D

Providing small classes for at least several grades starting in early primary school gives students the best chance to succeed in late grades, according to groundbreaking new research from a Michigan State University scholar.

The research by Spyros Konstantopoulos, a professor of education, is the first to examine the effects of class size over a period and for all levels of students. The study appears in the American Journal of Education.

He is also a member of a group for the Department of Education’s Instiute of Education Sciences that will give official advice on class size to the states. He said the advice will mirror his research: the best plan is to provide continuous small classes(13 to 17 students) for at least several years starting in kindergarten or first grade.

“For a logn time states thought they could just do it in kindergarten or first grade for one year and get the benefits,” He said. “I don’t believe that. I think you need at least a few years in a row where all students, and especially low-achievers, receive the treatment, and then you see the benefits later.”

His research used data from the Project Star study in Tennessee that analyzed the effects of class size on more than 11,000 students in primary and middle school. He found that students who had been in small classes from kindergarten through third grade had actually higher test scores in grades four through eight than students who been in larger classes early on.

Students from all achievement levels benefited from small classes, the research found. “But low-achievers benefited the most, which narrowed the achievement gap with high –achievers in science, reading and math, ” he said.

Although the study didn’t consider classroom practices, he said the reason for the narrowing gap is likely due to low-achieving students receiving more attention from teachers.

“This is especially important in poorer schools because teacher effectiveness matters more in schools with more disadvantaged and low-performing students, ” he said.

48．The professor argues about ________ .

       A．the size of the class

       B．the period of the class

       C．the attention from teachers

       D．the achievements of students

49．The result of the research shows that _________.

       A．small classes for one year in early grade are enough

       B．continuous small classes help students achieve more

       C．it’s best to attend small classes in kindergarten

       D．small classes do equal good to students of all levels

50．What can we infer from the passage?

       A．High achievers will not benefit from small classes.

       B．Continuous small classes have not been widely accepted.

       C．Low-achievers should be separated from high-achievers.

       D．Teachers’ attention matters less than classroom practices.

51．The underlined word “This” in the last paragraph refers to _______.

      A．the gap between low and high achievers

       B．continuous small classes

       C．classroom practices in later grades

       D．the Project Star Sturdy

C

Children start out as natural scientists, and eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there's no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children's curiosity. Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me "textbook questions" about schooling, salary and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another in silence. Finally I said, "Now that we've finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?"

After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, "Have you ever seen what a grasshopper (蚱蜢) eats? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?"

This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, adults typically wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their "wait time" to three seconds or more, children give more logical, complete creative answers.

Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don't jump in with "That's right" or "I'd never thought of it that way before," or coming up with more questions or ideas.

Never push a child to "think". It doesn't make sense. Children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What's more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target for your disagreement.

Lastly, show; don't tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lessons children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass, and they'll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates, set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.

64. According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is ___________.

A. to let them see the world around                B. to share the children's curiosity

C. to explain difficult phrases about science               D. to supply the children with lab equipment

65. In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the word "lists" could best be replaced by "_________".

A. any questions                 B. any problems     

C. questions from textbooks        D. any number of questions

66. According to the passage, children can answer questions in a more logical, complete and creative way if adults__________.

A. ask them to answer quickly                       B. wait for one or two seconds after a question

C. tell them to answer the next day                 D. wait at least for three seconds after a question

67. In which of the following paragraph (s) does the author tell us what to say to encourage children in a science discussion?

A. The second and third.      B. The fourth.     C. The fifth.       D. The sixth and seventh.

68. The author mentions all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children's curiosity EXCEPT that adults should _________.

A. tell their children stories instead of reciting facts

B. offer their children chances to see things for themselves

C. be patient enough when their children answer questions

D. encourage their children to ask questions of their own

D

Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown（成熟的）. Quite the opposite ,just as the cook as to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose is — schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.

There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe（抄写员）to do your business or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letters writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.

We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put into mails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremely large. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will be read from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into the wastepaper basket. This is the reason we make efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.

48. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food because both______.

A. are enjoyable     B. are easy to learn       

C. are unnecessary to life      D. take a short time to prepare

49. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Writing skills are less important than experience.

B. A good writer should have his own way of writing.

C. A good writer should learn to write the same kind of article.

D. The more efforts one makes, the more money one can earn.

50. The authour thinks that the most important reason for us to practice writing skill is ______.

A. to learn about our life                            B. to attract others to read

C. to do daily reports easily                 D. to become good secretaries

51. The purpose of the author in writing his passage is to ______.

A. comment and blame                       B. introduce and describe

C. explain and persuade                      D. interest and inform

A good teacher is many things to many people. In my own experience, the people I respect the most and think about the most are the teachers who demand the most discipline (纪律) from their students.

I miss one teacher in particular that I had in high school. I think she was a good teacher because she was a very strict person. I remember very clearly a sign on her classroom door. It was a simple sign that said, “Laboratory : in this room the first five letters of the word were stressed not the last seven.” In other words, labor for her was more important than oratory, which means making speeches.

She prepared her work very carefully and told us to do the same. We got lots of homework from her. Once she had broken her arm, and everybody in the class thought that maybe the homework load would be reduced, but it continued just the same. She checked our work by stamping her name at the bottom of the papers to show that she had read them.

I think sometimes teachers who demand the most are liked the least. But as time goes by, this discipline really seems to benefit the students.

46. Which of the following is considered a good teacher by the writer?

　　　 A. A patient teacher.　 B. An honest teacher.

　　　 C. A strict teacher.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. An easy – going teacher.

47. The teacher put up the sign on her classroom door ______.

　　　 A. to remind the students that this room was a laboratory

　　　 B. to advise the students to follow the disciplines

　　　 C. to warn the students not to be careless

　　　 D. to tell the students to work hard in the classroom

48. When the teacher’s arm was broken, she ______.

　　　 A. gave her students the usual amount of homework

　　　 B. gave her students less homework

　　　 C. asked her students to check the homework themselves

　　　 D. gave her students more homework

49. What’s the writer’s opinion of the discipline?

　　　 A. It makes the students dislike their teachers.

　　　 B. It does good to the students in the long run.

　　　 C. It’s too much for young children.　

D. It does more harm than good to the students.

Vitamin D helps bones and muscles grow strong and healthy．Low levels of vitamin D can lead to diseases such as rickets(软骨病), mainly found in children．The thinning of bone is a common problem as people, especially women, get older．

But more and more research is suggesting that vitamin D might also help prevent many diseases．The easiest way to get vitamin D is from sunlight．The sun’s ultraviolet(紫外线的)rays react with skin cells to produce vitamin D．But many people worry about getting skin cancer and skin damage from the sun．As a result they stay out of the sun．Also, darker-skinned people produce less vitamin D than lighter-skinned people．The amount also de-creases in older people and those living in northern areas that get less sunlight．

Not many foods naturally contain vitamin D．Foods high in this vitamin include oily fish and fish liver oils．Farmed fish have only about one-fourth as much vitamin D as wild fish．Small amounts of vitamin D are found in beef liver, cheese and egg yolks．But most of the vitamin D in the American diet comes from foods such as milk．

Research in the last several years has shown that low levels of vitamin D may increase the risk of heart attacks in men and deaths from some cancers．More doctors are now having their patients tested for their vitamin D levels．But as research continues, some experts worry that if people take too much vitamin D, it might act as a poison, Also, skin doctors warn people be careful with sun exposures because of the risk of skin cancer．

1.The first paragraph is mainly about     ．

       A．the muscle diseases                        B．the sources of vitamins

       C．the importance of health                    D．the functions of vitamin D

2.Which of the following people produce the least amount of vitamin D?

       A．Elderly darker-skinned people．

       B．Young lighter-skinned people．

       C．Elderly lighter-skinned people．

       D．Young darker-skinned people．

3.People can get the most vitamin D from     ．

       A．beef liver           B．cheese               C．wild fish           D．farmed fish

4.What can we infer from the text?

       A．Being exposed to sunlight is the safest way to get vitamin D

       B．Lack of vitamin D can make people age quickly

       C．Proper vitamin D levels people need are still not determined now．

D．The vitamin D level is higher in men than in women．