Teachers say buying homework answers online is not many in schools, but an interview with school students shows only 10% are willing to finish their holiday homework by themselves.
Their main complaint is that the homework is too much for them to finish.
“As far as ！ know, many of my students have to go to all kinds of training classes during the holiday. These lake away much of their time for doing homework.”
But as for the parents who are sending their children to these training classes they also say they’ve got no choice. Here’s a view from a student’s father.
"All the other kids in the neighborhood are learning extra things. You know parents sometimes compare their kids. I’m afraid my kid will be less successful than the others in the future."
In order to do with this situation of students copying each other’s homework, some schools have even dropped the idea of holiday homework. Instead, they organize some interesting outdoor activities.
Educational experts say students love to learn through games or activities that they can be a part of‘ They suggest schools drop the current (目前的）homework format (设计)，and turn to homework that encourages kids to get involved (参与).This way, they would no longer want to copy from each other or buy answers through the Internet.
Answer the following questions according to what you read.Why do students copy or buy homework answers?
What do students spend much time on during the holiday?
Most parents want their kids to be successful, don’t they?
How do some schools deal with the problem of students copying homework?
List a kind of your favorite holiday homework according to the passage.
Most dictionaries will tell you a number of things about a language. There are three important things. These three things are spelling, pronunciation and meanings.
First, a dictionary will tell you the spelling of a world. If you are not sure about the spelling of a word, you can try to find the correct spelling in a dictionary. Words are listed in alphabetical order—a,b,c and so on. For example, on a dictionary page the word “poor”—p,o,o,r – comes before “poverty”—p,o,v,e,r,t,y—and the word “poverty” comes before “ power”—p,o,w,e,r. The words are always given in an alphabetical order.
The second thing, a dictionary will tell you pronunciation. Most give phonetic, or sound, alphabet. The phonetic spelling will tell you how a word is pronounced. There are a few different phonetic alphabets. Many dictionaries use the International Phonetic Alphabet to show pronunciation.
The third thing, a dictionary will tell you the meaning of words. You can look up a word and find out what it means. Many words have more than one meaning, and a good dictionary will tell you all of the word’s meaning. For example, in English the common word “get” has over 20 different meanings.In the passage, which of the following is among the three important things?
| A．How to write a word well. |
| B．How to use a word. |
| C．How to make a sentence. |
| D．How to read a word correctly. |
Of the three words "remove", " remote" and "remount", _____ in a dictionary.
| A．"remote" comes first and "remove" comes last |
| B．"remove" first and "remote" last |
| C．"remote" first and "remove" last |
| D．"remove" first and "remount" last |
Many words have ______.
| A．several meanings |
| B．few meanings |
| C．one meaning |
| D．no meaning |
A better dictionary can tell you _____.
A. more of word's pronunciation
B. more of the word's meanings
C more of the word's spelling.
D more of grammarPhonetic alphabets are used to show _____.
| A．spelling | B．handwriting |
| C．meanings | D．pronunciation |
“Did you go skating a lot last year?” I asked. Jen shook her head and looked at me. Finally she said, “On Thanksgiving, Mom and I always went to visit some friends who lived on a farm. I especially loved seeing their big turkeys.”
Until then, I didn’t think about how Jen felt. She had a new stepfather (继父) and stepbrother, and had a new town and home, too. Jen and her mom used to live near a lake where Dad and I went every summer, and she had to move up north with us. She had more changes than me.
Jen seemed sad, so I was busy thinking of some ways to cheer her up on Thanksgiving. I told her my plan and she was excited. First we made a huge snowball, and then a small snowball. Then we built a wall behind the big snowball as a tail. Jen mixed some food coloring with water, saying, “We can spray (喷) colors on the tail.” Our snow turkey had a red, blue, green, and yellow tail. We were so busy that we didn’t notice our parents come outside. Dad found a hat for the snow turkey, and Mom wrapped her scarf around its neck.
“Thanks for cheering Jen up,” Mom said. “You’re a good brother, and you always come up with great ideas.’’ A happy feeling spread through me. I began to understand how much she cared about everyone in our new family.What did Jen do on Thanksgiving in the past?
| A．She went skating with her friends. |
| B．She went to the farm with her mother. |
| C．She stayed at home with her mother. |
| D．She made snow turkeys with her mother. |
What can we learn from the second paragraph?
| A．Jen lived near a lake in the past. |
| B．The writer was Jen’s stepfather. |
| C．Jen moved up north for studying. |
| D．The writer just moved out of his old house. |
How many people are there in Jen’s new family?
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
Which of the following is the right order?
①made a small snowball
②found a hat
③made a huge snowball
④sprayed colors on the tail
⑤wrapped a scarf around the neck
⑥built a wall behind the big snowball
| A．①③⑥④②⑤ | B．①②③④⑤⑥ |
| C．③①⑥④②⑤ | D．③①⑥②④⑤ |
What can we infer (推断) from the underlined sentence?
| A．Jen’s stepmother was not friendly to the writer. |
| B．Jen didn’t feel happy after moving here. |
| C．Jen’s mother did a lot to make Jen happy. |
| D．The writer felt happy because his stepmother liked him. |
Are you learning English and do you need help with grammar? Do you want to learn new vocabulary or slang (俚语)? Well, you can find help online with these top 5 free English as a Second Language websites.
Dave’s ESL Café
This is a complete website that can help you learn and practice English. You can read many stories and do a lot of exercises to test your self. You c an also post questions and answers onto the help center.
About.com
You can get free English courses from About.com and you’ll get regular e-mails that will help you learn English.
The Classroom by Voice of America
You can watch videos and listen to news stories to improve your listening and vocabulary skills. You can also hear English words and their meanings.
Heinle’s Newbury House Dictionary of American English
Do you need to find the definition of a word? Use this online dictionary to find simple and clear definitions, as well as example sentences and idioms (习语). You can also find different cultural facts.
Perso nal English Portal (门户网站) on YouTube
You can watch this series of videos on YouTube to develop your listening skills. You can also do a search for “learn English” on YouTube to find other videos. This is a good way to practice English and have fun.If you want to do English exercises and test yourself, you can go to.
| A．About.com | B．YouTube |
| C．Dave’s ESL Cafe | D．the Classroom by Voice of America |
You canat the help center on the website Dave’s ESL Cafe.
| A．watch videos and pictures |
| B．listen to news and music |
| C．watch movies and matches |
| D．read questions and answers |
About.com often sends e-mails to its visitors to help them.
| A．get relaxed | B．have fun |
| C．become famous | D．learn English |
The underlined word “definition” means “” in Chinese.
| A．来源 | B．释义 |
| C．意图 | D．背景 |
From Heinle’s Newbury House Dictionary of American English, you can find .
| A．cultural information | B．online libraries |
| C．interesting news | D．many storybooks |
Autistic (患自闭症的) children may learn better from robots than from human beings, according to a study at a school in Birmingham.
Two robots like humans, Max and Ben, have been helping teach autistic children at Sutcliffe Primary School since March last year. The school is the first in the UK to try the new way.
Ian Lowe, the head teacher, said, “The robots have no feelings, so autistic children find that they are less terrible than their teachers.”
He added, “They are really cute-looking. Autistic children are hard to communicate with adults and other children, but for some reasons they like these robots.
“Some children are not able to communicate with others. But they come into school and start to communicate through the robots.”
The robots are knee-high and move like children. The school is using them to teach phonics (声学) and play cards or memory and imitation (模仿) games with children from five to ten.
Dr Guldberg said, “We do many different activities with the robots acting as a model (模特) for the children’s behavior. It is amazing to see how interested and concentrated the children can be when they are working with the robots. It can be very difficult to get autistic children to concentrate.”
He added, “If you can meet the needs of autistic children, you can meet the needs of all children. And you know, when people feel safe and interested, they learn much better.”According to Ian Lowe, teachers arein autistic children’s eyes.
| A．kind | B．serious |
| C．terrible | D．strict |
Which is TRUE about Max and Ben?
| A．They are robots with feelings. |
| B．The can move like teachers. |
| C．They are interested in autistic children. |
| D．They can make autistic children concentrate. |
The school uses the two robots to teach the following things EXCEPT______.
| A．phonics | B．playing cards |
| C．imitation games | D．sports games |
The best title for the passage is________.
| A．Robots help autistic children learn |
| B．Two cute-looking robots |
| C．How to help autistic children learn |
| D．Autistic children can learn |
Dear daughter
You are a wonderful person and your mother and I love you. It will not be long before you leave school to make your way in the world. Can I give you some friendly advice? Here are some things that you should never do.
1. Never get upset with your looks.
We think you look great. Please be happy with the person you are and the body you have. Eat well, take exercise and be healthy. Some girls become upset because they try to lose weight or get the perfect shape. You look fine.
2. Never spend money more than your income (收入).
Never spend money more than your income and save a little every month. Don’t borrow others’ money if possible.
3. Never look down on yourself.
You are great of achieving great things so believe in yourself. When things go badly, never stop believing. Some girls get upset and lose confidence, and then all kinds of problems can follow.
4. Never give less than your best.
We are very proud of what you have succeeded so far. You should be proud too. Keep doing well. Keep trying your hardest at everything you do.
5. Never forget that your parents love you.
Whatever happens in life, your family will still be your family. Whatever difficulties you have, you can always talk to us and we will try to help. We are here for you.
Love
DadAccording to the father, some girls become upset because they.
| A．aren’t healthy enough | B．don’t make enough money |
| C．look down on themselves | D．try to have the perfect shape |
When someone gets upset and loses confidence,.
| A．nobody will love him |
| B．he can’t get good income |
| C．all problems will follow him |
| D．his parents won’t believe in him anymore |
The father thinks his daughter has been a person.
| A．happy | B．successful |
| C．perfect | D．hard-working |
The father writes this letter to his daughter in order to tell her .
| A．that her parents love her |
| B．what she should never do |
| C．how she can become successful |
| D．that her parents will always help her |