Recently,people in US education have gotten extremely worried because a new report has shown that American students have a math problem.

The 2015 Program for International Student Assessment(评估)(PISA) shows math scores in the US getting lower and no improvement in science or reading.PISA tests 15-year-olds from different countries and regions in their math,science and reading skills.About 540,000 students from 72 countries and regions took part in the assessment in 2015.

US scores in reading and science were about the same as three years ago,leaving Americans near the middle of the bigger group.But the situation in math is much more worrying.The US average score was 470,be;ow the OECD(经合组织)test average of 490,meaning the US was No.40 among the 72 countries and areas.It was 12 points lower than in 2012 and 18 points lower than in 2009.So,what is going on with American students' math skills?

One reason may be that the US does not teach math in enough depth."Students are often good at answering the first part of a problem in the United States,"said Andreas Schleicher,director of education and skills at OECD."But as soon as students have to go deeper and answer the more complicated part of a problem,they have difficulties."In comparison,many high-performing countries and regions in math teach a lot less but focus in much greater depth, especially when you look at East Asia,Japan and Singapore,according to Schleicher.

Another reason may be the fact that many people in the US are unwilling to travel to foreign countries to learn better teaching practices."One of our biggest challenges in the US is that the teachers are not going out and seeing what high-performing countries do differently,"said Wendy Kopp,who started Teach for America,in a news program.

1.When it comes to the 2015 PISA results,people in US education are more concerned about .

A. the US average score

B. the differences from the previous PISA

C. American students' performance in math

D. American students' situation in science and reading skills

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A. American students are not interested in simple math problems.

B. American students are unwilling to go abroad for further study.

C. American math teachers envy high-performing countries better teaching skills.

D. American math teachers seldom teach students how to solve complicated problems.

3.What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. To inform people of American students' 2015 PISA results.

B. To analyze the causes of American students' problems with math.

C. To stress the importance of learning math well to America students.

D. To give American math teachers some advice on how to teach math.

Traffic problems are an everyday concern in many cities, including Washington, D. C. A growing number of Washingtonians are turning to bicycles to get to and from work. In fact, the number of commuters who use bicycles has doubled in the city since 2007.

Ralph Buehler teaches urban planning at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,popularly known as Virginia Tech. He has written a book about urban biking, called City Cycling. He says there is a reason why urban bike tiding is now becoming more popular.

“Over the last 60 to 70 years, cities in America have been adapted to the automobile.”

“Most cities took advantage of the money coming for the interstate (洲际)highway system, from the federal government, starting in 1956. There was a 90 percent federal match(补贴)so the cities only had to put up 10%. It was very tempting.(临时的).”

In the years after World War Two, many Americans moved to suburban communities, just outside major cities, They decided to travel great distances to and from work in exchange for a home in the suburbs. Their cars became a symbol of freedom.

But today, many people believe they can save money by living in the city.

Greg Billing is with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. “When a person makes a change from using a car to using a bike, he/she is saving anywhere between 8 or$9,000 a year.”

Ralph Buehler says governments save money when people use bicycles. “Building bicycling facilities(设施) is much cheaper than building and maintaining road facilities or public transport.”

Washington, D.C has also taken steps to protect bike riders. It approved a safe passing law and created areas on the road between cars and bikes.

The United States Census Bureau says 4% of the city’s workers ride to work by bike. The only city on the East Coast with more bike commuters is New York.

1.What does the writer mainly talk about in this passage?

A. More people in Washington, D. C go to work by bike

B. Bikes lead to new problems in Washington, D. C

C. Washington,

D. C has taken steps to protect bike riders

2.What can we know from Ralph Buehler’s statement?

A. A lot has been invested to build bicycling facilities in cities

B. The federal government supported building public transport

C. Cities didn’t use the money from the government wisely

D. Urban biking has been popular in the last 60 to 70 years

3.In the years after World War Two, many Americans prefer to_____.

A. go to and from work by bike B. live out of the major cities

C. travel long distances a lot D. rent houses rather than buy ones

4.What do Ralph Buehler and Greg Billing agree with?

A. Public transport develop too rapidly in recent years

B. Government should build more bicycling facilities

C. The cost of living in cities is lower than in the country

D. More people using bicycles can save money

The ride-sharing company Uber has removed its self-driving cars from the streets of San Francisco,California. The action came after a dispute between Uber and state officials over whether the vehicles needed special permits to operate.

Uber recently launched testing of its self-driving service in San Francisco.But shortly after the launch, California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) told the company to stop the self-driving vehicles.State officials said the Uber cars needed the same special permit given to about 20 other companies testing self-driving technology in California.Uber argued that its technology does not make vehicles fully autonomous,and so the special permit was not needed.It added that all of Uber's "self-driving" cars have a driver sitting in the passenger seat to take over if needed.

The head of Uber's self-driving technology,Anthony Levandowski,explained the company's position in a blog post.He said the self-driving Uber vehicles do use high-technology tools to assist drivers.But they are not fully autonomous and require a driver to be at the controls at all times..He compared the technology to solar carmaker Tesla's advanced driver assist tools.Telsa's Autopilot system allows its cars to steer in a lane,change lanes,and speed up or slow down based on nearby traffic.The company tells drivers that,when using Autopilot,they should still always be ready to take control of the vehicle.Vehicles equipped with these high-tech driver assist tools do not need a special permit to operate in California.

It's hard to understand why the DMV would seek to require self-driving Ubers to get permits when it accepts that Tesla's autopilot technology does not need them,"Levandowski wrote.San Francisco's mayor,Ed Lee,praised the DMV for stopping Uber's self-driving vehicles.He said he supports self-driving development and testing.But only under conditions that put human bicyclists' and pedestrian safety first."

1.What does the underlined word "dispute" in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. Discussion. B. Disagreement.

C. Fighting. D. Meeting.

2.Why does Uber say that the special permit was not needed?

A. Because Uber's "self driving" cars are fully autonomous.

B. Because there are passenger seats in Uber's "self-driving" cars.

C. Because no drivers are needed in some Uber's "self-driving" cars.

D. Because Uber's "self-driving" cars can be operated by humans when necessary.

3.What can we know from the passage?

A. Uber's self-driving cars need human drivers.

B. Telsa's Autopilot needs special permits too.

C. Uber's self-driving cars are completely autonomous.

D. Telsa's Autopilot system is better than Uber's self-driving technology.

4.What can we infer from Ed Lee's words?

A. He doesn't think DMV is right.

B. Uber's self-driving cars should he supported.

C. Uber's serf-driving cars are not safe enough.

D. One should be careful while walking or cycling in streets.

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