High school graduation is worth celebrating. It marks a big change in the lives of young adults. However, it ought to mean even more. It ought to mean that the graduate is ready for college or career.
In a report issued last year, we found that almost half of recent Illinois high school graduates required remedial courses(补习课) upon enrolling(注册) a community college. These courses require time and money to complete, yet offer no credits toward a degree. Too often, students never get through those remedial courses and end up dropping out of college.
Why is the remediation rate so high? A large part of the reason is that we have not set high enough standards for what our students need to learn from kindergarten to high school. They simply aren’t equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
The same is true for careers. In Illinois, good jobs continue to go vacant(空缺) even while we are trying hard to go through tough economic times. This is due largely to the mismatch between the skills and knowledge we provide our students with and what employers in a modern economy need workers to know.
The good news is that in Illinois we have a plan to help get our students ready for life in the real world. We have already taken an important first step by becoming one of the 45 states to adopt the Common Core State Standards and have begun introducing them to classrooms this year. The new standards provide fewer, clearer and higher benchmarks(标准) for academic progress. They focus on deeper knowledge required at each grade level, give teachers the opportunity to explore topics fully and ensure students can apply what they’ve learned.
Research shows that when expectations are raised, students rise to meet them. Adapting to higher standards and raising expectations may prove challenging, but they are the steps we must take so that our students are successful in high school and prepared for college and careers. Readiness is worth a celebration.
【小题1】According to the passage, in most cases, students taking part in remedial courses ___.

A.come from wealthy families
B.leave college before finishing their courses
C.are offered credits toward a degree
D.are likely to develop their academic interest
【小题2】The author uses the third and fourth paragraphs to __.
A.provide solutions to the rising remediation rate
B.show the present situation of unemployment in Illinois
C.suggest knowledge learned in school be put into practice
D.explain why students aren’t prepared for college and a career
【小题3】Which of the following statements about the Common Core State Standards is TRUE?
A.They were first adopted in Illinois.
B.More benchmarks are required.
C.They benefit teachers as well as students.
D.They ensure students’ success in college.
【小题4】Based on the last paragraph, what is the author’s attitude to raising expectations of students?
A.SupportiveB.Critical
C.DoubtfulD.Worried

Forgiving someone who has hurt you or let you down is never an easy thing. Several new studies, however, say that it could have a lot of health benefits. When you think of forgiveness, you probably don’t think of it as being a health or medical problem. Studies from Stanford University, on the other hand, show that something like anger can change your well-being.
When cartoon book characters like the Incredible Hulk get angry, they change colours and often gain special power. In the real world, anger is less obvious and may be more dangerous. That’s why Professor Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good, says holding on to anger and hatred can harm your physical and mental health. Two new studies seem to show the same idea.
The studies find that people who are able to forgive feel less stress, less back pain, and less depression. They also have fewer headaches, lower blood pressure, and fewer problems on sleeping.
So it doesn’t matter if your anger is caused by the traffic or other things. Learning to let it go is important. Techniques such as deep breath or thought can help. Or just ask yourself if it’s worth hurting yourself by staying angry with someone else.
Forgiveness does not mean that you simply accept what happened and say it’s OK. Instead, it’s a way of making peace with yourself about what happened in the past.
【小题1】 The author of the passage tries to make his viewpoint clear ______.

A.by raising his own examplesB.based on his own experience
C.by mentioning some studiesD.by mentioning some typical patients
【小题2】 The example of the cartoon book characters is taken in the passage to______.
A.support the viewpoint that anger and hatred harm physical and mental health
B.introduce a famous expert
C.let the reader know the different colours of cartoon faces
D.show how to control one’s temper
【小题3】The underlined phrase“holding on to”in this passage possibly means“______”.
A.removingB.keeping upC.getting rid ofD.learning about
【小题4】 Which of the following is NOT mentioned in this passage?
A.People who are able to forgive feel less stress.
B.People who are able to forgive feel less depression.
C.People who are able to forgive have fewer problems on sleeping.
D.People who are able to forgive feel less tired.
【小题5】The best title for this passage is probably _______.
A.ForgivenessB.Forgiveness Is Good for Health
C.A Secret to Keeping HealthD.Anger Is Bad for Health

New York: Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defence against getting ill, new study findings suggest.
In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny disposition were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help protect us from the common cold and other illnesses.
Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective----as in happiness improving immune, function----and subjective----as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or funny nose. "People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus," explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe."
Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional trait itself had the effect.
For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality traits, self-perceived health and emotional "style." Those who tended to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and hostile had a negative style.
The researchers gave them nasal(鼻的) drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains, sneezing or congestion they had, while the researchers collected objective data, like daily mucus production. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal woes, happy people were less likely to develop a cold.
【小题1】Which is the best title for the passage?

A.Stay Away From Being Negative
B.Positive or Negative, It’s Up To You
C.An Effective Medicine For Being Fit
D.Warm People Likely To Keep Cold Away
【小题2】According to Dr Cohen’s research, the reason why some people are unlikely to catch a cold is that ___________________.
A.their cheerful mood benefits the immune system
B.they have developed a certain gene against flu virus
C.they are less likely to have s sore throat and funny nose
D.they have got a stronger self-confidence in their health
【小题3】The underlined word “disposition” (paragraph 2) probably means ________.
A.characterB.dayC.futureD.occupation
【小题4】The passage is probably written for ___________________.
A.medical studentsB.lead authorsC.the publicD.the volunteers

Only three local students won Chinese Blog Competition. And 15 of the 18 awards went to students from China.
170 students’ task: to get a fully-designed blog up and running, complete with many postings based on a theme of choice—all written in Chinese.
Themes ranged from local opinions-such as the usage of Singlish, education and whether Singapore can be a cultural centre-to food blogs.
The entries were judged on Language proficiency(熟练程度)and the quality of writing, as well as the design and level of exchanging ideas with readers.
Academics(学者) from the National University of Singapore and the SIM University IT experts, and a journalist from Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore made up the judges.
In the end, only three Singaporean students made it to the award list—the rest of the awards were swept up by students from China.
“No surprise, ” said Mr. Chow Yaw Long, 37, teachers in charge from Innova Junior College, which organized the event. “Although the topics were local subjects, the foreign students were generally better in terms of the content of the posts and their grasp of the Chinese language. ”
One of the three local students winning the first prize in the Best Language Award was blogger Christina Gao 19, from the Saint Andrew’s Junior College, who spared no effort in researching for and writing her blog. Each entry took her between five and seven days to produce, complete with pictures and even podcasts
Her advice for bloggers is: Be responsible
“Some bloggers out there only seek to blame the authorities and other bloggers.” Said Miss Gao. “I think they lack responsibilities and there is no value to their posts.”
【小题1】The competition was organized by ___________.

A.the National University of SingaporeB.Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao
C.the Saint Andrew’s Junior CollegeD.Innova Junior College
【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Not all the themes were about local subjects.
B.Chinese students won most of the awards.
C.The blogs could be written in Chinese or Singlish.
D.The judges were from universities in Singapore and China.
【小题3】What Miss Gao said suggests that    ___________.
A.she likes to blame the authoritiesB.she thinks highly of the others’ blogs
C.she has a sense of responsibilityD.she loves to read valuable posts
【小题4】The passage is mainly about   ___________.
A.how Chinese students won the awards in the competition
B.why bloggers should take responsibility for their blogs
C.what the result of the competition was
D.how Miss Gao won the first prize in the competition

 

Grant Wood’s American Gothic caused a stir (轰动)in 1930 when it was exhibited for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago and awarded a prize of 300 dollars. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and the painting of a farmer and a younger woman posed before a white house brought the artist instant fame.

????????????? In 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter with European training, noticed a small white house built in the small southern Iowa town of Eldon. Wood was so fascinated by it that he decided to paint the house along with the kind of people he thought should live in that house. In the painting, the farmer is modeled on his dentist. Dr. Byron McKeeby. His younger sister Nan served as a model for the woman imagined to be the farmer’s wife or daughter. Wood wanted to give a description of the traditional roles of men and women as the man is holding a pitchfork symbolizing hard labor. Each element was painted separately; the models sat separately and never stood in front of the house. The Gothic style of the house inspired the painting’s title.

????????????? American Gothic remains one of the most famous paintings in the history of American art. The painting has become part of American popular culture. Some believe that Wood used it to satirize(讽刺) the narrow-mindedness that has been said to characterize Midwestern culture. The painting may also be read as a praise of the moral virtue or rural America or even as a mixture of praise and satire. American Gothic is one of the few images to reach the status of cultural symbol, along with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

1.Which of the following is true about American Gothic?

AIt won a prize of 300.

BThe two characters in it posed before the White House.

CIt was the first painting by Grant Wood.

DIt was on show at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930.

2.From the passage we can infer Iowa is in __________.

Athe southern town of Eldon???? ????????????? Bthe Midwest of the United States

Ca European country?????????? Dthe city of Chicago

3.Grant Wood chose the two models __________.

Ato describe traditional roles of men and women

Bto praise the moral virtue of rural America

Cto make his dentist and his sister famous

Dto carry the story across the country

4.The title of the painting is based on __________.

Athe name of a small town?? ????????????? Bthe man and the woman

Cthe Gothic style of the house???? Dthe pitchfork symbolizing hard labor

 

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