I am truly saddened about what is going on in my school district, especially in the school where I am
currently working.
     Why are so many students not doing well? Why is there such a huge achievement gap between urban
and suburban students? Just this week, in my school the seventh grade team leader called a meeting to
discuss academic detention (放学后留校). The purpose of the detention is to allow students who are
doing poorly a second chance to redo the work. Now if a student did not understand an assignment I have no trouble allowing that student to redo a test or give some extra credit work, but if a student did poorly
because he/she opted(选择) not to do the work out of sheer laziness, that student should not be given a 
second chance.
     And parents should be held accountable for their children. That is another reason why there is such a
huge achievement gap. All children should be monitored at home in order to achieve great success in
school. Perhaps it might be a great idea for urban school districts to offer free classes to parents on how to help their students at home. Of course this idea is far fetched, after all we do not want to offend the
parents. What we will do instead is to spend a fortune on teacher training because if the kids are not doing well it must be the fault of the teacher. That kind of mindset, if allowed to continue will be a perfect recipe
for greater achievement gaps.
      I started working at my current school in August and I have been in the teaching field for 25 years.
What I believe is that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make that  horse drink. You can't force kids to change bad habits over  night, nor can we afford to lower standards just so a kid can  pass a class.

1. The seventh grade team leader in the author's school called    a meeting to ________.

A. analyse the reason for the huge achievement gap between students
B. find out who is to blame for the huge achievement gap between students
C. talk about giving students who are doing poorly a second  chance to redo the work
D. discuss how to narrow the huge achievement gap between students

2. The author believes that a student can be given a second chance ________.

A. if he did poorly the first time
B. for whatever reason he did poorly the first time
C. if he failed the first time in spite of his efforts
D. if he comes from a suburban area

3. In the last paragraph, the author intends to tell us that ________.

A. a student can make improvement only when he is willing to
B. teachers are to blame if his students are doing poorly
C. the school should force those students to work harder if   they're doing poorly
D. the school should treat different students with different standards

                                                    Online Movie Rentals
     It is generally accepted that the best way to learn a language is to totally involve yourself in its culture by living in the country where it is spoken.   __ 1__  Fortunately, many aspects of a country's culture have
made their way to our lives in the form of various media and entertainment outlets. Not only do they allow a peek at life, but they make excellent study material for learning the language.
     What to increase your language skills and enjoy some entertainment at the same time? Tired of going
down to the video rental store to rent movies? __ 2__
     Most companies require customers to operate on the following model:
     ●Select and sign up for a payment program online, which will determine how many movies you can rent and hold at any one time.
     ●  __ 3__  You can look up movies by title, actor or director. Then movies will be sent to you within
1～3 days, and shipping is covered by the company.
     ●Watch the movies, often with no late fees.
     ●  __ 4__
     ●Check these sites for specific, uptodate details.
     Once you receive the movies, how can you improve your language skills with them? Well, just sitting in front of the TV with a drink in one hand isn't a bad way to relax, but you won't learn much. While seeing a movie you should take notes of new expressions. Write them down and look them up in a good
English-English dictionary to understand their possible meanings.  __ 5__  If you don't know how to use
words, learning vocabulary will lose all meaning.

A. Return the movies in a prepaid return envelope.
B. If you haven't finished on time, you can delay returning.
C. Now, more and more companies are offering customers the chance to rent movies online.
D. Then, think of some sample sentences for each word.
E. Choose the movie you want to watch, generally 1～3 at a time.
F. Watch movies as long as you have nothing to do.
G. While many find packing up and moving to a country is not a practical option.

     Nowadays, being a teacher is a difficult yet rewarding job. Not everyone is suited for teaching. Aside
from having love for working with children, teaching is a career like no other.
    An effective teacher is not only the master of his/her subject area, but also an educator with the strong
emotional backbone. Daily, the teacher communicates with students from different backgrounds, with
different learning skills, and with different emotions.
    The teacher will set high expectations of all students and never give up the underachievers. The teacher will always be available to students whether it's before classes begin or after school. He/She will also have additional work for students need extra assistance in learning the subject.
    An effective teacher will contrast his/her lesson with the material so that students will look at the
material in various ways. This will ensure that students remain on task during the entire class session.
Being asked openended questions, students will remain interested and not be bored. Difficult as this may
sound, it can be achieved.
    The teacher will always be an enthusiastic, organized, and caring individual, and will make learning fun. He/She will not simply write the assignment on the board，and tell students "There's your assignment.
Get to work!"  and proceed to sit at his/her desk for the remainder of the period. Instead, the teacher will
add games or use media in the learning process; in this way, students will crave (渴望) learning.
    Our children need support, guidance and proper instruction so that they will succeed in life, not only in
the career they choose, but also as the person they become.

1. If you want to be a good teacher you should ________.

A. be only good at teaching your lessons
B. form the habit of working with children
C. enjoy communicating with different students
D. try your best to follow school rules

2. As a teacher you should do all the following EXCEPT ________.

A. expect everyone to make progress
B. help students who do badly in their lessons
C. help students before or after class
D. do some of the homework for students

3. A teacher can ask some openended questions in order to ________.

A. keep students busy
B. make the class interesting
C. help students achieve more
D. force students to learn more knowledge

4. Which of the following shows that a teacher is well organized?

A. Writing homework on the blackboard.
B. Asking students to work hard.
C. Reminding students to finish homework in time.
D. Making learning interesting by playing games.

     When many of us take a vacation,relaxing is what we want.But we usually return home  tired and weak.It doesn't have to be this way.
     Come home refreshed after an active trip! Don't be too tired!
     Active vacations are often the most relaxing of all.It's all in defining (定义) what an active  vacation is.We don't expect you to run slowly,or go backpacking.Well,we ask the vacationers who are not active not to sit too long but to spend two to four hours a day doing things,such as walking the city streets,exploring a nature protect,going to a zoo or biking along the ocean.
     These kinds of activities aren't just good for your physical health.They improve your mental health,even your spiritual health.And they make vacations memorable and worthwhile.And after all,isn't that what you want from your vacation?Here are some fresh ideas to make your vacations as pleasurable as they are
active and healthy.
     A walk at dawn or dusk is necessary.Try to make this a daily routine of life away from home,and you
will ensure yourself both physical and spiritual adding.
     Don't allow yourself to spend your entire time sitting in front of the water.Whether it is the ocean,a
swimming pool,or a treelined lake,make sure you get into the water for swimming or games or even
walking.Heck,merely standing in waisthigh water is a good exercise,thanks to the action of the water.And
you will feel so much more alive!
     Many of us spend a large piece of our vacations on the road,either getting to and from our destinations,or using the car for sightseeing.But no matter how beautiful the scenery is,great,memorable vacations don't happen in a car seat.Don't wait for tiredness or nature's call to get you to pull over.Frequently get out and
stretch,walk,picnic,shop,visit,and have fun.It's important for your health and energy,and it makes traveling a lot more active and interesting.

1. The writer writes the text mainly to________.

A. introduce the relationship between vacations and health
B. tell us how to make our vacations relaxing
C. show us where we should go for our vacations
D. explain to us why we feel tired when traveling

2. What does the underlined word "refreshed" mean?

A. Full and excited.  
B. Pleasant but fired.
C. Feeling less tired.  
D. Feeling regretted.

3. What advantage can "the activities" in Paragraph 5 bring?

A. They can improve our health as well as making us feel easy.
B. They just can keep us feel excited and confident.
C. They can bring us more chances to get out.
D. They can save us much time and make the trip meaningful.

4. In the last paragraph,the writer seems to advise us to________.

A. go on vacation by car
B. not to spend too much time on the road
C. make a trip on foot
D. get out of the car for sightseeing

     Back in the 1970s,the robots were coming for our boring manufacturing (生产) jobs.Now,they're
coming for our boring table service jobs.Korean company ITM Technology has developed the restaurant
concept around a little robot that fulfills the role of a waiter.Robo Cafe avoids ordering errors,reduces
staffing costs greatly for restaurant owners,and even brings the boss all the tips.
     Japan is preparing for some very tough times ahead.When its aging population become too old to
work,labor is going to be in severe shortage.So inventive technology departments are exploding with really fascinating ideas to take the pressure off when it hits.
     To small cafe and restaurant owners,the solution might well look something like Robo Cafe,a restaurant designed to operate as efficiently as possible with the absolute minimum human workforce possible.The
building needs to be designed with small horizontal (水平的) pathways leading from the kitchen to all the
tables.A small team of waiter robots can then get around to every table in the house when they're asked to come.Customers can either order orally,or touch a screen on the robot's belly.When the kitchen has
finished preparing the food,the robot brings it out to customers.
     Dan Carlin talks about the "kitchen of the future ",where everything is automated and the labor is free
because you own it.Really,the_kitchen_of_the_future_is_actually the_kitchen of_the_past,when you
consider that throughout human history,there have been many examples of slaves working for no pay.
     As Carlin points out,today's concept of slavery is mostly restricted to nonhumans.And the ownership of robot labor in a Robo Caf ?type situation will almost certainly prove itself far more economical and
dependable than a human workforce once the technology itself becomes mature.Of course,slaves have a
worrying habit of rising up against their owners.

1. According to the passage,the robots that were invented in the last century could________.

A. do some work that people dare not do
B. bring lots of fun and profits to their owners
C. do some housework such as table service work
D. save people from having to do some boring manufacturing work

2. According to the passage,what will a Robo Caf ?type restaurant be like?

A. Most of the work will be done by robots.
B. Owners needn't pay for the labour of their employees.
C. Robot waiters are designed to serve customers voluntarily.
D. The building will be designed for the convenience of customers.

3. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A. Employees depend on owners of restaurants as before.
B. Technology won't change the core of the kitchen.
C. Labor free of charge can be used in the kitchen again.
D. Labor free of charge is no longer limited to humans.

     It's great fun to explore (探索) new places-it feels like an adventure, even when you know
you're not the first to have been there. But make sure not to get lost or waste time going round
in circles.
     Do the map reading if you're being driven somewhere.It'll be easier if you keep turning the
map so it follows the direction you're traveling in Keep looking ahead so that you can give the
driver lots of warning before having to make a turn, or you'll have to move to the back seat.
     Get a group of friends together and go exploring.You'll need a good map, a compass
(指南针), a raincoat,a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of spare cash
for emergencies (应急现金). Tell someone where you're going before you set out and let
them know what time you expect to be back. The test is in not getting lost, not in seeing how
fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.
     See if your school or a club organizes orienteering activities, in which you need a map and
a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way
from A to B (and B to C, etc. ) in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. Either
way, it's not only good fun, but a great way to keep fit.  

1. Sitting beside the driver, you should _______ .    

A. direct the driver when necessary
B. look ahead to see where there's a turn
C. move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable
D. keep looking at the map to find a place to go to 

2. Why do you need to tell someone your exploration plan  before setting out?     

A. To get information when in danger.
B. To be saved in case of an accident.
C. To share the fun with him/her in exploration.
D. To tell him/her what's going on with the group members. 

3. Orienteering activities can_______  .  

A. make people work fast
B. help people stay healthy
C. help people organize other activities
D. make people get prepared for sports

4. The text mainly talks about_______.     

A. the fun of exploration
B. what to bring for exploration
C. the way to use a map in exploration
D. how to prevent getting lost in exploration

     The  fridge is considered a necessity. It has been so since the 1960s when packaged food first
appeared with the label:"store in the refrigerator".
     In my fridgeless Fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily. The milkman came daily, the grocer, the butcher, the baker, and the ice-cream man delivered two or three times a week. The Sunday meat would
last until Wednesday and surplus (剩余) bread and milk became all kinds of cakes. Nothing was wasted,
and we were never troubled by rotten food. Thirty years on, food deliveries have ceased, fresh vegetables are almost unobtainable in the country.
     The invention of the fridge contributed comparatively little to the art of food preservation. A vast way of well-tried techniques already existed -natural cooling, drying, smoking, salting, sugaring, bottling….
     What refrigeration did promote was marketing-marketing hardware and electricity, marketing soft
drinks, marketing dead bodies of animals around the globe in search of a good price.
     Consequently, most of the world's fridges are to be found, not in the tropics where they might prove
useful, but in the wealthy countries with mild temperatures where they are climatically almost unnecessary. Every winter, millions of fridges hum(嗡嗡响) away continuously, and at vast expense, busily maintaining
an artificially-coo1ed space inside an artificially-heated house -while outside, nature provides the desired
temperature free of charge.The fridge's effect upon the environment has been evident, while its contribution to human happiness has been insignificant. If you don't believe me, try it yourself, invest in a food cabinet
and turn off your fridge next winter. You may miss the hamburgers, but at least you'll get rid of that terrible hum.

1. The statement "In my bridgeless Fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily." in Para. 2 suggests
that         .

A. the author was well-fed and healthy even without a fridge in his fifties
B. the author was not accustomed to use fridges even in his fifties
C. there was no fridge in the author's home in the 1950s
D. the fridge was in its early stage of development in the 1950s

2. Why does the author say that nothing was wasted before the invention of fridges?

A. People would not buy more food than was necessary.
B. Food was delivered to people two or three times a week.
C. Food was sold fresh and did not get rotten easily.
D. People had effective ways to preserve their food.

3. Who benefited the least from fridges according to the author?

A. Inventors.   
B. Consumers.
C. Manufacturers.  
D. Traveling salesmen.

4. Which of the following phrases in the fifth paragraph indicates the fridge's negative effect on the
environment?

A."Hum away continuously".          
B."Climatically almost unnecessary".  
C. "Artificially-cooled space".          
D."With mild temperatures".

5. What is the author's overall attitude toward fridges?

A. Neutral.            
B. Critical.      
C. Objective      
D. Compromising.

     As an English teacher, one of the most common problems I've found with my students is their
lack of confidence with speaking, and difficulty in understanding native speakers. Another problem
could be that a foreign language taught in schools can sound quite different to what native speakers
actually use.
     There are a few English words and expressions that I'd never heard until I came to China. The
most common one in my experience is "How are you? I'm fine, thank you, and you?"
     I appreciate that although this greeting is much too formal for everyday use - it's easy to learn
and helps build confidence. However, it can be a hard habit to break. I've seen many parents correct
their kids if they don't use that exact phrase, as if simply replying "I'm fine" would somehow be rude.
In fact I'm banning my students from saying that in the classroom, insisting a simple "I'm fine, thanks"
is good enough.
     "Seldom" is another one that I find interesting. The first time a student told me "I seldom watch
TV", my initial reaction was a stupefied look, followed by "Huh?" I then realized the student used
"seldom" when it's more common for us to use "rarely."
     I was just as confused when I first heard a toilet referred to as a WC (water closet), another
English term I'd never heard of back in Australia. Of course, my students know the other names
for it like bathroom, toilet, washroom etc. so to prefer that name is an interesting choice.  
     I don't mind that my students have substituted familiar English words with their own, far from it.
It reminds me how creative they can be with not only their language, but with mine as well. It's healthy
for English to evolve (进化) and change and I'm happy to add these new words to my vocabulary.
     One important lesson I've learnt is that textbooks can only help you so much. For further
improvement you'd better practice with native speakers.

1. What does the article mainly tell about?

A. Learning English needs confidence.
B. Native speakers are hard to understand.
C. Chinese-English has something different.
D. Chinese students are more creative.

2. The problem with the reply "I'm fine, thank you, and you?" is that it is _____.

A. too long to remember
B. not popular with native speakers
C. sometimes misunderstood
D. considered impolite by native speakers

3. The writer mentioned parents correcting their kids to show that in China _____.

A. speaking English at home has become a habit
B. the exact reply has been trained into a habit
C. some parents are not qualified to teach English
D. children don't always obey their teachers

4. It's possible for us to hear an Australian say "We _____ use the term '_____' for a toilet."

A. seldom;  bathroom
B. rarely;  washroom
C. seldom;  WC
D. rarely;  WC

5. What is the writer's attitude towards his students using Chinese-English?

A. He's tolerant.  
B. He's angry.
C. He feels uncomfortable.  
D. He pays no attention.

     After  the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1904, earthquake scientists had good news to
report: The damage and death toll(死亡人数)could have been much worse.
     More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, an earthquake of similar intensity that
shook America in 1988 claimed 25, 000 victims.
     Injuries and deaths were relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. on a
holiday, when traffic was light on the city's highways. In addition, changes made to the construction codes
in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city's buildings and highways, making them
more resistant to quakes.
     Despite the good news, civil engineers aren't resting on their successes. Pinned to their drawing boards are blueprints (蓝图) for improved quake-resistant buildings. The new designs should offer even greater
security to cities where earthquakes often take place.
     In the past, making structures quake-resistant meant firm yet flexible materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and
steel between the building and its foundation to reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most recent
designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports. Called smart buildings, the structures
respond like living organisms to an earthquake's vibrations. When the ground shakes and the building tips
forward, the computer would force the building to shift in the opposite direction.
     The new smart structures could be very expensive to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

1. One reason why the loss of lives in the Los Angeles earthquake was comparatively low is that        .

A. new computers had been installed in the buildings
B. it occurred in the residential areas rather than on the highways
C. large numbers of Los Angeles residents had gone for a holiday
D. improvements had been made in the construction of buildings and highways

2. The function of the computer mentioned in the passage is to           .

A. counterbalance an earthquake's action on the building.
B. predict the coming of an earthquake with accuracy.
C. help strengthen the foundation of the building.
D. measure the impact of an earthquake's vibrations.

3. The smart buildings discussed in the passage           .

A. would cause serious financial problems.
B. would be worthwhile though costly.
C. would increase the complexity of architectural design.
D. can reduce the ground vibrations caused by earthquakes.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that in minimizing the damage caused by earthquakes attention 
should be focused on            .

A. the increasing use of rubber and steel in capital construction
B. the development of flexible building materials
C. the reduction of the impact of ground vibrations
D. early forecasts of earthquakes

5. The author's main purpose in writing the passage is to__________.

A. compare the consequences of the earthquakes that occurred in the U.S.
B. encourage civil engineers to make more extensive use of computers
C. outline the history of the development of quake-resistant building materials
D. report new developments in constructing quake-resistant buildings