Alabama
Students in Alabama take the Alabama High School Graduation Exam, which consists of multiple-choice questions. In the classroom, Alabama high school students must prove specific skills in English and take certain math classes.
Among the 2013 U.S. News Best High Schools in Alabama, two were awarded gold medals, 16 received silver medals and 72 were considered bronze medal schools. One of the gold medal schools, Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School, lies about 90 miles south of Birmingham in the state capital of Montgomery, within the Montgomery County School District.
Alaska
To graduate, Alaska high school students must get at least 21 credits, including a half credit in Alaska history. Alaska judges students from the third grade through senior grades. Students first take the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Examination at the tenth grade. It includes math, reading and writing skills.
10 schools were awarded silver medals and 21 received bronze medals among the U.S. News Best High Schools in 2013. While Alaska's capital is Juneau, several of the state's Best High Schools are in or near Anchorage, in the Anchorage School District.
Delaware
Delaware students have a high GPA（平均绩点）and 10 hours of community service. If they hand in their FAFSA（自愿联邦奖学金）by a certain date, they may get the Inspire Scholarship, which helps pay for tuition at Delaware State University. Before they go to college, however, students must pass the Delaware Student Testing Program Exams.
Among the Delaware schools in the 2013 U.S. News Best High Schools, there are three silver medal schools and four bronze medal schools. The top school in the state is Delmar Senior High School. It is part of the Delmar School District and is about 50 miles from Delaware's capital, Dover.
1.What's the passage mainly about?
A．The introduction to the Best High Schools in three states.
B．The different examinations in several high schools.
C．Scholarships in the Best High Schools in three states.
D．The things students should do before going to college.
2.It can be inferred from the text that______.
A．students with a high GPA can get the Inspire Scholarship
B．reading and writing skills are included in the tests in all the schools
C．Alabama has the most best high schools of the three states
D．at least 21 credits are needed to graduate from all the schools
3.Which of the following in TRUE according to the passage?
A．The High School Graduation Exams are multiple-choice questions.
B．Both the gold medal schools in Alabama are in its capital.
C．There were 21 silver medal schools in Alaska in all.
D．Delmar Senior High school is the best in Delaware.
4.Alaska's graduation exam is different from the others' in the aspect that______.
A．it includes all the subjects the students learn
B．it includes its own state history as well
C．it includes math, reading and writing skills
D．it includes 10 hours of community service
5.The Inspire Scholarship is a prize______.
A．that any student in gold medal schools can apply for
B．that is given to the top students in gold medal schools
C．that helps to pay for tuition at Delaware State University
D．that is very difficult to get for students in silver medal schools
Are we getting more stupid? According to Gerald Crabtree, a scientist at Stanford University in the US, we are.
You may not want to hear this, but Crabtree believes that human intelligence reached its peak more than 2,000 years ago and ever since then has been going downhill. “If an average Greek from 1,000 BC were transported to modern times, he or she would be one of the brightest among us,” Crabtree told The Guardian.
At the heart of Crabtree’s thinking is a simple idea. In the past, intelligence was critical for survival when our ancestors had to avoid dangerous animals and hunt for food. The difference of being smart or stupid is often life or death. However, after the spread of agriculture, when our ancestors began to live in dense farming communities, the need to keep their intelligence in peak condition gradually reduced.
This is not hard to understand. Most of the time, pressure is what keeps us going – you need the pressure from your teachers to finish your homework; the pressure of looking pretty prompts(促使) you to lose weight when summer comes. And the same is also true of our intelligence – if we think less, we become less smart.
These mutations(变异) are harmful to our intelligence and they were all developed in the past 3,000 years. The other evidence that Crabtree holds is in our genes. He found that among the 2,000 to 5,000 genes that we have that determine human intelligence , there are two or more mutations in each of us.
However, Crabtree’s theory has been criticized by some who say that early humans may have better hunting and surviving abilities, but people today have developed a more diverse intelligence. For example, spearing a tiger doesn’t necessarily require more brainpower than playing chess or writing a poem. Moreover, the power of modern education means a lot more people have the opportunity to learn nowadays.
“You wouldn’t get Stephen Hawking 2,000 years ago. He just wouldn’t exist,” Thomas Hills of the University of Warwick, UK, told Live Science. “But now we have people of his intellectual capacity doing things and making insights(洞察力) that we would never have achieved in our environment of evolutionary adaptation.”
1.What is Crabtree’s recent finding according to the article?
A．The Greeks from 1,000 BC could have been the smartest in human history.
B．Our ancient ancestors had no better surviving abilities than we do nowadays.
C．Humans have been getting steadily more intelligent since the invention of farming.
D．Mutations in genes that decide human intelligence have affected the development of intelligence.
2.According to Crabtree, ancient humans _______.
A．had much more genes that determine human intelligence
B．were forced to be smart due to natural selection pressures
C．relied more on group intelligence than individual intelligence
D．developed a diverse intelligence to adapt to the hard realities
3.Some argue that Crabtree’s theory is false because they think _______.
A．people today are under much more pressure than early humans
B．it’s ridiculous to compare a hunter’s and a poet’s intelligence
C．modern education is far more advanced than ancient education
D．human intelligence nowadays is different from that of the distant past
4.What is Thomas Hills’ attitude toward Crabtree’s theory?
A．Supportive B．Unfavorable C．Worried D．Confused
Whatever misfortune you face, just hold up your head and face it with a smile! I got to know this from a musical soul.
The other day I was feeling quite , having just been laid off from my job. With so many to pay, I was wondering what was going to happen to my family.
I got off the bus when I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the . I walked a bit slower, trying to find out where it was coming from. Through the I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a box next to her.
She was singing songs about love and her sweet voice me a bit. Then I stood there watching her playing, thinking that it must take to perform on her own in front of hundreds of people she didn’t know.
She might have felt my for she occasionally looked in my direction.
By now I was telling myself that I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked and put some money in her box and she expressed her thanks with a smile on her face.
I asked her , “Why are you playing the piano in the middle of this crowded place?”
She explained to me that she sees so many people in the world that she is trying to relieve the pain by motivational(激励的)music.
Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, “I have been going through a time lately, but you’ve made me again.”
“I’m happy that I could be to you,” she replied. “Why are you so sad?”
I told her my story and said, “I’m not so about what to do….”
“You see, here’s the ,” she responded. “When you were walking, your head was down.” She looked me in the eyes and went on, “Don’t look defeated, because comes in different ways and if your head is down you might never see it. You should more … lift your head up.”
I was really by what she said! I did hold my head up and soon got through the difficult time.
So in trouble, just face it bravely and you are sure to overcome your difficulty sooner or later.
1. A．lonely B．relaxed C．awful D．breathless
2. A．bills B．fees C．fines D．prices
3. A．listeners B．traffic C．instrument D．background
4. A．trees B．street C．buildings D．crowd
5. A．shocked B．comforted C．excited D．amused
6. A．courage B．energy C．patience D．technique
7. A．mood B．presence C．thought D．appreciation
8. A．aside B．down C．off D．over
9. A．quietly B．deliberately C．curiously D．seriously
10. A．negative B．unhealthy C．unconscious D．elderly
11. A．creating B．sharing C．enjoying D．teaching
12. A．tense B．wonderful C．rough D．crazy
13. A．enthusiastic B．emotional C．energetic D．hopeful
14. A．available B．essential C．superior D．helpful
15. A．sure B．ashamed C．particular D．anxious
16. A．problem B．situation C．conflict D．condition
17. A．success B．opportunity C．aid D．happiness
18. A．concentrate B．look C．smile D．fight
19. A．occupied B．moved C．inspired D．satisfied
20. A．however B．wherever C．whoever D．whenever
—My family usually holds a big party for my birthday, but I want to try a different way this year.
—________
A. It's your business. B. Come along! C. Like what? D. So what?
Only when________ possible to settle the problem.
A. does the chief editor come will it be B. the chief editor comes will it be
C. has the chief editor come it will be D. the chief editor comes it will be
They are still very cautious about ______ side effect the new medicine will bring about, although the experts have tried it on about 2,000 patients.
A. which B. that C. where D. what
