Typing Success in 20 Minutes a Day
— Teaching Your K-12 Students to Type in 20 Minutes a Day
Typing is fast becoming an important skill in our world. Making this skill available to your students is very important. Just 20 minutes of the following activities per day will give your students the finger strength and keyboard knowledge they need to be ready to include typing in their learning programs.
Step 1 Knitting (编织): You can try various styles until you find the one that best suits your students’ abilities. Finger knitting is a great way to start! It helps students focus on finger strength. Knitting with needles is a little more challenging but will suit some older students. The more practice the fingers get the stronger they will become.
Step 2 Key board games: It helps your students become familiar with the keyboard. Students as young as four years old can practice finger placement, letter sounds and names using the keyboard of computers.
Step 3 Clay modeling: Many children develop the ability to be quick and skilful with their hands through creating clay models. The creative nature of this activity keeps children engaged for long periods of time. It helps keep fingers strong and supple.
Step 4 Lego (拼装玩具) building: Little fingers become strong when children pull apart little Lego time and time again. Because of the fun nature of this activity it helps build and does a lot to reinforce the ability to arrange things into an order — another important aspect in typing.
Choose an age-appropriate, interactive and engaging typing program. All students are different and with firm finger skills typing can be easily learned in 20 minutes a day with the use of a mixture of these different approaches. All the following steps can make one’s fingers stronger EXCEPT ____.
| A．Step4 | B．Step3 | C．Step2 | D．Step1 |
The underlined word “it” in Step 4 refers to ____.
| A．little Lego |
| B．the fun nature |
| C．the strength of fingers |
| D．Lego building |
What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
| A．Activities listed in the text suit students of all ages. |
| B．Different students have different results after following the activities listed. |
| C．Only one activity can be used in a typing program for specific students. |
| D．Firm finger skills are important for learning to type. |
Before Alaska became part of the U.S., it had been owned by Russia. Trading posts and small settlements were scattered along the coast. The rest of land was left unexplored. The Russians were mainly interested in the wealth of furs from the vast herds of seals they found there.
By the mid-1800’s, most of the seal herds had been wiped out, and Russia no longer wanted to keep Alaska. William Seward, Secretary of State for President Johnson, believed the United States should buy Alaska from Russia. President Johnson wasn’t so sure it was a wise way to spend U.S. money, but he agreed to let Seward discuss it with the Russians. Acting quickly, Seward made a deal. On March 30, 1867, he signed an agreement for the U.S. to pay seven million dollars for the land.
Many people thought it was a foolish waste of America’s money. They called the deal “Seward’s folly”. Then gold was discovered in Alaska and public opinion changed quickly.
Seward did not live to see the true value of Alaska. He died in 1872, five years after making the purchase (购买). Each year, Alaska’s natural resources(资源) have brought in many times the $7,000,000 paid for it. Natural gas, coal, oil, lumber, seafood and other minerals, besides the gold first found, have made it a valuable addition to the United States. In 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States. The Russians wanted to sell Alaska because ______.
| A．they thought it wasn’t a good place |
| B．they thought it didn’t belong to Russia |
| C．they couldn’t find enough seals there |
| D．they wanted to earn more money from the U.S. |
When Seward signed the agreement, many people thought ______.
| A．it was a successful deal | B．it had its true value |
| C．he wasted U.S. money | D．he was clever |
Which of the following things was found first in Alaska?
| A．Gas. | B．Coal. | C．Oil. | D．Gold. |
Before 1959, the United States had ______.
| A．37 states | B．48 states | C．49 states | D．50 states |
The best title for this passage would probably be ______.
| A．Alaska, a beautiful place | B．Alaska with natural resources |
| C．Alaska, the 49th state of the U.S. | D．Alaska, home to seals |
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666 ．In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city , where most of the houses were wooden and close together ．Over one hundred people became homeless , but only a few lost their lives .
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker（面包师）in Pudding Lane ．The baker , with his wife and family , was able to get out through a window into the roof ．A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery（面包房）into a small hotel next door ．Then it spread quickly into Thames Street ．That was the beginning.
By eight o’ clock three hundred houses were on fire ．On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames ．Tuesday was the worst day ．The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them .
Samuel Pepys , the famous writer , writer about the fire , “People threw their things into the river ．Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment ．Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire．With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone．In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the new St Paul’s
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.The fire began in .
| A．a hotel | B．the palace | C．Pudding Lane | D．Thames Street |
The underlined word‘family’in the second paragraph means .
| A．home | B．children | C．wife and husband | D．wife and children |
It seems that the writer fo the text was most sorry for the fact that ________.
| A．some people lost their lives |
| B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
| C．many famous buildings were destroyed |
| D．the King’s bakery was burned down |
Why did the writer cite(引用)Samuel Pepys?
| A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
| B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
| C．To show that poor people suffered most. |
| D．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
How was the fire put out according to the text?
| A．The King and his soldiers came to help. |
| B．All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed. |
| C．People managed to get enough water from the river. |
| D．Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down. |
Without mutual(相互的)respect, any relationship will be an unhappy one . People who respect each other: a) value each other’s opinions, b) listen to each other, and c) disagree without screams or insults（侮辱）. And remember, your parents have lived longer than you—don’t discount their experience and knowledge.
Your parents want to know what’s going on in your life. If you don’t tell them they won’t know when you need their help or whether they can trust you. Tell them what you’re doing, share your thoughts and feelings with them, and ask for their advice for your problems( you don’t have to follow it). Communication builds closeness. Trust is your key to freedom. The way to build trust is through honesty and responsibility. Honesty means you don’t lie or manipulate(作假). Responsibility means that you are reliable(可依赖的) and make good choices to use good judgment. When your parents trust you, it’s a lot easier for them to say “Yes.”
These guidelines(指导方针) work both ways. If sometimes, your parents break any of these guidelines, talk to them about it. Pick a time when you are both calm and feeling good toward each other(never when you are angry). Then , explain to them what they did, how it makes you feel, and what you’d like them to do instead.
Unfortunately, these guidelines don’t always work. Since we can only control what we do, and not what our parents do, sometimes we just cannot change a bad relationship. If this is the case, try to use these guidelines to at least improve things a little, and talk with a trusted adult who may be able to help youWhat’s the probable meaning of the underlined word” discount” in the first paragraph?
| A．To think or say that something is not important or not true. |
| B．To disagree with somebody’s opinions. |
| C．To respect somebody’s opinions |
| D．To accept somebody suggestions. |
The main idea of the second paragraph is about_______
| A．feelings | B．advice | C．closeness | D．communication |
From this passage we know that the writer may be________.
| A．an editor | B．an expert | C．a doctor | D．a teacher |
The main purpose of the passage is_______.
| A．to show that your parents want to know what’s going on in your life. |
| B．to discuss how to have great relationship with your parents. |
| C．to discuss how to talk with a trusted adult who may be able to help you |
| D．to discuss how to respect your parents. |
Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn’t matter where you live－ in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village the chances that you will be disturbed by jet aeroplanes, transistor radios, oil-powered engines, etc, are almost everywhere. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they are working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be very frightening experience for human beings. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓). The noise level in some disco is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration(专心) suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration , what really affects their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise, which doesn’t change too much (music, for example ) may even help people to concentrate.The best title for this passage is________.
| A．Noisy Life | B．Background Noise |
| C．Disturbed Concentration | D．Changeable Noise |
From this passage, the pollution of noise__________.
| A．doesn’t matter much |
| B．has become worse everywhere |
| C．has become better in big cities |
| D．has become better in villages |
“Background music” in the passage means___________.
| A．music played in the concert |
| B．a kind of noise coming into your ears |
| C．music helps people to concentrate |
| D．music played while people are working |
Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating is _________.
| A．any kind of noise |
| B．great changes in level of noise |
| C．background noise |
| D．various background music |
Mr Parker was born in a small village. His father was so poor that he couldn’t send him to school. The boy had to help his parents to do some farming and learned English and maths by himself when he was free. Later on he was made to leave his home village and hoped to find a job in a city. And as soon as war broke out, he joined the army(军队). He couldn’t forget his terrible past and fought with the enemies bravely(勇敢的). So he became a general when he was fifty. He was honest and friendly to his soldiers and often punished those who tried to pocket a portion of the soldiers’ pay(克扣军饷). And his soldiers liked him very much.
Once Mr Parker heard from a soldier. In the letter the young man said the food in their military camp(军营)was very bad and he wished the general could go to find out the reasons. The old man went there at once without telling anybody. He went in the kitchen and examined everything carefully and found it was very dirty. Then he went in the soldiers’ bedrooms and found there were a lot of fleas. He became angry and asked the soldiers, “What do you think of your food, young men?”
The soldiers saw their officer standing by the general and said nothing. Only a new soldier said, “Very bad, sir!”
“What did you have for lunch today?” asked Mr Parker.
“A fried chicken, some fish and pork, a cake, six eggs and I had three cups of wine(酒).”
“Really?” Mr. Parker called out in surprise. “It’s the King’s(国王)lunch, I think!”
“So do I, General,” said the young man. “But it’s my birthday today. I paid three hundred dollars for them all in the restaurant!”Mr. Parker was respected because .
| A．he was strict with the officers |
| B．he cared about his soldiers |
| C．he was friendly to everybody |
| D．he paid attention to the soldiers letters |
Mr. Parker went to the military camp to .
| A．look for the soldier who wrote to him |
| B．punish the cooks |
| C．inspect the kitchens |
| D．find out if the matter in the letter was true |
The soldiers didn’t say anything because .
| A．they were afraid of the general |
| B．they thought their foods were good |
| C．the officer followed the general |
| D．the general didn’t agree with them |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Mr. Parker found nothing in the military camp. |
| B．The new soldier had a birthday dinner in the restaurant. |
| C．The officer wanted to frighten the soldiers. |
| D．The general no longer believed the soldiers. |