The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum, she made us read about artists and painting styles. It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?
First we had to read about ancient Egyptians and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly (鬈曲的) hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.
On our last visit to the museum, something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother' s expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting ! I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worth looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much.
53. The aim of the mother' s plan was to _________.
A. take them to visit the museum B. introduce them to the world of art
C. ask them to read about artists D. show them different painting styles
54. What was the writer' s experience in the museum before the last visit?
A. She came to feel her mother' s love. B. She liked many paintings.
C. She hardly enjoyed herself. D. She could understand the pictures of fat babies.
55. What made the writer go through a change that summer?
A. One of Mary's paintings. B. A strange way of painting.
C. Artists in the Middle Ages. D. Her mother' s instruction.
56. From the text, we can see _________.
A. the importance of curiosity B. the effect of art
C. the value of learning D. the power of family education
El Nifio, a Spanish term for "the Christ child", was named by South American fisherman who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American's economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought (干旱）in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth ＄36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施）can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers (下水道）make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino's harmful effects-and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.
61.What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1?
| A． |
It is named after a South American fisherman. |
| B． |
It takes place almost every year all over the world. |
| C． |
It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas. |
| D． |
It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean. |
62.What may El Ninos bring about to the countries affected?
| A． |
Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall. |
| B． |
Droughts become more harmful than floods. |
| C． |
Rich countries'gains are greater than their losses. |
| D． |
Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically. |
63.The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that_________.
| A． |
more investment should go to risk reduction |
| B． |
governments of poor countries need more aid |
| C． |
victims of El Nino deserve more compensation |
| D． |
recovery and reconstruction should come first |
64.What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?
| A． |
To introduce El Nino and its origin. |
| B． |
To explain the consequences of El Nino. |
| C． |
To show ways of fighting against El Nino. |
| D． |
To urge people to prepare for El Nino. |
Chimps(黑猩猩) will cooperate in certain ways, like gathering in war parties to protect their territory. But beyond the minimum requirements as social beings, they have little instinct (本能) to help one another. Chimps in the wild seek food for themselves. Even chimp mothers regularly decline to share food with their children. Who are able from a young age to gather their own food.
In the laboratory, chimps don't naturally share food either. If a chimp is put in a cage where he can pull in one plate of food for himself or, with no great effort, a plate that also provides food for a neighbor to the next cage, he will pull at random ---he just doesn't care whether his neighbor gets fed or not. Chimps are truly selfish.
Human children, on the other hand are extremely corporative. From the earliest ages, they decide to help others, to share information and to participate a achieving common goals. The psychologist Michael Tomasello has studied this cooperativeness in a series of expensive with very young children. He finds that if babies aged 18 months see an worried adult with hands full trying to open a door, almost all will immediately try to help.
There are several reasons to believe that the urges to help, inform and share are not taught .but naturally possessed in young children. One is that these instincts appear at a very young age before most parents have started to train children to behave socially. Another is that the helping behaviors are not improved if the children are rewarded. A third reason is that social intelligence. Develops in children before their general cognitive（认知的）skills,at least when compared with chimps..In tests conducted by Tomtasell, the children did no better than the chimps on the physical world tests, but were considerably better at understanding the social world
The cure of what children's minds have and chimps' don't in what Tomasello calls what. Part of this ability is that they can infer what others know or are thinking. But that, even very young children want to be part of a shared purpose. They actively seek to be part of a "we", a group that intends to work toward a shared goal.
58. What can we learn from the experiment with chimps?
| A． |
Chimps seldom care about others' interests. |
| B． |
Chimps tend to provide food for their children. |
| C． |
Chimps like to take in their neighbors' food. |
| D． |
Chimps naturally share food with each other. |
59. Michael Tomasello's tests on young children indicate that they____.
| A． |
have the instinct to help others |
| B． |
know how to offer help to adults |
| C． |
know the world better than chimps |
| D． |
trust adults with their hands full |
60. The passage is mainly about ____.
| A． |
the helping behaviors of young children |
| B． |
ways to train children's shared intentionality |
| C． |
cooperation as a distinctive human nature |
| D． |
the development of intelligence in children |
|
|
|
Day school Program Secondary students across Toronto District School Board(TDSB) are invited to take one or two e-Learning courses on their day school timetable. Students will remain on the roll at their day school. The on-line classroom provides an innovative relevant and interactive Learning environment. The courses and on-line classroom are provided by the Ministry of Education These on-line courses Benefits of e-Learning Include: Is e-Learning for You? Students who are successful in on-line course are usually; Students need to spend at least as much time with their on-line course work as they would in a face-to-face classroom course. |
56. E-Learning courses are different from other TDSB courses in that .
A. they are given by best TDSB teachers.
B. they are not on the day school timetable.
C. they are not included on students' reports.
D. they are an addition to TDSB courses.
57. What do students need to do before completing e-learning courses?
| A． |
To learn information technology on-line. |
| B． |
To do their assignments independently. |
| C． |
To update their mobile devices regularly. |
| D． |
To talk face to face with their teachers. |
Why College Is Not Home
The college years are supposed to be a time for important growth in autonomy(自主性) and the development of adult identity. However, now they are becoming an extended period of adolescence, during which many of today's students and are not shouldered with adult responsibilities.
For previous generations, college was decisive break from parental control; guidance and support needed help from people of the same age and from within. In the past two decades, however, continued connection with and dependence on family, thanks to cellphones, email and social media, have increased significantly. Some parents go so far as to help with coursework. Instead of promoting the idea of college as a passagefrom the shelter of the family to autonomy and adult responsibility, universities have given in to the idea that they should provide the same environment as that of the home.
To prepare for increased autonomy and responsibility, college needs to be a time of exploration and experimentation. This process involves "trying on " new ways of thinking about oneself both intellectually(在思维方面) and personally. While we should provide "safe spaces" within colleges, we must also make it safe to express opinions and challenge majority views. Intellectual growth and flexibility are fostered on debate and questioning.
Learning to deal with the social world is equally important. Because a college community(群体) differs from the family, many students will struggle to find a sense of belonging. If students rely on administrators to regulate their social behavior and thinking pattern, they are not facing the challenge of finding an identity within a larger and complex community.
Moreover, the tendency for universities to monitor and shape student behavior runs up against another characteristic of young adults: the response to being controlled by their elders. If acceptable social behavior is too strictly defined(规定) and controlled, the insensitive or aggressive behavior that administrators are seeking to minimize may actually be encouraged.
It is not surprising that young people are likely to burst out, particularly when there are reasons to do so. Our generation once joined hands and stood firm at times of national emergency. What is lacking today is the conflict between adolescent's desire for autonomy and their understanding of an unsafe world. Therefore, there is the desire for their dorms to be replacement homes and not places to experience intellectual growth.
Every college discussion about community values, social climate and behavior should include recognition of the developmental importance of student autonomy and self-regulation, of the necessary tension between safety and self-discovery.
67.What's the author's attitude toward continued parental guidance to college students?
| A． |
Sympathetic |
B． |
Disapproving |
| C． |
Supportive |
D． |
Neutral |
68.The underlined word "passage" in Paragraph 2 means______.
| A． |
change |
B． |
choice |
| C． |
text |
D． |
extension |
69.According to the author，what role should college play?
| A． |
to develop a shared identity among students |
| B． |
to define and regulate students' social behavior |
| C． |
To provide a safe world without tension for students |
| D． |
To foster students' intellectual and personal development |
70.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in the passage?
| A． |
|
| B． |
|
| C． |
|
| D． |
|
California Condor's Shocking Recovery
California condors are North America's largest birds, with wing-length of up to 3 meters. In the 1980s, electrical lines and lead poisoning(铅中毒) nearly drove them to dying out. Now, electric shock training and medical treatment are helping to rescue these big birds.
In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wild, and there are now more than 150 flying over California and nearby Arizona, Utah and Baja in Mexico.
Electrical lines have been killing them off. "As they go in to rest for the night, they just don't see the power lines," says Bruce Rideout of San Diego Zoo. Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in electrocution(电死) if they touch two lines at once.
So scientists have come up with a shocking idea. Tall poles, placed in large training areas, teach the birds to stay clear of electrical lines by giving them a painful but undeadly electric shock. Before the training was introduced, 66% of set-freed condors died of electrocution. This has now dropped to 18%.
Lead poisonous has proved more difficult to deal with. When condors eat dead bodies of other animals containing lead, they absorb large quantities of lead. This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby birds, and can lead to kidney(肾) failures and death. So condors with high levels of lead are sent to Los Angeles Zoo, where they are treated with calcium EDTA, a chemical that removes lead from the blood over several days. This work is starting to pay off. The annual death rate for adult condors has dropped from 38% in 2000 to 5.4% in 2011.
Rideout's team thinks that the California condors' average survival time in the wild is now just under eight years. "Although these measures are not effective forever, they are vital for now," he says. "They are truly good birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them. "
63.California condors attract researchers' interest because they ______.
| A． |
are active at night |
| B． |
had to be bred in the wild |
| C． |
are found on in California |
| D． |
almost died out in the 1980s |
64.Researchers have found electrical lines are______.
| A． |
blocking condors' journey home |
| B． |
big killers of Califorbnia condoras |
| C． |
rest places for condors at night |
| D． |
used to keep condors away |
65.According to Paraghaph 5，lead poisoning______.
| A． |
makes condors too nervous to fly |
| B． |
has little effect on condors' kidneys |
| C． |
can hardly be gotten rid of form condors' blood |
| D． |
makes it different for condors to produce baby birds |
66.The passage shows that______ .
| A． |
the average survival time of condors is satisfactory |
| B． |
Rideout's research interest lies in electric engineering |
| C． |
the efforts to protect condors have brought good results |
| D． |
researchers have found the final answers to the problem |
are taught by TDSB secondary school teachers
