I am truly saddened about what is going on in my school district, especially in the school where I am currently working.
Why are so many students not doing well? Why is there such a huge achievement gap between urban and suburban students? Just this week, in my school the seventh grade team leader called a meeting to discuss academic detention (放学后留校). The purpose of the detention is to allow students who are doing poorly a second chance to redo the work. Now if a st udent did not understand an assignment, I have no trouble allowing that student to redo a test or give some extra credit work, but if a student did poorly because he/she opted(选择) not to do the work out of sheer laziness, that student should not be given a second chance.
And parents should be responsible for their children. That is another reason why there is such a huge achievement gap. All children should be monitored at home in order to achieve great success in school. Perhaps it might be a great idea for urban school districts to offer free classes to parents on how to help their students at home. Of course this idea is far-fetched(靠不住的,牵强的), after all we do not want to offend the parents. What we will do instead is to spend a large amount of money on teacher training because if the kids are not doing well it must be the fault of the teacher. That kind of mindset, if allowed to continue will be a perfect recipe for greater achievement gaps.
I started working at my current school in August and I have been in the teaching field for 25 years. What I believe is that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make that horse drink. You can't force kids to change bad habits overnight, nor can we afford to lower standards just so a kid can pass a class.The seventh grade team leader in the author's school called a meeting to ________.
| A．analyse the reason for the huge achievement gap between students |
| B．find out who is to blame for the huge achievement gap between students |
| C．talk about giving students who are doing poorly a second chance to redo the work |
| D．discuss how to narrow the huge achievement gap between students |
The author believes that a student can be given a second chance ________.
| A．if he did poorly the first time |
| B．for whatever reason he did poorly the first time |
| C．if he failed the first time in spite of his efforts |
| D．if he comes from a suburban area |
In the last paragraph, the author intends to tell us that ________.
| A．a student can make improvement only when he is willing to |
| B．teachers are to blame if his students are doing poorly |
| C．the school should force those students to work harder if they're doing poorly |
| D．the school should treat different students with different standards |
Trees should only be pruned (修剪) when there is a good and clear reason for doing so and, fortunately, the number of such reasons is small. Pruning involves the cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches, and the
inexperienced gardener can be encouraged by the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way.
Firstly, pruning may be done to make sure that trees have a desired shape or size. The object may be to get a tree of the right height, and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape. Secondly, pruning may be done to make the tree healthier. You may cut diseased or dead wood, or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus cause wounds. The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the centre and so preventing the free movement of air.
One result of pruning is that an open wound is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for disease, but it is a wound that will heal. Often there is a race between the healing and the disease as to whether the tree will live or die, so that there is a period when the tree is at risk. It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce harm to the trees which have been pruned smooth and clean, for healing will be slowed down by roughness. You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hours and then paint it with one of the substances available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose. Pruning is usually done without interference from the leaves and also it is very unlikely that the cuts will bleed. If this does happen, it is, of course, impossible to paint them properly.
72.Trees become unhealthy if the gardener _________.
A. allows too many branches to grow in the middle
B. does not protect them from wind
C..Forces them to grow too quickly
D. damages some of the small side branches
73. Why is a special substance painted on the tree?
A. To make a wound smooth B. To prevent disease from entering a wound
C. To cover a rough surface. D. To help a wound to dry.
74. A good gardener prunes a tree_________.
A. at times throughout the year B. as quickly as possible
C.occasionally(偶尔) when necessary D. regularly every winter
75. The best title for the passage may be “_______”.
A. Be careful not to prune trees B. When to prune trees
C. Trees should be pruned with good reasons and in any cases
D. The pruning of trees
Bring the Family?
Port Regis is well situated for exploring the beautiful South and West of England and Wales.
The school has excellent hotels and guest houses nearby for parents who are dropping off or collecting their children from the school.
Please note:
All students attending English Country Schools must live in the appointed(指定的) place.
We do not recommend that parents live locally while their children are at school. Experience suggests that this often upsets the child and disturbs progress.
Howard’s House Country Hotel & Restaurant
About 15 minutes from Port Regis School, Howard’s House is set in large gardens hidden in the quietness of the lovely Nadder Vally.
Plumber Manor
Plumber Manor is a comfortable manor house built of local stones, situated about 20 minutes from Port Regis School. The 17 th century house is surrounded by lawns and is set in quiet Dorset countryside. The stream runs through the grounds.
Woodville Farm Bed & Self-catering
Woodville Farm is a family-run farm set in the Dorset countryside about 5 minutes from Port Regis School. Bed and breakfast accommodation: one double bedroom & one twin bedroom both with bathrooms, tea & coffee making facilities（设备）, color television & hairdryer. There is also a self-catering（自己做饭） 2-bedroom bungalow(平房) nearby.
Stock Hill Country House Hotel & Restaurant
Stock Hill Country Hotel & Restaurant is a late Victorian building set in eleven acres of mature, beautifully planned grounds on the borders of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. About 10 minutes from Port Regis School.
68.The passage is mainly written for ________.
A. students B. general readers C. parents D.overseas travelers
69.Parents are advised not to live locally when children are having classes because________.
A. children are not too excited to be with their parents
B.parents stay with their children for too long
C.their visit makes children uneasy about themselves
D.their stay there affects children’s studies
70. If you prefer to live in a stone house, which hotel would you choose?
A.Plumber Manor B.Woodville farm Bed & Self-catering.
C.Howard’s House Country Hotel & Restaurant.
D.Stock Hill Country house Hotel & Restaurant.
71.Woodville Farm is different from other hotels in that _________.
A.it is hidden in a large garden B.guests can cook their own food
C.it dates back to Victorian times
D.it has a very beautiful country scenery
“When one of the doctors criticizes(批评) me, I get defensive. I feel like a child again, being scolded, and I want to explain that I’m not wrong,” says Viola, a nurse. This is a common reaction（反应） to criticism, but not a good one. There are better ways of dealing with criticism.
Try to be objective(客观的).When Sol was criticized by his new employer for not having made a sale, Sol’s reaction was to feel sorry for himself. “I had put everything I had into making that sale,” Sol says. “And I felt that I had failed as a person.I had to learn through experience not to react like that to each failure.”
Take time to cool down. Rather than react at once to criticism, take some time to think over what was said. Your first question should be whether the criticism is fair from the other person’s position. The problem may be a simple misunderstanding of what you did or your reasons for doing it.
Take positive（积极的） action. After you cool down, consider what you can do about the situation. The best answer may be “nothing”. “I finally realized that my boss was having personal problems and taking them out on me because I was there ,” says Sheila. “His criticisms didn’t really have anything to do with my work, so nothing I said or did was going to change them.” In Sheila’s case, the best way to deal with it was to leave her job However, that’s an extreme(极端的) reaction.
You may simply explain your opinion without expecting an in-depth（深入的） discussion. You may even decide that the battle isn’t worth fighting this time. The key, in any case , is to have a reasonable plan.
64. When Sol was criticized by his employer, he________.
A. argued bitterly with his employer
B. was angry and gave up his job
C. was sorry for what he did
D. was sad and self-pitying
65. According to the writer, you should take time to think about criticism because ________.
A. people may have a mistaken idea of what you did
B. you should welcome other people’s opinions
C. people may discuss it with you in depth
D. you need time to understand yourself
66. When the writer says that “The best answer may be ‘ nothing’ ”,he means you may
decide _________.
A. to take no notice of the criticism B. to argue with your boss
C. you need to change your job D. you’ve done nothing wrong
67.The writer thinks Sheila might decide to leave her job because her boss______.
A.didn’t like her appearance B. refused to change his opinion
C.made an unreasonable critcism D.refused to talk to her about the criticism
Last April, on a visit to the new Mall of America near Minneapolis, I carried with me a small book provided for the reporters by the public relations office. It
included a variety of “fun facts” about the mall, for example, 140,000 hot dogs are sold each week, there are 10,000 full-time jobs, 44 sets of moving stairs and 17 lifts, 12,750 parking places, 13,000 tons of steel and $ 1 million is drawn weekly from 8 ATMs. Opened in the summer of 2005, the mall was built where the former Minneapolis Stadium had been. It was only a five-minute drive from the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. With 4.2 million square feet of floor space ----- twenty-two times the size of the average American shopping center –the Mall of America was the largest shopping and family recreation center under one roof in the United States.
I know already that the Mall of America had been imagined by its designers, not only as a marketplace, but as a national tourist attaction. Eleven thousand articles, the small book informed me, had been written about the mall. Four hundred trees had been planted in its gardens, $ 625 million had been spent to build it, and 350 stores were already in business. Three thousand bus tours were expected each year along with a half-million Canadian visitors and 200,000 Japanese tourists. Sales are expected to be at $ 650 million for 2008 and at $ I billion for 2009. Pop singers and film stars such as Janet Jackson and Amold Schwarzenegger visited the mall. It was five times larger than Red Square and it included 2.3 miles of hallways and used almost twice as Knott’s Camp Snoopy.
60. We know from the text that the Mall of America is _________.
A.near an old stadium B.close to an airport
C.higher than the Eiffel TowerD.bigger than most American parks
61. Why are the pieces of information provided by the Mall of America referred to as “fun facts”?
A.They are largely imagined. B.They are surprising figures（数字）
C.They give exact descriptions. D.They make people feel uneasy.
62. Why does the author mention popular stars who have been to the mall?
A.To show its power of attraction.
B.To show that few rich people like to shop there.
C.To tell the public about a new movie being made about it.
D.To tell people that they have chances of meeting famous stars there.
63. We can infer from the text that _______.
A.Japanese visitors are most welcome to the mall
B.Canadian visitors would spend $ I billion at the mall
C.Knott’s Camp Snoopy was next to the Mall of America
D.the Mall of America was designed to serve more than one purpose（目的）
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
I began to work as a salesgirl in a department store. I got there that morning and was introduced to all the salesmen and saleswomen. Throughout the day,one of the salesmen talked with me.I thought we might become friends.That evening after work we went out for dinner. We sat together and talked,but our numbers were never exchanged.
Around 10 pm I began my 2-hour drive back. For the first part of the drive I was thinking to myself how stupid I had been for not giving him my number. Then all of a sudden, when I had gone around a corner I was completely over in another lane(车道).There was no time to even hit the brakes（刹车）. I hit at once. The police came and cut the top of my car off to get me out. They sent me to the hospital quickly.
My mother got there late that night, and saw me lying in the emergency room. The next morning, mom called the manager and told him what had happened, and that I would be in the hospital for a long time. A few hours later, I received a phone call--- it was the guy（小伙子） I hadn’t given my number. Well, he came to visit me that night and the next night. We spent a lot of time together.
It was months before I would be walking and driving again, but he’d sit by me. I don’t think I could have pulled through it without him. Now I can walk freely, and just this
week we are planning on getting married one year after the day we met. It’s just amazing
how a tragedy like a car accident could bring about such a wonderful relationship!
56.The car accident happened because______.
A.the girl drank a lot before driving
B.it was so dark that the girl couldn’t see very clearly
C.another car appeared on the girl’s lane suddenly
D.the girl didn’t drive with great care
57.We can infer that the girl __________.
A.couldn’t say anything at hospital
B.would lose her job in the store
C.was badly injured in the accident
D.was careless with making friends
58.The guy got the news that the girl was in hospital possibly from ________.
A.the manager B.the girl’s mother C.the doctor D.the girl herself
59.The girl thought that ________.
A.a traffic accident might bring good luck
B.it was the car accident that brought about their marriage
C.a true friend is one who helps you in need
D.there was true love and friendship in the world