Some American high schools are for students with special interests, like science or the arts. New York City even has a program for those interested in the food service industry, called Food and Finance High School.
New York also has what are called international high schools, or internationals, for immigrant students. They must be new learners of English who have been in the United States less than four years. The first school opened in nineteen eighty-five. The city will begin the new term next month with ten.
New York works with a nonprofit organization, the Internationals Network for Public Schools. Support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has helped the network expand. The network says the graduation rate was seventy percent last year in the four New York schools open long enough to have graduating classes. That, compared with twenty-three percent for English language learners in all of the city schools.
Over all, New York officials recently reported that the city’s four-year graduation rate, reached fifty-two percent last year. At the same time, they reported that the city’s dropout rate fell below fifteen percent. The Internationals Network says its schools have an average dropout rate of just five percent.
Claire Sylvan is the executive director of the group. She says students drop out mainly because their families need them to work or because parents arrange marriages for girls.
The Internationals Network mainly helps find teachers and trains them in the teaching method of the internationals. Claire Sylvan says the teaching approach is to have students use their different strengths to help each other. They work in small groups, but she says they are not grouped by ability. She says the students discuss issues, then produce a product like a paper, a play, a poster or a report. They learn English as they work.The international high school in New York is __________
| A．for immigrant students with special interests |
| B．for new immigrant students who have been living in New York less than four years |
| C．for new learners of foreign language from around the world |
| D．for new young learners of English language living in the US less than four years |
The international high schools in New York _______
| A．have been opened for less than 20 years and set a good example |
| B．can bring great profit for the Internationals Network for Public Schools |
| C．will expand from having one school to having ten |
| D．have given great support to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
Which of the following shows the graduation rate of the schools of the International Networks last year in the four New York schools?
One of the reasons why some students drop out of school is that _____.
| A．their parents can’t afford to pay for the education |
| B．they have to help their parents with the work |
| C．girls are forced to make money for their families |
| D．they have trouble in passing all kinds of exams |
Claire Sylvan would agree with all the following statements EXCEPT _____.
| A．with the help of the network, the students can find right teachers. |
| B．students use their different strengths to help each other |
| C．students can be divided into different classes according to their ability |
| D．students can discuss with each other and finish their work by themselves |
People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories according to pictures.
About 5,000 years ago the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as a kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet(字母表).
The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picture-writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modem comic-strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic-strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.
By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area a-round the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.
These days we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawings, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the streets, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.
6. Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ________.
A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures B. the painters were animal lovers
C. the painters wanted to show imagination D. the pictures were thought to be helpful
7.The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons EXCEPT that ________.
A. the former was easy to write B. there were fewer signs in the former
C. the former was easy to pronounce D. each sign stood for only one sound
8. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.
B. The Egyptians liked to write comic-strip stories.
C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.
D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians.
9. In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures __________.
A. should be made comprehensible B. should be made interesting
C. are of much use in our life D. are disappearing from our life
We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it’s an ingredient(配料) in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices(香料) like chili peppers.
Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say “Ugh!” and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.
The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.
When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too.Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.
In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.
Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.
1. It was ________that discovered sugar could remove the bitter taste of cacao.
A. The workers in the chocolate factory B. The Spaniards
C. The people in England D. The owner of a chocolate factory
2. According to the passage which of the following statements is true?
A. Nobody had the idea of adding sugar until the sixteenth century.
B. The word “chocolate” comes from a Mexican word.
C. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys like them.
D. Workers must dry and roast the beans to remove the bitter taste.
3. The Spaniards think that cacao was a medicine because________
A. it was strong and bitter. B. it was good for digestion.
C. it cured man’s diseases. D. it was a kind of drink for good health.
4. Which is the right time order of the events regarding chocolate?
a. Chocolate became a cheap and popular drink in England.
b. A factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate.
c. The Spaniards started drinking cacao.
d. It was found that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao.
e. A factory mixed milk and chocolate together.
A. a-b-c-d-e B. c-d-e-b-a C. c-d-a-b-e D. c-d-b-e-a
5. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or a candy bar
B. Mexicans like chocolate very much
C. chocolate is a product of the cacao tree
D. people liked the taste of chocolate mixed with milk
Fire can help people in many ways. But it can also be very harmful. Fire can heat water, warm your houses, give light, and cook food. But fire can burn things too. It can burn trees, houses, animals, or people. Sometimes big fires can burn forests.
Nobody knows for sure how people began to use fire. But there are many interesting, old stories about the first time a man or woman started a fire. One story from Australia tells about a man a very, very long time ago. He went up to the sun by a rope and brought fire down.
Today people know how to make a fire with matches. Children sometimes like to play with them. But matches can be very dangerous. One match can burn a piece of paper, and then it might burn a house. A small fire can become a big fire very fast.
Fires kill many people every year. So you must he careful with matches. You should also learn to put out fires. Fires need oxygen. Without oxygen they die. There is oxygen in the air. Cover a fire with water, sand, or in an emergency, with your coat or something else.This keeps the air away from a fire and kills it.
Be careful with fire, and it will help you. Be careless with fire, and it will burn you.
8. According to the passage which of the following is true?
A. Where there is oxygen there is fire.
B. It is an Australian who started a fire.
C. We are not sure how people started to use fire.
D. Nobody knows how to make a fire.
9. The reason why children mustn’t play with matches is that ________.
A. they don’t know how to make a fire with matches B. it is not interesting
C. matches can be dangerous D. matches burn paper
10. If you are going to put out a fire, you________.
A. must be careful with matches B. have to know fires kill many people every year
C. have to cover it with water only D. should keep air away from it
11. We must be careful with fire, or it ________.
A. can die B. warms our houses C. might burn us D. will help us
12. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Fire can help people in many ways. B. Fire can be both helpful and harmful.
C. Fire can burn things and people. D. We must be careful with matches.
Super- short tales of the unexpected, plus read- along tapes!
Twenty soft- cover 16-page mini books help students attain reading success through a high interest approach (方法). Audio cassettes, perfect for the ESL (English as a second Language) students, build listening skills by teaching pronunciation, giving oral directions, and presenting vocabulary words in context.
Each story is followed by four pages of short, simple comprehension and vocabulary exercises.
Price: $6.00 for each pack of books
(including five books).
$7.00 for each cassettes
(all together four cassettes).
Publisher: Shanghai Educational Publish House, Simon & Schuster.
5. The exercises following each story are bout ________.
A. vocabulary and comprehension B. listening and speaking
C. comprehension and writing D. listening and vocabulary
6. There are ________ packs of the books in this set.
A. 4B. 5 C. 9 D. 20
7. If you want to buy all the books plus read- along tapes, how much do you have to pay?
A. $ 24 B. 28 C. 58 D. 52
Do you love American country music? If you do, come to Nashville. It’s the home of American country music.
Nashville is the capital city of the state of Tennessee. Here you don’t have to go to the big auditoriums(音乐厅) to enjoy the country music. In the open air restaurants or on the streets, you can always hear the beautiful and sweet sounding folk music. All the singers are young and they play their guitars while they sing. The songs they sing are so touching(动人) that, if you listen attentively, you can feel they are singing with their souls rather than with their voices.
Shops selling music records and tapes can be found everywhere in Nashville. Many records are made by famous singers and they are sent to many countries all over the world.
The folk songs most of the singers sing come form the rural areas in the southern United States. The songs often describe those days to situations and the feeling of the country people. They often sing in praises of heroism(英雄) and true love.
1. From the passage we know Nashville is ________.
A. a village B. a big city C. a small town D. a capital city
2. To enjoy the country music, you can go to ________.
A. the big auditoriums B. the open air restaurants C. the streets D. All of the above
3. According to the passage which of the following statements is not true?
A. Shops that sell music records and tapes can be found everywhere in Nashville.
B. The folk songs can impress you deeply
C. Not all records are made by famous singers
D. The folk songs only sing in praises of heroism and true love.
4. The passage is mainly about ________.
A. Nashville B. American young people C. pop singers D. the country music