Nearly 19,000 boys are starting secondary school with a reading age of a seven-year-old or below, government data has shown.

Some 9% of all 11-year-old boys in state schools in England did not reach level three in their __1__ tests this summer, statistics from the Department for Education reveal. This is the equivalent of 18,855 boys.

Level two is the __2__ expected of a seven-year-old and means pupils only have an understanding of __3__ texts and cannot read independently.

The government has said that by the age of 11, pupils should reach level four, at which __4__ they are able to understand the major themes of a variety of texts and can to some __5__ read "between the lines".

The data, first obtained by the BBC, shows that in Nottingham, 15% of 11-year-old boys are reading at __6__ level three. In Yorkshire and the Humber, the __7__ is 11%, while across the north-east, east Midlands and West Midlands, it is 10%.

The proportion of __8__ who did not reach level three in reading is 6%. On__9__, 8% of all pupils do not reach level three. Over the past 15 years, the proportion of pupils who have reached level four has __10__ to 81% from 49%.

However, the statistics have cast __11__upon the success of government schemes to eradicate sub-standard reading skills among a minority of children. Over the past__12___, the previous government spent more than £25m on early year’s education.

Michael Gove, the education secretary, said the coalition(联合) government would be __13__ a reading test at the age of six to identify struggling pupils. The curriculum was "a closed book" for a child who starts secondary school with a reading age of a seven-year-old, he said.

He said __14__ in some parts of the country had proved that it was __15__ for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve level four. These headteachers would help struggling schools, he said.

（ ）1. A. listening        B. reading                C. speaking              D. writing

（ ）2. A.demand         B. expectation        C. request                D. standard

（ ）3. A.intensive        B. difficult                C. simple                 D. extensive

（ ）4. A. point             B. spot                     C. way                     D.corner

（ ）5.A. extent            B. expense               C. example              D. excuse

（ ）6. A. around          B. above                  C. below                  D. beneath

（ ）7. A. figure            B. mark                   C. sign                     D. score

（ ）8. A. boys             B. girls                     C. pupils                  D. children

（ ）9. A. level             B. usual                    C. equality               D. average

（ ）10. A. jumped       B. dropped              C. stayed                D. remained

（ ）11. A. remark        B. blame                  C. doubt                  D. belief

（ ）12. A. year            B. decade                C. centry                  D. months

（ ）13. A. preparing    B. addending            C. organizing            D. introducing

（ ）14. A. educators   B. experts        C. headteachers       D. scholars

（ ）15. A. possible   B. impossible           C. doubtful               D. helpful

Not until Dec. 2003 _____ caught by the US soldiers, and it was a great victory for the USA.

A. was Saddam Hussein        B. Saddam Hussein was

C. had Saddam Hussein been   D. Saddam Hussein had been

Until the 1980s, the American homeless population comprised (组成) mainly older males. Today, homelessness strikes much younger part of society. In fact, a 25-city survey by the U. S. Conference of Mayors in 1987 found that families with children make up the fastest growing part of the homeless population. Many homeless children gather in inner cities; this transient(变化无常的) and frequently frightened student population creates additional problems — both legal and educational — for already overburdened（负担过重的）urban school administrators and teachers.
Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 350,000 to three million. Likewise, estimates of the number of homeless school children vary radically. A U.S. Department of Education report, based on state estimates, states that there are 220,000 homeless school-age children, about a third of whom do not attend school on a regular basis, But the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are at least two times as many homeless children, and that less than half of them attend school regularly.
One part of the homeless population that is particularly difficult to count consists of the “throwaway” youths who have been cast of their homes. The Elementary School Center in New York City estimates that there are 1.5 million of them, many of whom are not counted as children because they do not stay in family shelters and tend to live by themselves on the streets.
Federal law, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, includes a section that addresses the educational needs of homeless children. The educational provisions of the McKinney Act are based on the belief that all homeless children have the right to a free, appropriate education.

1. 1.

   It is implied in the first paragraph that ____.

   1. A.
      the writer himself is homeless, even in his eighties
   2. B.
      many older homeless residents are going on strike in 25 cities
   3. C.
      there is a serious shortage of academic facilities (设施).
   4. D.
      homeless children are denied the opportunity of receiving free education
2. 2.

   The National Coalition for the homeless believes that the number of homeless children is _____.

   1. A.
      350,000
   2. B.
      1,500,000
   3. C.
      440,000
   4. D.
      110,000
3. 3.

    One part of the homeless population is difficult to estimate. The reason might well be ____.

   1. A.
      the homeless children are too young to be counted as children
   2. B.
      the homeless population is growing rapidly
   3. C.
      the homeless children usually stay outside school
   4. D.
      some homeless children are deserted by their families
4. 4.

   The McKinney Act is mentioned in this passage in order to show that ___.

   1. A.
      the educational problems of homeless children are being recognized
   2. B.
      the estimates on homeless children are hard to determine
   3. C.
      the address of grade-school children should be located
   4. D.
      all homeless people are entitled（有权利的） to free education
5. 5.

   The passage mainly deals with ____.

   1. A.
      the legal problems of the homeless children
   2. B.
      the educational problems of homeless children
   3. C.
      the social status of older males
   4. D.
      estimates on the homeless population

Microwaves may be great at warming up food, but what about warming people?

    Using microwaves to directly heat owners of a room would save much of the energy wasted by heating walls and furniture. And despite popular ideas about microwaves, this technique would be safe, according to Charles R. Burlier of the Microwave Research Center in Marlborough, New Hampshire. Low-power microwaves only penetrate (贯穿) the skin (low-power microwave penetration in a ham is about 0.2 inches, for example) and with no negative effects.

    To test this idea, Buffler subjected himself to microwaves in a special room using a standard 500-watt, 2459 MHz magnetron (磁控管). He found that a person will start to feel warmth at about 20 kilowatts per square centimeter (mw. / sq. cm. ) ; a satisfactory feeling of warmth occurs between 35 and 50 mw. / sq. cm. By comparison, a person standing in noonday summer sun feels the amount of 85 mw. / sq. cm. And a frozen meat pie in your microwave oven receives about 1000 mw. / sq. cm.

    In houses of the future, each room could be provided with its own magnetron, says Buffler. When you stepped into the living room, for example, a motion detector (运动感应器)would turn on the magnetron, filling the room with low-power microwaves. In the same way that a microwave oven heats up a hamburger, but not the plate it’s on, you would feel warmth from the microwaves without changing the temperature of your coffee table. (You could, however, make your favorite easy chair even more comfortable by treating it with a radiation-absorbing chemical.)

    While it might be some time before homeowners are comfortable enough with the idea to set up whole-body microwave heaters in houses, Buffler says microwaves may attract livestock(家畜) farmers. Lambs that are born outdoors in winter, for example, are frequently lost to cold. Microwaves could warm the lambs safely and quickly.

Which of the following can tell the main idea of the passage?

A. A new heating system.   

B. A new microwave oven.

C. A popular technique.

D. The magnetron.

According to Paragraph 2, which of the following does not describe the characteristics of a microwave heater?

A. It directly heats people in a room.         

B. It heats walls and furniture in a room.

C. It is safe.                            

D. It saves energy．

The test conducted by Buffler shows that when a person feels comfortable warmth, he receives about ________________.

A. 20 mw. / sq. cm.     B. 40 mw. / sq. cm.

C. 60 mw. / sq. cm.         D. 85 mw. / sq. cm.

According to Paragraph 4, which of the following fills the room with low-power microwaves?

A. The magnetron.  

B. The motion detector.

C. The microwave oven. 

D. The radiation-absorbing chemical.

Which of the following statements about microwave heaters would Buffler most probably agree with?

    A. Microwave heaters will soon be widely used by homeowners.

    B. Microwave heaters sometimes make people feel uncomfortable.

    C. Perhaps microwave heaters will be first used by livestock farmers, who wish to protect their lambs in winter.

D. Microwave heaters cannot be accepted by the public because they are somewhat unsafe.                                   

At the beginning of this century, medical scientists made an interesting discovery; we are built not just of flesh and blood but also of time. They were able to show that we all have "a body clock"  36  us, which controls the rise and fall of our body energies,  37  us different from one day to the next.

The idea of "a body clock" should not be too  38   since the lives of most living things are controlled by the 24 hour night-and-day cycle. We feel  39   and fall asleep at night and become  40  and energetic during the day. If the 24 hour-cycle is disturbed, most people experience unpleasant  41   . For example, people who are not  42   to working at night can find that  43   of sleep causes them to  44   badly at work.  45  the daily cycle of sleeping and waking, we also have other cycles which last longer than one day. Most of us would  46    that we feel good on some days and not so good on others ; sometimes our ideas seem to flow and at other times, they  47  do not exist.

A．inside        B．around                    C．between                  D．on

A．showing       B．treating                   C．making                   D．changing

A．difficult        B．exciting                  C．surprising            D．interesting

A．dull             B．tired                          C．dreamy                  D．peaceful

A．regular          B．excited                   C．lively                         D．clear

A．moments       B．feelings                  C．senses                     D．effects

A．prevented      B．allowed                  C．expected                 D．used

A．miss             B．none                    C．lack                        D．need

A．perform        B．show                   C．manage                   D．control

A．With             B．As well as            C．Except                    D．Rather than

A．agree            B．believe                   C．realize                    D．allow

A．just               B．only                       C．still                        D．yet