Recently, online high schools in America have sparked (激发) a debate about whether or not taxpayers’ money should be used to support online education. Online schools receive the same amount of funding as all other public schools, even though they don’t have to pay for rent or school equipment. States should use their educational funds to improve education at real schools, not to support online programs.
Some students only use online classes to supplement their school work. They benefit from the social experience of a traditional high school, while still taking online courses.
However, about 90 thousand students in America receive their education only from online schools. 50 thousand of these students take courses at Florida Virtual School, the largest online school in the country. While this method of schooling helps students who live in remote regions, most school systems are upset that they are losing more students each year to these online programs.
Although online learning allows children to work at their own pace, these online schools have only one teacher per several hundred students. Often, teachers can’t give struggling students the help they need as they are unable to talk face-to-face with them, to find exactly what they’re having difficulty with.
Additionally, even though online schooling accommodates (顾及) students who live in more remote states, students in online programs may suffer in social situations because they will not learn valuable communication skills from their schooling. Similar to students who are home schooled, those who take only online classes won’t learn social etiquette (礼节), and will be treated differently by their peers.
Online schooling might be useful for places where there are not enough students for a real school, such as agricultural regions, but states should only spend taxpayers’ money on online schools in extreme cases.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Whether students should study at online schools. |
| B．Whether online schools should be allowed to exist. |
| C．Whether taxpayers should pay for online schools. |
| D．Whether traditional schools should be replaced. |
According to the passage, online schooling _____.
| A．is helpful to students living in remote regions |
| B．allows students to work together |
| C．makes it possible for students to get immediate help |
| D．develops students’ critical thinking |
According to Paragraph 5, the author worries that students at online schools _____.
| A．might lose interest in learning |
| B．would play online games |
| C．could not receive teachers’ help |
| D．could not become fully developed |
What is the author’s attitude?
| A．Taxpayers should not pay for online schools at all. |
| B．Taxpayers should pay more for online schools than real schools. |
| C．Taxpayers’ money should be spent on online schools conditionally. |
| D．Taxpayers should support online schools in different ways. |
Do you sometimes put off doing your homework on a school night to watch TV？A new study says that middle school students who watch TV or play video games during the week do worse in school．The study also says that watching TV and playing video games on weekends don’t affect school performance that much．
“They could watch a lot on weekends and it didn’t seem to connect with doing worse in school，”said Dr．Iman Sharif of Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York．The study appears in the October issue of Pediatrics．Researchers drew their conclusions after surveying（调查）4，500 students in New Hampshire and Vermont middle schools．
To reach their findings，researchers didn’t look at grades or test scores．Instead，they asked students to rate their own performance on a scale ranging from “excellent’’ to “below”．
Other studies have found a connection between kids’ ability to learn and the amount of TV they watch．One study even found that kids with televisions in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than kids without them．
What should fl kid do？The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends（推荐）that kids watch TV no more than two hours and that televisions be kept out of children’s rooms．Weekend viewing should be kept to four hours at most each day．
73．What could be the best title for the passage？
A．Study Says Students Shouldn’t Watch TV on a School Night
B．Watching TV Has an Effect on Children
C．Students Shouldn’t Watch TV
D．There Is a Connection Between Watching TV and Study
74．According to Dr．Iman Sharif，．
A．watching TV on weekends affects school performance
B．the less students watch TV on weekends，the better they do at school
C．watching TV on weekends doesn’t affect school performance
D．the more students watch TV on weekends, the worse they do at school
75．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？
A．Researchers did the survey by studying the students’ test scores．
B．Students’ learning ability has nothing to do with the amount of TV they watch．
C．Children with televisions in their rooms do better at school than those without them．
D．Children shouldn’t watch TV for more than four hours each day at weekends．
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70．Which position is most suitable for a retired person？
A．Part—time shop assistant．
B．Teaching assistant in Hania’s Playschool．
C．Weekend work in Rubberlast Group Ltd．
D．Teaching assistant in the University of Bristo1．
71．If you have good computer skills and recently graduated from university（English
degree），which jobs can you apply for？
A．Jobs 1，2 and 7． B．Jobs 3，4 and 6．
C．Jobs 4，6 and 7． D．Jobs 2，3 and 5．
72．Which is the only position that has a formal educational requirement？
A．Full—time secretary at United Business Ltd．
B．Home delivery representative for Yorkshire Post．
C．Teaching assistant at Hania’s Playschoo1．
D．University positions at the University of Bristo1．
In formal paragraphs you will sometimes see a sentence at the end of the paragraph which summarizes the information that has been presented．This is the concluding sentence．The concluding sentence is similar to the topic sentence．They are both general sentences．The concluding sentence can be written in two ways：
1．State the topic sentence in different words．
2．Summarize the main points in the paragraph．
You can understand concluding sentences with this example．Consider a hamburger that you can buy at a fast—food restaurant．A hamburger has a top bun，meat，cheese，lettuce（生菜），and other elements in the middle of the hamburger，and a bottom bun．Note how the top bun and the bottom bun are very similar．The top bun，in a way，is like a topic sentence，and the bottom bun is like the concluding sentence．Both buns “hold” the meat，onions，and so on．Similarly，the topic sentence and concluding sentence “hold” the supporting sentences in the paragraph．Let’s see how a concluding sentence might look in our sample paragraph about Wheaton：
My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features．First，it is noted for the Wheaton River，which is very wide and beautiful．Also，on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill，which is unusual because it is very steep．The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree．This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old．These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place．
Notice how the concluding sentence，“these three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place”，summarizes the information in the paragraph．Notice also how the concluding sentence is similar to，but not exactly the same as，the topic sentence．
Usually，we begin a concluding sentence with “in conclusion’’ or “in summary”．Remember，not all paragraphs contain concluding sentences，especially if the paragraph is very short．However，if your paragraph is very long，it is a good idea to use a concluding sentence．
65．What does the author mainly intend to tell us in this passage？
A．How to write a concluding sentence．
B．What the top bun and the bottom bun are like．
C．Why his hometown is a famous place．
D．To use a concluding sentence in our writing．
66．Why does the author write about a hamburger？
A．Because he can buy a hamburger at a fast—food restaurant．
B．Because a hamburger has a top bun and a bottom bun．
C．Because the top bun and the bottom bun are very similar．
D．Because he wants to explain his main idea in another way．
67．The underlined word “noted” probably means“ ”
A．written down B．famous C．noticed D．recorded
68．Which of the following statements is TRUE about the passage？
A．A sentence at the end of a paragraph is the concluding sentence．
B．All paragraphs contain concluding sentence．
C．It is a good idea to use a concluding sentence in a long paragraph．
D．The concluding sentence is the same as the to pic sentence．
69．The underlined phrase “These three landmarks” here refers to．
A．the Wheaton River，Wheaton Hill and my hometown
B．natural features，the Wheaton River and the Wheaton Hill
C．the Wheaton River，Wheaton Hill and the Big Old Tree
D．my hometown，Wheaton Hill and the Big Old Tree
Jean Francis Grander was perhaps the most daring man who ever lived and perhaps the craziest．His greatest desire was to entertain and amaze people．He measured his success by the number of people who fainted dead away after witnessing his death-defying（极其惊险的）feats．
Grander，a blond Frenchman，toured North America in 1850，billing himself as “Blondin”．Blondin’s gift was excellent balance．This talent．coupled with a great desire to surprise and shock his audiences，made Blondin an incomparable performer．
His most famous feat was walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope．Blondin’s “stage” consisted of a rope tied 1，100 feet across the falls．The rope hung some 160 feet above the rocks and boiling water below the falls．
Simply walking across the falls was not exciting enough for Blondin；he later had to ride across on a bicycle．Then，in another performance，he calmly walked across blindfolded（被蒙住的眼睛）．At still another time，he carried his terrified manager on his back and walked over the falls before thousands of breathless audience．
But Blondin was undoubtedly his own worst critic．He was never satisfied with hfs act and always tried to attract his audience with his balancing feat．One of his most daring walks was made in the darkness of night．Blondin became so famous on his tour through North America that his last performance was attended by an admiring Prince of Wales．
60．Why does the author think that Grander may be the craziest man in the world？
A．Because he enjoyed entertaining people by terrifying them．
B．Because many people died after seeing his feats．
C．Because his greatest desire was to entertain people．
D．Because he was an incomparable performer．
61．What does the underlined word “feat” in this passage mean？
A．excellent performance B．tour
C．famous event D．victory
6 2．What can we infer from the first sentence in the last paragraph？
A．Blondin was very content with his own performance．
B．Blondin was not very very good at criticism．
C．Blondin never thought that his performance was satisfy．
D．Blondin didn’t like criticism．
63．The author’S attitude towards“Blondin”is．
A．critical B．admiring C．negative D．depressed
64．Which of the following can NOT be drawn from the passage?
A．Blondin’s success had something to do with his character．
B．In order to be Successful，one should be a critic of himself．
C．Blondin conquered his audience simply by his talent．
D．People can get pleasure from a terrifying experience．
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
During my elementary school years，I used to compare my mom with my best friend Tiffany’s mom．
Tiffany’s mom always gave her lots of money to buy the most fashionable clothes and favorite food．Her morn allowed her to do anything she liked．I really admired Tiffany．My mom didn’t give me much pocket money and she always told me that I should behave my self．1 was annoyed with her．
Whenever I didn’t get what 1 wanted，1 would complain to my mom，Tiffany’s mom would give her that!1 wish she were my mom．”Every time，my mom would calmly say “Poor Tiffany”．
I couldn’t understand her．“She shouldn’t be feeling sorry for Tiffany!”I thought．“She should be feeling sorry for me．”
One day，I couldn’t help saying to Morn，”Poor Tiffany？Lucky Tiffany! She gets everything she wants! Why do you feel sorry for her？”I burst into tears．
My mom sat down next to me and said softly , “Yes，I do feel sorry for her．I have been teaching you a lesson that she will never be taught．”
I looked up at her．“What are you talking about？”
Mom said with care，“One day she will really want something．Maybe she’11 find out that she can’t have it．Her mother won’t always be around to give her money，and what’s more，money can’t buy everything．”
She continued，“I have taught you valuable lessons by not giving you everything you want．You’11 know how to look for bargains and save money，but she won’t．You’11 under stand that you need to work hard to get the things that you want but she won’t．When Tiffany is a grown woman，she’11 wake up one day and she will be wishing that she had a mom like the one you’ve got．Life lessons are more important than modern clothes and delicious food．’’
It took some time，but I eventually understood my mom’s words．Now I am a happy and successful woman．
56．During the author’s elementary school years，she．
A．wished that her mom were as good as Tiffany’s
B．went to school with Tiffany every day
C．usually compared her lesson with Tiffany’s
D．sometimes gave lots of money to Tiffany
57．Why did the author’s mom always say “Poor Tiffany”？
A．She felt sorry for Tiffany because Tiffany was poor．
B．She wanted to tell a lie to comfort the author．
C．She thought that Tiffany was spoiled by her mother．
D．She told the author this and wanted her to help Tiffany．
58．What do we learn about the author’s mother？
A．She was strict and taught the author to be independent．
B．She cared for other people’s children more than her own．
C．She thought that life lessons were as important as money．
D．She was so poor that she couldn’t give the author much money．
59．What can we infer from the passage？
A．The author was quite annoyed with her mother in the past．
B．The author’s mother felt sorry for Tiffany．
C．Tiffany’s mother took the author’s mother’s advice．
D．The author is thankful to her mother now．