In the United States, many low income (低收入) parents cannot afford to buy enough food for their children. A program called Kids Café is helping some of these children by providing free nutritious (有营养的) snacks and meals during after-school programs.
At a community (社区) center in Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C., children make a snack as part of their afterschool program. “The snack is very healthy for your body, but the main thing is that it tastes really, really good,” Keith Clements tells them. He runs the Kids Café program.
The children are between the ages of 5 and 11 and are from several local schools. About half have parents from Ethiopia. Many of the children eat their traditional food at home. Kids Café, with food offered free by a food bank, gives them an opportunity to try different types of food.
“It’s good,” says one girl. But Rebecca Nance, whose parents are from the US, is not so sure. “The taste is weird.” Her mother, Daffany Nance has two children in the program. She’s glad her kids are getting nutritious food. “Even in my house we don’t have much junk food,” she says, “so it’s very important that it’s healthy and continues to help them grow better.”
The charity (慈善机构), Feeding America, started the national Kids Café program in 1993. The charity says more than 16 million children in the United States do not have enough healthy food to eat.
Kids Café became part of the afterschool program at this community center five years ago. Lori McFail heads the afterschool program. She says some children do not eat good evening meals because their parents work late or cannot afford healthy food. She hopes the children will make full use of what they’ve learned about nutrition in their lives.What is the purpose of starting Kids Café?
| A．To provide poor children with nutritious food. |
| B．To raise money for some poor children. |
| C．To develop the afterschool program. |
| D．To help poor children learn new skills. |
The underlined word “weird” is the closest in meaning to _____.
| A．delicious | B．unusual |
| C．terrible | D．strong |
What can we learn about Daffany Nance?
| A．She is from Ethiopia and has two children. |
| B．She cared little about her children’s diet before. |
| C．She believes the program is good for her children. |
| D．She hopes more types of food can be offered for free. |
Who leads the afterschool program?
| A．Lori McFail. |
| B．Keith Clements. |
| C．Feeding America. |
| D．A community center in Virginia. |
Dear Aunt Tara,
I have a problem with my homework. We have to do it in a group. It has to be finished this Friday, but Gary, the boy in our group, has done nothing helpful. He just keeps rocking the boat.
Every time we talk about the work with him, he always says, “Don’t worry. I’ll do it later.” But he seldom does his job. And when he does, he does it the wrong way. Someone has to do it for him again. What’s worse is when Ms. Lin asks about our group, Gary always tells her that we others don’t work hard enough. I’m really mad at Gary about this. We’re in the same group. Shouldn’t we help each other to do a better job?
Kate
Dear Kate,
It is important for students to learn how to work together in a group. Maybe you should talk to Gary about the problem and tell him you all need his help. If he still doesn’t change, go talk to your teacher. I believe she can make Gary do his job.
Aunt TaraWhich of the following is true about Kate’s homework?
| A．It’s very easy. |
| B．It’s very boring. |
| C．It has to be done by herself. |
| D．It requires teamwork. |
What does “rocking the boat” most likely mean in Kate’s letter?
| A．Causing trouble. |
| B．Doing easy jobs. |
| C．Telling people what to do. |
| D．Working without thinking. |
Which of the following best describes Gary?
| A．Kind and helpful. | B．Lazy and dishonest. |
| C．Tall and strong. | D．Honest and popular. |
What do we know from Aunt Tara’s letter?
| A．Kate is the leader of Ms. Lin’s class. |
| B．Kate should let Gary know how she feels. |
| C．Gary should be put in another group. |
| D．Gary has decided to change himself. |
What’s Aunt Tara’s advice to Kate?
| A．Do the homework without Gary’s help. |
| B．Ask her teacher immediately to make Gary do his job. |
| C．Talk to Gary first and then to Ms. Lin if necessary. |
| D．Ask her teacher to give her a different kind of homework. |
At a primary school in a small town in the east of South Carolina, second-grade teachers Garneau and Lynne are convinced that separating elementary-age boys and girls produces immediate academic improvement in both genders（性别）．
David Chadwell, South Carolina’s expert of single gender education says, “Boys and girls learn, hear and respond to their surroundings differently．We can teach boys and girls based on what we now know．”
Male and female eyes are not organized in the same way, he explains．The organization of the male eye makes it sensitive to motion and direction．“Boys understand the world as objects moving through space,” he says．
The male eye is also drawn to cooler colors like silver and black．It’s no accident that boys tend to create pictures of moving objects instead of drawing the happy colorful family, like girls do in their class．
The female eye, on the other hand, is drawn to warmer colors like red, yellow and orange．To attract girls, Chadwell says, the teacher doesn’t need to move as much as in boy’s class．Using descriptive phrases and lots of colors in presentations or on the blackboard gets their attention．
Boys and girls also hear differently．“When someone speaks in a loud tone, girls understand it as yelling,” Chadwell says．“They think you’re mad and can shut down．” Girls are more sensitive to sounds．He advises girls’ teachers to watch the tone of their voices．Boys’ teachers should sound more forceful, even excited．
A boy’s nervous system causes him to be more cautious when he is standing, moving, and the room temperature is around 69 degrees Fahrenheit．Stress in boys, he says, tends to increase blood flow to their brains, a process that helps them stay focused．Girls are more focused when seated in a warmer room around 75 degrees Fahrenheit．Girls also respond to stress differently．When exposed to threat and conflict, blood goes to their guts（肠道）, leaving them feeling nervous or anxious．
These differences can be applied in the classroom, Chadwell adds．“Single gender programs are about making the best use of the learning．”What is David Chadwell’s attitude toward separating elementary-age boys and girls while learning?
| A．Supportive | B．Worried |
| C．Concerned | D．Uninterested |
To engage boy in a class, the teacher ______．
| A．must have a moving object in this hand |
| B．needs to wear clothes in warm color |
| C．has to speak politely |
| D．had better move constantly while teaching |
Which of the following shows the organization of the passage?
（ =" Paragraph" 1=" Paragraph" 2=" Paragraph" 3 …．．． =" Paragraph" 8 ）
Which of the following students is most likely to be focused?
| A．A boy sitting in a warm room |
| B．A standing boy who is faced with stress |
| C．A girl standing in a cold room |
| D．A girl who is facing a lot of pressure |
Deborah Cohen is a senior natural scientist at the Rand Corp and the author of the book A Big Fat Crisis: The Hidden Forces Behind the Obesity Epidemic and How We Can End It. According to the book, there are lots of misunderstandings of obesity.
1. If you’re obese, blame your genes.
Obesity rates have increased. Yet, between 1980 and 2000, the number of Americans who are obese has doubled—too quickly for genetic factors to be responsible.
At restaurants, a dollar puts more calories on our plates than ever before, because restaurant meals usually have more calories than what we prepare at home, so people who eat out more frequently have higher rates of obesity than those who eat out less.
2. If you’re obese, you lack self-control.
Research shows that if we are faced with too much information, we have a tendency to make poor dietary choices. Our world has become so rich in temptation that we can be led to consume too much in ways we can’t understand. Even the most vigilant(警觉的) people may not be up to the task of controlling themselves.
3. Lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables is responsible for obesity.
Although the US Department of Agriculture estimates that fewer than 5 percent of Americans live in the “food deserts”, about 65 percent of the nation’s population is overweight or obese. For most of us, obesity is not related to access to more fresh fruits and vegetables, but to the choices we make in supermarkets.
4. The problem is not that we eat too much, but that we don’t exercise.
Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign is based on the idea that if kids exercise more, childhood obesity rates will decrease. But there was no significant decrease in physical activity levels as obesity rates climbed in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, although a drop in work-related physical activity may account for up to 100 fewer calories burned, leisure physical activity appears to have increased. The problem is that we eat too much.The author mentioned Deborah Cohen’s book in Paragraph 1 to _______.
| A．introduce the topic |
| B．draw readers’ attention |
| C．introduce the author of the book |
| D．advertise the book |
What is the relationship between obesity and the place where you eat?
| A．The less you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
| B．The less you eat at home, the lower rates of obesity you have. |
| C．The more you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
| D．The more you eat at home, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．Four misunderstandings of obesity. |
| B．Four rules to help you avoid obesity. |
| C．Obesity leads to a big fat crisis. |
| D．Lacking self-control leads to obesity. |
Einstein, a great scientist of the age, was almost as strange as his Theory of Relativity.
Once, while riding a street car in Berlin, he told the conductor that he had not given him the right change. The conductor counted the change again and found it to be correct, so he handed it to Einstein, saying, “The trouble with you is that you don’t know your figures.”
Einstein said that there were only twelve people living who understood his Theory of Relativity although a good many books had been written to explain it.
He had nothing but contempt（藐视）for the things most people set their hearts on—for fame and riches（财富）and luxury（奢华）.
He didn’t want money or praise. He made his own happiness out of such simple things as his work and playing the violin and sailing his boat. Einstein’s violin brought him more joy than anything else in life. He said that he often thought in music. The conductor thought Einstein .
| A．wasn’t good at maths | B．had good memory |
| C．was either mad or strange | D．liked to make trouble |
Einstein meant that many people .
| A．knew his Theory of Relativity well because they could explain it |
| B．had written to have grasped his theory correctly |
| C．pretended to have grasped his abstract theory |
| D．admired him very much |
The underlined part “set…hearts on” means .
| A．believe | B．have | C．love | D．hate |
Most people know that the United States is made up of fifty states. However, few people know a lot about all fifty of them. Sufjan Stevens is a young American musician. He wants to change this situation.
Sufjan Stevens plans to make an album about each of the fifty American states. During college he played in several musical groups and recorded an album of his own music. However, he wanted to be a writer, not a musician. So after college he moved to New York City to study writing.
In New York. Stevens had trouble writing stories. He discovered that he missed music. He also discovered that most of the stories he did write were about his home state of Michigan. So, Sufjan Stevens decided to make an album of songs about Michigan.
Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State was released in 2003. The album was a big success. Many young people and music critics liked it. Before long, Stevens announced that he wanted to make an album for every state. He called it his “fifty states project”.
Stevens chose Illinois as his next state. He read many books about Illinois. He studied police documents and old newspapers. He talked to people who live in the state. The CD Illinois was released in 2005. Critics loved the album. It won many awards. Illinois became popular at colleges throughout the United States. People said the CD sounded different from anything else they had ever heard.
Sufjan Stevens is keeping his next state a secret from reporters. People have said that he is writing about Oregon, Rhode Island, or Minnesota. However, no one but Stevens knows for sure.Why does Sufian Stevens plan to make an album about each of the American states?
| A．To excite the music talent in ordinary Americans. |
| B．To record an album of his own music. |
| C．To let people know more about all the American states. |
| D．To go on writing stories. |
What did Sufjan Stevens do to make an album of songs about a state?
| A．He played in several musical groups. |
| B．He studied documents and newspapers and talked to people there. |
| C．He moved to New York City to study writing. |
| D．He kept his next state a secret from reporters. |
Which of the following can serve as the proper title for the passage?
| A．Fifty States Project |
| B．The Fifty States in America |
| C．Songs About American States |
| D．Sufjan Stevens and Michigan |