The Marches were a happy family. Poverty, hard work, and even the fact that Father March was away with the Union armies could not down the spirits of Meg, Jo, Beth,Amy, and Marmee, as the March girls called their mother.
The March sisters tried to be good but had their share of faults. Pretty Meg was often displeased with the schoolchildren she taught; boyish Jo was easy to become angry; golden-haired schoolgirl Amy liked to show up; but Beth, who kept the house, was loving and gentle always.
The happy days passed and darkness came when a telegram arrived for Mrs. March. “Your husband is very ill,” it said, “come at once.” The girl tried to be brave when their mother left for the front. They waited and prayed. Little Beth got scarlet fever (猩红热) when she was taking care of the sick neighbor. She became very ill but began to recover by the time Marmee was back. Then Father came home from the front and at that joyful Christmas dinner they were once more all together.
Three years later the March girls had grown into young womanhood. Meg became Mrs. Brooke, and after a few family troubles got used to her new state happily. Jo had found pleasure in her literary efforts. Amy had grown into a young lady with a talent for design and an even greater one for society. But Beth had never fully regained her health, and her family watched her with love and anxiety.
Amy was asked to go and stay in Europe with a relative of the Marches’. Jo went to New York and became successful in her writing and had the satisfaction of seeing her work published there. But at home the bitterest blow was yet to fall. Beth had known for some time that she couldn’t live much longer to be with the family and in the springtime she died.
News came from Europe that Amy and Laurie, the grandson of a wealthy neighbor, had planned to be married soon. Now Jo became ever more successful in her writing and got married to Professor Bhaer , and soon afterwards founded a school for boys.
And so the little women had grown up and lived happily with their children, enjoying the harvest of love and goodness that they had devoted all their lives to.
56. The members of the March family were Father March, Mrs. March and their _______.
A. four daughters B. five daughters
C. son and four daughters D. son and five daughters
57. Who was the most successful in career (事业) among the March girls?
A. Jo. B. Beth. C. Amy. D. Meg.
58. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. The March Family B. The March Parents
C. The March Girls D. The March Relatives
59. It can be inferred from the passage that the March family had ______.
A. both happiness and sadness B. wealthy neighbors
C. more girls than boys D. a lot of rich relatives
News (March 6, 2008) that Microsoft was making a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:
Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri
This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.
Scott G. of New Jersey
I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along... Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative (创新的) with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft... same old story... I don’t think the merger(合并) will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts:
Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Intemet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland
Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior (差的) to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.
77. Who is in favor of the merger of Microsoft and Yahoo?
A. Antonio Simmons. B. Michael Grosser. C. Scott G. D. Mark Galeassi.
78. In the opinion of Scott G.,
A. the merger will contribute to Microsoft
B. Yahoo and Microsoft are lacking in innovation
C. Google is getting short of management experience
D. the merger will allow Microsoft to overtake Google
79. Michael Grosser is afraid that
A. the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features
B. the merger will lead to Microsoft’s monopoly (垄断) of the market
C. the increased competition will force Google out of the game
D. Intemet users will have to buy Microsoft’s costly software
80. What is Antonio Simmons’ attitude towards Google?
A. Doubtful. B. Disapproval. C. Positive. D. Negative.
The new model is the highly interactive（互动的）learning model. We could also call it the conversational model, or the tutorial model. It is computer based, with the interaction between the student, or a small group of students, and learning programs are like the conversation between a student and a skilled tutor. Distance learning will be the main delivery method.
Student interaction with the learning material on the computer will use the student's natural language; it will seem like a conversation between a student and a human tutor. This is the key point of highly interactive, or conversational, learning units. Programs will ask questions in the student’s native language, and respond reasonably to free-form student input. Multiple choice and pointing will seldom be used; they often do not allow individualization (个体化) of education.
An important aspect of this model is that the computer will frequently store information about the student, about problems and about how far individual students have progressed. These records will be used often within the programs. Thus when a student returns to the learning activity, the computer knows about that student and knows where to begin the new part.
Global education is critical for the future, to get rid of poverty, corruption (腐败), violence and war, to solve major problems such as the lack of drinkable water, and to insure a happy life for all. Education should no longer be limited to the wealthy of the world, but should be available to everyone.
In the new distance learning environment learning can take place in markets, libraries, public buildings, learning centers, and the home. Gradually schools and universities will play a smaller role in learning, both because better learning can be delivered through such highly interactive material, and because such learning will be less costly for the individual student. Motivation (动机)is particularly important in a mastery-based distance learning, as the usual threats of traditional classrooms such as that of low grades are no longer possible.
Voice input will probably be the mode(模式) for this interaction. The new voice input systems from several companies are useful, cheap, and speaker independent in highly interactive learning. Keyboards may not be needed. Speech is a natural way for humans to communicate.
Students will work in small peer groups, about four. Other contacts with people, learning circles, will be possible, directly or electronically.
68. What is not the new model also called?
A. interactive model B. conversational model
C. tutorial model D. linguistic model
69. What does the model often use?
A. individualization of education B. multiple choice and pointing
C. questions in students’ native language D. fixed-form student input
70. What do computers detect(检查) students about?
A. Their future achievements B. Their intelligences
C. Their problems D. Their families
71. According to the passage, distance learning ____________ .
A. is still expensive for ordinary students
B. will take place mainly in classrooms.
C. will play a more important role in students’ learning.
D. will still affect badly on the low-graded students
A 61-year-old woman was saved on Saturday evening by Russian rescuers after being buried for up to 127 hours in rubble in the quake-ravaged southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Local residents told Russian rescuers that there was someone alive under two collapsed residential buildings in Dujiangyan, a city southeast of the epicenter of Monday's earthquake.
The rescuers explored the buildings with dogs and machines. Then, they cut out a section of the floor, and successfully pulled out the woman.
The woman was in good condition and was still able to think clearly. She was still able to move her hands and feet and could still speak.
The Parsurvivor had lived on the first floor of the six-story building. And she was buried in the debris of the concrete ceiling after the quake.
The unidentified woman was the first survivor found by foreign rescue teams. A total of 237 rescuers from Japan, Russia, South Korea and Singapore are currently in Sichuan, aiding the disaster relief efforts.
The Russian rescuers are still trying to save a second possible survivor trapped in the debris of the building.
Into the sixth day since the devastating earthquake, China's worst in more than 30 years, rescuers, including more than 130,000 troops, were still struggling to pull possible survivors from debris of collapsed houses, schools and factories.
61. The passage mentions the following EXCEPT_______.
A. how old the survivor is
B. where the survivor lived
C. how long the survivor was trapped
D. what the survivor’s name is
62. The underlined word “debris” in Paragraph 5 can be replaced by _______.
A. ruins B. centre C. middle D. surrounding
63. The best title for the passage should be _______.
A. Russian rescue team save a woman in Dujiangyan
B. Russian rescuers find a survivor in China's quake
C. Woman saved by Russian rescuers 127 hours after quake
D. Miracle rescues save buried people in Dujiangyan
Growing up together in Twin Falls, Idaho, Lisa Fry and Paula Turner never doubted their friendship would last forever. But after Fry married, moved to New York City and had a baby, her letters to Turner suddenly went unanswered. "Do you think I've somehow offended her?" Fry asked her husband.
Turner, meanwhile, had thought she was no longer important to Fry. "She's got a family now," she told herself. "We're just too different to be close like before."
Finally, Fry picked up the courage to call her old friend. At first, the conversation was awkward, yet soon they both admitted that they missed each other. A month later, they got together, laughing and sharing confidences.
"Thank goodness I finally took action," Fry says. "We both realized we were as important to each other as ever."
There are good reasons to value our friendships. Once a public-opinion research firm, Roper Starch Worldwide, asked 2007 people to identify one or two things that said the most about themselves. Friends far outranked（高于）homes, jobs, clothes and cars.
“A stable friendship carries a long history of experience and interaction and keeps us connected,” says Donald Pannen, executive officer of the Western Psychological Association. "It is what we should protect." However, says Brant R. Burleson, professor of communication at Purdue University, "The better friends you are, the more likely you'll face conflicts." And even the result can be what you don't want--an end to the relationship.
The good news is that most troubled friendships can be mended. Here's what experts suggest:
◆Swallow your pride.
◆Apologize when you're wrong--even if you've also been wronged.
◆See things from your friend's point of view.
◆Accept that friendships change.
Making friends can sometimes seem easy, says Yager. The hard part is keeping the connections strong and long. Her suggestion: Consider friendship an honor and a gift, and worth the effort to treasure and develop.
71．The first paragraph is written mainly to_______.
A．complain something to her husband
B．show Lisa Fry missed her friend
C．show family is more important than friendship
D．introduce the topic to be discussed
72．The underlined word “awkward” in the third paragraph probably means______.
A．uncomfortable B．uninteresting C．convenient D．relaxed
73．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to this passage?
A．Once friendship is broken, there is no way to be repaired.
B．People don’t value friendship over other things
C．The more and better friends we make, the happier we are.
D．Lisa Fry and Paula Turner were as important to each other as ever.
74．Experts suggest that_________.
A．Making friends should be no difficult experience.
B．We should consider things for our friends first
C．We should not have to apologize if it is not our fault
D．Friendship should be one-way process and worth our effort.
75．Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
A．A Broken Friendship
B．Opinions on Friendship and Friends
C．What Is Good Friendship?
D．How to Mend a Broken Friendship
HARTLAND, Wis. (AP) — Lauren Panos was surprised when she walked into her ninth-grade English class in the fall and saw there were no boys.
Her parents had not told her they had enrolled her in a new all-girls class at Arrowhead High School in Hartland. Panos still isn't sold on the idea.
"All the girls there, they can talk out of turn," the 14-year-old said. "We are bored of tasks and it's really upsetting."
More public school systems are looking at separating boys and girls, whether for certain classes or by total schools, after the federal government opened the door last fall. Supporters say separating students by sex helps them learn better and allows boys and girls to explore subjects they may not otherwise take.
"Boys just make a bigger trouble in the class," Panos' classmate, Alyson Douglas, 15, said “I likes not worrying about boys causing disruptions.”
Presently, nationwide, at least 253 public schools offer single-sex classes and 51 schools are entirely single sex, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. In1995, just three public schools offered single-sex classes.
Critics of same-sex classrooms argue that proven methods of improving education should be carried out instead of one that divides boys and girls.
"Too many schools feel they can carry out a social experiment with students' education with really the weakest of theories," said Emily Martin, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project.
Single-sex schools are an "illusionary(错觉的) silver bullet," said Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for the American Association of University Women. They distract(分散) from real problems and do not offer proven solutions such as lower class sizes and enough funding, she said.
"I would suggest that for many of our kids and families, especially in Milwaukee, it's a question of choice," Spence said. "We have a series of choices in Milwaukee and I just think this should be one additional choice."
66．What surprised Lauren Panos was that_______ when she walked into the class.
A．her classmates were all boys. B．her classmates were all girls.
C．the boys were all absent from class. D．she went into the wrong class.
67．From what Panos said we can learn that ______.
A．Panos thinks that the idea is very good for they can talk freely.
B．Panos doesn’t accept the fact that girls in her class have to finish many tasks.
C．Panos doesn’t like the idea that boys and girls are in separate classes.
D．Panos prefers to study in a class in which there are only boys.
68．The underlined word “disruptions” in the fifth paragraph most probably means ______.
A．trouble B．danger C．interest D．happiness
69．Critics don’t support the idea of single-sex schooling mainly because_______.
A．boys will cause more trouble and girls will hate studying.
B．single-sex schooling that is not a proven idea can leave out key problems
C．it doesn’t help students develop fully and healthily
D．it can excite students to explore the unknown
70．The passage is probably taken from_________.
A．a newspaperB．a magazine
C．a book of education D．A TV programme