B

As an effect of the high fuel prices spent on bus transportation, some American schools are changing to a four-day week. That means longer days instead of the traditional Monday through Friday schedule.

Having been approved for three years and beginning in the fall, students in the Maccray school district in Minnesota will be in school from Tuesday to Friday. Each school day will be 65 minutes longer. Officials say the district expects to save about sixty-five thousand dollars a year in transportation costs.

In new Mexico, the first school district changed to a four-day week in 1974 because of the Arab oil boycott(抵制). Now, 17 out of 89 districts use it.

In Custer, South Dakota, students have been going to school four days a week since 1995. Superintendent Tim Creal says the change has saved about one million dollars over just the past eight years. He sees other benefits, too. Students get more instructional time, and activities that used to take up class time are now held on non-school days. He says that in the future, the growth of online classes could make it possible to require even fewer days in school. High fuel prices are driving college students to take more online classes.

A four-day school week sounds like a great idea for students and teachers, but working parents may have to pay for child care for that fifth day.

1.According to Tim Creal, what makes it possible to have even fewer days in school?

A．The increasing number of private tutors.(私人教师)

B．The development of teaching methods.

C．The increase in the number of online classes.

D．The growth in the income of Americans.

2. It can be learned from the passage that______

A．students will be in school from Monday to Tuesday.

B．four-day week was first carried out in South Dakota.

C．Maccray will save one million dollars every year.

D．Minnesota state has approved the four-day week plan

3.The passage is mainly about______

A．some school’s four-day week plan         B．districts using a four-day week.

C．how to save on transportation fees.          D．expense of school transportation.

B

As the summer comes, the exhausted consumers start paying attention to the latest cooling devices（仪器）in the market. With the competition rising ,buying an air conditioner (AC) is no longer a big deal; moreover the easy finance schemes make it a device for every life.

Design

Though it carries the standard design for AC, yet it looks elegant(优雅的) when fixed on your wall. As AC is exposed to exterior（外部的）climate, it is bound to get damaged and bring maintenance cost if not taken proper care of. But Haier has solved this problem by providing an anti-corrosion（抗腐蚀的）body to all its AC. It has a remote control which provides you with ultimate flexibility and you can operate it from every corner of your room.

Key Features

It’s proved that this AC steals the show by offering 1tonne cooling capacity at the EER of 9.47. This means it operates at low power and thus helps you save great energy, and consequently it wins popularity with customers. The rotary compressor（旋转式压缩机）is the secret behind its smooth and silent operation, which makes it suitable for public and silent areas.

Core Information

Apart from the above features, it attracts consumers by its unique anti-bacterial filters（过滤器）, which act as a favor to your health by destroying the harmful germs and bacteria and make you breathe very clean air.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The anti-bacterial filters prove to be a favor for our respiratory system（呼吸系统）. When compared to other famous brands such as Samsung, Onida, and LG, it offers great functions at a very friendly price. However, it lacks some additional filters which are seen in other expensive brands like Electrolux EA12SCRLA1.

Conclusion

It’s a masterpiece（杰作） due to its silent operation and uniform（均速的）cooling. Thus, if you desire cool air, then just switch to this AC and feel the magic.

59. It can be inferred from the passage that __________.

A. most customers are not satisfied with the latest AC

B. the price of AC has been lowered due to the fierce competition

C. Haier AC has special functions but no desirable shapes

D. the real secret behind Haier AC’s silent operation hasn’t been published yet

60. The underlined words “steals the show” can be replaced by________.

A. learns key technologies secretly          B. puts theories into practice scientifically

C. attracts more attention and praise         D. shows some advantages and disadvantages

61. Which of the following plays an important role in guaranteeing our health?

A. The anti-corrosion body.                B. The remote control system.

C. The rotary compressor.                 D. The anti-bacterial filters.

62. Compared with other brands, Haier AC’s biggest advantage lies in ________.

A. the standard design                    B. the low maintenance cost

C. the best after-sales service                   D. the great functions at a low price

D

For the past six weeks I have been having online writing classes. I had never taken an online class before, so I did not know what to expect. Now I am about halfway through the courses, and I am doing three courses, where I am practicing writing.

These creative writing classes have been somewhat similar to those I took in a middle school. There are weekly readings where we have to discuss our thoughts, and we comment on each other’s work. But there are some differences. In my middle school, I had one novel writing class where we all sat in a circle twice a week and discussed each other’s work. Each person had a copy of the story but the author of the story was always anonymous(匿名的). This allowed people to give honest opinions since there was no face to connect the story to.

The creative article course is held in a computer lab and all of our work is done online. Every week, two people read their stories aloud to the class, and then we spend a few minutes discussing them, and then post comments on the online discussion board. Still, the main benefit of an online class is that I can choose when to turn in my homework. This allows me to choose how to manage my time.

 I think taking three creative writing courses at one time may have been a little too ambitious, but I am studying a variety of writing styles and I think I am becoming a better writer for it.

73. How long do the online writing classes that the author is taking last for in total?

A. About twelve weeks.               B. About two months.

C. About six months.                  D. About six weeks

74. What do the author’s online classes and school classes have in common?

A. Students have classes in a computer lab.

B. Students sit in a circle twice a week.

C. Students write novels every day.

D. Students discuss their reading every week.

75. Why was the author of the story anonymous during the discussion?

A. Because students didn’t want their work popular.

B. Because in this way students could express their real ideas freely.

C. Because students didn’t know each other at all.

D. Because it took students less time to finish the discussion.

76. What is the main advantage of taking online writing classes?

A. Students needn’t have face-to-face talks.

B. Students can hand in their homework late.

C. Students can arrange their time as their like.

D. Students needn’t do any homework.

D

For many of us, printed books are satisfying in ways beyond the words they contain. Billions of printed books have been published, read and saved in the 600 years since movable type was invented, so why mess with a good things?

       Sony Electronics is doing just that, betting that readers will be won over by the convenience of readability of its new electronic book devices. Sony's reader, the PRS-505, can hold 160 books in its fixed memory, enough to line the shelves on a good-sized wall in the average American home. The $299 device is about the size of a paperback book, but a half-inch thick and weighs less than a pound.

The Sony book reader is revolutionary not only in its storage capacity. The font（字体） is highly readable and adjustable by size. Unlike laptop computers, you can put the Sony in your purse, read it in direct sunlight and even bookmark the pages. And you can connect it to your PC to download books.

Surprisingly, though the reader has liberated the book from paper, electronic books aren't always a bargain. For example, David Baldacci's "Stone Cold" download retails（零售） for $15.19 at the Sony site, while Amazon（卓越网） will deliver a hard copy to your mailbox for $16.19.

The Sony reader also lets you store and play or display music. So what's not to like about the Sony? Well, for many bibliophiles, they like to have, hold and keep their volumes, which don't need charging. You can write notes in the margins, and enjoy the ambience they provide on your book shelves.

The need for electronic reading devices is likely to grow as more people worried about the billions of tons of paper used for printed material. Many believe the time will come when devices like the Sony reader are as common as printed newspapers and magazines today.

68．What would be the best title for the passage?

A. The age of the electronic book reader is coming

B. Printed books are out of date

C. The Sony reader meets many readers’ needs

D. The revolution in book readers

69．According to the passage, the Sony book reader _________.

A. is as light as a laptop computer               B. can hold more than 200 books

C. is convenient to carry around                  D. cannot be connected to a PC

70．What is the author’s point when he mentions “Stone Cold”?

A. Amazon’s printed books are very cheap

B. “Stone Cold” can be got from the Sony site and Amazon

C. The Sony book reader is not very cheap to use

D. The Sony book reader can benefit its buyers a lot

71．According to the author, what’s the future for the electronic reading devices?

A. They’ll replace printed newspapers and magazines

B. They’ll still be more expensive than printed newspapers

C. They’ll become a must in people’s daily life

D. They’ll become more popular as time goes on

For many parents , raising a teenager is like fighting a long war ,but years go by without any clear winner . Like a border conflict between neighboring countries ,the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

Both sides want peace ,but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict . In part ,this is because neither is willing to admit .any responsibility for starting it . From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course .the  teens see it in exactly the same way , except oppositely . Both feel trapped

In this article. I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over         unimportant things . Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom ,the preferred style of clothing , the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school ,or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends .Second ,blaming , the goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong . Third , needing to be right ,It doesn’t matter what the topic is –politics. The taws of physics ,or the proper way to break an egg –the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong .for both wish to be considered an authority --- someone who actually knows something --- and  therefore to command respect. Unfortunately , as long as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other ,they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress

55. Why does the author compare the parent—teen war to a border conflict?

A. both can continue for generations .

B. Both are about where to draw the line

C. Neither has any clear winner

D. Neither can be put to an end

56. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?

A. The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.

B. The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict

C. The  teens accuse their parents of misleading them

D. The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents

57.Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ________.

A. give orders to the other

B. know more than the other

C. gain respect from the other

D .get the other to behave properly

58. What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A. causes  for the parent –teen conflicts

B. Examples of the parent –teen war.

C. Solutions for the parent –teen problems

D. Future of the parent-teen relationship