High school dropouts(辍学者)earn an average of $ 9,000 less per year than graduates. Now a new study dispels a common belief why they quit. It’s much more basic than flunking out(不及格).

    Society tends to think of high school dropouts as kids who just can’t cut it. They are lazy,and perhaps not too bright.So researchers were surprised when they asked more than 450 kids who quit school about why they left.

    “The vast majority actually had passing grades and they were confident that they could have graduated from high school.” John Bridgeland, the executive researcher said. About 1 million teens leave school each year. Only about half of African-American and Hispanic(美籍西班牙的)student will receive a diploma(证书),and actually all dropouts come to regret their decision. So, if failing grades don’t explain why these kids quit, what does? Again,John Bridgeland:"The most dependable finding was that they were bored.” “They found classes uninteresting; they weren’t inspired or motivated. They didn’t see any direct connection between what they were learning in the classroom to their own lives, or to their career aspirations.”

    The study found that most teens who do drop out wait until they turn sixteen, which happens to be the age at which most states allow students to quit. In the US,only one state,New Mexico,has a law requiring teenagers to stay in high school until they graduate. Only four states: California, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, plus the District of Columbia, require school attendance until age 18, no exceptions, another researcher,says raising the compulsory(义务的)attendance age may be one way to keep more kids in school.

  “As these dropouts look back,they realize they’ve made a mistake. And anything that sort of gives these people an extra push to stick it out and it through to the end, is probably helpful measure.”

    New Hampshire may be the next state to raise its school attendance age to 18. But critics say that forcing the students unwilling to continue their studies to stay in school misses the point-the need for reform. It's been called for to reinvent high school education to make it more challenging and relevant, and to ensure that kids who do stick it out receive a diploma that actually means something.  

Most high school students drop out of' school because__.

A. they have failing grades                                B. they take no interest in classes

C. they are discriminated against                        D. they are lazy and not intelligent

Acceding to the passage,which state has a law requiring school attendance until they graduate?

A. New Hampshire        B. Utah  C. New Mexico    D. The District of Columbia

The underlined words “stick it out” probably means“__”.

A. complete schooling                                      B. solve the problem

C. love having classes                                       D. believe in themselves

From the passage,we can infer the following EXCEPT that_.

A. the grades of most dropouts at school were acceptable

B. about 500, 000 high school dropouts are black and Spanish

C. classes don't appeal to dropouts

D. on average dropouts cannot get good jobs

Recently we told you about a finding that more years of school could help students get higherscores on intelligence testsThat was the finding of a study of teenage males in NorwayNowother research shows that physical activity may help students do better in their classes .

The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical educationThey are using the time instead for academic subjects like maths and readingThe studies appeared between 2007 and 2013They included more than 55000 childrenaged 6 to 18

Amika Singh“Based on the results of our studywe can conclude that being physically active is beneficial for academic performance. There arefirstPhysiological explanationslike more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brainBeing physically active means there are more hormones(荷尔蒙)produced like endorphins(内啡肽)And endorphins make your stress level lower and? your mood improved, which means you also perform better.”

Alsostudents involved in organized sports learn rules and how to follow themThis could improve their classroom behavior and help them keep their mind on their work

The study leaves some questions unansweredhoweverMsStash says it is not possible to say whether the amount or kind of activity affected the level of academic improvementThis is because of differences among the studies .

Alsothey were mostly observational studiesAn observational study is where researchers do not do controlled comparisonsThey only describe what they observeSo they might observe a link that students who are more active often have better gradesBut that does not necessarily mean being active was the cause of those higher grades

The researchers said they found only two high - quality studiesThey called for more high-

quality studies to confirm their findingsThey also pointed out that “outcomes for other parts of the world may be quite different. ”

Stillthe general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in schoolMsSingh says schools should consider that finding before they cut physical education programsHer paper on “Physical Activity and Performance at School”is published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine

1.The passage mainly tells us that ____

Aa research on physical education has been done by the researchers

Bthere exists a possibility that physical activity leads to higher grades

Cthe amount or kind of activity directly affects academic level

Dthe research shows that the children aged 6 to 1 8 don't do sports

2.Which of the following is TRUE?

ABeing mentally active is good for academic subjects

BThe more hormones you havethe more stressed you will get

CThey have found many high-quality studies to prove the research

DThe educators in the research think studiesnot exercisemean much to students

3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 7 probably means ____.

Agood marks result from high-quality study

Bfindings probably vary in different areas

Cphysical activity will spread all over the world

Dacademic performance depends on the surroundings

4.What's the purpose of writing the passage?

ATo call our attention to the sports at school

BTo introduce all types of physical activities

CTo represent the academic performance

DTo improve students' health

 

Get yourself up and make something of yourselfbuddy!”Though my mother has passed awayher words are as clear in my head today as when I was a boy

??? “Christ!”I said,“I have made something of myself. I want to sleep late as I like.”

??? “If theres one thing I cant standits a quitter.”Her voice in my head is more powerful than my will to refuseso I pull myself from bed

????? Before I was out of primary schoolmother could see I lacked the gifts for either making millions or winning the love of crowdsSo she began pushing me toward working with wordsWords ran in her familyThere seemed to be a word gene that passed down from her mothers grandfather·

The greatest proof was my mothers first cousin EdwinHe was the managing editor of the New York Times and had gained a name in his career

??? In 1947 1 graduated from Johns Hopkins and applied for a job with the Baltimore Sun as a police reporterIt paid30 a week When I complained the wage was shameful for a learned manmother refused to sympathize.“If you work hard at this job,”she said,“maybe you can make something of it.”

??? After a whileI was asked to cover diplomats(外交官)at various African embassies. Then

seven years later I was arranged by the Sun to cover the White Housea task that was as close to heaven as a journalist could getHoweverwhatever achievement of mine only seemed insignificant in her eyesUncle Edwins success was really annoying during my early years as a reporterWhat a thrillI thought

??? Thenout of my wildest childhood fantasythe Times came knockingIt was sad that Uncle Edwin had passed away by this timeIn 1979 I won the Pulitzer PrizeUnfortunatelymy mothers brain and health broke down the year beforeleaving her in a nursing homeout of touch with life forevermore She never knew of my Pulitzer

????? I can probably guess how shed have responded.“ Thats nicebuddyIt shows if you work handyou11 be able to make something of yourself one day,”

1.The first three paragraphs are intended to______

Adraw readersattention to the authors success

Bremind readers that the road to success is rough

Cserve as an introduction to the authors mother

Dexplain why the authors mother kept blaming him

2.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 probably means that tier families____

A. were gifted at language? Bnever broke their promise

C. were fond of reading ? D. stuck to their family belief

3.What can we learn about the author

AHe got a good salary working as a police reporter

BHe lived a rich life with his mother in his childhood

CIt was proud of her mother to see his winning the Pulitzer Prize

DIt was beyond his wildest dream that he could work for the Times

4.The author regards Uncle Edwins success as a thrill because______.

Ahe himself was less smart than Uncle Edwin

Bhis mothers family thought Uncle Edwin to be a good reporter

Cfew reporters can become the managing editor of the New York Times

DUncle Edwin spared no effort to get the Pulitzer Prize at the cost of his life

 

    Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is,not surprisingly,his

sense of humor. As far as I can tell,he's the first American President to have one.

    That's because the term“sense of humor,, really wasn't in common usage until the

eighteen-sixties and seventies.In the eighteen-forties and fifties,it was called“the sense of the

ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations(隐含意义)that“sense of humor" has

oday. Back then,what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule(讥笑).Funniness and cruelty

went hand in hand.Of course,they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well.

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because,for one thing,it was actually "humor"as what

the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit(风趣)”and "humor”

anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did.Wit was unpleasant and offensive while

humor was pleasant and sympathetic.It’s。the difference we note now when we distinguish

between "laughing with”and“laughing at.”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than

"laughing at.”And when“laughing at,”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates,when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced,

Lincoln replied,referencing his plain looking,“Honestly,if I were two-faced,would I be

showing you this one?”And,in a way,Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of

humor.

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians,soldiers,and the like from

Lincoln's time and not find a single smile.

    True, the long exposures(曝光)required for photographs of that time made smiling

difficult.Yet Lincoln alone,as far as I can tell,overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly .while having a sense of humor,or at least the appearance of one provided by

comedy writers .has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time,in

the。ineteenth century,too much humor was considered。problem. -And that was the case for

Lincoln.A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a

real personal liking to the man,owing to an inborn weakness…that he was extremely, fond of

iokes,anecdotes,and stories.”

67.We can infer from Paragraph 2 that__

    A .the American President could influence the use of English

    E. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

    C .what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

    D .the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

68 .The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to__.

    A. Lincoln's unattractive face

    B. Lincoln's sense of humor

    C.debate they were having

    D.cruelty that went with funniness

69 We rarely s(。people from Lincoln's time wear smile:in their photos because_.

  A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

  B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

  C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

  D. photography technology then was not advanced

70.What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates?

  A. His comment accurately reflected his time,

  B. He created a false picture of Lincoln.

  C. He was prejudiced and self-centered.

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness.

      

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