Do other countries’ students also have so much homework? What do they usually do in their free time? You may feel curious about them.
On April 8, a report came out on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6,200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.
Who studies hardest?
Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That’s much more than students of the US (26.4%), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).
Who sleeps most often in class?
Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they sometimes doze offin class. In South Korea, it’s 32%; in the US, 21%; and 5% in China.
South Korean students don’t like taking notes. About 70% said they write down what the teacher says in class, many fewer than in Japan (93%), China (90%) and the US (89%).
Who is the most distracted (分心的)?
American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted: 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in class; and 38.9% said they send e-mails or read unrelated books in class.
What do they do after school?
In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercise. Most Korean students watch TV.The report is about ___________.
| A．the countries | B．the subjects | C．the students’ lives | D．the high schools |
What country isn’t mentioned in the report?
| A．The US | B．South Korea | C．Japan | D．India |
__________ of the Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework.
| A．26.4% | B．8.2% | C．5.2% | D．48.6% |
The phrase doze off means ___________.
| A．be half asleep | B．get up | C．eat snacks | D．send emails |
Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21yearold twin sons: a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart.
“I have two kids in college, and I want to say ‘come home'，but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education，” says Jacobs.
The Jacobs family did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid from the schools, and each son increased his borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program. They will each graduate with $20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to finish school.
With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear more families like the Jacobs. More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans. College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around.
At the same time, tuition(学费)continues to rise. A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147%. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade.
“If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won't have an affordable system of higher education，” says Patrick M. Callan, president of the center. “The middle class families have been financing it through debt. They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt.”
Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them. The good news, however, is that federal loans account for about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted. According to Paragraph 1，why did the plan of Jacobs family fail?
| A．The twins wasted too much money. |
| B．The father was out of work. |
| C．Their saving ran out |
| D．The family fell apart. |
How did the Jacobses manage to solve their problem?
| A．They asked their kids to come home. |
| B．They borrowed $20,000 from the school. |
| C．They encouraged their twin sons to do parttime jobs. |
| D．They got help from the school and the federal government. |
Financial aid administrators believe that ________.
| A．more families will face the same problem as the Jacobses |
| B．the government will receive more letters of complaint |
| C．college tuition fees will double soon |
| D．America's unemployment will fall |
．What can we learn about the middle class families from the text?
| A．They blamed the government for the tuition increase. |
| B．Their income remained steady in the last decade. |
| C．They will try their best to send kids to college. |
| D．Their debts will be paid off within 25 years |
The dollar is becoming weaker and weaker. What effects will it have?
Look at the recordhigh price of oil. Even if the same amount of oil is being pumped out of the ground，since it is traded in dollars and the dollar has weakened，the price of oil has increased to make up for the lost value of the dollar，creating a sort of vicious cycle(恶性循环)．
Oilproducing countries don't want to keep all the dollars they are getting for their oil，since it's declining in value，so they exchange their dollars for euros or other currencies. That pushes more dollars back out into currency markets，which in turn pushes down the dollar's value.
One expert told ABC News that Russia used to have 90 percent of its financial reserves in dollars. It now has 45 percent in dollars,45 percent in euros and 10 percent in British pounds.
In the US itself，the news is mixed. It's good，because it makes what we produce here cheaper to sell in foreign markets，and that in turn spurs(刺激) exports of our products around the world. That translates into more manufacturing and more jobs.
But a weak dollar is bad，because it leads to inflation (通货膨胀) in this country. Imports from foreign countries will become more expensive，and in particular，oil will be more expensive. That puts pressure on businesses to increase prices for anything that uses oil or products that come from overseas. One benefit for American shoppers is that China has largely pegged its currency to ours，so that keeps the price of Chinesemade goods low and therefore，keeps a check on inflation.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Why is the dollar losing value? |
| B．What caused the weak dollar? |
| C．What to do with the weak dollar? |
| D．What effects will the weak dollar have? |
With the dollar losing its value，oilproducing countries will do all of the following EXCEPT ________.
| A．raising the price of oil |
| B．raising their production of oil |
| C．exchanging their dollars for other currencies |
| D．decreasing their financial reserves in dollars |
It can be inferred that ________.
| A．the American economy is having a hard time |
| B．Russia is making the situation worse on purpose |
| C．American export businesses would like a stronger dollar |
| D．Chinesemade goods remain as competitive as before in the USA |
Americans like to travel all their yearly holiday. Today，more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small houses or inns instead of hotels. They get a room for the night and the breakfast the next morning.
Rooms for the night in private homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years. In the past five to ten years，these bedbreakfast places have become popular in the United States.Many of these America's bedandbreakfast inns are old historic buildings.Some bedbreakfast inns have only a few rooms；others are much larger.Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms；others do.
Staving at a bedandbreakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel.Usually the cost is much less.Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone's home.The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit.Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families.Americans like to take a holiday trip ________.
| A．all the year round | B．for years |
| C．every year | D．every other year |
According to the passage，which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Some Americans like to stay at bedandbreakfast homes instead of at hotels. |
| B．The bedandbreakfast inns are private homes opened to vacationers. |
| C．The bedandbreakfast inns have been popular in America for a long time. |
| D．The bedandbreakfast inn owners provide a morning meal for their visitors and a room for the night. |
Why do American travelers prefer staying at bedandbreakfast inns?
| A．It is like visiting someone's home. |
| B．The money they spend there is much less. |
| C．They can meet local families. |
| D．All of the above. |
Staying at the bedandbreakfast inns，________.
| A．the travelers needn't pay anything |
| B．the travelers don't have to pay for the telephone or television |
| C．the travelers can meet and talk with the local people |
| D．the owners will show the travelers around the area |
Urban citizens(市民)can enjoy a more colorful life than rural citizens.Townspeople are wellinformed because they have the easier access to news，while country people are uniformed because these districts are hard to get to.Urban traffic is so welldeveloped that the residents there often visit exhibitions and parks which are only a short bus ride away. For country people this is a major operation which involves considerable planning.Shopping，a necessary activity in everyday life is more convenient in the city than in the countryside. Townspeople can buy what they want at any time of a day.But rural residents go to town at most once a week.So after shopping they always stagger home loaded with heavy purchases. As for as meals and clothes concerned，townspeople are wellfed and welldressed as there is an adequate(足够的)supply of goods.But rural residents are too busy to pay particular attention to them.It is for these reasons that more and more people are moving into the city and looking for a rest there.
On the contrary，some people are attracted by the rural area.Air pollution，noise and overcrowding which are the biggest problems confronting townspeople seem strange for rural residents.Medical studies have proved that rural residents can live longer than urban residents, because they are free from a polluted environment. In addition，the crime rate in the city is several times higher than in the countryside.As is known to all，the life in any city is much more expensive than in the countryside.So the safe, quiet and cheap life in the country appeals to(对……有吸引力)many city residents.
Either an urban or a rural area gives pleasure and trouble.But，I believe，the suburban area has the excellencies(优点)of both and is superior to both.As the automobile industry develops，more and more people will make their homes in suburban areas.When visiting an exhibition in town，country people have to ________.
| A．listen to local news | B．take a bus |
| C．make a careful plan | D．ask friends for help |
Paragraph 1 mainly tells us the differences between urban and rural life in ________.
| A．communication，traffic and shopping |
| B．traffic，shopping and diet |
| C．education，living conditions and housing |
| D．traffic，medicine and shopping |
According to the passage，rural people are not as welldressed as urban citizens mainly because________.
| A．they live far away from town |
| B．they live a poorer life |
| C．they are busy with their work |
| D．they don't like to dress up |
For rural residents，the problems the urban citizens facing are________.
| A．common | B．unfamiliar |
| C．wellknown | D．unimportant |
Against the supposition than forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia warm the climate, scientists have discovered that cooling may occur in areas where burnt trees allow more snow to mirror more sunlight into space.
This finding suggests that taking steps to prevent northern forest to limit the release of greenhouse gases may warm the climate in northern regions. Usually large fires destroyed forests in these areas over the past decade. Scientists predict that with climate warming, fires may occur more frequently over next several centuries as result of a longer fire season. Sunlight taken in by the earth tends to cause warming, while heat mirrored back into space tends to cause cooling.
This is the first study to analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate. Earlier studies by other scientists have suggested that fire in northern regions speed up climate warming because greenhouse gases from burning trees and plants are released into the atmosphere and thus trap heat.
Scientists found that right after the fire, large amounts of greenhouse gases entered the atmosphere and caused warming. Ozone(臭氧)levels increased, and ash from the fire fell on faroff sea ice, darkening the surface and causing more radiation from the sun to be taken in. The following spring, however, the land within the area of the fire was brighter than before the fire, because fewer trees covered the ground. Snow on the ground mirrored more sunlight back into space, leading to cooling.
“We need to find out all possible ways to reduce the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Scientists tracked the change in amount of radiation entering and leaving the climate system as a result of the fire, and found a measurement closely related to the global air temperature. Typically, fire in northern regions occurs in the same area every 80 to 150 years. Scientists, however, found that when fire occurs more frequently, more radiation is lost from the earth and cooling results. Specifically, they determined when fire returns 20 years earlier than predicated, 0.5 watts per square meter of area burned are soaked_up by the earth from greenhouse gases, but 0.9 watts per square meter will be sent back into space. The net effect is cooling. Watts are used to measure the rate at which energy is gained or lost from the earth.According to the new findings, taking steps to prevent northern forest fires may ________.
| A．result in a warming climate |
| B．cause the forest fires to occur more frequently |
| C．lead to a longer fire season |
| D．protect the forests and the environment there |
The following are all the immediate effects after a forest fire EXCEPT________.
| A．large amounts of greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere |
| B．the levels of ozone which is a type of oxygen increase |
| C．snow on the ground mirrors more sunlight back into space |
| D．ashes from the fire fall on the ice surface and take in more radiation from the sun |
Earlier studies about northern forest fires ________.
| A．analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate |
| B．indicate that forest fires will pollute the atmosphere |
| C．suggest that people should take measures to protect environment |
| D．suggest that the fires will speed up climate warming |
The underlined phrase “soak up” in the last paragraph most probably means ________.
| A．released | B．absorbed | C．created | D．distributed |
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