4、Poorer children would be offered the chance to attend lessons on Saturday to help catch up with their middle class peers （同龄人）, the shadow schools secretary, Michael Gove, said today．The Conservatives would give English state schools the freedom to choose to have longer teaching hours and extra classes at the weekend, he told the Association of Teachers and Lecturers’ annual conference．

Gove said the move would help to close the achievement gap with richer children whose parents could afford extras such as tutoring and music lessons．

He told delegates （代表） in Manchester: “For children who come from homes where parents don’t have the resources to provide additional stretch and cultural experiences, there are benefits in having those children in the learning environment, in school, for longer．”

“Parents would love to have schools starting earlier in some circumstances, and certainly going on later in the afternoon, given the reality of their working lives,” he said．He held up the example of Kipp （Knowledge is Power Program） schools in the US, which are often based in the poorest communities and open from 7:30 am to 5pm on weekdays, plus Saturdays．

But it would be up to schools to decide to offer longer hours, Gove added．

Parents said Saturday classes could become a “badge of dishonor”if pupils were forced to go, while teachers raised concerns about their workload．

Margaret Morrissey, of Parents Out loud, said: “I think the suggestion the government made about one-to-one teaching for these kids would be a more preferable way of improving these children’s performance．I’m just not sure whether taking away a child at weekends is actually going to make them cleverer in the week．”

The ATL’s general secretary, Mary Bousted, said: “If we want Saturday schools, then we need more teachers doing the extra hours, not the same teachers working longer．”

1．The program is intended for children____________．

       A．who are from middle-class families

       B．whose parents can’t afford extra help

       C．who perform poorly academically

       D．whose weekends are mostly unoccupied

2．“Additional stretch” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to_________．

      A．music lessons                                     B．physical relaxation

      C．entertainment activities                         D．out-of-school improvement

3．Why did Gove mention Kipp schools in the US?

       A．To make a comparison．                      B．To introduce a new program．

       C．To seek supportive evidence．              D．To prove his program is better．

4．What is Margaret Morrissey’s opinion about the new program?

       A．Favourable．                                B．Doubtful．

       C．Optimistic．                                 D．Acceptable．

5．Which of the following is true?

       A．Teachers may not like the program．     B．Schools are trying to make profits．

       C．The program is already under way．     D．The program is popular with children．

3、Since the gene, called DAF-16 in worms, was found in many animals and in humans, the finding could open up new ways to affect aging, immunity（免疫）and resistance in humans, the scientists said．

“We wanted to find out how normal aging is being governed by genes and what effect these genes have on other traits, such as immunity,” said Robin May of the University of Birmingham, who led the study．

Populations across the world are aging at a surprising pace, bringing potentially big challenges for health and social care systems．A study by Danish scientists last year found that half of babies born in the rich world today will live to celebrate their 100th birthdays．Scientists are eager to find out how people age to try to develop drugs to help them stay healthier as their lives extend．

“What we have found is that things like resistance and aging tend to go hand in hand,” May said in an interview．

May’s team compared longevity, stress resistance and immunity in four related species of worm．They also looked for differences in the activity of DAF-16 in each of the four species, and found that they were all quite distinct．

May said DAF-16 was active in most cells in the body and was very similar to a group of human genes called FOXO genes, which scientists believe play a role in the aging process．

“The fact that subtle（微妙的）differences in DAF-16 between species seem to have such an impact on aging and health is very interesting and may explain how differences in lifespan and related traits have arisen during evolution,” May said．

1．In which section may the text appear in a newspaper?

      A．Education．                              B．Science．  

       C．Entertainment．                            D．Culture．

2．According to May,_________,．

       A．resistance has a lot to do with aging

       B．FOXO genes can be found in worms

       C．genes play the same role in different species

       D．new drugs will change the genes in older people

3．What can we know from the third paragraph?

       A．New ways have been found to affect aging．

       B．Babies in the rich world will all live longer．

       C．Present social care systems are poorly managed．

       D．Aging populations are causing more challenges．

4．From the text we know that DAF-16        ．

       A．is a gene that is only found in worms

       B．can make people live longer

       C．has an effect on aging and immunity

       D．has been quite familiar to scientists

5．What can be the best title of the passage?

       A．Scientists Find Gene Linked to Aging

       B．Population Aging Faster than Expected

       C．How to Make People Live Longer

       D．Gene Determines How Long We Live

28、---Shall I give you a ride as you live so far away?

---Thank you. ______.

A．It couldn’t be better               B．Of course you could

C．If you like                             D．It’s up to you

27、Our teacher looked here and there on our playground ______ looking for something.

A．even though          B．even if          C．as if               D．only if

26、Going on a trip into ______ space must be quite ______ exciting experience.

A．/ ; the         B．the; a        C．the; an         D．/ ; an

25、It is bad ______ to talk with your finger ______ at the other person.

A．manners; to point                                 B．manner, to point

C．manners, pointing                                D．manner, points