How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough
Journalist Tough spent five years reporting his previous (先前的) book, Whatever It Takes, a description of education activist Geoffrey Canada and the families influenced by his organization, the Harlem Children’s Zone. In this 2012 follow-up, Tough sets out to answer the difficult questions raised by Whatever It Takes: Why do some kids — particularly poor ones — succeed while others fail? And how can parents and educators help guide more children towards success?
The Death and Life of the Great American School System, by Diane Ravitch
Ravitch, a professor in New York University, takes a hard look at how public education has changed over the past twenty years, offering a reasoned explanation of popular policies, such as the emphasis (强调) on testing, and a solution (解决方法) to how to improve America’s schools.
Saving the School, by Michael Brick
When Anabel Garza became headteacher of Reagan High in Austin, Tex, she was faced with a large number of seemingly very difficult problems: A high dropout rate (辍学率) and low test scores. But as Brick writes Saving the School, a first-hand account of a year in the life of Reagan High, Garza, along with other teachers, was determined to turn things around for her school and her students.
The Flat World and Education, by Linda Darling -Hammond
While scores on the tests required by “No Child Left Behind” have steadily (平稳地) risen, America’s students are always falling behind on international testing measures. Why? According to Stanford education professor Darling-Hammond, it’s because U.S. schools, “designed at the turn of the last century,” are in need of a complete change. In this book, she describes the latest education models used by schools all over the world, which she argues could offer a long-term road map to changing the American public school system.
1.Which book answers questions from another book?
A. Saving the School.
B. How Children Succeed.
C. The Flat World and Education.
D. The Death and Life of the Great American School System.
2.Who writes about a particular high school?
A. Diane Ravitch. B. Michael Brick.
C. Paul Tough. D. Linda Darling-Hammond.
3.Both Diane and Linda are offering measures to _____.
A. cut down the dropout rate
B. help students get high scores
C. improve schools in America
D. guide more children to success
Imagination and fantasy(幻想) can play an important role in achieving the things we fear. Tom, a four-year-old boy with a cancer in his back bone, knew this very well. Fred Epstein, in his book If I Make It to Five, tells a story he heard from one of friends about Tom. He came through several operations and a lot of pain by mastering his imagination.
Tom loved to pretend, and he particularly loved to play superheroes. Dr. Epstein explained that it was actually a wonderful way for his young mind to manage the terrifying and painful life he led.
The day before his third trip to the operating room, Tom was terribly afraid. “Maybe I could go as Superman,” he said to his mom. Hearing this, the mother hesitated (犹豫) for a while. She had avoided buying the expensive costume (戏装), but finally she agreed.
The next day Tom appeared as the powerful Superman, showing off through the hospital halls and coolly waving his hand to the people greeting him along the way. And Tom, with the strength of his fantasy, successfully made it through the operation.
The power of imagination need not be reserved for children only. we all have the power to use our fantasies to attempt things we never thought possible, to go through those things that seem impossible, and to achieve what we never believed we could. Just as Dr. Epstein puts it, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
It doesn’t mean that you should dress as a superhero for your next job interview. But, next time you are tested in a way that seems impossible, imagine what it would take to overcome it. Become the person you need to become to win over your challenge and do it in your mind first. So, let your imagination run wild, and dare to dream.
1.What do we know about Tom?
A. He was seriously ill B. He was a dishonest boy.
C. He was crazy about magic. D. He was Dr. Epstein’s patient.
2.What can be inferred about Tom’s mother?
A. She was a rich lady.
B. She refused Tom’s request.
C. She wanted Tom to be a superhero.
D. She wanted to get Tom through the pain.
3.When Tom went for the third operation, he ______.
A. pretended to be painful B. acted like a superhero
C. appeared in poor spirits D. argued with his mother
4.In the last paragraph, you are advised ______.
A. to go through some difficult tests
B. to wake up from your wild dreams
C. to become a powerful person in your mind
D. to wear expensive clothes for job interviews
5.What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To tell us an interesting story.
B. To help us make right decisions.
C. To advise us to care about children.
D. To encourage us to use our imagination.
He slept in my arms last night, with his little head on my shoulder. I stayed awake listening to his breathing. He smiled in his sleep, and I wondered what could be funny to a one-year-old baby. I could sense the safety he felt.
However, my home life is completely different from the scene that greets me each morning at work. As a lawyer at Eastlake Juvenile Court (少年法庭), I always see kids that society has labeled the worst of the worst, the “thief”, the “robber”, the list goes on. But they are still children. As I sit across from them, I have a chance to talk to them about their lives, homes, and dreams. I sit through tears, anger, but mostly hurt. I see their parents, most of whom sit in the hallways day after day wanting to take their kids home. I also see parents that come to the court ready to walk away from their children forever. Each day I see hope destroyed.
I have come to realize that these children are our future, even if we don’t want to admit it. They also want to sleep on a mother’s shoulder at night, they also had dreams
and smiled in their sleep when they were babies. But then something terrible happened, which robbed (剥夺) them of that youth, that hope, and that joy. I hope one day we can find how to put back the destroyed childhoods and ruined lives.
Every day when I go home, I hold my children tightly in my arms and say “I love you” over and over again. And as I am filled with hope, I cannot forget those children I leave behind. I live in two worlds, one of promise, one of tragedy(悲剧). No matter what they are accused (指控) of, what crimes (罪行) they have carried out and what society thinks of them, they are children, they are our children and our future.
1.The author mentions her son in Paragraph 1 mainly to tell readers _____.
A. her son is lovely
B. it’s hard to raise a child
C. what leads children to break laws
D. children should be taken good care of
2.The underlined word “labeled” in Paragraph 2 can best be replaced by _____.
A. praised B. chosen C. designed D. described
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards the children who break laws?
A. Doubtful. B. Hopeful. C. Angry. D. Relaxed.
4.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A. To accuse those parents who ruin their children’s life.
B. To show the difficulty of her work as a lawyer.
C. To win support for problem children.
D. To show her deep love for her child.
Great changes _____ in my hometown in the last 30 years and local people are living a happy life today.
A. took place B. were taken place
C. have taken place D. have been taken place
— Didn’t you find the film exciting?
—_____, I nearly fell asleep half-way through it!
A. As a result B. In other words
C. After all D. On the contrary
My deskmate didn’t attend the class meeting last Tuesday, _______ he doesn’t know our plan for the coming football match.
A. that’s why B. which is why
C. that’s because D. which is because
