If you look for a book as a present for a child. You will be spoiled for choice even in a year there is no new Harry Patten J.K Powling’s wizard is not alone the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and an increased sales of classics such as The lard of the Rings.
Yet despite that , reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading in all. In 2003, 35% did . And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computes games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Cordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is wined at six year olds, who receive four months of individual daily half-hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation either this year reported that children on the school made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primacy school they read well, but read text often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are been on reading can report lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage
Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?
| A．Marry children’s books have been adapted from films. |
| B．Marry high-quality children’s books have been published. |
| C．The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films. |
| D．The sales of presents for children have increased. |
Statistics suggested that .
| A．the number of top students increased with the use of computers |
| B．a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading |
| C．a minority of primacy school children read properly |
| D．a huge percentage of children read regularly |
What do we know about Reading Recovery?
| A．An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year. |
| B．Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking. |
| C．It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading. |
| D．Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading. |
Reading for fun is important because book-loving children _______.
| A．take greater advantage of the project |
| B．show the potential to enjoy a long life |
| C．are likely to succeed in their education. |
| D．would make excellent future researchers |
The aim of this text would probably be _______.
| A．to overcome primary school pupils reading difficulty. |
| B．to encourage the publication of more children’s books |
| C．to remind children of the importance of reading for fun |
| D．to introduce a way to improve early children reading |
Mothers and daughters go through so much－yet when was the last time a mother and daughter sat down to write a book together about it all? Perri Klass and her mother，Sheila Solomon Klass，both gifted professional writers，prove to be ideal cowriters as they examine their decades of motherhood，daughterhood，and the wonderful ways their lives have overlapped (重叠)．
Perri notes with amazement how closely her own life has mirrored her mother’s：both have fulltime careers；both have published books，articles，and stories；each has three children；they both love to read.They also love to travel－in fact，they often take trips together.But in truth，the harder they look at their lives，the more they acknowledge their big differences in circumstance and basic nature.
A child of the Depression (大萧条)，Sheila was raised in Brooklyn by parents who considered education a luxury for girls.Starting with her college education，she has fought for everything she’s ever accomplished.Perri，on the other hand，grew up privileged in the New Jersey suburbs of the 1960s and 1970s.For Sheila，wasting time or money is a crime，and luxury is unthinkable while Perri enjoys the occasional small luxury，but has not been successful at trying to persuade her mother into enjoying even the tiniest thing she likes.
Each writing in her own unmistakable voice，Perri and Sheila take turns exploring the joys and pains，the love and bitterness，the minor troubles and lasting respect that have always bonded them together.Sheila describes the adventure of giving birth to Perri in a tiny town in Trinidad where her husband was doing research fieldwork.Perri admits that she can’t sort out all the mess in the households，even though she knows it drives her mother crazy.Together they compare thoughts on bringing up children and working，admit longhidden sorrows，and enjoy precious memories.
Looking deep into the lives they have lived separately and together，Perri and Sheila tell their motherdaughter story with honesty，humor，enthusiasm，and admiration for each other.A written account in two voices，Every Mother Is a Daughter is a duet (二重奏) that produces a deep，strong sound with the experiences that all mothers and daughters will recognize.Why does Perri think that her own life has mirrored her mother’s?
| A．They both have gone through difficult times. |
| B．They have strong emotional ties with each other. |
| C．They have the same joys and pains，and love and bitterness. |
| D．They both have experiences as daughter，mother and writer. |
The word “luxury” in Paragraph 3 means________.
| A．something rare but not pleasant |
| B．something that cannot be imagined |
| C．something expensive but not necessary |
| D．something that can only be enjoyed by boys |
What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
| A．The content of the book. |
| B．The purpose of the book. |
| C．The influence of the book. |
| D．The writing style of the book. |
How are women’s lives explored in this book?
| A．In a musical form. |
| B．Through field research. |
| C．With unique writing skills. |
| D．From different points of view. |
While Jennifer was at home taking an online exam for her business law class，a monitor(监控器)a few hundred miles away was watching her every move.
Using a web camera equipped in Jennifer’s Los Angeles apartment，the monitor in Phoenix tracked how frequently her eyes moved from the computer screen and listened for the secret sounds of a possible helper in the room.Her Internet access was locked－remotely－to prevent Internet searches，and her typing style was analyzed to make sure she was who she said she was：Did she enter her student number at the same speed as she had in the past? Or was she slowing down?
In the battle against cheating，this is the cutting_edge and a key to encourage honesty in the booming field of online education.The technology gives trust to the entire system，to the institution and to online education in general.Only with solid measures against cheating，experts say，can Internet universities show that their exams and diplomas are valid—that students haven’t just searched the Internet to get the right answers.
Although online classes have existed for more than a decade，the concern over cheating has become sharper in the last year with the growth of“open online courses.”Private colleges，public universities and corporations are jumping into the online education field.spending millions of dollars to attract potential students，while also taking steps to help guarantee honesty at a distance.
Aside from the web cameras，a number of other hightech methods are becoming increasingly popular.Among them are programs that check students’ identities using personal information，such as the telephone numbers they once used.
Other programs can produce unique exams by drawing on a large list of questions and can recognize possible cheaters by analyzing whether difficult test questions are answered at the same speed as easy ones.As in many university classes，term papers are scanned against some large Internet data banks for cheating.Why was Jennifer watched in an online exam?
| A．To correct her typing mistakes. |
| B．To find her secrets in the room. |
| C．To prevent her from slowing down. |
| D．To keep her from dishonest behaviors. |
The underlined expression cutting edge in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to________.
| A．advanced technique |
| B．sharpening tool |
| C．effective rule |
| D．dividing line |
For Internet universities，exams and diplomas will be valid if________.
| A．they can attract potential students |
| B．they can defeat academic cheating |
| C．they offer students online help |
| D．they offer many online courses |
Some programs can find out possible cheaters by________.
| A．checking the question answering speed |
| B．producing a large number of questions |
| C．scanning the Internet test questions |
| D．giving difficult test questions |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．The Advantages of Online Exams |
| B．The Hightech Methods in Online Courses |
| C．The Fight against Cheating in Online Education |
| D．The War against the Booming of Online Education |
When I was 12，all I wanted was a signet (图章) ring.They were the “in” thing and it seemed every girl except me had one.On my 13th birthday，my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials(姓名首字母) carved into it.I was in heaven.
What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn’t being “replaced”．We’d been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything—so most of the “new” stuff (东西) we got was really just to replace what we’d lost.But not my ring.My ring was new.
Then，only one month later，I lost it.I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning.I was sad and searched everywhere for it.But it seemed to have disappeared.Eventually，I gave up and stopped looking for it.And two years later，we sold the house and moved away.
Years passed，and a couple of moves later，I was visiting my parents’ when Mum told me that she had something for me.It wasn’t my birthday，nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other giftgiving occasion.Mum noticed my questioning look.“You’ll recognize this one，”she said，smiling.
Then she handed me a small ring box.I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside.
The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations，which included replacing the carpets.When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom，they found the ring.As it had my initials carved into it，they realized who owned the ring.They’d had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother.
And it still fits me.The underlined word “in” in the first paragraph probably means“________”．
| A．fashionable | B．available |
| C．practical | D．renewable |
When she got the ring back，the writer was about ________.
| A．13 years old | B．15 years old |
| C．26 years old | D．28 years old |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer’s family moved several times. |
| B．The writer never stopped looking for her ring. |
| C．The writer’s ring was cleaned up by the new house owner. |
| D．The writer lost her ring in the morning when she took it off. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．My New Ring | B．Lost and Found |
| C．Lost and Replaced | D．An Expensive Ring |
Sparrow is a fastfood chain with 200 restaurants.Some years ago，the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company.Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining，the chain was generally in an unhealthy state.With more and more fastfood concepts reaching the market，the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention.And to make matters worse，its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.
Sparrow failed to grow for another two years，until a new CEO，Carl Pearson，decided to build up its market share.He did a survey，which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain，while customers of other fastfood chains were unwilling to turn away from them.Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.
Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand.The chain’s owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy’s restaurants.Pearson resisted，arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun.Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time.Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success，rather than customers’ spending power.Finally，the owner accepted his idea.
The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fastfood industry.The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars.Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product，the intention was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.
Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image.For example，he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover(营业额)．
These efforts paid off，and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fastfood chains in the regions where it operated.Which was one of the problems Sparrow faced before Pearson became CEO?
| A．The number of its customers was declining. |
| B．Its customers found the food unhealthy. |
| C．It was in need of financial support. |
| D．Most of its restaurants were closed. |
What does the underlined word“them”in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Customers of Sparrow restaurants. |
| B．Sparrow restaurants. |
| C．Customers of other fastfood chains. |
| D．Other fastfood chains. |
For what purpose did Pearson start the advertising campaign?
| A．To build a good relationship with the public. |
| B．To stress the unusual tradition of Sparrow. |
| C．To learn about customers’spending power. |
| D．To meet the challenge from Marcy’s restaurants. |
The TV ads of Sparrow ________.
| A．changed people’s views on pop stars |
| B．amused the public with original songs |
| C．focused on the superiority of its products |
| D．influenced the eating habits of the audience |
What was Pearson’s achievement as a CEO?
| A．He managed to pay off Sparrow’s debts. |
| B．He made Sparrow much more competitive. |
| C．He helped Sparrow take over a company. |
| D．He improved the welfare of Sparrow employees. |
Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean，an Sshaped body of water covering 33 million square miles.The Atlantic has，in a sense，replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization.Unlike real inland seas，which seem strangely still，the Atlantic is rich in oceanic liveliness.It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.
“Storm at Sea”，a short poem written around 700，is generally regarded as one of mankind’s earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic.
When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
To the east must thunder on
Where the bright tree of the sun
Is rooted in the ocean’s breast.
As the poem suggests，the Atlantic is never dead and dull.It is an ocean that moves，impressively and endlessly.It makes all kinds of noise—it is forever thundering，boiling，crashing，and whistling.
It is easy to imagine the Atlantic trying to draw breath－perhaps not so noticeably out in midocean，but where it meets land，its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach.It mimics(模仿)nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature.It is filled with symbiotic existences，too：unimaginable quantities of creatures，little and large alike，mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony，giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat，a kind of subocean vitality.And it has a psychology.It has personalities：sometimes peaceful and pleasant，on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.Unlike real inland seas，the Atlantic Ocean is________.
| A．always energetic |
| B．lacking in liveliness |
| C．shaped like a square |
| D．favored by ancient poets |
What is the purpose of using the poem “Storm at Sea” in the passage?
| A．To describe the movement of the waves. |
| B．To show the strength of the storm. |
| C．To represent the power of the ocean. |
| D．To prove the vastness of the sea. |
What does the underlined word “symbiotic” mean?
| A．Living together. |
| B．Growing fast. |
| C．Moving harmoniously. |
| D．Breathing peacefully. |
In the last paragraph，the Atlantic is compared to________.
| A．a beautiful and poetic place |
| B．a flesh and blood person |
| C．a wonderful world |
| D．a lovely animal |