Enter a typical high school, and the first thing you see is the front office， where the principal dwells and grades are stored. The front office also reinforces familiar hierarchy(等级制度): principal at the top, teachers in the middle, kids on the bottom, sitting with hands folded at their desks.
Now, imagine a school where the organizational structure is completely flat. At the New Country School in Henderson, Minn, there is no front office. Visitors are immediately embraced by an airy atrium that is the centerpiece of this one-room schoolhouse. And all around the room, 124 students sit at desks — real office desks — working at their own personal computers on their own projects.
When Dee Thomas and her colleagues got together 15 years ago to design a new high school, they knew there was one thing that had to go: The bell. "You don't go into your job in the morning and say, 'OK, for the first 45 minutes of my job, I'm going to do the math part.' And then a bell goes off, and you do the social history part of your job. You don't do that," Thomas said.
There are no teachers at New Country. Every few weeks, students must present projects they've been working on to the rest of the school community. To prepare for their presentations, they gather at tables in the middle of the school atrium and present their work to their "advisers."
Kids at New Country test better than their peers on the state tests and on the pre-college ACT. The school sends 90 percent of its graduates to college. But that doesn't tell the whole story. New Country struggles to keep its seniors from leaving. The school's senior project is demanding — 300 hours of work.
But for some students, New Country offers a rare alternative, a choice they can't find anywhere else. And the school is constantly visited by educators from around the world looking for new ideas. That's the foundation of efforts to reform American high schools today — that there's a need to experiment with an institution that is failing millions of students
【小题1】The author mentioned the typical high school in the first paragraph ___________.
A. to tell us what the typical high school is like in USA.
B. to present a sharp contrast with the experimental school, New Country.
C. to introduce the topic, New Country, of the passage.
D. to call on students to register in the typical high school
【小题2】The following statements about New Country are all true except________.

There is a saying in France that states, "The government could fall, the Louvre （卢浮宫）could be broken into or creatures from other planets could land on earth, but if any of these things happened during the Tour de France, no one would notice．" The Tour de France is the most famous cycling race in the world．It begins in July and runs for three weeks．Cyclists who race in the Tour de France ride in six legs or stages of the race, and they have between one to four days of rest between each leg of the race．The rider who completes all six legs of the race in the shortest overall time wins．
The Tour de France began as a publicity stunt（惊人的表演） for the French sports newspaper, L’Auto．Hcnri Desgranges, who worked for L’Auto,  came up with the idea for "the greatest bike race in the world, "and on July 1,1903, the first Tour de France began．Sixty cyclists began that first leg of the race which started in front of the Alarm Clock Cafe just outside of Paris．This first leg took them 467 kilometers to Lyon．The first Tour de France received an astonishing 2,000 francs．Maurice Garin, the most popular cyclist in France at that time, won the first Tour de France．It took him 94 hours and 33 minutes to ride all 2,428 kilometers of the race．This time was three hours faster than the second -place rider．Over the weeks during which the race was run, the idea of the Tour de France slowly caught the imagination of the people of France．The race has been run every year since that time, except during the years of World War I and World War Ⅱ．
The Tour de France has developed several special honors for which racers compete．Above all, the highest honor is the " yellow jersey"．Mr．Desgranges introduced the yellow jersey in 1919 to show the leading racer each rider's total time in order to find the racer with the lowest time．That racer wears the yellow jersey during the day's race．Other honors include the "green jersey " which is given to the rider who sprints the best by riding the fastest over short distances, and the "polka dot jersey" for the best rider in the mountains along the route．
【小题1】Who wins the Tour de France?

There is a saying in France that states, "The government could fall, the Louvre （卢浮宫）could be broken into or creatures from other planets could land on earth, but if any of these things happened during the Tour de France, no one would notice．" The Tour de France is the most famous cycling race in the world．It begins in July and runs for three weeks．Cyclists who race in the Tour de France ride in six legs or stages of the race, and they have between one to four days of rest between each leg of the race．The rider who completes all six legs of the race in the shortest overall time wins．

　 The Tour de France began as a publicity stunt（惊人的表演） for the French sports newspaper, L’Auto．Hcnri Desgranges, who worked for L’Auto, came up with the idea for "the greatest bike race in the world, "and on July 1,1903, the first Tour de France began．Sixty cyclists began that first leg of the race which started in front of the Alarm Clock Cafe just outside of Paris．This first leg took them 467 kilometers to Lyon．The first Tour de France received an astonishing 2,000 francs．Maurice Garin, the most popular cyclist in France at that time, won the first Tour de France．It took him 94 hours and 33 minutes to ride all 2,428 kilometers of the race．This time was three hours faster than the second -place rider．Over the weeks during which the race was run, the idea of the Tour de France slowly caught the imagination of the people of France．The race has been run every year since that time, except during the years of World War I and World War Ⅱ．

　 The Tour de France has developed several special honors for which racers compete．Above all, the highest honor is the " yellow jersey"．Mr．Desgranges introduced the yellow jersey in 1919 to show the leading racer each rider's total time in order to find the racer with the lowest time．That racer wears the yellow jersey during the day's race．Other honors include the "green jersey " which is given to the rider who sprints the best by riding the fastest over short distances, and the "polka dot jersey" for the best rider in the mountains along the route．

1. Who wins the Tour de France?

A. The first cyclist to finish the race．

B. The cyclist with the most points．

C. The cyclist with the polka dot jersey．

D. The cyclist with the shortest overall time．

2. Henri Desgranges was　　　　　 .

A. a photographer　　　　　　 B. a famous cyclist

C. the man who first won the Tour de France

D. the man who first thought of the Tour de France

3. How many stages make up the Tour de France?

A. One．　 B. Four．　　　 C. Six．　　　　　 D. Ten

4. The yellow jersey is worn by____.

A. the fastest daily cyclist　 B. the fastest overall cyclist

C. the youngest cyclist　　　 D. the champion from the previous year

Norman Cousins was a businessman from the United States who often traveled around the world on business. He enjoyed his work and traveling.

Then, after returning to the United States from a busy and tiring trip to the Union of Soviet So??cialist Republics( USSR)，Mr. Cousins got sick. Because he had pushed his body to the limit of its strength on the trip, a chemical change began to take place inside him. The material between his bones became weak.

In less than one week after his return, he could not stand. Every move that he made was pain??ful. He was not able to sleep at night.

The doctore told him that they did not know how to cure Mr. Cousins ’ problem and he might never get over the illness. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to give up hope.

Mr. Cousins thought that unhappy thoughts were causing bad chemical changes in his body. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead，he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.       .'

He began to experiment on himself while still in hospital by watching funny shows on television. Mr. Cousins quickly found that 10 minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of pain -free sleep at night.

Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days，Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching funny shows on television，reading funny books，and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within three weeks，he felt well enough to take a vacation to Puerto . Rico where he began running on the beach for exercise.

After a few months，Mr. Cousins returned to work. He has laughed himself back to health.

Why did Norman Cousins get sick?

A. He did not rest enough.    B. He traveled too much.

C. His body chemistry changed.    D. All of the above.

What part of his body was affected by the illness?

A .The bones in his feet.

B. His mind when he slept.

C. The material between his bones.

D. His stomach.

What did Mr. Cousins think caused his illness?

A. Bad food.   B. Too much laughter.

C. Unhappy thoughts.    D. The doctors.

Where did Mr. Cousins go in order to cure himself?

A. To a hotel room. B. To the beach.    C. To the hospital. D. To the USSR.

How long did it take before Mr. Cousins went back, to work?

A. A few weeks.     B. A few months.   C. A few hours.      D. A few years.

Norman Cousins was a businessman from the United States who often traveled around the world on business. He enjoyed his work and traveling.
Then, after returning to the United States from a busy and tiring trip to the Union of Soviet So­cialist Republics( USSR)，Mr. Cousins got sick. Because he had pushed his body to the limit of its strength on the trip, a chemical change began to take place inside him. The material between his bones became weak.
In less than one week after his return, he could not stand. Every move that he made was pain­ful. He was not able to sleep at night.
The doctore told him that they did not know how to cure Mr. Cousins ’ problem and he might never get over the illness. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to give up hope.
Mr. Cousins thought that unhappy thoughts were causing bad chemical changes in his body. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead，he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.       .'
He began to experiment on himself while still in hospital by watching funny shows on television. Mr. Cousins quickly found that 10 minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of pain -free sleep at night.
Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days，Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching funny shows on television，reading funny books，and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within three weeks，he felt well enough to take a vacation to Puerto . Rico where he began running on the beach for exercise.
After a few months，Mr. Cousins returned to work. He has laughed himself back to health.
【小题1】Why did Norman Cousins get sick?