The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smart phone, writing by hand has become something of old skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful--both in school and in life.
Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology(心理学) at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children learn the skill of writing by hand.
Berninger and her workmates carried out a study that looked at the ability of students to complete different writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, people wrote longer articles and more complete sentences.
In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to how well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us get our vocabulary, word meaning and ideas. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.
Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe(转换) “those words in the mind into written symbols(标志) on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to notice spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct them over time.
“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the choices given by the computer.”Which of the following best shows the role of spelling?
| A．Spelling improves one’s memory of words. |
| B．Spelling ability is closely tied to writing ability. |
| C．Spelling benefits the translation from words into ideas. |
| D．Spelling slows down finding exact words to express ideas. |
What does “mind’s eye” in paragraph 5 mean?
| A．Window. | B．Emotion. |
| C．Picture. | D．Imagination. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Computers can help people with their choice of words. |
| B．Spell checks can take the place of spelling teaching. |
| C．Handwriting still has a place in today’s classrooms. |
| D．Spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade. |
When my wife left this world, I chose to travel in Antigua looking for a peaceful place to rest my old body. Not quite old and weak, I felt I wanted something more than the usual hotel room with 24-hour room service.
I decided this year to try something completely new and booked myself a private holiday home in Antigua. This was the best decision I had ever made, as there was plenty to do, plenty to see and lots of lovely restaurants to visit. There was a private swimming pool, and a cool, wide yard where I ate my breakfast most mornings.
Antigua has to be one of the loveliest places on earth to spend a holiday. The bright blue sea and the endless blue around the beach areas proved to be an excellent place for me to spend the long afternoons.
I had to hurry to do what I wanted to do before the holiday came to an end. I managed to visit the Sugar Mill and Shirley Heights on my last two days and yet found myself wondering whether I could extend for a few more days.
I rented a boat and came home after a day’s sailing, refreshed, looking forward to dinner. Everything is so pleasant on these beautiful islands, swept by the trade winds and warmed by the sun for so many summer months. The food just tasted better to me, perhaps because I was having such a great holiday. There was always someone to have a drink with---- that’s what I liked most.Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned about the private holiday home the writer stayed in?
| A．It had a private swimming pool. |
| B．There were lots of restaurants near it. |
| C．The writer often had breakfast in its yard. |
| D．It supplied delicious seafood to the writer. |
The word “extend” in Paragraph 4 probably means “______”.
| A．make something last longer |
| B．make you feel happy |
| C．prevent from entering |
| D．sell goods to foreign countries |
The most important reason for the writer to travel in Antigua was ______.
| A．there was bright blue sea |
| B．there was endless blue sky |
| C．there were lots of lovely restaurants |
| D．there were many people to drink with |
The passage is most likely to be taken from a part of ______.
| A．a tour guide | B．a travel diary |
| C．a student’s report | D．a health report |
Four men who would become fathers were in a hospital waiting room while their wives were going to give birth to their babies. The nurse arrived and proudly said to the first man, “Congratulations, sir. You’re the father of twins!”
“What a surprise! Believe it or not! I work for the Minnesota Twins Baseball teams!”
Later the nurse returned and congratulated the second father on the birth of his triplets (三胞胎).
“Wow! That’s unbelievable! I work for the 3M Company.”
An hour later, the nurse returned to congratulate the third man on the birth of his quadruplets (四胞胎). Surprised, he only could answer, “I don’t believe it! I work for the Four Seasons Hotel!”
After this, everyone turned to the fourth man who had just fallen down. The nurse ran fast to his side. As he slowly came to himself, they could hear him speak in a very low voice over and over, “I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven.”Why were the fathers there?
| A．They were waiting for their wives. |
| B．They were seeing doctors. |
| C．They were waiting for their babies to be born. |
| D．They were working at men nurses there. |
Which of the following is true about the third man?
| A．He thought the nurse made a mistake. |
| B．He was very surprised at the nurse’s words. |
| C．He didn’t want to have these babies. |
| D．He should never have worked at 7-Eleven. |
Why did the fourth man fall down after hearing the nurse’s words?
| A．He was afraid of having so many babies. |
| B．He was seriously ill. |
| C．He was too excited. |
| D．He was very glad to have 7 babies. |
At least how many babies would be born according to the story?
| A．9. | B．10. | C．11. | D．16. |
In 1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business .But he was not a good artist .So he invented a very simple camera. He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden .That was the first photo.
The next important date in the history of photography was in 1837. That year, Daguerre, another Frenchman, took a picture of his reading room .He used a new kind of camera in a different way. In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing. This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype.
Soon, other people began to use Daguerre’s way. Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world .people took picture of famous buildings, cities and mountains.
In about 1840, photography was improved .Then photographers could take pictures of people and moving things .That was not simple .The photographers had to carry a lot of films and other machines. But this did not stop them, for example, some in the United States worked so hard.
Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer. He took many pictures of great people .The pictures were unusual because they were very lifelike.
Photographers also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century. Some photos were not just copies of the real world .They showed feelings like other kinds of art. The first photo taken by Niepce was a picture of ________
| A．his business | B．his house | C．his garden | D．his window |
The Daguerreotype was_______.
| A．a Frenchman | B．a kind of picture |
| C．a kind of camera | D．a photographer |
If a photographer wanted to take pictures of moving things in the year of 1840, he had to_____.
| A．watch lots of films |
| B．buy an expensive camera |
| C．stop in most cities |
| D．take many films and something else. |
This passage tells us_____________.
| A．how photography was developed |
| B．how to show feelings in pictures |
| C．how to take pictures in the world |
| D．how to use different cameras |
阅读下列内容，从每小题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。
The people inneedn’t go to work on Fridays.
| A．Canada | B．Scotland | C．Japan | D．Egypt |
If it is 8:00 a.m. in western Canada, the time is _______ in eastern Canada.
| A．11:00a.m | B．2:00 p.m. | C．12:30 p.m. | D．4:00 a.m. |
While Canadian children are waking up, children in Scotland are ________.
| A．having lessons | B．sleeping | C．watching TV | D．playing games |
Everyone likes living in a clean and comfortable environment. If the envionment(环境) is bad, it will affect（影响）our bodies, and make us not feel well. Sometimes we may be terribly ill. At that time we don’t want to work, and we have to stay in bed and rest at home. So the envrionment is very important to us.
It’s germ that makes us ill. There are germs everywhere, They are very small and you can’t find them with your own eyes, but you can see them with a microscope（显微镜）. They are very small and there may be hundreds of them on a very small thing, Germs can always be found in the dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope, we shall see them in it. Germs can also be found in air and dust（灰尘）. If you cut your finger, some of the dust from the floor may go into it, and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs will go into all of your boby, and you will have pain everywhere.
To keep us healthy, we should try to our best to make our environment become cleaner and tidier. This needs us to act together.The writer tell us that________.
| A．we like working when we are ill |
| B．germs can’t live in the water. |
| C．we can’t feel ill if the environment is bad. |
| D．we feel well when the environment is good. |
Germs are________.
| A．very small things that you can’t see with your eyes. |
| B．the things that don’t effect people. |
| C．the things that you can find with your eyes. |
| D．the things that are very big. |
Where can germs be found? They can be found_________.
| A．on the small thing | B．in air and dust |
| C．only in dirty water | D．everywhere |
How will you feel if germs go into the finger that is cut?
| A．I will feel nothing. | B．I won’t mind. |
| C．I will feel tense. | D．I will feel painful. |
From the passage we know that________
| A．environment doesn’t affect our life. |
| B．we don’t need to improve our environment. |
| C．germs may make us ill. |
| D．if the environment is better, germs will be more. |