The child of today owes much of its pleasant school life to the work of Maria Montessori and others who felt as she did.

Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in northern Italy.Both her parents were well educated.

While Maria was a student，she took great interest in the study of the particular nature of the child’s mind.It came to her that small children should have freedom to learn.

Maria became a doctor and professor at Rome University.In 1907，after working with backward students，she was given a chance to try out her ideas on children.There were sixty children，aged three to six，in the Children’s House.The rooms were bright and colourful.Maria let the children make their own choice of what they wanted to do and work with their own speed.They became busy，peaceful and happy.

Maria Montessori was one of the world’s greatest teachers.She traveled in Europe，America and Far East.She thought that true education，providing for the real needs of the child，would produce wise and happy grown­ups and therefore a peaceful world.Her original way of education has changed our whole idea of what childhood is.

Maria Montessori died in Holland at the age of eighty­two.

41．The short passage is mainly about________.

A．the education of backward students

B．a new idea of education

C．the importance of proper education

D．the life of Maria Montessori

42．Maria traveled a lot in the world to________.

A．teach the backward students

B．enjoy her life in real nature

C．spread her ideas of teaching

D．study the situation of education

43．In what way did Maria teach the children in the Children’s House?

A．She taught them the best way of learning well.

B．She let them learn in a very pleasant way.

C．She taught them by showing them how to do things.

D．She just let them choose the most interesting subjects.

44．We learn from the passage that________.

A．Maria left her homeland in order to study abroad

B．Maria didn’t get married

C．Maria’s own parents were her teachers

D．Maria fully understood the child’s mind

45．Which of the following best explains why Maria was one of the world’s greatest teachers?

A．She created a new way in teaching，which changed the old idea of children’s education

B．She taught the backward students very successfully and produced a peaceful world.

C．She showed great love for the children and trained them in a new way.

D．She taught backward students in many different countries and let them learn freely.

After years of trying to balance work with motherhood, Karl Smith left her corporate(公司的) job behind to start her own business.

It's been over a decade since this mom entrepreneur(企业家) began making cakes out of her family's kitchen. During that time, she has managed to grow Magical Moments & Elite Party Rentals into a well­developed wedding planning and rental operation. Statistics show that these kinds of mommy­owned businesses are on the rise. Many women say they can't find work that allows them to balance their responsibilities at home.

Indeed, according to a national study conducted by IpsosReid on behalf of Microsoft Canada, fifty­four percent of female small business owners agree that being able to work at home to raise their family is a key reason to leave the corporate world behind.

“Being a mom entrepreneur means trading a typical 9­to­5 work week for a more irregular routine”，says Gemma Moore, a busy mother of two who owns and operates MG Moore Designs, a design company specializing in website, photography and print media.“Finding a business that you can build in the evenings will allow you to spend time with your children during the day and continue your business after they go to school.”

Ninety­two percent of female small business owners say that mobile equipment and computer software can help a mom entrepreneur make her own hours and work whenever she is most productive. In fact, ninety­five percent agree that small business owners need to be_more_technology­savvy than ever before. The more technology they master, the more successfully they will run their businesses.

“Balance is a key aspect for most entrepreneurs, but this is especially true for women”， says Ruth Bastedo, President of Women Entrepreneurs of Canada(WEC). “Entrepreneurs recognize that today's technology can help them to find work/life balance while still providing them with the tools and materials they need to grow their businesses more effectively.”

16．Many female employees left their corporate jobs in order to________．

A．master more and more technology

B．support their family in a better way

C．look after their children more carefully

D．carry out their responsibilities as housewives

17．What can we know about Gemma Moore from the passage?

A．She has two companies of her own.

B．She was once doing trade business.

C．She does not work in the daytime.

D．She can arrange her time more properly.

18．The underlined part “be more technology­savvy”(in Paragraph 5) probably means “________”．

A．save more hours for technology

B．spend less money on technology

C．have a better knowledge of technology

D．find a better balance in the technical field

19．The passage mainly tells us that ________．

A．most women can hardly find suitable work

B．new technology can help women to find work

C．Karl Smith has started her own business at home

In a time of low academic achievement by children in the United States，many Americans are turning to Japan，a country of high academic achievement and economic success，for possible answers.However，the answers provided by Japanese preschools are not the ones Americans expected to find.In most Japanese preschools，surprisingly little stress is put on academic instruction.In one investigation(调查)，300 Japanese and 210 American preschool teachers，child development specialists，and parents were asked about various aspects of early childhood education.Only 2 percent of the Japanese respondents(答问卷者) listed “to give children a good start academically” as one of their top three reasons for a society to have preschools.On the contrary，over half the American respondents chose this as one of their top three choices.To prepare children for successful careers in first grade and beyond，Japanese schools do not teach reading，writing，and mathematics，but rather skills such as persistence(毅力)，concentration，and the ability to function as a member of a group.The vast majority of young Japanese children are taught to read at home by their parents.

In the recent comparison of Japanese and American preschool education，91 percent of Japanese respondents chose providing children with a group experience as one of their top three reasons for a society to have preschools.Sixty­two percent of the more individually oriented(强调个性发展的) Americans listed group experience as one of their top three choices.A stress on the importance of the group seen in Japanese early childhood education continues into primary school education.

Like in America，there is diversity(多样性) in Japanese early childhood education.Some Japanese kindergartens have clear aims，such as early musical training or potential development.In large cities，some kindergartens are attached to universities that have primary and middle schools.Some Japanese parents believe that if their young children attend a university­based program，it will increase the children's chances of eventually being admitted to top­rated schools and universities.Several more progressive programs have introduced free play as a way out for the heavy intellectualizing(智力化) in some Japanese kindergartens.

22．We learn from the first paragraph that many Americans believe ________．

A．Japanese parents pay more attention to preschool education than American parents

B．Japan's economic success is the result of its scientific achievements

C．Japanese preschool education attaches greater importance to academic instruction

D．Japan's higher education is better than theirs

23．In Japan's preschool education，the focus is on ________．

A．preparing children academically

B．developing children's interests in music

C．discovering children's potential

D．shaping children's character

24．Free play has been introduced in some Japanese kindergartens in order to ________．

A．lighten children's study load

B．encourage children's creativity

C．broaden children's views

D．enrich children's knowledge

25．Why do some Japanese parents send their children to university­based kindergartens?

A．They can have no problems in their future studies.

B．They can have clear aims in life.

C．They can succeed in developing in every way.

D．They can have better chances of getting a first­rate education.

Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert，seeking a million in prize money. To win，they had to finish the 142­mile's race in less than 10 hours.

Teams and watchers knew there might be no winners at all，because these vehicles were missing a key part—drivers.

    DARPA，the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency，organized the race as part of a push to develop robotic vehicles for future battlefields. But the Grand Challenge，as it was called，just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance. One had its brake lock up in the starting area. Another began by throwing itself onto a wall. Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles.

    One turned upside down. One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote(远距离的) control. One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence；another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock. The “winner，” if there was any，reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long，narrow hole，and the front wheels caught on fire.

    “You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things，” says Reinhold Behringer，who helped design two of the car ­size vehicles for a company called Sci­Autonics. “Even ants(蚂蚁) can do all these tasks effortlessly. It's very hard for us to put these abilities into our machines.”

    The robotic vehicles，though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance，had trouble figuring out fast enough the blocks ahead that a two-­year­-old human recognizes immediately. Sure，that very young child，who has just only learned to walk，may not think to wipe apple juice off her face，but she already knows that when there's a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table，and that when she gets to the cookie it will taste good. She is more advanced，even months old，than any machine humans have designed.

1.Watchers doubted if any of the vehicles could finish the race because ______.

A．they did not have any human guidance

B．the road was not familiar to the drivers

C．the distance was too long for the vehicles

D．the prize money was unattractive to the drivers

2.DARPA organized the race in order to ______.

A．raise money for producing more robotic vehicles

B．push the development of vehicle industry

C．train more people to drive in the desert

D．improve the vehicles for future wars

3.From the passage we know “robotic vehicles” are a kind of machines that ______.

A．can do effortlessly whatever tasks living things can

B．can take part in a race across 142 miles with a time limit

C．can show off their ability to turn themselves upside down

D．can move from place to place without being driven by human beings

Until the 1960's, almost everyone in the U. S. followed tradition and gave all the children in the same family the same last name or surname, as it is called. But during the 60's, young parents began giving their children strange names—names like Moonglow, Eternal Peace, and Sunshine. Some states passed laws controlling the names that parents could use. But after a court case in 1981, a federal judge ruled that parents are free to give any surnames they wish to their children.

So , for the last few decades , more parents are not giving their children the fam­ily 's sur- names .Some insist that while it ' s OK for a boy to have the father ' s family name, a girl should have the mother' s family name . Thus, Philip Gaylord and Pan Zimmitti could be brother and sister. Some parents think that using family surname is old —fashioned and boring. One couple gave their son the last name Sue because they like the Johnny Cash song," A Boy Named Sue." And finally, some parents think that giving their children different surnames is just a "neat thing to do". So the first son of a New York family has the last name Washington —Lincoln, after the two fa­mous presidents. The daughter has the last name Anthony—Tubman after two women who fought for women's rights.

This change in naming customs presents two problems. First, if each person in the family has a different last name, family records will be very confusable. It will be hard to track a person's family, and record keeping will be difficult .Second, some physiologists are afraid that different surnames will threaten family unity. Since names have  an important effect on one's identify (身份) , they think brothers and sisters will not feel connected if they have different last names.

So this problem of names will get worse as new and different last names increase. Get ready to meet Welcome Baby Darling , sister of Aren't We Glad , You ' re Here and It ' s About Time.

1．In America, ________to give children different surnames these days.

    A．it is allowed by the law                  B．it breaks the law

    C．it is one of the customs                  D．it is unusual

2．In the second paragraph of the passage a "neat thing to do" means________.

    A．a good thing to do                                                  B．a terrible thing to do

    C．a dirty filing to do                   D．a clean thing to do

3．According to some psychologists, the different last names will let brothers and sisters feel they

are________.

    A．enemies                          B．as close as before

    C．good fiends                       D．separated

4．From the last paragraph, we can see the author _____this change in naming customs.

       A．is for        B．is against          C．doesn't care         D．doesn't notice