Several years ago， a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker， another owned one of the largest companies in the world， and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.
The reporter was talking to them about being important.
“How do we know if someone is really important？” the reporter asked the banker.
The banker thought for a few moments and then said， “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President of the United States is really important.”
The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree wi
th that？” she asked.
The man shook his head， “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You‘d only be important if while you were visiting the President， there was a telephone call from the president of another country， and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it.”
The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so？”
“No， I don‘t，” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”
“Then what would make the visitor important？” the reporter and the other two men asked.
“Oh， I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang， and the President picked up the receiver， listened and then said， ‘It’s for you.‘ ” There are _______ in this passage.
| A．two men and two women | B．three men and one woman |
| C．three women and one man | D．four women |
The banker thought _______.
A．he was really important because he was a rich banker |
B．the visitor to the White House was really important |
| C．the visitor who met the President of the United States | |
| D．the reporter was really important |
The owner of the very large company thought _______.
| A．she was really important because she owned one of the largest companies |
| B．the banker was really important |
| C．the owner of many buildings in the center of New York was really important |
| D．the visitor would be really important if while he was visiting the President， the President would not answer any telephone call |
The owner of many buildings thought _______.
| A．he was really important because he owned many buildings in the center of New York |
| B．the owner of the very large company was really important |
| C．the visitor was really important if he talking to the President and the President received a telephone call for the visitor |
| D．the person who worked in the White House was really important |
President Barack Obama set out his plans for the nation on January 27. At the top of his to-do list: his jobs for Americans, health care and education.
“Although we have our difficulties, our union is strong. We do not give up. We do not stop,” President Barack Obama told American in his State of the Union speech on January 27. Guests and government officials filled the hall of the House of Representatives (众议院).
Obama looked back on his first year in office and explained his plan for the future. He dealt with important matters, including health care, the nation’ s high unemployment, national security (安全) and education. Many times during the 70-minute speech, people in the hall clapped (拍手) their hands happily.
The U.S. law system requires the President to report regularly to government officials. Presidents see the speech as an opportunity to set their goals and encourage the nation.
The President devoted much of his speech to the plight of unemployed (失业的) Americans. “Jobs must be our Number 1 focus (焦点) in 2010,” he said. “People are out of work. They are hurting.” Obama also stressed the value of education. “The best way for people to lead a better life is a first-class education.” he told the nation.
Following the President’s speech, the other party always gets the chance to speak. Bob McDonnell, the new governor of Virginia, spoke for Republicans (共和党人). He agreed with many of Obama’s goals, but pointed out policy difference. He tried to persuade both parties to work together. The President had made the same point earlier in the evening. He promised to hold monthly meetings with members of both parties. “Let’s show the American people,” he said, “that we can do it together.”It can be inferred (推断) from the passage that Obama’s speech on January 27 __________.
was made to explain his plan for the future
was welcomed by the government officials present
was given to ask for foreign help
was actually boringThe underlined word “plight” in para. 5 probably means __________.
| A．education | B．safety |
| C．goal | D．sadness |
Which of the following things does Obama consider the most important in 2010?
| A．Health care. | B．Jobs. |
| C．Education. | D．National security. |
We can infer from the last paragraph that __________.
Republicans don’ t agree with Obama’ s goals
Obama will try to cooperate with the other party
Bob McDonnell was not clear about the two parties’ policy differences
Republicans thought it difficult for the two parties to work together
A recent report on online education, made by SRI International for the Department of Education, has a serious academic (学术的) title, but a most interesting conclusion: “ Students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”
The report examined the research on online and traditional classroom teaching from 1996 to 2008. Some of it was in K-12 settings, but most of the studies were in colleges and adult continuing education programs.
Over the 12 years, the report found 99 studies in which there were comparisons of online and classroom performance for the same courses. The result of the Department of Education’ s research showed that usually, students doing some or all of the course online would rank a little higher than the classroom students with little but meaningful difference.
“The importance of the study lies in showing that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually tends to be better than traditional instruction.” said Barbara Means, the study’ s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI International.
This hardly means that we’ll be saying goodbye to classrooms. But the report does suggest that online education could be set to develop sharply over the next few years.
Until fairly recently, online education totaled to little. That has really changed with the arrival of webbased video, instant (即时的) messaging and teamwork tools.
The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more suitable for individual (个体的) students than is possible in classrooms. That allows more “learning by doing,” which many students find more attractive and useful.
“We are at a turning point in online education,” said Philip R. Regier, the leader of Arizona State University’ s Online and Extended Campus program.
The biggest near-term growth, Mr. Regier predicts, will be in continuing education programs.What do we know from the passage?
Most of the studies were done in high schools.
The report was based on more than 100 studies.
The studies were carried out for more than 20 years.
The difference between online and traditional teaching is not big.We can learn from the passage that __________.
traditional education will come to an end
traditional education is not popular any longer
online education didn’ t develop rapidly until recently
middle schools are facing the choice between online and traditional teachingWhich is NOT the reason why many students prefer online learning?
Online teaching is more suitable for individuals.
Classroom teaching is not practical and useful.
Students can learn by doing in online courses.
Online teaching is more interesting.Which do you think is the best title for the passage?
Study finds that online education beats the classroom
Why is online education on the rise?
A report on online education
Classroom teaching is out
There are several ways to break the technology code that teenagers have written among themselves. The following are ideas to help parents understand the sometimes confusing world of the teens.
Social Networking (人际关系网) Sites: Sites like MySpace and Facebook appeal to all generations and are a good way for a parent to understand what social standards your teen is living with. There are many ways to help you take part in your child's online activities. You also can be from an onlooker (旁观者) who keeps a bird' s-eye view of his cyber world to an active member of his social group.
MMORPG: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game comes in the form of games. A child can easily become addicted to (沉溺于) them if no limits are set. To fully understand the attraction behind MMORPG, you can make your own account and character to explore the digital (数码的) world. Playing the online games may seem strange at first to your teen, but experience has led me to only positive feedback (反应) from young people who can communicate with adults about their gaming experiences.
Text and Instant Messenger: The ways of teenage communication have produced a whole new language, such as "LOLZ" (laughing out loud) and "PSOS" (parent standing over shoulder). Learning the basic shorthand (速记法) of teens can open up a whole new world of communication, not only talking to your teens, but being able to listen on their terms as well. You may just find yourself texting faster and ending your correspondence (联系) with TTYL (talk to you later). To teens, texting anyone looks cool, even Mom and Dad.
Email: Emailing your child is easy. This, of course, cannot take the place of face-to-face communication, but it provides another way for your child to reach you. Another benefit is that your child cannot act like he didn't hear you.What does the underlined part "appeal to" in the second paragraph mean?
| A．harm | B．attract | C．upset | D．attack |
According to this passage we can infer that the author's child __________.
| A．works hard at school |
| B．is active on Facebook |
| C．enjoys playing online games |
| D．likes talking with adults |
If you are standing beside your child, he is most likely to text his friend __________.
| A．PSOS | B．MMORPG | C．TTYL | D．LOLZ |
What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Parents can use technology to stay in touch with their children. |
| B．Many children are very crazy about the online games. |
| C．Science and technology make life easy and convenient. |
| D．Parents can do something interesting like their children do. |
Sometimes life makes more sense when you look at it in reverse (相反). That's certainly been true for me.
Last Christmas, at 39, I caught a disease which attacked my knees and eyes. At its worst I could hardly walk or see. For months I' d have to crawl (爬) across the floor to use the bathroom or get a drink of water when my husband wasn't home. For a while I could only see shapes and colors so I couldn't drive.
My parents kept begging me to let them come out to stay with me in Los Angeles, but our apartment is small and I knew there was nothing they could really do to help me. For the excellent health insurance my husband had through his job, I was receiving the best medical care possible.
My only problem was that I couldn't drive to my doctors' appointments and I didn't want my husband to keep missing work to drive me. Three days after I explained this to my parents, a check came from them with a note saying this was "taxi money". Several months later another check showed up from my brother to help make up our income since I wasn't able to work. It probably goes without saying that I was extremely grateful to have family members who could and would support me during the hard time.
In terms of my day-to-day existence, I live in a village within Los Angeles called Brentwood so I was able to walk to the local post office, market, bank, and library. But once there, I had to depend on the kindness of strangers to help me. Los Angeles is a big city, but I lived in a village with a wonderful community (社区) of people who were kind and patient.
Slowly I became well. Life was good again and I thought I had a clear understanding of the blessings (恩惠) this illness has provided.When the author's husband was at home, he __________.
| A．was still busy working |
| B．often had a good rest |
| C．often helped her a lot |
| D．taught her to drive a car |
Why did the author not want her husband to drive her to her doctors' appointments?
| A．Her husband didn't drive well. |
| B．Her husband was too busy. |
| C．She didn't want to affect his work. |
| D．Her doctor was far away from her. |
What is the fourth paragraph mainly about?
| A．The help that the author received from her family members. |
| B．The influence of the author's disease on her family. |
| C．The author's thanks to her family members. |
| D．The way the author saw her doctors. |
What did the author feel about Brentwood?
| A．She thought it was small but convenient. |
| B．She felt it was hard to live there. |
| C．She thought it was small and strange. |
| D．She felt warm and comfortable there. |
Leave a camera on a mountaintop, and chances are, you'll never see it again. But 24-year-old Paul Bellis, a university student from Wales, believed that most people were better than that, and set up a creative experiment to test out his theory.
"I was speaking to a friend who said you can't trust anyone, anywhere these days," Bellis told the Daily Mail. "I didn't want to believe that so I set up this experiment to find out what might happen and prove you can trust people."
Billis decided to do an experiment by hiking up a mountain called Snowdonia, taking a photo, and leaving his camera behind. He also attached a note to the camera, asking other hikers to take photos of themselves and then leave the camera there until the roll of film (胶卷) was empty. He also included his address, in case someone would be nice enough to return the camera to his home after the roll of film was finished.
Four days later, Bellis got a visit from a Snowdonia park manager, who came to return his camera. After Bellis got the film developed, he saw that his fellow hikers and followed his instructions. Thirty people had each taken photos of themselves at the mountain. From viewing the collection, it was clear that all the hikers had enjoyed the experiment.
As for the park manager, Brian, "I found the camera and thought it had been lost until I saw the note," he said. "I was passing his home and just dropped it off. I' m glad that the photos came out very well."The underlined word "that" in Paragraph 2 refers to __________.
| A．the Daily Mail |
| B．Bellis' theory |
| C．the idea that Bellis would do the experiment |
| D．the opinion that we shouldn't trust people |
What can we know from the note Bellis attached to his camera?
| A．The camera wasn't a missing one. |
| B．The roll of film had been used up. |
| C．Bellis was very kind to other hikers. |
| D．Bellis asked others to take pictures of him. |
Brian returned the camera directly because __________.
| A．he wanted to be trusted by others |
| B．Bellis' home was on his way |
| C．Bellis asked him to do so |
| D．he wanted to have a look at the photos |
The experiment Bellis turned out to be __________.
| A．unsuccessful | B．disappointing | C．encouraging | D．surprising |