The high school diploma (文凭) is losing its value quickly, as a growing number of students graduate (毕业) from school without the math and reading skills that colleges and companies require, according to a new report.
The high school graduation exams that most states (州) require students to pass before they graduate remain far too easy. Most of the exams generally test eighth-or ninth-grade level work.
Today, even high school graduates who are going to have blue-collar (蓝领) jobs need to study the math, research and writing courses. But in high school, only students who are going to college are now required to take these courses.
“If you want a good job with a good pay, it’s a high-skill job,” said Michael Cohen, a leading member of the America Diploma Project.
The project suggests that all graduates master a wide range (范围) of skills. “A high school diploma should mean something to a company and university,” said Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who is Achieve’s co-chairman.
In Taft’s state, about 30% students who go directly to college from high school have to take remedial classes of English or math, he said. It’s easy to see that the present high-school graduating standards are not preparing students for college education.
And with high-skilled jobs increasingly headed overseas to places like India and Ireland, states need to act, he said.
To prove why math and reading skills matter, the report includes real-life examples of problems students meet in college and that workers must solve each day on the job.
Some states are taking actions to upgrade the high school diploma. In Texas, all high school students, starting with the 2008 graduating class, will have to take the college-prep curriculum (大学预备课程) - unless a parent agrees to an easier course load. Other states are planning similar moves.
The report includes examples of reading and math skills that high-school students should have. Project leaders say they hope parents will use those examples to judge (评定) the coursework at their kids’ high schools.Why is the high school diploma losing its value quickly?
| A．Because the number of high school students is growing fast. |
| B．Because high school students fail to reach the standards. |
| C．Because the graduation tests are easier than it should be. |
| D．Because difficult courses are not required in high schools. |
Remedial classes in Paragraph 6 mean classes____.
| A．for good learners to study quickly and better |
| B．for slower learners weak in the subject |
| C．for learners to be taught one by one |
| D．for learners to reach a higher standard |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Colleges require higher math and reading skills than companies. |
| B．It is easier for companies to find high-skilled workers in India. |
| C．Math and reading skills help little for workers to solve daily problems. |
| D．Parents ask high schools to offer college-prep curriculum in Texas. |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．High School Diploma Means Little |
| B．Give Students More High-skill Jobs |
| C．Math and Reading Skills Really Matter |
| D．Judge Coursework at High Schools |
There is a little dog in my home. I like it very much. Its name is Feifei. It’s as white as snow. It’s very cute. It likes meat very much. It comes from Beijing, so some people call it Beijing Dog. I often play with it. Every day, when I get home, it always waits for me at the door. I think it is saying, “Welcome back home!” In the evening I do my homework at my desk and it sits next to my feet and looks at me.
阅读短文，判断正（T）误（F）。The dog is white like snow.
Feifei likes meat a lot.
I think Feifei is very cute and dangerous.
Feifei doesn’t wait for me at the door when I got home.
I do homework in the evening and Feifei sits next to my feet and looks at me.
阅读下面的短文，根据文中信息完成文后表格。每个空格只能填一个单词。
Here is a report on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6,200 students from the four countries.
Studying
Chinese students spend the most time studying. Almost half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That’s much more than students of the US (26.4%), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).
Sleeping in class
Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they sometimes doze off (打瞌睡) in class. In South Korea, it’s 32%; in the US, 21%; and 5% in China.
Taking notes
South Korean students don’t like taking notes. About 70% said they write down what the teacher says in class, many fewer than in Japan (93%), China (90%) and the US (89%).
Distracted (分心的)
American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted: 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks and have drinks in class; and 38.9% said they send e-mails or read unrelated (无关的) books in class.
Doing after school
In their free time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercises. Most Korean students watch TV.
| Lives of school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US |
|
| In class |
1. ____ 2.Japanese students _____ 3.The Korean students ____ 4.American students are the most ____ |
| After school |
Most Chinese students ___ |
One day Bob took two of his friends into the mountains. They put up their tents and then rode off to a forest to see how the trees were growing.
In the afternoon when they were about ten kilometres from their camp, it started to snow. More and more snow fell. Soon, Bob could hardly(几乎不) see his hands before his face. He could not find the road. Bob knew there were two roads. One road went to the camp, and the other went to his house. But all was white snow. Everything was the same. How could he take his friends back to the camp?
Bob had an idea. The horses! Let the horses take them back! But what would happen if the horses took the road to his house? That would be a trip of thirty-five kilometres in such cold weather! It was getting late. They rode on and on. At last the horses stopped. Where were they? No one of them could tell. Bob looked around. What was that under the tree? It was one of their tents!Bob and his two friends went to the forest to _______________.
| A．build their camp |
| B．find their way home |
| C．enjoy the mountains in the snow |
| D．watch the trees in the forest |
They could not find their way back because _______________.
| A．there was only one road to their camp |
| B．they couldn’t decide which of the two roads went to their tents |
| C．there were no roads in the mountains at all |
| D．the white snow covered everything |
It is clear that they wanted the horses to take them to _______________.
| A．Bob’s house | B．the camp | C．the forest | D．the mountains |
The horses stopped because _______________.
| A．it was getting late |
| B．they were tired after running for a long way |
| C．they got to the camp |
| D．they saw Bob’s house |
The story happened _______________.
| A．on a cold winter day |
| B．on a dark snowy morning |
| C．in a cold camp far from villages |
| D．at night when nothing could be seen |
Most Americans enjoy moving from place to place. For example, they often drive their cars 120 to 160 kilometres away just to have dinner with a friend or even fly to London or Paris just to watch a football match. In some states only one person in five lives in a place for more than five years. One may be born in one city, and go to school in another. He may finish his middle school in two or three cities, and then go to college far across the country. When he begins to work, he may possibly move from job to job. Moving from one job to another, which is called “job-hopping”, can be seen in many places in the United States.
Job-hopping does good to workers because every change of a job gives them a chance to get better pay. And job-hopping also gives bosses the chance to get new ideas and skills from him or her.From this passage, we can see Americans often travel to _______________.
| A．have dinner with their friends | B．go shopping |
| C．watch a football game | D．enjoy themselves |
Which of the following is true?
| A．About 20% of the people stay in one place for over five years. |
| B．Children have to finish middle school in one place. |
| C．People go to the nearest college. |
| D．When people begin to work, they don’t move any more. |
Job-hopping means “_______________”.
| A．looking for a job | B．having a job |
| C．changing jobs often | D．losing a job |
In the USA job-hopping _______________.
| A．is very popular |
| B．helps young people go to college |
| C．helps workers in traveling |
| D．helps students begin to work |
The writer thinks job-hopping _______________.
| A．does good only to the workers | B．does good only to the boss |
| C．must be stopped | D．is helpful |
My sister and I are very different. When people meet us both, they are always surprised to learn that we are sisters. This is because we don’t look like each other, and we have different personalities(性格).
Are you similar to your brother or sister? My sister and I aren’t similar to each other at all. I am tall, but she is very short. I have short dark brown hair and green eyes. She has long blond hair and blue eyes. I am strong, but she is not. I have big hands and feet; her feet and hands are very small. When we are kids, she was thin, but I was heavy. Now we’re both heavy.
We also have opposite personalities. She is always shy. I am more outgoing. She is very worried about what other people think and say about her, but I really don’t care. When she has a problem, she just worries about it, but when I have a problem, I try to fix it. She easily gets angry, especially with our mother. But I am more patient.When people meet the writer and her sister, they are always surprised to learn
The writer and her sister are different in ways.
The writer’s sister hashair.
The writer’s sister is very worried aboutabout her.
Do the write and her sister have the same personalities?
Find the topic sentence of the passage and copy it down. （找出文章的主题句并抄写下来）
Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese. （将划线的句子翻译成中文）
The underlined word “heavy” in the passage means “”in English.