Should struggling students be banned from clubs and sports?
Getting a bad grade in Rockingham, Vt. could get you kicked off the team! School officials there are considering k*s#5^unew guidelines that would prevent students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs. The proposal would affect students in eighth grade and below.
School board member Mike says the policy would motivate students to work harder in school. He drafted a letter to coaches, parents, and after-school program leaders to encourage them to allow only kids who are meeting certain academic standards into their program.
Not everyone gives such policy an A+. Some people argue that no student should be excluded from after-school activities. They say taking part in extracurricular activities can help kids do better in class by improving their participation and concentration skills. They say a 2009 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that time spent in extracurricular physical activities does not take away from students’ ability to do well in the classroom . In fact, it may even help boost girls’ academic performance.
Students themselves have different opinions.
SCHOOL COMES FIRST
Why not require good grades to participate in those activities?
Kids need to understand that grades are important. School comes first, period. Getting good grades help you with life, help you go to college, get a job, and so on. Banning underachieving students from extracurricular activities not only gives them motivation to get their grades up, but allows more time to study or get help from a tutor.
DON’T BAN STUDENTS
Every student should be able to participate in extracurricular activities, no matter what his or her grades are. Extracurricular activities can help kids concentrate more on doing homework. They can help kids develop mentally and physically.
A school policy that tells kids with bad grades that they can’t be in sports or the school play is like judging a book by its cover. Every student is unique. A kid may have a learning disability, an attention issue, or a difficult time studying in his or her home environment. His or her teachers should find why the student is struggling. Together they should find out a solution that will keep the student in the activity.
72. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “excluded”?
A. protected   B. approved C.  blamed   D. banned
73. What’s the author’s attitude to the policy that prevents students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities?
A. supportive   B. critical     C. neutral   D. indifferent
74. In the second paragraph “a 2009 study…”is used by the critics to        .
A. To indicate the author is against the policy.
B. To emphasize there is no need to ban the students with bad grades to take part in extracurricular activities.
C. To suggest girls can benefit from extracurricular activities.
D. To prove grades have nothing to do with extracurricular activities.
75. Some don’t think the policy is reasonable for the following reasons EXCEPT        .
A. Every kid is unique.
B. Extracurricular activities will benefit students mentally and physically.
C. . Grades will help students get a job.
D. One can learn more that can’t be learned in class.

E

Should struggling students be banned from clubs and sports?

Getting a bad grade in Rockingham, Vt. could get you kicked off the team! School officials there are considering new guidelines that would prevent students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs. The proposal would affect students in eighth grade and below.

School board member Mike says the policy would motivate students to work harder in school. He drafted a letter to coaches, parents, and after-school program leaders to encourage them to allow only kids who are meeting certain academic standards into their program.

Not everyone gives such policy an A+. Some people argue that no student should be excluded from after-school activities. They say taking part in extracurricular activities can help kids do better in class by improving their participation and concentration skills. They say a 2009 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that time spent in extracurricular physical activities does not take away from students’ ability to do well in the classroom . In fact, it may even help boost girls’ academic performance.

Students themselves have different opinions.

SCHOOL COMES FIRST

Why not require good grades to participate in those activities?

Kids need to understand that grades are important. School comes first, period. Getting good grades help you with life, help you go to college, get a job, and so on. Banning underachieving students from extracurricular activities not only gives them motivation to get their grades up, but allows more time to study or get help from a tutor.

DON’T BAN STUDENTS

Every student should be able to participate in extracurricular activities, no matter what his or her grades are. Extracurricular activities can help kids concentrate more on doing homework. They can help kids develop mentally and physically.

A school policy that tells kids with bad grades that they can’t be in sports or the school play is like judging a book by its cover. Every student is unique. A kid may have a learning disability, an attention issue, or a difficult time studying in his or her home environment. His or her teachers should find why the student is struggling. Together they should find out a solution that will keep the student in the activity.

72. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “excluded”?

A. protected       B. approved       C. blamed       D. banned

73. What’s the author’s attitude to the policy that prevents students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities?

A. supportive        B. critical        C . neutral       D. indifferent

74. In the second paragraph “a 2009 study…”is used by the critics to_______ .

A. To indicate the author is against the policy.

B. To emphasize there is no need to ban the students with bad grades to take part in extracurricular activities.

C. To suggest girls can benefit from extracurricular activities.

D. To prove grades have nothing to do with extracurricular activities.

75. Some don’t think the policy is reasonable for the following reasons EXCEPT______.

A. Every kid is unique.

B. Extracurricular activities will benefit students mentally and physically.

C. Grades will help students get a job.

D. One can learn more that can’t be learned in class.

Should struggling students be banned from clubs and sports?

Getting a bad grade in Rockingham, Vt. could get you kicked off the team! School officials there are considering k*s#5^unew guidelines that would prevent students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs. The proposal would affect students in eighth grade and below.

School board member Mike says the policy would motivate students to work harder in school. He drafted a letter to coaches, parents, and after-school program leaders to encourage them to allow only kids who are meeting certain academic standards into their program.

Not everyone gives such policy an A+. Some people argue that no student should be excluded from after-school activities. They say taking part in extracurricular activities can help kids do better in class by improving their participation and concentration skills. They say a 2009 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that time spent in extracurricular physical activities does not take away from students’ ability to do well in the classroom . In fact, it may even help boost girls’ academic performance.

Students themselves have different opinions.

SCHOOL COMES FIRST

Why not require good grades to participate in those activities?

Kids need to understand that grades are important. School comes first, period. Getting good grades help you with life, help you go to college, get a job, and so on. Banning underachieving students from extracurricular activities not only gives them motivation to get their grades up, but allows more time to study or get help from a tutor.

DON’T BAN STUDENTS

Every student should be able to participate in extracurricular activities, no matter what his or her grades are. Extracurricular activities can help kids concentrate more on doing homework. They can help kids develop mentally and physically.

A school policy that tells kids with bad grades that they can’t be in sports or the school play is like judging a book by its cover. Every student is unique. A kid may have a learning disability, an attention issue, or a difficult time studying in his or her home environment. His or her teachers should find why the student is struggling. Together they should find out a solution that will keep the student in the activity.

72. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “excluded”?

A. protected   B. approved C.  blamed   D. banned

73. What’s the author’s attitude to the policy that prevents students with bad grades from participating in extracurricular activities?

A. supportive   B. critical     C. neutral   D. indifferent

74. In the second paragraph “a 2009 study…”is used by the critics to        .

A. To indicate the author is against the policy.

B. To emphasize there is no need to ban the students with bad grades to take part in extracurricular activities.

C. To suggest girls can benefit from extracurricular activities.

D. To prove grades have nothing to do with extracurricular activities.

75. Some don’t think the policy is reasonable for the following reasons EXCEPT        .

A. Every kid is unique.

B. Extracurricular activities will benefit students mentally and physically.

C. . Grades will help students get a job.

D. One can learn more that can’t be learned in class.

Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today? Many people wrongly believe that when people reach old age, their families place them in nursing homes. They are left there in the hands of strangers for the rest of their lives. Their grown-up children visit them only occasionally, but more often, they do not have any regular visitors. Actually this is not true. In fact, family members provide over 80 percent of the care that elderly people need.

Prof. Samuel Preston, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, studied how the American family is changing. He reported that by the time the average American couple reaches 40 years of age, they have more parents than children. This statistic (统计) shows the change in life-styles and responsibilities of aging Americans. The average middle-aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents some time after their own children have grown up. Moreover, because people today live longer after an illness than people did years ago, family members must provide long-term care. These facts also mean that after care-givers provide for their elderly parents, who will eventually die, they will be old and may require care too. When they do, their spouses (配偶, 指夫或妻) will probably take care of them.

Because Americans are living longer than ever, more psychologists and social workers have begun to study care-giving to improve care of the elderly. They have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic: all caregivers believe that they are the best person for the job, for different reasons. One caregiver said that she had always been close to her mother. Another was the oldest child. In other words, they all felt that they could do the job better than anyone else. Social workers interviewed caregivers to find out why they took on the responsibility of caring for an elderly, dependent relative. They discovered three basic reasons. Many caregivers believed that they had the responsibility to help their relatives. Some stated that helping others made them feel more useful. Others hoped that by helping someone now, they would deserve care when they became old and dependent.

48. It can be inferred that a middle-aged couple in the US _______.

A. spend more time with their children than with their parents

B. depend on their children’s assistance in caring for the elderly

C. don’t pay more attention to their children than to their parents

D. spend more time taking care of their parents than before

49. The most common characteristic of caregivers is ______.

A. they all have professional qualifications in care-giving

B. they all believe themselves to be the best caregiver

C. they are the eldest child in the family

D. they are close to their parents

50. Which of the following is NOT a basic reason for care-giving?

A. Respect from other members of the family.

B. Prepayment for the care they will get in old age.

C. A feeling of being needed and helpful.

D. A strong sense of duty to the elderly.

51. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Most old people in the US are living a happy life.

B. Most old people in the US live longer today after an illness than people did years ago.

C. Most elderly people in the US are taken care of by their families, who often find the experience satisfying.

D. Most elderly people in the US prefer living with their families to living nursing houses.

The new automobile fuel economy standards formally adopted by the Obama administration on Thursday will produce a series of benefits: reduced dependence on foreign oil, fewer greenhouse gas emissions(排放), and consumer savings at the pump.

This was truly a moment to celebrate. But it was tempered by the fact that some in Congress are trying to cancel the laws that made the new standards possible.

The standards will require automakers to build passenger cars, sport-utility vehicles and minivans that average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 — a 30 percent increase over today’s cars, and the biggest single jump in fuel economy since the original standards were adopted in the 1970s. Cars will cost more, but the government estimates that consumers will save an average of $3,000 in fuel over the life of a new vehicle.

The standards will also place the first-ever limits on automobile greenhouse gas emissions, and are expected to reduce emissions by 21 percent by 2030 compared with what the output would have been without the standards. Because emissions from passenger vehicles represent about one-fifth of America’s greenhouse gases, this is a step forward for the planet.

The automakers, who fought the rules until they went broke（破产）, have come to accept this as a step forward as well. A single national standard provides regulatory certainty, and they’ve got to get more efficient to survive.

However, some in Congress seemed determined to roll back the laws that got us here. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, and several other senators have added a challenge to the federal government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act — not just from automobiles but from other sources. The Supreme Court gave the Environmental Protection Agency that authority three years ago, and the new emissions standards would have been impossible without it.

There has also been talk in the Senate of eliminating California’s special authority under the Clean Air Act to set more aggressive motor vehicle standards than the federal limits. California used that authority to pass a law in 2002 setting greenhouse gas emissions limits for cars sold there. It was the first law of its kind in this country, and it provided the drive and the foundation for the new nationwide standards.

What all of these opponents mean to do is to roll back history and the hard-won environmental protections it has produced. That would be a huge mistake.

66. The following are the benefits of the new automobile economy standards EXCEPT ________.

A. reduced dependence on foreign oil

B. cancelling some of the laws

C. fewer greenhouse gas emissions

D. consumer savings at the pump

67. What goal is set for the year 2016?

A. Cars will cost more so fewer people will buy them.

B. There is a 30 percent increase in car manufacturing.

C. An average vehicle can go 35.5 miles with one gallon of gas.

D. Consumers will save an average of $3,000 in fuel per car.

68. The underlined word “it” in paragraph six refers to ________.

A. The Clean Air Act

B. The Supreme Court

C. The Environment Protection Agency

D. The federal government’s authority

69. What seems to be the root of the new automobile fuel economy standards?

A. California’s motor vehicle standards.

B. The Environment Protection Agency.

C. Some Senators, like Lisa Murkowski.

D. Greenhouse gas emissions.

70. According to the writer, the new automobile fuel economy standards will probably lead to the result that ________.

A. everyone wins

B. more cars will be sold

C. it would be a big mistake

D. nobody agrees