Q: My daughter is a junior in high school and has been on an individualized education program since fourth grade. She plans to go to college and intends to finish with a master’s degree. Her performance in general is fairly good, but test scores are very low. She has held many leadership and volunteer positions. We have been advised to have her write an essay about how her learning disability is a barrier that she has to get over. Will that help or hurt her chances for admission?
---- Deborah
A: First let me answer the question on low standardized test scores (ACT/SAT). There are hundreds of colleges that are “test optional” which means students can choose not to release their test scores in the application process. Admission decisions at these colleges for students who do not submit their test scores are made based on other factors. A list of test optional colleges can be found at fairtest.org. It is important, however, to make sure that the college is the right fit academically regardless of the test optional policy.
You also asked if your daughter should write about her disability and if this would hurt her chances of being admitted. Please know that colleges do not deny admission based on disability. “Disclosing” a learning disability in a personal statement within the college application can certainly help. By writing a personal statement, students can potentially demonstrate, for example, their understanding of the challenge they face. They might also prove an improved grade trend in that subject area, and show interest in more complex courses in spite of this disability. More importantly, a student disclosure can show self-confidence, motivation and an understanding of the disability.
---- Ms. KravisWhat do we know about Deborah’s daughter?
| A．She is applying for a master’s degree. |
| B．She is very active in her high school. |
| C．Her disability prevents her studying well. |
| D．She has difficulty getting over her learning disability. |
The underlined word “demonstrate” in the last paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．show | B．develop | C．gain | D．change |
What is Ms. Kravis’ attitude towards one’s declaring his/her learning disability?
| A．Supportive. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
According to the passage, Mr. Kravis is probably _____.
| A．an editor | B．a school leader |
| C．a psychological doctor | D．an educational expert |
What do you know about the sea? We know that it looks very pretty when the sun is shining on it. We also know that it can be very rough when there is a strong wind. What other things do we know about it?
The first thing to remember is that the sea is very big. When you look at the map of the world you will find there is more water than land. The sea covers three quarters of the world.
The sea is also very deep in some places. It is not deep everywhere. Some parts of the sea are very shallow. But in some places the depth of the sea is very great. There is one spot, near Japan, where the sea is nearly 11 kilometers deep! The highest mountain in the world is about 9 kilometers high. If that mountain were put into the sea at that place, there would he 2 kilometers of water above it ! What a deep place !
If you have swum in the sea, you know that it is salty. You can taste the salt. Rivers, which flow into the sea, carry salt from the land into the sea. Some parts of the sea are saltier than other parts. There is one sea, called the Dead Sea, which is very salty. It is so salty that swimmers cannot sink! Fish cannot live in the Dead Sea!
In most parts of the sea, there are plenty of fishes and plants. Some live near the top of the sea. Others live deep down. There are also millions of tiny living things that float in the sea. These floating things are so small that it is hard to see them. Many fish live by e
ating these.
The sea can be very cold. Divers who go deep down in the sea know this. On the top the water may be warm. When the diver goes downwards, the sea becomes colder and colder. An
other thing happens. When the diver goes deeper, the water above presses down on him. It squeezes him. Then the diver has to wear clothes made of metal. But he cannot go very deep. Some people who wanted to go very deep used a very strong diving ship! They went down to the deepest part of the sea in it. They went down to a depth of eleven kilometers !When does the sea look beautiful?
| A．When it is calm. | B．When the weather is fine. |
| C．When there is a strong wind. | D．When there is a storm. |
How much of the earth’s surface does land cover?
| A．15%. | B．25%. | C．30%. | D．45%. |
Why does the writer cite（引用） the sea somewhere near Japan?
| A．To show that the sea in some places is very deep. |
| B．To show that the sea in some places is very shallow. |
| C．To show that its depth is 9 kilometers greater than the height of the highest mountain. |
D．To show that its depth is 11 kilometers greater than the height |
of the highest mountain.Which of the following statements about the Dead Sea is NOT true?
| A．Swimmers cannot sink. | B．It is a safe place for swimmers. |
| C．It is extremely salty. | D．Fish  can be found in it. |
In China, tea is a traditional drink, which is not only good for your health but can also enrich your mind. The following are some information of teahouses.
Guozijian Yicheng Teahouse
Run by two beautiful girls who play the seven-stringed guqin, this place is elegant and classic. Guests here not only enjoy fragrant(芬芳的)tea but also the beautiful music of guqin.
Address : No. 8, Guozijian Avenue，Dongcheng District
Minghui Teahouse
Located in an old temple, this teahouse will provide you a place of serenity. The teahouses here are divided into six private（私人的） ro
oms so guests can be ful
ly relaxed in the comfortable environment. The workers are all dressed in traditional clothes of the Qing Dynasty. When enjoying a cup of tea, you may feel your troubles have disappeared.
Address : Inside Dajue Temple, Haidian District
Peng Chacha
Besides fragrant tea, this place is also famous for its entertainment facilities(娱乐设施) as it offers playing cards, chess and many other games. Guests here can enjoy tea while chatting and playing games. On the first floor, there are many kinds of nuts and snacks to try. And the second floor has many small rooms, which offer more privacy for conversation.
Address : No. 549, Jianhe Road, Changning District
Taihe Teahouse
Showcasing（展览） a lot of special furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this place attracts many people who appreciate traditional Chinese culture. As for the tea, its selection and quality may be beyond your imagination. Even the water for making tea is transported from the famous Hutiao Spring in Hangzhou.
Ad
dress: No. 569,Pudong Avenue, Pudong New DistrictIf you want to enjoy the music Of guqin while drinking tea, you must go to __.
| A．Taihe Teahouse | B．Guozijian Yicheng Teahouse |
| C．Peng Chacha | D．Minghui Teahouse |
The underlined word" serenity" probably means ＿＿.
| A．calm and peace | B．anxiety and tiredness |
| C．noise and sorrow | D．joy and happiness |
Which of the following is the one that the guests can NOT do in Peng Chacha?
| A．Enjoying tea. | B．Playing games. | C．Watching plays. | D．Chatting. |
We know from the text that ＿＿.
| A．drinking tea is not good for your health but can enrich your mind |
| B．the workers in Peng Chacha are all dressed in traditional clothes of the Qing Dynasty |
| C．there are many kinds of nuts and snacks to try on the second floor in Peng Chacha |
| D．the water for making tea in Taihe Teahouse is transported from the famous Hutiao Spring in Hangzhou |
Are the lives of city kids the same as those in villages? In lots of ways, they are very differen
t. But what are those differences?
Hu Peng from Wuhan and four of his friends decided to find out. Earlier this month, they went to live for a week in Caidian, a village near Wuhan. Hu and his Junior l classmates went door to door in Caidian and asked kids lots of questions. They want to learn more about village kids' everyday lives, so they asked questions like this: Do your parents teach you how to do the housework? How much money do you usually spend on dinner? What would you do if a thief came into your house? They also asked 150 city kids t
he same questions.
On April 12, the team gave a report to their class. They told about many differences between children's lives in cities and those of children in villages. The biggest difference is about independence. Hu's team found that 60 percent of city kids can't do much housework, but 90 percent of village kids can care for themselves.
City kids told Hu they care about schoolwork a lot, and the
y have no time for washing clothes or making their beds. Village kids said they help their parents a lot : cooking, cleaning the houses and feeding pigs. Hu's team also found that village kids have less pocket money. Many have never used computers. They like playing in rivers or on mountains. Some don't even like to make new friends.
Hu and his friends said their trip gave them more self- confidence (自信) because they have done something by themselves. But it also worried them a bit because they found they still have a lot to learn. "When we grow up, our parents can't take care of us," Hu said. "We have to learn to take care of ourselves. " Shen Guanquan, one of Hu's friends said, "When people learn to care for themselves, they learn to do lots of difficult things. "How many city kids went to learn about village kids' everyday lives?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
Their report showed that most city kids ＿＿.
| A．help their parents a lot | B．have less pocket money  |
| C．can take care of themselves | D．still have a lot to learn |
The underlined word "it" in the last paragraph means ＿＿.
| A．their trip | B．their report | C．a village kid | D．a city kid |
Hu Peng and his friends finished their report by ＿＿.
| A．visiting schools in the village |
| B．questioning village and city kids from door to door |
C．watching village  and city kids' everyday lives |
| D．questioning village and city kids' parents |
Although the US is so big and its people have so many different racial backgrounds, it is in some ways less varied than Europe．The English language is used almost everywhere in its American form．The American way of speaking has developed independently of English and is on the whole closer to what can be heard in Ireland.
Another example of uniformity(一致)is in habits and ways of living．From Boston to Los Angeles it is as far as from France to Central Asia, and from east to west there are five time zones; but everywhere people get up and go to bed at about the same time, eat the same kind of food, buy in the same kind of shops, work and rest at the same time of the day and have the same pattern of holidays．In most of the things that matter there is less difference between rich people and ordinary people or between town and country, than in any single European nation.
Although far more food is produced than the present population needs, America is actually an urban society．Less than a tenth of the people are engaged in (从事) agriculture and most of the rest live in or around towns large and small．Here the traditional picture is changing; most Americans do not live in small towns any more．Half the population now live in some thirty metropolitan (大城市的) areas.
The fact that the United States has always been a single economic unit has contributed to uniformity．Modern industry favors large organization, and it is no accident that the world’s biggest commercial firms are American．The people can choose between the products of competing manufacturers (制造商) but the products are all much alike.In describing the uniformity in the U.S．the author does not mention that the American people .
| A．get up and go to work at the same time |
| B．spend their holidays in the same pattern |
| C．buy and eat the same kind of food |
| D．have more or less the same income |
What can we learn from the passage about the U.S．agriculture?
| A．The American farmers need more land. |
| B．Americans are interested in farming. |
| C．It is now going backward. |
| D．It is quite developed. |
The last paragraph suggests that ___.
| A．the production size in the United States is very big |
| B．a single economic unit produces the same kind of products |
| C．there are more and more competing manufactures |
| D．people can choose from all kinds of products that are similar. |
The underlined part “In most of the things that matter” probably refers to.
| A．in most basic things such as food, clothing and houses |
| B．in the more expensive things such as cars, TV sets, etc |
| C．in their land, housing and bank savings |
| D．in their wealth and income |
Time spent in a bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are a book-lover or only there to buy a book as a present. You may even have entered the shop just to find a shelter from a sudden shower. Whatever the reason, you can soon totally unaware of your surroundings. You soon become interested in some books or others, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spent too much time there and have to rush off to keep some forgotten appointment.
This chance to escape the realities of everyday life is the main attraction of a bookshop. A music shop is very much like a bookshop. You can walk around such a place to your heart's content. If it is a good shop, no assistant will come up to you with the greeting "Can I help you?" You needn't buy anything you don't want. In a booksho
p an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished reading. Then, and only then, are his services necessary.
Once a medical student had to read a textbook which was far too expensive for him to buy. He couldn't borrow it from the library and the only copy h
e could find was in a certain bookshop. Every afternoon, therefore, he would go along to the shop and read a little of the book at a time. One day, however, he was disappointed to find the book missing from his usual place. He was about to leave, when he noticed the owner of the shop beckoning to him. Expecting to be told off, he went towards him. To his surprise, the owner pointed to the book which was tucked away in a corner. "I put it there in case anyone tries to buy it !"He said, and left the delighted student continuing his reading.According to the passage the main attraction of a bookshop is that ________.
| A．people can learn something from books |
| B．it can be a shelter from a sudden rain |
| C．it is the surrounding of new knowledge |
| D．it offers a chance to get free from realities |
The writer thinks that the assistant in a good bookshop should ________.
| A．always greet customers pleasantly and warmly |
| B．help the readers to find what they want to read |
| C．not say a word to the customers while they read |
| D．not stand behind the bookshelf all the time |
The underlined word "beckoning" in the last paragraph means ________.
| A．waving somebody to come up | B．laughing at a person openly |
| C．shouting at somebody angrily | D．shaking one's head to show disagreement |
The purpose of the writer in writing the third paragraph is to ________.
| A．tell us a story that happened in a bookshop |
| B．support his idea of what a good bookshop is like |
| C．teach us how to read in a shop without buying books |
| D．advise us to help other people whenever we can |