Homework is a bridge that joins schools and parents. For teachers, homework is an effective way to provide additional instruction through practice. __1.__. Through it, parents can observe their children’s education and express a positive attitude towards their children’s education. As children grow older, homework and the amount of time engaged in homework increase in importance.

Through practice and participation in learning tasks, homework can improve children’s achievement. Thus, it would be expected that if homework were completed accurately, not only would children’s general knowledge and grades improve but they would also increase mastery of basic study skills. __2.__.

Homework can provide other benefits. When children bring an assignment（功课）home, gather and organize necessary materials to complete the assignment, return the assignment and receive a grade, they strengthen their sense of responsibility. _3.__. When completing homework, they will plan how long they should spend on one subject.

__4.__. When parents become involved in the homework that kids bring from school, they are given a chance to communicate with their kids on what is happening in their school lives. A lot can be learned by parents when they sit beside their kids as they do their homework.

Finally, although we often do not consider that homework serves a school administrative（管理的）role, it offers schools an opportunity to let parents know what their children are learning. __5.__. Homework can also fulfill an administrative role in helping schools achieve their overall job of improving students’ achievement.

For parents, homework serves as a window.

Meanwhile, they also improve their time management.

Reading, writing, spelling and mathematics are included.

Homework is actually a good way to improve family communication.

Thus, homework can play a role by keeping parents informed about class activities.

Without most people realizing it, there has been a revolution in office work over the last ten years. Before that time, large computers were only used by large, rich companies that could afford the investment. With the advancement of technology, small computers have come onto the market, which are capable of doing the work that used to be done by much larger and expensive computers, so now most smaller companies can use them

The main development in small computers has been in the field of word processors（处理器）, or WPS as they are often called. 60% of British offices are now estimated to have a word processor and this percentage is growing fast.

There are many advantages in using a word processor for both secretary and manager. The secretary is freed from a lot of daily work, such as re-typing letters and storing papers. He or she can use this time to do other more interesting work for the boss. From a manager’s point of view, secretarial time is being made better use of and money can be saved by doing daily jobs automatically outside office hours.

But is it all good? If a lot of daily secretarial work can be done automatically, surely this will mean that fewer secretaries will be needed. Another worry is the increasing medical problems related to work with visual display units（显示器）. The case of a slow loss of sight among people using word processors seems to have risen greatly. It is also feared that if a woman works at a VDU for long hours, the unborn child in her body might be killed. Safety screens to put over a VDU have been invented but few companies in England bother to buy them.

Whatever the arguments for and against word processor, they are a key feature of this revolution in office practice.

1.Ten years ago, smaller companies did not use large computers because_________.

A．these companies had not enough money to buy such expensive computers

B．these computers could not do the work that small computers can do today

C．these computers did not come onto the market

D．these companies did not need to use this new technology

2.According to the writer, the main feature of the revolution in office work over the last ten years is __________.

A．the saving of time and money

B．the use of computers in small companies

C．the wide use of word processors

D．the decreasing number of secretaries

3.It is implied in the passage that with the use of word processors _________.

A．some secretaries will lose their jobs

B．daily jobs can be done automatically outside office hours

C．medical problems related to work with a VDU have increased greatly

D．the British companies will make less money

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．There are both advantages and disadvantages in using a word processor.

B．The British companies care much for the health of the people using word processors.

C．The technology in the field of computers has been greatly advanced over the last ten years.

D．Using word processors, secretaries can get more time to do more interesting work for their bosses.

5.It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

A．safety screens are of poor quality

B．working at a VDU for a long time is good for one’s health

C．more and more British offices will use word processors

D．British companies will need fewer and fewer managers

It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland’s oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be allowed to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women’s Day.

The document was discovered buried in the university archives (档案) by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: “We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus (校评议委员会) at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn’t know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university’s higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote.”

In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.

Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice.

1.Sophia wrote a letter to St Andrews University because she wanted _______.

2.Lis Smith found Sophia’s letter to St Andrews University _______.

3.Sophia’s letter resulted in the establishment of _______.

4.When did St Andrews University begin to take full-time women students?

With the rapid expansion of mass transit system (公交体系), big cities like Shanghai should be able to ease the congestion（拥挤）and pollution caused by an excessive number of cars.

Statistics show that Shanghai’s subway lines will reach 350 km by the end of this year, making the city No. 3 in the world in terms of subway length. Shanghai could be ranked No. 1 when the length is extended to 430 km next May in time for the World Expo. This means about 5.5 million people each day could use the city’s subway system, thereby reducing traffic bottle-necks and air and noise pollution in downtown Shanghai.

At present, Shanghai suffers from severe traffic congestion, during not only rush hours and weekdays but also off-peak hours and weekends.

For years, car emissions (尾气) have been blamed for contributing 60 percent of the air pollution in the city center, causing various respiratory (呼吸道) diseases.

What’s more, Shanghai has not met its target of noise reduction for five years, which has become a major source of public complaints. Starting from August 1, cars that are considered highly polluting will be banned from entering the city centre.

Shanghai also plans to carry out the China IV emission standards, equivalent to Euro IV, on November 1, ahead of the 2011 national deadline. In addition, Shanghai is building 16 parking lots with 8,000 spaces near subway terminals so that people can park and ride the mass transit system instead of driving their cars into the city center.

Much more needs to be done for truly easing the traffic jams and air and noise pollution caused by automobiles. For example, the ban on using the horn, which was made effective from June 1, 2007, has hardly been enforced.

Many local people still regard owning and driving a car as a kind of demonstration of their wealth, without realizing the traffic and environmental hazards it can cause. When the subway system can take people to their destinations, driving a private car in downtown Shanghai could become a moral issue.

Shanghai should also show courage in leading Chinese cities to adopt the congestion charge system, which the city has been studying for the last eight years. A similar schedule, practiced in London and Singapore, has proved to be effective in reducing pollution and congestion in the city center.

Once Shanghai shows the way, other cities, like Beijing, too, may adopt the practice.

1.The best title for the passage may be___________.

A. Efforts to Ease Congestion & Pollution    B. Benefits of Public Transit System

C. Possibilities to Charge On Congestion     D. Ways to Reduce Car Emission

2.The following is true EXCEPT that Shanghai _________.

   A. plans not to carry out the Euro IV emission standards

 B. could be No. 1 in terms of subway length next May

C. has problems with crowding not only in rush hours

D. has strong public complaints about noise pollution

3.Guess the correct meaning of the underlined word “hazards”.

   A. sudden changes   B. violent forces     C. public dislikes   D. dangerous results

4.The writer of the passage intends to tell us________. 

  A. though many plans have been carried out, the situation is hopeless

  B. difficult as the situation seems, Shanghai is sure to overcome it

C. whether the problems will be solved depends on people’s action

D. environmental problem should be regarded as a moral issue.