Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development．Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for kindergarten．
There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school
, less likely to end up in Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to prison．
There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．
Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．
| A．to develop the children’s communication |
| B．to give orphaned children good care and education |
| C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten |
| D．to train the children formally and regularly |
According to the studies, which of the following is True?
| A．Children with good early education may have a rich life． |
| B．The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life． |
| C．Children without early education can do well at school． |
| D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children． |
The underlined part suggests that _________．
| A．the early childhood education is helpless to the child’s grade |
| B．it is good for the young children to receive early education |
| C．the early education can help the children follow the grade |
| D．the younger the children are, the cleverer they will be |
The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．
| A．puzzling | B．negative | C．indifferent | D．approving |
The main idea of the last passage is that __________．
| A．the early childhood education is very necessary |
| B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot |
| C．environment is the most important to life’s success |
| D．better ways should be found to help the poor children |
It' s 2035. You have a job, a family and you' re about 40 yews old I Welcome to your future life.
Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the mirror. "Turn red," you say. Your shirt changes from sky blue to deep red. Tiny preprogrammed electronics (智能电子元件) are rearranged in your shirt to change its color. Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe you' re 40. You look much younger. With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live to be 150 years old. You' re not even middle-aged!
As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal into a bowl, you hear, "To lose weight, you shouldn' t eat that," from your shoes. They read the tiny electronic code(电子源码) on the cereal box to find out the nutrition details. You decide to listen to your shoes. "Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?" A list of possible foods appears on the counter as the kitchen checks its food supplies.
" Ready for your trip to space?" you ask your son and daughter. In 2005 only specially trained astronauts went into space — and very few of them. Today anyone can go to space for day trips or longer vacations. Your best friend even works in space. Handing your children three strawberries each, you add, "The doctor said you need these for space travel. " Thanks to medical advances, vaccination shots (防疫针) are a thing of the past. Ordinary foods contain specific vaccines. With the berries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door.
It' s time for you to go to work. Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors. " My office. Autopilot," you command. Your car drives itself down the road and moves smoothly into traffic on the highway. You sit back and unroll your e-newspaper. The latest news downloads and fills the viewer. Looking through the pages, you watch the news as video film rather than read it.
1. What changes the color of your shirt?
A. The mirror. B. The shirt itself. C. The counter. D The medicine.
2. How do the shoes know that you shouldn't eat the breakfast cereal?
A. By pouring the breakfast into a bowl. B. By listening to the doctor' s advice.
C. By testing the food supplies in the kitchen; D. By checking the nutrition details of the food.
3 The strawberries the children eat serve as ________
A. breakfast B. lunch C. vaccines D. nutrition
4. How is the text organized?
A. In order of time. B. In order of frequency.
C. In order of preference. D. In order of importance.
Some say everyday miracles(奇迹) are predestined(注定的)----the right time for the appointed meeting. And it can happen anywhere.
In 2001, 11-year-old Kevin Stephan was a bat boy for his younger brother's Little League team in Lancaster, New York. It was an early evening in late July. Kevin was standing on the grass away from the plate, where another youngster was warming up for the next game. Swinging his bat back and forth, giving it all the power an elementary school kid could give. The boy brought the bat back hard and hit Kevin in the chest. His heart stopped.
When Kevin fell to the ground, the mother of one of the players rushed out of the stands to his aid. Penny Brown hadn't planned to be there that day, but at the last minute, her shift(换班)at the hospital had been changed to see her son’s performance. She was given the night off. Penny bent over the senseless boy, his face already starting to turn blue, and giving CPR, breathing into his mouth and giving chest compressions. And he revived in the end.
After his recovery, he became a volunteer junior firefighter, learning some of the emergency first-aid techniques that had saved his life. He studied hard in school and was saving money for college by working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in his spare time.
Kevin, now 18, was working in the kitchen when he heard people screaming, customers in confusion, employees rushing toward a table. He hurried into the main room and saw a woman there, her face turning blue, her hands at her throat. She was choking.
Quickly Kevin stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her and clasped his hands. Then, using skills he'd first learned in Scouts. The food that was trapped in the woman's throat was freed. The color began to return to her face.
"The food was stuck. I couldn't breathe," she said. She thought she was dying. "I was very frightened."
Who was the woman?
Penny Brown.
1. The author wrote the passage to show us that_______.
A. miracles are predestined and they can happen anywhere
B. whoever helps you in trouble will get a reward one day
C. God will help those who give others a helping hand
D. miracles won’t come without any difficulty sometimes
2. Which of the following statements is True of Kevin Stephan?
A. He was hit on the face by a boy and almost lost his life
B. He was a volunteer junior firefighter, teaching the players first-aid skills
C. He worked part-time in a local restaurant to save money for college
D. He saved Penny Brown though he didn’t really know how to deal with food choke
3. Why did Penny Brown change her shift and was given the night off that night?
A. She was invited to give the players directions
B. She volunteered to give medical services
C. She was a little worried about his son’s safety
D. She came to watch her son’s game and cheered him
4. When Kevin knew the woman was Penny Brown, probably he first felt _____.
A. happy B. surprised C. sad D. worried
Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis, cricket — anything with a round ball, I was useless," he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went hiking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon. ,
The following year, he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway' s School of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about Ridgway 's, cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, then decided that this would be his future.
In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition (探险) towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite (冻疮) , ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled(雪撬) up and over rocky ice.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he' s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.
Next October; Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilometre journey that has never been completed on skis.
1. What change happened to Saunders after he was 15 years old?
A. He became good at most sports. B. He began to build up his body.
C. He joined a sports team. D. He made friends with a runner.
2. The underlined word "exploits" (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to ____.
A. journeys B. researches C. adventures D. operations
3. Which of the following is the correct order of the events that happened to Saunders?
a. He ran his first marathon. b. He skied alone in the North Pole.
c. He rode his bike in a forest. d. He planned an adventure to the South Role.
A. acdb B. cdab C. acbd D. cabd
4. What does the story mainly tell us about Saunders?
A. He is a success in sports. . B. He is the best British skier.
C. He is Ridgway' s favorite student. D. He is a good instructor at school.
第二部分阅读理解（共25小题：每小题2分，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、 D和E）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
As Christmas approaches, towns and cities around the UK are preparing for a very British celebration．
The switching on of a town' s Christmas lights has become an increasingly competitive event over the years, with some councils （会议） spending lots of money to attract A-list famous persons to do the honors．
The American singer Mariah Carey flew to London in November to switch on the lights at one of the city's biggest shopping centers, while Jim Carrey lighted Oxford Street and promoted his new film at the same time．
Traffic in the historic English city of Bath was brought to a halt as thousands of fans crowded to see the Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage conducted the switching-on ceremony．
Some celebrations do not go according to the plan, as was seen in Birmingham when dozens of people were injured as the famous British boy band JLS took the stage．
Not all towns can afford to bring in an internationally-known star, so many switchon ceremonies are handled by ex-TV talent show competitors．
Pantomime （圣诞童话剧） stars are also much in demand at this time of year, as they aim to promote their Christmas shows．
But if your council hasn't got the budget to bring in a famous face, what are the cheaper alternatives?
A town in the west of England chose to let the public decide by giving their suggestions online．The result: a 21-year-old DIY store worker was given the honor．
"I was amazed and delighted to be asked," said Scott Parker, "it's just a special gift and not something I'd, ever thought about before．"
1. According to the passage, what kind of special celebration can you see at Christmas in UK?
A．People meeting their favorite stars and getting special gifts．
B．Well-known persons invited to make a performance in public．
C．A-list persons lighting Oxford Street and promoting their films．
D．Switching-on ceremonies that are conducted by honored persons．
2. The underlined word "halt" in Paragraph 4 probably means "______" ．
A．start B．stop C．ban D．run
3. Which of the followings can be learned from the passage?
A．Mariah Carey is invited to Bath to switch on the lights．
B．Pantomime stars rarely appear at events like this．
C．Not all those who switch on the Christmas lights can make lots of money．
D．Average persons can not get a chance to switch on the Christmas lights．
4. The following are famous persons EXCEPT _____．
A．Scott Parker B．Mariah Carey
C．Nicolas Cage D．Jim Carrey
Businesses are expected to cut spending dramatically through much of 2009. A number of economists, including those National City and Wachovia, don’t expect business investment, which make up about one – tenth of US economic activity, to decline through 2009. According to a survey of 679 chief financial officers by Duke University and CFO Magazine this month, US businesses expect to cut capital spending by more than 10% in the next 12 months, a sharp decrease from September, when the CFOs expected business investment to increase slightly.
John Graham, finance professor at Duke and director of the survey, says businesses are finding ways to repair existing machinery and buildings rather than replace equipment or move. They likely won’t increase their spending until they see concrete evidence that the economy is improving.
Those planning meeting for late winter and early spring are either buying fewer or less – expensive items, or they’re not buying at all. One client who usually spends about $ 80,000 on a conference each year is spending half that. Robert Coen, director of forecasting at media – analysis firm Magna, predicts a 4.5% drop in ad spending to $ 259 billion in 2009 on the heels of a 3.2% drop in 2008. “A recovery in US ad budgets will probably not get underway until 2010,” he says. Another negative for 2009: There aren’t any big ad – spending events such as the Olympics or national elections.
Declining business spending will hurt a number of industries but will be especially tough for the manufacturing sector. Nearly two – thirds of manufacturers expect revenue(税收) to be unchanged or lower in 2009 than 2008, a survey from the Institute for Supply Management found.
1.According to John Graham, how did businesses to deal with the economy crisis?
A. They are spending less.
B. By increasing their business spending sharply.
C. By replacing old equipment with the new equipment.
D. By moving into the cheaper offices.
2.Why are the managers buying less – expensive items for their meetings?
A. To save money themselves.
B. To cut down on expenses and save for the companies.
C. To see the concrete evidence that the economy is on the mend.
D. To save money so they spend more on advertisements.
3.It can be inferred that in a year Olympics are held, many companies _________.
A. contribute more money to the poor B. give the participants money
C. spend more money on advertising D. cut down on advertising budgets
4.The best title for the passage is ____________.
A. Predictions about Buying New Equipment in 2009
B. Predictions about Conference Planning in 2009
C. Predictions about Advertising Spending in 2009
D. Predictions for Business Spending in 2009