Would you believe that the first outstanding deaf teacher in America was a Frenchman? His name was Laurent Clerc. He became a friend of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and together they founded America's first school for the deaf.
Laurent Clerc was born in a small village near Lyons, France, on December 26, 1785. When he was one year old, he fell into a fire, losing both his hearing and his sense of smell.
At 12, Laurent entered the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris where he did well in his studies. After he graduated, the school asked him to stay on as an assistant teacher.
Meanwhile, in America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was studying to be a minister. He was very concerned about the lack of educational opportunities for the deaf. Therefore, in 1815, Gallaudet sailed to London, England to seek ideas on how to teach deaf people. While he was there, he met a French educator of the deaf who invited him to go to Paris to spend three months learning at the Royal Institution for the Deaf, the school where Laurent Clerc was teaching. Gallaudet accepted the offer. The two worked and studied well together. When the time came for Gallaudet to return, he asked Clerc to come with him. Clerc accepted on one condition: that he would stay in America only a short time.
The two men set sail on June 18, 1816. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean took 52 days; however, Clerc and Gallaudet put the time to good use. Clerc studied English, and Gallaudet studied sign language. They discussed the school for the deaf which they planned to open. On the long trip, they had many conversations about education and deafness. The year after they arrived, they founded a school for the deaf in Harford, Connecticut.
At the school, Clerc led a busy life. He taught signs to Principal Gallaudet; he taught the pupils; and he taught hearing men who came to the school to study deaf education.
In 1819, Clerc married Eliza Crocker Boardman, one of his pupils. They had six children. He retired from teaching in 1858. Although he had intended to return to France, he never did. He died on July 18, 1869 in the United States.Why did Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet sail to London?
| A．He needed to finish his studies to become a minister. |
| B．It was the easiest way to get to France. |
| C．He wanted to study their system of deaf education. |
| D．He wanted to marry Alice Cogswell. |
On their trip from Paris to America, Clerc and Gallaudet ___________.
| A．played cards and socialized |
| B．studied and discussed their plans for a deaf school |
| C．founded a school for the deaf |
| D．Gallaudet studied English and Clerc studied Sign Language |
Which is the right order of the things Clerc did？
| A．met Gallaudet, moved to America, got married, went to school in Paris. |
| B．met Gallaudet, went to school in Paris, moved to America, got married. |
| C．went to school in Paris, met Gallaudet, moved to America, got married. |
| D．got married, went to school in Paris, met Gallaudet, moved to America. |
The main idea of this passage could best be stated as_________.
| A．Clerc managed his time well, and was able to teach a lot of information in a short period of time |
| B．Thomas Gallaudet was grateful to Clerc for all that he taught him |
| C．Clerc preferred teaching deaf students to hearing students |
| D．Clerc, an educated Frenchman, had a great impact on American Deaf Education |
Birds don’t need lessons in building nests. Fish don’t need coaching to learn how to swim. All animals have instincts. They’re born with natural abilities to do certain things. Wild animals also learn by copying their parents and practicing. And pets learn through training.
But instincts and training aren’t the only keys to animals’ behavior. Scientists say animals’ thoughts and feelings also influence their actions. Animals often make choices, plans, and sensible changes. They can help others and solve problems. Some even make and use tools!
If animals could talk, what would they say about their thoughts and feelings? A gorilla (大猩猩) born in captivity (关在笼子里) has helped answer that question. Koko, a gorilla, was taught to use sign language . She has learned hundreds of words!
Koko once had a pet cat she named All Ball. “Koko love Ball,” she signed. “Soft good cat.” One time, she blamed the cat for biting her by signing “You bad dirty toilet!” When her pet died, Koko cried. “Sad for sleeping cat,” she signed.
Koko calls herself“fine animal gorilla”. She uses sign language to argue, joke
, and ask and answer questions.
“Most animals can’t use words to tell us their thoughts,” says Dr. Jonathan Balcombe. “But Koko shows us that animals have their own ideas and feelings.” Dr. Balcombe is a scientist at the Humane Society of the United States. He says there’s even more to discover about animals through field studies. In field studies, people watch animals in their natural environment.
“Scientists who study animals’ natural behaviors learn how animals live and think,” Balcombe says. “That knowledge can help others respect every animal who shares the planet with us.”The underlined word “instincts” in the first paragraph probably refers to the ability that _____.
| A．animals copy their parents | B．animals learn by practicing |
| C．animals are born with | D．animals learn throu gh training |
Space travel is definitely bad for astronauts’ bones, reducing their bone density(密度) after only a month of weightlessness, according to French research published on Friday.
Laurence Vico and his fellow workers at St Etienne University called for more research into the effects of microgravity, afte
r their study of 15 astronauts from the Russian MIR station showed bone loss continued throughout space flights.
“Bone loss was especially striking in four astronauts, ”
the scientists reported in the Lancet Medical Journal.
They measured the bone mineral density (BMD) of bones in the forearm(前臂) and lower leg of the astronauts who had spent one to six months in space.
The BMD loss was significant in the tibia(胫骨) of the lower leg, a weight-bearing bone, but barely changed in the radius(桡骨) of the forearm. “Our results indicate the need to investigate not only different bones, but also different areas of the same bone since not all sites of the skeleton (骨架) are similarly affected by space conditions, ” they added.
Without gravity the body isn’t bearing any weight so there is no need for calcium (钙)
which makes bones strong, and it becomes empty into the bloodstream.
The research team suggested in future scientists should try to determine if the loss of bone density was only on weight-bearing bones on longer flights, also the possible recovery after returning to Earth.French scientists
did their research on Russian astronauts, because _______.
| A．they only cared for the Russian astronauts |
| B．they were not interested in their own astronauts |
| C．the Russian government invited them to do their research |
| D．the Russian astronauts worked in space for a long time |
Scientists have found that _______.
| A．the BMD loss may cause serious illness to astronauts |
| B．the BMD loss may cause some change in astronauts’ bodies |
| C．astronauts shouldn’t care about the BMD loss |
| D．astronauts should take some calcium before space travel |
What cause the BMD loss to astronauts, according to this passa
ge?
| A．The food they eat in space. | B．The drinks they take in space. |
| C．The temperature in space. | D．The gravity in space. |
In the third paragraph, the word “striking” means ______.
| A．unusual | B．simple | C．weak | D．slow |
If you see someone drowning, speed is very important. Once you get him out of the water, if he isn't breathing, you have four minutes before his brain is completely destroyed. Support his neck, move his head back and press his chin upwards. This stops the tongue blocking the airway in the throat and is sometimes enough to get him breathing again. If that doesn't work, start mouth-to-mouth breathing. Press his nostrils (the two holes at the end of your nose, through which you breathe and smell things) together with your fingers. Open your mouth and take a deep breath. Blow into his lungs until his chest rises, then remove your mouth and watch his chest fall. Repeat twelve times a minute. Keep doing until professional help arrives.
To bring a child back to life, keep your lips around his mouth and gently blow into his mouth. Give the first four breaths as quickly as possible to fill the blood with oxygen. If, in spite of your efforts, he starts turning a blue-grey colour, and you can feel no pulse, then pressing is the last chance of saving his life.
With arms straight, rock forwards, pressing down on the lower half of the breastbone. Don't be too hard or you may break a rib. Check how effective you are by seeing if his colour improves or his pulse becomes independent to your chest pressing. If this happens, stop the pressing. Otherwise continue until rescue arrives.If you want to save someone drowning, you __________.
| A．have to pull off his clothes first . | B．should try to get him out of water as quickly as possible. |
| C．should first make out who he is. | D．ought to throw a life coat to him first . |
Once a person stops breathing, it means ___________.
| A．you have no more than 4 minutes to bring him to life again . |
| B．his brain is completely damaged . |
| C．he has passed away . |
| D．there is no way to save his life . |
To press his chin upwards is a way to _____________.
| A．keep the tongue from blocking the airway in the throat. |
| B．prevent the tongue from stopping the airway in the throat. |
| C．wipe the tongue out of the throat . |
| D．see if he can possibly be saved . |
If the drowning boy has no pulse,_____________.
| A．press his chin upwards is enough to get him breathing . |
| B．blow air into his mouth is sure to save his life . |
| C．press his nostrils together with your fingers can work . |
| D．press is the last chance of saving his life . |
Which of the following statement is true?
| A．Don’t stop pressing his chest, if the drowning man starts breathing again. |
| B．If you see someone drowning, you must give him mouth-to-mouth breathing. |
C．If a man does not breathe  for four minutes, his brain will be completely destroyed. |
| D．When pressing, you can do it as hard as you can. |
According to researchers．money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else．
Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly bring you happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found．
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably（适度地） happier when they spent money on others--even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier．
"We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how
much money they earn," said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia．
They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity．
"Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not," Dunn said in a statement．
Dunn's team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus（奖金） of between $3,000 and $8,000．
"Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself," they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science．
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it．Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it．
"These findings suggest that very minor alterations（改动） in spending allocations（分配） - as little as $5 - may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day," Dunn said．According to the passage,_____________．
| A．the more money you spend on others, the happier you are |
| B．spending money on others can bring you happiness |
| C．Elizabeth Dunn is a psychologist from Harvest Business School |
| D．six hundred volunteers took part in the experiment |
The 16 employees mentioned in the passage _________．
| A．were given clear instructions on how to spend the bonus |
| B．had more happiness than the size of the bonus itself |
| C．experienced greater happiness after receiving their bonus |
| D．felt happier after they contributed much of the bonus of charities |
Dunn’s statement suggested that ______________．
| A．those who spent money on others felt happier no matter how much they earned |
| B．those who spent more money on themselves felt happier |
| C．people thought spending money could make themselves happier |
| D．the money spent was as important as the money earned |
The best title of this passage is ___________．
| A．Experiment on Money Spending |
| B．Spending Money on Others Makes One Happier |
| C．Devoting Your Money to Charities |
| D．Bonus and Pro-social Spending |
Young Chinese travelers are also looking to experience something different．Rather than join package tours to tourist attractions, they are getting to know the locals by combining travel with work and study．Let's explore some unconventional ways of travelling．
Homestay
Visitors pay their host family for the accommodation in return for an unforgettable cultural experience．You should respect the house rules．You will participate fully in the family's daily life and improve your language．Students arrange homestays through their university or reputable agencies．
Check homestayfinder．com or homestaybooking．com．
Laboring on a farm
This is a way to learn about sustainable living and meet local farmers．In return for volunteer work on organic farms, your hosts offer free food and accommodation．You usually work for at least four hours a day and tasks range from composting （堆制肥料） to building with mud bricks．Willing Workers On Organic Farms （www．finternational．o
rg） is the main organization which facilitates these experiences．For more projects, visit: pickyourown．org/jobsonfarms．htm
Volunteering
Volunteering gives you a sense of satisfaction as you improve the lives of those less fortunate．You can work in a hospital, help build schools, or volunteer at an orphanage in Africa．Do not expect to live in luxury and be prepared to get your hands dirty．Volunteers pay for their own airfares．
For more info, visit: worldwidehelper．org, and isvonline．com
Intern （实习） overseas
Organizations such as ALESEC （aiesec．org） arrange paid internships with different companies．They partner with companies to offer work．The length of an internship ranges from six weeks to 18 months．Check: nextstepconnections．comWhich way of travelling should you experience if you want to know about a different culture and improve your foreign language?
| A．Homestay | B．Laboring on a farm | C．Volunteering | D．Intern |
overseasWho may help you to work on a farm?
| A．Reputable agency | B．University |
| C．Willing Workers On Organic Farms | D．ALESEC |
What should you do if you want to help the less fortunate?
| A．Live in a host family | B．Volunteer at an orphanage |
| C．Work in a company | D．Work on organic farms |
Where can you get information on internship in different companies?
| A．Homestayfinder．com |
| B．Pickyourown．org/jobsonfarms．htm |
| C．Worldwidehelper．org,and isvonline．com |
| D．Nextstepconnections．com |