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This place was darker than I expected, and, in spite of the rain, dirtier. Used to the life of rural Puerto Rico(波多黎各), I had to adjust to the similarly arranged, aggressive two-dimensionality of New York. Everywhere I looked, my eyes met gray and brown straight-edged buildings with sharp corners and deep shadows. Every few blocks there was a cement(水泥) playground surrounded by chain-link fence.
A girl came out of the building next door, a jump rope in her hand, and she hopped over. “Are you Hispanic?” she asked. “No, I’m Puerto Rican.” “Same thing. Puerto Rican, Hispanic. That’s what we are here.” She skipped a tight circle, stopped abruptly, and shoved the rope in my direction. “Want a turn?”
“Sure.” I hopped on one leg, then the other. “So, if you’re Puerto Rican, they call you Hispanic?”
“Yeah. Anybody who speaks Spanish.”
I jumped a circle, as she had done, but faster. “You mean, if you speak Spanish, you’re Hispanic?”
“Well, yeah. No . . . I mean your parents have to be Puerto Rican or Cuban or something.”
“Okay, your parents are Cuban, let’s say, and you’re born here, but you don’t speak Spanish. Are you Hispanic?”
“I guess so,” she finally said. “It has to do with being from a Spanish country. I mean, you or your parents, like, even if you don’t speak Spanish, you’re Hispanic, you know?” She looked at me uncertainly. But I didn’t know. I’d always been Puerto Rican, and it hadn’t occurred to me that in New York I’d be someone else.
Later, I asked. “Are we Hispanics, Mami?” “Yes, because we speak Spanish.” “But a girl said you don’t have to speak the language to be Hispanic.” “What girl? Where did you meet a girl?” “Outside. She lives in the next building.” “Who said you could go out to the sidewalk? This isn't Puerto Rico. Something could happen to you.”
I listened to Mami’s lecture with depressed eyes and the necessary respect. But inside, I quaked. Two days in New York, and I’d already become someone else. It wasn’t hard to imagine that greater dangers lay ahead.
The first paragraph suggests that the author experienced New York as .

A．mysterious and unknowable

B．regular and depressing

C．orderly and appealing

D．impressive and dangerous

For the author, being considered Hispanic represents .

A．a restriction to be overcome

B．an opportunity for self-redefinition

C．the loss of her former identity

D．an unavoidable result of movement to a new place

The mother refers to “Puerto Rico” in order to impress upon the author that .

A．she should not miss her birthplace

B．New Yorkers may not like newcomers

C．different rules apply to life in New York

D．life was more restricted in Puerto Rico

The author’s mood can best be described as

A．angry and confused	B．fearful and uncertain
C．excited but lonely	D．worried and resistant

OSCAR THEATRE
BOOKING
- in person
The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 am-8 pm.
- by post
Stating the performance and choice of seats, enclosing a cheque, postal order, or your credit card details to Oscar Theatre Box Office, PO Box 220, Main street. All cheques should be made payable to Oscar Theatre.
- by telephone
Ring 0844 847 2484 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card (Visa, MasterCard accepted).
- on-line
Complete the on-line booking form at www.oscartheatre.com.
DISCOUNTS
Saver: $2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday inclusive, and for all matinees(下午场). Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.
Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until one hour before the show (subject to availability).
Standby: best available seats are on sale for $6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible(有资格的) for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.
Group Bookings: there is a ten per cent discount for parties of twelve or more.
Schools: school parties of ten or more can book $9 tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.
Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
How can you pay for a ticket when you book by post?

A．By visiting the website of a post office.

B．By going to you local bank in person.

C．By enclosing your MasterCard in an envelope.

D．By providing your credit card information.

What benefit can bookers enjoy according to the text?

A．A group of ten adults going to a performance can claim a discount.

B．A school party of 15 persons that book in advance pay $135 in total for a performance.

C．Someone accompanying a wheelchair user to a performance receives a discount.

D．An 18-year-old teenager is eligible for Saver discounts.

According to the text, who can get Standby tickets?

A．Full-time students buying tickets 45 minutes before a performance begins.

B．65-year-olds buying tickets an hour and a half before a performance begins.

C．Theatre-goers who are unexpectedly unable to be present at a performance.

D．Anyone who buys tickets an hour before a performance begins.

As a professor I have grown accustomed to the opinion regarding American education. We are repeatedly told that American schools are failing, that colleges are not teaching, and that the students of today are not as good as the students of the past.
There are, of course, problems with the education system. Because of economic inequality some schools are significantly better than others and the ideas of equality of education and equality of opportunity are cruel jokes. However, the mere fact that there are some serious problems does not mean that all the dire claims are true.
One stock (陈腐的) claim is that America has fallen behind the world in education in terms of performance on various tests. While the fact that America is behind other countries is a point of concern, there are at least three points worth considering here. The first is the above-mentioned economic inequality which will tend to result in poorer performance when taking the average for America. The second is that many countries have put considerable effort into improving their education systems and hence it is worth considering that America’s decline is also due to the improvement of others. The third is the matter of the measures— do they, in fact, present an accurate picture of the situation? I am not claiming that the data is bad. I am merely raising a reasonable concern about how accurate our picture of education is at this time.
Another stock claim is that American students are doing badly on standardized tests. While there is clearly value in assessment, it is reasonable to consider whether or not such tests are a proper and adequate measure of education. It is also worth considering whether the puzzle with these tests is itself causing damage to education. That is, as teachers teach for the test and students learn for the test, it might be the case that what is being taught is not what should be taught and what is being learned is not what should be learned.
According to the professor, many people’s attitude towards American colleges is .

A．negative

B．positive

C．approving

D．indifferent

What does the underlined word “dire” in the second paragraph mean?

A．Exact or precise.	B．Extremely serious or terrible.
C．Fair or objective.	D．Long and boring.

Judging by the text ,the claims are centered on .

A．what should be taught in the American classroom

B．fair judgment of American education

C．American students’ performance on tests

D．an accurate picture of American colleges

The passage is written mainly to .

A．defend American education

B．show dissatisfaction with American education

C．explain why American students do badly on tests

D．offer advice on American education reform

Matt Haimovitz is 42 and a renowned cellist (大提琴手) in the world. He rushed into the classical music scene at the age of 12 after Itzhak Perlman, the famed violinist, heard him play.
But nothing in his family history explains where Haimovitz got his extraordinary talent. And that’s typical, Ellen Winner, a professor says.
“People are fascinated by these children because they don’t understand where their talent came from. You will see parents who say, ‘I wasn’t like this, and my husband wasn’t like this.’ It seems to sometimes just come out of the blue,” Winner says.
It’s not clear whether a prodigy’s （天才）brain is any different from the brains of other children, in part because there have been no study comparing the brains of prodigies to those of average people.
“But I believe that anything that shows up so early, without training, has got to be either a genetic or some other biological basis,” Winner says. “If a child suddenly at the age of 3 goes to the piano and picks out a tune and does it beautifully, that has to be because that child has a different brain.”
Children who are extremely gifted tend to be socially different, too, Winner says. “They feel like they can’t find other kids like themselves, so they feel strange, maybe even like a freak, and feel like they don’t have anybody to connect with. On the other hand, they also long to connect with other kids, and they can’t find other kids like themselves.”
As Haimovitz got older, he became frustrated. He wanted to play other kinds of music but felt constricted by the image and the expectations of the boy prodigy who played classical music and filled concert halls.
“When you start that early, you suddenly start to grow up in public, and I wanted to experiment,” Haimovitz says.
So he took his cello into punk rock clubs and coffee houses. He played Bach, Haydn and Hendrix. “My teacher was Leonard Rose, and we never played any 20th-century music. He didn’t like it. But once I was exposed to James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix, Miles Dewey Davis El and others, I couldn’t really turn back. I wanted to know more,” he says.
According to some parents, prodigies’ extraordinary talent.

A．comes unexpectedly	B．is inherited from parents
C．results from hard work	D．is trained in early times

Winner seems to agree to the fact that ____.

A．average people have their particular brains

B．biology is the base of a different brain

C．a prodigy’s brain is superior to those of others

D．genes play an important role in a prodigy

According to the text, gifted children are .

A．lonely

B．easy-going

C．innocent

D．social

The last paragraph is mainly about how Haimovitz was trying to .

A．build up his friendship	B．play different kinds of music
C．set up the image of a prodigy	D．perform classical music creatively

It’s five minutes before the exam and you are in a state of panic. You just have to pass it, but how? You didn’t even open the book the night before and you hear a voice in your head saying “Cheat, cheat ...” So what are you going to do, ignore it and fail or go for it? It’s a tough decision many students must make.
Most young people believe that cheating is wrong. However, they have cheated at least once in their high school years. So, why do they do it? Are they too lazy to study? Perhaps, it’s not as simple as that. According to some experts, one main reason why students cheat is that they see their friends get away with it. It’s an easy way out. They avoid embarrassment and their parents’ anger for not doing well in an exam. Another reason is that students think it’s OK to cheat if the subject isn’t important for their future career. What’s more, most students have to put up with the pressure of getting into university. They need to get good marks to carry on with their studies. This means that there will always be students who will do anything for a better mark.
It has never been easier to cheat than it is today. With all the technology available, students needn’t cheat by looking over their shoulders anymore. They use mobile phones to send answers to each other during a test. There is also the Internet. With hundreds of websites, students don’t have to worry because they can find lots of material which they can copy and use in projects. There are even tips on the art of cheating in exams.
Obviously, if you get caught cheating, you fail the exam or the subject. But it doesn’t really matter whether you get caught or not. What’s important is that it’s wrong. You mustn’t cheat because cheating is a lie. It deceives (欺骗) people into thinking you know more than you actually do. How can you be proud of something you have achieved through cheating? In the end, it’s not about deceiving your teachers and your parents, but about fooling yourself that you can do something you really can’t.
The tough decision that many students have to make before an exam is .

A．whether to cheat or not	B．what to do if they fail
C．how to cheat	D．how to keep calm

According to the experts, why do some students cheat?

A．The subjects are important for their future.	B．They are too lazy to study.
C．Cheating can help them please their parents.	D．Their friends ask them to cheat.

The worst thing about cheating is that .

A．you cheat others and yourself

B．you can get caught and fail

C．you give others a bad impression

D．your teacher will inform your parents

Which sentence best summarizes the whole text?

A．Cheating can be explained but not excused.

B．Technology has made cheating easier.

C．Students cheat to get into university.

D．Cheating is a social and psychological problem.

A．how people should keep fit	B．a healthy diet program
C．why people should keep fit	D．ways to lose weight

A．become shorter	B．become taller
C．become fatter	D．become thinner