A recent report on online education, made by SRI International for the Department of Education, has a serious academic (学术的) title, but a most interesting conclusion: “ Students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”

The report examined the research on online and traditional classroom teaching from 1996 to 2008. Some of it was in K-12 settings, but most of the studies were in colleges and adult continuing education programs.

Over the 12 years, the report found 99 studies in which there were comparisons of online and classroom performance for the same courses. The result of the Department of Education’ s research showed that usually, students doing some or all of the course online would rank a little higher than the classroom students with little but meaningful difference.

“The importance of the study lies in showing that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually tends to be better than traditional instruction.” said Barbara Means, the study’ s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI International.

This hardly means that we’ll be saying goodbye to classrooms. But the report does suggest that online education could be set to develop sharply over the next few years.

Until fairly recently, online education totaled to little. That has really changed with the arrival of webbased video, instant (即时的) messaging and teamwork tools.

The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more suitable for individual (个体的) students than is possible in classrooms. That allows more “learning by doing,” which many students find more attractive and useful.

“We are at a turning point in online education,” said Philip R. Regier, the leader of Arizona State University’ s Online and Extended Campus program.

The biggest near-term growth, Mr. Regier predicts, will be in continuing education programs.

What do we know from the passage?

Most of the studies were done in high schools.

The report was based on more than 100 studies.

The studies were carried out for more than 20 years.

The difference between online and traditional teaching is not big.

We can learn from the passage that __________.

traditional education will come to an end

traditional education is not popular any longer

online education didn’ t develop rapidly until recently

middle schools are facing the choice between online and traditional teaching

Which is NOT the reason why many students prefer online learning?

Online teaching is more suitable for individuals.

Classroom teaching is not practical and useful.

Students can learn by doing in online courses.

Online teaching is more interesting.

Which do you think is the best title for the passage?

Study finds that online education beats the classroom

Why is online education on the rise?

A report on online education

Classroom teaching is out

Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environment．For example, the end of the last Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, brought a big challenge to which humans had to adapt．Before this time, large parts of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that contained much of the earth' s water．In North America, large animals that wandered the vast tundra （冰原） provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters．When the earth became warm, large Ice Age animals disappeared, and many land areas were covered by rising sea levels from melting ice．But people survived, they developed new technologies and learned how to survive on new plant and animal species． Finally some people settled into permanent villages, durable houses and farms．

Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet． Through history, major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive in ever-increasing numbers．The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to about 6 billion today．

However, the successes of culture adaptation can also create problems in the long run．Over the last 200 years, people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount of material and chemical wastes．The global population now consumes some important natural resources—such as petroleum, wood, and minerals—faster than nature can produce them．Many scientists believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be changing the global climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways．Thus, the adaptive success of the present-day global culture of production and trade may be temporary．

1.What is the first paragraph mainly talking about?

2.To deal with the problems, human beings should ______according to the passage．

3.Which of the following is the problem caused by cultural adaptation according to the passage?

4.Which of the following can be the best tide of the passage?

The name “cowboy” conjures up many different images from movies, songs and TV. These imagined cowboys range from white-hat-wearing heroes to gun-shooting hooligans(流氓).But, cowboys are actually real people from US history.?

When the US Civil War ended, many soldiers had no place to call home. So, they began to drift to the country's rural West. Ranchers(农场主) hired these men to take care of the cattle and work around the ranch. When the ranch owner wanted to sell the cattle, the cowboys would round up the herd from the open prairie(牧场) and drive the cattle miles to the market.?

With the invention of barbed wire(铁丝网),the cowboy era(1865-1890) began to come to an end. But people in the East had always been curious about their lifestyle. Many country/western songs during this time tried to capture the true cowboy spirit. Newspapers published cowboy tales in serial form and adventure novels followed. The bigger the fiction, the better the sales. These novels often portrayed cowboys as cruel and violent men. Cowboys carried the bad reputation for many years afterwards.

When movies began to be popular in the 1920s,the cowboy image changed again. Now, a cowboy became the great white knight(骑士) that loved his horse more than the beautiful ladies he rescued. As the cowboy of the “Old West” spent more time with his horse than the ladies, this era's image was not entirely false.

Then, in the 50s,Hollywood began producing so-called “spaghetti westerns(意大利西部片)”.They earned the nickname because Italian companies financed the films and TV shows. This started the decade's “Cowboy Craze”.While this didn't last long, it made modern country/western music, fashion and dance extremely popular.?

In recent years, with the help of musicians, radio stations and bars, cowboy nostalgia(怀旧情绪) has returned. Even though his image is still changing—somewhere between ballad singing country boy and bar?room fighter—there's one thing for sure, you can't keep the cowboy down.?

During “the cowboy era” mentioned in the story, _______.?

A. the cowboy often came to the rescue of ladies in newspaper tales?

B. the distant Wild West appealed to people in the East?

C. cowboys were shown as cruel and violent men on the silver screen?

D. country music started the cowboy craze which swept the whole country

By saying “you can't keep the cowboy down”,the writer means that _______.

A. cowboys are real people in history   B. cowboys still fascinate people?

C. you can't make cowboys unhappy     D. you can't grasp the cowboy spirit?

Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?

A. The cowboy has been presented in different lights in different eras.?

B. Cowboys are gun-shooting hooligans, without doubt.?

C. Cowboys have always been a passing phenomenon.?

D. Cowboys enjoy Italian foods, for example, spaghetti.

完形填空

　　By the time that a student reaches his senior year in high school, he is likely to believe that he is an expert in reading. No matter how 1 he is, he can still improve. How do you read an article in a textbook? Do you have a certain 2 of doing it or do you just 3 at the beginning and keep reading 4 you come to the end?

　　 5 students say that they use the“slow and sure”method(方式). By this they mean they read every sentence slowly and 6 . Every time they come to an 7 word they stop 8 what it means and, if necessary, looking it up in the 9 . In this method a person 10 has no time left for 11 what he has read, for he has used all his 12 in trying to get the meaning of each word to 13 that he 14 everything.

　　Other students use what has been 15 the review method. Here a person tries to arrange his time 16 he can read his lesson 17 twice. This type of reading is 18 than the“slow and sure” method, for the lesson 19 be read rapidly or there will not be 20 time left for a second reading. Which method do you think better?

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Long ago, near the village of Hedley, there lived a strange and playful trickster(骗子), known as the Hedley Kow.  Sometimes it looked like an ordinary object.  Sometimes it looked like a donkey or a goat.

One evening, as an old woman went along the path, she saw an old iron pot lying in the ditch. “Fancy that,” she said.  “Nobody seems to want this old pot. I will take it home and plant pretty flowers in it.”

When she tried to lift it, she saw that it was full of gold pieces. “Well, now, if that doesn’t beat all,” she said. “I’m rich! I can buy a fine house and fancy clothes.”

The pot was heavy, so she tied her shawl around it and began to drag it home.  After a while, she stopped to rest. When she looked in the pot, she was amazed to see that it was full of silver pieces!

“Oh, my god!” she said.  “Aren’t I the lucky one ! If it were gold, thieves would have been after me.  My friends might have been jealous.  But I can hide these silver pieces, take out a few at a time, and live like a queen.”

On she went, pulling the pot after her. She was nearing home now. At her gate, she looked into the pot. What a surprise! The silver had changed into a lump(块) of iron. “Iron,” she said.  “Well, now! No one will be jealous or want to steal this from me.  I can use this iron to prop my door open and let in fresh air and sunlight. Lucky  me!”

As soon as she said that, the pot began to grow and later it became a goat. Then it jumped up and ran off down the road laughing.

“Fancy that!” said the old woman.  “I believe I have seen the Hedley Kow! Not many folks can say that, and that’s a fact. I’ll just sit up by my fire tonight thinking about how lucky I was to see it for myself. I truly must be the luckiest person in the world!”

Which of the following sayings can best describe this story?

A. All good things come to an end.                    B. The early bird catches the worm.

C. Content is better than riches.                       D. All bad luck goes away.

What does “the Hedley Kow” stand for in the eyes of the old woman?

A. Glory         B. Honor           C. Misfortune     D. Luck

From this passage we can know the old woman is _________.

A. optimistic     B. pessimistic        C. strange       D. mindless

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. The woman   B. The Hedley Kow    C. The pot       D. The Effort