The lecture on smoking was over at last. As we boys were rushing towards the playground, Jim slipped by the table. The watch, which Mrs Smith had ___1___ on the table as she started her lecture, disappeared.

We were ___2___ to go back for class again when the headmaster called us ___3___ and said, I’ve got a little ___4___ for you boys. Mrs Smith has just lost her watch on the playground. This kind of thing has happened ___5___, she says ---- it just ___6___ off her wrist(手腕). So, look around for it, will you? ___7___ if you’re clever enough to find it. Let’s ___8___ it clear the boy who does ___9___ will get a useful reward(奖赏).

At once we started looking for the watch. Everybody wished to be the ___10___ one. Suddenly, Jim stopped and bent down as if to ___11___ something. And ___12___ he was in front of Mrs Smith, all smiles, ___13___ the watch to her.

Mrs Smith, however, didn’t seem at all ___14___.In fact, she looked angry. She took the watch without ___15___ a “Thank you”.

Jim got ___16___ a large piece of paper from the headmaster, who ___17___ him to write a composition ___18___ the dangers of smoking. What could ___19___ Jim write about? He hadn’t listened to the lecture and had nothing to say on the ___20___.

1. A. seen       B. dropped     C. fond   D. laid

2. A. about     B. able    C. sorry   D. sure

3. A. forward  B. together     C. straight      D. out

4. A. fun B. trick   C. job     D. prize

5. A. before    B. now    C. here    D. there

6. A. goes       B. throws       C. slips    D. falls

7. A. Say B. See     C. Guess  D. Check

8. A. get  B. put     C. make  D. keep

9. A. this B. such    C. that     D. so

10. A. lucky   B. quick  C. early   D. worthy

11. A. put down     B. give away   C. find out      D. pick up

12. A. the following moment B. the next moment

C. for a moment            D. just a moment

13. A. handing out B. turning in   C. giving up   D. sending back

14. A. pleased B. hurt    C. interested   D. worried

15. A. just      B. ever    C. even   D. almost

16. A. her punishment   B. her prize    C. his job       D. his reward

17. A. had      B. made  C. told    D. helped

18. A. of B. on      C. in       D. at

19. A. poor     B. nervous      C. quick  D. good

20. A. lecture  B. point   C. matter D. subject

When you need a job very much, you may end up taking one for which you are over qualified. Although you were initially grateful just to have the work, you now feel bored and depressed. Is there any way to change that?

Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. “Don’t focus on what you’re not getting but what you are getting,” she says. “Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn’t matter what the job is –there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop.”

Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, “Tell yourself the current situation isn’t the end of your career. Don’t overdramatize（过分夸大）the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don’t forget to study even in the worst stage.”

Consider that because you’re overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible in a more demanding position, says Sarah Hathorn, the chief executive of Illustra Consulting. “You could spend your extra time in learning different aspects of the business and teaching others in the organization,” she says.

Is it possible to make your work more challenging, even if your job responsibilities aren’t likely to change?

Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. “You may be operating on autopilot（习惯性地）right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed,” Sarah Hathorn says. “Take things off your boss’s plate and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about.”

Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you’re bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. “Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles,” she says. “If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee.”

1.According to Caitlin Kelly, ______.

A．one should be willing to do some small things

B．being a salesman is not as important as being a journalist

C．performing your regular duties well is important

D．doing a simple job well will bring you a sense of success

2.What Hilary Pearl intends to express is that ______.

A．work is just a stage of our whole life

B．the present job doesn’t matter to us in a long run

C．one should be satisfied with his present situation

D．one should look forward instead of complaining about the present situation

3.The underlined words “take things off your boss’s plate” mean______.

A．draw your boss’s attention               B．share your boss’s burdens

C．give your boss useful advice               D．ask your boss for a better position

4. What is the common view about careers of the people mentioned in this passage?

A．One should start his career from doing a simple job.

B．One should improve himself and help others as well.

C．One should keep learning new things to improve himself.

D．One should pay much attention to the relationship with the boss.

When most people think of giant pandas, the pictures of the cute, black-and-white bears from China that eat bamboo will immediately jump into their mind. Scientists from Mississippi State University, however, are interested in what they leave behind: their poop(排泄物). At a recent meeting in Denver, Professor Brown at the university presented her research showing how panda poop could inspire a new way to obtain energy from plants, which are a renewable energy source. Usually, plants can be called biomass(有机燃料) when they are used as an energy source.

     Burning biomass is one way to capture its energy, but Brown hopes panda poop can teach scientists something about breaking down biomass. Pandas—or at least the bacteria in their stomachs—are very good at getting energy out of bamboo. Unlike cows, which use 4 stomachs to digest large amounts of grass, a panda has only one stomach. Bamboo comes in, and poop goes out.

     Every day for 14 months, Brown and her team on this project, counted the bacteria in the poop of the two pandas, YaYa and LeLe living at the Memphis Zoo. Her studies turned up 12 species of bacteria that break down biomass, including one that had never been found in pandas. Brown says that because the poop contains bacteria that break down biomass, it could also be used to break down other types of biomass.

     Now the scientists hope to identify the chemicals that help with the process of breaking down biomass and then figure out how the bacteria work. If those chemicals can be made in the lab, they could be used to turn biomass—like grass or other plants—into fuel.

     Brown says she doesn’t mind handling panda poop. “It’s probably the most pleasant material to work with,” she says, “My colleagues and I have been working with other poop for a long time, and we can assure you it has a fairly pleasant smell associated with it.”

1.The importance of studying panda poop is _______.

A. to create a renewable energy from plants    

B. to explore a new way to get energy from plants

C. to learn a lesson of energy from panda poop 

D. to figure out how the bacteria work for us mankind

2.The process of the panda poop project can be described as ______.

A. a, b, d, c           B. a, d, c, b           C. b, a, d, c           D. b, d, a, c

3.What does the author mainly want to express in the 2nd paragraph?

A. Pandas don’t digest bamboo the same way as cows.

B. Pandas are capable of getting energy using stomachs.

C. Pandas can get energy from bamboo more efficiently.

D. Scientists have learnt something new from panda poop.

4.What does Professor Brown think of working with panda poop?

A. Sick             B. Challenging          C. Inspiring            D. Enjoyable

Sitting on a chair all day in school can make anyone want to move around. So, more and more teachers are letting students have a ball. By sitting on exercise balls instead of chairs , teachers find students’ posture(姿势) and attention improve.

Dottie Pownall, a fifth-grade teacher in West Virginia, USA, has been using balls as chairs since December 2008. “The students love them”, she says. Pownall took a survey(调查) of her students. She found that 80% of the students thought sitting on the balls helped them pay more attention to what they were learning.

The teacher, Pisa Witt, felt so strongly about the use of balls as chairs, she started Witt Fitt. This company encourages the use of the balls. And the company educates not only teachers but also students on how to use them. “Our products are used in 24 states, three provinces in Canada, Puerto Rico (波多黎各) and Japan,” says Witt, “ Research shows that sitting on the balls makes them sit up straighter（直的）. You can slouch(低头垂肩地坐)on a ball,” says Witt, “but it feels bad.” Because the students are moving, their blood (血液) increases. That carries more oxygen( 氧气) to the brain , so the kids have more energy and can pay attention longer.

“Besides, they’re fun.” says Pownall.

1.What will happen if a student sits on a chair all day in school? The student will_________.

2.How long has Dottie Pownall used the balls?

3.In how many countries are the balls used as the students’ chairs?

4.Teachers choose balls instead of chairs because sitting on balls helps the kids _________.

5.Which is better for kids to study in class, sitting on a chair or sitting on a ball?

     Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap．Some call it the summer learning setback Put simply, it means the longer kids are out of school，the more they forget．The only thing they might gain is weight．

Most American schools follow a tradltional nine-month calendar with winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation．Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes ror about eight weeks at a time，with a few weeks off in between．The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than 3,000 such schools at last count．They were spread among forty-six of the tifty states．

      But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school．Brenda McLaugblin is research director at the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University．She says studies of year-round schooling have not found strong learning gains．Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said，“Year-round schools don’t really solve the problem of the summer learning setback．They simply spread it out across the year．”

      Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summler than other students．Experts say this can be prevented．They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help．

     But calling them“summer school”could be a problem．The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term“summer school”．In American culture，the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood．The parents welcomed other terms like“summer camp。”“extra time”and“hands-on learning．”

According to the first paragraph，the summer learning gap     

      A．helps children to gain weight                   

B．leads children to work harder

      C．improves children’s memories                    

D．affects children’s regular studies

Compared to traditional schools，students in the year-round ones      ．

      A．perform better and have more learning gains

      B．have much less time for relaxation every year

      C．have generally the same number of class days

      D．hold more classes with more free weeks off

Which of the following statements is true?

      A．Students from poor families often fall behind after the vacation．

      B．Year-round schools can solve the problem of the learning gap

      C．There are schools in each state following a year-round calendar

      D．Nothing can help the students who fall behind after the vacation．

Why did almost all parents dislike the term“summer school”?

      A．They are worried about the quailty of the“summer school”

      B．They cherish the children’s rights of freedom very much．

      C．They want their children to be forced to make up the gap．

      D．They can’t afford to the further study during the vacation．

What would be the best title of this passage?

      A．Opening Summer Camps                        

B．Forbidding Summer Schools

      C．Minding the Summer Learning Gap                 

D．Reforming Year-Round Education