Boys’ schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.
Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity (阳刚), the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to conform to(符合、顺应) a stereotype（老套）, a US study says.
Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to conform to the“boy code”of hiding their emotions to be a “real man”.
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warned that boys were being faded by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.
The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys’ learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study’s author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused” approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision learned best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given “hands-on” lessons where they are allowed to walk around. “Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine (女性的) and prefer the modern genre (类型) in which violence and sexism are major themes.” James wrote.
Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to conform to a stereotype that men should be “masterful and in charge” in relationships. “ In mixed schools boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means.” the study reported. The author believes that a single-sex school would ____ .
| A．force boys to hide their emotions to be "real men" |
| B．help to cultivate masculine aggressiveness in boys |
| C．naturally strengthen the traditional image of a man in boys |
| D．encourage boys to express their emotions more freely |
It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys _____ .
| A．behave more responsibly |
| B．grow up more healthily |
| C．perform relatively better |
| D．receive a better education |
What does Tony Little say about the British education system?
| A．It fails more boys than girls academically. |
| B．It focuses more on mixed school education. |
| C．It places more pressure on boys than on girls. |
| D．It fails to give boys the attention they need. |
According to Abigail James, one of the advantages of single-sex schools is ______.
| A．boys can focus on their lessons without being disturbed |
| B．teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys |
| C．boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in |
| D．teaching can be designed to promote boys’ team spirit |
According to Abigail James’ report, it can be inferred that boys tend to _____________________.
| A．have sharper vision. |
| B．conform to stereotypes. |
| C．enjoy being in charge. |
| D．be violent and sexist. |
Your car is a necessary part of your life. You use it every day. Of course, you want to hold on to it so you make sure it has the latest alarm and immobilizer. But despite all these, cars like yours are still stolen every day. In fact, in this country, one car is stolen almost every minute! And if your car is stolen, you only have a 50:50 chance of seeing it again.
Each year, car crime costs nearly £3 billion. Of course, if you’re insured, you won’t lose out, or will you? Firstly, you will have to pay extra insurance later on, and then you may not be offered the full amount by the agent. You will probably have to hire a car and you will also lose the value of the contents and accessories (配件) in the car.
Now comes the solution. An RAC Trackstar system, hidden in one of 47 possible secret locations in your car, is the key of our system. If your car is stolen, radio signals are sent at twenty-second intervals from the car to the RAC Trackstar National Control Center via a satellite network. Then a computer gives the vehicle’s exact location, speed and direction.
The RAC Trackstar National Control Center, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, will immediately inform the police in the area where the car is located. Because the police receive information every twenty seconds, they will always know the vehicle’s location. Once the thief has been arrested, your car will be returned to you.
RAC Trackstar is unique in being able to provide the National Control Center with details of the exact location of your car, its speed and direction. And speed is the key to successful recovery of a stolen vehicle. RAC Trackstar Control will immediately tell the police if you report your car stolen and under the 24-hour Guardian Option. It will also tell you if your car has been stolen. RAC Trackstar’s constant updates mean the police are kept informed of the car’s location. All these greatly improve your chances of seeing your car again. If your car is stolen, you will have to ______.
| A．hire a new car |
| B．pay more insurance |
| C．buy a RAC Trackstar system |
| D．inform the National Control Center |
The Trackstar system can tell the police ______.
| A．how the car is stolen | B．who the thief is |
| C．what brand the car is | D．where the car is |
The underlined word “It” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．the local police station | B．the Guardian Option |
| C．the insurance company | D．the RAC Trackstar Control |
According to the passage, people with RAC Trackstar ______.
| A．automatically find directions |
| B．seldom get their vehicles damaged |
| C．have less chance of being in an accident |
| D．are more likely to get the stolen cars back |
When my daughter Sally was five, I bought Grimm’s Fairy Tales and read Snow White to her one night. At the end of the original Grimm tale, Snow White’s stepmother is made to put on red-hot iron shoes and dance until she falls down dead.
This came as something of a shock. I always thought fairytales had happy endings. And I didn’t want my five-year-old daughter going to sleep thinking: “Thank goodness they tortured (折磨) that old woman to death.” That’s when I decided to write fairy tales.
In the years that followed, I wrote tales non-stop and read them to Sally at bedtime. The Corn Dolly was based on a child who was always complaining; The Silly King was just a silly story Sally loved; I wrote The Witch and the Rainbow Cat for Sally because of her enormous appetite for stories about witches while Dr Bonocolus’s Devil is a new version of the Faust legend．
Nifobobinus, however, was different. I wrote this book when Sally was older and took up all things girls have to do — who’s friends with who, who stuck a sticker on the back of whose boyfriend, or whatever thing she felt funny.
Nicobobinus, the boy who could do anything, came out of my desire for a more innocent world. He lived a 1ong time ago, in a city called Venice. Only his best friend, Rosie, knew he could, and nobody took any notice of anything Rosie said, because she was always having wild ideas anyway.
Nicobobinus was so different that it turned out to be an instant hit. The Times called me “an author setting out to rival the classic fairytales”. I asked Sally what she thought of Nicobobinus. She said it was her favourite.What led the writer to start writing fairy tales for her daughter?
| A．The frightening ends of past fairy tales. |
| B．His daughter’s strong interest in fairy tales. |
| C．His desire to let his daughter know more stories. |
| D．His attempt to fill his daughter’s bedtime with something. |
We can infer from the third paragraph that the writer _____.
| A．was a very productive fairy tale writer |
| B．based all his stories on some old legends |
| C．never described witches in his fairy tales |
| D．created his stories out of his own interest |
When creating Nicobobinus, the first thing the writer considered was _____.
| A．the changes of his daughter’s interests |
| B．what story the publisher wanted to get |
| C．ways to keep his daughter Sally innocent |
| D．the difference of the story from other stories |
The underlined word “rival” in the last paragraph can be replaced by _____.
| A．follow | B．explore | C．challenge | D．recommend |
Summer Rain
The worst days of any summer are the rainy ones. We spend all year looking forward to nice weather and long, hot days. All of winter, with its cloudy days and bitter cold, we dream of those endless days at the beach, lying on the sand and enjoying the bright and burning sun. And then, summer comes, and it rains.
As a child, I would wake up to rainy summer days and come close to crying. It wasn’t fair. We suffered through months of school and experienced bad weather for those short ten weeks of freedom and pleasant weather.
On those rainy summer days, I had nothing fun to do and could only sit inside, staring out at the rain like a bird in a cage. I was an only child, so there was no one else to play with. My father worked from home, so I was not truly alone, but he could not actively play with me since he was at work. It was those days that I would watch whatever was on television or read any books that I could find lying around. I’d drag through the day and pray each night that the rain would not be there the next day.
As an adult, though, my opinion of summer rain has changed. When you have to work every day, summer is not as exciting. Everything seems dull. Such a mindset makes you cheer for anything new or different. I spend the winter dreaming of summer and the summer dreaming of winter. When summer comes, I hate how hot it is. And then I look forward to the rain, because the rain brings with it a cold front, which makes me comfortable. Rainy days are still the worst days of the summer, but summer rain today means positively beautiful — and considerably cooler — weather tomorrow.When the author was a child, he ______.
| A．hated rainy days |
| B．liked staying indoors |
| C．preferred cooler weather |
| D．dreamed on summer days |
We can learn from the passage that the author ______.
| A．was often left alone at home |
| B．had no brothers or sisters |
| C．preferred reading to playing outside |
| D．could enjoy the brilliant sun in winter |
As an adult, the author views summer rain differently because ______.
| A．he knows it won’t last long |
| B．his summer holiday is very short |
| C．rain makes the weather cooler |
| D．he can better deal with his holiday |
Imagine being given the opportunity to wake up to lions, eat your meals with monkeys, and even share your bath with bears, all from the comfort of a unique new lodging experience.
The Jamala Wildlife Lodge opened its doors in January 2015, which was set up in an effort to educate visitors about aiding the survival of many of the world's endangered species.
“It’s great for the animals; they're going to get more space. It's great for the viewing public; they're going to get more things to see. It will be great for tourism and just for the local community," Said Richard Tindale, the owner and operator.
Spreading across three locations in the National Zoo, the 18 rooms, which range from giraffe tree houses to jungle bungalows, offer a fantastic experience with wildlife
The Giraffe Treehouse
The Giraffe Treehouse is set among the giraffe enclosures (围场), and the Jungle Bungalows are luxurious individual suites which are next to either lion, cheetah(猎豹), brown bear, or Malaysian sun bear enclosures.
The Ushaka House
Housing up to 26 people, the Ushaka House is built around the monkey enclosure and has a built-in aquarium which offers private views of some of the zoo’s sharks.
The Burley Griffin House
Only meters from the edge of Lake Burley Griffin, the indoor and outdoor entertaining areas have splendid views across the lake to Black Mountain.
The Shark House
The Shark House has its own little jetty(码头) and it comes out over the shark tank here and so the people who stay in the room will be able to go to their bedroom and pat the shark.
Location
Located in the heart of Australia’s political capital, the Jamala Wildlife Lodge at the National Zoo and Aquarium is just ten minutes from Canberra’s central Business District. Which of the following is TRUE about the Iamala Wildlife Lodge?
| A．The Jamala Wildlife Lodge lies in the heart of Canberra. |
| B．The Jamala Wildlife Lodge has a very long history. |
| C．The Jamala Wildlife Lodge is outside the National Zoo. |
| D．The Jamala Wildlife Lodge has altogether 26 houses. |
If a tourist wants to visit Lake Burley Griffin, he'd better choose ________．
| A．The Giraffe Treehouse | B．The Ushaka House |
| C．The Burley Griffin House | D．The Shark House |
The purpose of writing the passage is to ________．
| A．attract more tourists to visit the National Zoo |
| B．introduce the Jamala Wildlife Lodge in Australia |
| C．raise people's awareness of protecting animals |
| D．offer visitors an opportunity to play with sharks |
La Gomera is the only place in the world that has a whistle language. We do not know how and why it began because we do not know the complete history of the island. But we can certainly imagine the reasons for the beginning of the whistle language. There are many deep valleys on the island. A person on one side of a valley can not easily shout to a person on the other side. But he can whistle and be heard. Some of the best whistlers can be heard from four miles away and the record is seven miles.
The people who live on the island usually have good teeth, and this helps them to whistle well. They must also have good ears so that they can hear other whistlers.
We can understand why the whistle language continues. It is very useful on the island, and quite easy to learn. When somebody is hurt or ill, the whistle language takes the place of telephone. If the sick person is quite far away from the town, people pass the message from one to another. A boy guarding cattle on a hillside whistles to a man fishing from his boat. The last one is able to describe the trouble fully and exactly to the doctor in town. People help one another in the same way when a car breaks down or a cow is lost.
The whistle language is hundreds of years old, and probably it will continue to live on for hundreds of years more. Radio and TV often kill the special ways of speaking in different parts of a country. But on La Gomera you are nobody if you cannot whistle. Perhaps soon after TV arrives on the island, people there will be whistling the news and other facts and opinions. If a person on La Gomera is ill, ______.
| A．the whistle language will help pass the message to the doctor |
| B．people will take him to town by carriage |
| C．his family will take him to the hospital |
| D．others will phone the doctor in town |
La Gomera is special because ______.
| A．we don’t know its complete history |
| B．people have to shout if they want to communicate |
| C．people there have good teeth and ears |
| D．people there use the whistle language to communicate with each other |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The whistle language has been used for hundreds of years on the island, but will not be used any longer. |
| B．The whistle language can only be found on La Gomera. |
| C．It is not easy for a person to live on La Gomera if he cannot whistle. |
| D．The record shows that one best whistler can be heard by others from seven miles away. |
Which of the following will be the best title of this passage?
| A．The Secret Language |
| B．Do You Know the Whistle Language? |
| C．The Life of Islanders |
| D．La Gomera－a Mystery |