Where have all the boys gone？You may be able to find them in the gym, at work or hanging out, but there’s one important place where boys are under­represented, and the problem seems to be getting worse. These days, at high school graduation ceremonies, there are a lot more girls than boys.

In fact, every year, 10 percent more girls graduate from high school than boys. “I think that there’s a tendency to focus on boys as problems at this point, rather than recognize that boys have problems,” says Joanne Max, PhD. Experts say the problems start in grade school, where there’s often an emphasis on sports instead of reading, for example. “I think that with boys there’s some idea that it’s not masculine(男子漢的)to read,” says Rob Jenkins, an English professor.

There’s also a shortage of male teachers as role models. “I think boys need role models, so if you’re a boy and you don’t have a dad in your home and then you have one male teacher and it’s your athletic coach then I don’t think you have a message that education is very important,” says Carol Carter, another expert. In addition, classrooms often have too little activity and too much passive listening, which is not conducive(有益的)to boys’  learning.

Experts say parents can fight back in many ways. Read to your sons early and often; show by your actions that you value their education. Ask them about their schoolwork, offer help, drop by their classroom and finally, appeal to their competitive spirit: challenge them to do better and help them understand that their future depends on it.

1.The underlined part “one important place” in Paragraph 1 refers to “______”.

A. classrooms                         B. factories

C. high school graduation ceremonies      D. gyms

2.According to the passage，boys have the problem that they think ______.

A. reading is more important than sports     

B. it is shameful for boys to read

C. boys should not work as a teacher        

D. boys lack the gift for reading

3.Carol Carter’s words implied that ______.

A. parents play an important role in education

B. athletic coaches contribute a lot to education

C. lack of male teachers affects boys’ attitudes to school work

D. classrooms lack enough activities that are suitable for boys

4.According to experts，parents should do the following except ______.

A．often read to their sons when they are young

B．keep an eye on their sons’ studies at school

C．encourage their sons to compete with others

D. prevent their sons from taking part in sports

Boys’ schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.
Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity (陽(yáng)剛), the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to conform to(符合、順應(yīng)) a stereotype（老套）, a US study says.
Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to conform to the“boy code”of hiding their emotions to be a “real man”.
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warned that boys were being faded by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.
The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys’ learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study’s author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused” approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision learned best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given “hands-on” lessons where they are allowed to walk around. “Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine (女性的) and prefer the modern genre (類(lèi)型) in which violence and sexism are major themes.” James wrote.
Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to conform to a stereotype that men should be “masterful and in charge” in relationships. “ In mixed schools boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means.” the study reported.
【小題1】The author believes that a single-sex school would ____ .

( B )
In communities north of Denver, residents are pitching in to help teachers and administrators as the Vrain school District tries to solve a $13.8 million budget shortage blamed on mismanagement. “We’re worried about our teachers and principals, and we really don’t want to lose them because of this,” one parent said. “If we can help ease their financial burden, we will.”
Teachers are grateful, but I know it may be years before the district is solvent(有綜合能力的). They feel really good about the parent support, but they realize it’s impossible for them to solve this problem.
The 22,000-student district discovered the shortage last month. “It’s extraordinary. Nobody would have imagined something happening like this at this level,” said State Treasurer Mike Coffman.
Coffman and district officials last week agreed on a state emergency plan freeing up a $9.8 million loan that enabled the payroll(工資單) to be met for 2,700 teachers and staff in time for the holidays.
District officials also took $1.7 million from student-activity accounts of its 38 schools.
At Coffman’s request, the District Attorney has begun investigating the district’s finances. Coffman says he wants to know whether district officials hid the budget shortage until after the November election, when voters approved a $212 million bond issue for schools.
In Frederick, students’ parents are buying classroom supplies and offering to pay for groceries and utilities to keep first-year teachers and principals in their jobs.
Some $36,000 has been raised in donations from Safeway. A Chevrolet dealership donated $10,000 and forgave the district’s $10,750 bill for renting the driver educating cars. IBM contributed 4,500 packs of paper.
“We employ thousands of people in this community,” said Mitch Carson, a hospital chief executive, who helped raise funds. “We have children in the school, and we see how they could be affected.”
At Creek High School, three students started a website that displays newspaper articles, district information and an email forum. “Rumors about what’s happening to the district are moving at lighting speed,” said a student. “We wanted to know the truth, and spread that around instead.”
46. What has happened to the Vrain School District?
A. A huge financial problem has arisen.
B. Many schools there are mismanaged.
C. Lots of teachers in the district are planning to quit.
D. Many administrative personnel have been laid off.
47. How did the residents in the Vrain School District respond to the budget shortage?
A. They felt somewhat helpless about it.
B. They accused those responsible for it.
C. They made their efforts to help solve it.
D. They demanded a thorough investigation.
48. In the view of State Treasurer Mike Coffman, the educational budget shortage is ________.
A. unavoidable       B. unbelievable       C. insolvable        D. invisible
49. Why did Coffman request an investigation?
A. To see if the financial problem was covered up on purpose
B. To find out how serious the consequence of the case would be.
C. To make sure that the school principals were innocent.
D. To stop the voters approving the $212 million bond issue.
50. Three high school students started a website in order to ________.
A. attract greater public attention to their needs
B. appeal to the public for contributions and donations
C. expose officials who neglected their duties
D. keep people properly informed of the crisis

Aaron LeMieux loves to hike and often listens to the radio at the same time. While on a 1,500-mile hike _______ the Appalachian Trail, Aaron started thinking about energy. Could the energy his body was creating be used to charge an electronic device? In 2006 Aaron quit his job ________ turned the basement of his home into a laboratory. He then put all his time ________ developing the nPower PEG.

PEG means personal energy generator(發(fā)電機(jī)). ________ uses the energy you create while moving to charge a hand-held device. Just put your nPower PEG in your bag, ________ fasten it to your leg or bicycle. Then plug your MP3 player, cell phone or digital camera into your nPower PEG’s USA port. LeMieux’s company, Tremont Electric, claims ________ nPower PEG can charge most hand-held electronic devices to 80 percent in one hour.

Since it costs US$149, the nPower PEG won’t appeal to everyone with its price so ________. But for those ________ spend a lot of time with electronic devices powered by batteries, it might come in handy.

第三部分：閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿分 40分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
A
In their book Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, Robert and Brenda Vale say keeping a medium?sized dog has the same ecological impact as driving 10,000 km a year in a 4.6 liter Land Cruiser.?
“We’re not actually saying it is time to eat the dog. We’ re just saying that we need to think about and know the ecological impact of some of the things we do and that we take for granted.”?
Constructing and driving the jeep for a year requires 0.41 hectares of land, while growing and manufacturing a dog’s food takes about 0.84 hectares — or 1.1 hectares in the case of a large dog such as a German shepherd.?
Convincing flesh?eating cats and dogs to go vegetarian for the sake of the planet is a non?starter, the Vales say. Instead they recommend keeping “greener”, smaller, and more sustainable pets, such as goldfish, chickens or rabbits.?
The book’s playful title, and serious suggestion that pet animals may be usefully “recycled”, by being eaten by their owners or turned into pet food when they die, may not appeal to animal fans.?
Annoying as the idea may be, the question is valid given the planet’s growing population and limited resources, Robert Vale said.?
“Issues about sustainability are increasingly becoming things that are going to require us to make choices which are as difficult as eating your dog. It’s not just about changing your light bulbs or taking a cloth bag to the supermarket,” he said.?
“It’s about much more challenging and difficult issues,” he added. “Once you see where cats and dogs fit in your overall balance of things, you might decide to have the cat but not also to have the two cars and the three bathrooms and be a meat eater yourself.”?
56. The authors gave their book the playful title to________.?
A. make it amusing                    B. create a vivid image?
C. show　writing skills                 D. arouse people’ s concern
57. In Paragraph 3 the writer mainly wants to tell us________.?
A. the amount of consumed land ?      B. the neglected ecological impact?
C. some familiar examples ?           D. some actual figures?
58. What does “sustainability” mean according to the passage??
A. Going vegetarian. ?          B. Raising cats and dogs.?
C. Using a cloth bag. ?          D. Keeping a greener life.?
59. Who may not like the idea of “recycling” pet animals??
A. Manufacturers.    B. Drivers. ?      C. Animal fans.       D. The authorities.?
60. What do the authors think of living a sustainable life??
A. Challenging.          B. Inspiring.          C. Inviting.         D. Touching.