How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough
Journalist Tough spent five years reporting his previous (先前的) book, Whatever It Takes, a description of education activist Geoffrey Canada and the families influenced by his organization, the Harlem Children’s Zone. In this 2012 follow-up, Tough sets out to answer the difficult questions raised by Whatever It Takes: Why do some kids — particularly poor ones — succeed while others fail? And how can parents and educators help guide more children towards success?
The Death and Life of the Great American School System, by Diane Ravitch
Ravitch, a professor in New York University, takes a hard look at how public education has changed over the past twenty years, offering a reasoned explanation of popular policies, such as the emphasis (强调) on testing, and a solution (解决方法) to how to improve America’s schools.
Saving the School, by Michael Brick
When Anabel Garza became headteacher of Reagan High in Austin, Tex, she was faced with a large number of seemingly very difficult problems: A high dropout rate (辍学率) and low test scores. But as Brick writes Saving the School, a first-hand account of a year in the life of Reagan High, Garza, along with other teachers, was determined to turn things around for her school and her students.
The Flat World and Education, by Linda Darling -Hammond
While scores on the tests required by “No Child Left Behind” have steadily (平稳地) risen, America’s students are always falling behind on international testing measures. Why? According to Stanford education professor Darling-Hammond, it’s because U.S. schools, “designed at the turn of the last century,” are in need of a complete change. In this book, she describes the latest education models used by schools all over the world, which she argues could offer a long-term road map to changing the American public school system.Which book answers questions from another book?
| A．Saving the School. |
| B．How Children Succeed. |
| C．The Flat World and Education. |
| D．The Death and Life of the Great American School System. |
Who writes about a particular high school?
| A．Diane Ravitch. | B．Michael Brick. |
| C．Paul Tough. | D．Linda Darling-Hammond. |
Both Diane and Linda are offering measures to _____.
| A．cut down the dropout rate |
| B．help students get high scores |
| C．improve schools in America |
| D．guide more children to success |
B
In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard, the pay was poor; What’s more, the working conditions were terrible.
First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did receive a low pay.
But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.
60. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at the time?
A. to pay for his schooling B. to save for his future
C. to contribute to charities D. to gain some experience
61. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT ________.
A. loading boxes in the freezing cold B. having limited time for breaks
C. working and studying at the same time D. getting no pay for lunch time
62. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The writer’s unhappy school life.
B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.^
C. The writer’s experience as a full-time worker.
D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.
63. How is the text organized?
A. Topic-Argument-Explanation
B. Opinion-Discussion-Description
C. Main idea-Comparison-Supporting examples
D. Introduction-Supporting examples-Conclusion
Ⅳ、阅读理解（每小题2分; 满分30分）
A
Beijing’s markets will soon be flooded with more and cheaper colorful fruit such as orange mangos and green durian all year around.
Thanks to a new free trade agreement signed last Monday between China and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations(ASEAN), more and more tropical（热带的）South-east Asian fruit will enter the country.
The agreement means that from July 1, 2010, China and ASEAN countries will begin to cut tariffs（关税）. There are about 7,000 products included in the cuts.
As global communication develops, countries are trading more and more goods with each other. When products are sold across national boundaries（边界）,countries put a tax on them. This type of tax is called a tariff.
Just like removing an obstacle（障碍）from the path of these goods, the reduction of tariffs will encourage trade between China and ASEAN countries. It means more productions and lower prices.
The agreement will bring real benefits for Chinese customers, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman. “In the Beijing markets you will easily find more tropical fruit like durian, which used to be very, very expensive. Now they will be cheaper.” The current tariff rate on durian is 22 percent but will fall to zero in 2010.
In the first 10 months of this year China did US $84.6 billion of trade with ASEAN countries. Experts believe this may reach US $100 billion next year.
Founded in 1967, ASEAN now includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
56. More and more tropical fruits will enter China because_________.
A. there are too many of them in foreign countries
B. an agreement to cut tariffs was made
C. Chinese people are rich enough to afford them
D. The trading business is developing^
57. Which of the following statements about the agreement is NOT true?
A. It will lead to an increase in trade between China and ASEAN countries.
B. It might cause the prices of ASEAN products to fall.
C. It may greatly benefit the Chinese customers.
D. It won’t bring any benefits to producers of ASEAN countries.
58. We can infer from the story that_______ .
A. China is short of fruit
B. tariffs are an important factor in foreign trade
C. tropical countries have cheaper fruit
D. China prefers to trade with ASEAN countries
59. The best title for this passage is
A. Tariff Cut Increases Trade B. Best Ways To Sell Fruits
C. Tropical Fruit To China D. China Joins ASEAN
A team of researchers in California has developed a way to predict what kinds of objects people are looking at by scanning what’s happening in their brains.
When you look at something, your eyes send a signal about that object to your brain. Different regions of the brain process the information your eyes send. Cells in your brain called neurons(神经元) are responsible for this processing.
The fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging功能性磁共振造影) brain scans could generally match electrical activity in the brain to the basic shape of a picture that someone was looking at.
Like cells anywhere else in your body, active neurons use oxygen. Blood brings oxygen to the neurons, and the more active a neuron is, the more oxygen it will consume. The more active a region of the brain, the more active its neurons, and in turn, the more blood will travel to that region. And by using fMRI, scientists can visualize which parts of the brain receive more oxygen- rich blood--and therefore, which parts are working to process information.
An fMRI machine is a device that scans the brain and measures changes in blood flow to the brain. The technology shows researchers how brain activity changes when a person thinks, looks at something, or carries out an activity like speaking or reading. By highlighting the areas of the brain at work when a person looks at different images, fMRI may help scientists determine specific patterns of brain activity associated with different kinds of images.
The California researchers tested brain activity by having two volunteers view hundreds of pictures of everyday objects, like people, animals, and fruits. The scientists used an fMRI machine to record the volunteers' brain activity with each photograph they looked at. Different objects caused different regions of the volunteers' brains to light up on the scan, indicating activity. The scientists used this information to build a model to predict how the brain might respond to any image the eyes see.
In a second test, the scientists asked the volunteers to look at 120 new pictures. Like before, their brains were scanned every time they looked at a new image. This time, the scientists used their model to match the fMRI scans to the image. For example, if a scan in the second test showed the same pattern of brain activity that was strongly, related to pictures of apples in the first test, their model would have predicted the volunteers were looking at apples.
51. What is responsible for processing the information sent by your eyes?
A A small region of the brain.
B The central part of the brain.
C Neurons in the brain.
D Oxygen-rich blood.
52. Which of the following statements is NOT meant by the writer?
A Cells in your brain are called neurons.
B The more oxygen a neuron consumes, the more blood it needs.
C fMRI helps scientists to discover which parts of the brain process information.
D fMRI helps scientists to discover how the brain develops intelligently.
53. "Highlighting the areas of the brain at work" means
A "marking the parts of the brain that are processing information"
B "giving light to the parts of the brain that are processing information"
C "putting the parts of the brain to work"
D "stopping the parts of the brain from working"
54. What did the researchers experiment on?
A Animals, objects, and fruits.
B Two volunteers.
C fMRI machines.
D Thousands of pictures.
55.What is the best title for the passage?
A Mind-reading Machine
B A Technological Dream
C Device that can Help You Calculate
D The Recent Development in Science and Technology
Eat healthier. Exercise twice a week. Read more books. Lose weight. We make the same resolutions(决心) every year, but most of us fail, dying out after only a few days or , at best, weeks. Even the most successful among us crash and burn when it comes to personal change. President-elect Barack Obama struggles to remove his cigarette habit.
Professionals who help people make changes in their lives suggest the change is determined not by one's surroundings, but one's mind. Beginning with small goals or steps usually leads to a bigger payoff later, they say. But they caution that the experience is different for everyone.
"People are more likely to make positive changes in their lives not only when their friends do, but when their friends of friends do, and when their friends of friends of friends do," said Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard University. "People are better able to make changes in their lives - lose weight, quit smoking, become happy - when they do this with a large number of other people, and so taking advantage of your social network ties can result in a magnification of your own efforts."
Jhonny Augustin understands that well. His resolution for 2008 was to shed 30 pounds from his 237-pound frame. But the change didn't come easily. He said,"I'm a huge procrastinator, I kept putting it off until tomorrow. I didn't get to do it until the summer." However , Augustin got inspired when he saw his older brother working out. Today, Augustin weighs 190 pounds.
“Of course, change can happen only if people don't set their expectations too high or try to tackle too many changes at once; one of the biggest mistakes we make is setting unrealistic goals, ”said Dalia Llera, a psychologist and associate professor of counseling and psychology at Lesley University. "You can't accomplish in a few weeks what you haven't accomplished in a few years," said Llera.
46.From the first paragraph we can infer that .
A.change for a person is challenging
B.famous people have great determination
C.most people don’t want to change themselves
D.personal change is beyond belief
47.It is known from Nicholas christkis that .
A. making a change is easier with support from a cheerful group of friends
B. social networks have great effect on one’s change
C. people who have the same attitude often get together
D. people’s mood can contribute to their efforts
48.The word “procrastinator” in Paragraph 4 refers to those who .
A. have great determination to make a change
B. have no desire to do something great
C. put off work especially because of laziness
D. have habitual carelessness and laziness
49.According to the passage, Dalia Liera suggested that .
A. people should understand their goals well
B. people should try their best to change themselves
C. people should have confidence and positive habits
D. people should start with setting small goals to meet
50.The passage is mainly about .
A. the reason why losing weight is so hard
B. the effect of the positive change
C. the attitudes towards change in life
D. the ways of making a change
Welcome to Financial Aid Need Estimator! This free service can help you plan more effectively to meet college costs. The Financial Aid Need Estimator allows you to figure out your family costs at specific intitutions by taking you through two steps.
Step 1:during the first step, the Financial Aid Need Estimator will help you estimate how much you and your family will be expected to pay.
Step 2:Using the second step, you may estimate the costs of attending specific institution. Your results will show your results will show your eligibility(合格) for financial aid based on both your expected family costs and the costs of attending the institution you selected. By selecting another institution, you may repeat these calculations for as many institutions as you wish without entering your personal information.
The Financial Aid Need Estimator does not ask you to identify yourself and will not keep your personal information.
Because international students are not eligible for federal need-based financial aid program results from the Financial Aid Need Estimator will apply only to students who are the U citizens.
41.The result of calculation you get from the Financial Aid Need Estimator will .
A.help you get the financial aid
B.provide database for official results
C.help you meet your college costs
D.show your eligibility for financial aid
42.The Financial Aid Need Estimator is reliable because .
A.it is controlled by government
B.it uses the same formula as the government’s official results
C.it can make sure of its accuracy
D.it provides good services free of charge
43.Who will be most interested in the passage?
A.The Us students who want to apply for financial aid.
B.The international students who have financial difficulty.
C.The US students who want to go to college.
D.The international students who want further study.
44. The Financial Aid Need Estimator may mainly consider .
A.the college you want to go to
B.the accuracy of the information you provide
C.family costs and college costs
D.the application for financial aid
45.The purpose of writing this passage is probably to .
A.tell the possible ways to get financial aid
B.tell who will the eligible for financial aid
C.introduce the financial Aid Need Estimator
D.introduce the financial aid to college students