Budget cuts and an increased focus on testing have made field trips,once a popular way to get students out of the classroom,increasingly rare.

   “Local school districts don't have the funds (money kept for particular purposes) anymore”’ says Stephanie Norby,director ofthe Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies in Washington,   D. C. The Smithsonian museums are some of the most popular field trip destinations in the country. Although there is little hard data to definitively prove that schools are taking fewer field trips,Norby says it seems as though fewer schools have visited the Smithsonian in recent years.

   Money once spent on field trips is being spent to help students prepare for standardized tests that might make or break a teacher's evaluation,according to Randi Weingarten,president of the American Federation of Teachers,a union that represents more than 1 million educators nationwide.

   “In school these days,if people have a dollar to spare,they spend it on test prep because they get regulated there,”she says.

   Field trips provide students with a window to the real world that they don't get in the classroom,and they can help students . understand real-world applications of seemingly abstract topics in math and science,says Weingarten.

   Susan Singer,CEO of Field Trip Factory,an organization that has spent the last 18 years designing free field trip outlines for schools nationwide,says she thinks schools are merely scheduling around testing.

   “During testing periods,we don't see a lot of field trips,” she says. “Either right before or right after a standardized test,we get a shut door.” 

   Spending time outside the classroom doesn't mean students aren't learning knowledge that could show up on standardized tests. Several studies have shown that students acquire more information and skills through the type of experience-based learning that field trips provide when compared to in-class learning.

   A field trip should be relevant to topics students are studying in school. That way,the Smithsonian's Norby says,it will have a lasting effect.

32. Why is it difficult for schools to take field trips according to Norby?

   A. Students dislike the trips.

   B. They are short of finances.

   C. They have fewer destinations.

   D. Field trips are harder to organize.

33. What do we learn from Weingarten?

   A. Standardized tests can measure student learning.

   B. Money for field trips is used for test preparation.

   C. Schools’ education budgets are properly regulated.

   D. Schools encourage students to know the real world.

34. In the author's opinion,field trips .

   A. may lead to lower test scores

   B. sometimes waste a lot of time

   C. help students gain more knowledge

   D. are less important than in-class learning 

35. The text is mainly about .

   A. the advantages of in-class learning

   B. the effect of standardized tests

   C. the problem of budget cuts

   D. the decline of field trips

   Monique Udell,a researcher with Oregon State University,got the help of ten domesticated(馴養(yǎng)的) dogs,ten dogs that live in shelters,and ten wolves raised by humans. Each of the animals was presented with a tasty sausage which they could smell,but not eat. The sausage was then placed inside a plastic container with a cover connected to a short length of rope. In order to open the container and eat the sausage,they had to pull on the rope while holding down the container,a task considered fairly simple for dogs and wolves. The experiment was conducted in two ways,one in which the animals were alone,and the other one in which they were with their owners.

   Surprisingly,none of the pet dogs was able to complete the task,and only one of the shelter dogs did so. However,eight out of ten wolves succeeded.

   The presence of a human made no difference. When the owner offered encouragements,four of the shelter dogs were able to access the sausage,but still only one pet managed to do it.

   Udell also made an interesting note: pet dogs have lived alongside humans for a long time,and therefore,when feeling confused about a new situation,they tend to look at their owners for help. The dogs were asking for help,while the wolves didn't give up and tried to solve the problem themselves.

   This experiment seems to show that something about being pets made dogs lose a big part of their motivation and this affects their problem-solving ability. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that shelter dogs did somewhat better than house dogs — which indicates that being a pet makes dogs “softer” and less motivated to solve problems. However,things are not as simple as saying that wolves are “smarter” or “more creative” than dogs.

28. The sausages used in the experiment.

   A. had a disgusting smell

   B. came from some shelters

   C. were directly tied to a rope

   D. could be reached with very little effort

29. As for the pet dogs in the experiment,the presence of their owners .

   A. produced a negative result

   B. made them totally confused

   C. had little effect on their performance

   D. gave them the greatest encouragement

30. What does the underlined part “do it” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?

   A. Pull on the rope. B. Smell the sausage.

   C. Open the container. D. Make a difference.

31. The experiment shows that .

   A. dogs hate being kept as pets

   B. pets have lost part of their wild nature

   C. shelter dogs seldom turn to others for help

   D. wolves are smarter and more creative than dogs

   At any given time,hundreds of postcards are transit(運(yùn)輸中) across the world as strangers communicate through a movement called Post-crossing.

   Emma Delaney says it's a sad day when there isn’t a postcard in her mailbox. She doesn't have a bunch of friends travelling overseas at the moment —she's just really action in the underground hobby of Postcrossing.

   “I've sent over 3 ,000 postcards,but T ve been doing it for close to seven years,” she says. “My husband,generally appreciative of my hobby,is sometimes frustrated by the amount of cardboard hanging around the house or in my car."

   Postcrossing is a hobby where strangers send each other postcards across the world. You register on the website,list your interests and preferences for postcards,then receive an address of a stranger on the other side of the world to send a ppstcard to.

   “I tend to send a lot of postcards of the local area because people are interested in where you're from and what you do,” Emma says.

   From Uzbekistan to Belarus and Kazakhstan to Moldova,Emma has a growing collection of photos from around the world. The postcards have helped shape her international travelling too. “I didn't travel overseas until I was 32 and a lot of the locations we chose for our honeymoon were selected because of the postcards I'd received."

   “Some people see sending mail as being a bit boring and unfashionable,but Postcrossing is popular and lots of people are fascinated that I do it."

The Postcrossing project has just celebrated its eighth birthday and has over 400,000 active members in 215 countries. The group says they’ve delivered over 18 million postcards.

   And while postal workers aren't supposed to read people's postcards,Emma says she's happy for them to do so at her post office in Shellharbour. She even encourages her correspondents to say hello to the Australia Post staff.

   “It's a hobby that I continue to do because I find it enjoyable and relaxing."

24. Emma Delaney's friends.

   A. do a lot of travelling

   B. send her lots of postcards

   C. share the same hobby as her

   D. aren't active in travelling abroad 

25. What's Emma's husband's attitude towards her hobby?

    A. Somewhat annoyed.

   B. Totally unconcerned.

   C. Deeply disapproving.

   D. Strongly supportive.

26. What's the benefit of being involved in Postcrossing according to Emma Delaney?

   A. Broadening the mind.

   B. Deepening friendships.

   C. Giving others a helping hand.

   D. Bringing her family more happiness.

27. The Postcrossing project .

   A. delivers both postcards and official letters

   B. was set up a couple of years ago in Australia

   C. has granted membership in 215 countries all over the world

   D. receives more public approval compared with sending mail

                       Bury Trip — 24th July 2015 

We will be leaving Homerton teacher campus at 13:45. Please be at the front of the college 10 minutes early. If you are late you may miss the coach and not be able to go!If you miss the coach,you will not receive repayment!The coach is planned to arrive in Bury at 14:30,although this is dependent on traffic. You will have free time to explore and we will meet at the same location where we arrive at 17:15 to return to Homerton by approximately 18:00.

                        THINGS TO DO 

Visit the Abbey（修道院） 

The remains of this historic monument,which originally was a shrine(圣所) to Saint Edmund,a Saxon King,are well worth a visit. The Abbey is also surrounded by beautiflil gardens,and is located next to the St. Edmundsbury Cathedral.

Have a drink in The Nutshell 

This charming little bar is officially the smallest pub in Great Britain. Good things come in small packages though,and The Nutshell serves some of the region's finest drinks,as well as having fascinating historical items and photos.

Go around the brewery shop 

At the Greene King shop you can taste and buy some of the local beer,as well as food such as chutney. There are also clothing and other great gift ideas available to buy.

Several attractions are listed,but feel free to explore on your own. A Course Assistant will be around to help you throughout the trip but they will not act as a guide.

21. Those who miss the coach .

   A. can catch another coach

   B. can ask other teachers for a ride

   C. won’t get their money back

   D. are supposed to go by themselves

22. What do we know about the Abbey?

   A. It is now in ruins.

   B. It is located near a garden.

   C. It was built by Saint Edmund.

   D. It is known as the St. Edmundsbury Cathedral.

23. The visitors are advised to .

   A. take a self-guided tour

   B. find a local to serve as a guide

   C. follow the Course Assistant in the tour

   D. visit the above-mentioned attractions first

書面表達(dá)(滿分25分)

某英文網(wǎng)站開辟了一個(gè)專欄討論如何應(yīng)對(duì)信息爆炸(information explosion) 。請(qǐng)你為該專欄寫一 篇英語短文，表達(dá)你的觀點(diǎn)和建議。內(nèi)容包括：

1. 信息爆炸的現(xiàn)狀；

2. 如何應(yīng)對(duì)。

注意：1. 詞數(shù)100左右；

    2. 可以適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫。

短文改錯(cuò)(共10小題;每小題1分，滿分10分)

假定英語課上老師要求同桌之間交換修改作文，請(qǐng)你修改你同桌寫的以下作文。文中共有10處語言錯(cuò)誤，每句中最多有兩處。每處錯(cuò)誤僅涉及一個(gè)單詞的增加、刪除或修改。

增加:在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏字符號(hào)(∧) ,并在其下面寫出該加的詞。

刪除:把多余的詞用斜線(\) 劃掉。

注意：1. 每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞；

    2. 只允許修改10處，多者(從第11處起) 不計(jì)分。

    It was a beautiful morning. My friend Bob had persuaded us have a country walk and picnic,start from his village. So soon as we had left the village we found the footpath. The sun began to get hotter as we walk across the fields. Sometimes we stopped to look at wild flowers,and Bob knew most of their name. After a few hours we reached for a lake and stopped to eat our sandwiches. It wasn't until I sat down that I realised how much my feet hurt. I lay down for the rest,but no sooner had I closed my eyes' that Bob said we should set off again. Final the village came into view. It was a great relieve to get back to Bob’s house!

  One rainy afternoon I was sitting at home feeling so 61. (bore) . Instead of feeling sorry for myself,I 62. (want) to meet people and have new experiences so I decided to start volunteering、 I logged on to my computer and found a website 63. I could volunteer on a farm in France.

   Volunteering provides so many opportunities 64. (have) fun. My time on the farm was 65. (basic) a free holiday except that I had to look after fifteen horses and sheep!I was 66. awful farmer but I made some great friends and improved my French. However,you do not need to go abroad to volunteer. I have had plenty of adventures at home too.

   67. is true that helping others makes you feel good' but volunteering can bring other 68. (advantage) . I once volunteered in a charity shop so I found loads of nice cheap clothes to update my wardrobe.

   While this is all fun,my favourite aspect of volunteering 69. (be) creating and sharing stories. My terrible attempts at farming have given me funny stories to tell! 70. (talk) to volunteers from different countries and backgrounds has also helped me learn more about the world.

   When Chad Pregracke was a teenager in East Moline,Illinois,he and his father lived and worked on the Mississippi River — or rather,in it. Every day they dove into the river to 41 freshwater mussels (貽貝) ，which they sold to Japanese customers. The river was their 42 ,but Chad came to realize that it was also dirty. While searching for mussels on the river bottom,Chad could not 43 much because the water was too muddy. When Chad Pregracke was in college,he decided that he had to 44 the river. And that's what he has done.

   In the summer of 1997,Chad 45 the Mississippi River Beautification & Restoration Project. Using a 20-foot motorboat and working 46 by himself,Chad cleaned up 100 miles of shoreline in Illinois and Iowa. By summer's end,he had 47 and recycled 45,000 pounds of trash!As people learned about Chad's 48,they began to offer help. Towns and companies along the river 49 equipment,and communities （社區(qū)）50 cleanup days.

   In 1998,the project 51 . Chad fixed up two boats,and he 52 a crew. During the summer months,Chad and his crew cleaned up 900 miles of Mississippi 53 from St. Louis,Missouri,to Guttenberg,Iowa. They collected 400,000 pounds of trash — 54 from old refrigerators to plastic legs!

   In the next year,Chad’s group 55 the cleanup of more than 1,000 miles of the Mississippi River. They also 56 an “Adopt a Mississippi River Mile” program. In this program,companies and groups took 57 for keeping parts of the river clean. After that,Chad 58 the Illinois River.

   Today,Chad Pregracke’s project has many sponsors and an annual budget of $200,000. Chad also has 59 plans. He will move eastward 60 he has done what he can for the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. He wants to clean up the Ohio River next,and then perhaps the Hudson.

41. A. break   B. collect   C. recycle   D. study

42. A. luck   B. playground   C. livelihood   D. protector

43. A. have   B. take   C. earn   D. see

44. A. give up   B. close up   C. set up   D. tidy up

45. A. encouraged   B. reviewed   C. formed   D. supported

46. A. smoothly   B. casually  C. mainly   D. slowly

47. A. thrown   B. hidden   C. produced   D. removed

48. A. efforts   B. problems   C. difficulties   D. anxieties

49. A. donated   B. sold   C. used   D. needed

50. A. continued   B. held   C. passed   D. remembered

51. A. changed   B. grew   C. remained   D. succeeded

52. A. hired   B. recommended   C. paid   D. invited

53. A. shoreline   B. land   C. border   D. path

54. A. something   B. everything   C. less   D. more

55. A. chose   B. repeated   C. completed   D. tried

56. A. extended   B. attended   C. celebrated   D. established

57. A. measures   B. notes   C. advantage   D. responsibility

58. A. put aside   B. started on   C. found out    D. delighted in

59. A. different   B. personal   C. ambitious   D. secret

60. A. when   B. though   C. because   D. until

                            Out of the cold 

   There are no known cures for colds and the flu,so cold and flu prevention should be your goal. The most effective way of preventing the flu is to get the flu shot. 36 But there are other techniques you can employ as well. Here are some tips you can use to help prevent colds and the flu naturally:

   Put a box of tissues(紙巾) wherever people sit. Place tissue boxes strategically around the house,at work,and in the car. 37 Then anyone who has to cough or blow their nose can use them in a way least likely to spread bacteria.

   Leave the windows open in winter. Not all of them,but one or two in the rooms in which you spend the most time. 38 

   Add green tea and an apple to your morning break. Recent research by food nutritionists at Auckland University in New Zealand,found that eating food rich in (類黃酮) could lower the risk of adults catching a cold by as much as 33%.39 Eating five servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit each day in a variety of colours is a great way to make sure you get enough flavonoids in your diet.

   40 The knuckle(指關(guān)節(jié)) is less likely to have viruses than your fingertip. The eye provides a perfect entry point for bacteria,and the average person rubs his eyes or nose or scratches his face 20-50 times a day,making fingers particularly good at spreading bacteria.

   A. It works better than anything else.

   B. You need to make them widely available.

   C. Use your knuckle to gently rub your eyes.

   D. Fresh air does wonders for chasing out bacteria.

   E. Never come into direct contact with viruses and bacteria.

   F. They are found in green tea,apples,blueberries,red wine and cocoa.

   G. When you feel a cough coming,use a tissue,then throw it away immediately.

   America used to have a strong college education system for prison inmates (prisoners) . It was seen as a way to rehabilitate men and women in prison by helping them go straight when they got out.

   Those taxpayer-supported college classes were put to an end in the 1990s. But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo would like to bring them back in the state,setting off a fierce new debate.

   A number of lawmakers in New York have promised to kill Cuomo's proposal (提議) .

   Cuomo says reintroducing taxpayer-funded college classes in New York's prisons is a common-sense plan that will reduce the number of inmates who commit new crimes.

   “You pay $60,000 for a prison cell for a year，”Cuomo responded. “You put a guy away for 10 years,and that5 s $600,000. Right now,chances are almost half. Once he's set free,he's going to come right back."

   Cuomo says helping inmates get a college education would cost about $5,000 a year per person. He argues ,“It's a small amount of money if it keeps that inmate from bouncing back into prison."

   But even some members of the governor's own party hate this idea. State Assemblywoman Addie Russell,whose upstate district includes three state prisons,says taxpayers just won't stand for inmates getting a free college education,while middle-class families struggle to pay for their kids,college fees.

   “That is the vast majority of feedback(反饋) that I'm also getting from my constituents (選民） she says. “You know, ‘ Where is the relief for the rest of the population who obey the law? ’ ”

   “I was very disappointed that the policy had been changed,” says Gerald Gaes,who served as an expert on college programs for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the 1990s. In 1994,President Clinton stopped federal student aid programs for inmates.

   Gaes says research shows that college classes actually save taxpayers’ money over time,by reducing the number of inmates who break the law and wind up back in those expensive prison cells.

   “It is cost-effective,” he says. “Designing prisons that way will have a long-term benefit for New York State."

32. The underlined word “rehabilitate” probably means “ ”. ,

   A. let people know more about prisoners

   B. help someone have a normal life again

   C. allow prisoners to experience the world

   D. encourage someone to help other people

33. What is the debate about?

   A. Lawmakers,rights in New York.

   B. College classes for New York's citizens.

   C. Higher education in New York's prisons.

   D. Punishments given to New York's criminals.

34. Cuomo does the calculations to prove .

   A. almost half of prisoners are likely to come back into prison

   B. college classes for inmates can save taxpayers’ money

   C. the costs of running prisons in the US are on the rise

   D. it is very difficult to reduce the number of inmates

35. Most of Russell's constituents believe Cuomo's proposal .

   A. is unfair to middle-class families

   B. will benefit citizens obeying laws

   C. will be useless for improving prisons

   D. is based on most taxpayers’ feedback