A pioneering headteacher is calling for all high schools to follow his lead and start classes at 11 am,allowing teenagers two hours extra in bed.

Dr. Paul Kelley,head of Monkseaton Community High School in North Tyneside,said it would mean the end of sleeping in lessons before lunch,after experiments showed teenagers could have different body clocks from adults and younger children.

Russell Foster,an Oxford professor of neuroscience(神经系统科学),tested the memory of 200 Monkseaton pupils at 9 am and 2 pm using pairs of words,and discovered a 9% improvement in the afternoon. Students correctly identified 51% of word pairs in the later session,compared with 42% in the morning. Tayler McCullough,15,one of the test subjects,said “The majority of students would welcome the extra hours in bed. I'm extremely hard to get up in the morning. One or two people like to get to school early,but most of us would be up for going in later. I'm sure it would make a big difference to our learning ability.”

Kelley is adamant that a change of school timetable will have a meaningful effect on exam performance. He wants his school's governors to approve his plan and put the new timetable in place before the opening of Monkseaton's new school building,the most technologically-advanced in the country,in September.

Kelley hopes his latest idea will be just as successful.“We have to be practical. But this proves that,by starting later,children's learning improves,as does their health.”

Foster said,“This is preliminary(初步的)data,but what's exciting is that it matches more detailed studies carried out in Canada and the US. Teenagers get up late not because they are lazy but because they are biologically programmed to do so.”

68.How many professors are mentioned in the passage?

A.One.    B.Two.    C.Three.        D.Four.

69.According to Russell Foster's research,________.

A.the students tested had very good memories

B.the students tested did better jobs in the afternoon

C.42% of the students tested could do very good jobs

D.51% of the students tested could master 9% of words

70.Foster's opinion on teenagers' getting up late is that ________.

A.teenagers are practical

B.teenagers are lazy­bones

C.it's based on their body development

D.it's good for their learning and health

When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service ,pretended not to understand her ,or even acted as if they did not hear her .

My mother has realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on phone to pretend I was she. I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人).I said in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs.Tan..”

  And my mother was standing beside me , whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me cheek already two week lone.”

And then, in perfect English I said : “I’m getting rather concerned .You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived.”

Then she talked more loudly. “What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss.” And so I turned to the stockbroker again, “I can’t tolerate any more excuse. If I don’t receive the check immediately, I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week.”

The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs.Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English.

When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom. It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world.

64. Why was the author’s mother poorly served?

   

A. She was unable to speak good English.

    B. She was often misunderstood.

    C. She was not clearly heard.

    D. She was not very polite.

65. From Paragraph 2, we know that the author was      .

    A. good at pretending       B. rude to the stockbroker

    C. ready to help her mother D. unwilling to phone for her mother

66. What does the author think of her mother’s English now?

    A. It confuses her.    B. It embarrasses her.

    C. It helps her understand the world.

    D. It helps her tolerate rude people.

67.We can inter from the passage that Chinese English     .

   

A. is clear and natural to non-native speakers

    B. is vivid and direct to non-native speakers

    C. has a very bad reputation in America

    D. may bring inconvenience in America

After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a spe­cial student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.

During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.

I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”

Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:

Dear Dick,

My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.

I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.

Your friend,

Matthew

60. The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that _______.

A. the boy never complained about how unlucky he was to have this disease

B. the boy never complained about not being able to go to school

C. the boy never complained why the author had never come to see him before

D. the boy never complained about not getting a medal

61. From the passage we learn that _________. 

A. Matthew was an athlete

B. Matthew was an optimistic and determined boy 

C. The author used to have the same disease as Matthew had

D. Matthew became a champion before he died

62. Matthew didn’t accept the author’s medal because _________.  

A. he thought it was too expensive

B. he was sure that he could win one in the future

C. he thought it was of no use to him as he would die soon

D. he would not be pitied by others

63. What would be the best title for this passage? 

A. A sick boy.                  B. A special friend.

C. A real champion.             D. A famous athlete.

Balzac was good at buying things at its lowest price. One day he wanted to buy a vase in a shop window that was much more expensive than he could offer. Not being able to make the shopkeeper cut down its price very much, he left without further talking. Collecting a half dozen of his friends, he explained his wish to them and they worked a plan. The first would enter the shop and make an offer, lower than the marked price. Not getting the vase at his price, he would walk out. Shortly after another would enter and ask for a price lower than the first. In this way, each of the others would offer a price lower than the one before, and the last of his friends made a great effort to attempt to get it at the lowest price. Before long Balzac himself would return, offer more than the last two or three persons made and trust to luck. The plan worked--- Balzac got the vase at his price!

56Which of the following is true according to the passage?

AA vase in the window was placed much higher than Balzac could reach.

BAt first the price of the vase was much higher than Balzac could offer.

CBalzac always wanted to buy a vase that was much more expensive than he could pay

DBalzac was very poor. He couldn’t buy the vase at a high price.

57How many friends did Balzac gather?

A. Six         B. Twelve       C. Ten         D. Five

58Who asked for the lowest price?

A. The first one.                  B. The second one.

C. The last of his friends.        D. Balzac.

59What kind of person does the writer try to tell us about Balzac and his friends?

A. Unkind      B. Dishonest     C. Selfish      D. Clever

                       

阅读下面短文,理解大意,从题中(36~55)所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。

I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students _36 their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then asked me why I always seemed to be so_37_.

I said,“Every morning when you get up, you have a (n)__38__ about how you want to __39_ life that day. I just choose to be cheerful every day.”

“Let me give you an example.” I continued. “_40_ teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles _41_ the freeway from where I live. One day a few weeks ago when I __42_ the freeway and turned onto College Drive, my car __43__ and the engine wouldn't start again. So I put my flashers  on, __44__ my books, and marched down the road to__45__.”

“The secretary in the Provost's office asked me what had happened. ‘This is my __46__ day,’ I replied, smiling.”

“‘Your car broke down and today is your lucky day?’ She was __47__.‘What do you mean?’”

“‘I live 17 miles from here.’ I replied. ‘My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn't.__48__, it broke down in the perfect place:__49__ the freeway, within walking __50__ of here. I'm still able to teach my class. If my car was __51__ to break down today, it couldn't have been arranged in a more convenient __52__.’”

“The __53__ eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for my __54__.”

So ended my story. I observed all my students were __55__ by my story.

36. A. what         B.which          C.how          D.why

37.A. careful      B.cheerful       C.hopeful      D.helpful

38.A. choice       B.way            C.idea         D.attitude

39.A. live         B.make           C.have         D.approach

40.A. Instead of   B.In addition to C.In spite of  D.By means of

41.A. towards      B.above          C.down           D.on

42.A. saw          B.stopped        C.exited         D.found

43.A. died         B.started        C.broke          D.left

44.A. set          B.grabbed        C.left           D.brought

45.A. my home      B.the garage       C.the college      D.the Provost's office

46.A. lucky        B.terrible       C.unfortunate    D.convenient

47.A. happy        B.unsatisfied    C.angry          D.puzzled

48.A. Actually     B.Besides        C.Instead        D.Meanwhile

49.A. on           B.off            C.by             D.from

50.A. time         B.distance       C.area           D.pace

51.A. designed     B.believed       C.meant          D.planned

52.A. place        B.time           C.result         D.fashion

53.A. secretary's  B.student's      C.headmaster's   D.colleague's

54.A. car          B.home           C.office         D.class

55.A. touched      B.shocked        C.removed        D.sensed

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