53. Which of the following statements is NOT true about starting school late?

　　　 A. It is in agreement with teens’ biological clock.

　　　 B. It makes more learners interested in school.

　　　 C. It helps students to get on well with each other.

　　　 D. It makes students much lower in spirits at school.

52. Why was Hung able to win the hearts of America?

　　　 A. His success was based on his own hard work.

　　　 B. He attracted people’s attention in the contest.

　　　 C. He was good-looking though he didn’t sing well.

　　　 D. His character was completely different from other idols’.

No. 14

Starting school late should be the guiding principle (原则) for high schools around the Puget Sound District. Next year, Seattle’s Nathan Hale High School will join the growing. list of schools starting a little later to allow students an hour’s extra sleep. As a national research has shown, a later start time benefits students both in learning and physical development.

For school leaders, it isn’t easy to make the change. Bus schedules have to be rearranged, sometimes presenting the districts with a choice of keeping traditional starting times at high schools or forcing elementary students to start much earlier. Some sports practice and event schedules can also he affected.

Around Puget Sound District, the Bainbridge Island School and Inglemoor High School and Mercer Island High School have either moved starting time later or created flexible (灵活的)schedules for students. Two of the Seattle district’s high schools, Summit and The Center School, already start at 9 a. m.

There are excellent reasons for such moves. Scientists have found that teenagers’ bodies usually aren’t ready for sleep until around 11 p. m. And the teens can sleep deeply until 8 a.m. A study in Minnesota found that students earned slightly better grades and experienced less depression (抑郁). There was also a significant improvement in school dropout rates. Other studies have suggested that teenagers with enough sleep relate better to their peers and their parents. These advantages are increasingly well known. Nathan Hale officials have been tracking the studies for six years. But change isn’t happening rapidly, if at all.

Some of the lack of rush to make changes comes from comfort with the existing condition. Parents - like the school leaders - are used to the present schedules. In Edina, Minnesota, however, parents quickly came to like the 8:30 a. m. start. A survey showed that 92 percent of parents preferred the schools’ new time to the previous 7:20 a. m. class bell.

Any school action that can deal with such difficult problems as depression and dropouts , while helping students with grades and getting along with parents, is one that is worthy of serious attention in every school district. Teenagers have adapted (使适应) their sleep needs to school schedules for generations. It’s time that more schools put the students’ needs first.

51. Which of the following slows the correct order of what happened to Hung?

　　　 a. The entertainment firms made an agreement with Hung.

　　　 b.The judges cut Hung off in mid-act in the singing contest.

　　　 c. Hung became popular among Americans.

　　　 d. Hung gave a terrible performance though he tried his best.

　　　 e. Three websites put Hung’s funny performance on the Internet.

　　　 A. d, b, e, c, a　　　　　　 B. a, c, d. b, e　　　 C. a, d, b, c, e　　　　　 D. d, b, a, e, c

50. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 6 refer to?

　　　 A. William Hung.　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Hung's bad act.

　　　 C. Hung’s website.　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. The public’s opinion.

49. Hung was popular in America for all the following reasons EXCEPT ________

　　　 A. his shirt and pants　　　　　　　　　　　 B. his off-key singing

　　　 C. his hips jerking　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. his excellent version

48. What is the main idea of this passage?

A.　　 Sometimes an idol behaves quite foolishly.

B. Hung's performance attracted the public eye.

C.How an unsuccessful person became famous.

D. Success sometimes does not require hard work.

47. What is the main purpose of this passage?

　　　 A. To introduce a new invention to readers.　 B. To persuade readers not to use batteries.

　　　 C. To show us how the new invention works. D. To declare when the engine will be on sale.

No. 13

In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye. Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong.

Hung recently has made an agreement with US -based entertainment firms Koch Records and fuse Music Network. They will publish a full-length record, titled “The True Idol” on April 6.

The idol (偶像) is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley. He did a version (改写本) of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on the television show “American Idol 3", on January27. The Fox TV singing contest searches fur pop stars among ordinary people. In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act Hung’s response? “I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all.” That’s goad, because any common person would have found plenty to regret: The off-key singing. The blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high. The terrible dancing. The hips jerking (摇摆) to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet. It was, by all accounts, bad.

But, it was this very bad act that sold well.

Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way: “Everyone of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried. That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America.”

Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big. Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks. Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station.

So, what does Hung think of this?

“There were all these people saying things about me. A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean.

Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour (魅力) or to accept it. Returning to normal hasn’t been easy.

46. What can we infer from the passage?

　　　 A. The new invention doesn’t need any fuel.

　　　 B. The new engine has been produced in quantity.

　　　 C. The new invention is much cheaper than the battery.

　　　 D. The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale

45. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” in paragraph 3?

　　　 A. problem　　　　　　　 B. advantage　　　　 C. invention　　　　　　 D. technique

44. According to the passage, the title suggests that ________

　　　 A. batteries should be greatly improved　　 B. petrol will be used instead of batteries

　　　 C. the time of batteries will be gone forever　 D. pollution caused by batteries must be solved