We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed — no examination is perfect — but to have no tests or examination would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency the values and the purpose of each teacher.
Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them — a form of favouritism will replace equality at the moment. The bright child from an ill-respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defense of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favoured school.
The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer. The word “favouritism” in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that .
A.bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs. |
B.poor children with certificates are favoured in job markets. |
C.children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs. |
D.children attending ordinary schools achieve great success. |
. What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
A.Schools for bright children would lose their reputation. |
B.There would be more opportunities and excellence. |
C.Children from poor families would be able to change their schools. |
D.Children’s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation. |
. The opponents of the examination system will agree that .
A.jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection |
B.computers should be selected to take over many jobs. |
C.special classes are necessary to keep the school standards |
D.schools with academic subjects should be done away with |
. The passage mainly focuses on .
A.schools and certificates | B.examination and equality |
C.opportunity and employment | D.standards and reputation |
There are several reasons for hair loss in women. However, in most cases, treatment is quite effective. Female hair loss patterns in women are not as easily recognizable as they are in men. A woman may experience it temporarily(暂时地) due to pregnancy or illness, although they may experience it for other reasons.
Hair loss can be due to a variety of factors, including a genetic tendency ( which is not genetically linked to just one parent—both parents contribute to the tendency to lose hair).
Women who are experiencing hair problems seem to have more limited choices than men. There are some female hair loss treatments that are available such as the Tricomin System which is a topical treatment that is nutrition based. Shen Min for Women is another natural treatment that contains herbs (草药) that are said to stimulate(刺激) hair growth and even restore hair that is graying to its natural color.
The majority of the popular, proven hair loss treatments are only intended for men and are not suitable for women. True, a woman’s hair issue is different from a man’s. The biological makeup is different and the needs are different. Women have different needs and their bodies react in different ways to environmental changes, physical illness and even the treatments that are available. There are many natural treatments such as vitamin and mineral supplements that are said to stimulate hair growth, but, for the most part, these claims are currently unproven.
One of the first and most important factors to effectively treating is to get a diagnosis from a doctor. Talk to your doctor about any symptoms that you may be experiencing in addition to the thinning hair. Stress, weight loss or gain, illness and depression, all of these can be contributing factors.
1. It can be learned from the 1st paragraph that ___________.
A.usually hair loss is hard to heal
B.female hair loss is more common than the men’s
C.women tend to suffer from hair loss during the pregnant period
D.only illness contribute to hair loss
2 Which of the following statements matches the text about the two treatments?
A.Both are to solve the problem of male hair loss.
B.Tricomin System is effective in speeding the growth of the new hair
C.Shen Min is an updated way of treating hair loss
D.The former is nutrition-based, while the latter is medicine-based.
3. The reasons for the differences between the female and male hair loss problems do not include ______________.
A.The biological structure and composition of the hair
B.The wants and needs
C.The reactions and responses to the outside changes
D.The approach to taking exercise
4. The natural treatments __________.
A.include vitamin and mineral supplements
B.are applied to keep the hair healthy
C.have been proved useful
D.are the most commonly-used ways
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?
Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice cream. Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers(制造商) to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream— as well as for developing over 75 flavors .
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job; after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No— there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up about 12℉. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.”
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy— working at one cool job.
1. According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the “cool field”, it is helpful to __________.
A. keep a diary of work
B. have a degree in related subjects
C. have new ideas every day
D. find out new flavors each day
2. What does Harrison do first when tasting ice cream?
A. He stirs the ice cream. B. He examines the color of the ice cream.
C. He tastes the flavor of the ice cream. D. He lets the ice cream warm up.
3. Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?
A. Tasting with Eyes B. Flavors of Ice Cream
C. John Harrison’s Life D. One Cool Job
Finally, this week’s comedy “Tomorrow’s Another Day” at the Cambridge MGM cinema, is another one in the long line of successes from director Peter Hamin.
This one has an unusual story line. Just imagine this; one day Mickey Style , a TV reporter, goes off to make a program about an exciting film festival in Canada. On his first morning there he wakes up, the sun is shining, the birds are singing , and life just couldn’t be better. He works through the day , goes to bed; wakes up the next morning… to find it’s the same day! The same sun, the same birds singing in the same tree, the same people saying and doing exactly the same things, day after day, He is caught in a place where time has simply stood still, where there will be no tomorrow.
This could be very serious, but it’s not. It’s an extremely funny film, which made everyone, including your reviewer (评论家) , laugh out loud. It has the silliest ending , and the audience loved it! Sabetha Tayior is great as the generous bank manager, yes, really, although Hollywood probably won’t give her any prizes. So if you want to forget your troubles, this is the film for you.
1.What is the writer trying to do in the text? _________
A. To give his or her opinions about an actor.
B. To give his or her opinions about a film.
C. To describe a Canadian film festival.
D. To describe his or her strange experience.
2. Why would somebody read the text? ___________
A. To enjoy the extremely funny jokes.
B. To find the answer to a problem.
C. To find out more about a cinema.
D. To choose their evening’s entertainment.
3. What is the writer’s opinions of “Tomorrow’s Another Day”? ___________
A. It’s serious B. It’s exciting C. It’s successful D. It’s terrible
4. Where was Mickey Style when something strange happened to him? _________
A. On a working trip B. At the office
C. On holidays D. At the movies
四.阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, saying, “You don’t say!”“You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic. ”So I said to him, “well, shall we talk about the Great Wall?” By the way, have you ever been there? “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent(壮丽的).” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide, “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his order “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking .I said, “Didn’t you say you don’t say?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “You don’t say actually means really? It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I make a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expression.
1. A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because.
A. English idioms were too difficult to master
B. I cared little about the teacher’s instruction
C. my teacher didn’t emphasize the importance
D. I had no interest in English learning
2. When I first heard “You don’t say!” I thought.
A. the Englishman was not interested in my English
B. the Englishman was only interested in the Great Wall.
C. I had talked too much
D. I had to stop talking at once
3. Which of the following is true?
A. The Englishman was leaving China without seeing the Great Wall.
B. The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.
C. The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.
D. The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting
4. After the Englishman explained the idiom, ___.
A. the Englishman made me a fool
B. the Englishman made a fool of himself
C. I felt very silly
D.I felt proud of my understanding
Thousands of people began pouring into Pennsylvania from other states. They wanted to buy lottery tickets. The tickets cost only $0.9 each .But that small spending could bring them a reward of $90 million. That was the second largest lottery jackpot(积累奖金)in history.
More than 87 million tickets were bought for the Pennsylvania lottery drawing. Those who bought tickets had to choose seven numbers from 1 to 80. The chance of winning was one in 9.6 million. But that little chance certainly didn’t affect ticket sales. In the last few days before the drawing , tickets were selling at the unbelievable rate of 500 per second.
Experts say many people buy lottery tickets because they just want to have a piece of the action. Others say the lottery is a stock market for poor people. It allows them to dream about wealth they’ll probably never have.
But many people believe lotteries are no better than legalized gambling. Some critics note that most people who play are poor and may not be able to afford the tickets. There are also many addicts who take the game seriously. They may pour their life savings into lottery tickets. Some clubs have been formed to help them kick the habit.
Politicians like lotteries because they provide money that would otherwise have to some from new taxes. The profits from lotteries are usually used to pay for education or programs for senior citizens. But critics say this arrangement just allows states to legalize vice(恶习), under the name of social progress. No matter whether you regard state lotteries right or not , you cannot refuse to accept their extreme popularity with many Americans.
1. The main idea of the passage is that.
A.lotteries are of great benefit to everyone who buys them
B.playing a lottery is just like investing in the stock market
C.a lot of people buy lottery tickets , but lotteries cause disagreement
D.lotteries are just legalized vice
2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?
A.Politicians like lotteries because they don’t have to pay extra tax .
B.The popularity of lotteries in America actually is social progress .
C.Some critics don’t like lotteries because many poor people waste their money on them .
D.People love the lottery because it is a stock market .
3. In just one hour in the last few days , the Pennsylvania lottery sold tickets totaling.
A.$1.62 millionB.$90millionC.$9.6millionD.$87million
4. People who are addicted to playing lotteries should.
A.join a clubB.save every cent
C.win the PennsylvaniaD.kick the habit