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 smartphone, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic (怀旧的)skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful---both in school and in life.
Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.
Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.
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 know well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. 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 “those words in the mind written symbols 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 spot spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then 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 a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”What makes writing by hand a thing of the past?
A.The absence of blackboard in classroom |
B.The use of new technologies in teaching. |
C.The lack of practice in handwriting. |
D.The popular use of smartphones. |
Berninger’s study published in 2009 ___________.
A.focused on the difference between writing by hand and on a computer. |
B.indicated that students prefer to write with a pen and paper. |
C.found that good essays are made up of long sentences. |
D.discussed the importance of writing speed. |
Which of the following best shows the role of spelling?
A.Spelling improves one’s memory of words. |
B.Spelling ability is closely related 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.Soul |
C.Picture. | D.Imagination. |
What conclusion could be drawn 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.Functional spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade. |
The gray-haired lady can’t wait to leave the building to search for her dad. Unless watched, she will walk in the streets in an effort to find her father, who died 30 years ago.
Not all cases of Alzheimer’s disease look like this, but Alzheimer’s is a serious disease that is said to be the fourth or fifth leading cause of death for people over age 75.
It is said that about three percent of the U.S. population over age 65 have Alzheimer’s. In the early stages, people may show short term memory loss. Some may experience changes in personality, easy to be angry. As the disease progresses, patients might lose the ability to move and may be unable to speak or move at all. This progressive disease generally lasts 8 to 10 years before death occurs.
While no one is certain what causes these changes in the brain’s nerve fibers (神经纤维),their effect is certain. Alzheimer’s destroys not only the patients, but also spouses(配偶), friends and families.
What should you do if you notice progressive memory loss in yourself or a loved one? Have the person examined by a doctor who is a specialist in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Though many reasons other than Alzheimer’s disease may cause memory loss, its early symptoms and treatment may delay some of the most serious effects.
What feeling will you likely experience should a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s disease? A person will often go through the various stages of sadness, shock, anger, and so on. If the spouse develops the disease, you may experience hurt and disappointment when he or she doesn’t remember you are married.
Life for the Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones will never be the same as the disease progresses, bringing a deep sorrow, loss and even anger towards God. No matter what feelings are present, facing them honestly will serve one better than burying them.
64. What can be inferred from the passage about the gray-haired lady?
A. She has been living with her father.
B. She was sad about the death of her father.
C. She can’t search for her father without being watched.
D. She suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
65. When people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, _______.
A. their families and friends will suffer from the same disease
B. their families and friends will experience mental sufferings
C. they will certainly die in 8 to 10 years
D. they will forget everybody but their spouses
66. Memory loss occurs _______.
A. from Alzheimer’s disease and nothing else
B. from sadness, shock, anger, and so on
C. for a number of reasons
D. with changes in personality
67. From the passage we know that _______.
A. early treatment may stop Alzheimer’s disease occurring
B. it is still unknown what causes the changes in the brain’s nerve fibers
C. nerve fibers in the brain will cause Alzheimer’s disease
D. when one suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, he will be buried
第三部分:阅读理解(第一节15小题,第二节5小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
第一节:阅读下面的短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son: suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut.” Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. “She used to cuddle up (蜷伏) with me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is figuring out which time is which.”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds. “In fact, parents are first on the list.” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years.” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that, to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.
61. “The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son _______.
A. is always busy with his studies
B. doesn’t want to be disturbed (干扰)
C. keeps himself away from his parents
D. begins to dislike his parents
62. What troubles Tina and Mark most is that ______.
A. their daughter isn’t as lovely as before
B. they can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly
C. they don’t know what to say to their daughter
D. their daughter talks with them only when she needs help
63. Which of the following best explains “the wall of silence” in the last paragraph?
A. Teenagers talk a lot with their friends.
B. Teenagers do not want to understand their parents.
C. Teenagers do not talk much with their parents.
D. teenagers talk little about their own lives.
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behaviour. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet”when
it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait I'm not dead yet”quickly goes away. When other ants detect the“dead”chemical without the“not dead yet”chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory , Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the“Wait—I'm not dead yet”chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the“not dead yet”chemical overrides the“dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining“dead”chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
57. What is the function of the first paragraph?
A. Leading the following paragraphs.
B. Showing the main idea of the passage.
C. Introducing the background of the passage.
D. Giving a summary of the passage.
58. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
A.is weaker than B. is stronger than C. is better than D. is worse than
59. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B. When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C. A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D. Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
60. Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A. Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B.Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C. Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior,and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D. Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own
COPENHAGEN—The world is gathered in Copenhagen for the U.N. climate summit, but Denmark’s bicycle-friendly capital has also given its name to a movement of cities trying to find a kinder way to travel to and from work.
Nearly 40 percent of Copenhagen’s population cycle to work or school on ubiquitous(无处不在的) paved cycle paths. Many residents take to their bikes year-round, braving rain and snow through the winter in a city where the bicycles outnumber the people.
Amsterdam and Beijing too are known for their bicycles, but the Danish capital is where urban planners from around the world have been looking for ways to get their people out of cars and up onto bikes, an effort known as Copenhagenisation.
Klaus Bondam, Copenhagen’s technical and environmental chief, calls himself a “mega cyclist” and says the bike’s popularity stems partly from high taxes on cars which meant working-class Danes could not afford to drive in the 1930s and 1940s. “Today you’ll meet everybody on the bicycle lanes — women and men, rich and poor, old and young.” Bondam said.
The local government has during the last three years invested more than 250 million crowns ($49.42 million) in bicycle lanes and to make the traffic safer for bicyclists. Today around a third of the population drive cars to work or study, another third take public transport, while 37 percent cycle -- a figure the city aims to increase to 50 percent by 2015.
There are many benefits when citizens choose bicycles over cars: pollution and noise decline, public health improves, and more people on bikes or walking creates a sense of safety in the city. Fewer parked cars leaves more space for playgrounds, parks, shopping areas and other useful public places.
53. According to the first paragraph, Copenhagen is better known as ___________.
A. a city without cars B. a bicycle-friendly city
C. Denmark’s capital D. the U.N. climate summit
54. We can learn from the second and the third paragraph, __________.
A. there is no path for cars during rainy and snowy days
B. citizens are limited to have only one bike for each person
C. two-thirds of people in Copenhagen cycle to work or school
D. city planners try their best to encourage more citizens to ride bikes
55. Bikes are popular in Copenhagen partly because ___________.
A. the citizens are unable to afford to buy a car
B. the rich tend to keep fit by cycling to work
C. young people regard cycling a fashion to follow
D. high taxes were paid for cars in the 1930s and 1940s
56. We can learn from the passage that __________.
A. cars are forbidden to park in Copenhagen
B. more citizens tend to choose cars in Copenhagen
C. Copenhagen becomes a model for cities’ traffic
D. living standards in Copenhagen are greatly declining
World Footballer of the Year 2009
Football experts from the world have chosen Steven Gerrard, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Samuel Eto'o as the top footballers in the world. Now it's up to you to vote for the player you think is the king of World Football.
THE CANDIDATES
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Vote Now
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
*Why I'd vote for Gerrard
“Gerrard is clearly in his prime and quite rightly rated one of the finest midfield players of his generation.” says Steve Bates, chairman of the FWA.
*Why I'd vote for Cristiano Ronaldo
Johan Cruyff points out Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United.
*Why I'd vote for Samuel Eto'o
Piers Edwards thinks the title of World footballer should go to Samuel Eto'o.
*Why I'd vote for Messi
Messi’s individual brilliance and year-long persistence has impressed Diego Maradona.
49. The passage is mainly intended to __________.
A. invite readers to vote for the World Footballer of 2009
B. predict the results of the vote of the World Footballer of 2009
C. tell the outstanding performance of the candidates of the World Footballer of 2009
D. share with readers the experts’ opinions on the candidates of World Footballer of 2009
50.Which of the following descriptions about the footballers is RIGHT?
A. Ronaldo has primarily played as a second attacker.
B. Eto'o scored 42 goals in the 2008-2009 season altogether.
C. Diego Maradona believed that Messi could never match him in playing style.
D. Gerrard plays an important role in Liverpool’s challenge to Premier League leaders.
51. We can learn from the passage that Ballon d'Or is __________.
A. an activity about football B. an organization of football
C. a title for excellent footballers D. a team name of football
52. Diego Maradona is more likely to vote___________ to be the World Footballer of the Year.
A. Lionel Messi B. Cristiano Ronaldo
C. Samuel Eto'o D. Steven Gerrard