Testing has replaced teaching in most public schools. My own children's school week is framed by pretests, drills, tests, and retests. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then skim the text for the answers. I believe that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to state proudly and openly that they teach to the mandated (國家指定的) state test.
Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon. Instead of deciding what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some reasonable methods of assessment to discover whether students have mastered the skills, teachers are encouraged to reverse the process. First, one looks at a commercially available test. Then, one distills (提取) the skills needed not to master reading, say, or math, but to do well on the test. Finally, the test skills are taught.
The ability to read or write or calculate might infer the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparation for a test of a skill with the acquisition of that skill. Too many discussions of the basics of skills make this fundamental confusion because people are test-centered rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught.
Recently, many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read. These students are capable of taking tests and filling in workbooks. However, they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but can't see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grade that they have' no time or ease of mind to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary.
小題1:As is indicated in the second paragraph, the author finds it strange that __.
A.tests are used to assess students' skills
B.skills are determined before tests are set
C.teaching is aimed to prepare students for tests
D.teachers use some reasonable methods of assessment
小題2:The crisis of comprehension most probably results from __.
A.students' poor phonic and grammar skills
B.teaching that takes up much of students' free time
C.teaching that emphasizes details rather than the whole
D.students' lack of ability to think about what they read
小題3:According to the author, we can infer that __.
A.the basics of skills have been discussed too much
B.the nature and quality of what is taught are fully concerned
C.skills in general are not only useless but often mislead students
D.doing well in a test does not necessarily mean acquiring the skill

小題1:C
小題2:D
小題3:D

小題1:細節(jié)理解題。結合Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon可知答案。curious 奇怪的=strange。
小題2:細節(jié)理解題。結合they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read可知答案。
小題3:細節(jié)理解題。. crisis comprehension(理解危機)是指由于這種應試教育,學生考試能拿高分,但并不一定懂得他所看到的。文中第四段也提到了crisis of comprehension(理解危機),用簡單的話說就是:有語言和語法知識的學生仍看不懂他們所讀的東西(phenomenon of students with phonic...what they read),故選D。
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In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bikes to work every day. In New York, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bikes to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air from car engines.
For several years, this group had been trying to get the city government to help bike riders. For example, they want the city to draw special lanes(車道) for bikes on some of the main streets, because when bike riders must use the same lanes as cars there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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A.expensiveB.specialC.valuableD.comfortable
小題2:
A.worksB.runsC.happensD.moves
小題3:
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小題11:
A.endB.middleC.bodyD.top
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

“If you talk to the plants, they will grow faster and the effect is even better if you’re a woman.” Researchers at Royal Horticultural Society carried out an experiment to find that the voice of a woman gardener makes plants grow faster.
The experiment lasted a month and by the end of the study scientists managed to discover that tomato plants grew up two inches taller when women gardeners talked to them instead of male.
Sarah Darwin was the one making the plants the best growth. Her voice was the most “inspiring” for plants than those of nine other gardeners when reading a passage from The Origin of Species. The great-great-granddaughter of the famous botanist (植物學家)Charles Darwin found that her plant grew about two inches taller than the plant of the best male gardener.
Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said that the finding cannot yet be explained.He says that women have a greater range of pitch and tone(音高和音色)which might have a certain effect on the sound waves that reach the plant. “Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light ,”said Mr Grosbie.
The study began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Survey. Scientists started with open auditions(聽力) for the people who were asked to record passages from John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer's Night Dream and Darwin's The Origin of Species.
Afterwards researchers selected a number of different voices and played them to 10 tomato plants during a period of a month. Each plant had headphones connected to it. Through the headphones the sound waves could hit the plants. It was discovered that plants that “l(fā)istened” to female voices grew taller by an inch in comparison to plants that heard male voices.
小題1:What does the passage talk about?
A.Plants enjoy men’s voices than women’s.
B.A science experiment in a museum.
C.Voice’s influence on plant growing.
D.Strange findings at Royal Horticultural Society.
小題2:What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?
A.Plants need sound as well as rain and light.
B.Sound is basic for the plant to grow.
C.Sound has a good effect as rain or light does.
D.Plants can’t live without sound, rain or light.
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A.The experiment ended in May.
B.Scientist can explain the findings clearly.
C.Plants enjoy listening to the passages from famous works.
D.The findings are of great importance to human beings.

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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

Researchers in over 80 nations are taking part in a project to conduct a decade-long census(統(tǒng)計) of sea life. Scientists presented some of their findings at a recent conference as the project neared its completion.
In deep icy waters under Antarctica, scientists found bulbous tunicates, an underground animal, and many newly-discovered creatures believed to be related to starfish (海星) and other marine(海洋的)creatures.
Elsewhere in the world’s oceans, they have recently discovered many kinds of underwater life forms new to science. It is all part of a research effort called the Census of Marine Life.
“There are about 2,000 scientists worldwide involved,” said Bob Gagosian, President, CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Gagosian helps manage the project. “Everywhere they’ve gone they’ve found new things,” he says. “The ocean basically is unexplored from the point of view of marine living things.”
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According to Ron O’Dor, a senior scientist with the Census of Marine Life, knowledge of life on the ocean floor is especially limited. “90% of all the information we have is from the top hundred meters of the ocean,” O’Dor states.
And he says the sea floor is, on average, at a depth of 4, 000 meters. And so, as some machines dive far below what people have previously seen, scientists are discovering new species of plants, animals and living things.
Since the census project began, more than 5,300 new marine animals have been found. Ocean researchers say they hope to catalogue 230,000 species during the census —which some say is only a small part of all the creatures living in the sea.
小題1:Why do the researchers place small markers on many marine creatures?
A.To catch them.B.To research them.
C.To kill them.D.To protect them.
小題2:From what Ron O’Dor says, we can conclude that        .
A.human beings only know a little about marine life
B.the oceans don’t need to be further explored
C.he considers exploring the ocean a dangerous thing
D.the marine creatures mainly live on the top of the ocean
小題3:What can we learn from the passage?
A.About 2,000 scientists from America are involved in the project.
B.The census of sea life will last for ten years.
C.230,000 new marine animals have been found.
D.The sea floor is at a depth of 400 meters.
小題4:Why does the author write the passage?
A.To tell the news that new marine creatures are being discovered
B.To encourage people to find new marine creatures
C.To prove the importance of marine creatures
D.To introduce the newly-discovered creatures.

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