Pupils remember more and behave better when 3D images are used in lessons, research suggests. They are quicker to learn and absorb new concepts, and display higher levels of concentration.
Professor Anne Bamford, of the University of the Arts, London, studied the effectiveness of 3D content in 15 schools across seven countries, including the UK. Pupils in 3D classes could remember more than those in the 2D classes after four weeks, improving test scores by an average 17 percent compared with eight percent for 2D lessons. They gave more detailed answers to the tasks and were more likely to think in 3D, using hand gestures and mime (模仿动作) to answer the test questions successfully.
The teachers commented that the pupils in the 3D groups had deeper understanding, increased attention span, more motivation and higher engagement in the lessons
Children are used to 3D with the rise of computer games that use the technology—90 percent of those in the study had seen a 3D film. Schools would need 3D-enabled projectors（投影仪）, laptops with good picture capabilities, 3D software and glasses for children to introduce animations (动作) into classrooms.
But Danny Nicholson, an educationist, said the technology would be impractical to use in schools and could be too expensive. He said,“While I think the idea of 3D technology is very interesting, I worry that 3D is a bit of an expensive gimmick (小玩意儿). There are a few cases where a true 3D image might help, but most of the time, good 2D models that can be moved , would be just so effective.”
In Colorado, the US, one school district is already in the process of having 1,000 3D projectors fixed in classrooms. And the University of Caledonia, which carries out scientific research into the Lake Tabon Basin, has used 3D presentations with Grade Six pupils. Those who watched the 3D presentations were more engaged and reported a general increase in their interest in science compared with students who watched the 2D version.Teachers think pupils in 3D classes .
| A．are naughtier than those in 2D classes | B．have less motivation |
| C．find it hard to concentrate | D．have deeper understanding |
Danny Nicholson tends to think that .
| A．many pupils prefer 2D models |
| B．3D is a bit expensive for some schools |
| C．true 3D images would not help in classes |
| D．3D technology has a bright future in classes |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．3D classes will soon be given in one school district in Colorado. |
| B．Teachers will use the 3D technology through specific training. |
| C．Many pupils are now more interested in science than before. |
| D．3D technology will replace 2D models in the future. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．2D models are always more effective than 3D images. |
| B．The differences between 3D and 2D images. |
| C．How schools can make full use of 3D technology. |
| D．Pupils behave better when 3D images are used in classes. |
Where is the text most probably taken from?
| A．A history book. | B．A news story |
| C．A science magazine. | D．A school report. |
Three years ago when I was still in the university, I also worked at a restaurant.
An old man named Mr. Candido Filio was one of our regular customers at the restaurant. He was one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known.
Every Sunday the Philippine Star Newspaper had a special page for word puzzles and among his peers (同龄人), Mr. Filio held the record for solving all the puzzles in less than five minutes. He encouraged me to solve them too and for months and months, I did my best to beat him but failed.
Then one Sunday, I did it! I was able to complete them before anyone else. Everyone cheered for me. He came up to me with a smile and said, “No one has ever beaten me before. You’re the first. I’ll have a prize for you tomorrow.”
The next day, he gave me a special Scrabble (拼字游戏) set. I would have never been able to afford one like that by myself. Then he said to me, “Kate, what do you think is man’s final goal in life? Happiness, isn’t it? You are happy and that should be considered as a success. Many people spend a lifetime searching for that. Be thankful that you have found it.” I looked at him and knew that my life had changed, probably forever. He must have known that I always felt sad about not having much money.
He encouraged me to learn the game and love words. And true to his words, I was never able to beat him again. We can learn from the text that Mr. Filio ______.
| A．was generous to young people |
| B．was good at word puzzles |
| C．lived quite near the restaurant |
| D．won a prize from the Philippine Star Newspaper |
The author got a gift because ______.
| A．Mr. Filio was thankful for her help |
| B．Mr. Filio was satisfied with her service |
| C．she was the first person to beat Mr. Filio |
| D．she was the new record keeper in the restaurant |
After she heard what Mr. Filio said, the author probably felt ______.
| A．amazed | B．excited | C．touched | D．inspired |
What would be the best title of the text?
| A．Happiness is also a success |
| B．Interest is the best teacher |
| C．Scrabble makes a difference |
| D．His words change my life |
The concept of solar power satellites, or SPS, first put forward in the 1960s, is still not widely known by the general public. For example, at many public exhibitions about energy, SPS is not even mentioned. This is mainly because very little money has been spent on SPS research
There are people who claim that SPS is unrealistic － because launch costs are much too high today; or because it is too far away. So why do we believe that it is important to continue to do researches on SPS? The reason is very simple.
Humans are going to need huge amounts of electric power in coming decades. Within 50 years the world population is expected to double, while economic growth will continue around the world, especially in the poorer countries. But existing energy sources already face serious problems. They are limited; they are polluted; they are dangerous. So 50 or 100 years from now, where is our power going to come from? Nobody knows. And so we believe that new large-scale possibilities should be studied further.
We must remember that humans have some choices concerning our future. To some extent we can choose the direction in which our civilization develops. And choices that are made in the coming decades － such as the energy sources that we will or will not use, will have major, long-term meaning for human life on earth. We believe that if research continues to show that SPS is environmentally and economically attractive, SPS will open the door to a much more attractive future for human civilization than any ground-based energy source, and one that the public will support and that young people will find challenging and exciting. Furthermore energy from SPS can be readily used in developing countries, as the SPS 2000 project will show, thus aiding economic development worldwide. In addition, by creating large commercial fund for space engineering, SPS will open the frontier of space to economic development, thus creating a limitless new field for the growth of the world economy.Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Future Energy－ SPS | B．The Concept of SPS |
| C．Humans and SPS | D．Advantages of SPS |
Which of the following statements about SPS is TRUE?
| A．The research on SPS started in the 1960s is still not appreciated by the public. |
| B．The research is showing SPS can benefit environment and economy at present. |
| C．The energy from SPS is now being used in some developing countries. |
| D．The public don’t know about SPS because little time is devoted to the research. |
Paragraph 3 mainly talks about ______.
| A．the present serious energy problems |
| B．where to get energy sources in the future |
| C．the importance of controlling world population |
| D．the need to explore new energy sources |
The writer’s attitude towards the research can best be summarized by the saying “______”.
| A．In time of peace prepare for war |
| B．Put the cart before the horse |
| C．One man’s meat is another man’s poison |
| D．Easier said than done |
There are plenty of creams etc on the market that help you look younger, but today, Dr Oz is going to show how some people are actually living longer.
“We are going to talk about extreme life extension,” he says. “I am talking in details about allowing us to go into our second century of life with the energy that you have when you are a young person.”
Owing to advances in technology and research on how diet affect the aging process, Dr Oz says it might be possible for some people to live to see their 120th birthdays.
There’s one man in Oprah’s audience who Dr Oz says may become the first man in history to live to be 150 years old. Joe Cordell is one of thousands around the world who believe they’ve found the key to an extreme long life --- calorie restriction leads to a longer, healthier life.
At 59 Joe weighs 130 pounds. He may not look like a person who needs to count calories, but as part of his life extension program, he inspects every mouth of food that passes through his system.
Every day for the past seven years, Joe has limited himself to about 1,950 calories.
He believes that by eating less and restricting his caloric intake, he will trigger a genetic switch that slows the aging process.
Joe doesn’t take away himself of food. Instead, the then 52-year-old father filled up on natural fruits, vegetables and lean proteins(瘦蛋白) that were packed with necessary vitamins and nutrients. “Whenever you are thinking about calorie restriction, you should continually think about getting the most nutritional amount per calorie,” Joe says.
In keeping with this principle, Joe starts every morning with three apples…but he only eats the peels. “Most of the fiber is in the peel, and more importantly, most of the nutrients are in the peel,” he says.
“It is important to eat some nuts with breakfast so that you do take in some fat, some healthy fats,” he says. “I think it helps the absorption of the nutrients, and it is very filling.”
For lunch, Joe usually eats a large salad, loaded with vegetables. At dinnertime, he and his family enjoy lean meat or fish and more vegetables.
When Joe started practicing calorie restriction, he weighed 175 pounds. Since then, he has lost 45 pounds, and he says he hasn’t had a cold in seven years. Though he is in his “golden years”, researchers studying Joe say he has the body of a 20-year-old athlete. According to Joe, the appropriate fat intake may help ______?
| A．people lose weight |
| B．feel always full |
| C．the absorption of the nutrients |
| D．people to live longer |
What can we learn about Joe since he started the calorie restriction program?
| A．Joe counts the amount of every meal |
| B．Joe has never had a cold |
| C．Joe eats three apples every morning |
| D．Joe has a large salad with vegetables for dinner |
The underlined word “trigger” in paragraph 7 can probably be replaced by ______.
| A．turn on | B．break down | C．take up | D．cut off |
According to the passage, the extreme life extension refers to _______.
| A．living very long even sick |
| B．how to make people lead a happy life |
| C．living long and having a healthy body |
| D．how to arrange our foods every day |
Many cities in the world are benefiting from the night activities of a group of people who call themselves guerrilla (游击队) gardeners. Armed with trowels, spades and a van full of flowers and plants, guerrilla gardeners turn abandoned urban land into a blaze of color. In city centre locations where there was mud, weeds and empty plastic bottles, residents often wake up to find that the wasted area has been transformed overnight with brightly-colored bedding plants.
In most British cities, local governments and police turn a blind eye to the effort of the gardeners, whose activities are always carried out under cover of nightfall. And so far, there has been nothing but praise from the astonished and delighted local residents when they find their neighborhood transformed in such a striking fashion.
Not only do the guerrilla gardeners beautify neglected places, they also return regularly to water the plants and weed the flower beds. They also make sure that at least some of the plants they bring are evergreens, which means that the area doesn’t look depressing in the winter months.
The first guerrilla gardener in London was Richard Reynolds, whose day job is at an advertising agency. Mr. Reynolds, a graduate of Oxford University, began his efforts two years ago when he moved to a flat in a tower block in South London. From his balcony, he could see several empty concrete pots, placed by the local governments to contain plants but never used. He went out after midnight and filled the pots with plants, and then planted more flowers in the path leading to the entrance to the block.
He then set up a website to explain his plan and called upon more gardeners to join him. Cash donations flooded in and, more importantly, volunteers rushed to be part of the campaign. Within six months, there were five hundred people in London prepared to come out at very short notice to restore neglected parts of the urban landscape. There are now unofficial but carefully-organized groups in many cities in Britain and North America and there is also a website where would-be urban gardeners can find out the location of the next expedition.These guerrilla gardeners do their work ______.
| A．at the request of the government |
| B．nearby their house |
| C．often in return for others’ help |
| D．out of their own free will |
Richard Reynolds decided to fill the pots with plants in order to ______.
| A．plant more flowers in the path |
| B．beautify the neighborhood |
| C．attract attention for his ad agency |
| D．make the plants a feast for his eyes |
The guerrilla gardeners often return to their night working places with the purpose of ______.
| A．looking after these plants |
| B．enjoying these beautiful flowers |
| C．helping plants live through winter months |
| D．changing the varieties of the plants |
It can be inferred from the text that these guerrilla gardeners ______.
| A．are mainly from the United Kingdom |
| B．will later get well paid |
| C．are still not accepted by the local government |
| D．become more and more organized |
Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instruction for ten to fifteen minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically teach it for sixty to seventy minutes a day － which really is pretty much for handwriting.
Many adults remember learning that way － by copying letters over and over again. Today’s thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas. After all, that is why we write.
Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can be read. The other is fluency － writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to develop up until high school.
But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any more because of computers and voice recognition programs.
But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75% of students choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive.We can infer from the first paragraph that ______.
| A．teachers spend little time in teaching handwriting. |
| B．most teachers attach importance to teaching handwriting. |
| C．handwriting teaching is not commonly required. |
| D．most teachers are at a loss how to teach handwriting |
Which of the following about traditional handwriting in the USA is NOT true?
| A．The students are taught by practicing a long period. |
| B．Printing is taught in preference to writing in cursive. |
| C．Handwriting is taught for its own sake. |
| D．Two skills get involved in handwriting. |
Some American people consider handwriting not important any more because ______.
| A．all the American children learn to print first |
| B．about 1/4 of the students choose to print their essay on the test |
| C．it is unnecessary to use handwriting in the age of keyboard |
| D．computers and voice recognition programs are widely used |
______ may serve as the best title for the passage.
| A．Handwriting: fascinating in keyboard age |
| B．Right or wrong: the death of handwriting |
| C．Two skills involved in handwriting |
| D．Handwriting lessons on the way out |
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