science. And in2006, Gaul was one of 47 schools in the state to see testing gains of at least 20 percent in four of the previous five years, coinciding roughly with team teaching's arrival.
|
A Classroom With Context |
|
|
1. of the school |
◆Being a farming town, Gaul achieved little in 2. before. ◆Further education is considered less important there. ◆The community is relatively 3. rather than open to the outsiders. |
|
Ways of solving the problems |
●dividing the students into different classes and creating ways to make the students well 4. to learn. ●conducting5. and lesson plans for each team ●establishing a strong 6. between teacher and students through combining teams and looping |
|
7. of success |
■72 percent of the eighth-graders8. Maine's reading standard ■the school beating the state average in 9. ■students’ math average being 10. higher than the state average ■four of the previous five years witnessing at least 20 percent test gains |
Xu Hui is very excited. The Senior 1 student in a middle school in Beijing will go to South Korea with his parents during the Spring Festival.
“Overseas touring has always been a dream for me,” he said happily.
Nowadays, Chinese people enjoy longer holidays, such as the three “Golden Week Holidays”(the Spring Festival, May Day and National Day). They have more time to travel. Rising incomes also make travelling abroad realistic for ordinary Chinese people.
Nearly 7 million Chinese travelled overseas in 2001, according to the National Tourism Administration(国家旅游局). The most common problem travellers face is how to choose the best routes(路线).
By the end of 2002, Chinese citizens were allowed to travel to 19 foreign countries and regions at their own expense.
The top 10 places included Hong Kong, Macao and Thailand. European countries are also becoming increasingly popular.
“More and more Chinese people have shown interest in travelling to Europe, particularly France and Finland,” said Tan Wen, a general manager of China Youth Travel Service. “Sooner or later, there will be a peak(高峰) in European tours.”
Another consideration is choosing the right travel agencies and finding the best price. The China Consumers’ Association(CCA, 中国消费者协会) offered tips to consumers on choosing the right travel agencies to help prevent a relaxing vacation from turning into a costly disaster.
“Price should not be the single most important factor in choosing a travel agency,” said Zhang Yuanchao, CCA vice-secretary general. Consumers are advised to choose large State travel agencies with good reputations(名声) and official approval to organize overseas tour groups.
Zhang’s association dealt with more than 5, 000 complaints about travel agencies(旅行社) last year. And the majority of the complaints were about random changes in travel routes, bad tour guides, and forced shopping.
Travellers were warned to look carefully at their contracts(合同) with agencies and to buy travel insurance(保险).
1.How many reasons are given in the article as to why ordinary Chinese people are traveling abroad more today?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
2.According to the passage, what is the biggest problem Chinese travelers face when going overseas?
A. Choosing the best travel agent.
B. Deciding the best way to get to the places they want to go to.
C. Traveling to Europe.
D. Cost.
3.According to the passage, what seems to be the most common result of choosing a bad travel agency?
A. People buy more souvenirs than they had planned to.
B. People spend more money than they had planned to.
C. People go to different places than they had planned to.
D. People complained more than they had planned to.
4.The underlined part “random changes” probably means that _______.
A. the travelers agreed with the changes.
B. the travel agency didn’t make any changes.
C. the travel agency refused to changes the routes.
D. the travel agency changed the routes or time without following the original plan.
5. What would be a good title for this passage?
A. Xu Hui’s Vacation in South Korea
B. The Job of the National Tourism Administration
C. Where Young Chinese Travelers Go
D. Suggestions for the Chinese Travelers
On Sept. 11, an unseen enemy launched an attack on economic, military and governmental
Landmarks(标志) of the United States.
Beyond the tremendous(巨大的) loss of innocent lives and physical property, the attack was clearly aimed at the ideals of America—our values and the economic system that has made the U.S. economy the envy of the world.
Those responsible for these acts portray(描绘)the United States as the embodiment(化身)of all that is evil
With globalization and the worldwide economy it has spawned. They use the failures of globalization as an excuse to exploit their millions of constituents in the underdeveloped world.
Sometime soon, the U.S. military will strike back against those who it is determined have committed these acts. A military response is appropriate – some would say overdue(期待已久). But even if the military objective is achieved, that alone will not get to the heart of the matter.
It is crucial that the U.S. economy return to full speed ahead and continue to be the driving force behind expansion of the global economy.
Globalization, or at least the present phase of it, generally is viewed as having started with the end of the Cold War in 1989. And for all its shortcomings, the free flow of goods, services, capital and labor across the borders of the world’s trading nations — the process that has come to be called globalization—still offers the best chance to fulfill the dreams of so many of the world’s poor.
1.The attack on Sept. 11 caused _____.
A. loss to both the military forces and the ordinary citizens in the U.S.
B. a large variety of losses among the American people
C. greater loss to the American government than the citizens
D. less loss in the economy of the U.S. than the American ideals
2.The unseen enemy launched the attack because ________.
A. some people were jealous of the richness of the United States
B. the development of globalization frightened those who were conservative
C. everything evil might be thought to have something to do with the U.S.
D. the United States was considered the most evil country all over the world
3.According to the writer, a military response ________.
A. will be successful very soon
B. cannot make any sense to the matter
C. is really hard to some extent
D. will prove justifiable and necessary
4.What benefit will the globalization be of?
A. It will bring the expansion of the world’s economy.
B. The poor will become rich overnight if it is realized.
C. Nations will be too friendly to start a war against each other.
D. The borders between the nations will be abandoned soon.
5.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Economical factors are of great importance in international affairs.
B. The event on Sept. 11 has slowed down the process of globalization.
C. Military forces are necessary in the course of the development of economy.
D. The progress of globalization depends on the recovery of American economy.
My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person can have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb(番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion(热爱) and intensity(强度). I learned working in the field — except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick(帚柄).
1.The writer’s first job was _______.
A. to stand down the fairway at a golf course
B. to watch over the sugar-cane plantation
C. to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields
D. to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them
2.The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.
A. difficult B. boring
C. interesting D. unusual
3.The writer learned that_______ from his first job.
A. he should work for those who he liked most
B. he should work longer than what he was expected
C. he should never fail to say hello to his owner
D. he should be respectful and faithful to the people he worked for
4._______ gave the writer serf-esteem.
A. Having a family of eight people
B. Owning his own golf course
C. Bringing money back home to help the family
D. Helping his father with the work on the plantation
5.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. He wanted to be a successful golfer.
B. He wanted to run a golf course near his house.
C. He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation.
D. He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick.
A group of robbers dug their way into the basement of a bank in Paris and emptied almost 200 private safes(保险箱).
They entered the Credit Lyonnais branch using building equipment to dig holes and destroy walls.
1. Saturday night, they tied up a security guard and spent 2. next nine hours robbing the bank.
One investigator described the robbery 3. a “professional job”. The robbers came in at about 22:00 on Saturday 4. left at 7:00 on Sunday. They entered through the basements of the neighboring building, digging through a series of tunnels and making a hole into a wall of 80 cm thick to get into the bank, 5. was having building works at the time.
When 6. left, the robbers set the place on fire to remove any trace of evidence, switching on the anti-fire system and flooding the building. Fortunately, the guard escaped unharmed.
7. is difficult to estimate the total value of 8. was stolen as only the bank’s clients(储户) know the content of their private safes.
