At present, in many American cities especially, many teachers in the public schools say they are underpaid. They point to jobs such as secretary or truck driver, which often pay more to start than that of a teacher. In many other fields, such as law, medicine, computer science, a beginning worker may make more than a teacher who has taught for several years.
Teaching has never been a profession that attracted people interested in high salaries. It is by history a profession that has provided rewards in addition to money—the satisfaction of sharing knowledge, of influencing others, of guiding young people. But in the past several years, there are more difficulties in teaching, for many, than there are rewards.
Unruly students, especially in big cities, large classes and a lack of support from the public in terms of money and understanding have led many public school teachers to leave the profession.
As a result, many of the best students, who would have chosen teaching as their life career in the past, are going into other fields.
Another reason for this change in teacher candidates is the changing status of women in the United States. Until the late 1960s and 1970s, one of the most popular choices for women was teaching. But as other professions, such as law and medicine opened up to women, women stopped pouring into teacher training programs. Thus, a major pool of excellent candidates for the teaching profession dwindled.
Bit by bit government officials and others realized that the status of the teacher had suffered. They talked about change. But the change in a vast society like the United States is not easy. People’s attitudes have formed over many years, and sometimes change takes many years.
60．The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 1 refers to “____________”.
A．money B．job C．secretary D．truck driver
61．What is the present situation of the teaching?
A．Teachers work harder and get underpaid.
B．Teachers have no opportunities to work in other fields.
C．Teaching can attract best students to work as a teacher.
D．Teaching can provide rewards as well as high salaries.
62．Many public school teachers turn to other professions because____________.
A．the government doesn’t financially support them
B．they have to work longer hours than a lawyer
C．their students refuse to listen to them
D．they are not fairly treated
63．The author believes that change in teachers’ status in the United States____________
A．is not great B．is impossible
C．influences people’s attitude D．needs time
Janice is an American engineer working in Nanjing. She and her husband George, who is teaching English at a university, have been eager to get to know Chinese people better, so they were pleased when Liu, Janice’s young co-worker, invited them to her home for dinner.
When they arrived, Liu introduced them to her husband Yang and asked them to sit down at a table containing eight plates of various cold dishes. Half an hour later she came back and sat down and the three began to eat. Yang came in from time to time, putting hot dishes on the table. Most of the food was wonderful, though neither George nor Janice could eat the fatty pork, and there was much more than they could eat. They kept wishing Yang would sit down so they could talk to him. Finally he did sit down to eat a bit, but soon it was time to go home.
Janice and George felt slightly depressed by this experience, but returned the invitation two weeks later. They decided to make a nice American meal and felt lucky to find olives, crackers(脆饼), tomato juice, and even some cheese in the shop. They put these out as appetizers（开胃品）. For the main course they prepared spaghetti and a salad.
When Liu and Yang arrived and began to have dinner, they took small tastes of the appetizers and seemed surprised when both George and Janice sat down with them. They ate only a little spaghetti and didn’t finish the salad on their plates. After a while, George cleared the table and served coffee and pastries(糕点). Yang and Liu each put four spoons of sugar into their coffee but didn’t drink much of it and ate only a bite or two of pastry.
After they left, George and Janice were upset. “ We left their place so full but they’re going to have to eat again when they get home. What went wrong?What do we know about the dinner at Liu’s home?
| A．It lasted about half an hour. |
| B．There were eight dishes in all. |
| C．the hot dishes were mainly cooked by Yang. |
| D．Many dishes were cooked in American style. |
Why did the American couple feel a bit depressed after dinner at Liu’s home?
| A．They received a cold welcome. |
| B．The fatty pork was not delicious. |
| C．The dinner was not well prepared. |
| D．Yang spent little time talking with them. |
During the dinner at Janice’s home, Liu and Yang _______.
| A．found little food to enjoy. |
| B．ate much salad and pastry. |
| C．drank a lot of coffee with much sugar. |
| D．showed much interest in American food. |
The text is most likely to be found in a book about _______.
| A．cooking skills | B．cultural differences |
| C．language learning | D．business management |
A little boy went to a farmer who had some puppies (小狗）to sell and said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.” Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look.”
“Sure,” said the farmer. Then he called his dog, “Here, Dolly!”
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp(斜坡) ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else moving inside the doghouse. Slowly, another little ball appeared. This one was much smaller than the others. Down the ramp it slid(滑行). Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling(蹒跚) toward the others, doing its best to catch up…
“I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the slow dog.
The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs will.”
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of trousers. There was a steel brace(支架) running down both sides of his leg. It was joined to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see, sir, I don’t run very well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”
The world is full of people who need someone who understands. It can be inferred that “Dolly” in the passage was _______.
| A．a mother dog | B．the little boy’s name |
| C．the farmer’s son | D．one of the puppies |
How many puppies did the farmer have in all?
| A．3 | B．4 | C．5 | D．6 |
The little boy decided to buy the smallest puppy because _______.
| A．he was disabled and decided to be a vet (兽医) to cure it |
| B．he knew the smallest puppy needed understanding and care most |
| C．he liked puppies that were unable to run fast |
| D．he didn’t have enough money to buy a different one |
A public high school in the rural town of Boonsboro，Maryland，offers a special program recently. Top students in the ninth and tenth grades can attend single－sex classes for math，science，English and social studies.
The aim is to help teenagers keep their mind on their work by keeping males and females apart. Rebecca Brown chooses the students for what Boonsboro High School calls the Academy. “What we really want to do is take that top group of kids and take them to the very highest level they can achieve here，so that they’re prepared for college，” she said. They need high marks and test scores and strong teacher recommendations. They also need to be involved in activities.
Michael Bair has been at Boonsboro High School for twenty years and directs the Academy. His ninth－grade English class for boys centers on books that he believes boys find interesting. “The novels they’re reading now，are very manly novels. They’re novels that deal with the arrogance(傲慢)of man and the pride of man.” One of those books，for example，is “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London. This classic story tells of a dog stolen from his home and sold to work as a sled dog in Canada’s Klondike Gold Rush.
On this day，the students are working in small groups. Vincent and Logan explain why they’re drawing pictures that relate to the story. Vincent said，“The main character，Buck，gets abducted(绑架), and they send him off to the Yukon in a train. So I’m drawing part of the story where he’s in the train. It gets you to visualize the setting of the story and gets you to think more about what’s going on in the story，the important events of the story.”“ Instead of just doing work sheets about it，this is a lot more fun，” Logan added happily.
Morgan Van Fleet likes being in the Academy. She says boys and girls act differently when they are together in a classroom. “To me，it almost seems like it’s hindering(妨碍) your chances at developing yourself because you’re more focused on ‘Oh，I wish they’d shut up. Oh，what do they think of me？’ instead of focusing on what’s the homework or what’s going on in this class，what’s the lesson.”What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To educate. | B．To persuade. | C．To instruct. | D．To introduce. |
In Rebecca Brown’s opinion，________.
| A．any student in Boonsboro High School can take part in the program |
| B．students in the program are expected to get well prepared for college |
| C．students can all achieve their highest levels in the program |
| D．students don’t have to join in the activities. |
The underlined word “visualize” in Paragraph 4 probably means “________”．
| A．form a picture of | B．pay a visit to |
| C．take a look at | D．have a gift for |
What can we conclude from the text?____________.
| A．Michael Bair considers it unsuitable for boys to read the book “The Call of the Wild”． |
| B．Vincent thinks that his drawings can help understand the novel better. |
| C．Jack London is a main character in the book “The Call of the Wild”． |
| D．Morgan Van Fleet thinks the program does no good to her. |
The text is probably taken from________.
| A．a school’s introduction | B．a teacher’s diary |
| C．a headmaster’s speech | D．a news report |
Pollutants coming from automobile operation have begun to cause many environmental problems. It has been calculated, for example, that 70% of the carbon monoxide(一氧化碳), 45% of the nitrogen oxides(氮氧化合物), and 34% of the hydrocarbon (碳氢化合物) pollution in the United States can be traced directly to automobile exhausts (废气). In addition, rubber, motor oil and other materials accumulate on roadways and are washed into streams, with effects nearly as serious as those of untreated waste water.
In an effort to improve the situation, the U.S. government has made regulations on the use of the constituents (成分) of automobile exhaust gas that are known to cause air pollution. These constituents fall roughly into three types: hydrocarbons that pass through the engine unburned; carbon monoxide, also a product of incomplete burning; and nitrogen oxides which are formed when nitrogen and oxygen are in contact at high temperatures. Besides their own poisonous character, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides react in the presence of sunlight to form harmful smog. Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are rather easily controlled by the use of higher burning temperatures in engines. Unfortunately, the conditions that produce minimum emission of hydrocarbons tend to raise emission of nitrogen oxides. In a way this difficulty is solved by adding recycled exhaust gas to the fuel mixture, thus avoiding the oversupply of oxygen that favors formation of nitrogen oxides.
California, which has the most strict air-pollution laws in the United States, requires further special compounding of gas to control emissions, and several states have ordered that alcohol be mixed with gas, as this will reduce emissions of the carbon monoxide by 35 per cent and the hydrocarbons by 15 per cent. The author uses figures in Paragraph 1 ________.
| A．to reflect the rapid growth of automobile use |
| B．to highlight the importance of environment protection |
| C．to show the consequence of automobile exhausts |
| D．to criticize the low quality of cars |
How are nitrogen oxides formed according to the text?
| A．Nitrogen and oxygen are put together in great heat. |
| B．Carbon monoxide and oxygen are mixed together. |
| C．Hydrocarbons pass through the engine. |
| D．Nitrogen is burned incompletely. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
| A．Carbon monoxide can be controlled in the engine. |
| B．Smog will form when hydrocarbons meet nitrogen oxides in the sunlight. |
| C．Hydrocarbons have no poisonous character themselves. |
| D．The conditions that decease emission of hydrocarbons will increase emission of nitrogen oxides. |
According to the text, alcohol is added to gas in order to ______.
| A．increase awareness of environment protection |
| B．control air pollution |
| C．increase the fuel efficiency |
| D．replace gas gradually |
According to the survey conducted by some scientists, it is common to have difficulty sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shift（轮班）work — being awake at night and sleeping during the day.
In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help.
Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep.
Fit in a nap (小睡). When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance.
Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much on weekends. Your body likes routine.
Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful.
If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medications (药物治疗) may be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed.The purpose of the text is to_____ .
| A．persuade workers to have a good sleep |
| B．advise night workers to keep healthy |
| C．encourage workers to do day work |
| D．help night workers to sleep well |
What does the author recommend?
| A．A suitable amount of alcohol to help sleep. |
| B．A regular life on weekday’s and weekends. |
| C．A bright room without phones to sleep in. |
| D．A break for sleeping anytime during the day. |
On which condition should a person turn to a sleep specialist for help?
| A．If he suffers from a sleep disorder for the first time. |
| B．If a good sleep environment is greatly needed for him. |
| C．If he fails to get quality sleep through his own efforts. |
| D．If he has the problem of falling asleep in the daytime. |
We can learn from the text that_____________.
| A．night workers need a long time to fall asleep |
| B．constant breaks at work help to improve performance |
| C．it is difficult to create a good sleep environment |
| D．night work requires people to adjust their body clocks |