Elaine Yu Yee-nee, 15, Creative Secondary School
Lockers are designed in a way to hide their contents for a reason. Otherwise, they’d have open fronts like cupboards. Searching students’ lockers would be total invasion(侵犯) of privacy. Having a locker is more than having a place to store your stuff. A locker also gives you the freedom to keep certain things hidden. These can include harmless personal items like diaries, letters and photos. Searching lockers could discomfit students and others might make fun of them.
Yes, lockers are school property(財產(chǎn)). But that doesn’t give schools the right to inspect lockers as they please. While students are using lockers, they have the right to keep their contents private. Teachers could ask for permission to take a look inside a student’s locker and if the student is OK with that, then it would be fine. Searching students’ lockers without their permission would result in the loss of trust.
I doubt that students who have something dangerous to hide, such as weapons or drugs, would put them in their lockers. They would not want to risk being caught so easily.
Giving schools the right to search lockers would not help catch those who commit crimes. But it would certainly create an environment in which students would be embarrassed to have their belongings shown in public for no good reason.
Ronald Ling Pak-ki, 20, University of Hong Kong
Many students see their lockers as personal property. They would never agree that schools should have the right to inspect their lockers. But I think schools have an absolute right to do so.
It is the schools that actually own the lockers. Students just use them to store some of their things safely and conveniently. There are clear rules on what items students can and cannot keep in their lockers. Schools have both the duty and the right to check if students are following the rules.
I don’t think school authorities would decide to search a student’s locker unless they felt the need to do so. They might, for instance, suspect students of hiding drugs. To make sure that the process remains open and fair, only authorized teachers should have the right to search lockers. The search should be carried out in such a way as not to embarrass students in front of others.
小題1:What are .the two students talking about?

A．How to make sure schools are safe.

B．Whether there are crimes in schools.

C．Whether schools can search students’ lockers.

D．How to establish trust between teachers and students.

小題2:The underlined word could be replaced by ___.

A．embarrass

B．frighten

C．worry

D．challenge

小題3:According to Elaine, school lockers ____.

A．a(chǎn)re students’ personal property

B．should be changed into cupboards

C．a(chǎn)re likely to hold some dangerous things

D．can be searched with students’ permission

小題4:Which of the following would Ronald agree with?

A．Students won’t hide drugs in lockers.

B．Students use lockers but don’t own them.

C．Students should not put personal things in lockers.

D．Students may forbid teachers to inspect their lockers.

High school graduation is worth celebrating. It marks a big change in the lives of young adults. However, it ought to mean even more. It ought to mean that the graduate is ready for college or career.
In a report issued last year, we found that almost half of recent Illinois high school graduates required remedial courses(補(bǔ)習(xí)課) upon enrolling(注冊) a community college. These courses require time and money to complete, yet offer no credits toward a degree. Too often, students never get through those remedial courses and end up dropping out of college.
Why is the remediation rate so high? A large part of the reason is that we have not set high enough standards for what our students need to learn from kindergarten to high school. They simply aren’t equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
The same is true for careers. In Illinois, good jobs continue to go vacant(空缺) even while we are trying hard to go through tough economic times. This is due largely to the mismatch between the skills and knowledge we provide our students with and what employers in a modern economy need workers to know.
The good news is that in Illinois we have a plan to help get our students ready for life in the real world. We have already taken an important first step by becoming one of the 45 states to adopt the Common Core State Standards and have begun introducing them to classrooms this year. The new standards provide fewer, clearer and higher benchmarks(標(biāo)準(zhǔn)) for academic progress. They focus on deeper knowledge required at each grade level, give teachers the opportunity to explore topics fully and ensure students can apply what they’ve learned.
Research shows that when expectations are raised, students rise to meet them. Adapting to higher standards and raising expectations may prove challenging, but they are the steps we must take so that our students are successful in high school and prepared for college and careers. Readiness is worth a celebration.
小題1:According to the passage, in most cases, students taking part in remedial courses ___.

A．come from wealthy families

B．leave college before finishing their courses

C．a(chǎn)re offered credits toward a degree

D．a(chǎn)re likely to develop their academic interest

小題2:The author uses the third and fourth paragraphs to __.

A．provide solutions to the rising remediation rate

B．show the present situation of unemployment in Illinois

C．suggest knowledge learned in school be put into practice

D．explain why students aren’t prepared for college and a career

小題3:Which of the following statements about the Common Core State Standards is TRUE?

A．They were first adopted in Illinois.

B．More benchmarks are required.

C．They benefit teachers as well as students.

D．They ensure students’ success in college.

小題4:Based on the last paragraph, what is the author’s attitude to raising expectations of students?

A．Supportive	B．Critical
C．Doubtful	D．Worried

The Greenbelt, a wide belt of open land around the cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay Area, includes about 3.75 million of the Bay Area’s 4.5 million acres. The Bay Area Greenbelt is one of the largest areas of open land in any U.S. urban area. Open land is land that has few buildings and lots of natural areas. The Greenbelt’s open land includes parks, forests, beaches, and more than 8,500 farms.
What are the advantages of the Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt has many advantages for people in the Bay Area, which include:
l walking and biking areas close to the cities and towns;
l places for wild plants and animals;
l cleaner air and water;
l income from farms.
Is the Greenbelt in danger?
Five hundred seventy thousand acres of the Greenbelt are in danger. There are builders who want to build suburbs on them. If those acres become suburbs, many things will change:
l the urban and suburban area will almost double;
l many farms will disappear;
l traffic will become worse; 
l the air will become dirtier.
What is Greenbelt Alliance (聯(lián)盟)?
Greenbelt Alliance, an organization that saves land in the San Francisco Bay Area, works alone and with other groups to save the Greenbelt in four ways:
1. Try to persuade people to build new buildings on land that is already urban, not on open land.
2. Make sure that the city and town governments are all making plans to save the Greenbelt.
3. Help Bay Area towns and cities to buy pieces of open land to make into natural areas.
4. Teach people in the Bay Area why the Greenbelt is important and what they can do to help save it.
小題1:What can we learn about the Greenbelt from the first paragraph?

A．The Greenbelt is the largest open land in the United States.

B．The Greenbelt covers much more than half of the Bay Area.

C．There are few farms on the open land of the Greenbelt.

D．There are more than 8,500 natural areas on the Greenbelt.

小題2:One of the advantages of the Greenbelt for people in the Bay Area is __________.

A．convenience for exercise	B．income from sightseeing
C．cleaner city streets	D．more plants and animals

小題3:The Greenbelt is in danger because __________.

A．traffic is getting worse

B．some plans to build suburbs on it

C．the suburban area has doubled

D．pollution is becoming serious

小題4:Which of the following is TRUE about Greenbelt Alliance?

A．It builds new buildings on open land.

B．It buys large open land for the Bay Area.

C．It educates people how to save the Greenbelt.

D．It helps the city governments make plans.

Research suggests that a newly-identified gene known as insomniacs(失眠癥患者) may play a role in keeping us asleep. By cloning and testing this gene in about 21,000 fruit flies, Rockefeller University researchers say they have discovered an entirely new mechanism (機(jī)制) by which sleep is controlled.
By studying these flies, the researchers discovered that mutations(變異) in the insomniac gene were associated with a great reduction in sleep. While a typical fruit fly slept for an average of 927 minutes a day, the mutant flies slept for just 317. They also slept for shorter periods of time, and slept and woke more frequently.
“The results showed a great loss of both the time that the flies’ sleep lasted and their ability to remain asleep after they slept,” says researcher Nicholas Stavropoulos.
The researchers also examined the link between sleep and lifespan, finding that flies with mutations to the insomniac gene lived only about two-thirds as long as unchanged flies. But when the scientists removed insomniac only in neurons（神經(jīng)細(xì)胞）---allowing it to remain in the rest of the flies’ bodies---this difference disappeared; the resulting animals slept poorly but lived just as long.
“This suggests that reduced sleep can be ‘uncoupled’(分開) from reduced lifespan, supporting the idea that some interruptions of sleep do not affect overall health, at least as far as lifespan is concerned,” Stavropoulos says.
Although flies and humans would appear to have little in common when it comes to lifestyle, scientists say that the mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness are likely to be quite similar.
“Sleep is a fundamental behavior in all animals, and it is poorly understood from a scientific standpoint, says Stavropoulos. This work could prove useful in understanding and treating sleep disorders”
小題1:The text is mainly about____.

A．the progress in cloning fruit flies

B．the methods of cloning fruit flies

C．the link between gene and lifespan

D．the influence of a gene on the ability to sleep

小題2:According to paragraph2, the mutant flies________.

A．slept about 5 hours a day

B．had problems waking up

C．didn’t seem sleepy at all

D．could not fall asleep

小題3:We can conclude from the text that________.

A．sleep and health go hand in hand

B．sleep can be controlled by humans

C．research into sleep is very fruitful

D．the findings are useful in medical treatment

Almost everyone suffers from a headache sometimes.But some people suffer from repeated, frequent headaches.
What is headache? What causes it? What can be done about a headache? What research is being done on headaches?
The dictionary defines(下定義) headache simply as “a pain in the head.” What most people mean by headache is a pain which lasts several minutes or hours.It covers the whole head, or one side of it, or perhaps the front or the back of the head.To add to the confusion(困惑) about a definition, some people call tight feeling in the head a headache.
A headache is important because it can be the first warning of a serious condition which probably could be controlled if discovered early.If a person removes the warning, day after day, with a pain-killer, he may pass the point of easy control.
The professional name for covering up a symptom(癥狀) is “masking” (遮蔽).A headache specialist once said, “Masking symptoms is not the best way of treatment.” He compared taking a pain-killer for a headache before a cause is known with taking iron pills for anemia(貧血癥) while bleeding continues undiscovered.He added, “Sometimes it is wiser to stand still than to advance in darkness.”
A headache is important also because it affects normal, happy living.The employee with a headache does less work.In a flash of temper he may upset his fellow workers or customers, causing a direct or indirect loss to his organization.The mother with a headache suffers and disturbs the family.She upsets her husband and children.
小題1:Which is true according to the passage?

A．Headache has no effect on others.

B．Headache may cover the whole body.

C．Headache may last several minutes or hours.

D．Headache is just the tight feeling in the head.

小題2:The sentence underlined in Paragraph 5 means ______.

A．you should not advance in darkness whatever happens

B．you’d better do nothing before you know how to deal with it

C．you’d better still stand there without moving when it is dark at night

D．you should take some pain-killers for your headache if you want to cover it up

小題3:What may the writer talk about in the following paragraph?

A．Treatments of headaches	B．The definition of headaches
C．Symptom of headaches	D．Bad effects of a headache

小題4:The passage mainly tells us______.

A．the reason of headache

B．headache and its effect

C．everyone suffers from a headache

D．a(chǎn) headache is a symptom of something serious

Several animal species including gorillas in Rwanda and tigers in Bangladesh could risk extinction if the impact of climate change and extreme weather on their habitats is not addressed, a UN report showed on Sunday.
Launched on the sidelines of global climate negotiations in Durban, the report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization shows how higher temperatures, the rise in sea levels, deforestation and excessive land use have damaged the habitats of certain species, especially in Africa.
“Many ecosystems have already been stressed by increasing population, historical and recent deforestation, unsustainable management practices and even invasive (入侵的) species,” Eduardo Rojas-Briales, assistant director general at the FAO's forestry department, said at the launch of the report.
The most affected areas include mountains, isolated islands and coastal areas, which limit the possibilities for animals to migrate elsewhere and create new habitats.
“The remaining populations become surrounded in very small ecosystems, they have inbreeding (近親交配) problems ... and at the end these species may disappear,” he added.
Other examples of affected animals included elephants in Mali, lions in the Serengeti and crocodiles in Malawi.
The report said an estimated 20-30 percent of plant and animal species will be at higher risk of extinction due to global warming and a significant proportion of native species may become extinct by 2050 as a consequence.
Other consequences could include the spread of invasive species and infectious diseases, it said.
The report urges more focus on restoration of damaged ecosystems, especially those key to dealing with climate change such as mangroves(紅樹林), inland waters, forests, savannahs(非洲大草原) and grasslands.
The FAO also called for the creation of migration corridors for animals in areas where their movement was limited.
The organization said while more resources were flowing to biodiversity conservation, more action at the government and policy level was needed.
It also urged local communities to develop projects that mitigate the impact of climate change on wildlife, naming eco-tourism activities as an example.
小題1:What does the author tell us in Paragraph 2?

A．The theme of global climate negotiations in Durban.

B．The subject of research done by Eduardo Rojas.

C．Causes of damage done to ecosystems.

D．Harmful effects of damage done to ecosystems.

小題2:Why are animals living in mountains, islands and coastal areas most affected?

A．They are frequently attacked by invasive species and infectious diseases.

B．They have difficulty finding enough food for survival.

C．They can hardly find mates to produce their young.

D．They have little chance of moving to other places.

小題3:To avoid extinction of some animal species, the UNFAO suggested all the following ways EXCEPT ______.

A．restoring damaged ecosystems

B．limiting world population growth

C．creating movement channels for animals

D．urging governments and local communities to take action

小題4:What does the underlined word “mitigate” in the last paragraph mean?

A．increase or further improve something.

B．Make full use of something.

C．Make something become less serious.

D．Move from one place to another.

小題5:What would serve as the best title for the passage?

A．Animals at risk due to climate change.

B．Global warming and its consequences.

C．Climate change and ecotourism.

D．Solutions to animal distinction.

China_is_going_green. In order to reduce air pollution and oil­shortages, automobile manufacturers have announced their plans to develop hybrid vehicles (混合燃料汽車) for the Chinese market. Toyota's hybrid car Prius will be ready to drive in China this week. Let's have a look at the new car.
Any vehicle is a hybrid when it combines two or more sources of power. Hybrid cars run off a rechargeable battery and gasoline. Hybrid cars have special engines, which are smaller than traditional gasoline engines. They run at 99 percent of their power when the car is cruising (勻速行駛). A specially designed battery motor provides extra power for running up hills or when extra acceleration is needed.
Step into a Prius, and turn on the engine. The first thing you notice is how much quieter it is than a traditional car. At this point, the car's gasoline engine is dormant (休眠). The electric motor will provide power until the car reaches about 24 km/h. If you stay at a low speed, you are effectively driving an electric car, with no gasoline being used, and no waste gas gives off.
The onboard(車載的) computer makes the decision about when to use a gas engine, when to go electric, and when to use a combination of the two. If you go over 24 km/h, when you step on the gas pedal (油門), you are actually telling the computer how fast you want to go.
The electronic motor recharges automatically using a set of batteries. When driving at high speed, the gasoline engine not only powers the car, but also charges the batteries. Any time you use the brake, the electric motor in the wheels will work like a generator and produce electricity to recharge the batteries. As a consequence, the car's batteries will last for around 200,000 miles.
小題1:The author writes this passage mainly to________.

A．teach people how to drive a hybrid car

B．introduce a new kind of “green” car

C．show how to save their gasoline when driving a car

D．a(chǎn)nnounce plans to develop hybrid vehicles for China

小題2:The first sentence probably refers to ________.

A．there will be more and more green land in China

B．China is still young and lacking experience

C．China's new cars are combinations of different green models

D．China has started producing environmentally friendly cars

小題3:Which of the followings is NOT true?

A．The hybrid cars reduce air pollution and oil­shortages.

B．The car's gasoline engine doesn't work until it reaches about 24 km/h.

C．This kind of car is completely controlled by an onboard computer.

D．A specially designed battery motor provides extra power when needed.

小題4:What is the most important feature of hybrid cars?

A．They are powered by both a rechargeable battery and gasoline.

B．They are much quieter than traditional cars.

C．They only use 99 percent of their power to run up hills.

D．They have smaller engines than traditional gasoline ones.

The fourth round of heavy smog to hit Beijing in four weeks has sent more people to the hospital with respiratory（呼吸的） illnesses and led to calls for laws to control the pollution.
Pan Shiyi, a celebrity real estate developer said he is planning to propose (提案) a Clean Air Act to the local government. As a representative to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, he started an online survey at 9:20 a.m. Within three hours, more than 25,000 web users, or 99 percent of total respondents（應(yīng)答者）, welcomed his proposal on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter.
They have good reasons to stand alongside Pan. The latest round of haze（霧霾）reduced visibility to under 500 meters in many parts of the city. The smog has also led to a great increase in respiratory illnesses, particularly among children and the elderly. Anxious parents and doctors almost all blame the smoggy air for the illnesses. Though most schoolchildren are home for the winter holidays, the bad air can easily move indoors. Besides, ordinary medical masks fail to provide adequate protection, so some people have turned to gas masks and respirators（呼吸器）.
The causes of the scary smog are rather mysterious, though experts blame excessive emissions and the mountains around Beijing that trap pollution in winter, unless there is adequate wind to clear it away. Some critics have pointed fingers at China’s top two oil firms, China National Petroleum Corp and China Petrochemical Corporation, saying the companies’ outdated production technologies produce large quantities of substandard, high-polluting gas fuel.
Meanwhile, concerned Beijingers have moved their brainstorming sessions to cyberspace. If Pan’s proposal for a Clean Air Act is adopted, netizens say the new law should include items providing for “car-free days” in times of smog, higher standards for vehicle fuel, stricter restrictions on industrial and exhaust gas emissions, and more effective protection for the public.
Beijing is not the only city that has ever lost the blue sky. Five days of thick fog caused thousands of deaths in Britain in December 1952, urging the government to pass the first Clean Air Act in 1956, which introduced smokeless zones and cleaner fuels to reduce pollution. That may provide some experience for Beijing to refer to.
小題1:What can we learn from the passage?

A．People are clear about the causes of the smoggy weather.

B．Children staying indoors will not get respiratory illnesses.

C．Smog is worse for people with lower resistance to diseases.

D．Masks can give people protection against the smoggy weather.

小題2:Britain is mentioned in the last paragraph to ______.

A．suggest Beijing should learn from other countries

B．let people know many places have this problem

C．tell people the situation in Britain is worse

D．call on the government to pass Britain’s Clean Air Act

小題3:What’s the best title for this passage？

A．The Use of Gas masks and Respirators

B．Beijingers Call for Clean Air Act

C．Effective Protection for Blue Sky

D．The Mysterious Causes of the Scary Smog

My son loves video games very much. He spends hours every day playing video games in his room. Is there any redeeming（補(bǔ)償?shù)模〆ducational value to video games? Some seem like they could help him learn strategy. But I worry others may be too violent or numb（使麻木）his mind.
Cecilia
Some games may improve kids’ hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills. Games that require kids to actually move or manipulate（操縱）the game through their own physical movement can even get sedentary kids moving, though not as much as they could if they actually played outside or participated in sports or other outdoor acuities. Others, though, don’t have such benefits, and violent video games have been shown that they might increase kid’s aggressive behavior.
Like a lot of aspects of raising kids, when it comes to video games, the healthiest approach is actually self-control.
The American academy of Pediatrics(AAP) recommends that kids should spend no more than 2 hours each day on screen time, including watching TV or movies, or playing computer or video games. So consider setting limits at least that strict to keep game playing from affecting their schoolwork, household responsibilities, and the physical activity your son needs very day.
Make sure that he’s playing games which are suitable for his age group. All video games are rated and labeled by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Steer clear of（避開）any rated “M” for mature. Those are for ages 17 and older and can contain heavy-duty violence, strong language, and sexual content.
Try to keep the video game console（游戲機(jī)控制板）in a common area of the house, not your son’s room. That way you can catch any inappropriate content in the games he’s playing, and he’ll be in a position to interact with others in the house while he’s playing.
Make sure your son has appealing alternatives, too, such as sports, activities, opportunities to socialize with peers; and downtime to be creative. If you continue to have concerns about his video game activity, talk with your doctor.
Reviewed by：Mary L. Gavin, MD
小題1:What is the opinion of Mary L. Gavin about playing video games?

A．Whether it’s beneficial or harmful depends on what the video games are.

B．It always improves kids’ hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.

C．It will make kids more violent and increase their aggressive behavior.

D．Kids should give it up and put their hearts fully into their schoolwork.

小題2:The underlined word “sedentary” in the first paragraph of the answer letter is the nearest in meaning to “______”.

A．unhealthy

B．lively

C．bright

D．inactive

小題3:According to Mary L. Gavin, which of the following is encouraged to do by parents?

A．Keep the video game console out of their house.

B．Allow their children to play only such video games as rated “M”

C．Let kids play video games as much as possible if it doesn’t affect their lessons.

D．Help their children develop other healthy hobbies such as sports and painting.

小題4:Which is the best title of this passage?

A．Should children play video games?

B．Kids’ playing video games is harmful.

C．Is playing video games good for kids?

D．Help children choose video games.

For some reason, it takes constant reminders that we primates（靈長目）need nurturing.
In a recent study of 46 baby chimpanzee（黑猩猩）orphans, Kim Bard of the University of Portsmouth in England and her colleagues demonstrated that primate babies that have tight relationships with mother figures do much better on cognitive（認(rèn)知）tests than babies who receive only food, shelter, and friendship with peers. But this is not breaking mews. In fact, it’s old news.
In the 1950s, Harry Harlow conducted a series of experiments with baby monkeys that showed, without doubt, that lack of love and comfort makes for a crazy monkey.
Harlow constructed a cage that included a wire monkey “mother” topped with a plastic face. In this wire he fixed Mom with a milk bottle. The cage also held another wire mother covered with terry cloth. The baby monkeys spent all their time with the cloth mother and only went to the wire mother to feed, demonstrating that a soft touch beat something to eat any day.
Harlow’s monkey work was important because, at the time, child care “experts” and everybody’s grandmother had a “no touch, no comfort” policy toward children. They advised parents not to respond to crying babies, felt babies should sleep alone to grow up independent, and for God’s sake put those kids down. But Harlow’s work changed all that. Mothers were soon permitted to have their newborns next to them in the hospital.
The current chimp research based on Harlow’s work shows that mother love not only makes for a psychologically well-adjusted child, but also makes for a smart kid. Bard and her colleagues evaluated the abilities of the chimps when they were 12 months old with standard human tests for children of that age, tests that ask little kids to imitate some action.
The highly raised chimps did better than the ones that were not loved, and what do you know, the well-raised chimps did even better than human kids on this small IQ test.
So we hear it once again. We are primates, social animals which need care and love. We need to be held and talked to and made to feel that at least one person wants to be with us all the time. And if we get that kind of connection, we are sure to be fine, even better than fine.
小題1:The study Kim Bard and his colleagues did ______.

A．included 46 baby and mother monkeys

B．was nothing new to people about the findings

C．showed that many chimpanzees lacked love when they were young

D．showed that many chimpanzees had good relationships with their mothers

小題2:Why was Harlow’s monkey work important?

A．Because the “no touch, no comfort” policy toward children was quite right.

B．Because parents were advised not to respond to babies’ crying.

C．Because Harlow’s work changed people’s former belief in child care.

D．Because mothers were not allowed to have their newborns next to them in the hospital.

小題3:Harlow built two “mothers” for baby monkeys to ______.

A．make them live comfortably	B．let them have more choices
C．give them more love	D．make a comparison

小題4:Which of the following is TURE according to the text?

A．Well-raised chimps always do even better than human kids.

B．A 12-month chimps is far cleverer than a child of that age.

C．The newborns were not allowed to be with their mothers in the past in the hospital.

D．Constantly touching the baby can make it feel safer.