题目内容

American public education has changed in recent years. One change is that increasing numbers of American parents and teachers are starting independent public schools called charter schools.

In 1991, there were no charter schools in the United States. Today, more than 2300 charter schools operate in 34 states and the District of Columbia. 575000 students attend these schools. The students are from 5 years of age through 18 or older.

A charter school is created by groups of parents, teachers and community members. It is similar in some ways to a traditional public school. It receives tax money to operate a number of students. The charter school must prove to local or state governments that its students are learning. These governments provide the school with the agreement, or charter that permits it to operate.

Unlike a traditional public school, however, the charter school does not have to obey most laws governing public schools. Local, state or federal governments cannot tell it what to teach.

Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach those goals. Class sizes are usually smaller than in many traditional public schools. Many students and parents say teachers in charter schools can be more creative.

However, state education agencies, local education-governing committees and unions often oppose charter schools. They say these schools may receive money badly needed by traditional public schools. Experts say some charter schools are doing well while others are struggling.

Congress provided 200 million dollars for establishing charter schools in the 2006 federal budget. But, often the schools say they lack enough money for programs. Many also lack needed space. District officials say they have provided 14 former school buildings for charter education. Yet charter school supporters say officials should try harder to find more space.

 

 

Charter Schools in America

Definition

Charter schools are called 1 ___________ public schools.

2 _______ between charter school and traditional school

★ 3 _______ tax money to operate a number of students.

★ Having to make 4. _______ know the students are learning.

★ Getting 5 _________ to operate from government.

6 _______ between charter school and traditional school

★ Not having to obey most laws.

★ Having the 7_______ to decide what to teach. 

★ Being free to choose the goals and decide the 8_________

   of teaching them.

★   Having smaller class sizes.

★   Having teachers who are more creative

The problems

   Education departments’ opposition

★These schools receiving money badly needed by traditional public schools.

★ Not 9__________ doing well.

10 ___________

difficulties

★ Lacking enough money

★ Lacking needed space

 

 

【答案】

 

  independent 

  Similarities  

 Receiving/ Getting 

 governments 

  agreement/ permission 

 Differences 

 freedom/ power/right  

  ways /methods 

 . all 

 Other/Schools’

【解析】 略

 

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Keep it in the air: The Chaoyang Theater is one of the Beijing theaters to present acrobatics(杂技 ) all year round. Top acrobatic artists invited from all over the country perform for Chinese and foreign tourists. The program contains trick cycling, leaping through hoops and Chinese magic tricks. Some of the artists have won prizes in international competitions.

Time: 7∶15 p.m. Daily

Place: 36, Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 65072421, 65071818

Use your head: Green Hat is a new drama given by a group of young Chinese actors. It’s a rewrite of American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel The Scarlet Letter.  It describes the heroine’s great courage in finding the true love against the public disagreement.

Time: 7∶15 p.m. until March 5, except Mondays

Place: China Children’s Theater

Tel: 66037255, 66037265

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Time: 7∶ 30 p.m. until March 10, except Mondays

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Peking Opera: The Beijing Peking Opera Troupe will give two performances at the Chang’an Grand Theater. Each performance includes two classical excerpts(选段). One is Wenxi(a play focusing on singing and dancing); the other is Wuxi (a play full of acrobatic dancing). The first night will be The Crossroad and Presenting a Pearl of the Rainbow Bridge. And the second night will see the  performance of The Goddess of Heaven Scatters Flowers and Havoc in Heaven.

Time: 7∶30 p.m. February 27, 28

Place:Chang’an Grand Theater

Tel: 86531043

We can learn from the text that.

  A. Story of puppets is a play held in China Children’s Theater

  B. the artists who have won prizes will perform magic tricks

  C. on March 5 there will be two plays for us to choose

  D. the artists in the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe are from all over the country

If a tourist wants to see a performance on March 15, he can call  to book a ticket.

  A. 86531043       B. 65250123     C. 66037255       D. 65071818

According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

  A. The director of the Story of Puppets combines different operas in it.

  B. Green Hat is based on a famous novel acted by some American artists.

  C. Top Acrobatic artists will present their performances around our country.

  D. The Beijing Peking Opera Troupe will give two performances with the same excerpts.

Knott’s Berry Farm is the nation’s oldest, and first, theme park and draws around five million visitors each year. Knott’s Berry Farm hardly had a very good start. Arriving in Southern California in the 1920s, the Knott Family farmed about 20 acres of land and finally started a restaurant called Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. Mrs. Knott’s food became well known and her husband Walter built a Ghost Town as a way of entertaining waiting customers. The family kept expanding and today, Knott’s Berry Farm has 165 rides, shows, attractions and restaurants. For more than 80 years, Knott’s Berry Farm has been entertaining families and visitors from around the world with great rides and fantastic fun.
Knott’s Berry Farm is separated into six different themed areas with rides and attractions. Fiesta Village highlights (突出) California’s Spanish heritage (遗产) with art work, rides and food. Indian Trails is similar to Fiesta Village but with an accent on Native American legends, crafts, music and dancing. The heart and soul of Knott’s, Ghost Town is an 1880s California Boom Town with cowboys, gunfights, stagecoaches, and a real steam train. The Boardwalk makes people think of Southern California beach and surfing heritage plus the Boomerang roller coaster and the Hammer-Head. Wild Water Wilderness is an 1800s-style park with water rapids and a magical journey into Native North America. For Peanuts fans, Camp Snoopy is a six-acre children’s wonderland with 30 rides and attractions. Knott’s Berry Farm also stages yearly special events such as Scary Farm and Halloween Haunt plus Knott’s Merry Farm for the holiday season.   
Knott’s Berry Farm is in Buena Vista, Orange County, California. It is about half an hour from downtown Los Angeles and 10 minutes from Disneyland. Knott’s Berry Farm is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week. The park is open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. During the summer months, the park is open later. The theme park is closed on Christmas Day. Tickets for 2010 are. adults, $53.99 all day; people older than 62, $23.99; children three to 11 years, $23.99. For more information about Knott’s Berry Farm, call 714-220-5220.  
【小题1】The first paragraph is mainly about Knott’s Berry Farm’s _____.

A.attractions B.history C.services D.prices
【小题2】Besides Indian Trails, you can also experience Native American culture in _____.
A.Fiesta VillageB.the BoardwalkC.Wild Water WildernessD.Camp Snoopy
【小题3】How long is Knott’s Berry Farm open on week-days?
A.For eight hours.B.For nine hours.C.For ten hours.D.For twelve hours.
【小题4】What do we know about Knott’s Berry Farm from the passage?
A.It is in Northern California.B.It is open all the year round.
C.It has eight themed areas.D.It is not far from Disneyland.
【小题5】The type of this passage would be _____.
A.explanationB.argumentationC.narrationD.practical writing

请认真阅读短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。每个空格只填一个单词。
Back to School: Why Grit(毅力) Is More Important than Good Grades?
The back-to-school season is upon us, and once again, parents across the country have loaded their kids’ backpacks up with snack packs and school supplies. It’s a good moment to reflect on what else we should be giving our kids as they head off to school.
American parents are feeling particularly anxious about that question this year. The educational process feels more than ever like a race, one that starts in pre-school and doesn’t end until your child is admitted to the perfect college. Most parents are more worried than they need to be about their children’s grades, test scores and IQ. And what we don’t think about enough is how to help our children build their character—how to help them develop skills like perseverance, grit, optimism, conscientiousness, and self-control, which together do more to determine success than S.A.T. scores or I.Q.
There is growing evidence that our anxiety about our children’s school performance may actually be holding them back from learning some of these valuable skills. If you’re concerned only with a child’s G.P.A., then you will likely choose to minimize the challenges the child faces in school. With real challenge comes the risk of real failure. And in a competitive academic environment, the idea of failure can be very scary, to students and parents alike.
But experiencing failure is a critical part of building character. A recent research by a team of psychologists found that adults who had experienced little or no failure growing up were actually less happy and confident than those who had experienced a few significant setbacks in childhood. “Overcoming those obstacles,” the researchers assumed, “could teach effective coping skills, help engage social support networks, create a sense of mastery over past adversity, and foster beliefs in the ability to cope successfully in the future.”
By contrast, when we protect our children from every possible failure—when we call their teachers to get an extension on a paper; when we urge them to choose only those subjects they’re good at—we are denying them those same character-building experiences. As the psychologists Madeline Levine and Dan Kindlon have written, that can lead to difficulties in adolescence and young adulthood, when overprotected young people finally confront real problems on their own and don’t know how to overcome them.
In the classroom and outside of it, American parents need to encourage children to take chances, to challenge themselves, to risk failure. In the meantime, giving our kids room to fail may be one of the best ways we can help them succeed.

       Back to School: Why Grit Is More Important than Good Grades?
Common phenomena
◆Parents throughout America(1)     their kids’ backpacks up with snacks and school supplies.
◆Many American parents don’t(2)    enough importance to their kids’ character building.
The writer’s(3)    
◆Parents should pay more attention to their kids’ character building.
 
(4)    and research findings
◆Parents’ anxiety about their kids’ performance may(5)                        them from learning some valuable skills.
◆Parents concerned only with a kid’s G.P.A. are (6)    to minimize the challenges the child faces.
◆Adults who have experienced a few significant setbacks in childhood are (7)    and more confident than those who haven’t.
◆Denying kids character-building experiences can(8)    in difficulties in adolescence and young adulthood.
The writer’s suggestions
◆(9)    kids to be risk-takers.
◆Give kids room to experience(10)    .

In the United States, elementary and middle schools are advised to give students two and a half hours of physical activity a week.

Yet many schools across the country have reduced their physical education programs. Criticism(批评) of the cuts has led in some places to efforts to give students more time for exercise, not less.

A study reported that life expectancy(寿命) has fallen or is no longer increasing in some parts of the United States. The situation is worst among poor people in the southern states, and especially women. Public health researchers say it is largely the result of increases in obesity(肥胖), smoking and high blood pressure. They also blame differences in health services around the country.

A study found that only four percent of elementary schools provided daily physical education all year for all grades. This was true of eight percent of middle schools and two percent of high schools. The study also found that twenty-two percent of all schools did not require students to take any P.E.

Charlene Burgeson is the executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. She says one problem for P.E. teachers is that schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects. Also, parents may agree that children need exercise in school.

But experts say P.E. classes have changed. They say the goal has moved away from competition and toward personal performance, as a way to build a lifetime of activity. These days, teachers often lead activities like weight training.

Some parents like the idea of avoiding competitive sports in P.E. class. Yet others surely dislike that idea. In the end, schools may find themselves in a no-win situation.

1. . How many reasons have caused some Americans’ life expectancy to fall?

A.Three.

B.Four.

C.Five.

D.Six.

2.  The underlined part “that idea” (the last paragraph) refers to _______.

A.competitive sports

B.a lifetime of activity

C.no-win situation

D.uncompetitive exercise

3. . From the passage we can infer that _______.

A.physically active children have more chances to be fit when growing up

B.most American schools let students take physical activity enough

C.the older a student is, the less exercise he gets

D.not all parents think exercise is good for students

4. . The passage mainly tells us about _______.

A.school and students’ health

B.how to make children healthy

C.American schools’ physical education

D.American students’ health

 

For years, the automobile industry has been testing vehicles that use hydrogen as fuel. Now, people across the United States have had a chance to see and even drive cars that get power from hydrogen fuel cells (燃料电池).

But the hydrogen fuel cell is not a new idea. The fuel cell was first invented by Sir William Grove of Britain in 1839. Since then, many different designs, have been invented. There is one place where fuel cells are a proven technology: in space. The American space agency used fuel cells in its Apollo spaceships in the twentieth century.

The most useful fuel cell for transportation purposes is the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane, or P.E.M. fuel cell. It is simple and can operate at temperatures of sixty to eighty degrees Celsius. That is much lower than other fuel cell designs. A P.E.M. fuel cell has two sides divided by a thin membrane (膜). Hydrogen gas is forced through one side where it comes in contact with a reactive material containing the metal platinum(铂). The membrane separates the electrons(电子) from the protons(质子) in the hydrogen atoms. The protons pass through it to the other side of the fuel cell. But the electrons are captured to do work; like powering a motor. Oxygen from the air is forced into the other side of the fuel cell. There, the gas meets the protons that have passed through the membrane. They combine to form water and heat. A single fuel cell does not produce a lot of electricity. But when many fuel cells are combined, they can produce enough electricity to power a vehicle. The product of the chemical reaction that powers fuel cells is water. This makes fuel cells a very clean technology.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars have been slow to develop because of many technical problems that have to be solved. For example, it is unclear how long the membranes in P.E.M. fuel cells will last. Also, fuel cells need water for their chemical reactions. They must be designed to start easily at low temperatures and in dry climates. And smaller, less costly fuel cells must be designed before they can truly take the place of gasoline engines. Now more models of fuel cell vehicles are being tested than ever before. The threat of climate change and the high cost of oil have increased interest in these vehicles that do not cause pollution.

Title

 More Models of Hydrogen Cars Being Tested

The progress of hydrogen fuel cell

·(1) ________ by Sir William Grove in 1839.

·Designed (2) ________ ever since.

·Used in Apollo spaceships in the twentieth century.

 Operating principle of P.E.M.

·It has two sides divided by a thin membrane.

·Hydrogen gas from one side (3) ________ the active metal platinum.

·The electrons are (4) ________ from the protons in the hydrogen atoms.

·The protons pass through the fuel cell to the other side.

·Oxygen from the air is (5) ________ into the other side of the fuel cell.

·The gas meets the protons,and then water and heat are(6) ________

Reasons for slow (7) ________of hydrogen fuel cell cars

·There are many technical problems (8) ________

·The durability of the membranes in P.E.M. fuel cells is not clear.

·They have to start easily at (9)________ temperatures and in dry climates.

·They must be smaller and less costly before (10) ________ gasoline engines.

 

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