Millions of people all over the world use the word OK. In fact, some people say the word is used more often than any other word in the world. OK means all right or acceptable. It expresses agreement or approval.

    Some people say it came from the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaw(乔克托语). The Choctaw word “okeh” means the same as the American word okay. Experts say early explorers in the American West spoke the Choctaw language in the nineteenth century.

But many people doubt this. Language expert Allen Walker Read wrote about the word “OK” in reports published in the 1960s. He said the word began being used in the 1830s.    Some foreign-born people wrote “ all correct” as “o-l-l-k-o-r-r-e-c-t”, and used the letters OK. Other people say a railroad worker named Obadiah Kelly invented the word long ago. They said he put the first letters of his name---O and K---on each object people gave him to send on the train. 

  The organization supported Martin Van Buren for president in 1840. They called their group the OK club. The letters were taken from the name of the town where Martin was born---Old Kinderhook, New York.

Then there is the expression A-OK. It is a space-age expression. It was used in 1961 during the flight of astronaut Alan Shepard. He was the first American to be launched into space. His flight ended when his spacecraft landed in the ocean, as planned. Shepard reported, “Everything is A-OK.”    One story says it was first used during the early days of the telephone to tell an operator that a message had been received.

There are also funny ways to say okay.    These expressions were first used in the 1930s. Today, a character on the American television series “The Simpsons” says it another way. He says okely-doke.

A. Some people say okey-dokey or okey-doke.

B. Still others say a political organization invented the word.

C. Therefore, it has become popular in that area from then on.

D. But many experts don’t agree on what the expression means.

E. Still, language experts do not agree about where the word came from.

F. It was a short way of writing a different spelling of the word “all correct”.

G. However, some experts say the expression did not begin with the space age.

Most American students go to traditional public schools.There are about 88, 000 public schools, all over the US.Some students attend about 3000 independent public schools called charter schools.        

Charter schools are self-governing.Private companies operate some charter schools.They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools.They receive tax money just as other public schools do.Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning.These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits them to operate.

Charter schools are different because they do not have to obey most laws governing traditional public schools.Local, state, or federal governments cannot tell them what to teach.Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach them.Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools.

The Bush Administration strongly supports charter schools as a way to re-organize public schools that are failing to educate students.But some education agencies and unions oppose charter schools.One teachers' union has just made public the results of the first national study comparing the progress of students in traditional schools and charter schools.

The American Federation of Teachers criticized the government's delay in releasing the results of the study, which is called the National Assessment of Educational Progress.Union education experts say the study shows that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests than students in regular public schools.

Some experts say the study is not a fair look at charter schools because students in those schools have more problems than students in traditional schools.Other education experts say the study results should make charter school officials demand improved student progress.

1.If a private company wants to operate a charter school, it must______.

A.try new methods of teaching

B.prove its management ability

C.obey the local and state laws

D.get the government's permission

2.Charter schools are independent because_____.

A.they make greater progress

B.their class size is smaller

C.they enjoy more freedom

D.they oppose traditional ways

3.What's the government's attitude toward charter schools?

A.Doubtful

B.Supportive.

C.Subjective.

D.Optimistic.

4.What can we learn from the text?

A.More students choose to attend charter schools.

B.Charter schools are better than traditional schools.

C.Students in charter schools are well educated.

D.People have different opinions about charter schools.

5.It can be interred from the text that ___.

A.charter schools are part of the public education system

B.one-on-one attention should be paid to students

C.the number of charter schools will be limited

D.charter schools are all privately financed

 

How did it make you feel when you learned that KFC’S Beijing restaurants pulled three more items from their menus last week? There were fears that the items may have contained the cancer-causing coloring Sudan I.Do you have any desire to take the food provider to court because it feeds you something dangerous?

 After all,the law supposedly gives people the right to fight for their rights.But some experts have said it might not be so wise to take the company directly to court.

 Qiu Baochang,a lawyer in Beijing,suggested that consumers not take the company directly to court. “In addition to the high costs,consumers’complaints are unlikely to win unless they can prove they have had the banned dye at KFC,”—Qiu explained.

 One problem for those wanting to take action against the fast food chain is that few customers ask for or keep receipts(收据).And,this must be the first step.

 If they can prove that their health has been damaged by KFC,they can cue(控告)the company.But that would be almost impossible to do so because the Sudan I damage is a long-term effect and is not immediately apparent.

A KFC spokesperson said on Monday that the company was confdent of being able to handle customers’complaints,“We will obey legal procedure if We raceive any complaints.”

1.Why did KFC’s Beijing restaurants pull three more items from their menus?

 A.Because the company was afraid to handle customers’complaints.

 B.Because coloring Sudan I may have been contained in those items.

 C.Because the KFC’s restaurants were accused ofselling poisonous food to the customers.

 D.Because these items were no longer popular with the customers.

2.The reason why experts suggested not taking the company directly to court is that       .

A.the costs will be high

B.consumers can’t prove food contained Sudan I 

C.consumers can’t prove the food at KFC damaged their health

D.all of the above

3.This passage most probably appears in       .

A.a notice.

B.a book on cooking.

C.a story book.

D.a newspaper.

4.What is the general ieda of the passage?

A.KFC’s Beijing restaurants pulled three items from their menus last week.

B.How the consumers dealt with the KFC problem.

C.How KFC handled the customers’s complaints.

D.Consumers never forget to ask for or keep receipts.

 

Perhaps you do not know your school principal (校长) well. But you might be wise to take him or her seriously. Beijing University will enroll (招收) students recommended by high school principals this year. If the students recommended pass a round of interviews by Peking University, they will have an extra 30 extra points added to their national college entrance exam scores if they apply to the university.

Beijing University said the reason behind the move was a desire to give students with comprehensive (综合的) or special abilities a chance to stand out.

However, a survey, showed 10,046 out of 14,227 people are against the measure. Some experts agree with the criticism. Liu Daoyu, former president of Wuhan University is one strong opponent(反对者). “There are so many high schools across the country. But only 39 schools are qualified to recommend students. Is it fair to the rest of the schools? Besides, most of the 39 schools are located in big cities, which is unfair to other regions,”

   The reform is also unfair to other students, some say. According to Liu, in the competitive exam, one extra point can put a student ahead of a large numbers of others – never mind 30.

 “Principals do not know students well. How can they guarantee the recommendation will be fair?” asked Wang Xuming, former spokesman of the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Education said the move is a good experiment in college admission reforms and the public should support it even if it is not yet mature (成熟的). It said Beijing University promised a series of supervision (监督) measures to avoid cheating. For example, the information of schools and principals that recommend students, and the recommended students will be put online for a week for public supervision.

1.The best title of the passage could be         .

       A.Beijing University Will Enroll More Students

       B.Beijing University’s Reform Causes a Debate

       C.People Are Against Beijing University’s Reform

       D.The Government Supports Peking University’s Reform

2.The following are the reasons why Liu Daoyu is against Beijing University’s reform except that          .

       A.there will be a lot of cheating

       B.it is unfair to the other regions

       C.it is unfair to other schools

       D.30 points cause a huge gap among students

3.We can learn from the passage that          .

       A.the Ministry of Education supports the reform

       B.the reform has started to work in college admissions[来源:Zxxk.Com]

       C.all the recommended students will be accepted

       D.no more than 70% of the people are against the reform

4.If a student passes the interview by Beijing University, he or she         .

       A.can also apply to other universities

       B.will be admitted into Beijing University

       C.will have comprehensive and special abilities

       D.needn’t accept the public supervision

 

It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year——keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount, but can still afford the gifts that your loved ones will enjoy. Never has this concern been greater in recent years than right now. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales.

No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get the best deal on Black Friday, and it’s surely very tough to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal, but sometimes——it can be well worth. Many retailers(零售商) offer specials all through the day——and some even offer online Black Friday specials, so you may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.

Pay close attention to advertisements.

Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers hungry for business will do just about whatever to get you in the store. Pay very close attention to weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers and you may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.

Shop online.

Some of us don’t like running from store to store in order to get the best price on the perfect gift, and some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all——thankfully for us, we can do online shopping.

The world of online shopping lets people visit all the major retailers as well as some specialty stores that could only be found on the Internet. Customers can find exactly what they are looking for, at the best possible price without ever having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping consumers are sometimes limited to what’s left in stock if they wait too long to get to a particular store.

1.The first paragraph implies that ______.

       A. nowadays not many people can afford expensive gifts

       B. recently many people don’t want to spend money on gifts

       C. Christmas is a time to make our loved ones enjoy their gifts

       D. Christmas is a time to make us feel free to buy our loved ones gifts

2.In the writer’s opinion, it is rewarding on Black Friday _____.

       A. if the weather is not very cold         B. if we don’t have to fight for the best deals

       C. if we don’t have to get up early           D. If we get what we want at a good price

3.The underlined word “specials” means_______.

       A. some experts in shopping             

       B. certain things for especially low price

       C. some kind of help for a certain customer

       D. things that can only be found on Friday

4.We can have more choices _____.

       A. on Black Friday               B. in a particular store

       C. on the Internet                 D. from retailers

 

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