Is _______ Qinghai-Tibet Railway plays an important role in China’s railway history the topic that you’re coming to?
A. it B. that C. what D. this
The police wondered________ of them is________ such a traffic accident.
A. whom; blaming to B. who; to be blamed on
C. who; to be blamed for D. which; to blame for
To fully understand the writer, we must read not only between the lines, but sometimes _______ the lines.
A. beyond B. within C. among D. beside
– Sorry, I haven’t got any apple juice, but I’ve got you some orange juice?
-- ______. Thanks a lot.
A. That’ll do me. B. Don’t mention it.
C. That’s right. D. It’s up to you.
Scientists around the world have been studying the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean known as El Nino （厄尔尼诺）. The appearance of El Nino is known to affect the weather around the world. Scientists still do not completely understand it. Yet they now find they can use it to tell about the future in different areas of the world.
One example is the work of two scientists at Columbia University in New York, Mark Cane and Gordon Eshel. A scientist of Zimbabwe（津巴布韦）, Roger Buckland worked with them. They have found that when El Nino appears, Zimbabwe has little or no rain. This means corn crops in Zimbabwe are poor. The last El Nino was in 1991 to 1993. That was when southeastern Africa suffered a serious lack of rain.
The scientists wrote about their recent work in the publication（出版物）Nature. Their computer program can tell when an El Nino will develop up to a year before it does. They suggest that this could provide an effective early warning system for southern Africa, and could prevent many people from starving.
1.El Nino is known as ___.
A. the changing of the weather in southern Africa
B. the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean
C. the weather which brings drought（旱灾）to Africa
D. the weather phenomenon（现象）that brings heavy rains to Africa
2.Scientists study El Nino in order that ___.
A. they can provide a kind of early warning to the place that will suffer from drought
B. they can tell why Zimbabwe has little or no rain
C. they can do some research work in this field.
D. they can put all this information into their computers.
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Scientists come to understand how El Nino appears.
B. Three scientists from the USA work on this subject.
C. Southern Africa suffered a serious drought and many people died from hunger.
D. El Nino has something to do with Zimbabwe’s poor crops.
4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
A. The computer is used in this research work.
B. Scientists know when an El Nino appears by means of the computer program.
C. The scientists published their results of the research work.
D. Nature is the name of the article written recently by the scientists.
5.What’s the best title for this passage?
A. Appearance of El Nino is Predictable（可预测的）
B. Drought in Zimbabwe
C. Early Warning System
D. Weather in Africa
The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphones, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic(怀旧的)skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching,many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful-----both in school and in life.
Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.
Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks----both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.
In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to how well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.
Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe (转换) “those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot(发现) spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct them over time.
“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”
1.What makes writing by hand a thing of the past?
A. The absence of blackboards in classrooms.
B. The use of new technologies in teaching.
C. The lack of practice in handwriting.
D. The popular use of smartphones.
2.Berninger’s study published in 2009 ___________.
A. focused on the difference between writing by hand and on a computer.
B. indicated that students prefer to write with a pen and paper.
C. found that good essays are made up of long sentences.
D. discussed the importance of writing speed.
3.Which of the following best shows the role of spelling?
A. Spelling improves one’s memory of words.
B. Spelling ability is closely related to writing ability.
C. Spelling benefits the translation from words into ideas.
D. Spelling slows down finding exact words to express ideas.
4.What does “mind’s eye” in paragraph 5 mean?
A. Window. B. Soul C. Picture. D. Imagination.
5.What conclusion could be drawn from the passage
A. Computers can help people with their choice of words.
B. Spell checks can take the place of spelling teaching.
C. Handwriting still has a place in today’s classrooms.
D. Functional spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade.
