D
Providing small classes for at least several grades starting in early primary school gives students the best chance to succeed in late grades, according to groundbreaking new research from a Michigan State University scholar.
The research by Spyros Konstantopoulos, a professor of education, is the first to examine the effects of class size over a period and for all levels of students. The study appears in the American Journal of Education.
He is also a member of a group for the Department of Education’s Instiute of Education Sciences that will give official advice on class size to the states. He said the advice will mirror his research: the best plan is to provide continuous small classes(13 to 17 students) for at least several years starting in kindergarten or first grade.
“For a logn time states thought they could just do it in kindergarten or first grade for one year and get the benefits,” He said. “I don’t believe that. I think you need at least a few years in a row where all students, and especially low-achievers, receive the treatment, and then you see the benefits later.”
His research used data from the Project Star study in Tennessee that analyzed the effects of class size on more than 11,000 students in primary and middle school. He found that students who had been in small classes from kindergarten through third grade had actually higher test scores in grades four through eight than students who been in larger classes early on.
Students from all achievement levels benefited from small classes, the research found. “But low-achievers benefited the most, which narrowed the achievement gap with high –achievers in science, reading and math, ” he said.
Although the study didn’t consider classroom practices, he said the reason for the narrowing gap is likely due to low-achieving students receiving more attention from teachers.
“This is especially important in poorer schools because teacher effectiveness matters more in schools with more disadvantaged and low-performing students, ” he said.
48．The professor argues about ________ .
A．the size of the class
B．the period of the class
C．the attention from teachers
D．the achievements of students
49．The result of the research shows that _________.
A．small classes for one year in early grade are enough
B．continuous small classes help students achieve more
C．it’s best to attend small classes in kindergarten
D．small classes do equal good to students of all levels
50．What can we infer from the passage?
A．High achievers will not benefit from small classes.
B．Continuous small classes have not been widely accepted.
C．Low-achievers should be separated from high-achievers.
D．Teachers’ attention matters less than classroom practices.
51．The underlined word “This” in the last paragraph refers to _______.
A．the gap between low and high achievers
B．continuous small classes
C．classroom practices in later grades
D．the Project Star Sturdy

However important we may regard school life to be, we can’t ignore the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom. Therefore the great influence of parents can’t be ignored or discounted by the teacher. They can become strong supports of the school or they can consciously or unconsciously prevent the school from accomplishing its aims.
Administrators have been aware of the need to keep parents apprised of the newer methods used in schools. Many principals have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness program and developmental math.
Moreover, the classroom teacher can also play an important role in explaining to parents what they should do. The informal tea and the many interviews carried on during the year, as well as new ways of reporting pupils’ progress, can significantly aid the interchanged of ideas between school and home.
Suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent change his method. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing he family budget, buying the food, using a measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.
If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to assume that he will soon realize his son is making satisfactory progress in math and at the same time, enjoying the work.
Too often, however, teachers’ conferences with parents are devoted to unimportant accounts of children’s wrongdoing, complaints about laziness and poor work habits, and suggestions for punishments and rewards at home.
What is needed is a more creative approach in which the teacher, as a professional advisor, plants ideas in parents’ minds for the best use of the many hours that the child spends out of the classroom. In this way, the school and the home join forces in fostering the fullest development of youngsters’ competence.
小題1:The underlined phrase “keep parents apprised of” (Line 1, Para. 2) probably means to let parents         .

A．judge

B．know

C．design

D．develop

小題2:What is the purpose of the schools’ informal tea and interviews?

A．To improve the relationship between teacher and parents.

B．To explain to parents the change of the school curriculum.

C．To report students’ misdoings and suggestions for punishments.

D．To help develop good communication between school and home.

小題3:Why does the author provide all example in Paragraph 4？

A．To help parents to know the importance of home activities.

B．To show how the teacher can guide in home training.

C．To prove parents all non professional advisors.

D．To advice parents to teach kids math at home.

小題4:From the passage we learn that the author      .

A．thinks teachers should do better as professionals

B．is worried about children’s performance at home

C．is satisfied with the present state of school education

D．believes time spent out of the classroom has been wasted@m

Astronomers (天文學(xué)家) say they are on the point of finding planets like Earth orbiting other stars, which is a key step in determining if we are alone in the universe.
A top NASA official and other leading scientists say that within four or five years they should discover the first Earth-like planet where life could develop, or may have already. A planet close to the size of Earth could even be found sometime this year.
At the annual American Astronomical Society conference this week, each discovery involving  so-called “exoplanets” —those outside our solar system —pointed to the same conclusion：Quiet planets like Earth where life could develop probably are plentiful.
NASA’s Dew Kepler telescope and a lot of new research from the suddenly hot and competitive exoplanet field caused noticeable buzz at the meeting．Scientists are talking about being at “an incredible special place in history” and closer to answering the question. “Are we alone? For the first time, there’s an optimism that sometime in our lifetimes we’re going to get to the bottom of that,” said Simon Worden，an astronomer who heads NASA’s Ames Research Center. “If I were a betting man, which I am, I would bet we’re not alone.”
“These are big questions that reflect upon the meaning of the human race in the universe,” the director of the Vatican Observatory, the Rev. Jose Funes, said Wednesday in an interview at this week’s conference.
Worden told The Associated Press: “I would certainly expect in the next four or five years we’d have an Earth-sized planet in the habitable (可居住的) zone.”
What is very important in determining if we are alone in the universe?
A. Finding an Earth-like planet.       B. Orbiting other stars.
C. Developing new telescopes.      D. Finding more exoplanets.
What’s an exoplanet?
A. It’s a planet like Earth.        B. It’s a planet outside our solar system.
C. It’s a planet orbiting the sun.   D. It’s a planet where life have developed.
The underlined phrase “get to the bottom of” probably means “__________”.
A. understand fully    B. make full use of
C. search for         D. do more research on   
From the passage we can learn that __________.
A. an Earth-like planet has been found
B. it’s been proved we are not alone in the universe
C. Jose Funes has found the meaning of the human race in the universe
D. the discovery of an Earth-like planet could happen in the near future

A robot is a computer-controlled machine that is programmed to move and handle objects. Robots are able to perform repetitive tasks more quickly, cheaply, and accurately (精確的) than humans. In 1995, about 700,000 robots were used－including over 500,000 in Japan, about 120,000 in Western Europe, and about 60,000 in the United States－all in the industrialized world. Many robots applications are designed for tasks that are either dangerous or unpleasant for human beings. Now, robotic technology can be used in more and more fields. Experts say in the future robots will be able to make new highways, constructsteel frameworks of buildings, clean sewage (污水系統(tǒng)), and such physical work. Besides, another possibility is the development of robotic technology in medical surgery operations.
Perhaps the greatest changes in future robots will improve from their increasing ability to reason. The field of artificial intelligence is moving rapidly from university labs to practical application in industry, and machines of a new kind of robots are being developed, which can perform something involved in the process of understanding and planning, such as the management of a battlefield. Even the control of a large factory will be performed by intelligent computers. And there might be a possibility that these computers can design and make robots of their own.
Is there anything dangerous involved in this artificial intelligence progress then? Robot technology has been making people nervous ever since it was invented. Is it unreasonable to worry that robots will someday become too clever? Is it impossible that these human-like robots will start to think and plan for themselves? Will robots take over the world and force humans to give them energy to survive?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
小題1: In 1995, about 700,000 robots were working in _____________.

A．Japan

B．the United States

C．Western Europe

D．the industrialized world

小題2:Which of the following do experts say robots won’t be able to do in the future?  

A．Take care of roads.	B．Be used as medicine.
C．Used as underground pipeline cleaner.	D．Take up jobs of building construction.

小題3:What does the underlined word “which” in Paragraph 2 refer to? 

A．Greatest changes in future robots.	B．The field of artificial intelligence.
C．Machines of a new kind of robots.	D．Practical application in industry.

小題4:What can we know from the 2nd paragraph？

A．It is possible that robots will be able to think like human beings.

B．It is sure that robots might be able to manage battlefields.

C．There is no doubt that computers can design and make robots of their own.

D．It is proved that computers can’t reason like human beings.

小題5:Which of the following makes people worried most?

A．Future robotic technology might cause dangers.

B．Future robotic technology might make people too clever.

C．Future robotic technology might help to do all dangerous jobs.

D．Future robotic technology might not survive because of its shortage of energy.

D
Last week Jay McCarroll and The HSUS(The Humane Society of the United States)  made a bold fur-free statement on the runway, marking a new chapter for the fashion industry and animal protection. The encouraging response to McCarroll’s show confirmed that change is happening in fashion.
McCarroll has good reasons for rejecting fur. Each year, tens of millions of animals, including dogs and cats, needlessly suffer and die to fuel the fur industry. But what did Jay McCarroll use in place of fur? “I have patchwork pieces that contain all sorts of combinations of fabrics. The rest is cotton, nylon, polyester . . . you name it. I even have some stuff made out of bamboo/cotton blend. Anything but fur and leather, ”he told Fashion Wire Daily.
“So many people want to protect animals and live their lives without causing unnecessary cruelty. More than two thirds of Americans have pets, and we share a bond with animals every day. Saying no to fur can help millions of animals, and we want to show our respect to leading designers like Jay who embrace compassion as the fashion, ”said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS. “It is great to see leaders in the fashion industry recognizing that the animals need their fur more than we do.”
63．Which of the following is true about Jay McCarroll?
A. He is a famous fashion designer.
B. He is the executive vice president of the HSUS.
C. He is an editor of Fashion Wire Daily.
D. He is the head of all animal protection organization.
64．What does “a new chapter” in line two, paragraph one mean?
A. A new unit of a book.                                                 B. The beginning of a new trend.
C. The latest issue of a magazine.                       D. A newly established organization.
65．Which of the following is NOT recommended for clothing by Jay McCarroll?
A. Polyester.                       B. Bamboo.                         C. Leather.                 D. Patchwork pieces.
66．What do we learn from this passage?
A. Human beings depend emotionally on animals.
B. Fashion can go hand in hand with compassion for life.
C. Fur is more effective than bamboo／cotton blend for clothing.
D. Fur is more expensive than other materials for fashion designers.

E
Twenty years ago, most experts believed that differences in how boys and girls behaved were mainly due to differences in how they were treated by their parents, teachers, and friends. It’s hard to cling to that belief today. Recent research has shown that there are biological differences between boys and girls. Understanding these differences is important in raising and educating children.
For example, girls are born with more sensitive hearing than boys, and the difference increases as kids grow up. So when a grown man speaks to a girl in what he thinks is a normal voice, she may hear it as yelling. Conversely (反過來), boys who appear to be inattentive in class may just be sitting too far away too hear the teacher.
Likewise, girls are better in their expression of feelings. Studies reveal that negative emotions are seated in an area of the brain called the amygdala. Girls develop all early connection between this area and the cerebral cortex (大腦皮層), enabling them to talk about their feelings. In boys these links develop later. So if you ask a troubled adolescent boy to tell you what his feelings are, he often cannot say much.
Dr. Sax, an advocate of single-sex education, points out that keeping boys and girls separate in the classroom has yielded striking educational, social, and interpersonal benefits. Therefore, parents and teachers should try to recognize, understand, and make use of the biological differences that make a girl a girl, and a boy a boy.
67．What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Boys tend to pay less attention in class than girls.
B. Girls are better than boys in their ability to detect sounds.
C. Boys and girls behave differently because of biological differences.
D. Single-sex schools are not good because they keep boys and girls separate.
68．Why do girls express negative feelings better than boys?
A. Girls are more emotional than boys.
B. Girls have more brain cells than boys.
C. The amygdala is located in different areas of the brain for boys and girls.
D. The links between certain parts of the brain develop earlier in girls than in boys.
69．Which of the following does the author believe?
A. Girls need more training in communication.
B. Boys and girls should be educated in different ways.
C. Parents should pay more attention to boys.
D. Sex differences should be ignored in education。
70．What does the phase “cling to” in the first paragraph mean?
A. maintain               B. abandon                         C. evaluate          D. challenge

D
　　Beyond two or three days，the world’s best weather forecasts are doubtful, and beyond six or seven they are worthless.
　　The Butterfly Effect is the reason. For small pieces of weather—to a global forecaster，small can mean thunder—storms and blizzards（暴風(fēng)雪）—any prediction becomes worse rapidly. Errors and uncertainties increase，from dust devils and storms up to continent-size eddies（旋渦）that only satellites can see.
　　The modern weather models work with net-like points sixty miles apart，and even so，some starting data have to be guessed，since ground stations and satellites cannot see everywhere. But suppose the earth could be covered with sensors placed one foot apart，rising at one-foot intervals all the way to the top of the atmosphere. Suppose every sensor gives perfectly accurate readings of temperature，pressure，humidity（溫度）, and any other data a weatherman would want. Exactly at noon a powerful computer takes all the data and calculates what will happen at each point at 12.01, then 12.02，then 12.03…the computer will still be unable to predict whether Princeton will have sun or rain one month away. At noon the spaces between the sensors will hide fluctuations（波動）that the computer will not know about. By 12.01，those fluctuations will already have created small errors one foot away. Soon the errors will have added to the ten-foot scale，and so on up to the size of the globe.
63．A weather forecast ____________ in the world.
A．is reliable within one or two days
B．is doubtful beyond 24 hours
C．becomes useless beyond two or three days
D．is still worthwhile in seven days
64．Usually there is a weather sub-station____________.
A．in every city 　　　　　　　　　　B．every 60 miles
C．between two cities 　　　　　　　 D．every one foot
65．Which of the following statements is true？
A．People have not placed sensors one foot apart in the atmosphere.
B．Scientists have already put sensors one foot apart in the world.
C．Every sensor gives perfectly accurate data a weatherman wants.
D．Ground weather stations and satellites can see every place on earth.
66．Our computer will not be able to know about fluctuations because ____________.
A．the sensors are not good enough
B．they are hidden by the spaces between the sensors
C．they are too far away
D．they move very fast

The quality of drinking water in Shanghai will meet European Union standard by 2010 and, a decade later, citizens in Shanghai will drink the best water in the world.
These were the goals set out by the Shanghai Water Authority. With the city’s population expected to increase only slightly and the economy to boom by 2020, Chen Yin, and official with the water authority, said Shanghai’s water consumption will not increase from its present amount.
Zhang Yue, director of the Urban Construction Division under the Ministry of Construction, said, “Shanghai is the first city in the country to publicize these ambitions. They will not be easy to achieve.”
He said water saving will help keep the sustainable development of China’s economy.
Saving one cubic meter of water means saving the city’s infrastructure（基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施）costs by 10,000 Yuan. Last year, Shanghai saved 300 million cubic meters of water either from readjustment of industrial structure or the employment of new technology.
“The aim is to arouse public awareness of the seriousness of water shortages,” Chen said. “The abundant surface water and amount of rain of the city are so misleading that they result in improper use of water.”
Shanghai lacks drinkable water. The Huangpu River, which supplies 80 percent of the city’s drinkable water, is nearing exhaustion.
The city, therefore, has been exploring new sources from the Yangtze River and growing forests along it to conserve quality water.
Besides penning regulations, the authority is popularizing technology among the public to efficiently cut the amount of water used.
At present, the city has 600，000 family toilets, each using 13 liters of water per flush. These are to be renovated（整修）to use only 9 liters of water per flush.
The authority is renovating the first 200 toilets for households – at a cost of 40 Yuan each.
In three years, all the toilets will be renovated, which saves the city nearly 15 million Yuan every year in water conservation.
Another task the city is engaged in is the treatment of sewage（污水）to improve the water environment.
At present the city can only treat 44 percent of its daily 5.04 million tons of waste water. To meet the total demand, 27 more sewage treatment factories are to be established with an estimated investment of 18 billion Yuan.
41．People in Shanghai get their daily water mainly from _______now.
A．the underground                          B．the rain     
C．the Yangtze River                         D．the Huangpu River
42．According to the passage, some people have the wrong opinion of using water
because      .
A．the renovating of family toilets will save plenty of water
B．a(chǎn)bout half of waste water has been treated already
C．a(chǎn)dvanced technology makes people use water as much as possible
D．there is plenty surface water and large amount of rain at present
43．The authority is renovating the first 200 toilets for households to          .
A．make people’s living more convenient     
B．improve people’s living standards
C．ease employment pressure      
D．meet the total demand of water
44．Which group of measures are all mentioned in the passage to save water?
a．improve drinking water quality
b．change some industrial structure
c．introduce or use some new technology    
d．speed the economic development of Shanghai
e．renovate some family toilets    
f．build more sewage treatment factories
A．a(chǎn), b, c, d                       B．b, c, e, f                       
C．b, c, d, e              D．a(chǎn), b, e, f
45．We can infer from the passage that          .
A．the boom of economy will need a larger amount of water in the future
B．citizens today in Shanghai drink the best quality of water in the world
C．not everyone today in Shanghai is aware of water shortage
D．a(chǎn)ll the family toilets will be renovated to save water within 3 years

Animation(動畫) means making things which are lifeless come alive and move.
Since earliest times, people have always been surprised by movement. But not until this century have we managed to take control of movement, to record it, and in the case of animation, to retranslate it and recreate it. To do all this, we use a movie camera and a projector.
In the world of cartoon animation, nothing is impossible. You can make the characters do exactly what you want them to do.
A famous early cartoon character was Felix the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan in America in the early nineteen twenties. Felix was a wonderful cat. He could do all sorts of things no natural cat could do like taking off his tail, using it as a handle and then putting it back.
Most of the great early animators lived and worked in America, the home of the moving picture industry. The famous Walt Disney cartoon characters came to life after 1928. Popeye the Sailor and his girl friend Olive Oyo were born at Max Ficischer in 1933.
But to be an animator, you don’t have to be a professional. It is possible for anyone to make a simple animated film without using a camera at all. All you have to do is to draw directly on to an empty film and then run the film through a projector.
64. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. People were unable to cause the movement to last or record it in the last century.
B. Pat Sullivan was a famous early cartoon character.
C. It is impossible to make cartoon characters do what they are designed to do.
D. In ancient times people were surprised by movement.
65. According to the passage, Felix the Cat________.
A. was created by the American cartoonist Felix
B. was designed by Pat Sullivan in the early twentieth century
C. was unable to do what natural cats could not do
D. was created in the United States in the nineteenth century
66. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. Walt Disney’s cartoon characters were born earlier that Pat Sullivan’s
B. only professionals can create cartoon characters
C. Popeye the Sailor and Olive Oyo were famous cartoonists
D. the cartoon industry started in the United States
67. Which of the following statements best describes the author’s attitude towards cartoon making?
A. Cartoon making is an easy job. Anyone can do it.
B. Only trained people can be employed in cartoon making industry.   
C. Anyone can make cartoons under the instructions of professionals.
D. Cartoon making is no easy job. You have to spend much time drawing onto the empty film.

Protecting Copyright
Having finished her homework, Ma Li wants some music for relaxation （娛樂）. As usual, she starts her computer and goes to Baidu.com to download music files. But this time she is surprised when an announcement about protecting songs’ copyright bursts onto the screen. The age of free music and movie downloads may have come to an end as Web companies like Baidu are accused of pirating copyright. Lawsuits（訴訟） have been filed against four websites offering free downloads. In September 2005, a Beijing court ordered Baidu to pay recording company Shanghai Push compensation for their losses. Baidu was also told to block the links to the pirated music on the website. This caused a heated discussion on Interact file sharing.
“Baidu’s defeat in the lawsuit shows it is not right to get copyrighted songs without paying. Downloaders may face lawsuits or fines,” said an official.
Like many teens, Huang Ruoru, an 18-year-old girl from Puning in Guangdong Province, doesn’t think that getting music from websites is wrong. She always shares her favourite songs downloaded from Baidu with her friends. When told about the lawsuit, she began to feel a little guilty about obtaining others’ work without paying.
However, other teenagers have different ideas. Wang Yafei, a Senior 2 girl from Jinan, Shandong Province pointed out that file sharing is a good way to promote pop singers. “If I download a song and really like it, I will buy the CD,” she said. “So what the recording companies really should concentrate on is improving their music, rather than pursuing （追趕）file-sharers.”
1. Which of the following best describes the passage?
A. Music on the Internet is of better quality.    
B. Downloading material can be illegal.
C. It’s good to get free music on the Internet.        
D. Baidu is a popular web company.
2. The four web companies were put to court because _________.
A. they got copyrighted songs without paying           
B. they downloaded copyrighted music for people
C. they make copyrighted files for free downloads
D. they offer free music on line
3. How do some of the teenagers feel while downloading free music after the lawsuit?
A. A bit guilty.        B. A little sad.      C. Extremely angry.   D. Awfully sorry.
4. What’s the advantage of file sharing for recording companies?
A. Getting more money from web companies.    
B. Enabling people to download favorite songs.
C. Helping to improve the music.               
D. Making pop singers more popular.
5. It can be inferred from the text that _________.
A. Web companies are still ignoring the copyright laws.
B. Teenagers haven’t got money to buy CDs.
C. Teenagers are probably still downloading free music.
D. Teenagers prefer CDs with copyright to pirated music.