There is nowadays in schools a great movement that places major emphasis on higher order skills, these being those skills that encourage the ability to reason. This group of skills involves recalling information, basic concept formation, critical thinking, and creative idea formation. Formerly viewed as the tools of mathematics, these skills are now recognized as necessary to abilities across the curriculum.

Higher order thinking skills are now recognized as important for those who will enter the twenty-first century work force. Preparing young learners for their future requires that teachers employ a great deal of inventiveness and creativity in designing lessons that meet the dual challenge of providing the basics as in reading, language arts, and mathematics, and developing the ability to reason.

This unit uses detective fiction to address both of these challenges, and the activities that lie here are designed to draw the learner along a path that moves him from the simple skills, such as recalling information, to the more difficult area of creative thinking. Activities may be modified, simplified, lengthened, or deleted to meet the needs of the intellectual diversity found in most classrooms.

For this unit I have chosen three separate series of children’s detective fiction. The easiest to read are the Private Eyes club mysteries, written and illustrated by Crosby Bonsall. This series centers on the activities of four neighborhood boys who along with their cat Mildred keep the area they live in free of crime. Each title is centered on one issue and the list of titles is expanding. The reading levels range from about 1.6 to 2.0 and the print is large and well organized on the page. Snitch, Wizard, Skinny, and Tubby are funny and engaging, and are represented in lively color illustrations. The only issue that could be a problem is that the private eyes are all boys. However, girls are well represented among the peripheral (次要的) peer group.

1.What can we know from the above passage?

A. Children have different abilities.

B. Reading for information needs more skills.

C. Reasoning is higher than reading and writing in school.

D. Mathematics is the most difficult in school.

2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in this passage?

A. Basic reading skills.

B. Ways of thinking.

C. Who wrote the detective fiction.

D. How much to pay for the course.

3.What is the chosen series of fiction mainly about?

A. How some brave boys find their cats.

B. How some brave children help find the lost cat.

C. How people help the boys solve the crime.

D. How some brave boys fight against crime.

4.What will mostly likely be presented after this passage?

A. The Private Eyes club mysteries.

B. Other ways to interest the readers.

C. How girls can keep on reading the stories.

D. Where to buy these interesting stories.

Ronald Hoffman born in 1937 is Polish-born American organic chemist and Nobel laureate(桂冠). As a theoretical chemist, Hoffmann studied energy levels in chemical bonds during chemical reactions. He put computers to use to solve his problems and, despite the complexity of his research, was able to explain his theories and discoveries to the non-specialist. For his work he was awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize in chemistry, which he shared with Fukui Kenichi.

Born in Poland, Hoffmann settled in New York City as a child and became a United States citizen. He received his undergraduate degree in premedical studies from Columbia College in 1958. He attended Harvard University, where he received his PhD. degree in chemical physics in 1962. He joined the faculty of Cornell University in the mid-1960s and remained there throughout his career.

Hoffmann and Nobel laureate chemist Robert Burns Woodward developed rules, based on quantum mechanics, to determine how energy levels in atomic electron orbits influence how a chemical reaction takes place. These simple rules, known as the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, allowed chemists to predict reaction results and was quickly accepted and put to use in a wide variety of situations.

Hoffmann later turned his research to a variety of problems related to discovering the molecular structure of inorganic and organometallic compounds. Hoffmann is also known for what is called the Isolobal Analogy, which is yet another discovery linking all areas of chemistry. It is useful in predicting the behavior of new molecules based on the orbit structure of the components used to form them.

Aided by computers, Hoffmann was able to generate a vast amount of data to support his ideas. Unlike the scientific papers of many chemists, Hoffmann's publications contain little raw data but instead are filled with diagrams and pictures to explain his results. His drawings of shaded balloons to indicate eigenvectors, a unit used in mathematics, are now the accepted scientific notation for illustrating this value.

1.What can be inferred from the above passage about Hoffman?

A. He left his homeland when he got the Nobel Prize.

B. He went to the United States to gain his Nobel Prize.

C. He might find the Unites States a better place to learn chemistry.

D. His family may have settled in the United States.

2.How did Hoffman make his research popular?

A. He applied some computer skills to help explain his ideas.

B. He established a special computer system to help.

C. He drew some forms explaining his ideas.

D. He did series of experiments to prove his ideas.

3.The underlined word “generate” in this passage might most probably mean “______”.

A. bring in B. break down

B. move away D. keep secret

4.Why was Ronald Hoffman awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize for chemistry?

A. He established rules to predict chemical reactions .

B. He succeeded applying computer science to chemistry research.

C. He shared what he had achieved with another scientist named Fukui Kenichi.

D. He succeeded in both chemistry and computer researches.

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Great progress 1. (achieve) recently and the new robot guides at a Tokyo museum look so 2. (strange) human and speak so smoothly that they almost outdo people.

3. (Japan) robotics expert Ishiguro says they will be 4. (use) for research on how people interact with robots and on how humans are different from machines. “ 5. (make) robots is about exploring 6. it means to be human,” he says, “and examining the question of what is emotion, what is awareness, and what is thinking.”

In a demonstration，the remote-controlled machines moved their pink lips 7. time to a voice-over, twitched their eyebrows，blinked and swayed their heads from side to side. They stayed 8. (seat) but could move their hands.

In a clear presentation, a robot read the news without stumbling（结巴）once and recited complex tongue-twisters. The robot, designed with a girlish appearance，can use a variety of voices，such as a deep male voice one minute and a soft girly voice the next. The speech can be input by text, giving them perfect 9. (pronounce)，according to the designers.

There were some faults-such as the lips not moving at all while the robot spoke or the Otonaroid announcer robot staying silent twice when asked to introduce itself. 10. faults are common with robots because they are delicate and sensitive to their environment.

短文改错

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。作文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧）并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（╲）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

Hi, Jack! It's good to hear that you are finally coming to see China for yourselves.

I suggest you should definite come to my hometown where you can take a cruise downstream the Yangtze River and pay a visit the world-famous Three Gorges

During this relaxing voyage, you will be able to see the breathtaken sights of narrow cliff walls, hear legends about the Ghost City and the mysterious hanged coffins high above the gorges and explore the biggest power station on this planet—the Three Gorges Dam on foot. The natural sceneries of the Three Gorges will be at its best in autumn where the towering mountains are covered by yellow and red leaves, which also mean autumn is the peak season. So if you intend to visit the Three Gorges in November, be sure to plan this trip as early as possible.

If you want, I can help you book the cruise. Looking forward to see you soon. If there's anything I can do it for you, please let me know.

----- Would you mind my having a look at your new iPad?

----- ________.Please go ahead.

A. Of course B. No way

C. Not at all D. Don’t say that

You can depend on _______ China is always a country to live in harmony with her neighbors.

A. it that B. that C. what D. whether

The audience _______ as they waited for the comedian to come on the stage.

A. fell silence B. fell silent

C. fall silently D. feel silent

We wanted to purchase the house, but couldn’t ________ the money.

A. come down with B. come up with

C. bring out D. bring in

Without permission, no one ______ let out the news.

A. shall B.should

C.is supposed to D. is allowed

He _______ his car key, _______ that I could I use his car.

A. held out, saying B. held up, said

C.held back, saying D.held up, said