Providing small classes for at least several grades starting in early primary school gives students the best chance to succeed in late grades, according to groundbreaking new research from a Michigan State University scholar.
The research by Spyros Konstantopoulos, a professor of education, is the first to examine the effects of class size over a period and for all levels of students. The study appears in the American Journal of Education.
He is also a member of a group for the Department of Education’s Instiute of Education Sciences that will give official advice on class size to the states. He said the advice will mirror his research: the best plan is to provide continuous small classes(13 to 17 students) for at least several years starting in kindergarten or first grade.
“For a logn time states thought they could just do it in kindergarten or first grade for one year and get the benefits,” He said. “I don’t believe that. I think you need at least a few years in a row where all students, and especially low-achievers, receive the treatment, and then you see the benefits later.”
His research used data from the Project Star study in Tennessee that analyzed the effects of class size on more than 11,000 students in primary and middle school. He found that students who had been in small classes from kindergarten through third grade had actually higher test scores in grades four through eight than students who been in larger classes early on.
Students from all achievement levels benefited from small classes, the research found. “But low-achievers benefited the most, which narrowed the achievement gap with high –achievers in science, reading and math, ” he said.
Although the study didn’t consider classroom practices, he said the reason for the narrowing gap is likely due to low-achieving students receiving more attention from teachers.
“This is especially important in poorer schools because teacher effectiveness matters more in schools with more disadvantaged and low-performing students, ” he said.The professor argues about ________ .
| A．the size of the class | B．the period of the class |
| C．the attention from teachers | D．the achievements of students |
The result of the research shows that _________.
| A．small classes for one year in early grade are enough |
| B．continuous small classes help students achieve more |
| C．it’s best to attend small classes in kindergarten |
| D．small classes do equal good to students of all levels |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．High achievers will not benefit from small classes. |
| B．Continuous small classes have not been widely accepted. |
| C．Low-achievers should be separated from high-achievers. |
| D．Teachers’ attention matters less than classroom practices. |
The underlined word “This” in the last paragraph refers to _______.
| A．the gap between low and high achievers | B．continuous small classes |
| C．classroom practices in later grades | D．the Project Star Sturdy |
Ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day? A group of timechallenged Canadian women are wishing for a 25hour clock.
Jessie Behan, president of the 25th Hour Coalition (联盟)which is a group of Canadian women who have changed to a longer day, said the struggle for women to maintain worklife balance motivated (激励) her to research the body's natural clock.“Many of my girlfriends are having kids，getting married, and I see the sufferings of dealing all that when you're a working woman，”she said.“Women like myself are sick of living their lives by a 24hour clock.”
A 2007 study by Charles Czeisler found a switch to longer days could be beneficial, especially for frequent travelers, shift workers, astronauts and those who experience trouble sleeping or waking.
In a similar study, Czeisler showed the body's natural clock averages 24 hours and 11 minutes in both young and older people.The current 360degree clock has 720 minutes, giving each minute 0.5 degree.With the new 25hour day, 30 minutes is added to each 12hour period making each minute 0.48 degree.
While still a relatively small movement－the 25th Hour Coalition has 160 Facebook members, Behan is hoping for large changes.“The goal is to get as many women on board; there's no harm in just trying it out and seeing.If it gets big, maybe the government will decide to standardize it.”
A recent online survey by Reader's Digest, which included 150 people in each of the 13 countries, suggests it's not just Canadians looking for longer days.Readers were asked“what would you do with an extra hour”if given a choice between sleep, work, exercise and family time.In Spain, half of respondents （被访者）said they'd like an extra hour in the day to devote to family time.The same was found for respondents in Brazil, the US and Britain, who chose family time over sleep, which came in at a close second.Only in India did work top the list with 50 percent of respondents claiming they could use an extra hour at the office.Some Canadian working women are campaigning for the 25hour day in order to ________.
| A．have more chances at work |
| B．keep a balance between life and work |
| C．experience something new |
| D．have a better sleep |
Charles Czeisler tends to think that ________.
| A．it's easy to adopt the 25hour clock |
| B．it's hard to abandon the 24hour clock |
| C．the 25hour clock fits the body's natural clock more |
| D．different people have different natural clocks |
Why does Jessie Behan want more women to join the 25th Hour Coalition?
| A．Because she intends to make more Facebook friends. |
| B．Because she hopes to get benefits from more people. |
| C．Because she considers it is harmless to form such an organization. |
| D．Because she thinks more women may allow the dream to come true. |
What is implied in the last paragraph?
| A．Respondents from most nations want more family time. |
| B．Respondents from developed countries experience more stress. |
| C．Most Canadian respondents claim that they need more family time. |
| D．Respondents from India are the most hardworking of the 13 nations. |
Ocean Park
If you love the sea, Ocean Park is the place for you! Situated on the south side of Hong Kong Island, this 870,000 square metre educational theme park provides many opportunities to learn about marine life.
To start with, the park boasts the Atoll Reef, one of the world’s largest aquariums, with about 2,500 fish from nearly 300 different species. What makes this aquarium special, however, is not just its size, but also its design. The Atoll Reef is built with an observation passageway that circles the aquarium on four different levels. This lets visitors view sea life from a variety of depths and angles.
Then there’s the Shark Aquarium, a tank with more than 200 sharks from more than 30 species. Like the Atoll Reef, this unique aquarium is designed to make sure guests get the most out of their visit. Shaped like an underwater tunnel, guests can watch as sharks swim overhead and dive at them from every side.
There’s also the Sea Jelly Spectacular, an aquarium that houses more than 1,000 jellyfish of all shapes, colours and sizes. And at the park’s Dolphin University, visitors can go on educational tours and watch the training of dolphins up close.
The park’s most popular attraction is the Ocean Theatre, a huge outdoor pool where dolphins and sea lions entertain the visitors. Sometimes a killer whale even takes part in the performance!
Although Ocean Parks focus is on the water, the theme park has plenty of other activities, too. For people seeking excitement, there are rides like the Abyss Turbo Drop, a roller coaster ride that takes passengers on a 20-storey drop straight down. There are also exhibits like the Dinosaur Discovery Trail and Bird Paradise. Finally, no trip to Ocean Park would be complete without visiting the park’s most popular animals--four giant pandas that were given as a gift from China’s central government.Hong Kong Ocean Park is called an educational theme Park because____________.
| A．it offers chances for visitors to enlarge their knowledge of sea life. |
| B．it provides chances for people to broaden their knowledge of science. |
| C．it is specially designed to attract the young who are interested in the sea. |
| D．it has a lot of activities for people to have fun. |
What makes the Atoll Reef so special?
| A．It is one of the symbols of Hong Kong Ocean Park. |
| B．It has thousands of fish from various species. |
| C．It allows visitors to watch sea life from all angles. |
| D．It is the largest aquarium in the world. |
Which of the following activities is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Enjoying the show of dolphins and sea lions. |
| B．Visiting exhibitions about dinosaurs and birds. |
| C．Taking a roller coaster ride on a 20-storey drop. |
| D．Interacting with sea life in the huge outdoor pool. |
EVERY so often, a sensational (轰动的) story hits the media about the kind of role models influencing UK teenagers. Youth culture celebrates too many bad examples, the reports say, and the finger of blame is often pointed at celebrities (名人) who drink or take drugs, or who are seen as sexually casual. Yet according to parents and educationalists the media itself is partly to blame. They argue that television, newspapers and magazines are obsessed (迷恋的) with celebrity lives and over-promote a “celebrity culture” in which reality show stars are respected purely because they are on television.
Meanwhile child psychologists warn of the negative effects of unsuitable role models, claiming that young people are being brainwashed into wanting to become famous overnight. They are taught to value physical appearance over personal achievement and set themselves impossible goals. According to a 2010 Home Office study, too many girls think that they have to look “sexy” and “hot” like their idols , and when they can’t achieve this, they lose self-esteem (自尊) or suffer from depression and eating disorders.
But perhaps young people today are not as easily influenced as we think. The Girls’ Attitudes Survey by Girlguiding UK (2011), for example, showed that young girls aged 11 to 21 questioned the media’s description of women. Over half of the respondents disagreed with the statement that “girls and young women are portrayed fairly in the media”.
A Scout Association survey, of over a thousand 13- to 18-year-olds, showed that teenagers see their parents and siblings (兄弟姐妹) as far more positive role models than celebrities, and while many youngsters list celebrities like Kate Moss and Katie Price as role models, others list high achievers like David Beckham, Paralympian swimmer Eleanor Simmons, and grandparents who fought in the Second World War.What is the main purpose of this article?
| A．To analyze what influences UK’s youth culture. |
| B．To criticize the media’s influence on UK’s youth culture. |
| C．To figure out who is to blame for the celebrity obsession. |
| D．To discuss how much the media affects the role models UK’s young people choose. |
What’s the opinion of parents about role models according to the article?
| A．Bad role models should not appear on television. |
| B．Stars in the spotlight are actually not worthy of our respect. |
| C．The media should stop promoting a “celebrity culture” among teenagers. |
| D．The media somewhat encourages young people to admire bad role models. |
Which of the following is true according to psychologists, ______.
| A．those who set themselves high goals tend to achieve success faster |
| B．celebrities are famous because of their appearances rather than their achievement |
| C．young people should put more importance on achievement rather than appearance |
| D．role models have more negative effects on young people than positive ones |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Role Modles | B．Celebrity Culture |
| C．Media Influence | D．Psychological Recognition |
BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Chang Wanquan announced Thursday night that the launch of Tiangong-1 space lab module is successful.
China's first space lab module Tiangong-1 blasted off at 9:16 p.m. Beijing Time (1316 GMT) Thursday from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest desert area.
The unmanned module, carried by Long March-2FT1 rocket, will test space docking with a spacecraft later this year, paving the way for China to become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station around 2020.
The Tiangong-1 will orbit the Earth for about one month to await Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft. Once the two vehicles successfully rendezvous（对接）, they will conduct the first space docking at a height of 340 kilometers above Earth surface.
After two docking tests, Tiangong-1 will await Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 in the next two years, according to a plan of China's manned space program.
The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1, with a length of 10.4 meters and maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, provides a room of 15 cubic meters for two to three astronauts to live and work.
Zhang Shancong, deputy chief designer of the Tiangong-1, told Xinhua that the module carries special cameras which will take hyperspectral（高光谱的） images of China's vast farmlands to detect heavy metal pollution and pesticide residue as well as plant disease.
Moreover, scientists on the ground will also conduct experiments on photonic crystal（光子晶体）, a new material expected to revolutionize information technology, in the low-gravity environment inside the Tiangong-1 as these experiments would be extremely difficult to conduct on Earth's surface.
"China is clearly becoming a global power and its investments in areas like technology and space exploration reflect this," said Peter Singer, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
"It is a natural result of the growth in political and economic power and is to be expected," said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, "China will turn its future space station into an international platform for space research and application. A space station could provide a low-gravity environment for research on geography, astronomy and bio-technology, which will bring unimaginably greater achievements than those conducted on Earth's surface. " "The Chinese nation has pursued peace since ancient times," Zhou also said, "China's ultimate intention with the space program is to explore space resources and make use of them for mankind's well-being." From the passage we learn that________.
| A．China has become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station. |
| B．Tiangong-1 will orbit the Earth for two years to await Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 unmanned spacecraft after a docking test. |
| C．The experiments inside the Tiangong-1 would be extremely difficult to conduct on the Earth. |
| D．A space station could provide a high-gravity environment for research on geography, astronomy and bio-technology |
Which word of the following has the same meaning with underlined word “paving” in paragraph 2?
| A．smoothing | B．rebuilding |
| C．removing | D．blocking |
Tiangong-1 will do the following things in the future Except that it will______.
| A．test space docking with a spacecraft later this year. |
| B．detect pollution and pesticide residue and disease. |
| C．provides a room for astronauts to live and work. |
| D．operate a permanent space station. |
According to what Zhou said, we can infer that________.
| A．The successful launch of Tiangong-1 contributes to the development of China’s politics and economy. |
| B．China will explore and share space resources peacefully with other countries. |
| C．A Chinese space station will bring unimaginably greater achievements than ever. |
| D．China's ultimate intention with the space program is helpful to its powerful future. |
57-year-old Mo Yan has become the first Chinese to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
“I grew up in an environment immersed with folk culture, which inevitably comes in to my novels when I pick up a pen to write. This has definitely affected, even decided, my works’ artistic style,” Mo told a group of reporters in his hometown of Gaomi, Shandong Province, shortly after he won the award. Gaomi county is where most of Mo’s stories happen. It’s a place that has inspired him throughout his 31-year writing career.
“I really didn’t see this coming,” Lu Jiande, director of the Institute of Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told 21st Century. “I know Mo Yan pretty well and one thing a lot of people don’t know is how good he is with words.” “His calligraphy (文笔) is surprisingly beautiful. In his writing, he can make words live and breathe,” Lu said.
Mo created a cast of colorful characters and said that if there was a prototype（原型）, it would be the abandoned “black boy” who first appeared in the 1985 novel Red Transparent Radish, which bears imprints of the author’s childhood.
Mo dropped out of school during the Cultural Revolution when he was 12 and began to work, first in agriculture, later in a factory. At 20, he joined the People's Liberation Army and during this time he began to study literature and write. His first short story was published in a literary journal in 1981. His breakthrough came a few years later with the novel Red Transparent Radish. Many got to know of Mo through director Zhang Yimou’s film, Red Sorghum. It was adapted from his 1986 novel of the same name, bringing to life a visual landscape of red sorghum fields and a fiery setting sun.
Mo left the army in 1997 and gradually developed a writing style all of his own. History, family sagas, blood and violence are frequent elements in his most famous works, such as Big Breasts and Wide Hips or Sandalwood Penalty. On August 20, 2011, Mo’s full-length novel The Frog won the eighth Mao Dun Literature Prize.
Some critics point out that Mo’s works have a tendency toward vulgarity（粗俗、庸俗. In an interview with South China Morning Post, Professor Xiao Ying of Tsinghua University said the award was “outside of my expectations, as Mo Yan’s works are still short on the idealism of pursuing humanity, which marks previous Nobel literature prize winners”.By saying, “I really didn’t see this coming”, Lu Jiande probably means that______.
| A．He can’t believe Mo has an ability to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. |
| B．He can’t expect Mo could win the Nobel Prize in Literature. |
| C．He can’t understand why Mo could win the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| D．He is doubtful about Mo’s great honor. |
Which of Mo Yan’s works reflects his own life experience?
| A．Red Transparent Radish | B．Red Sorghum |
| C．Big Breasts and Wide Hips | D．Sandalwood Penalty |
According to the passage, which of the following is not right?
| A．Mo’s living environment immersed with folk culture affected his works’ artistic style. |
| B．The Cultural Revolution is the main reason for Mo’s leaving school when he was young. |
| C．Mo enjoyed great popularity after his first short story was published in a literary journal. |
| D．It’s through director Zhang Yimou’s film that the public got to know Mo. |
What’s Professor Xiao Ying’s attitude toward Mo’s works?
| A．Supportive | B．Negative |
| C．Doubtful | D．Uninterested |