Most American schools have boys and girls in the same classroom. But a public high school in the small, rural town of Boonsboro, Maryland, offers a special program called the Academy. Top students in the ninth and tenth grades can attend single-sex classes for math, science, English and social studies.
The aim is to help teenagers keep their mind on their work by keeping males and females apart. What they really want to do is take that top group of kids and take them to the very highest level they can achieve there, so that they’re prepared for college.
Students are invited to enter this program after they finish middle school, and placement in the Academy is voluntary. However, they need high marks and test scores and strong teacher recommendations. They also need to be involved in activities.
Almost 350 students have taken part in the Academy. It began as an experiment in 2010.
Michael Bair has been at Boonsboro High for twenty years and directs the Academy. His ninth-grade English class for boys centers on books that he believes boys find interesting. He says that the novels the students are reading now are very manly (男子气概的) novels. These novels deal with the arrogance (傲慢) of man and the pride of man which finally leads to man’s downfall.
One of those books, for example, is The Call of the Wild by Jack London. This classic story tells of a dog stolen from his home and sold to work as a sled dog in Canada’s Klondike Gold Rush.
Morgan Fleet, a senior at Boonsboro High, likes being in the Academy. She says boys and girls act differently when they are together in a classroom. She believes this difference seems to prevent her from developing herself because she’s more focused on thoughts like “Oh, I wish they would shut up. Oh, what do they think of me?’’ instead of focusing on “What’s the homework? What’s going on in this class? What’s the lesson?”.
There is one activity that girls and boys in the Academy do together. At the end of the day, many of them stay and help tutor students who are having trouble in school.What is the purpose of the Academy program?
| A．To offer a special program in high school. |
| B．To help students concentrate on study. |
| C．To strengthen sex education for teenagers. |
| D．To start learning college courses earlier. |
To enter the Academy program, students are NOT required to _________.
| A．do well in their study | B．be recommended by teachers |
| C．take part in some activities | D．have worked as volunteers |
The Call of the Wild is given as an example to show that male students ___.
| A．should learn more about literature |
| B．should have a sense of protecting the wildlife |
| C．are reading more manly novels |
| D．are interested in stories on animals |
Which is likely to be Morgan Fleet’s opinion?
| A．A girl cares about the boys’ opinions of her. |
| B．Single-sex classes should be stopped. |
| C．Girls are more focused when studying with boys. |
| D．Boys and girls act the same in separate classrooms. |
The passage is intended to _________.
| A．introduce the single-sex class project |
| B．explain the differences between boys and girls |
| C．persuade students to enter the Academy program |
| D．urge students to work hard in their study |
New 
York Time—A gunman killed eight people at a mall in Omaha this afternoon and then killed himself, setting off panic among holiday shoppers, the police said．
“The person who we believe to be the shooter has died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds,” Sgt． Teresa Negron of the Omaha Police Department said at televised news． “We have been able to clear the mall,” she said． “We don’t believe we have any other
shooters．” The police said that at least five other people had been injured in the shootings．
She did not give the shooter’s identity． “We are still conducting the investigation,” Sergeant Negron said, adding that the city’s mayor, who was out of town, was on his way back to Omaha． She said the police received a 911 call from someone inside the Westroads Mall on the west side of Omaha, and shots could be heard in the background． The first police officers arrived at the mall six minutes after the first call, she said, but by then the shootings were over． It is reported that the gunman left a suicide note that was found at his home by relatives． A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity （匿名） said the note indicated that the gunman wanted to “go out in style．”
The shootings broke the usually banal rou
tine of holiday shopping． The gunman was said by some witnesses to have fired about 20 shots into a crowd． Some customers and workers ran screaming from the mall, while others dived into dressing rooms to hide from the shooter．
Shoppers and store workers were trapped inside the mall, which has roughly 135 stores． Others streamed out of mall exits with their hands raised． President Bush was in Omaha this morning to deliver a speech, but he had left the city by the time the shootings took place． Where did the shooting first come out?
| A．In a newspaper | B．On the Internet |
| C．In TV news | D．In a police poster |
What do the underlined words “go out in style” probably mean?
| A．go out of the mall in particular clothes |
| B．walk in the mall with everybody focused on |
| C．go to a socially event by fashionable means |
| D．stop his life in a impressive way |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Nobody knows why the shooter did so and nothing was found at his home． |
| B．The city’s mayor happened not to be in the city when the shooting took place． |
| C．Police arrived at the mall before the shootings were over and rescued customers． |
| D．The official who showed what the note mean have no request of his own identity． |
We can infer from the passage that ______．
| A．There is only one shooter in this event． |
| B．The shooting created fears among the customers． |
| C．An important holiday is coming soon． |
| D．President Bush came here for the shooting． |
Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona.
He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his new place and meet his friends.
My earliest memories of my father are of a tall, handsome successful man devoted to his work and family, but uncomfortable with his children. As a child, I loved him; as a school girl and young adult I feared him and felt bitter about him. He seemed unhappy with me 
unless I got straight A's and unhappy with my boyfriends if their fathers were not as "successful" as h
e was.
Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard.
On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father's friends for lunch at an outdoor cafe. We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate on the street table, and laughed over my son's funny facial expressions. Gone was my father's critical (挑剔的) air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?
The next day my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment After so many years, I'm at last seeing another side of my father. And in so doing. I'm delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his mew home in Arizona, is back to me from where he was. Why did the author feel bitter about her father as a young adult?
| A．He was silent most of the time. | B．He was too proud of himself.. |
| C．He did not love his children.. | D．He expected too much of her. |
When the author went out with her father on weekends, she would feel________.
| A．nervous | B．sorry |
| C．tired | D．Strict and hare-working. |
What does the author think of her father after her visit to Tucson?
| A．More critical. | B．More tallkative. |
| C．Gentle and friendly. | D．Strict and hard-working. |
The underlined words "my new friend" in the last paragraph refer to .
| A．the author's son | B．the author's father |
| C．the friend of the author's father | D．the café owner |
Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s．Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women．Right? Wrong．Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size．Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain．The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”．While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes．
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women．This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time．When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time．
There are other important differences between two sexes．As white matter is the key to spatial tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things．“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher．That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for direction and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿）are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one．A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others．These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills．It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research．
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t．“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it．”says a biologist．Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph? ________．
| A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s |
| B．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain． |
| C．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter． |
| D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter． |
What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs? ________．
| A．Men do better dealing with one job at a time． |
| B．Women prefer doing many things at a time． |
| C．Women do not need to tell directions． |
| D．Men have weaker spatial abilities． |
Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph? _
| A．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills |
| B．Young boys may be stronger than young girls． |
| C．Women may have stronger feelings than men． |
| D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills． |
What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage? ________．
| A．Defensive． | B．Objective． | C．Persuasive． | D．Supportive． |
The world’s biggest Internet search engine, Google, has proven once again to be king of the Web. Users can download “Google Wi-Fi” software and then enjoy free Wi-Fi service available in some US cities since last Tuesday.
Wi-Fi is short for “Wireless Fidelity”(无线上网). It allows laptop computers and personal digital assistants to connect to the Internet at high speed by radio sigal.
A person with a Wi-Fi enabled computer can connect to the Internet when near one of the network’s access points. The place covered by one or several access points is called a hotspot. Google had already set up two “hotspots” in the US city of San Francisco which pr
ovide a free Wi-Fe service.
The Wi- Fi technology even allows users to enjoy a free Internet phone service. Some scientists argue that Wi-Fi may replace mobile phone networks.
Wi-Fi is stioo limited to a few cities, where there are “ hotspots”. But its capability(容量) of sending information has already done better than that of the mobile phone network, even that of 3G (Third Generation telecommunication technology). Some scientists have started to call Wi-Fi 4G.
In addition to a high speed Internet connection, Fi-Fi has other advantages compared to mobile phones. We-Fi is global. The same Wi-Fi system works in different countries around the world. Different from using cell phones, you don’t need to change computers to use Internet phones when you go to other places and most importantly, many Internet phones cost you nothing at all. Wi-Fi is not available in cities without_____.
| A．a computer | B．a radio | C．a hotspot | D．a cell phone |
Which of the following is NOT the advantage of Wi-Fi?
A. The high speed Internet connection. B. Many free Internet phones.
B. Using the same computers for Internet phones when you go to other places. C. Used in all the US cities. Some scientists started to call Wi-Fi 4G, because_____.
| A．it is the product of the Google”s 4th generation. |
| B．it is more capable of sending information than the mobile phone network. |
| C．it has been used by more than four generations. |
| D．Wi-Fi will surely take the place of the mobile phone network. |
. Which of the following is the best title?
A.Third Generation Telecommunication Technology
B. Free Call Service
C.Goo
gle Launches Free Wi-Fi Service
D.Free Wi-Fi Service across the U.S.A.
We are all interested in equality，but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality，others，st
ill in the name of equality，want only to destroy it．
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils．The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect--but to have no external(外部的)tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards．There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in external examinations or in any contr schools or on teachers.This would mean that everything would depend on luck every pupll would depend on the efficiency(效率)，the ideal and the purpose of teacher．
Without external examinations， employers will 1ook for employees from highly respected schools and from families known to them--a form of favoritism will replace equality．At the moment，the bright child from an ill—respected schoo1 can show certificates(证书)to prove he or she is suitable for a job，while the lack of a certificate shows the unsuitability of a dull child attanding a well—respected schoo1.This defence of excellence and opportunity would disappear if external examinations were taken away，and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s fame(名誉)，unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored schoo1．
The opponents(对手)of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils．According to these people，there must be no special，different，academic class． They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area：all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection．The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer． The word “favoritism” in paragraph 3 is used to decribe the phenomenon that _____.
| A．bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs. |
| B．Pooor children with certificates are favored in job markets. |
| C．Children attending ordinary schools achieve great success. |
| D．children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs. |
What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
| A．Children’s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation. |
| B．Schools for bright children would lose their reputation |
| C．There would be more opportunities and excellence. |
| D．Children from poor families would be able to change their schools. |
The opponents of the examination sys
tem will agree that _____.
| A．Computers should be selected to take over many jobs. |
| B．Special classed are necessary to keep the school standards. |
| C．Jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection. |
| D．Schools with academic subjects should be abolished. |
The passage mainly focuses on ____.
A. schools and certificates B opportunity and employment
C. examinations and equality D. standards and reputation
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