A 33-year-old financial analyst in California recently quit his job to devote himself to an unpaid job teaching math on the Internet, and his lessons are reaching almost 100,000 people a month. Salman Khan’s voice is heard every day on the net --- by tens of thousands of students around the world who are hungry for help learning math. He has posted 1,200 lessons on YouTube ... lessons that appear on an electronic blackboard, which range from basic addition to advanced mathematics for science and finance. And they are free.
Khan lives in Silicon Valley, with his wife, a doctor, and their new baby. He got the idea for his “Khan Academy” four years ago, when he taught a young cousin how to convert kilograms to grams. With Khan’s help, the cousin got good at math, and Khan began a new career.
Now, Khan records his lessons himself, but he never goes on camera. “It feels like my voice in their head. You’re looking at it and it feels like someone’s over your shoulder talking in your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard, which is distant from you,” he said.
When Springfield High School in Palo Alto, California invited Khan to speak in person --- he immediately connected to the students there.
The idea of short lessons that can be played over and over again attracted high school senior Bridget Meaney. She says she had trouble with math in the seventh grade. “I think the teachers are good, but they can’t teach at a speed that’s perfect for everyone,” she said. “I like the idea of learning something in class but then going back and pressing pause or rewind and actually getting a deeper understanding of it.”
Originally, Khan kept his lessons short because of YouTube restrictions. Now, he thinks short is better. “Education researchers now tell me that 10 minutes is how long someone can have a high level of concentration. And anything beyond that and your brain switches off,” he said.
For Khan, teaching math, science, and finance is just the beginning. He says he’s ready to expand his YouTube site to include other subjects as well.What gave Khan the idea of teaching math online?
| A．His success in helping his cousin learn math. |
| B．His discovery that many students found learning math difficult. |
| C．A suggestion made to him at a local high school. |
| D．His interest in Internet teaching. |
Why does Khan never go on camera?
| A．He’s too shy to show his face on camera. |
| B．It’s restricted by YouTube for education videos. |
| C．He wants to keep distance from the viewers. |
| D．He wants to create a more relaxed learning atmosphere. |
From the passage, we know that ________.
| A．Khan travels to many schools to promote his lessons |
| B．Khan plans to include more subjects in the future |
| C．Khan gives live math lessons every day for free |
| D．Khan set up the Khan Academy with his wife |
Why does Bridget Meaney like Khan’s lessons?
| A．Khan teaches seventh grade math better than her teacher. |
| B．The lessons can be watched repeatedly until fully understood. |
| C．She can perfectly follow the pace of Khan’s teaching. |
| D．She cannot concentrate when learning in class. |
What does Khan mean by “short is better” in the 6th paragraph?
| A．Keeping the lessons short can ensure better concentration. |
| B．YouTube recommends short lessons for its site. |
| C．Short lessons encourage students to return to the website. |
| D．Students enjoy short mathematics lessons more. |
Nowadays, the food we eat seems to have great effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more likely to cause certain different illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures.
That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, about 68 years ago, government researchers realized that nitrates, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things on the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and living animals, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cow. Sometimes similar drugs are given to animals not for medical purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.What is the best possible title of the passage?
| A．Drug and Food | B．Cancer and Health |
| C．Food and Health | D．Health and Drug |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Drugs are always given to animals for medical reasons |
| B．Some of the additives in our food are added to the food itself and some are given to the living animals |
| C．Researchers have known about the potential dangers of food additives for over thirty-five years. |
| D．Food may cause forty percent of cancer in world. |
How has science done something harmful to mankind?
| A．Because of science, diseases caused by polluted food have been virtually eliminated. |
| B．It has caused a lack of information concerning the value of food. |
| C．Because of the application of science, some potentially harmful substances have been added to food. |
| D．The scientists have preserved the color of meats, but not of vegetables. |
What are nitrates used for?
| A．They preserve flavor in packaged foods. |
| B．They preserve the color of meats. |
| C．They are the objects of research. |
| D．They cause the animals to become fatter. |
The word 'carcinogenic' most nearly means '_____'.
| A．trouble-making | B．color-retaining | C．money-making | D．cancer-causing |
With the pace of life continuing to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.
Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be .A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at the first signs of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "fight" or "flight" and in more primitive days the choice made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Such serious conditions as high blood pressure and heart disease have established links with stress. Since we cannot remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because_____.
| A．they do not know how to enjoy themselves |
| B．they do not believe that relaxation is important for health |
| C．they are travelling fast all the time |
| D．they are becoming busier with their work |
According to the writer, the most important character for a good manager is his ________.
| A．not fearing stress |
| B．knowing the art of relaxation |
| C．high sense of responsibility |
| D．having control over performance |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．We can find some ways to avoid stress |
| B．Stress is always harmful to people |
| C．It is easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work. |
| D．Different people can withstand different amounts of stress |
In Paragraph 3 "such a reaction" refers back to_______.
| A．"making a choice between 'flight' or 'fight'" |
| B．"reaction to stress both chemically and physically" |
| C．"responding to crises quickly" |
| D．"losing heart at the signs difficulties" |
What does the author think of stress?
| A．Stress is a bad thing. |
| B．Different people can withstand the same amount of stress. |
| C．A certain amount of stress is not a bad thing. |
| D．Our health will become endangered if we cannot remove stress. |
High school graduation is worth celebrating. It marks a big change in the lives of young adults. However, it ought to mean even more. It ought to mean that the graduate is ready for college or career.
In a report issued last year, we found that almost half of recent Illinois high school graduates required remedial courses(补习课) upon enrolling(注册) a community college. These courses require time and money to complete, yet offer no credits toward a degree. Too often, students never get through those remedial courses and end up dropping out of college.
Why is the remediation rate so high? A large part of the reason is that we have not set high enough standards for what our students need to learn from kindergarten to high school. They simply aren’t equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
The same is true for careers. In Illinois, good jobs continue to go vacant(空缺) even while we are trying hard to go through tough economic times. This is due largely to the mismatch between the skills and knowledge we provide our students with and what employers in a modern economy need workers to know.
The good news is that in Illinois we have a plan to help get our students ready for life in the real world. We have already taken an important first step by becoming one of the 45 states to adopt the Common Core State Standards and have begun introducing them to classrooms this year. The new standards provide fewer, clearer and higher benchmarks(标准) for academic progress. They focus on deeper knowledge required at each grade level, give teachers the opportunity to explore topics fully and ensure students can apply what they’ve learned.
Research shows that when expectations are raised, students rise to meet them. Adapting to higher standards and raising expectations may prove challenging, but they are the steps we must take so that our students are successful in high school and prepared for college and careers. Readiness is worth a celebration. According to the passage, in most cases, students taking part in remedial courses ___.
| A．come from wealthy families |
| B．leave college before finishing their courses |
| C．are offered credits toward a degree |
| D．are likely to develop their academic interest |
The author uses the third and fourth paragraphs to __.
| A．provide solutions to the rising remediation rate |
| B．show the present situation of unemployment in Illinois |
| C．suggest knowledge learned in school be put into practice |
| D．explain why students aren’t prepared for college and a career |
Which of the following statements about the Common Core State Standards is TRUE?
| A．They were first adopted in Illinois. |
| B．More benchmarks are required. |
| C．They benefit teachers as well as students. |
| D．They ensure students’ success in college. |
Based on the last paragraph, what is the author’s attitude to raising expectations of students?
| A．Supportive | B．Critical |
| C．Doubtful | D．Worried |
It is not unusual for people to speak two or three languages; they’re known as bilinguals or trilinguals. Speakers of more than three languages are known as polyglots. And when we refer to people who speak many languages, perhaps a dozen or more, we use the term hyper-polyglot.
The most famous hyper-polyglot was Giuseppe Mezzofanti, a 19th century Italian cardinal, who was said to speak 72 languages. This claim sounds absurd. If you assume each language had 20,000 words, Mezzofanti would have to learn a word a minute, six hours a day, for eleven years—an impossible task. But Mezzofanti was tested by critics, and they were all impressed.
Did Mezzofanti have an extraordinary brain? Or are hyper-polyglots just ordinary people with ordinary brains who manage to do something extraordinary through hard work?
U.S. linguist Stephen Drashen believes that outstanding language learners just work harder at it and then they acquire unusually strong language ability. As an example, he mentions a Hungarian woman who worked as an interpreter during the 20th century. When she was 86, she could speak 16 languages and was still working on learning new languages. She said she learned them mostly on her own, reading fiction or working through dictionaries or textbooks.
Some researchers argue to the contrary. They believe that there is such a thing as a talent for learning languages. In the 1930s, a German scientist examined parts of the preserved brain of a hyper-polyglot named Emil Krebs, who could speak 60 languages fluently. The scientist found that the area of Krebs’s brain called Broca’s area, which is associated with language, looked different from the Broca’s area in the brains of men who speak only one language. However, we still don’t know if Krebs was born with a brain ready to learn dozens of languages or if his brain adapted to the demands he put on it.
Although it is still not clear whether the ability to learn many languages is in born, there’s no doubt that just about all of us can acquire skills in a second, third, or even fourth language by putting our mind to it. What does the underlined sentence imply?
| A．Mezzofanti could remember 360 words a day. |
| B．Mezzofanti had a special way to learn languages. |
| C．Mezzofanti’s achievement was ridiculous. |
| D．Mezzofanti language ability was astonishing. |
The Hungarian woman became a hyper-polyglot mainly because of her __.
| A．good memory | B．hard work |
| C．unique brain | D．learning methods |
The German scientist’s findings showed that Krebs ___.
| A．had an unusual brain |
| B．was born with great talent |
| C．had worked hard at languages |
| D．expected too much of himself |
The author seems to agree that ___.
| A．it is not hard to learn foreign languages |
| B．hard work plays a part in language learning |
| C．there is no such thing as a talent for languages |
| D．hyper-polyglots have an inborn talent for language |
Elaine Yu Yee-nee, 15, Creative Secondary School
Lockers are designed in a way to hide their contents for a reason. Otherwise, they’d have open fronts like cupboards. Searching students’ lockers would be total invasion(侵犯) of privacy. Having a locker is more than having a place to store your stuff. A locker also gives you the freedom to keep certain things hidden. These can include harmless personal items like diaries, letters and photos. Searching lockers could discomfit students and others might make fun of them.
Yes, lockers are school property(财产). But that doesn’t give schools the right to inspect lockers as they please. While students are using lockers, they have the right to keep their contents private. Teachers could ask for permission to take a look inside a student’s locker and if the student is OK with that, then it would be fine. Searching students’ lockers without their permission would result in the loss of trust.
I doubt that students who have something dangerous to hide, such as weapons or drugs, would put them in their lockers. They would not want to risk being caught so easily.
Giving schools the right to search lockers would not help catch those who commit crimes. But it would certainly create an environment in which students would be embarrassed to have their belongings shown in public for no good reason.
Ronald Ling Pak-ki, 20, University of Hong Kong
Many students see their lockers as personal property. They would never agree that schools should have the right to inspect their lockers. But I think schools have an absolute right to do so.
It is the schools that actually own the lockers. Students just use them to store some of their things safely and conveniently. There are clear rules on what items students can and cannot keep in their lockers. Schools have both the duty and the right to check if students are following the rules.
I don’t think school authorities would decide to search a student’s locker unless they felt the need to do so. They might, for instance, suspect students of hiding drugs. To make sure that the process remains open and fair, only authorized teachers should have the right to search lockers. The search should be carried out in such a way as not to embarrass students in front of others.What are .the two students talking about?
| A．How to make sure schools are safe. |
| B．Whether there are crimes in schools. |
| C．Whether schools can search students’ lockers. |
| D．How to establish trust between teachers and students. |
The underlined word could be replaced by ___.
| A．embarrass | B．frighten | C．worry | D．challenge |
According to Elaine, school lockers ____.
| A．are students’ personal property |
| B．should be changed into cupboards |
| C．are likely to hold some dangerous things |
| D．can be searched with students’ permission |
Which of the following would Ronald agree with?
| A．Students won’t hide drugs in lockers. |
| B．Students use lockers but don’t own them. |
| C．Students should not put personal things in lockers. |
| D．Students may forbid teachers to inspect their lockers. |