“The price of books for our students is just getting higher and higher and，combined with the rising cost of tuition，it’s killing these students，”said Peter Jason，a college professor．“Remember，students are one of the poorest groups of people in America．Almost half of them have at least one part-time job．In fact，one of my students has three jobs．And she still manages to have high scores and go to school full-time.”

Textbook prices are traditionally high．Adding to that problem，many college teachers change textbooks year after year；they either upgrade to a new edition or switch to an entirely different textbook．This further hurts students because if an instructor no longer uses a particular textbook，that book has no resale value．

Dr．Jason decided to make lire a little easier and a lot cheaper for his students by writing his own book on public speaking．“Many books have an increased price because of CD-ROMs，lots of color photographs and pictures．I talked to my students，and many of them，like me，prefer to keep things simple! So，a few years ago，I wrote my own textbook．Compared to most other public speaking books，mine is half the number of pages，and one-third the price．That is，$30 instead of $90．When I wrote a second edition last year，students only had to buy the 35 new pages, For only $7．00，they had almost a new book. Now my loose-leaf textbook enjoys great popularity among the students．Maybe in the future more writers and publishers will try it．”   

1.What did Dr. Jason say about students at college?

A．They are short of money．                B．They need better textbooks

C．They should do part-time jobs．            D．They are trying to get high scores．

2.What did Dr．Jason decide to do to help the students?

A．To choose cheaper textbooks．            B．To write a textbook himself．

C．To speak to his students.                  D．To use old textbooks．

3.How much does a public speaking textbook usually cost?

A．About 7 dollars.                        B．About 30 dollars.

C．About 37 dollars．                      D．About 90 dollars．

4.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．Dr Jason's textbook has CD-ROMs and nice pictures.

B．More writers and publishers will write simpler textbooks．

C．Dr．Jason teaches public speaking at a college．

D．Dr-Jason’s textbook is not well received．

Until I took Dr. Offutt’s class in DeMatha High school, I was an underachieving student, but I left that class determined never to underachieve again. He not only taught me to think, he convinced me, as much by example as words that it was my duty to achieve and to serve others.

Neither of us could know how our relationship would develop over the years. When I came back to DeMatha to teach English, I worked for Dr. Offutt, the department chair. My discussions with him were like graduate seminars(研究生讨论课) in adolescent development, classroom management and school leadership.

After several years, I was named department chair, and our relationship shifted(变化) again. I thought that it might be terrible chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr. Offutt supported me through. He knew when to give me advice about curriculum(课程), texts and personnel(人事), and when to let me plan my own course.

In 1997, I needed his opinion about leaving DeMatha to become principal at another school. If he had asked me to stay at DeMatha, I might have. Instead, he encouraged me to catch the chance.

Five years ago, I became the principal(校长) of DeMatha. Once again, Dr Offutt was there for me, letting me know that I could depend on him. I have learned from him that great teachers have an inexhaustible wealth of lessons to teach.

1.After graduating from DeMatha, the writer was _____.

A．quite confident     B．rather unconfident  C．really famous       D．very infamous

2.When the writer first taught in DeMatha, Dr. Offutt was _____.

A．a post-graduate                         B．the school principal

C．a professor in university                  D．the department chair

3.In 1997, _____ to become principal at another school.

A．the writer encouraged Dr. Offutt            B．Dr. Offutt encouraged the writer

C．Dr. Offutt won the competition             D．the writer won the competition

4.The word which is similar to “inexhaustible” in meaning can be _____.

A．unselfish          B．endless           C．unfair            D．unusual

5.The best title for this passage can be _____.

A．My ambition       B．My duty           C．My teacher        D．My schooling

We don’t plan to cry, but it just happens. In fact when we feel sad or angry, a good cry is almost impossible to resist. But if you didn’t know what crying was, you’d have to wonder why some strong feelings started water streaming from people’s eyes and why they seemed to feel better afterwards.
Now a US researcher had found there may be more in crying than we think. William H. Frey II, author of “Crying: The Mystery of Tears,” believes it may really be one of the body’s clever self-repair mechanisms. Crying may be a way of getting rid of the by-products of stress, he says.
He has found that tears contain some chemicals which can cause stress. One of these is the hormone prolactin (激素), which is set free when one is feeling stressed. Since women have more of this than men, that might explain why they usually cry more, he suggests.
Unsurprisingly, Dr Frey’s study seemed to prove that most people feel better after a good cry. And sex has nothing to do with it ––– the result was true for women and men. So, next time you feel like bursting into tears, go ahead. If Dr Frey is right, you’ll be doing yourself a favour.
【小题1】The best title of this passage would be ________.

As a school librarian，I’m often asked what books are most appropriate for teaching particularconcepts．As the mother of a toddler，I’m now teaching my son to recognize letters and learn thealphabet．Boaks are a great help in teaching a child letters．Here is this librarian and mom’s picks for the best books to help teach your child letters．

  Eric Carle’s ABC

  Eric Carle is one of my favorite children’s authors and this colorful book is perfect for helping teach the alphabet．The block-style letters are easier to read

and recognize for toddlers than mitten ones．Each letter is tied to an animal name，so your child will have fun looking at the animals，and 1earn the animal

names while also learning letters．

Baby Einsstein：My First Book of Letters

       The Baby Einstein books always promote thinking skills and creativity in

young children．Baby Einstein；My First Book of Letters is no exception．This

book includes letters in both upper and lower case，and asks questions about nature that go with each letter for your child to answer．This colorful book is great for helping teach your child letters．

    Dr．Seuss’ABC

    Dr．Seuss lends his wonderful writing and illustrating（插图）talent to this

great teaching book．His classic writing and funny pictures can be found throughout this alphabet book．The letters are block style，solid-colored，and easy

 to read．Your child will love learning letters from this fun book．

    Kipper’s A to Z：an Alphabet Adventure

    In this book，children follow the little dog Kipper as he works his way through the entire alphabet．The clean，solid font used for the letter makes them

easy to read for young eyes．Author Mike Inkpen does a great job in this book，

which tells more of a story than the other books

Teaching your child letters can be a hard task．It’s import to try to make the alphabet fun and interesting for your child．

1.In Paragraph I，“toddler”probably means       

        A．baby                         B．teenager                 C．student                       D．young child

2.If you want to make your son or daughter interested in nature you should choose      

       A．Eric Carle’s ABC                                                   B．Baby Einstein；My First Book of Letters

       C．Dr．Seuss’ ABC                                                      D．Kipper’s A to Z；an Alphabet Adventure

3.Why did the author write the passage?

       A．To recommend the books．                             B．To sell the books

       C．To adverfise the books                                           D．To criticize the books

If you were to walk up to Arthur Bonner and say, “Hey, Butterfly Man,” his face would break into a smile. The title suits him. And he loves it.

Arthur Bonner works with the Palos Verdes blue butterfly, once thought to have died out. Today the butterfly is coming back — thanks to him. But years ago if you’d told him this was what he’d be doing someday, he would have laughed, “You’re crazy.” As a boy, he used to be “a little tough guy on the streets”. At age thirteen, he was caught by police stealing. At eighteen, he landed in prison for shooting a man.

“I knew it had hurt my mom,” Bonner said after he got out of prison. “So I told myself I would not put my mom through that pain again.”

One day he met Professor Mattoni, who was working to rebuild the habitat for an endangered butterfly called El Segundo blue.

“I saw the sign ‘Butterfly Habitat’ and asked, ‘How can you have a habitat when the butterflies can just fly away?’” Bonner recalls. “Dr. Mattoni laughed and handed me a magnifying glass (放大镜), ‘Look at the leaves.’ I could see all these caterpillars(蝴蝶的幼虫) on the plant. Dr Mattoni explained, ‘Without the plant, there are no butterflies.’”

Weeks later, Bonner received a call from Dr. Mattoni, who told him there was a butterfly which needed help. That was how he met the Palos Verdes blue. Since then he’s been working for four years to help bring the butterfly back. He grows astragals, the only plant the butterfly eats. He collects butterflies and brings them into a lab to lay eggs. Then he puts new butterflies into the habitat.

The butterfly’s population, once almost zero, is now up to 900. For their work, Bonner and Dr. Mattoni received lots of awards. But for Bonner, he earned something more: he turned his life around.

For six years now Bonner has kept his promise to stay out of prison. While he’s bringing back the Palos Verdes blue, the butterfly has helped bring him back, too.

When he was young, Arthur Bonner _______.

A. broke the law and ended up in prison

B. was fond of shooting and hurt his mom

   C. often laughed at people on the streets

   D. often caught butterflies and took them home

Bonner came to know the Palos Verdes blue after he _______.

A. found the butterfly had died out       

B. won many prizes from his professor

C. met Dr. Mattoni, a professor of biology  

D. collected butterflies and put them into a lab

From the last sentence of the text, we learn that raising butterflies has ________.

A. made Bonner famous              B. changed Bonner’s life

C. brought Bonner wealth             D. enriched Bonner’s knowledge

What does the underlined phrase “put through” mean in the 3rd paragraph?

A. hurt                         B. recall                  C. remember                    D. experience

Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. A Promise to Mom                B. A Man Saved by Butterflies

C. A Story of Butterflies              D. A Job Offered by Dr. Mattoni