题目内容

American middle school students don’t seem to care that they’re worse at maths than their counterparts (同龄人) in China’s Hong Kong and Finland. “I don’t need it,” my student says, “I’m going to be a basketball star.” Or a car mechanic, or a singer.

Middle school students’ maths skills were tested by the International Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The United States ranked 28th out of 41 countries tested. After all, when was the last time you used algebra (代数)?

But maths isn’t just about training Americans to become scientists. It has its own value. It helps you see patterns and develops your logic skills, and it teaches you to concentrate and to separate truth from falsehood. Maths helps you make wise financial decisions, so you can avoid false claims from advertisers, politicians and others. It helps you determine risk. For example, after an airplane crash, studies show that people are more likely to drive than to take a plane in spite of the fact that they are much more likely to be killed or injured while driving. Planes are not like criminals who repeat the same crime over and over. One plane is not more likely to crash just because another plane recently did. In fact, the most dangerous time to drive is probably right after a plane crash because so many people are on the road.

It is not possible to really understand science and the scientific method without understanding maths. A rainbow is even more beautiful and amazing when we understand it.

The precision (精确性) of maths helps us think in a very special way. How do we bring the learning of maths back to life? I don’t have the big answer. I try my best to help pupils find answers to some maths problems. When I can get one to say, “Wow, that’s great,” I feel the joy of a small victory.

1.Some American students don’t care about their poor maths results because __________.

   A. maths is useless to most people

   B. they have no interest in maths

   C. they think maths has nothing to do with their future

   D. they don’t do well in maths

2.The example in Paragraph 3 is used to show __________.

   A. every coin has its two sides

   B. we should not be cheated by fault facts

   C. maths is close to our daily life

   D. a simple fact shows complicated rules

3.The writer would agree that __________.

   A. it’s normal that America kids are weak in maths

   B. without maths we’ll miss much in our life

   C. maths is the most important subject at school

   D. American kids don’t work hard at school

4.This text is most probably written by __________.

   A. a student career guide             B. a researcher on students’ problems

   C. a specialist in students’ studies      D. a maths teacher

 

【答案】

 

1.C

2.C

3.B

4.D

【解析】略

 

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听力(共两节,满分30分)

第一节(共5小题;每小题1.5分,满分7.5分)

听下面5段对话。每段对话后有一道小题,从每题所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项。听完每段对话后,你将有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话你将听一遍。

1.What will the woman do?

A.Stop what she is doing at once.

B.Put her book away immediately.

C.Help the man a little later.

2.What will the weather in Arizona be like in the coming week?

A.Rainy.

B.Warm.

C.A bit cold.

3.Why does the woman say so?

A.There is a mirror in the bathroom.

B.The man left his glasses in the bathroom.

C.The man is wearing his glasses.

4.When will the woman get her photos?

A.Late in the afternoon.

B.At about 2:00 p.m.

C.Early the next morning.

5.What does the woman think of the acting?

A.Excellent.

B.Just so so.

C.Very bad.

听力原文:(Text 1)

M:Can you help me put these things away?

W:In a minute.I am almost through with this chapter.

(Text 2)

W:Good morning, can I help you?

M:Yes, I’d like to know something about the weather in Arizona in the coming week.

W:Well, it will be fairly hot and there will be much rain.

M:I see.Thanks very much for your help.

(Text 3)

M:Have you seen my glasses?I can’t find them anywhere.

W:Go into the bathroom and look in the mirror.

(Text 4)

W:When will my photos be ready?

M:Well, it’s twelve o’clock now.I think they will be ready in a couple of hours.

(Text 5)

W:What do you think of the film?

M:I like it.I think it is great.

W:I like it, too.Do you like the acting?

M:Yes.It is excellent.Do you?

W:Not really.It is disappointing.

第二节(共15小题;每小题1.5分,满分22.5分)

听下面5段对话或独白。每段对话或独白后有几个小题,从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项。听每段对话或独白前,你将有时间阅读各个小题,每小题5秒钟;听完后,各小题给出5秒钟的作答时间。每段对话或独白读两遍。

听第6段对话,回答第6~7题。

6.Where is Mr.Brown?

A.He is in the Sales Department.

B.He is in a meeting room.

C.He is at home.

7.What is Mr.Peterson’s telephone number?

A.1300-621-7865.

B.1300-612-7685.

C.1360-620-7568.

听力原文:(Text 6)

W:ABC company.Can I help you?

M:Can you put me through to Mr.Brown in the Sales department?

W:I’m afraid Mr.Brown is at a meeting at the moment.

M:Can I leave a message?

W:Certainly.

M:Can you ask Mr.Brown to call me at 1300-621-7865?

W:Who is calling, please?

M:Alan Peterson.

W:OK, Mr.Peterson.Can you repeat the phone number?

M:That’s 1300-621-7865.

W:OK, I’ll ask Mr.Brown to call you as soon as the meeting is over.

M:Thanks.Bye.

听第7段对话,回答第8~10题。

8.Whom do you think the woman was angry with?

A.The man.

B.The repairman.

C.The shopkeeper.

9.Why couldn’t the woman find the repair shop?

A.She missed the right turn.

B.The man gave her the wrong directions.

C.She was a bad driver.

10.Why did the man tell her to turn to these television repairmen?

A.The shop was easy to find.

B.One of the repairmen was his friend.

C.They do good work and the price is reasonable.

听力原文:(Text 7)

M:Do you want your television repaired?

W:Yes, but not by the man you suggested.

M:Why not?The repairmen are very good and the charges are so reasonable.

W:That may be, but I couldn’t find the place.

M:But you couldn’t miss it.I told you it is at the first right after the railroad bridge.

W:I took that.I went to the end of the road.There is no such place.

M:Wait a minute.Perhaps it is the second right.Yes, I think it is.

W:I should have known, whenever someone says “You can’t miss it”, you can be sure that you won’t find it.

听第8段对话,回答第11~13题。

11.What’s the relationship between the man and the woman?

A.They are friends.

B.They are teacher and student.

C.They are mother and son.

12.What does the woman ask the man to do?

A.Look for a new apartment.

B.Find a job to earn $200 a month.

C.Share an apartment with one or two roommates.

13.How much does the woman want to spend on rent?

A.Less than $200 a month.

B.Somewhere about $200 a month.

C.A little more than $200 a month.

听力原文:(Text 8)

W:Hello, Roger?This is Ann.

M:Hi, Ann.How have you been?And how’s your new apartment working out?

W:Well, that’s what I’m calling about.You see, I’ve decided to look for a new place.

M:Oh, what’s the problem with your place now?I thought you liked the apartment.

W:I do, but it’s a little far from the campus.Do you think you could help?

M:All right.So, what kind of place is you looking for?

W:Well, I’d like to share an apartment with one or two roommates within walking distance of school.

M:Okay, how much do you want to spend on rent?

W:Uh, somewhere under $200 a month.

M:Hmm.And anything else?

W:Yeah, I need a parking space.

M:Well, I know there’s an apartment nearby.I’ll drop by there on my way to class today.

W:Hey, thanks a lot.

M:No problem.

听第9段对话,回答第14~16题。

14.Why did the man want to buy the records?

A.The man wanted to buy them for his cousin.

B.The man liked popular songs.

C.The man wanted to keep the same records given by his father.

15.Who broke the man’s records?

A.The man himself.

B.The man’s father.

C.The man’s cousin.

16.How much did each record cost the man?

A.2 pounds.

B.1.5 pounds.

C.1 pound.

听力原文:(Text 9)

W:Good afternoon.

M:Good afternoon.Have you got any records of modern guitar music?

W:We’ve got a lot of them.Which ones are you looking for?

M:I’m looking for some records of Julian Bream.I saw them in your window last week.

W:Excuse me, aren’t you American?

M:No.I’m Canadian.My father gave me the same records in Canada, but I broke them.

W:What happened?

M:They were in my suitcase.I sat on my case and broke the records.My cousin told me about your shop.I came here last week and saw the records.

W:Let’s look for the records and put them on that shelf.Yes, the records are there.

M:How much are those three?

W:They are four pounds fifty pence.

听第10段独白,回答第17~20题。

17.What does the speaker like to know about a new play?

A.How much it costs.

B.Whether it is worth seeing.

C.How long it lasts.

18.Why were the speaker and his wife late for the theatre?

A.Because they missed the bus.

B.Because his wife spent too much traffic time deciding what to wear.

C.Because there was too much traffic on the way.

19.Which of the following is true according to the conversation?

A.What the newspaper said was wrong.

B.What the newspaper said was right.

C.They didn’t mind missing the first part of the play.

20.Where did they go after the play?

A.To a night club.

B.To a restaurant.

C.To their home.

听力原文:(Text 10)

  My wife and I go to the theater whenever we can.But before we buy tickets, we like to know if the play is good or bad.When a new play opens.We usually read the newspaper to get information about it.Last week a new play opened at the theater.The newspaper story said it was very interesting so we decided to go on Saturday night.

  My wife took a long time to make up her mind what to wear and we left our house a little late.By the time we got to the theater, the first act had already begun.We were sorry we missed part of the play, because the rest of it was very funny.The newspaper had been right.It was very good.

  After the play was over, we met some friends we hadn’t seen for a long time.They wanted to go to a night club.It had been many years since my wife and I had gone dancing, but I finally agreed.By the time we got home, it was about two o’clock in the morning.I’m got used to staying out so late and I was extremely tired.

  When I was younger.I didn’t have the money to go out for an evening like this.Now I can afford it.I don’t have the energy to really enjoy it.

Next Hot Language to Study: Chinese

The fourth-graders at Chicago’s McCormick Primary School are unaware of the difficulty in learning Chinese. For most, who speak Spanish at home, it’s becoming their third language. They’ve been learning and using Chinese words since kindergarten, and it’s now second nature to give a hearty “ni hao” when strangers enter the classroom.

The classroom scene at McCormick is unusual, but it may soon be a common fixture(固定物) in American schools, where Chinese is rapidly becoming the hot new language. Government officials have long wanted more focus on security—useful languages like Chinese, and pressure from them—as well as from business leaders, politicians, and parents—has driven a quick growth in the number of programs.

Chicago itself is home to the largest effort to include Chinese in US public schools. The program here has grown to include 3,000 students in 20 schools, with more schools on a waiting list. Programs have also spread to places like Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and North Carolina. It’s true that the number of students learning Chinese is tiny compared with how many study Spanish or French.

Advocates (提倡者,拥护者) see knowledge of the Chinese language and culture as a help in a global economy where China is growing in importance. “This is an interesting way to begin to engage with the world’s next superpower,” says Michael Levine, director of education at the Asia Society, which has started five new public high schools that offer Chinese. “Globalization(全球化) has already changed the arrangements in terms of how children today are going to need to think about their careers… The question is, when not whether, the schools are going to adjust.”

In Chicago, the trend extends beyond schools with high numbers of Asian students. “The fact that my students are 98% low income and 99% Latino(拉丁美洲人) and they are succeeding in this, tells me everyone should have a try at learning languages,” says Virginia Rivera, principal at McCormick.“We want to give our young people opportunities to advance… and Chinese is a great opportunity to survive in today’s economy,” says Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago.

The first paragraph is mainly written to _______.

A. show the importance of Chinese learning  

B. introduce the topic to be followed

C. advise primary schools to teach Chinese   

D. prove it’s easy for children to learn language

How many languages are mentioned in this passage?

A. Six.                  B. Two.      

C. Three.                D. Four.

In the last paragraph, the underlined word “this ”probably refers to _____.

A. the competition between Latino and Asian students  

B. the global economy  

C. the interesting way to engage with China  

D. the Chinese learning

What CANNOT be learned from this passage?

A. Most students at McCormick can speak three languages.

B. Chinese is gaining its popularity in all schools in Chicago.

C. French has far more speakers than Chinese does in Chicago.

D. Globalization in a way makes it necessary to learn Chinese.

Which of the following is mainly about in this passage?

A. The Chinese learning in Chicago.  

B. The ways to learn Chinese.

C. McCormick Primary School.      

D. Globalization and Chinese learning.

Pacing and Pausing

       Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say. While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk. The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing.

       Conversation is a turn-taking game. When our habits are similar, there's no problem. But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished. That's what was happening with Betty and Sara.

       It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American. Betty often felt interrupted by Sara. But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland. And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel.

       The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities. These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping (思维定式). And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences. For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel. When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in--and never found it. Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring. When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up.

        That's why slight differences in conversational style--tiny little things like microseconds of pause-can have a great effect on one's life. The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems---even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training.

1. What did Sara think of Betty when talking with her?

      A. Betty was talkative.

      B. Betty was an interrupter.

      C. Betty did not take her turn.

      D. Betty paid no attention to Sara.

2. According to the passage, who are likely to expect the shortest pauses between turns?

      A. Americans.    B. Israelis.        C. The British.     D. The Finns.

3. We can learn from the passage that ____________

      A. communication breakdown results from short pauses and fast pacing

B. women are unfavorably stereotyped in eastern cities of the US

      C. one's inability to speak up is culturally determined sometimes

D. one should receive training to build up one's confidence

4. The underlined word "assertiveness" in the last paragraph probably means ____________

      A. being willing to speak one's mind

B. being able to increase one's power

C. being ready to make one's own judgment

      D. being quick to express one's ideas confidently

第二节:阅读表达(共5小题,每小题2分,满分10分)

Would you spend more time playing outside, reading, or studying? Well, now it’s our chance to turn off your TV and find out! TV-Turnoff Week is here.

The goal of TV-Turnoff Week is to let people leave their TV sets off and participate in activities from drawing to biking. The event was founded by TV-Turnoff Network, a non-profit organization which started the event in 1995. In the beginning, only a few thousand people took part. Last year more that 7.6 million people participated, including people in every state in America and in more than 12 other countries! This is the 11 th year in which organizers are asking people to “turn off the TV and turn on life.”

According to the TV-Turnoff Network, the average kids in the US spend more time in front of the TV (about 1, 023 hours per year)than they do in school (about 900 hours per year). Too much TV watching has made many kids      .In fact, in 2001’s TV-Turn-off week, US Surgeon General David Satcher said, “We are raising the most overweight generation of youngsters in American history. This week is about saving lives.”

Over the years, studies have shown that watching a lot of TV leads to poor eating habits, too little exercise, and violence. Frank Vespe of the TV-Turnoff Network said that turning off the TV “ is , or should be ,part of a healthy lifestyle.”

“One of the great lessons of participating in TV-Turnoff Week is the realization that every time I turn on the TV, I’m deciding not to do something else,” Vespe said.

TV-Turnoff Week seems to be making a difference. Recent US Census (人口普查)data shows that about 72 percent of kids under 12 have a limit on their TV time. That’s up from about 63 percent ten years ago.

81.What’s the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words)

_______________________________________________________________________________

82.Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

According to many studies, spending too much time in front of TV has many bad results.

_______________________________________________________________________________

83.Please fill in the blank in the third paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words)

_______________________________________________________________________________

84.Can you think of other bad results of watching too much TV? (Please answer within 30 words)

_______________________________________________________________________________

85.Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

The Friday after the American holiday of Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It’s said that it’s the day that store ledgers(分类账)move into the black and companies become profitable(有利可图的,有益的). On that day, retailers(零售商)slash prices to get consumers to buy.  It is also a time when many Americans start their Christmas shopping. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee tells us how the economy may affect consumers on that bargain day.

 “It’s just the deals, the sales and everything you can get for a lesser(较少的,较小的)price,” said Sandy Thomas, a shopper. But it’s a nightmare(噩梦)for others. “I think it’s crazy. I’ve done all of my shopping throughout the week so I don’t have to go out on Friday,” she said. It’s called Black Friday, the start of the traditional Christmas shopping season in the United States. Every year it’s the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. Stores open before sunrise and there are deep discounts everywhere you look.

While the lead up to Christmas is known as the season of giving, Black Friday can get ugly.

Last year a crowd of bargain-hunters killed a Wal-mart(沃尔玛公司)worker in a New York suburb. This year, many stores are increasing security while they slash prices. “This is a huge time for the retail stores,” said Fred Joutz from George Washington University. “This is when they begin making their profits for the year.”

Economics professor Fred Joutz says how Americans spend the weekend after Thanksgiving is a good indication of how consumers feel about the future.

With the unemployment rate above 10 percent, Joutz says Americans are saving more and spending less. “Credit is still strictly controlled whether through credit cards or through borrowing from banks,” he said. Some retailers are attracting consumers by opening on Thanksgiving Day, when shops are traditionally closed.  Other stores open their doors anywhere from midnight to four in the morning.

And shoppers will be lining up in front of the doors in order to be one of the first ones to walk through and get a big discount. Electronics like flat screen TVs are usually the first items to go. Sandy Thomas says it’s an annual family tradition and well worth it. “I just save maybe half of what I would have spent on a regular, you know, shopping trip,” she said.

Economists say U.S. consumers will spend money this Black Friday, but they will spend it more carefully.     

1. The underlined word “slash” in the first paragraph probably means _________.

 A. reduce         B. raise         C. increase        D. change

2.The sentence “This day should be a shopper’s dream.” should be placed between ________.

 A. paragraph two and paragraph three        B. paragraph one and paragraph two

 C. paragraph three and paragraph four      D. paragraph five and paragraph six

3.Why are many stores increasing security according to the passage?

 A. Because there are too many people saving more and spending less.

 B. Because it’s a time when they begin making their profits for the year.

 C. Because last year a crowd of bargain-hunters caused an accident.

 D. Because many stores open their doors from midnight to four a.m.

4.What can we learn from the passage?

 A. Christmas shopping is traditional time and this year it is no exception.

 B. Electronics like flat screen TVs are usually least discounted.

 C. The economy only affects consumers on that bargain day.

 D. Thanksgiving is a good indication of how consumers feel about the future.

 

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