Asia is home to more than half of the world's population and three of the four most crowded countries are in Asia. China, India, and Indonesia alone have more than 2.5 billion people.
Until recently, most Asian nations fell behind the western countries in many fields. Government reform(改革), however, has led to important progress in each of these Asian countries. Across the area, education systems have been improved and economies（经济） have been growing. Most Asian countries now have a system of compulsory(义务的) education. Many countries have recently allowed private universities to be built, which was not allowed before. There are more chances for students to go to university now.
However, in Asia, there are still not enough chances for students to get higher education and many people prefer to go abroad for further study. As a result, India, China, South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries send thousands of students to study in the United States and Europe each year.
Part of the people in Asian countries can speak English, and English has become the most important language for business across the area. The percentage(百分比) is the largest in Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, SriLanka and South Korea. Many people in China, India and Malaysia can also speak English. Some countries have made English part of the primary and secondary education program. In some countries, children begin to study English even at the age of 4 or 5.
【小题1】The population of Asia is about__________         .

Sitting on exercise balls brings more than a smile to students and teachers.
Some fourth-graders at Conrad Weiser West Elementary School in Womelsdorf love their new chairs-—probably because they're not really chairs at all.
The kids are sitting on the air-filled balls. But different from those just for exercise, these have small legs that keep them from rolling. Sitting on a chair all day in school can make anyone want to move around. So, more and more teachers are letting students have a ball. By using exercise balls instead of common chairs, teachers find students' posture(姿势) and attention improved.
Dotti Pownall, a fifth-grader teacher in West Virginia, has been using balls as chairs since December 2008. "The students love them." she says. Pownall took a survey of her students. She found that 80 percent, thought sitting on the balls helped them concentrate(专注) better:
"Besides, they’re fun,b" says Pownall.
According to WittFitt,b a company that has sold balls to more than 200 schools, they can improve kids' posture and classroom behavior.
Exercise ball chairs are getting popular in classrooms, from preschool to college. Some adults (成人) even use them at work.
Lisa Witt felt so strongly about the use of balls as chairs that she started WittFitt. She said the company not only encourages the use of balls but also educates teachers and students on how to use them. "We sell balls in 24 states in America, three provinces in Canada and Japan." says Witt.
【小题1】Sitting on exercise balls can______.

Some students cheat(作弊) because they’re busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without   43   the time studying. Other students might feel that they can’t pass the test without cheating. Even when there seems to be a “good reason” for cheating, it isn’t a good   44  .

A student who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test   45   to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some better ways together. Talking about these problems and   46   them out will help feel better than cheating.

If a student gets   47   cheating, the teacher may give a “zero” on the test, send him or her to the head teacher’s office, and call his or her parents. Worse than the bad grade may be the feeling of having disappointed those people,   48   parents and teachers. A parent may worry that you are not an   49   person and a teacher might watch you more   50   the next time you’re taking a test.

There are plenty of reasons why a kid shouldn’t cheat, but some students have already cheated. If that’s you, it’s   51   too late to stop cheating. Cheating can become a habit, but a student is always able to act better and make better   52  . It might help to talk the problem over with a parent, teacher, or friend.  

1.A. taking         B. spending         C. costing          D. using

2.A. idea           B. purpose          C. custom           D. conclusion

3.A. decides        B. hopes                C. refuses              D. needs

4.A. breaking       B. dreaming         C. missing          D. working

5.A. caught         B. offered          C. appeared         D. suggested

6.A. and            B. besides          C. like             D. among

7.A. outside        B. advantageous     C. interesting          D. honest

8.A. closely        B. bravely          C. certainly            D. hardly

9.A. always     B. never                C. once             D. neither

10.A. education     B. decisions            C. challenges           D. risks

China Youth says that more and more girl students have entered colleges to study in recent few years. As we know, once the number of boys was larger than that of girls, and the boys did much better than girls in our country for a long time. Now things have changed a lot.

In recent years, the proportion of girl students is growing fast. In 1998, about 39.7% of college students were girls. In 2000, it was 41.07% and in 2001, the number was 42.14%.

There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, there is little difference between boys and girls in their intelligence(智力). That’s to say, girls are as clever as boys. And boys have more interests than girls, so they may not do well in their study.

Secondly, girls are more careful and more sensible than boys. They work harder at school and they do better in all exams.

Another reason is that with the development of society, people pay more and more attention to girls’ education.

1.China Youth says that more and more ______

A．boys are cleverer than girls

B．boys can’t go to school

C．girls have entered colleges

D．girls begin to study at school

2.42.14% refers to the number of _________

A．girls at schools at schools in 1998

B．girls in colleges in 2001

C．boys at schools in 2001

D．boys in colleges in 1998

3.The writer gave us _________   reasons to explain the question.

A．two              B．three             C．four              D．five

4.The underlined word “proportion” means _________ in Chinese.

A．身高             B．比例             C．特征             D．速度

5.Which of the following sentences is TRUE?

A．Boys may not do as well in their study as girls because they don’t like studying.

B．Boys are much cleverer than girls because they’re interested in many things.

C．Girls’ intelligence is the same as boys’.

D．Girls study harder, but they couldn’t get higher marks than boys.