“My kids really understand solar and earth-heat energy,” says a second-grade teacher in Saugus, California. “Some of them are building solar collectors for their energy course.” These young scientists are part of City Buildin
g Educational Program (CBEP), a particular program for kindergarten through twelfth grade that uses the stages of city planning to teach basic reading, writing and math skills and more.
The children don’t just plan any city. They map and analyze (分析) the housing, energy, and transportation requirements of their own district and foretell its needs in 100 years. With the aid of an architect (建筑师) who visits the classroom once a week, they invent new ways to meet these needs and build models of their creations. “Designing buildings of the future gives children a lot of freedom,’’ says the teacher who developed this program. “They are able to use their own rich imagination and inventions without fear of blame, because there are no wrong answers in a future context. In fact, as the class enters the final model-building stage of the program, an elected ‘official’ and ‘planning group’ make all the design decisions for the model city and the teacher steps back and becomes an adviser.
CBEP is a set of activities, games and imitations that teach the basic steps nec
essary for problem-solving: observing, analyzing, working out possible answers, and judging them based on the children’s own standards.The program is designed to_________.
| A．direct kids to build solar collectors |
| B．train young scientists for city planning |
| C．develop children’s problem-solving abilities |
| D．help young architects know more about designing. |
An architect pays a weekly visit to the classroom to ________.
| A．find out kids’ creative ideas | B． help kids with their p rogram |
| C． discuss with the teacher | D． give children a lecture |
Who is the designer of the program?
| A．An official. | B．An architect. | C．A teacher. | D．A scientist |
The children feel free in the program because __________.
| A．they can design future buildings themselves |
| B．they have new ideas and rich imagination |
| C．they are given enough time to design models |
| D．they need not worry about making mistakes |
Sometimes two very different individuals (个体)become the best friends. For example,, who could have thought that a spider would become friends with a pig? But in American writer E.B.White’ novel Charlotte’s Web, this is exactly what happens
Wibur the pig grows up in a barn(谷仓) and makes many friends, including a spider called Charlotte. One day a sheep tells Wibur that he will finally be served up as dinner. But Charlotte decides to save her friend. To help Wibur，Charlotte writes words like “terrific”, “radiant” and “humble” on her web to praise Wibur. This makes the farmer believe that is too important to kill.Wibur is saved, but Charlotte is so tired that she dies.
The book was first published in 1952. In over 60 years Charlotte has become one of the most famous spiders of all time. She teaches us about love and promise. “She is very, very loving under that crusty(暴躁),that ugly look,” Peter Neumeyer, writer of The Annotated Charlott’s Web
The book’s success drew the attention of Hollywood filmmakers , however, they wanted a happier ending. White was strongly against this idea and as a result the film, like the book, ends with Charlotte’s death.
Jen Doll, reporter with The Atlantic, believe that “death is a part of life”. She says this is one of the main messages of the book.
As Charlotte tells Wibur, “You have been my friend. That in itself is a wonderful thing. I wove(纺织)my webs for you because I like you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while and then we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess(杂乱), with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a little. God knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
| A．It’s a good example of how differences make us different |
| B．It encourages children to love their family and friends |
| C．The farmer kills Wibur as dinner |
| D．Charlotte is loving and helpful although she is ugly |
| A．How Charlotte makes friends with Wibur |
| B．How to make Charlotte lovely |
| C．Whether Charrlotte should die |
| D．Whether Wibur should be killed |
| A．life could be boring and troublesome |
| B．friendship is more important than life |
| C．dying for a good cause is worthwhile(值得的) |
| D．life is like a web |
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 with it until their hands were burnt away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn’t, a child would burn himself or herself again and again, because fear would not warn himself or herself to keep away from the fire that had burnt himself or herself 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 should 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: an aeroplane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the beams in your roof so that the latter falls 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 towards you. Fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you can’t prevent an aeroplane crashing onto your house. 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.Children would play with fire until their hands were burnt away if _________.
| A．they were given no warning beforehand |
| B．they had never burnt themselves |
| C．they had no sense of pain |
| D．they were fearful of the fire |
A really fearless soldier _____________.
| A．is of great use to the army |
| B．is not a real soldier |
| C．is nothing but a dead soldier |
| D．easily gets killed in a battle |
People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding the danger because _________.
| A．they have gained experience |
| B．they jump out of the way in time |
| C．they are calm in the face of danger |
| D．they are warned of the danger by fear and take quick action |
What's the writer's suggestion when the danger can't be avoided?
| A．You have to try to overcome it. |
| B．Fear can really help you to run away. |
| C．Fear always helps you stay safe. |
| D．Fear is of great use to you. |
Sheep Smarter than Thought
London—Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the most clever animals. British scientists said last Wednesday humans may have underestimated the woolly creature. They could be much smarter than we think.
Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern England, have shown that the animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces—which they think is a sure sign of intelligence.
Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish 25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes (电极) to measure their brain activity , which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years .
“If they can do that with faces, they have to have reasonable intelligence; otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?” Kendrick said in an interview.
So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all.
Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb (unable to speak, unintelligent) animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything.
“All animals, including humans, once they are frightened, don’t tend to show signs of intelligent action,” he explained.
In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain which allows them to distinguish between many different faces which look extremely similar.
“The most important finding (of the study) is that they are able , both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized , to remember a large number of individuals for a very long time,” said Kendrick. “It is a very strange system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans.”From the first paragraph we can find that______.
| A．people used to think sheep are smarter than the other animals |
| B．people used to raise sheep in a wrong way |
| C．people don’t consider sheep as clever animals |
| D．people have done a lot of research on sheep |
From what Kendrick said in the interview we learn that_____.
| A．scientists have learned everything about sheep’s intelligence |
| B．scientists have learned a little about sheep’s intelligence |
| C．scientists can’t do anything more about sheep’s memory |
| D．scientists do not have to research animals’ memory |
As is known in the passage,__________.
| A．sheep are among the week animals |
| B．it is not right for people to raise sheep in groups |
| C．when sheep eat grass in the field their minds may be active |
| D．if people feel frightened, they may become braver |
About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table, I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked, “So, how have you been?” And the boy—who could not have been more than seven or eight years old—replied. “Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately.”
This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were “depressed”, that is, in low spirits, until we were in high school.
Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don't seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development depends not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of gaining social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new social positions. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages; traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation（揭示） machine has been equipped in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation （诱惑）, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more attractive moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information which children will gain. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.According to the author, feeling depressed is ____________.
| A．a sure sign of a mental problem in a child |
| B．a mental state present in all humans, including children |
| C．something that cannot be avoided in children's mental development |
| D．something hardly to be expected in a young child |
According to the author, that today's children seem adult-like results from ____________.
| A．the widespread influence of television |
| B．the poor arrangement of teaching content |
| C．the fast pace of human scientific development |
| D．the rising standard of living |
What does the author think of communication through print for children?
| A．It enables children to gain more social information. |
| B．It develops children's interest in reading and writing. |
| C．It helps children to read and write well. |
| D．It can control what children are to learn. |
What does the author think of the change in today's children?
| A．He feels their adult-like behavior is so funny. |
| B．He thinks the change worthy of note. |
| C．He considers it a rapid development. |
| D．He seems to be upset about it. |
第一节：（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30 分）
阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The American book Who Moved My Cheese has been a bestseller all over the world. It teaches people how to face changes in their lives. Now its author Spence Johnson has written a book just for teens. The book tells us that when facing change in our lives, like a new school or new friends, don't be afraid. Instead, use this change to make a better life. The book gives an example of a change at school. A school is changing from having two terms to three terms because there are too many students.
Several teens are talking about this. Most of them are unhappy and worried. But Chris is not. He laughs and tells a story about two mice, two “little people” and some cheese.
The four are in a maze looking for the cheese. Here, cheese means something important in life, like moving to a new class or getting into college. But they find the cheese is gone. The mice realize that they can’t change what has happened and have to find more cheese. This means finding different dreams. The little people, however, can’t do this. They are afraid of change so they find no cheese.
After Chris finishes the story, the friends understand one thing: to get more cheese, move in a new direction quickly. His friends understand how this can be used in the changes all teens face, such as doing well at school or having good relationships or just feeling good about yourself.The book Who Moved My Cheese is __________.
| A．written all over the world | B．read across the world |
| C．sold only in America | D．loved only by teens |
What does the text mainly discuss?
| A．Never change in our life. | B．Change whenever you like . |
| C．Change with the changes. | D．Pay attention to the changes, |
The underline word “four”（paragraph 3） refers to __________.
| A．mice and little people | B．students |
| C．cheese | D．readers |
In our lives, we should learn from __________.
| A．mice | B．little people |
| C．Chris | D．Spence Johnson |
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