D
President Obama，s plan last week to overhaul(改善)former president George W．Bush’s
No Child left Behind program is an improvement on a good thin9．But it doesn’t go far enough.
Obama outlined a goal that by 2020，all grade school and high school students ale on a path toward college and career readiness．
However, what we need is a practical plan that not only requires all high school graduates to take at least two years of college but also makes it financially possible for them to do so. We’ve provided a free public education through the l2th grade．If we’re going to keep up—or catch up—with some other countries(1ike China)in preparing young people for careers，a 12-year education program no longer is enough．
About 3 million students across the USA will graduate from high school this spring. But only 2 million will go on to college, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics(NCFES)．For the more than l million who won’t go on，money is a major factor．If tuition(学费)were free，about half of them could make up other COSTS from family or part—time jobs．
Critics(批评家)of free college tuition will say we can’t afford it because of the federal deficit(联邦赤字)and other rising costs．Let’s see some government spending in detail：
In the last nearly 10 years．the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost us $1 trillion(that’s $1，000 billion，or an average of$100 billion a year)．Federal money spent on public elementary and secondary education in the last year for which figures are available was$47 billion．If we end costly and unnecessary wars and nation—building efforts abroad，the federal government could provide more money on public education，for which state and local governments now carry most of the burden(负担)．
53．According to President Obama’s plan，in 10 years______________
A．there will be no expensive and unnecessary Wars
B．all grade and high school students can go to college
C．the U．S．will catch up with China in career preparation
D．students Call enjoy a l2-year public free education
54．If tuition were not charged．______________
A．about 2．5 million students could afford college education
B．about 2 million students could be provided chances of college education
C．over l million students still could not afford college education
D．about 3 million students could graduate from high school
55.The author may agree that President Obama’s plan__________
A．has little to do with Gorge W．Bush’s program
B. does not agree with the survey by NCFES
C．does not contain practical measures to achieve its goal
D．will lighten the burden of state and local governments
56．It can be inferred from the passage that_____________
A．the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are expensive but necessary
B．the federal Can not provide more money on education
C，critics of free college tuition think little of the plan
D．President Obama’s plan might be hard to carry out
A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth.
Until now, it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience — what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）.
But in the new study, researchers describe a method for improving this skill, along with experiments to prove it works.
The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it. This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence, so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence.
First they measured the fluid intelligence of four groups of volunteers using standard tests. Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game, in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard. During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance, manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time.
The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively. To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills, the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training.
The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were striking. Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater. Moreover, the longer they trained, the higher their scores were. All performers, from the weakest to the strongest, showed significant improvement.
“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training.” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper. No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops, he added, and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains.
64. The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was______.
A. memorizing telephone numbers B. improving working memory
C. training in concentration D. recalling a card
65. The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence Except_______.
A. ignoring irrelevant items B. monitoring ongoing performance
C. managing two tasks at the same time D. using previous experience
66. When the experiment was conducted, the researchers ______.
A. trained the four groups for the same period of time
B. only made comparisons between the four groups
C. compared the four groups with control groups D. trained the four groups together
67. By writing the article, the writer intends to_____.
A. inform the readers of a new study
B. call on people to be trained to increase intelligence
C. prove one’s born brainpower can be improved
D. tell people the improved intelligence will last forever
From good reading we can get pleasure, companionship, experience, and instruction．A good book may absorb our attention so completely that for the time being we forget our surroundings and even our identity．Reading good books is one of the greatest pleasures in life．It increases our contentment when we are cheerful, and lessens our troubles when we are sad．Whatever may be our main purpose in reading, our contact with good books should never fail to give us enjoyment and satisfaction．
With a good book in our hands we need never be lonely．Whether the characters portrayed are taken from real life or are purely imaginary, they may become our companions and friends．In the pages of books we can walk with the wise and the good of all lands and all times．The people we meet in books may delight us either because they resemble human friends whom we hold dear or because they present unfamiliar types whom we are glad to welcome as new acquaintances．Our human friends sometimes may bore us, but the friends we make in books need never weary us with their company．By turning the page we can dismiss them without any fear of hurting their feelings．When human friends desert us, good books are always ready to give us friendship, sympathy, and encouragement．
One of the most valuable gifts bestowed by books is experience．Few of us can travel far from home or have a wide range of experiences, but all of us can lead varied lives through the pages of books．Whether we wish to escape from the seemingly dull realities of everyday life or whether we long to visit some far-off place, a book will help us when nothing else can．To travel by book we need no bank account to pay our way; no airship or ocean liner or stream-lined train to transport us; no passport to enter me land of our heart's desire．
Through books we may get the thrill of risky adventure without danger．We can climb lofty mountains, brave the danger of an Antarctic winter, or cross the hot sands of the desert, all without hardship．In books we may visit the studios of Hollywood; we may walk among the gay crowds of the Paris wide streets; we may join the picturesque peasants in an Alpine village or the kindly natives on a South Sea island．Indeed, through books the whole world is ours for the asking．The possibilities of our literary experiences are almost unlimited．The beauties of nature, the enjoyment of music, the treasures of art, the triumphs of architecture, the miracles of engineering, are all open to the wonder and enjoyment of those who read．
60．Why do we sometimes forget our surroundings and even our identity while reading?
A．No one has come to disturb you．
B．Everything is so quiet and calm around you．
C．The book you are reading is so interesting and attractive．
D．Your book is overdue; you are finishing it at a very fast speed．
61．What can we learn from this passage?
A．Your wish to visit some far-off place can be realized through the pages of the books．
B．To escape from the dull realities of everyday life you should take up reading．
C．Books can always help you to live a colorful life．
D．You may obtain valuable experience from reading good books．
62．The underlined word "weary" means ____．
A．to attract someone's attention B．to distract someone's attention
C．to make someone very tired D．to make someone interested
63．The last paragraph of the passage implies that through books ____．
A．the whole world is more accessible to us
B．we can ask to go anywhere in the world
C．it is possible for us to make a round-the-world trip free of charge
D．we can ask for everything in this world
第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）.
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
IN a surprising discovery about where higher life can survive, scientists have found a shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish (水母) swimming beneath an Antarctic ice sheet.
About 180 meters below the ice where no light can get through, scientists had figured nothing much more than a few microbes (微生物) could exist.
That’s why a NASA team was surprised when they lowered a video camera to get the first long look at the underbelly (下腹部) of an ice sheet in Antarctica. A curious shrimp-like creature came swimming by and then parked itself on the camera’s cable. Scientists also pulled up a tentacle (触须) they believe came from a jellyfish.
“We were operating on the presumption (假定) that nothing’s there,” said NASA ice scientist Robert Bindschadler. “It was a shrimp you’d enjoy having on your plate.”
“We were just gaga (狂热的) over it,” he said of the 7.5cm long, orange creature starring in their two-minute video. Technically, it’s not a shrimp. It’s a Lyssianasid amphipod (片脚类动物), which is distantly related to the shrimp.
The video is likely to inspire experts to rethink what they know about life in harsh (苛刻的) environments. And it has scientists thinking that if shrimp-like creatures can live below 180 meters of Antarctic ice in freezing dark water, what about other cold places? What about Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter?
Cynan Ellis-Evans, a scientist of the British Antarctic Survey called the finding intriguing (吸引人的). He said it was possible the creatures swam in from far away and don’t live there permanently.
But Kim, who is a co-author of the study, doubts it. The site in West Antarctica is at least 19 km from open seas. Bindschadler drilled a 20cm-wide hole and was looking at a tiny amount of water. That means it’s unlikely that two creatures swam from great distances and were captured randomly in that small of an area, she said.
Yet scientists were puzzled at what the food source would be for these creatures. While some microbes can make their own food out of chemicals in the ocean, complex life like the shrimp can’t, Kim said.
So how do they survive? That’s the key question, Kim said.
“It’s pretty amazing when you find a huge puzzle like that on a planet where we thought we know everything,” Kim said.
56. Scientists had believed that harsh environments could only have been populated by ______.
A. jellyfish B. mammal C. microbes D. shrimp-like creature
57. According to Kim, the shrimp-like creature ______.
A. swam great distances to Antarctic B. has always lived in the region
C. gradually evolved from shrimp D. has nothing in common with shrimp
58. The finding is significant in that ______.
A. it marks NASA’s first Antarctic biological study
B. it proves there is marine life in the Antarctic
C. it could inspire further study of life in harsh environment
D. it shows that Lyssianasid amphipod is closely related to shrimp
59. The last three paragraphs suggest that ______.
A. researchers will look at the places the creatures came from
B. ice scientists will drill deeper to find more creature
C. scientists know very little about the planet they live on
D. further research will be done about what the creatures live on
Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that men and animals possess, if they are properly used. If fire did not hurt when it burnt, children would play it until their hands were burnt away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear did not, a child would burn itself again and again, because fear would not warn the child to keep away from the fire that had burnt him or her before. A really fearless soldier-and some do exist –is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army. Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which men and animals might soon die out.
In our first sentence we suggested that fear ought to be properly used. If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. Even in your house you are not absolutely safe: a plane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the wood in your roof, and they later may fall on you, or you may get cancer !
The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take.
In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight toward you; fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is OK.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you cannot prevent a plane from crashing into your house, and you may not want to go and live 
in a desert where there are no plants. In this case, fear has given you its warning; you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of this particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it.
72. Children would play with fire until their hands were burnt away if _______.
A. they were given no warning beforehand
B. they didn’t have any sense of pain at all
C. they had never burnt themselves
D. they felt afraid of the fire
73. A really fearless soldier _______.
A. is of a little use to his army
B. is not afraid of battles at all
C. is nothing but a dead soldier
D. is easy to get killed in a battle
74. People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding dangers because _______.
A. they are warned of the danger and take quick action
B. they are quick both in mind and in action
C. they are calm in face of danger
D. they have gained much experience
75. It is implied but not stated that _______.
A. fear is always something helpful
B. too much fear is harmful
C. fear 
should be used as a servant and guide
D. fear is something strange and particular
Scientists are working to develop crop plants that can reduce the amount of water used for agriculture. Almost sixty percent of the world’s freshwater withdrawals from rivers, lakes and other water resources go toward irrigating fields.
Scientists are using biotechnology as well as traditional breeding methods to develop water-saving crops to feed a growing world.
Thomas “Tommy” Carter is a plant scientist in North Carolina. He works for the Agricultural Research Service in the United States Department of Agriculture. He leads Team Drought, a group of researchers at five universities. They have been using conventional breeding methods to develop and test soybeans that can grow well under dry conditions.
Tommy Carter started working on drought-resistant soybeans in 1981. His research has taken him as far as China, where soybeans have been grown for thousands of years.
Farmers in the United States, however, have grown soybeans for only about a century. Tommy Carter says the soybeans they grow are for the most part genetically similar. More differences could better protect crops against climate changes that can reduce production. Those changes include water shortages which could increase from global warming.
The Agriculture Department has a soybean germplasm(胚质) collection, a collection of genetic material passed from one generation to the next. Members of Team Drought studied more than 2,500 examples from the collection.
They looked at ones from the home of soybeans, Asia. They searched for germplasms that could keep plants from weakening and wilting (凋谢)during hot, dry summers in the United States.
Tommy Carter says they found only five. But these slow-wilting lines, he says, produce four to eight bushels（英斗）more than normal soybeans under drought conditions. The yield depends on location and environment.
Scientists are also working on other plants that either use less water or use it better, or both. For example, companies like Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta have been d
eveloping corn with reduced water needs. Monsanto expects to be ready in a few years to market its first corn seeds genetically engineered to resist drought.
68. According to the passage, scientists try to find out how to _______.
A. grow crops with less water
B. increase crop production
C. feed a growing world
D. save the world’s water resource
69. Why did Tommy Carter come to China?
A. He likes traveling.
B. China has a long history.
C. He’s doing research into soybeans.
D. He works for the Agricultural Research Service.
70. What’s inferred from the passage?
A. Climate changes lead to global warming.
B. Water shortages contribute to global warming.
C. Genetically different soybeans need much water to grow.
D. Genetically different soybeans help to fight against damaging climate changes.
71. What do we know about slow-wilting plants talked about in the passage?
A. They yield big profits.
B. They can grow in almost any climate.
C. They seem to be drought-resistant.
D. They need much water for their growth.
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