Tre’S mom，Christina Thompson, cannot believe how much her son already learned this year in his full-day, free pre-school class in Oklahoma City. “Since he’s been in school his vocabulary has increased surprisingly,” Thompson says. “The other day he came home and said, ‘You know what ，mom? You are being ridiculous，” Thompson laughs quietly. “And then he asked, ‘Do you know what ‘ridiculous’ means, mom?’” Tre knows the entire alphabet, his numbers to 100，and he’s starting to read. And letters and numbers aside, Thompson is most struck by how fast Tre is absorbing vocabulary and language.
Of course, not all pre-school is created equal. High quality pre-schools have well-trained, well-educated teachers in the classroom (much like Tre Thompson’s teacher Mrs. Wallace, who uses play-based learning to teach both academics and social skills and can rattle off (飞快说出） a battery of data on how well her students are progressing towards their year-end goals). Texas can also offer a model for educator development: its Texas School Ready! Campaign has proven to increase the quality of participating pre-schools by providing early childhood teachers with coaching, professional development, research-based curriculum (课程)，and progress monitoring. States and districts should also combine pre-school with the K-12 system, as Oklahoma does ，so that children enter kindergarten smoothly.
Oklahoma is one of the leading states in providing students like Tre with free ，full-day pre-school. And the results are already paying off: According to a 2012 study, Oklahoma kids that went through pre-school showed vocabulary gains 28% higher than those of children without pre-school, and math gains 44% higher than non-pre-school kids. And we know that high-quality pre-school doesn’t just mean higher scores in elementary school. They were more likely to have graduated from high school and less likely to have committed a violent crime. They also earned more money and were more likely to be employed.
We know pre-school works, so let’s stop talking and start building a system where all children have access to excellent early childhood education. As any well-educated four year old could tell us, not doing so would be ridiculous.The case of Tre in the first paragraph serves as the evidence of______.
| A．children’s disrespect towards parents |
| B．the bad performance of students at school |
| C．the positive effect of pre-school on children |
| D．Thompson’s doubt about her son’s education |
At high quality pre-schools, children may learn by______
| A．playing | B．modelling | C．researching | D．monitoring |
It can be inferred that______.
| A．children can not enter kindergarten without pre-school |
| B．Oklahoma is the best state offering full-day pre-school |
| C．all pre-schools have well-trained, well-educated teachers |
| D．kids with pre-school may be better equipped for their future |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Not all pre-school works |
| B．All pre-school is created equal |
| C．We owe our kids universal pre-school |
| D．Pre-school goes well with K-12 system |
Dereck Joubert and his wife, Beverly, have made many films about wild animals in Africa. Their films and photographs are very popular and one of the photographs has been on the front cover of a National Geographic magazine.
A working day for Dereck and Beverly started very early—at 4:30 in the morning! That’s when they get up and start filming. And it’s a long day—they often work until 8:30 in the evening. In the winter it’s very cold and in the summer it can be 40C. Dereck always does the filming—Beverly never does that, and she doesn’t write. But Dereck never takes photographs or records the sound. They work very well as a team, and they both believe we should shoot animals with cameras—not with guns!
When they have finished filming and taking photographs for the day, they have dinner and Dereck usually writes while Beverly looks at her photographs. At night, they usually sleep in a small tent, but they sometimes sleep in the Land Cruiser—when they’re very close to wild animals, it’s sometimes safer to sleep in the car!
Dereck and Beverly have also traveled around the world and given talks about their work. Dereck says that the animals are not just something to look at—they play an important role. Beverly thinks the wild animals can teach us a lot about ourselves.Dereck and Beverly start working_________.
| A．at 4:30 in the morning |
| B．at 4:30 in the afternoon |
| C．at 8:30 in the morning |
| D．at 8:30 in the evening |
Dereck and Beverly usually sleep_________ at night.
| A．in a car | B．in a tent |
| C．in a house | D．in a hotel |
Beverly thinks the wild animals __________.
| A．are something to look at | B．are very popular |
| C．play an unimportant role | D．can teach us a lot |
Scientists believe that one of our most important means of knowing what is going on around us is the sense of sound. We are warned of danger by sounds. Sounds serve to please us in music. Sound has a waste product, too, in the form of noise. Noise has been called unwanted sound. Noise is growing and it may get much worse before it gets any better.
In order to know how noise affects people and animals, scientists have been studying for several years. They are surprised by what they have learned. Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find. Noise pollution is a threat that should be looked at carefully.
Sounds is measured in units called decibels (分贝). At a level of 140 decibels people feel pain in their ears.
Trucks , buses , motorcycles, airplanes, boats, factories---all these things make noise. They trouble not only our ears, but minds and bodies as well.
There is a saying that it is so noisy that you can’t hear yourself think. Doctors who study noise believe that we must sometimes hear ourselves think. If we don’t, we may have headaches, other aches and pains, or even worse mental problems.
Noise adds more tension (紧张) to a society that has already faced enough stress.The sense of sound _________.
| A．makes us feel excited |
| B．helps us hear more clearly |
| C．is something harmful to us |
| D．helps to know what is happening around us |
When sound is turned into noise, ______________.
| A．people grow worse and worse |
| B．it makes us forget all the past |
| C．people don’t know what to do with everyday life |
| D．it will be a kind of pollution to people |
Why does the passage say peace and quiet are becoming harder to find?
| A．Because the world is making more and more noise. |
| B．Because wars and battles happen here and there in the world. |
| C．Because all the sounds are becoming over 140 decibels. |
| D．Because some machines can make noise. |
Doctors say we can hear ourselves think __________.
| A．if we don’t like to hear noise |
| B．if we have no aches or pains in our bodies |
| C．if there isn’t too much noise |
| D．if we can’t be careful of noise |
Once in a busy street, a middle-aged businessman found his wallet missing. There was a lot of money in it. So he made a promise, "If someone finds my wallet and returns it to me, I'll give half the money to him."
The wallet was found by a dustman in a dustbin. He sent it back to the loser. But the businessman changed his mind.
"There was still a diamond ring in my wallet," said the loser, "I won't give half the money in my wallet to you until you return it to me!"
"I've never seen a diamond ring in the wallet," said the dustman.
They began to quarrel. The businessman refused to do what he had said. The dustman became angry and took him before a judge.
After the judge heard what had happened to them, he said to the businessman, "I'm sure you are an honest man. It's true that you have lost a wallet in which there was a diamond ring. But it's also clear that there is only a lot of money in this wallet. I don't think it's yours. Wait for some time. Perhaps someone will be able to return your wallet to you!"
Then the judge turned to the dustman and said, "Take the wallet home. If the loser doesn't go to get it back in three days, it will belong to you!"The wallet the businessman lost ________.
| A．was found in a shop |
| B．was sent to the judge |
| C．was found in a dustbin |
| D．was never to be found |
The businessman was eager to get back the wallet because _________.
| A．there was the address of an important judge in it |
| B．he put in it a diamond ring he had just bought |
| C．there was a lot of money in it |
| D．it was a very expensive one |
Having heard what had happened, the judge _________ .
| A．took the side of the businessman |
| B．did not know what to do |
| C．took pity on the loser |
| D．made a wise decision |
Last summer I went through a training program and became a literacy volunteer. The training I received, though excellent, didn't tell me how it was to work with a real student, however. When I began to discover what other people’s lives were like because they could not read, I realized the true importance of reading.
My first student Marie was a 44-year-old single mother of three children. In the first lesson, I found out she walked two miles to the nearest supermarket twice a week because she didn't know which bus to take. When I told her I would get her a bus schedule, she told me it would not help because she couldn't read it. She said she also had difficulty once she got to the supermarket because she couldn't always remember what she needed. Also, she could only recognize items by sight, so if the product had a different label, she would not recognize it as the product she wanted.
As we worked together, learning how to read built Marie’s self-confidence. She began to make rapid progress and was even able to take the bus to the supermarket. After this successful trip, she reported how self-confident she felt. At the end of the program, she began helping her youngest son, Tony, a shy first grader, with his reading. I found that helping Marie to build her self-confidence was more rewarding than anything I had ever done before.
As a literacy volunteer, I learned a great deal about teaching and helping others. In fact, I may have learned more from the experience than Marie did.What did the writer do last summer?
| A．She worked in the supermarket. |
| B．She helped someone to learn to read. |
| C．She helped some single mothers. |
| D．She was trained by a literacy volunteer. |
Why didn't Marie go to the supermarket by bus at first?
| A．Because she liked to walk to the supermarket. |
| B．Because she didn't have a bus schedule. |
| C．Because she couldn't afford the bus ticket. |
| D．Because she couldn't find the right bus. |
How did Marie use to find the goods she wanted in the supermarket?
| A．She knew where the goods were in the supermarket. |
| B．She asked others to take her to the right place. |
| C．She managed to find the goods by their looks. |
| D．She remembered the names of the goods. |
Which of the statements is TRUE about Marie?
| A．She could do many things she had not been able to before. |
| B．She was able to read stories with the help of her son. |
| C．She decided to continue her studies in school. |
| D．She helped to build up my self-confidence. |
When my sister Gina was born, she had a problem with her heart. Her heart was pretty bad in the beginning and she stayed in the hospital for a month. The first few years were very difficult because she was very sick. She had five operations before she was three years old. She had trouble walking, playing with other children, and going to school.
Although Gina couldn’t laugh and talk, we all knew that she just needed love and care. Our parents wanted to take Gina to a special place in Florida. There she could swim with dolphins. Gina was afraid of swimming with them because she had never been around dolphins before. We had also never traveled that far as a family. When we got to Florida, we saw where the dolphins lived. It was a place where kids with special needs like Gina could come and spend time. I thought it was going to be a vacation, but it wasn’t. Gina had to work hard every day for a week.
The trip was amazing. Gina laughed and clapped when she saw the dolphin. The dolphin splashed（溅起水花） when it saw Gina. They swam together all day. Gina was able to move her body more than she normally did at home. Mom and Dad were proud of Gina. I was , too.We know from the text that Gina_________.
| A．experienced five operations in a month |
| B．got along well with other children |
| C．stayed in the hospital before three |
| D．was born with a heart disease |
The author’s family went to Florida to _______.
| A．treat Gina for her illness. |
| B．have a family trip |
| C．see the dolphins |
| D．learn to swim |
How did Gina feel about swimming with dolphins at first?
| A．Excited | B．Frightened | C．Angry | D．Proud |
The text is written to tell us that ________.
| A．Learning to walk is hard work |
| B．dolphins can treat many illnesses |
| C．families should travel together often |
| D．help sometimes comes in unusual forms |
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