E
In New York, there is now a school with no daily lessons, no class teachers, not even a school building. The “school” is a project. It is called “City-as-School” and the name means just that, the city itself is the place where 350 students, between the age of 15 and 18, learn their lessons.
Students choose areas of work which interest them and then they help to do that work. For instance, one girl spends her week in the offices of a Congresswoman — an elected official — helping the public with problems such as pensions（养老金），housing, etc. Then she goes to help in a theatre for a day and she spends one day a week taking first-year courses at college.
City-as-School is 30 years old. The education system in New York accepts it now, as an alternative to final years at school. But can it replace ordinary lessons? Well, students have to pass maths and science exams before they enter the “school”. These subjects are not easy to provide for in “ City-as-School”. Teachers monitor the progress of the students. 80 to 85% of the students go to college (or university, as it is called in Britain) after their time at “City-as-School”. The success rate is high. And the students are enthusiastic about their “school”. They like the responsibility of their work, and the sense of purpose it gives them.
When the students leave “City-as-School”, they don’t have a normal academic education; but they do know a lot about different kinds of work in the city!
53. “City-as-School” is special because it is ________.
A. in New York, one of the most famous cities in the world
B. not a common school we usually see and know
C. a school having special students
D. free of charge for the citizens
54. What do the teachers at “City-as-School” do?
A. To monitor the progress of the students.
B. To give lessons to the students.
C. To evaluate the students’ performance.
D. To protect the students.
55. What is the author’s attitude to “City-as-School”?
A. Agreeable. B. Doubtful. C. Neutral (中立的). D. Disagreeable.
C
Bob, a student who does computer studies at Texas University, found his own parents with the help of Internet. The news got around soon and many of his friends came to share his happiness. Some of them even asked him to help them find jobs on the Internet.
Before he turned to Internet for help, Bob had spent one year looking for his parents who left him 26 years ago when he was a baby. Using knowledge on computer and network, Bob found out his birth information and sent a notice to Internet in hope of finding his parents. Only one day later, Bob’s dream came true.
When Bob flew to Los Angles to meet his father, Stephen, they embraced(拥抱) each other lovingly and warmly. They enjoyed the family meeting. Later on Mother’s Day, Bob met his mother Silva.
Three years ago, Stephen himself also tried hard to look for his son but his hard try ended in nothing. Bob’s try on the Internet has turned to be a happy ending.
54. Which of the following is unknown to us ?
A. Bob’s birth information B. Where Bob’s father lives
C. Why Bob’s parents left him D. What Bob does
55. Bob couldn’t find his parents a year ago because______.
A. his parents didn’t want to see him B. he couldn’t get useful information
C. he didn’t want to D. he was just a student
56. Before he found his parents, Bob had to ______.
A. made a lot of friends B. fly to Los Angles
C. sent a notice to Internet every day D. find out his own birth information
57. How long did it take Bob to find his parents after using the Internet?
A. Only one day B. About one year C. 3 years D. 26 years
B
If you have a bottle of water recycled from urine(尿), would you drink it? Astronauts at the ISS may soon do so.
NASA（美国航空航天局）said it would see a high-tech machine to recycle wastewater at the ISS. The machine will recycle water for washing hands, shower water, water for brushing teeth and even urine to make drinking water. It will save millions of dollars each year.
At present, each ISS astronaut uses about 4.4 liters of water every day. It costs about 24 million dollars a year to send water up to the ISS. A liter of water costs about $11,000.
The machine will be sent to the ISS later. NASA hopes it will recycle about 93% of all the water used on the station.
Will the water be clean? Different chemicals will be put in the wastewater. The water will be heated to 130℃ to kill bacteria. Scientists say that the recycled water is thousands of times better than the water from a city tap(水龙头).
50. NASA will use a high-tech machine to recycle wastewater at the ISS to ______.
A. protect the ISS
B. make the astronauts work harder
C. provide better water and food for the astronauts
D. save the cost of sending water up to the ISS
51. At present it costs NASA about ___dollars to transport water up to an astronaut at the ISS a day.
A. 4.4 thousand B. 11 thousand C. 48.4 thousand D. 24 million
52. The passage mainly tells us something about ______.
A. water recycling at the ISS B. the International Space Station
C. a high-tech machine D. the cost of NASA
53. Which of the following sentences is TRUE?
A. The recycled water is much better than that from a city tap.
B. The high-tech machine will recycle all the water used on the station
C. The ISS astronauts use more water than us
D. The high-tech machine can only recycle urine to make water
四、阅读理解（本题有两节，共16小题，每小题2分，共32分）
第一节：阅读下列材料并做后面的题目。从所给的A, B, C, D四个选项中，选出最佳答案。
A
Have you seen big dogs in stores or restaurants and wondered why they were there? Those dogs might have been guide dogs.
People who are blind sometimes use guide dogs called seeing-eyes dogs. These special dogs help people get around. They help them do everyday things. Some people who have hearing problems have hearing-ear dogs. These dogs tell their owners when an alarm clock goes off or when the doorbell rings.
Guide dogs learn to wear something on their backs called a harness. Their owner holds onto it. The dogs learn what words such as “left” and “right” mean. They learn to never take their owner into traffic.
Each guide dog trains for months. Then, it spends one month working with its future owner. At that time ,the owner and dog get to know one another and train together!
Because guide dogs are trained, they are welcome almost anywhere. So, the next time you are out, don’t be surprised if you see a dog. It might just be a guide dog!
46. ______ use guide dogs.
A. People who want dogs to play with B. Babies
C. Anyone wants to D. People who cannot hear or cannot see
47. How long do guide dogs train?______
A. days B. weeks C. months D. They don’t train
48. Guide dogs train with their owner for ______.
A. two days B. one week C. one month D. one year
49. Guide dogs can go _______.
A. almost anywhere B. only stores C. anywhere but restaurants D. only outside places
Should struggling students be banned from clubs and sports?
Getting a bad grade in Rockingham, Vt. could get you kicked off the team! School officials there are considering new guidelines that would prevent students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs. The proposal would affect students in eighth grade and below.
School board member Mike says the policy would motivate students to work harder in school. He drafted a letter to coaches, parents, and after-school program leaders to encourage them to allow only kids who are meeting certain academic standards into their program.
Not everyone gives such policy an A+. Some people argue that no student should be excluded from after-school activities. They say taking part in extracurricular activities can help kids do better in class by improving their participation and concentration skills. They say a 2009 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that time spent in extracurricular physical activities does not take away from students’ ability to do well in the classroom . In fact, it may even help boost girls’ academic performance.
Students themselves have different opinions.
SCHOOL COMES FIRST
Why not require good grades to participate in those activities?
Kids need to understand that grades are important. School comes first, period. Getting good grades help you with life, help you go to college, get a job, and so on. Banning underachieving students from extracurricular activities not only gives them motivation to get their grades up, but allows more time to study or get help from a tutor.
DON’T BAN STUDENTS
Every student should be able to participate in extracurricular activities, no matter what his or her grades are. Extracurricular activities can help kids concentrate more on doing homework. They can help kids develop mentally and physically.
A school policy that tells kids with bad grades that they can’t be in sports or the school play is like judging a book by its cover. Every student is unique. A kid may have a learning disability, an attention issue, or a difficult time studying in his or her home environment. His or her teachers should find why the student is struggling. Together they should find out a solution that will keep the student in the activity.
72. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “excluded”?
A. protected B. approved C. blamed D. banned
73. What’s the author’s attitude to the policy that prevents students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities?
A. supportive B. critical C. neutral D. indifferent
74. In the second paragraph “a 2009 study…”is used by the critics to .
A. To indicate the author is against the policy.
B. To emphasize there is no need to ban the students with bad grades to take part in extracurricular activities.
C. To suggest girls can benefit from extracurricular activities.
D. To prove grades have nothing to do with extracurricular activities.
75. Some don’t think the policy is reasonable for the following reasons EXCEPT .
A. Every kid is unique.
B. Extracurricular activities will benefit students mentally and physically.
C. . Grades will help students get a job.
D. One can learn more that can’t be learned in class.
Welcome to Language upon Thames. This brochure has been designed to give you an overview of our Language School and the courses we offer. If you have some additional questions please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
At Language upon Thames，we feel it is important to be flexible，in order that students can decide what period of study suits them best.
Small Group General English Courses
These courses are aimed at students who wish to improve their speaking，listening，reading and writing skills and are offered at the following levels：
BEGINNERS
ELEMENTARY(初级)
PRE-1NTERMEDLATE
UPPER-INTERMEDLATE
Studying one of the above courses will enable you to use English more confidently and competently on a daily basis.
Try our free online test to see which level you are at—CLICK HERE.
Exam Courses
These courses ale aimed at students who wish to gain academic qualifications in English and are offered at the following levels：
University of Cambridge exams：
ADVANCED l — FCE (First certificate)
ADVANCED 2一CAE (Advanced)
ADVANCED 3一CPE (Proficiency)
Studying one of the above courses will enable you to continue your education or enter university in this country. (Students wishing to gain admission to a British university are normally required to have the Cambridge Proficiency Certificate.)
Speaking, Listening & Pronunciation
This course builds on communicative confidence and competence and is aimed at students who wish to develop the important skills of speaking and listening.
Emphasis is also placed on pronunciation，with activities designed to meet the needs of students of different nationalities，who need to focus on different areas.
CLICK HERE to register for a General English course.
Other Languages
At Language upon Thames we offer a wide range of cafeterias，restaurants，shops and bars. Most importantly，we have foreign language classes of French，Japanese，German，Spanish and Italian during the day，evening or on a one-to-one basis.
68. What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. English courses.
B. Ways to improve students’ English.
C. The best way to improve your skills.
D. The importance of English.
69. If you attend Exam Courses，you will .
A. use English as fluently as a native speaker
B. deal with everyday English well
C. . have better pronunciation of English
D. be able to continue your education or enter university in this country
70. Judging from the description，we can tell that this passage must be taken from .
A. a newspaper B. a magazine
C. . the Internet D. a guidebook
71. The following statements are true EXCEPT .
A. Only Englishmen can attend the courses.
B. The courses are designed for learners of different levels.
C. . One can learn French even in the evening.
D. Language upon Thames is a school aimed to offer help with language learning.