Dear All，
Happy New Year! A list of important dates for this term is attached to this letter．
Interviews for our April and September Primary One classes will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday，18th&19th January．Now is the time to apply for admission to Peak School．
Children are expected to weal their uniforms this term．As is usual at this time of the year，mornings at the school are quite cold and l would suggest children wear their sweaters to school．As the temperature goes up during the day，children
tend to take off their outer clothes，so it is important that all sweatshirts are labeled(贴有标签)．
I have received a few requests from parents asking if their children can wear summer uniforms this term．I am of the view that all children in the school should follow the school policy and be dressed in the appropriate uniforms．In the longer term，a number of US at school have questioned the need to have a winter and summer uniform．Perhaps．with careful consideration，we can develop a uniform that will serve children for the whole academic year．
As the foggy(多雾)mornings start to appear，a number of parents have raised concerns over the safety of those children who walk to school． Our dark green uniforms are not particularly visible to motorists．Hopefully, the “Uniform Committee” to be set up this term will deal with this particular issue．I will keep parents informed of the channels through which views may be expressed in future newsletters．
We still have a “No Hat，No Play” rule on the playground，so children need to ensure that they have their sunhats in school at all times．
Yours sincerely，
P D Tunesi
PrincipalThe letter was most probably written ．
| A．when the school year ended |
| B．before the new term started |
| C．after kids were admitted to school |
| D．after kids were interviewed |
This letter was mainly written to ．
| A．teachers | B．visitors | C．students | D．parents |
What do we know about the present school uniforms?
| A．The school has solved the problems． |
B．They are invisible to motorist s on foggy days． |
| C．The school is considering changing them． |
| D．There is a winter and summer school uniform． |
We can infer from the text that ．
| A．the school has strict rules on uniforms |
| B．kids can’t have classes without wearing hats |
| C．parents are satisfied with the uniforms |
| D．most kids walk to school on foggy mornings |
If you saw another kid ride her bike too fast around a corner and fall down, you might ride your bike more slowly on that turn. Yes, we humans are very sensitive to others’ mistakes. And the same is true for other animals. Animals mess up all the time. They might eat poisonous leaves, fall off a tree or let their prey(猎物) slip away. By watching others fail, an animal can avoid making the same mistakes, thus improving its chance of survival.
Scientists suspected that one part of the brain helps animals process information about others’ errors. Cells in that part appear to become more active when a person sees someone else making a mistake. But researchers didn’t know whether individual cells in this part of the brain play different roles in detecting errors.
To investigate the brain’s response to errors in more detail, the researchers taught a game to two macaques, a type of monkey. One monkey could press a yellow or green button while the other watched. If the first monkey pressed the right button, the team gave both animals a treat. Every couple of rounds, the two monkeys switched roles. Meanwhile, the scientists monitored individual cells in the animal’s brains.
When the first monkey messed up the game by pressing the wrong button, a group of cells in the second monkey’s brain fired. But if the second monkey also made the wrong choice during its turn, some of the cells in that group didn’t respond. Those unresponsive cells reacted specifically to mistakes made by others, not to the monkey’s own mistakes.
Scientists believe other parts of the brain also might help people process information about another’s errors. “You start to think about this other person and see things from his angle.” Ellen de Bruijn told Science News. She studies the brain at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.According to Paragraph l, animals’ ability to learn from others’ mistakes .
| A．used to be ignored by humans |
| B．helps them to survive better |
| C．is being lost because of humans |
| D．ensures that they will never fail |
The underlined word “detecting” in Paragraph 2 probably means “”.
| A．correcting | B．making | C．drawing | D．sensing |
From the game the scientists taught to two macaques, we can see.
| A．animals can avoid the same mistakes |
| B．which part of the brain is more active |
| C．how the brain responds to mistakes |
| D．how the brain processes information |
In the experiment mentioned, those unresponsive cells are only sensitive to .
| A．others’ mistakes | B．the same buttons |
| C．one’s own mistakes | D．the monkey’s brain |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Animals can learn from mistakes like human beings. |
| B．An interesting experiment by scientists surprised us. |
| C．Monkeys can avoid making mistakes by learning from us. |
| D．The brain cells are always sensitive to others’ information. |
Have you ever wanted to achieve a goal and ended up doing tons of research on how to achieve the goal? As you learn more and more, it feels like you know less and less because when you learn something new, you find that there is a lot to know about those things.
Sometimes, people will get stuck in this needing to gather more and more information. There’s nothing wrong with learning a lot, but when you let learning get in the way of doing, you will never get going. When you never get going, you still never start having the things you want. Too much learning can paralyze you in terms of taking action.
A better way to go about achieving a goal is to gather some information and immediately start taking action on the information you have gathered. Many times you will feel unprepared, and that’s OK. The best way to learn is to take action and learn from the results you get from those actions.
When you are able to get past the fear of not being perfect and just take the first step, you will be further ahead than the majority of people who are still in the preparation stage. It’s good to be prepared especially in situations such as a pilot and crew making sure the plane is ready to take off, but over-preparation in trying to reach a goal won’t give you any results. The knowledge and skills you will need will be picked up along the way.
If a baby wants to learn how to walk, it will never be able to do it by sitting there and analyzing how to walk. The best way for a baby to walk is to actually stand up and start walking. Sure it may fall, but with every fall, it will learn what is working and what is not and adjust to it. By doing this over and over again, it will eventually learn to walk. This is the approach you need to take when you want to achieve your goals as well. It works. Learning more is great but if all you’re doing is learning and not taking action, it’s time to change. Just take the first step! The author thinks that learning __________.
| A．stops us from doing things |
| B．prevents us from achieving a goal |
| C．should be combined with practice |
| D．means gathering more and more information |
According to the passage, we'd better learn from_____.
| A．our experiences |
| B．adequate preparations |
| C．other people who have succeeded |
| D．the information we have gathered |
The passage implies that the more we learn,_____.
| A．the less we will know |
| B．the more we want to explore |
| C．the more likely we are to succeed |
| D．the better preparations we will make |
What does the underlined word “it” (in the last paragraph) refer to?
| A．Walking | B．Falling | C．Learning | D．Analyzing |
Why does the author mention how a baby learns to walk?
| A．To prove another point is wrong. |
| B．To encourage readers to change. |
| C．To introduce a learning approach. |
| D．To support a conclusion. |
About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.
He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and—WHUMP! —it hit the Jag’s shiny black side door! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, seized the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, “What was that all about and who are you? That’s my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it? ”
“Please, mister, please. . . I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! ” begged the youngster. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop! ” Tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car. “It’s my brother, mister, ” he said. “He rolled of the curb (路沿) and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. ”Sobbing, the boy asked the businessman, “ Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me. ”
Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to the black, shining 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE—a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you.How did the driver reflect firstly when he found the boy throwing a brick on his car?
| A．Surprised | B．Angry | C．Strange | D．Sad |
The boy threw a brick at the businessman’s car because _________.
| A．the businessman drove at a high speed |
| B．he envied the brand-new car very much |
| C．he wanted to ask for some money |
| D．he wanted to get help from the driver |
Which of the following is the right order of the story?
a. The younger brother threw a brick at Josh’s car.
b. The elder brother fell out of his wheelchair.
c. The younger brother begged Josh for help.
d. Josh lifted the elder brother back into his wheelchair.
e. Josh shouted at the younger brother.
| A．b, a, e, c, d | B．a, c, d, b, e |
| C．b, a, c, e, d | D．a, c, b, e, d |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Josh would accept the money from the kids. |
| B．The two kids were Josh’s neighbors. |
| C．Josh was a kind-hearted man. |
| D．Josh’s new car broke down easily. |
According to the passage, the last sentence means ________.
| A．trying to get ready for the trouble in your future life |
| B．driving fast in a neighborhood street is dangerous |
| C．trying to be more understanding seeing others in trouble |
| D．protecting oneself from being hurt |
Whether you prefer burning the midnight oil or going to bed early so you can get up at the break of dawn depends on your genes , according to experts.
I jump out of bed each morning, eager to start an active day. But I can hear my neighbour’s alarm clock ringing non-stop every morning and I doubt he gets to work on time.
A lot of noise comes from his flat in the evening. He’s happy to stay up watching TV till after midnight, while I go to bed early and try to sleep.
Well, it might not be his fault after all. I’m called ‘a lark (百灵鸟)’ and my neighbour ‘an owl (猫头鹰)’.
We all have inside ‘clocks’ in the brain to control all kinds of bodily functions and it is reset every day by light. These inside clocks run to a different schedule in ‘larks’ and ‘owls’. If you have a fast clock, you like to do things early, and if you have a slow clock, you like to do things late.
Because we live in a 24/7 world, scientists believe it’s important to understand a person’s ‘chronotype’ – the time of the day when they function the best. It could help us lead a healthier life.
A US professor has studied sleeping patterns and thinks work times should be changed and made more individual to fit in with our chronotypes.
And he has advice for those who can’t choose their working hours: “If that’s not possible, we should be more careful about light exposure”, says the professor. “You should try to go to work not in a covered vehicle but on a bike. The minute the sun sets we should use things that have no blue light, like computer screens and other electronic devices.”How is the passage mainly developed?
| A．By presenting and solving problems. |
| B．By explaining the cause-effect relationship. |
| C．By giving examples and drawing a conclusion. |
| D．By analyzing differences and providing advice. |
We can learn from the passage that the author’s neighbour ______.
| A．almost always gets to work on time |
| B．has to work deep into the night every day |
| C．is passive during the day but energetic at night |
| D．is easily woken up by his alarm clock in the morning |
The underlined part “24/7” in Paragraph 6 most probably means “______”.
| A．stressful | B．digital |
| C．confusing | D．changing |
Things with blue light are not recommended after sunset because blue light ______.
| A．will make you nervous |
| B．may cause sleep problems |
| C．will reduce your work effect |
| D．may make you sleepy |
Penguin Group
Ordinary People Change The World!
Penguin Group and TFK have partnered together to help teachers show their students how they can make the world a better place. Building the encouraging lives of historic figures including Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein, this attractive program takes a look at the real life stories of ordinary young people who grew up to become extraordinary adults!
Download the classroom poster, student worksheets and teacher’s guide provided below.
Classroom Poster : You can be a Hero, too. Classroom Poster
Teachers Guide : Ordinary People Series Teacher’s Guide
Student Worksheet : Who’s Your Hero? Worksheet
Student Worksheet : Hero Matchup Worksheet
PGA Junior League Golf
It Takes a Team!
TIME For Kids and PGA Junior League Golf have developed a program all about using teamwork to reach goals. Download this poster to get your students involved in the power and fun of teamwork and cooperation.
Encourage your class to go to timeforkids.com/teampoll and take the poll!
Classroom Poster : It Takes a Team!
International Fund for Animal Welfare(IFAW)
Cats, Dogs, & Us
TIME for Kids has partnered with IFAW to present an educational animal awareness program called Cats, Dogs, & Us. This project is sure to attract and engage students with discussion starters, in-class activity ideas, a video viewing guide, and many other in-depth and fun resources. Preview IFAW’s Cats, Dogs, & Us video at http://ifaw.org/cats-dogs-and-us
Classroom Poster : Cats, Dogs, & Us Classroom Poster
Classroom Poster / Teachers Guide : Cats, Dogs, & Us Teachers Guide Full View
Teachers Guide : Cats, Dogs, & Us Teachers Guide Pages
Special Olympics
Special Olympics Project UNIFY®
in TIME and Special Olympics have teamed up to promote understanding of people’s differences in the classroom, school and community. Special Olympics Project UNIFY® is an education-based project that uses sports and education programs to activate young people to develop communities where all youth are agents of change-promoting respect, dignity and support for people with mental disabilities.
TFK Extra : in TIME Project UNIFY® Student Guide
Teachers Guide : in TIME Project UNIFY® Teachers GuideWho are the materials mainly intended for?
| A．Teachers. | B．Parents. |
| C．Students. | D．Headmasters. |
What is the purpose of “Penguin Group”?
| A．To train students to be ordinary people. |
| B．To encourage students to learn from great people. |
| C．To provide teaching materials for history teachers. |
| D．To offer students different kinds of reading materials. |
Which of the following is designed for students to learn to cooperate?
| A．IFAW | B．Penguin Group |
| C．PGA Junior League Golf | D．Special Olympics |
To know how to help a slow classmate better, you’d better go to “______”.
| A．timeforkids.com/teampoll |
| B．Hero Matchup Worksheet |
| C．http://ifaw.org/cats-dogs-and-us |
| D．In TIME Project UNIFY® Student Guide |