题目内容
Along with the letter was his promise _____ he would visit me this coming Christmas.
A. which B. that C. what D. whether
B
Some people would go through anything just to achieve their dream. Kasia Siwosz is proof. For the final year student on the university women’s tennis team, the road to Berkeley, University of California was met with poor advice and misinformation from her home country and two unsuccessful stops along the way that fell short of expectations.
Born in Poland, Siwosz began playing tennis at seven years old and developed the skills that helped her earn a top-50 ranking among the ITF Junior division(国际网球联会青少年赛). Siwosz wanted to do more with her life than just play tennis, which led her to seek chances that would also allow her to obtain a top education. While most who grow up in the U.S. are naturally accustomed to the American tradition of collegiate(大学的) sports, such a custom is not as familiar in a country like Poland. “There’s no collegiate sports in Poland and no culture of sports and academic(学术的) study there. You can only do one, not both,” Siwosz said.
Her desire to have a quality education led her to America to follow her dream. While Siwosz was talented enough to begin her collegiate tennis career, she could only attend community college because she missed the deadline to apply to four-year schools, mainly due to misinformation provided in her home country of Poland.
When she had earned all her credits and was able to transfer(转学), Siwosz made the decision to attend Baylor in Texas. Her friends from Poland put in a good word for the university, saying that it was a good fit because there were many international players at Baylor. “I thought it would be a good idea, but it really wasn’t what I thought it would be,” Siwosz said. “I wasn’t happy at Baylor. The level of tennis was high, but the academic standards were no match and I just wanted more.”
After one year at Baylor, Siwosz’s luck finally began to change when she made the decision to transfer to Berkeley, which was due in large part to Lee, a former Berkeley student. Lee, who is a keen tennis player himself, met Siwosz four years ago in Texas. “I knew she was unhappy there,” he said. “I saw the opportunity for her to come here.” Siwosz visited Lee in Berkeley. “I ended up loving this place and this school,” Siwosz said. “I came here a lot over the summer, I gave it a shot and I ended up with a Berkeley education and a spot on one of the best college tennis teams in the country.”
【小题1】What does “two unsuccessful stops” (Paragraph 1) refer to?
| A．Poland and the U.S. |
| B．Baylor and Berkeley. |
| C．The community college and Baylor. |
| D．The ITF Junior division and the Berkeley tennis team. |
| A．Poland had no culture of sports. |
| B．Berkeley had always been her dream university. |
| C．She wanted to play tennis and have a good education. |
| D．She wanted to improve her tennis skills and get a higher ranking. |
| A．The level of tennis there was not high. |
| B．It was not suitable for international students. |
| C．She couldn’t get along with her friends there. |
| D．She was not satisfied with the education level there. |
| A．had a try | B．shot a tennis ball | C．took a picture | D．waved goodbye |
| A．How Siwosz left Poland. |
| B．How Siwosz realized her dream. |
| C．How Siwosz became a top tennis player. |
| D．How Siwosz transferred from Baylor to Berkeley. |
Kindergarten outside? Yes, indeed. It’s part of a growing worldwide trend toward outdoor education. The schools are called forest kindergartens.
The numbers are small so far in the U.S., but the idea is well established in Europe, with schools in Scotland, England, and Switzerland. By far the most such schools are in Germany, which has more than 400 forest kindergartens.
Some schools feature several hours of outdoor schooling. This is certainly the case with the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs. Children there will be venturing out on the nearby Hemlock Trail to learn more about the natural world. Some lessons are focused on nature; others are academic topics delivered in a natural setting. In all cases, students are active-not sitting at desks or on mats on the floor but walking, running, jumping, solving problems like how to get the mud off the bottoms of their shoes before their parents find out.
Seriously, the focus is on activity at these schools. Studies have shown that children’s immune systems actually get stronger after all of the outdoor activity, and that graduates of forest kindergartens show a higher ability to learn when they progress through their academic careers.
Other schools are all outdoors, all the time. This is the case with the Cedar Song Nature School, on Vashon Island, Washington. Students at this school spend their whole three–hour day outdoors, in a private five-acre forest, doing all kinds of physical activities.
At these forest kindergartens, students learn science by observing and doing it, learn math by applying it to the natural world around them, learn letters and words by putting them together using sights and sounds. These students learn how to get along with one another, individually and in a group. They also develop healthy levels of self-confidence.
Nowadays many children become obese(肥胖的) because of sedentary（久坐的） activities like watching television and playing video games. These outdoor schools give children chances to learn just as much, if not more, from opening their eyes to the real world around them.
【小题1】What do we know about forest kindergartens?
| A．The first one was created in England. | B．They are very popular in Germany. |
| C．There are 400 all over the world. | D．Their number is huge in the U.S. |
| A．Kids learn more than those at ordinary kindergartens. |
| B．Students go outside when weather permits. |
| C．They value activity very much. |
| D．They are situated in forests. |
| A．the subjects | B．the activities |
| C．the outdoor time | D．the teaching methods |
| A．Get close to nature | B．A new trend of education |
| C．Forest kindergartens are popular | D．Outdoor education benefits kids a lot |
Franz Kafka wrote that “A book must be the ax(斧子)for the frozen sea inside us.” I once shared this sentence with a class of seventh graders, and it didn’t seem to require any explanation.
We’d just finished John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. When we read the end together out loud in class, my toughest boy, a star basketball player, wept a little, and so did I. “Are you crying?” one girl asked, as she got out of her chair to take a closer look. “I am,” I told her, “and the funny thing is I’ve read it many times.”
But they understood. When George shoots Lennie, the tragedy is that we realize it was always going to happen. In my 14 years of teaching in a New York City public middle school, I’ve taught kids with imprisoned parents, abusive parents, irresponsible parents; kids who are parents themselves; kids who are homeless; kids who grew up in violent neighborhoods. They understand, more than I ever will, the novel’s terrible logic—the giving way of dreams to fate (命运).
For the last seven years, I have worked as a reading enrichment teacher, reading classic works of literature(文学) with small groups of students from grades six to eight. I originally proposed this idea to my headmaster after learning that a former excellent student of mine had transferred out of a selective high school—one that often attracts the literary-minded (有文学头脑的) children of Manhattan’s upper classes—into a less competitive school. The daughter of immigrants (移民), with a father in prison, she perhaps felt uncomfortable with her new classmates. I thought additional “cultural capital” could help students like her develop better in high school, where they would unavoidably meet, perhaps for the first time, students who came from homes lined with bookshelves, whose parents had earned Ph.D.’s.
Along with Of Mice and Men, my groups read: Sounder, The Red Pony, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The students didn’t always read from the expected point of view. About The Red Pony, one student said, “it's about being a man, it’s about manliness (男子气概).” I had never before seen the parallels between Scarface and Macbeth, nor had I heard Lady Macbeth’s soliloquies (独白) read as raps, but both made sense; the interpretations were playful, but serious. Once introduced to Steinbeck’s writing, one boy went on to read The Grapes of Wrath and told me repeatedly how amazing it was that “all these people hate each other, and they’re all white.” His historical view was broadening, his sense of his own country deepening. Year after year, former students visited and told me how prepared they had felt in their first year in college as a result of the classes.
Year after year, however, we are increasing the number of practice tests. We are trying to teach students to read increasingly complex texts, not for emotional punch (碰撞) but for text complexity. Yet, we cannot enrich the minds of our students by testing them on texts that ignore their hearts. We are teaching them that words do not amaze but confuse. We may succeed in raising test scores, but we will fail to teach them that reading can be transformative and that it belongs to them.
【小题1】The underlined words in Paragraph 1 probably mean that a book helps to________.
| A．realize our dreams |
| B．give support to our life |
| C．smooth away difficulties |
| D．awake our emotions |
| A．Because they spent much time reading it. |
| B．Because they had read the novel before. |
| C．Because they came from a public school. |
| D．Because they had similar life experiences. |
| A．she was a literary-minded girl |
| B．her parents were immigrants |
| C．she couldn’t fit in with her class |
| D．her father was then in prison |
| A．creatively | B．passively | C．repeatedly | D．carelessly |
| A．introduce classic works of literature |
| B．advocate teaching literature to touch the heart |
| C．argue for equality among high school students |
| D．defend the current testing system |
Wanted, Someone for a Kiss
We' re looking for producers to join us on the sound of London Kiss 100 FM. You' ll work on the station's music programmes. Music production experience in radio is necessary, along with rich knowledge of modern dance music. Please apply(申请)in writing to Producer Vacancies, Kiss 100.
Father Christmas
We're looking for a very special person, preferably over 40, to fill our Father Christmas suit.
Working days: Every Saturday from November 24 to December 15 and every day from December 17 to December 24 except Sundays, l0:30 - 16:00.
Excellent pay.
Please contact (联系) the Enterprise Shopping Centre, Station Parade, Eastbourne.
Accountants Assistant
When you join the team in our Revenue Administration Unit, you will be providing assistance within all parts of the Revenue Division, dealing with post and other general duties. If you are educated to GCSE grade C level we would like to talk to you. This position is equally suitable for a school leaver or for somebody who has office experience.
Wealden District Council
Software Trainer
If you are aged 24 -45 and have experience in teaching and training, you could be the person we are looking for. You should be good at the computer and have some experience in programme writing. You will be allowed to make your own decisions ,and to design courses as well as present them. Pay upwards of ￡15,000 for the right person. Please apply by sending your CV (简历) to Mrs. R.. Oglivie, Palmlaee Limited.
【小题1】Who should you get in touch with if you hope to work in a radio station?
| A．Producer Vacancies, Kiss 100. |
| B．Mrs Oglivie, Palmlace Limited. |
| C．The Enterprise Shopping Centre. |
| D．Wealden District Council. |
| A．is aged between 24 and 40 |
| B．may do some training work |
| C．should deal with general duties |
| D．can work for about a month |
| A．Producer, London Kiss. | B．Father Christmas. |
| C．Accountants Assistant. | D．Software Trainer. |
| A．One with GCSE grade C level. |
| B．One with some office experience. |
| C．One having good computer knowledge. |
| D．One trained in producing music programmes. |