President Obama，s plan last week to overhaul(改善)former president George W．Bush’s No Child left Behind program is an improvement on a good thin9．But it doesn’t go far enough.
Obama outlined a goal that by 2020，all grade school and high school students ale on a path toward college and career readiness．
However, what we need is a practical plan that not only requires all high school graduates to take at least two years of college but also makes it financially possible for them to do so. We’ve provided a free public education through the l2th grade．If we’re going to keep up—or catch up—with some other countries(1ike China)in preparing young people for careers，a 12-year education program no longer is enough．
About 3 million students across the USA will graduate from high school this spring. But only 2 million will go on to college, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics(NCFES)．For the more than l million who won’t go on，money is a major factor．If tuition(学费)were free，about half of them could make up other COSTS from family or part—time jobs．
Critics(批评家)of free college tuition will say we can’t afford it because of the federal deficit(联邦赤字)and other rising costs．Let’s see some government spending in detail：
In the last nearly 10 years．the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have 
cost us $1 trillion(that’s $1，000 billion，or an average of$100 billion a year)．Federal money spent on public elementary and secondary education in
the last year for which figures are available was$47 billion．If we end costly and unnecessary wars and nation—building efforts abroad，the federal government could provide more money on public education，for which state and local governments now carry most of the burden(负担)．According to President Obama’s plan，in 10 years， ．
| A．there will be no expensive and unnecessary Wars |
| B．all grade and high school students can go to college |
| C．the U．S．will catch up with China in career preparation |
| D．students Call enjoy a l2-year public free education |
If tuition were not charged．
| A．about 2．5 million students could afford college education |
| B．about 2 million students could be provided chances of college education |
| C．over l million students still could not afford college education |
| D．about 3 million students could graduate from high school |
The author may agree that President Obama’s plan
| A．has little to do with Gorge W．Bush’s program |
| B．does not agree with the survey by NCFES |
| C．does not contain practical measures to achieve its goal |
| D．will lighten the burden of state and local governments |
It can be inferred from the passage that
A．the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are expensive but necessary
B．the federal Can not provide more money on education
C，critics of free college tuition think little of the plan
D．President Obama’s plan might be hard to carry out
Internet use appears to cause a drop in psychological health, according to a research at Carnegie Mellon University.
Even people who spent just a few hours a week on the Internet experienced more depression(沮丧) and loneliness than those who used Internet less frequently, the two-year study showed. And it wasn’t that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually appeared to cause the bad feeling.
Researchers are puzzled by the results, which were completely the opposite to their experiences. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose the information and to communicate with others.
The fact that Internet use reduces time available for family and friends may explain the drop in well-being, researchers supposed. Faceless, bodiless “virtual” communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversation, and the relationships formed through it may be shallower. Another possibility is that knowing the wider world via the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives.
“But it’s important to remember this is not about the technology; it’s about how it is used,” says psychologist Christine Riley of Intel, one of the study founders. “It really points to the need for considering social factors in terms of how you design applications(应用) and services for technology.”The best title of the passage probably is .
| A．Internet May Cause Depression |
B．The Danger of Internet  |
| C．Communication with Others by Internet |
| D．Puzzled by the Results |
Why did the results of research puzzle the researchers?
| A．People could choose their information through Internet. |
| B．They had expected the opposite results. |
| C．People can communicate with others. |
| D．They had thought Internet was much healthier. |
Which of the following may be the cause of depression?
| A．Net users found their living conditions bad. |
| B．Net users already had mental problems. |
| C．Deep relationships were formed through Internet. |
| D．Net users had less time to communicate with other people. |
The writer’s attitude towards technology is .
| A．social factors must be considered while using technology |
| B．technology was to blame for depression |
| C．the problem doesn’t lie in technology |
| D．applications and services for technology must be designed |
I am a long distance runner. When I was thirty-one, I was in a serious car accident. The doctor told me that they would try to get me to walk “normally” but I would never run again—terrible news for someone who views running as the oxygen(氧气) she breathes. The doctors were right. For the next nine and a half years, I was unable to run more than twenty-five feet.
In 2006, I began self-training to take part in a 60-mile walk. Three months into preparing, I realized that walking 4-5 hours a day was too long. If only I could jog(慢跑) part of it—that would cost me less time. I started jogging without my knees aching. Slowly, I increased the distance. The doctor were proved wrong—it only took nine and a half years to do so.
While practicing, I suffered a loss—a dear friend suddenly died. His work had been to help women to accept themselves and reach their fullest potential(潜力). He believed that people should let nothing hold them back from achieving their goals. Soon after his death, a crazy thought entered my mind: what if I could run the LA Marathon? I knew that if I didn’t train to my fullest, the doctor would win. So I trained seven days a week. And I succeeded in crossing the finish line of the LA Marathons all over the United States to the astonishment of my doctors. They never believed that I would achieve that.
The aches and pains I experience while training and racing are nothing compared to the suffering people whom I respect must accept.What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 1?
| A．She didn’t believe what the doctor said. |
| B．She often felt it was hard to tolerate. |
| C．She loved running very much. |
| D．She lost heart after the accident. |
The author tried jogging because she wanted to ______.
| A．save some time | B．protect her feet |
| C．get more exercise | D．catch up with others |
Why did the author decide to join in the marathon?
| A．Because she was so sorry for the loss of a friend. |
| B．Because she was encouraged by her dead friend’s words. |
| C．Because she wanted to prove the doctors were wrong. |
| D．Because she wanted to make more friends. |
What does the underlined word “astonishment” in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．Surprise. | B．Sadness. |
| C．Disappointment. | D．Anger. |
People who like travelling have their reasons. They believe that travelling can help them expand their field of view, especially in the geographical and historical sense. They also think that touring will give them more chances to enjoy different kinds of food and experience new things that would never be brought by other activities. But those who dislike travelling also have some reasons.
Travelling, in my opinion, does more good than harm. Most importantly, it broadens(扩大) our mind. We can get in touch with other civilizations(文明), culture, customs and ideas.
Through history, most people travelled because of necessity(必要性)—not for pleasure. People travelled just in order to remain alive. They searched for food to eat or places to live in. They sometimes ran away from enemies. This is not to say that no one ever travelled just for the fun of it. In ancient times, for example, rich Romans travelled all the way to Greece to take part in the Olympic Games, and festivals. Of course, some people decided to travel just out of curiosity(好奇心). They wanted to find out what it looked like beyond the horizon(地平线). Also, business travel has been going on for centuries.Traders could not only make money but also learn to speak several languages and be introduced to different cultures.
So travelling does enrich our mind and draw new ideas to us. There is no doubt that we can get much from it.The underlined word“expand”in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by “ __________”.
| A．decide | B．protect | C．widen | D．lose |
According to the passage, in the past most people travelled _____________.
| A．for knowledge | B．to make a living | C．to get experiences | D．for fun |
In the writer’s opinion, travelling can be ______________.
| A．tiring | B．funny | C．expensive | D．helpful |
There is a famous story about British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He was writing a poem when he was interrupted by a knock at the door.
This was an age before telephones. Someone was delivering a message. When Coleridge got back to his poem, he had lost his inspiration. His poetic mood had been broken by the knock on his door. His unfinished poem, which could otherwise have been a masterpiece, would now never be more than a fragment.
This story tells how unexpected communication can destroy an important thought, which bring us to the cellphone.
The most common complaint about cellphones is that people talk on them to the annoyance of people around them. But more damaging may be the cellphone’s interruption of our thoughts.
We have already entered a golden age of little white lies about our cellphones, and this is by and large（大体上）a healthy, protective development. “I didn’t hear it ring” or “I didn’t realize my phone had shut off” are among the lies we tell to give ourselves space where we’re beyond reach.
The notion of being unreachable is not a new concept—we have “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doors of hotel rooms. So why must we feel guilty when it comes to cellphones? Why must we apologize if we decide to shut off the phone for a while?
Now time alone, or a conversation with someone next to us which cannot be interrupted by a phone, is something to be cherished. Even cellphone devotees（信徒）, myself usually included, can’t help at times wanting to throw their phone away, or curse the day they were invented.
But we don’t and won’t, and there really is no need. All that’s required to take back our private time is a general social recognition that we have the right to it. In other words, we have to develop a healthy contempt(轻视) for the rings of our own phones.
A cellphone call deserves no greater priority(优先考虑的事) than a random(随机的) word from the person next to us，though the call on my cellphone may be the one-in-a-million from Steven Spielberg—who has finally read my novel and wants to make it his next movie. But most likely it is not, and I’m better off thinking about the idea I just had for a new story, or the slice of pizza I’ll eat for lunch.What is the point of the anecdote about the poet Coleridge in the first three paragraphs?
| A．To direct readers’ attention to the main topic. |
| B．To show how important inspiration is to a poet |
| C．To emphasize the disadvantage of not having a cellphone |
| D．To encourage readers to read the works of this poet. |
What does the writer think about people telling “white lies” about their cellphones?
| A．It is a way of signaling that you don’t like the caller. |
| B．It is natural to tell lies about small things |
| C．It is basically a good way to protect one’s privacy. |
| D．We should feel guilty when we can’t tell the truth. |
According to the author, what is the most annoying problem caused by cellphones?
| A．People get so obsessed(着迷) with the cellphone rings that they fail to notice anything else. |
| B．People feel guilty when they are not able to answer their cellphones. |
| C．Cellphones interrupt people’s private time. |
| D．With cellphones it is no longer possible to be unreachable. |
What does the last paragraph suggest?
| A．A person who calls us from afar deserves more of our attention |
| B．Steven Spielberg once called the author to talk about the author’s novel. |
| C．You should always finish your lunch before you answer a call on the cellphone. |
| D．Never let cellphones disturb your life too much. |
Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it can run away or fight back. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But plants can defend themselves by using both physical and chemical means.
Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines (刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.
Some plants, such as the oak tree, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal's teeth.
Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.
Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for instance, has prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液). A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.The holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals________.
| A．are not tall enough | B．like the lower leaves only |
| C．are not clever enough | D．can get the lower leaves easily |
To defend themselves, oak trees use________.
| A．chemical means | B．physical means |
| C．bitter chemicals | D．sandy materials |
How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?
| A．Its leaves fight against the attack by physical means. |
| B．Its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar. |
| C．Its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked. |
| D．Its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away. |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Plants and Animals | B．How Plants Defend Themselves |
| C．Attacks and Defenses | D．How Animals Eat Plant Leaves |