How many times do you have to fail at something in order to succeed? Did you know that Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times while trying to invent the light bulb? He certainly had a “l(fā)earn and do” attitude! He was able to turn each failed experiment into a successful way to invent the light bulb. So what can we learn from this? You can adopt the “fail forward” strategy too.
In reality, none of us are failures. It’s true that we will experience times of defeat, problems, and disasters, but remember, each one of us is meant to succeed in life. However, we must choose our fate. Henry David Thoreau said, “Men are born to succeed, not to fail.”
We can never be forced into having a happy and successful life. Whether or not you experience success or failure is completely controlled by what you think and do. You are the only one who can choose the thoughts that will keep you from achieving the abundant life and joy that you are meant to have. No matter how difficult things may seem, say to yourself, “I choose to be a happy and successful person.”
Why do some people get what they want and others fail? I believe that getting what you desire in life takes planning, and it doesn’t just happen by luck. So how do we plan for success?
It has been proven that successful people do things more differently than unsuccessful people. They recognize the patterns of success and follow them; one of those patterns is planning. They plan what they think and do, which sets them apart. They know exactly what they desire, have an intelligent plan for getting it, and then work their plan. They know what success will cost them in terms of time, energy, and results, and they devote the right resources toward making their plans happen.
【小題1】The writer refers to Thomas Edison to ________.

A．introduce his invention

B．put forward the topic of the text

C．praise the inventor

D．show the way to success

【小題2】What Henry David Thoreau said implies that ________.

A．everyone is able to be a success

B．most people lack the confidence to succeed

C．everyone can do nothing but succeed in his life

D．no one can succeed without difficulty and suffering

【小題3】The main idea of the last two paragraphs is that ________.

A．planning plays an important role in success

B．successful people differ from unsuccessful ones

C．successful people have many patterns of success

D．devoting the right resources can help reach one’s goal

【小題4】Which of the following would match the text?

A．All roads lead to Rome.	B．Think twice before you act.
C．No pains, no gains.	D．Failure is the mother of success.

Two friends have an argument that breaks up their friendship forever, even though neither one can remember how the whole thing got started. Such sad events happen over and over in high schools across the country. In fact, according to an official report on youth violence, “In our country today, the greatest threat to the lives of children and adolescents is not disease or starvation or abandonment, but the terrible reality of violence”. Given that this is the case, why aren’t students taught to manage conflict the way they are taught to solve math problems, drive cars, or stay physically fit?
First of all, students need to realize that conflict is unavoidable. A report on violence among middle school and high school students indicates that most violent incidents between students begin with a relatively minor insult. For example, a fight could start over the fact that one student eats a peanut butter sandwich each lunchtime. Laughter over the sandwich can lead to insults, which in turn can lead to violence. The problem isn’t in the sandwich, but in the way students deal with the conflict.
Once students recognize that conflict is unavoidable, they can practice the golden rule of conflict resolution: stay calm. Once the student feels calmer, he or slid should choose words that will calm the other person down as well. Rude words, name-calling, and accusation only add fuel to the emotional fire. On the other hand, soft words spoken at a normal sound level can put out the fire before it explodes out of control.
After both sides have calmed down, they can use another key strategy for conflict resolution: listening. Listening allows the two sides to understand each other. One person should describe his or her side, and the other person should listen without interrupting. Afterward, the listener can ask non-threatening questions to clarify the speaker’s position. Then the two people should change roles.
Finally, students need to consider what they are hearing. This doesn’t mean trying to figure out what’s wrong with the other person. It means understanding what the real issue is and what both sides are trying to accomplish. For example, a shouting match over a peanut butter sandwich might happen because one person thinks the other person is unwilling to try new things.Students need to ask themselves questions such as these: How did this start? What do I really want? What am I afraid of? As the issue becomes clearer, the conflict often simply becomes smaller.Even if it doesn’t, careful thought helps both sides figure out a mutual solution.
There will always be conflict in schools, but that doesn’t mean there needs to be violence. After students in Atlanta started a conflict resolution program, according to Educators for Social Responsibility, “64% of the teachers reported less physical violence in the classroom; 75% of the teachers reported an increase in student cooperation; and 92% of the students felt better about themselves”. Learning to resolve conflicts can help students deal with friends, teachers, parents, bosses, and coworkers. In that way, conflict resolution is a basic life skill that should be taught in schools across the country.
【小題1】This article is mainly about              .

A．the lives of school children

B．the cause of arguments in schools

C．how to analyze youth violence

D．how to deal with school conflicts

【小題2】From Paragraph 2 we can learn that              .

A．violence is more likely to occur at lunchtime

B．a(chǎn) small conflict can lead to violence

C．students tend to lose their temper easily

D．the eating habit of a student is often the cause of a fight

【小題3】Why do students need to ask themselves the questions stated in Paragraph 5?

A．To make clear what the real issue is.

B．To get ready to try new things.

C．To find out who is to blame.

D．To figure out how to stop the shouting match.

【小題4】After the conflict resolution program was started in Atlanta, it was found that           .

A．more teachers felt better about themselves in schools

B．there was less student cooperation in the classroom

C．there was a decrease in classroom violence

D．the teacher-student relationship greatly improved

【小題5】The writer’s purpose for writing this article is to              .

A．complain about problems in school education

B．teach students different strategies for school life

C．inform teachers of the latest studies on school violence

D．a(chǎn)dvocate teaching conflict management in schools

LIKE many teachers, Cristi Derow and Jennifer Bradley have spent most of their careers giving classroom lectures to students who sat passively in their seats.
The Lewisvillle, Texas, school teachers were aware that the hours they spent on preparing lessons were too often wasted on many students. So Forestwood High School, Texas, used the “flipped (翻轉(zhuǎn)的) classroom” method of instruction. “We’ve completely done away with our lecture,” Derow said. And homework assignments “are all done in class,” Bradley said.
With the flipped concept, a student’s usual homework assignment is to watch pre-recorded lectures on their computers or smart phones.They walk into class ready to discuss the topic, collaborate(合作) with other students and work on assignments based on what they learned from the video. Free from lecturing, the teachers can use class time to look deeper into the subject and focus on difficult concept. As students change from a passive to an active role, they learn critical thinking skills, learn to collaborate and become independent learners.
Instead of doing homework assignments alone at home, students are now “working together, talking about it,” Bradley said. “If they don’t agree on an answer, they debate it and have to justify their answers. It’s a higher level of learning.”
Her students give the flipped classroom high marks.
Sarah Lee, 14, watches the 30-minute videos on a home computer. She likes the ability to rewind the tapes if she doesn't understand a concept. She also likes being able to watch the lessons on her own schedule.
One of her classmates, Dawson Depperschmidt has the same idea and thinks the time she spends in the classroom is more productive. “It gives us more time to learn at school,” Dawson said. “You get more in-depth in class.
【小題1】What can we conclude from the first two paragraphs?

A．Teachers in Lewisville enjoyed giving classroom lectures.

B．It takes time for students to concentrate and understand in class.

C．Many students took an inactive part in lecture-style classes.

D．Teachers in Lewisville found that there was no need to prepare lessons.

【小題2】What difference does the “flipped classroom”method make to students?

A．They have more arguments with classmates.

B．They have to be independent and cooperative.

C．They need to do more homework at home.

D．They have to prepare lectures by themselves.

【小題3】What does the underlined word “productive” mean?

A．reducing difficulties	B．trying new methods
C．a(chǎn)chieving a lot	D．causing troubles

【小題4】What are the benefits of the “flipped classroom” method?
a. Teachers have time to solve deeper problems
b. Students are engaged in a higher level of learning.
c. Students study according to their own schedule.
d. Teachers don’t have to design homework for students

A．a(chǎn), b, c,

B．a(chǎn), c, d

C．b, c, d

D．a(chǎn), b, d

In her new book, “The Smartest Kids in the World,” Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Wroclaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students’ test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Wroclaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind.
That American high schools lavish more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities. This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment(PISA) results are announced, it’s safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers.
Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader—a mother with three children in the school—was asked about the school’s flaws. When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned. “Really?” one of them asked worriedly, “What do you mean?”
One of the ironies of the situation is that sports reveal what is possible. American kids’ performance on the field shows just how well they can do when expectations are high. It’s too bad that their test scores show the same thing. 
【小題1】Tom decides to spend his senior year in Poland because _______.

A．he intends to improve his scores

B．Polish kids are better at learning

C．sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg

D．there are striking differences between the 2 countries

【小題2】According to Paragraph 2, we know that _______.

A．PISA plays a very important role in America

B．little time is spent on sports in Japanese schools

C．American high schools complain about sports time

D．too much importance is placed on sports in America

【小題3】The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means _______.

A．low expectations result in American students’ poor PISA performance

B．high expectations push up American students’ academic performance

C．American students’ academic performance worries their parents a lot

D．lacking practice contributes to American students’ average performance

【小題4】The purpose of this article is to _______.

A．compare Polish schools with those in America

B．call on American schools to learn from the Polish model

C．draw public attention to a weakness in American school tradition

D．explain what is wrong with American schools and provide solutions

Scores on a national test released(發(fā)布)on November 1 show that students in the U.S.A. have improved in math over the last two years, but mostly stayed the same in reading. This year, 422,000 fourth graders and 343,000 eighth graders took the exams between January and March. Students were asked to read grade-appropriate(年級(jí)適合的) materials and answer questions for the reading test. For the math test, students answered questions about geometry, algebra, number properties, measurement and other topics.
The U.S Department of Education released the scores in a report called The Nation’s Report Card (NAEP). This year, students earned the highest scores ever recorded on the math exam, which has been given since 1990.Fourth graders scored an average of 241.That is a one-point increase from 2009and a 28-point increase from 1990. Eighth graders made similar progress. Then average score this year was 284,up one point from 2009 and 21 points from 1990.
In reading, fourth graders scored an average of 221 points, the same average score since 2007.That score is four points above those from 1992, when the first reading test was given. Eighth graders scored an average of 265 points, up one point from 2009 and five points from 1992.
Education experts say reading is a harder subject to improve in the classroom than math. While math is largely learned in classrooms, reading results depend on how much kids read outside of school and how much they read in other subjects, such as history and science.
On the NAEP, math scores were the highest among students who have limited use of calculators(計(jì)算器) during math lessons, compared with students who have unlimited use or no use. Reading scores were the highest among students who said they read for fun on their own time almost every day.
【小題1】According to the test, students in the U.S.A _______________________.

A．do better in math than in reading

B．work harder at reading than at math

C．prefer to learn math in their spare time

D．a(chǎn)re more interested in reading than before

【小題2】In 1990, the fourth graders’ average score on the math exam was about____________

A．238

B．240

C．213

D．220

【小題3】We can learn from the third paragraph that ______________.

A．eighth graders all took part in the test in 2007

B．reading scores have not improved much since 2007

C．eighth graders got higher scores than fifth graders

D．fourth graders’ scores are becoming lower and lower

【小題4】 What can we learn from the passage?

A．The first reading test was given in 1990.

B．Eighth graders’ average math score was 285 in 2009

C．Eighth graders got the same average as fourth graders in the reading this year

D．Reading is hard to improve in the classroom because that requires students to read a lot outside of school.

Teachers and parents usually pay attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to preschool children. But a new study suggests that paying attention to the words and letters on the page may lead to better readers.
The two-year study compared children who were read to this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the print showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding. These results were found one year and even two years later.
Shayne Piasta, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, was an author of the study. She says most preschool teachers would find this method manageable and would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read storybooks in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed text.
Ms Piasta says if you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word recognition and spelling. But she says research suggests that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic(系統(tǒng)的) way.
More than 300 children aged four and five were observed in classrooms in Ohio and Virginia. The children came from poor families and were below average in their language skills. This put them at risk of reading problems later. For 30 weeks, the children took part in a program called Project STAR. It tests the short-term and long-term results of reading regularly to preschool children in their classrooms.
There’re different ways that adults can talk to children about print. They can point to a letter and discuss it, and even trace the shape with a finger. They can point out a word, “This is a ‘dog’.” They can discuss how the words tell the story. And they can talk about the organization of the print—for example, showing how words are written left to right in English.
【小題1】According to the text, Shayne Piasta _______.

A．worked in a middle school

B．didn’t attend the research at all

C．liked kids to be educated through words

D．hoped to increase kids’ interest through pictures

【小題2】According to the text, Project STAR ____.

A．focused on adults’ education

B．was to study reading results

C．was mainly conducted at home

D．tested kids with good reading skills

【小題3】What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Why words have meanings.

B．Different expressions of words.

C．How words are spelled differently.

D．Ways of teaching about print.

【小題4】 The text may appear in ____.

A．Child Development

B．Daily Technology

C．International Affairs

D．Health Development

Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life.
In some modern countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for all whether rich or poor, clever or stupid, one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough: we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degrees; they refuse to do what they think “l(fā)ow” work; and in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor; we can live without education, but we die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we would get terrible diseases in our towns.
In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we are educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability, and secondly, that we realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that it is very bad to be ashamed of one’s work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society.
【小題1】The writer of this passage thinks that________.

A．free education for all probably leads to a perfect world

B．free education can solve all of the world’s problems

C．free education won’t help to solve social problems

D．a(chǎn)ll the social problems can’t be solved by free education

【小題2】The writer wants to prove that ___________.

A．a(chǎn) farmer is more important than a professor

B．our society needs all kinds of jobs

C．our society needs free education for all

D．people with university degrees earn more money

【小題3】According to the passage, ____________.

A．work with hands is low work

B．work with hands is dirty and shameful

C．work with hands is the most important

D．we can’t regard work with hands as low work

【小題4】The purpose of education is ___________.

A．to prepare children for their future life

B．to let everyone receive education

C．to choose a system of education

D．to prepare children for well-paid jobs

Does your child struggle in school? Is he or she afraid of reading out loud, writing an essay, or working out a math problem? While every kid has trouble with homework from time to time, if a certain area of learning keeps going wrong, it might show a learning disorder. Learning disorders, or learning disabilities, are a general term for a wide variety of learning problems.
A learning disability is not a problem with IQ or motivation (動(dòng)機(jī)). Kids with learning disabilities aren’t lazy or slow. In fact, most are just as smart as everyone else. Their brains are just wired (裝電線) differently. Simply put, children and adults with learning disabilities see, hear, and understand things differently. This difference affects how they receive and process (處理) information. This can lead to trouble in learning new information and skills, and putting them to use.
It can be tough to face the possibility that your child has a learning disorder. No parents want to see their children suffer. You may wonder what it could mean for your child’s future, or worry about how your kid will make it through school. But the important thing to remember is that most kids with learning disabilities are just as smart as everyone else. They just need to be taught in ways that suit their unique learning styles.
It’s not always easy to tell whether a child has learning disabilities, for learning disabilities look very different from one child to another. One child may struggle with reading and spelling, while another loves books but can’t understand math. Still another child may have difficulty understanding what others are saying or communicating loud. However, some warning signs are more common than others at different ages. If you’re aware of what they are, you’ll be able to catch a learning disorder early and quickly and take steps to help your child as quickly as possible.
【小題1】From the passage, we can infer that_______.

A．students with learning disabilities look quite different from normal students

B．students with learning disabilities can’t do well in their studies

C．only few students with learning disabilities are as clever as normal students

D．it is quite possible for a students with learning disabilities to succeed in their studies

【小題2】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Learning about learning disabilities.

B．How to prevent learning disabilities.

C．Ways to identify learning disabilities.

D．Different learning disabilities.

【小題3】What will be most probably discussed following the Paragraph 4?

A．Some ways which help parents teach their children with learning disabilities better.

B．Some suggestions on how to get along with their children with learning disabilities.

C．Some parents may have difficulties in helping their children with learning disabilities.

D．Some warning signs which show that a child may have learning disabilities.

A study of English learning problems was carried out among a total of 106 foreign students. It shows that most students considered understanding spoken English to be their biggest problem on arrival. This was followed by speaking. Writing increased as a problem as students discovered difficulties in writing papers that they were now expected to hand in. Reading remained as a significant problem.
Information gained helped us in determining where special attention should be paid in our course. Although many students have chosen to join the course with a reasonable motivation, we considered it important to note what seemed to encourage interest. Nearly all the students have experienced some kind of grammar-based English teaching in their own country. To use the same method would be self-defeating because it might reduce motivation, especially if it has failed in the past. Therefore a different method may help because it is different.
Variety of activity was also seen as a way of maintaining or increasing motivation. Several years ago we had one timetable that operated throughout, but we soon found that both the students and the teachers lost interest about halfway through the ten weeks. This led us to a major re-think, so in the end we brought it into line with the expressed language needs of the students.
【小題1】What is the test mainly about?

A．Foreign students have more problems.

B．There are many ways to improve English.

C．Teaching should meet students’ needs.

D．English learning problems should be studied again.

【小題2】Writing became a bigger problem when foreign students __________.

A．had to write their papers

B．became better at speaking

C．became less interested in reading

D．had fewer problems with listening

【小題3】 We may infer from the last two paragraphs that_________.

A．different teaching methods should be used

B．grammar-based teaching seems to be encouraging

C．English courses are necessary for foreign students

D．teaching content should be changed halfway

Instead of hitting the beach, fourteen high school students traded swimming suits for lab coats last summer and turned their attention to scientific experiments.
The High School Research Program offers high school students guidance with researchers in Texas A&M’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jennifer Funkhouser, academic adviser for the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, directs this four-week summer program designed to increase understanding of research and its career potential.
Several considerations go into selecting students, including grades, school involvement and interest in science and agriculture. And many students come from poorer school districts, Funkhouser says, “This is their chance to learn techniques and do experiments they never would have a chance to do in high school.”
Warner Ervin of Houston is interested in animal science and learned how to tell male from female mosquitoes(蚊子）.His adviser, Craig Coates, studies the genes of mosquitoes that allow them to fight against malaria and yellow fever. Coates thought this experience would be fun and helpful to the high school students.
The agricultural research at A&M differs from stereotypes. It’s “molecular(分子）science on the cutting edge,” Funkhouser says. The program broadened students’ knowledge. Victor Garcia of Rio Grande City hopes to become a biology teacher and says he learned a lot about chemistry from the program.
At the end of the program, the students presented papers on their research. They’re also paid $600 for their work-another way this program differs from others, which often charge a fee.
Fourteen students got paid to learn that science is fun, that agriculture is a lot more than milking and plowing and that research can open many doors.
【小題1】The research program is chiefly designed for  _______.

A．high school advisers from Houston

B．college students majoring in agriculture

C．high school students from different places

D．researchers at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

【小題2】It can be inferred from the text that the students in poorer areas  ___________ .

A．had little chance to go to college

B．could often take part in the program

C．found the program useful to their future

D．showed much interest in their high school experiments

【小題3】When the program was over, the students  ________.

A．entered that college	B．wrote research reports
C．paid for their research	D．found way to make money

【小題4】The underlined expression “on the cutting edge” in paragraph 5 means “on the most  ___ position”.

A．important	B．favorable
C．a(chǎn)stonishing	D．a(chǎn)dvanced