If you make a list of the world's top ten most challenging jobs,chances are that being a teacher will not make the cut.But think about the discouraging task millions of educators face each day as they try to shape a group of often bad-tempered,wild kids into intelligent,well-rounder individuals.That surely has to be the toughest job in the world, especially given that there is no promotion or bonus awaiting them even if they are wildly successful!
What if there all-important individuals that we often take for granted（想当然）disappear from our lives?That was what Project Ed and Participant Media's Teach campaign asked filmmakers of all ages to imagine in their recently-held competition.Entitled "A World Without Teachers",its purpose was to inspire more young people to become teachers.However,the 62 amazing video submissions also serve as a reminder of how horrible things would be if we didn't have these selfless individuals guiding us through life.What was interesting is that even the youngest participants did not appear to be happy at the idea of not having anybody telling them what to do.
High-school student Savannah Wakefield reflected if art as we know it today would have been different without teachers.Would Monet have discovered his talent for impressionism?Los Angeles-based Miles Horst,who won the 1000 USD prize for the best adult submission imagines a world where teachers are replaced by a “brain box” in his fun lively entry.
Youth category winner Marina Barham's video represents a fact we all know but often forget.Teachers don't just teach,they inspire something that no electronic device,no matter how smart,can do!So the next time you think your teacher is being "mean" for trying to channel you in the right direction,imagine a life without him/her.We have a feeling it will not appear as rosy!
1.What is the text mainly about?
A. The significance cf teachers.
B. The campaign to promote teachers' status.
C. A survey of people's views about teachers.
D. A competition to win the prize for the best teacher.
2.From the passage we can learn that_____.
A. teaching naughty kids is a very discouraging task
B. being a teacher is one of the most challenging jobs in the world
C. a successful teacher has the greatest chance to be promoted
D. teachers have little influence on kids' individual development
3.What is the purpose of the project “A World Without Teachers”?
A. To attract kids to submit more videos of their teachers.
B. To encourage more people to go into teaching career.
C. To expect teachers to devote themselves to their jobs.
D. To remind students to appreciate teachers' hard work
4.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 suggest?
A. Teaching is quite different from other jobs.
B. The future of teachers' work appears inspiring.
C. A world without teachers will be unimaginable.
D. Many people attach more importance to teaching.
Feifei,an 11-year-old boy from Xuzhou,Jiangsu Province,suffered from a sudden acute eye disease which has almost led to blindness.The disease was caused by excessive（过度的）eye fatigue（疲劳）during the winter vacation, during which he played computer games for continuous 10 days and nights.
Many youngsters in China nowadays are increasingly addicted to computer games and other electronic products. This is followed by a series of health problems,with the most typical case being myopia,or nearsightedness.
According to the latest research report released by the World Health Organization (WHO),the myopia rate among Chinese teenagers ranks first in the world—70 percent of high school and college students.The rate is nearly 40 percent in primary school students,while it is only 10 percent for their peers in the United States.
There are at least 10 million people in China with severe myopia,and they are likely to get pathological（病理性的）myopia in middle age.Pathological myopia can't be treated with glasses or surgery,and it is one of the biggest factors that lead to blindness,Xu Xun,director of the ophthalmology（眼科学）department at Shanghai General Hospital,pointed out.
Experts explain that two major factors lead to the high rate of myopia among Chinese people.One is high academic pressure,and the other one is excessive use of electronic devices over a long period of time.Genetics,on the other hand,are not the main reason,as only 20 percent of Chinese people had myopia in the 1960s.
"Teenagers are now faced with severe academic pressure,which means they often study without natural light. This increases their risk of becoming nearsighted,"Xu said.
Experts suggest that youngsters maintain a proper balance between study and rest so as to protect their eyesight, and parents should play an active role in the process.
1.Why does the author mention Feifei's experience in the first paragraph?
A. To advise people to protect their eyes.
B. To introduce the topic of nearsightedness.
C. To inform people of the cause of blindness.
D. To show that Feifei developed an eye disease.
2.What can be learnt from the passage?
A. Nearsightedness may cause other health problems.
B. There are more nearsighted students in the United States.
C. 70 percent Chinese students in primary school are nearsighted.
D. Pathological myopia is most likely to cause blindness.
3.Which of the following can be a main reason for myopia?
A. Genetics factors.
B. Low academic pressure.
C. Overuse of electronic devices.
D. Reading in natural light.
4.What will be probably discussed in the following paragraph?
A. The significance of protecting eyesight.
B. Youngsters’ bad behavior leading to myopia.
C. The relationship between youngsters and their parents.
D. Parents’ role in helping youngsters protect thew eyesight.
Can exercise during childhood protect you against memory loss many decades later?Exercise early in life seems to have lifelong benefits for the brain,in rats at least.
“This is an animal study,but it shows that physical activity at a young age is very important—not just for physical development,but for the whole lifelong track of cognitive（认知的）development during ageing,”says Martin Wojtowicz of the University of Toronto,Canada.“In humans,it may delay the appearance of Alzheimer's symptoms（阿茨海默氏症）,possibly to the point of preventing them.”
Wojtowicz’s team divided 80 young male rats into two equal groups,and placed running wheels in the cages of one group for a period of six weeks.Around four months later—when the rats had reached middle age—the team taught all the rats to connect an electric shock with being in a specific.When placed in the box,they froze with fear.
Two weeks later,the team tested the rats in three situations: exactly the same box in the same room,the same box with the room arranged differently,and a completely different box in a different room.
The rats without access to a running wheel when they were young now froze the same percentage of times in each of these situations,suggesting they couldn't remember which one was dangerous.But those that had been able to run in their youth froze 40 to 50 percent less in both changed box settings.
"The results suggest the amount of physical activity when we're young,at least for rats,has influence on brain and cognitive health—in the form of better memories—when we're older,"says Arthur Kramer of Northeastern University in Boston,who has found that,in humans,exercise promotes the growth of new brain cells.
1.The study shows that_____.
A. physical activity is important for physical health
B. using the running wheels is of benefit to the rats’ growth
C. physical activity can prevent human’s Alzheimer's symptoms
D. the more exercise a rat has when young,the better memory it will possess when older
2.How are Paragraph 3 and 4 mainly developed?
A. By analyzing causes. B. By giving an example.
C. By describing the process. D. By showing differences.
3.What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. Exercise. B. Development.
C. Benefit. D. Study.
4.What is the author's attitude towards the animal study?
A. Negative. B. Objective.
C. Critical. D. Doubtful.
With the Chinese language growing in popularity,the UK government plans to invest（投资）10 million pounds to help more kids learn Mandarin（普通话）.Do you think it is necessary for the UK pupils to learn Mandarin?Some people share their opinions online.
Ted(UK): The learning of any language can be valuable and rewarding,but it is not suitable for everyone. Chinese is a difficult language to learn and the UK has a poor reputation for teaching foreign languages.Why should they learn Chinese when most people in the world speak English?
Mark(US): I studied French for 2 years in high school and German for 4 years in college.I studied Mandarin informally for about 4 months before moving to China.Now I speak Mandarin every day as my wife doesn't speak English.But it is far from being fluent.Learning additional languages is a great thing,which offers a different perspective on the world around us.Nowadays,it's almost necessary to be able to speak more than just your native tongue.
George(UK): No,unless they're taught from a very early stage of childhood.Mandarin is so difficult.If China really is going to dominate the world,it'll have to do so by speaking the world’s dominant language—English.
Sam(UK): I don't think Chinese will become as widely spoken throughout the world as English.It is too difficult to learn as a second language.To learn Chinese you completely have to devote yourself to learning how to write and read it.If you have to learn it besides other subjects you can’t be good at it.But Chinese will become more popular, and that is a good thing.
1.What is probably Mark's main motivation for learning Chinese?
A. Further education. B. Effective communication.
C. His frequent travel. D. The official policy.
2.What does Sam think of learning Chinese?
A. It's necessary. B. It's of little use.
C. It takes too much time. D. It's not popular.
3.What seems to be the major problem when foreigners try to learn Chinese?
A. Its difficulty as H language. B. Misunderstanding about China.
C. The great popularity of English. D. A lack of learning resources.
The days of staring attentively at the computer screen pretending to be interested in an assignment even though you are bored out of your mind may soon be coming to an end.That's because if Dr.Harry Witchel has his way, computers of the future will be able to detect boredom and even react to it in real time.
But before you get concerned,the machine is not reading your mind.It is just keeping track of the constant involuntary movements that people exhibit when in front of a computer or even a television.These are not the bigger instrumental actions like moving a mouse or using the remote,but subtle barely noticeable movements like scratching or stretching.Witchel says the level of movement is directly relative to how absorbed the person is in what he/she is reading or watching-the higher the interest level,the lesser the movement!
To test the theory Witchel and his team invited 27 people and exposed them to a variety of digital content for three minutes at a time.The activities ranged from playing online games to reading documents like the EU banking regulations that most people would find boring.A video motion tracker monitored their movements as they powered through each assignment.Just as the researchers had suspected,the involuntary actions decreased surprisingly,by as much as 42%,when the subjects were totally absorbed in what they were reading or seeing.
Fortunately,the scientists are not planning to use the findings that were published in the online journal to create machines that report students who are not focusing at school.Instead,they believe that combining the motion detecting technology into future computers will help enhance（加强）the digital learning experience.
The scientists say that being able to measure the student's interest level will enable educators to adjust the materials in real time and re-engage the student.Witchel also believes that the technology can provide filmmakers with honest audience opinions and in the future,also be used in developing more understanding companion robots.
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假定你是李华，你的英国朋友Chris将于10月来中国旅游，请你用英语给他写封建议信。内容包括：
1.写信的目的；
2.来中国前做些准备，如看一些有关中国文化的书，学会使用筷子……
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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