Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap．Some call it the summer learning setback．Simply speaking, it means the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget．The only thing they might gain is weight．
Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar．Students get winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation．Some schools follow a year-round calendar．They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between．The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than three thousand such schools at last count．They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states．
But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school．Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said, "year-round schools don't really solve the problem of the summer learning setback．They simply spread it out across the year．"
Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summer than other students．Experts say this can be prevented．They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help．
But calling them "summer school" could be a problem．The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term summer school”．In American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood．The parents welcomed other terms like "summer camp," "enrichment," "extra time" and "hands-on learning．"
(1)
According to the first paragraph the summer learning gap ________．
[ ]
A．
helps children to gain weight
B．
leads children to work harder
C．
improves children's memories
D．
affects children's regular studies
(2)
Compared to traditional schools, students in the year-round ones ________．
[ ]
A．
perform better and have more learning gains
B．
have much less time for relaxation every year
C．
have generally the same number of class days
D．
hold more classes with more free weeks off
(3)
Which of the following statements is true?
[ ]
A．
Students from poor families often fall behind after the vocation．
B．
Year-round schools can solve the problem of the learning gap．
C．
There are schools in each state following a year-round calendar．
D．
Nothing can help the students who fall behind after the vocation．
(4)
Why did almost all parents dislike the term “summer school”?
[ ]
A．
They cherish the children's rights of freedom very much．
B．
They are worried about the quality of the “summer school”．
C．
They want their children to be forced to make up the gap．
D．
They can't afford to the further study during vacation．
A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at fine wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months．
The system, called Driver Alert, aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20％－40％ that are caused by tiredness．Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30％ of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue．
Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband．The device, worn by drivers or pilots, gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey．After each sound the driver must respond by．squeezing the steering wheel(方向盘)．A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound, and the driver’s response．
Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time．Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy．
In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds, showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest．If the driver’s response continues to slow down, the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible．
The device has been delivered to the department’s 1aboatories for testing．If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time, are successful, the makers will bring the product to market within about a year．
(1)
According to the text, Driver Alert ________．
[ ]
A．
aims to reduce tiredness－related accidents
B．
has gone through testing at laboratories
C．
aims to prevent drivers from sleeping
D．
has been on sale for 12 months
(2)
How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
[ ]
A．
By sounding a warning．
B．
By touching the wristband．
C．
By checking the driving time．
D．
By pressing the steering wheel．
(3)
We can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ________
[ ]
A．
about 400 milliseconds
B．
below 500 milliseconds
C．
over 500 milliseconds
D．
about 4 minutes
(4)
When the driver gets sleepy while driving, Driver Alert ________．
[ ]
A．
moves more regularly
B．
stops working properly
C．
opens the window for the driver
D．
sounds more frequently and loudly
阅读理解：
Most animals have little connection with animals of a different kind, unless they hunt them for food．Sometimes, however, two kinds of animals come together in a partnership which does good to both of them．You may have noticed some birds sitting on the backs of sheep．This is not because they want a ride, but because they find easy food in the parasites(寄生虫)on sheep．The sheep allow the birds to do so because they remove the cause of discomfort．So although they can manage without each other, they do better together．
Sometimes an animal has a plant partner．This relationship develops until the two partners cannot manage without each other．This is so in the coral(珊瑚)of the sea．In their skins they have tiny plants which act as " dustmen", taking some of the waste products from the coral and giving in return oxygen which the animal needs to breathe．If the plants are killed, or are even prevented from light so that they cannot live normally, the corals will die．
(1)
Some birds like to sit on a sheep because ________．
[ ]
A．
they can eat its parasites
B．
they depend on the sheep for existence
C．
they enjoy travelling with the sheep
D．
they find the position most comfortable．
(2)
The underlined word "they" in the last sentence of the first paragraph refers
to ________．
[ ]
A．
birds and parasites
B．
birds and sheep
C．
parasites and sheep
D．
sheep birds and parasites
(3)
It can be learnt from the text that the coral depends on the plant for ________．
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afraid. A person with a green thumb