Speaking in his first National Day Rally speech on 15 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien said Singapore’s education system was set for more reforms in the years ahead, particularly for the primary and secondary education．Read the summary of his thoughts on education below．
For a start, the Government is prepared to send and additional 3,000 teachers to Singapore schools, cut the courses of study even further and change the way the mother tongue, especially Chinese, is taught．But, for the changes to be successful, parents need to help．
Singapore has a devoted group of teachers and principals and quite a few of them are outstanding, but the Republic’s schools can be even better．To help the schools make a jump in quality, the Government plans that within the next 6 years, it will send 1,000 more teachers to primary schools, 1,400 to secondary schools and 550 more to junior colleges．Each school would decide how to use its extra teachers．Some may want to make classes smaller so students get more individual attentions while others may have new teachers assist more senior teachers, but the overall goal is to give teachers the time and space to come up with ways to bring out the best in their students．
More teachers must not mean more homework, however．In fact, the Prime Minister wants to see the courses cut down so that there is less pressure on the students．Good grades are important but they should not be the only goal students have．PM Lee is convinced that “we must teach less so that our children can learn more．”
Another change will be in the teaching of the mother tongue so that students can become more fluent．The key is to teach Chinese as a living language not just an academic subject like Latin．Therefore, the focus should be on speaking and reading the language．To do this, there must be an environment outside the classroom that is contributing to strengthening the Chinese lessons．
小題1:The text is mainly about         in Singapore．

A．the education reform	B．a(chǎn)dding more teachers
C．the mother tongue	D．ways of teaching

小題2:The general goal of using extra teachers is to          ．

A．make classes smaller	B．a(chǎn)ssist more senior teachers
C．teach more	D．help teachers improve teaching quality

小題3:PM Lee holds that the students should         ．

A．do more homework	B．give up higher grades
C．study more courses	D．be given more time to learn more

小題4:The key to teaching Chinese well is to          ．

A．make it academic	B．have a creative environment
C．give more Chinese lessons	D．encourage speaking and reading a lot

Children lie on couches or sit on floors, nearly hypnotized(迷住) by all kinds of messages coming from the television. This scene has become all too familiar. Increasingly, young children are adopting a watching-TV lifestyle, at s stage in life when activity is important to their growth. Furthermore, family time is being destroyed by too much TV time. Here are some facts you need to know:
*Research shows that children spend between five and six hours per day watching TV, and they go to bed before having any communication with other family members.
*Time spent in front of a screen is reducing the amount of time children spend sleeping.
*The more time a youth spends in front of a screen, the more likely he or she is to be overweight.
Experts(專(zhuān)家) offer the following advice to parents on how to stop their children from becoming addicted to television:
*Do not put a TV in a child’s bedroom.
*Make meal time, family time -----turn off the TV during a family meal time. Better yet, remove the TV from the eating area.
*Make TV time active time by doing simple exercise during advertisement breaks.
*Help your kids be clever TV watchers by teaching them to recognize a sales trick in advertisements(廣告).
*Create family memories by planning fun activities instead of always watching TV with your family.
*_______. Limit your own TV watching to less than two hours per day. The best way to learn is to follow; this is especially true for children.
小題1:Which fact is not mentioned(提到) as a result of watching TV in this passage?

A．Family time has been destroyed.

B．Children who watch too much TV are often overweight.

C．Children spend less time sleeping because of watching TV.

D．Children’s study can be badly influenced if they watch too much TV.

小題2:Which of the following is one piece of advice given in this passage?

A．Parents should teach children to judge TV advertisements.

B．TV should be removed from homes that have children.

C．The family should watch TV together while eating.

D．Parents should not allow children to watch TV.

小題3:The sentence in the blank in the last advice should be “_______”.

A．Be a good role model	B．Limit children’s TV time
C．TV time should not be over 2 hours.	D．Watching too much TV is bad for children

The temperature is rising again in the Arctic. The sea ice area has dropped to one of the lowest levels on record， climate scientists reported last week.
“The new Arctic Report Card tells a story of widespread and continued effects of a warming Arctic，” said Jackie Richter-Menge of the US’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.
“This isn’t just a climatological (氣候?qū)W的) effect. It impacts the people that live there，” she added.
Scientists concerned about global warming focus on the Arctic because that is a region where the effects are expected to be felt first， and that has been the case in recent years.
There was a slowdown in Arctic warming in 2009， but in the first half of 2010 warming was near a record pace. The monthly readings were over 4 degrees Celsius above normal in northern Canada， according to the report card. The report card was prepared by 69 researchers in eight countries.
Researchers said last winter’s big snow storms that struck some Northern countries were tied to higher Arctic temperatures.
“Normally the cold air is bottled up in the Arctic，” said Jim Overland of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “But last December and February， winds that normally blow west to east across the Arctic were instead bringing the colder air south，” he said.
“As we lose more sea ice... warming in the atmosphere can create more of these winter storms，” Overland said.
There is a powerful connection between ice cover and air temperatures， Richter-Menge explained. When temperatures warm， ice melts. When ice melts it shows darker surfaces underneath ， which absorb  more heat. “That， in turn， causes more melting and on the cycle goes，” she said.
In September the Arctic sea ice extent was the third smallest in the last 30 years， added Don Perovich of the US Army Laboratory. He said the three smallest ice covers have occurred in the last four years.
小題1:Scientists care so much about the warming in the Arctic region because 　　　　.

A．the climate in the Arctic doesn’t change much

B．global warming effects are most serious in the Arctic region

C．there has been a major decrease of Arctic warming in recent years

D．by studying the region they can make predictions about the future impact of global warming

小題2:. Which of the following shows that the Arctic is getting warmer？ 
A. The surface of the sea ice in Arctic is getting darker and darker.
B. The Arctic sea ice extent has disappeared over the last 30 years.
C. The sea ice extent has increased to one of the highest levels on record.

小題3: What does the underlined word “cycle” refer to？  

A．Ice giving off heat when it melts.

B．Higher temperatures bringing more storms.

C．The cause and the result of the melting.

D．The life of the people living in the Arctic getting worse.

小題4: According to researchers what led to big snow storms attacking some Northern countries last winter？                 

A．Higher Arctic temperatures.

B．The melting ice.

C．The cold wind blowing west to east.

D．Cold air bottled up in the Arctic.

小題5: What is the main point of the article？         

A．Last winter’s big snow-storms.

B．Winds in the Arctic region.

C．Arctic warming and its possible effects.

D．Changes to the life of people living in the Arctic.

People with bigger brains ftend to score higher on standardized tests of intelligence， according to new study findings.
However， the study author Dr Michael A.McDaniel of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond emphasized that these findings represent a general trend， and people with small heads should not automatically believe they are less intelligent. For instance， Albert Einstein’s brain was “not particularly large”， McDaniel noted. “There’s some relationship between brain size and intelligence on the average， but there’s plenty of room for exceptions，” he said.
Interest in the relationship between brain size and intelligence grew in the1830s，  when German anatomist(解剖學(xué)家) Frederich Tiedmann wrote that he believed there was “an unquestionable connection between the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual man”. Since that statement， scientists have conducted numerous studies to determine if Tiedmann’s  assertion was， in fact， correct. Most studies have looked into the link between head size and intelligence. More recently， however， researchers have published additional studies on brain size and intelligence， measured using MRI scan(核磁共振成像掃描).
For his study， McDaniel analyzed more than 20 studies that looked into the relationship between brain size and intelligence in a total of 1,530 people. The studies showed that on the average， people with larger brain volume tended to be more intelligent. The relationship between brain volume and intelligence was stronger in women than men， and in adults than in children. McDaniel notes in the journal Intelligence.
McDaniel is not sure why the relationship was stronger for adults and women. “Other research has shown that women， on the average， tend to have smaller brains than men， but score just as well—if not higher—in tests of intelligence，” he said.
McDaniel insisted that the relationship between brain size and intelligence is not a “perfect” one. “One can certainly find lots of examples of smaller-sized people who are highly intelligent，” he said， “But， on the average， the relationship holds.”
小題1:. What does the text mainly talk about？

A．MRI scans are applied to intelligence.

B．On the average， a bigger brain means higher IQ.

C．Dr McDaniel did well in his intelligence study.

D．Scientists are interested in Tiedmann’s idea.

小題2: By mentioning Albert Einstein， the writer wants to show　　　　.

A．Albert Einstein was intelligent

B．the result of intelligence test was false

C．being hard working is more important than intelligence

D．brain size doesn’t necessarily decide the level of intelligence

小題3: The underlined word “assertion” in Para. 3 probably means “　　　　”.
A. experiment   B. statement  C proof      D. demand
小題4: After Frederich Tiedmann wrote his article，　　　　.

A．many scientists agreed with him

B．numerous studies have failed to prove his idea

C．MRI scan became popularly used

D．lots of researchers were interested in the connections between head size and intelligence

小題5: According to the text， Dr McDaniel’s study　　　　.

A．proves Tiedmann’s idea was completely true

B．shows women are smarter than men

C．involves many studies and a lot of people

D．explains why people with smaller brains are clever

The most important use of drifting (漂流) bottles is to find ocean currents. When the position and direction of currents are known, ships can use the forward movement of a current or stay away from currents that would carry them off their course. Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to use bottles in the study of currents. He wondered why British mall ships needed a week or two longer than U.S. ships needed in order to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Franklin thought the Gulf Stream (墨西哥灣流) might explain this difference.
Franklin talked with captains of U.S. ships. He found that they knew each turn of the Gulf Stream. They used the current in every possible way. From his talks with the captains. Franklin made his first map of the Gulf Stream. Then he checked his map by using sealed (密封的) bottles. The map that he finally made is still used, with only a few changes, today. 
小題1: Why are drifting bottles used?

A．To determine the position of a ship

B．To carry message across the ocean

C．To predict the direction of a ship.

D．To find the direction of a current

小題2:What led Franklin to talk with U.S. captains?

A．U.S. ships were longer than British ones.

B．British ships could sail the Atlantic faster than U.S. ones.

C．U.S captains knew more about maps.

D．U.S. ships could sail the Atlantic faster than U.S. ones.

小題3:What did Franklin make after his talks with U.S. captains?

A．A map of the Atlantic Ocean.	B．A map of the Gulf Stream..
C．A map of ocean currents.	D．A map of his first voyage.

小題4:What did Franklin do in order to make an exact map?
A. He compared his own map with other maps
B. He talked with many U.S. captains.
C. Both B and C.
D. He used drifting bottles to check his map.

Researchers who study relationships have discovered that a big difference between those who make new friends easily, and those who don’t, is that socially successful people tend to make eye contact with their conversation partners much more frequently than those who are less successful socially. In fact, you may be able to become much more socially successful by making this one simple change to your behavior.
Most Americans prefer to have a lot of eye contact when they are talking with someone. When a person doesn’t make eye contact with them, they tend to think that the person is hiding something or the person doesn’t believe in himself/herself.
When you are having a conversation and you want to leave a friendly impression, be sure to keep looking at that person frequently while you are talking. If it really bothers you to look directly into another person’s eyes, you can gaze generally at, not above, the eyebrow area or the bridge of the nose; this is close enough to the eye region that you will appear to be looking at the person’s eyes. But neither the hair or the shoulders have the same effect. Don’t stare at other people too intensely, otherwise, you will look aggressive(攻擊性).
Keep the majority of your focus on the other person. If you glance around the room too much, or look too frequently at other people, your conversation partner may guess that you are looking around for someone else you would rather talk with.
You can lighten your nervousness by smiling more often, nodding, and by gazing at the entire face as well as the eyes. In addition, you can frequently look away for very short periods.
When people get the sense that you are really paying attention to them, they will be much more likely to want to have conversations with you!
小題1:Which of the following is NOT the impression left by those who don’t make eye contact during the talk?

A．They are not telling the truth.	B．They are bored with the partner.
C．They are lacking in confidence	D．They are angry and ready to attack.

小題2: Besides the eyes of the partner, during the talk, you can look at his/her ___________.

A．hair

B．shoulders

C．the bridge of the nose

D．a(chǎn)rea above the eyebrows

小題3: From the passage, we can learn that ____________________.

A．looking away during conversation should always be avoided.

B．looking at a person frequently can give him/her a good impression.

C．many Americans feel like being stared at for a long time.

D．a(chǎn)ll successful people are good at making eye contact.

小題4:What would be the best title for the passage?

A．How to make yourself socially successful

B．How to use eye contact to make a good impression

C．How to make friends with the people around you

D．How to leave a good impression during a talk

The tragic death of celebrity Wang Bei has made people aware of the risks of cosmetic surgery, which is becoming increasingly popular．
A survey on the reaction to Wang’s death, conducted by Tencent, which runs China’s most popular instant-messaging service, received more than 600,000 responses, as of press time Monday．Forty-one percent of respondents expressed sorrow over her death, saying, "It’s a pity she died at such a young age．" Some 31 percent said she should have been more cautious and less vain, while 10 percent were enraged at the hospital that conducted the surgery．The remaining 18 percent were indifferent．
A common thread of online discussion is why someone considered beautiful was so dissatisfied with her looks．Some netizens said Wang was a victim of society’s unrealistic ideal of beauty: double eyelids, an aquiline nose and the pointed chin typical of Western celebrities．Others said her death underscores the limits to which people will go to achieve fame and fortune．Young people, see cosmetic surgery as the key to wealth and love．
"They want to improve their appearance to find better opportunities at work and in marriage," says Ding Xiaobang, a plastic surgeon with the Peking Union Medical College Hospital．"We’re living in a highly competitive society．People regard appearance as a weapon and a means of empowerment…Most of them tell me, ’I don’t care how much I spend, just make me look beautiful’．" In the past decade, Ding says he Has seen a growing number of patients, like Wang Bei, who are young and naturally good-looking．The surgeon attributes this trend to people becoming richer, the standards of beauty changing, competition and frustration．
"Some are frustrated with life and use surgery as a way to try and recover," lie says．
The surge in demand for plastic surgery has resulted in a rise in the number of unauthorized business establishments and surgeons conducting such procedures．
Meanwhile, experts say, young and beautiful people who still seek plastic surgery need to address their self-awareness issues and be more accepting．
“They’ve built their identity around the admiration of others and fail to establish a system to assess themselves," says Zhu Wenbo, a psychologist with Blue Bay Psychological Consulting Center in Chengdu．"People’s opinions always change, so this is not a reliable way to evaluate oneself．"
小題1:Most people are       toward the death of Wang Bei according to the survey.

A．sympathetic

B．indifferent

C．enraged

D．not mentioned

小題2:Why is there such a trend of having medical cosmetic surgery according to Ding Xiaobang?

A．People become richer.

B．The standard the beauty always changes.

C．People suffer fierce competition and frustration now and then.

D．All of the above.

小題3:What kind of people is regarded as a beauty nowadays?

A．a(chǎn) person with single eyelid, an aquiline nose and a pointed chin

B．a(chǎn) person with double eyelids, an aquiline nose and a pointed chin

C．a(chǎn) person with double eyelids, a snub nose and a pointed chin

D．a(chǎn) person with double eyelids, a snub nose and a chubby chin

小題4:The purpose of the text is to           .

A．inform us that cosmetic surgery becomes popular.

B．emphasize that young people should re-evaluate themselves rationally.

C．raise concerns about the risk of medical cosmetology industry.

D．state that people’s standard of beauty always changes.

Federal regulators(調(diào)整者) Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergence alert (警報(bào)) system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years, particularly among young people. The wireless industry’s trade association, CTIA, estimates（估計(jì)） more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, a 2006 federal law that requires improvements to the nation’s emergency alert system. The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before, and during, disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers –telecommunications companies is voluntary, but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users. They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of messages, according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president, likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The second would involve "approaching threats," which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings. The third would be reserved for child abduction (綁架) emergencies, or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2010.
小題1:What is the purpose of the approved plan?  

A．To warn people of emergencies via messages.

B．To popularize the use of cell phones.

C．To estimate the monthly number of messages.

D．To promote the wireless industry.

小題2:The improvement to the present system is in the charge of ____. 

A．CTIA	B．the Warning Alert and Response Network
C．FCC	D．federal regulators

小題3:The carriers’ participation in the system is determined by _____. 

A．the US federal government	B．mobile phone users
C．the carriers themselves	D．the law of the United States

小題4:Which of the following would be the best title for the text?  

A．Cell Phone Alerts Protecting Students	B．Cell Phone Alerts by Wireless Industry
C．Cell Phone Alerts of National Disasters	D．Cell Phone Alerts Coming Soon

While all my classmates seem to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars, I’d rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence. People won’t have enough food supplies there, and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life. Besides, the journey won’t be safe. Can anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars, never to return?  Steve Minear, UK
Here are the things you can think of: the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment, the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world, the expectation of fame and glory┅. For scientists there is another reason. Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements.  Donal Trollop, Canada
There are already too many people on the Earth. I think that something before the end of the century, there will be a human colony on Mars. It will happen when people finally realize that two-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary. Most of the danger of space flight is in the launches and landings. Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents, save a lot of money, and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement in another world. Enough supplies can be sent on ahead, and every two years more supplies and more people will be sent to the new colony. Mars has all the materials for a colony to produce or make everything it needs, and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space.   Paul Davies, USA
小題1:The main purpose of Steve Minear’s writing is_________.    .

A．to report his classmates’ discussion	B．to invite an answer to his question
C．to explain the natural state of Mars	D．to show his agreement on going to Mars

小題2:Which of the following best states Donal Trollop’s ideas?  

A．There is a plan to send humans to Mars

B．There are many reasons for going to Mars

C．Scientists become famous by doing research on Mars

D．It is possible to build an Earth-like environment on Mars

小題3: Paul Davies points out that______.  

A．humans need only a one- way ticket to Mars

B．two-way trips to mars will be made safe soon

C．It is easy to reduce the danger and cost of flights to Mars

D．It is cheap to build an everlasting human settlement on Mars

小題4:What does Paul Davies think of human existence on Mars? 

A．Humans will have to bring all they need from the earth

B．Humans will find Mars totally unsuitable for living

C．Humans can produce everything they need

D．Humans can live longer in the colony on Mars

Watercolour is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colours found in the earth with water.
Fresco (壁畫(huà)), one of the greatest of all art forms, is done with watercolour. It is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster (灰泥). Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelo’s heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few know that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolour painting in the world.
The invention of oil painting by the Flemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go down-hill, and for the next several centuries watercolour was used mainly for doing sketches (草圖) or as a tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolour as a serious art form. The English have a widely-known love for outdoors and also small private pictures. The softness of watercolour had a remarkably strong attraction for them.
The popularity of watercolour continued to grow until the twentieth century. The United States passed England as the center for watercolour, producing such well-known watercolour artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.
小題1: The purpose of the passage is to introduce _____. 

A．the gradual weakness of fresco painting

B．oils’ power or influence over watercolour

C．the discovery of watercolour in England

D．the start and development of watercolour

小題2: In the 16th and 17th centuries the artists thought _____.

A．watercolour was softer, and thus better

B．oil painting lasted longer, and was better

C．watercolour wasn’t fit for finished works

D．watercolour was too hard to use in any works

小題3:According to the passage, watercolour painting was put back in England because ____

A．it was easy to use outdoors	B．it was a strong medium
C．it was extremely bright in colour	D．it was suited to popular tastes

小題4:What would the next paragraph most probably deal with?

A．The works of famous US watercolour artists	B．Modern American oil painters
C．The weakness of oils as popular paints	D．Techniques of producing watercolour