One of the worst feelings in the world is trying your hardest at something but still falling short. In the case of schoolwork, studying for hours and bringing home disappointing grades may make you feel hopeless or helpless, but this is far from the truth. If you are dealing with disappointing grades, promise to change your study habits and you'll be amazed by the results.
Act Fast
The most important rule about dealing with disappointing grades is to act fast. Don't sit around and let them get worse, and definitely don't ignore them. Instead, admit that you need help and go in search of it soon. The faster you face up to the problem, the faster you can find a solution and see some results.
Tweak your routine
If you are studying hard and still dealing with disappointing grades, it's probably time to tweak your routine a little. Remember, if you keep doing the same thing all the time you'll undoubtedly keep getting the same results. Mix things up by asking for help, whether from a friend or fellow student, your teacher or a private tutor. Ask for help with the subject matter and tips for studying on your own.
Study Successfully
Of course it doesn't matter where you study or who you study with if you are studying the wrong things. Make sure that you are studying successfully by:
*Reviewing your textbooks.
*Looking over your notes from class.
*Taking new notes while you study.
*Investing in study guides.
*Answering all of the review questions you can find.
*Talking through events or concepts that are integral (整体) to your lessons.
Learn From Your Mistakes
If, after all of your changes and redoubling your study efforts, you are still disappointed with your grades, then it is time to figure out exactly where you are going wrong. Look over exam papers and assignments to see if you are having trouble with a particular kind of question (multiple choice, true or false, etc.) or concept. Examine your essays to see if you are explaining your ideas clearly and completely, or if it is the mechanics of your writing (spelling, grammar, etc.) that is letting you down. Request an appointment with your teacher and use this time to discuss your work and get his/her feedback as well.
Dealing with disappointing grades is something that every student will face at one time or another. It won't be fun, but take a realistic look at your attention in class, your study habits and your performance on past assignments and exam. Figure out where you are having trouble and dedicate yourself to fixing these problems.
51. The purpose of this passage is _______.
A. to introduce practical ways to solve worrying school problems
B. to persuade students to change their attitude toward schoolwork
C. to offer advice on how to improve academic grades at school
D. to emphasize the importance of dealing with disappointing grades
52. The underlined phrase to tweak your routine means _______.
A. to stick to the same study plan and seek help when possible
B. to mix things up before you work out a practical solution alone
C. to examine your everyday life to make room for self improvement
D. to make necessary alterations in your study habits and plans
53. According to the passage, it is desirable to _______.
A. adopt a great variety of successful study methods and work on your own
B. have a study partner who act fast to face up a problem and study successfully
C. find out your weak points by reviewing schoolwork and seek necessary help
D. make an appointment with your teachers and develop useful examination skills
54. The author of this passage is probably a(an) _______.
A. psychologist B. examiner C. parent D. instructor
55. The author thinks that dealing with disappointing grades calls for _______.
A. a strong will power B. a down-to-earth attitude
C. creativity and dedication D. undivided attention
D
Here is what I have been told of the matter.
In the spring of 1842, Marguerite was so weak, so different in her looks, that the doctors had ordered her to take the waters.She therefore set out for Bagneres.
Among the other sufferers there, was the Duke's daughter who not only had the same complaint but a face so like Marguerite's that they could have been taken for sisters. The fact was that the young Duchess was in the third stage of consumption and, only days after Marguerite's arrival, she passed away.
One morning the Duke, who had remained at Bagnerescaught sight of Marguerite as she turned a corner of a gravel walk.
It seemed as though he was seeing the spirit of his dead child and, going up to her, he took both her hands, embraced her tearfully and, without asking who she was,begged permission to call on her and to love in her person the living image of his dead daughter.
Marguerite, alone at Bagneres with her maid, and in any case having nothing to lose by compromising herself, granted the Duke what he asked.
Now there were a number of people at Bagneres who knew her,and they made a point of calling on the Duke to inform him of Marguerite's true situation.It was a terrible blow for the old man, for any resemblance with his daughter stopped there.But it was too late.The young woman had become an emotional necessity, his only excuse and his sole reason for living.
He did not criticize her, he had no right to, but he did ask her if she felt that she could change her way of life, and, in exchange for this sacrifice,he would offer all the compensations she could want.She agreed.
It should be said that at this point Marguerite, who was by nature somewhat highly strung(excited and nervous), was seriously ill.Her past appeared to her to be one of the major causes of her illness,and a kind of superstition(迷信) led her to hope that God would allow her to keep her beauty and her health in exchange for her regret and shame.
And indeed the waters, the walks, healthy fatigue and sleep had almost restored her fully by the end of that summer.
The Duke accompanied Marguerite to Paris, where he continued to call on her as at Bagneres.
This connection, of which the true origin and true motive were known to no one, gave rise here to a great deal of talk, since the Duke, known till now as an enormously wealthy man, now began to acquire a name for the prodigality(挥霍).
67. Why did the Duke take Marguerite’s both hands when he saw her?
A. His daughter and Marguerite were once good friends.
B. Marguerite is his daughter’s spirit.
C. Marguerite resembles his daughter.
D. They haven’t seen each other for long.
68. What’s the right order of the events?
a. The Duke accompanied Marguerite to Paris.
b. Marguerite set out for Bagneres.
c. The Duke took Marguerite as his daughter.
d. The daughter of the Duke passed away.
e. Marguerite took a gravel walk
A. e-c-b-d-a B. c-d-e-b-a C. b-d-e-c-a D. d-a-c-b-e
69. From the passage we can guess that Marguerite _______.
A. doesn’t believe in God
B. was once a woman without a good fame
C. was strange to all the people in Bagners
D. kept her own way of life while living with the Duke
70. According to the passage, Marguerite went to Bagners _______.
A. just for a gravel walk B. to find her sister
C. to visit the Duke D. for treatment
C
Recently scientists have worked out a way to judge roughly where a person has lived using strands(缕) of hair, a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified bodies .
The method depends on measuring how chemical variations in drinking water show up in people’s hair.
While U.S diet is relatively identical, water supplies vary. The differences result from weather patterns. The chemical composition of rainfall changes slightly as clouds move.
Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable , but traces of both elements are also present as heavier isotopes (同位素) . The heaviest raid（列阵）falls first. As a result, storms that form over the Pacific deliver heavier water to California than to Utah.
Similar patterns exist throughout the U.S. By measuring the proportion of heavier hydrogen and oxygen isotopes along a strand of hair, scientists can establish a geographic timeline. Each inch of hair corresponds to about two months.
Cerling’s team collected tap water samples from 600 cities and constructed a frame of the regional differences. They checked the accuracy of the map by testing 200 hair samples collected from 65 barber shops. They were able to accurately place the hair samples in broad regions roughly corresponding to the movement of raid systems.
“It’s not good for pinpointing (精确定位),” he said. “It’s good for ruling out many possibilities.”
64. What can we learn from the passage about the latest discovery?
A. One’s hair growth has to do with the amount of water they drink.
B. A person’s hair may reveal where they have lived.
C. Hair analysis identifies criminal suspects accurately.
D. The chemical composition of hair varies from person to person.
65. What does the underlined word “identical” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. similar B. fantastic C. beneficial D. healthy
66. What is the practical value of Cerling’s research?
A. It helps analyze the quality of water in different regions.
B. It helps the police determine where a crime is committed.
C. It helps the police narrow down possibilities in detective work.
D. It helps identify the drinking habits of the person under investigation.
B
LOS ANGELES-British singing sensation Susan Boyle’s first album quickly climbed to No. 1 on U.S. album charts on Wednesday with sales of 701,000 copies, beating new releases by Adam Lambert and Rihanna and becoming the best-selling debut(首次演出) of 2009. Boyle, 48, a frumpy Scottish singer, who became an international YouTube phenomenon after appearing on TV show “Britain’s Got Talent”, also topped the British album charts earlier this week.
Her “I Dreamed a Dream” release through Sony Music Entertainment, marked the best U.S. opening of a female artist's debut album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, Billboard.com said. It was also the fastest selling album in Britain this year and has topped the charts in Australia and Ireland.
Billboard said only one album in SoundScan’s tracking history had seen a bigger opening week than Boyle. U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg’s album “Doggystyle” sold 803,000 copies in its first week in 1993—before traditional album sales began tumbling(falling rapidly) in the face of piracy(盗版) and a shift to digital sales.
Although Boyle finally failed to win “Britain’s Got Talent”, her April trial hearing for the show has been viewed more than 300 million times on the Internet.
In a good week for stars of TV talent shows, “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert’s debut album “For Your Entertainment”, also released through Sony, debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 with 198,000 copies sold. Lambert’s strong showing followed headline news coverage of his bad televised live performance at the American Music Awards 10 days ago in which he aroused oral sex with a dancer and kissed a male keyboard player.
R&B singer Rihanna’s “Rated R”, her first studio album since being attacked by her then-boyfriend Chris Brown in February, bowed in at No.4 with 181,000 copies—the best sales week in the 21-year-old singer’s career.
Italian singer Andrea Bocelli held onto the No.2 spot for a third week with his “My Christmas” album with 218,000 new copies sold during the week, SoundScan said.
60. According to the passage, what albums were released through Sony Music Entertainment?
A. Doggystyle and I Dreamed a Dream.
B. For Your Entertainment and I Dreamed a Dream.
C. Rated R and Doggystyle.
D. My Christmas and For Your Entertainment.
61. What do you learn from the passage?
A. Doggystyle marked the biggest opening week in SoundScan’s tracking history.
B. I Dreamed a Dream was the fastest selling album in English-speaking countries.
C. Upon its release, Boyle’s first album ranked first on album charts on Wednesday.
D. Boyle became world-famous after she won Britain’s Got Talent.
62. Who may perform crazily and leave audience a bad impression?
A. Susan Boyle. B. Andrea Bocelli. C. Rihanna. D. Adam Lambert.
63. From the passage we can conclude _______.
A. The albums could have sold better if it had not been for piracy and a shift to digital sales
B. Boyle became world-famous because she was a female artist.
C. Being attacked by her then-boyfriend might decrease the sales of Rihanna’s Rated R.
D. Andrea Bocelli’s album My Christmas only kept the No. 2 spot for two weeks.
第三部分阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
The iPad, a new e-tablet gadget will take online activities truly mobile. It will allow you to read the news in bed, play multiplayer game on any surface, check a recipe in a busy kitchen or view a large-scale Google map.
It will declare a new age of online media production, taking newspapers and magazines down the new stage. Online versions can now become truly interactive. The editor of Time magazine Richard Stengel said, “The iPad will transform the way journalism works. It will become a new way of storytelling”.
Perhaps most important to the masses, it is a traditional computer but so convenient to use. There are no cords(电线), and it’s totally mobile. You press a button and it comes on in seconds. To add a program, you just download it from the Internet. There is no file directory, so you won’t be confused with file locations.
Since almost everyone uses a computer in the office or at school, the need for the traditional desktop model at home is disappearing. Slate Magazine’s Farhad Manjoo calls the iPad the perfect alternative to the full home computer system.
However, opinions are summarized as a simple statement: If you are a tech-head you will hate it, if you are everyone else you will love it. It’s “laughably absurd” on one blog and a “magical revolution” on another.
This first version of the iPad lacks many basic features. Tech-heads dislike the device not because of what it offers, but because of what it doesn’t offer. It doesn’t have flash or a camera. It can’t access many of the world’s mobile applications, and it has a very restricted APPLE store. Based on purely technological grounds, the iPad is said to lack more than it gives.
But if you are not part of the technologically well-versed, and you love the iPod and iPhone, “this device is for you,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.
But no matter how you feel about the iPad, as a tech-head or an everyman, there’s no arguing with its appeal. Love it or hate it, the iPad sold over 600,000 units on its opening weekend, surpassing(超过) the iPhone’s record sales in 2007.
It’s uncertain how long it will take to hit the tech markets here in China, but when it does, expect the iPad fashion to continue. Apple predicts it will sell over 7.1 million units in the first year. Maybe not magical, and definitely not absurd, but if the iPad follows in the footsteps of the iPhone and iPod, you could be reading this newspaper on it in the near future.
56. Which of the following is NOT the reason why people think the iPada “magical revolution”?
A. The iPad will make online activities truly mobile.
B. The iPad will predict a new age of online media production.
C. The iPad is sure to take the place of the full home computer system.
D. The iPad can make many world’s mobile applications accessible.
57. Which of the following statements is false according to the passage?
A. Unlike those traditional computers, the iPad can save you much trouble.
B. The iPad set up a new record sale when it first came onto the market.
C. The iPad will probably hold a big share in the tech market in China.
D. The iPad depends on cords to download a program from the Internet quickly.
58. What technological problem do experts think the iPad has?
A. The iPad is lacking in what other computers can offer.
B. People might misunderstand its magical features.
C. Reporters and journalists don’t have to efficiently with the help of the iPad.
D. Compared with the iPhone and iPod, iPad might confuse the users more easily
59. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Why do People Love the iPad B. The Popularity of the iPad
C. Loving and Hating the iPad D. A Magical Revolution
If women are mercilessly exploited(剥削) year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; necklines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability(耐用). They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or delicately picking her way through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women’s clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of instability(不稳定)? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide.
1. Designers and big stores always make money ___________.
A. by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry.
B. because they are capable of predicting new fashions.
C. by constantly changing the fashions in women’s clothing.
D. because they always improve quality of women’s clothing.
2. To the writer, the fact that women change their old-fashioned dresses is seen as ___________.
A. a waste of money B. a waste of time.
C. an expression of waste D. an expression of creativity.
3. The writer would be less critical if fashion designers placed more energy on the __________ of clothing.
A. cost B. appearance C. comfort D. suitability
4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. New fashions in clothing are created for the commercial exploitation
of women.
B. The constant changes in women’s clothing reflect their strength of character.
C. The fashion industry makes an important contribution to society.
D. Fashion designs should not be encouraged since they are only welcomed by women.
5. By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious”, the writer means that ______.
A. women’s changeableness in their choice of clothing is often laughed at.
B. women are better able to put up with discomfort.
C. men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers.
D. men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion.