Many parents take on the role of being their children’s preschool teacher and the responsibility of readying them for kindergarten. To achieve this goal, it is important for parents to introduce a variety of subjects in a positive and playful manner.
“Learning should not be forced,”says Marion Godwin, who has taught first grade in Moorestown, N. J. for more than 30 years.“ It should be taught according to what they know and do best—and that is‘ play’. When teaching  them, play games and have fun with the subject. And parents should always be looking for‘teachable moments’.”
“You want a child to be a lifelong learner, so you want to show them learning is everywhere,”she says.“If parents take the time to lay a strong educational foundation, their children will keep building on it.”
Introduce children to science with hands-on activities that interest them, such as growing plants from seeds, discussing animals and how to care for pets, and observing the chemical changes that occur during cooking”, she says.
“Sorting activities, simple patterns and counting games are a great way to teach children the basics of math, and taking them on field trips, singing songs and reciting rhymes also are ways to prepare them for the first day of school”, she says.
“I think children are naturals when it comes to computers,” she says.“Let them play educational games on the computer and teach them how to type their first names using the keyboard. When they are more familiar with using the computer, let them find pictures of animals and places on the web. ”
“Don’t criticize the child,” she says. “You can’t force them to learn something. If they don’t get something right, so what? Smile and be happy and make the experience joyful. Parents need to understand that if a child gets something wrong, they may think something is wrong with them. Keep working with them and when they get the right answer make sure you tell them how hard they worked to get the correct answer. ”
小題1:Marion Godwin tells us that we should teach the children according to their_____        .

A．subjects and needs

B．level and interest

C．teachable moments

D．strong educational foundation

小題2:According to Godwin, children should ____________________       .

A．keep a pet each and care for it

B．do some cooking every day

C．learn science with interesting hand-on activities

D．learn from the farmers and grow plants from seeds

小題3:In Godwin’s opinion, children should be encouraged to_________        .

A．learn all by themselves

B．play more computer games

C．learn to type their first names

D．learn online under instructions

小題4:What’s the best title of the passage?

A．How to prepare your children for kindergarten

B．Learning should not be forced

C．How to be a lifelong learner

D．Learning is everywhere

The increase in tuition fees(學(xué)費(fèi)) has led to a “clear drop” in the number of English students applying for university places this autumn. There are 15,000 “missing” applicants this academic year, according to the Independent Commission on Fees. Chairman Will Hutton said: “We’re asking our young men and women to have more debt than any other country in the world — it’s higher than the average debt in the US. It’s not clear whether those lost students this year will return next year, or if it’s a storm warming of a worrying trend.”
But the commission’s report says there does not seem to be an impact on poorer communities. The commission found there was no significant change in the application rate to the key universities, such as Oxford or Cambridge. The decline （下降）in England has not been mirrored in other parts of the UK where fees have not been raised, and the drop can only partly be explained by falling numbers of young people in the population. Students from Scotland attending Scottish universities do not pay fees, while the Welsh Assembly says it will pay fees above ￡3,465 for Welsh students attending UK institutions.
The average tuition fee at English universities this year is ￡ 8,385, rising to ￡ 8,507 next year. UK and EU students have access to govemment-backed loans to pay the fees. And the survey of 1,000 pupils aged 15-18, carried out this April, found that the majority expected to go on to higher education as people continue to understand that university remains a good long term investment in their future.
A spokeswoman at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which is responsible for universities, said:“Students shouldn’t be forced to put off going to university for financial reasons. Most students will not have to pay in advance, and no one will have to start paying back their student loan until they start to earn at least ￡ 2l,000 per year.”
小題1:From the first paragraph, we know that __________________       .

A．it’s a trend that English students are dropping out of school

B．the rising tuition fees have a great effect on English students

C．the lost English students will find their way back

D．many English students are missing the final examinations

小題2:Why is there still a drop of applicants though fees have not been raised?

A．Because the students live in poor communities.

B．Because Welsh students will pay fees above￡3,465.

C．Because education is free for Scottish students.

D．Because there are less young students in the area.

小題3:What’s the students’ attitude to universities in the survey?

A．Most of them are willing to go to university.

B．They feel universities takes up too much time.

C．They will stop applying for university places this autumn.

D．They are anxious to go to a key university.

小題4:The spokeswoman in the last paragraph advises students to ______________

A．put off going to university

B．reduce the anxiety about the rising fees

C．pay for the fees in advance

D．pay back their loan soon after graduation

In our world today, the media and entertainment industries are constantly focusing on beauty over brains. Movies, television shows, commercials, and magazines all make use of models and actors whose physical attributes(特性) will sell their product.
As our country is trying to reduce the obesity numbers, eating disorder statistics continue to increase due to the push for thinner people. While obesity is a serious medical condition that can lead to many health problems, many of us try to lose weight for appearance purposes. Children as young as elementary school age have begun to worry about the numbers that appear on the scale. In my opinion, it seems that “fat” has become the new“ugly”.
Two weeks ago, 37-year-old Wisconsin television reporter Livingston, who is 235 pounds, received an email from a man named Krause. In the email Krause attacked her, writing,“Your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years. Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular.”
Today, it seems that a vast majority of people care more about how they look and appear to their peers rather than what is inside. The truth is that every person is built differently; we all come in different shapes and sizes. Just because someone is heavier, that doesn’t mean they eat large amounts of junk food around the day. Likewise, even though a person is thin, that doesn’t mean they are necessarily healthy and fit.
If you are reading this and you struggle with your weight or your appearance, please recognize that you are beautiful and special in your own way. You are worth so much more than you realize, and even if I don’t know you, understand that I respect and support you. Beauty is not defined by size; it is defined by how we treat others and respect ourselves. In the words of the talented film actress Kirstie Alley, “There’s a lot more to life than how fat or thin you are.”
小題1:With so many people losing weight, it will end in        .

A．models’ and actors’ appearance in ads

B．the fall of media and entertainment industries

C．more and more people becoming obesity

D．more people’s suffering from eating disorder

小題2:The underlined phrase “the numbers that appear on the scale” in the second paragraph may mean     .

A．intelligence

B．weight

C．patience

D．strength

小題3:The writer used the example of Jennifer Livingston to show        .

A．people think “fat” looks ugly

B．fat people are becoming cleverer

C．physical condition is good

D．young people never follow example

小題4:What Kirstie Alley said means         .

A．people should pay attention to the appearance

B．there is no need for any people to go on diet

C．people are beautiful when they concern others

D．there’s always someone who understands and supports you

California, once regarded as a leader in the United States for its public higher education system, ranks next to the last in the U.S.for its number of adults with at least a high school diploma, according to the report, titled “California at the Edge of a Cliff,” released by the California Faculty Association.
Meanwhile, the state’s investment(投資) in public higher education has dropped over the past three decades, and now ranks 22nd in the country.That’s despite having the country’s largest public higher education system, the report said.
“It's a collapse(衰退),” said Thomas Mortenson, author of the report, who is an independent analyst living in Iowa and a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington, D. C. “Ranking 49th out of 50 states is an indication that shows the quality of the state’s educational has become much worse in recent decades.” Mortenson said in the report.As of 2007, California ranked 14th in the United States in terms of college educated members of the workforce over 25 years of age, a drop from eighth place in 1981, the report showed.
Mortenson said that California has never been the state of high status in education and economy while other states have made greater gains in building a college-educated workforce.
The California Faculty Association is using the report’s findings to criticize Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed funding cuts for education.
Struggling with a 14.8-billion-dollar state budget deficit(赤字), Schwarzenegger has proposed a combination of sales tax increases, borrowing and major budget cuts, including cutting billions of dollars from the state’s education budget.
小題1:The passage is mainly about __________.

A．California’s worse situation in higher education

B．the dangerous situation in California

C．California’s research on education and economy

D．funding cuts for high education in California

小題2:From the passage we can infer that __________.

A．investment in higher education has dropped in all states

B．Thomas Mortenson works at California Faculty Association

C．governor in California agreed to spend more money on education

D．California had higher quality in higher education in the past

小題3:The reason why California has a lower rank in education is that________.

A．the number of adults has decreased recently

B．the result of report has been published late

C．the money to invest in education has been cut

D．the progress in other states has been made

小題4:According to the report’s findings, ________ is to blame for the drop in rank of education.

A．Arnold Schwarzenegger	B．Thomas Mortenson
C．the Pell Institute	D．California Faculty Association

語篇解讀 曾經(jīng)在大學(xué)教育排行榜上位居第一的美國加州，現(xiàn)在的教育排名一下子跌落到倒數(shù)第二。這是怎么回事呢？

Swaying palm trees，turquoise­blue(青綠色的)water and sugar­white sand make beach lovers sigh with delight.But not all beaches have those ingredients.The most interesting beaches come in different shapes，sizes and colors.
Those who want beauty and something unique can go to the Seychells' La Digue Island.Large granite(花崗巖)rock formations overlook beautiful，white­sand beaches.The pinkish­grey rocks look like sculptures that have been forgotten on the beach.Tourists traveling to La Digue Island to see the unique rocks will also discover one of the world's most beautiful islands.
Hawaii's Big Island has one of the rarest beaches of all—a beach made up entirely of green sand.The sand，which is formed by dark green crystals called olivine(橄欖石)，is deposited(堆積)by volcanic activity.Green Sand Beach lies on the slopes of the world's largest active volcano，Mauna Loa.
One of the world's most unusual beaches lies on the island of Santorini，Greece.The sand on Red Beach gets its reddish color from the red volcanic rocks that make up the cliffs(懸崖)around the beach.Tourists flock(蜂擁)to see the red sand，making Red Beach one of Santorini's most popular beach destinations.
Black sand makes up the huge beach of Karakare.Through the years，volcanic sand mixed with iron ash to form this black beach on New Zealand's wild，west coast.Many have seen Karekare in the movie The Piano and the TV show Xena：Warrior Princess.
With all the beautiful beaches in the world，beach lovers have lots of choices.But for those ready for something different，a unique beach vacation might be just the ticket!
小題1:What would be the best title of the passage?

A．One of the world's most unusual beaches.

B．Beach lovers having more choices.

C．A unique beach vacation.

D．Unique beaches around the world.

小題2:According to the text，______ would be regarded as the general characteristics of beautiful beaches?

A．swaying palm trees，turquoise­blue water，sugar­white sand

B．rocks，white sand，pinkish­grey，sculptures

C．green sand，slopes of an active volcano

D．black sand，iron ash，wild coast

小題3:Beaches on the island of Santorini is red because of ______.

A．the cliffs around the beach

B．the large granite rocks

C．the red volcanic rocks

D．crystals called olivine

小題4:If you want to see pinkish­grey rocks，then go to ______.

A．Santorini，Greece	B．Seychells' La Digue Island
C．Hawaii's Big Island	D．New Zealand

小題5:What can we learn from the passage?

A．Different beaches have different colors.

B．Different places have different beaches.

C．White sand and the blue water is the main characteristics of beaches.

D．People have many choices for beach vacations.

It’s not easy being a teenager nor is it easy being the parent of a teenager．You can make your child feel angry, hurt or misunderstood by what you say without realizing it yourself．It is important to give your child the space he needs to grow while gently letting him know that you’ll still be there for him when he needs you．
Expect a lot from your child，just not everything．Except for health and safety problems，such as drug use or careless driving，consider everything else open to discussion．If your child is unwilling to discuss something，don’t insist he tell you what’s on his mind．The more you insist， the more likely that he’ll clam up．Instead，let him try to solve things by himself. At the same time，remind him that you’re always there for him if he seeks advice or help．Show respect for your teenager’s privacy(隱私)．Never read his mail or listen in on personal conversations．
Teach your teenager that the family phone is for the whole family. If your child talks on the family’s telephone for too long，tell him he can talk for l5 minutes，but then he must stay off the phone for at least all equal period of time．This not only frees up the line so that other family members can make and receive calls，but teaches your teenager moderation(節(jié)制).Or if you are open to the idea，allow your teenager his own phone that he pays for with his own pocket money or a part-time job．
小題1:The main purpose of the text is to tell parents       ．

A．how to get along with a teenager

B．how to respect a teenager

C．how to help a teenager grow up

D．how to understand a teenager

小題2:What does the phrase "clam up" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．become excited	B．show respect
C．refuse to talk	D．seek help

小題3:The last paragraph is about how to teach a teenager ________.

A．to use the phone in a proper way

B．to pay for his own telephone

C．to share the phone with friends

D．to answer the phone quickly

小題4:What should parents do in raising a teenager according to the text?

A．Not allow him to learn driving or take drugs.

B．Give him advice only when necessary.

C．Let him have his own telephone.

D．Not talk about personal things with him.

A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading. It is unusual for what it contains: the news from local crime to international politics, from sports to business to fashion to science, and the comments and special features(特寫)as well, from editorial page to feature articles, from interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre, and music. A newspaper is even more unusual for the way one reads it never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out, glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the next.
A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any one reader is interested in. What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality, that is, its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now. But this immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it also mean that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than temporary value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each person does is to put together, out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and order, his own newspaper. For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness(意識) as you change and apply the techniques of reading.
小題1:What does the underlined word in the second paragraph mean ?

A．wide coverage	B．speed in reporting news
C．various style	D．popularity among readers

小題2:According to the passage, the reason why no two people really read the same newspaper is that ___________.

A．people are interested in the same kind of news

B．different people prefer different newspapers

C．people scan for the news they are interested in

D．people have different views about what a good newspaper is

小題3:A good newspaper offers “a variety” to readers because ___________.

A．readers like to read different newspapers

B．it has to cover things that happen in a certain locality

C．readers are difficult to please

D．it tries to serve different readers

小題4:The best title for this passage would be ___________.

A．The Characteristics of a Good Newspaper

B．The Importance of a good Newspaper

C．Good Newspapers and Bad Newspapers

D．Some Advice on How to Read a Newspaper

A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky(冒險的) it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a deadly accident as a teenager driving alone, while the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The authors also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased sharply after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue,” he says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is.”
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (使……緩解)the problem is to have states set up so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night or passenger limits, before graduating to full driving licenses.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies. About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have limits on passengers. California is the strictest, with a new driver under 20 forbidden to carry any passenger (without the presence of an adult over 25) for the first six months.
小題1:Which of the following situations can we infer is most dangerous according to the passage?

A．A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.

B．Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m.

C．Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.

D．A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.

小題2:According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly because of _______.  

A．their frequent driving at night

B．their improper ways of driving

C．their driving with passengers

D．their lack of driving experience

小題3:According to Paragraph 3, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The licensing departments are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents.

B．Driving is too complex a skill for teenagers to learn.

C．Teenagers should be forbidden to apply to take driving lessons.

D．Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.

小題4:A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that_______.

A．driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule

B．the licensing system should be improved

C．they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m.

D．they should be forbidden to take on passengers

Back in the early 1900s, American physician Byron Robinson wrote a book proposing an interesting theory: humans actually have two brains --- one in our heads and the other in our stomachs, and the two “communicate” all the time. Interestingly, in Chinese culture, thoughts are also related to the belly in phrases and idioms like fugao (腹稿, a draft), manfu jinglun (滿腹經(jīng)綸, a bellyful of ideas), and yiduzi weiqu (一肚子委屈, a bellyful of complaints).
This may sound a little ridiculous at first. But try to think of a time when you were extremely nervous. Chances are that you also felt uncomfortable in your stomach, didn’t you? This is probably why people use the idiom “butterflies in one’s stomach” to refer to being nervous.
Now scientists from Canada and the US have found that our guts (腸道), if not as bright as our actual brains, are much more than just where we digest the food we eat. They also affect our emotions and even behavior, all thanks to the bacteria in them, reported Scientific American.
In the study, scientists fed timid mice stomach bacteria from mice that were more active and daring. After eating the bacteria, the timid mice grew more energetic and fearless. Sure enough, when bold mice got the bacteria from timid ones, they became more anxious. The mice’s behavior also changed when scientists disturbed the bacteria in their guts by changing their diets and feeding them antibiotics (抗生素).
“If something goes wrong in the gut, that change is reflected in the brain,” Emeran Mayer, a professor at University of California, Los Angeles, told The Huffington Post.
The brain-and-gut connection also works in the opposite way. Scientists studied children with autism (自閉癥) --- a mental illness that makes people unable to socialize with others --- and found that they also have a lot of stomach problems. They have fewer types of stomach bacteria and lower totals of a few key bacteria than healthy children.
This research raises the possibility that scientists could treat patients with brain problems simply by feeding them the right food, which would be much more efficient than providing psychological therapy (療法).
According to CBC News, you can get “good” bacteria that lift your spirits from food like yogurt while “bad” bacteria are usually in high fat and high sugar foods.
小題1:What is the author’s attitude toward Byron Robinson’s theory of two human brains?

A．Unsatisfied.

B．Doubtful.

C．Positive.

D．Negative.

小題2:The author mentioned the idiom “butterflies in one’s stomach” in the second paragraph to _____.

A．describe the symptoms of nervousness

B．suggest a connection between our stomach and our emotions

C．hint at the danger of nervous feelings

D．encourage people to calm down and relax

小題3:What’s the closest meaning of the underlined word “bold” in Paragraph 4?

A．a(chǎn)nxious

B．fearless

C．energetic

D．sharp

小題4:According to the article, ______.

A．people with mental illnesses are more likely to have stomach problems

B．the use of antibiotics can turn timid mice into daring ones

C．timid mice have fewer types of stomach bacteria than daring mice

D．people must consider changing their diets when they feel anxious

小題5:We can infer from the article that______.

A．psychological therapy has never worked before for autistic children

B．yogurt is the best solution for anxiety problems

C．high fat and high sugar foods are responsible for many mental diseases

D．diet changes can lead to mood changes

There is no denying that over the years college education has been accepted without the slightest doubt. All high school graduates should go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn more, become “better” citizens and be more responsible than those who don’t go.
But college can never work its magic for everyone. Now with half our high school graduates attending college, those unfit for the pattern are getting more. College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the fierce competition for admission into graduate schools. Others find no stimulation (激勵) in their studies, and consequently have to drop out, which is often encouraged by college administrators.
Some observers say the fault lies with young people themselves --- they are spoiled and expecting too much. But that’s a condemnation (譴責(zé)）of the students as a whole, and doesn’t explain all campus unhappiness. Others blame our society. Both are partly right. We have been told that young people have to go to college because our economy can’t absorb an army of untrained eighteen-year-olds. But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained twenty-two-year-olds, either.
Some campus watchers suggest that college may not be the best, the proper or the only place for every young person after finishing high school. It seems that through the rosy (玫瑰的) glow of our own college experiences, we may have been looking at those surveys and statistics upside down. Perhaps college does not make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, or quick to learn things—maybe it is just the other way around. Intelligent, ambitious, happy, quick-learning people are merely those who are attracted to college in the first place. And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful even without college education. This is heresy (異端邪說) to those who have been brought up to believe that if a little schooling is good, more has to be much better. But contrary evidence is beginning to pile up.
小題1:According to the first paragraph, ______.

A．people now no longer challenge college education

B．people have great expectations for college education

C．the author thinks youngsters should all go to college

D．people still have a low opinion of college education

小題2:More young people drop out of college because ______.

A．they are no longer motivated in their studies

B．they can start selling shoes and driving taxis

C．they compete for admission to graduate schools

D．college administrators encourage them to do so

小題3:Who does the author think is responsible for campus unhappiness?

A．young students who are all spoiled and expecting too much.

B．our society that can’t offer enough jobs to college graduates.

C．our society that has not enough jobs for high school graduates.

D．young people as well as our society are to blame for all this.

小題4:Which of the following statements is TRUE about those surveys and statistics?

A．They prove high school graduates are smarter than college graduates.

B．They are so convincing that we think of our rosy college experiences.

C．They may have been misread because of our rosy college experiences.

D．They prove wrong because they contradict our rosy college experiences.

小題5:What is the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?     

A．It is just the opposite	B．There is no right way
C．It is the wrong way	D．There’s no other way

小題6:What is the main purpose of this passage?

A．To inform young people college education is no longer important now.

B．To prove college education doesn’t make young people more intelligent.

C．Toargueagainsttheideathatcollegeisthefirst choiceforallyoungsters.

D．To tell young people that there’s something wrong with college education.