New research suggests that speaking more than one language may delay different kinds of dementia(痴呆), that is the loss of mental ability. In fact, researchers say, speaking two languages appears to be more important than the level of education in defending against dementias.
A study in India examined the effect of knowing more than one language in delaying the first signs of several dementias. Researchers studied nearly 650 people whose average age was 66. 240 of those studied suffered from Alzheimer's, the most common form of mental decline(下降). 391 of the subjects spoke two or more languages. Researchers found the dementias began about four-and-a-half years later in those who spoke two languages compared to those who spoke only one language. The level of education had no effect on the age at the first sign of dementia.
Thomas Bak, from the Center of Cognitive Aging at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who helped to organize the study, suggests that individuals who speak more than one language train their brains by moving back and forth between different words and expressions. He also believes this effort improves what scientists called executive(执行的) functioning, which often weakens in people with dementias. He states that researchers found there was no extra gain in speaking more than two languages.
Mr Bak says it does not appear important whether you learn another language at a young age or later in life. It's not something that “you missed the boat when you do not do it as a baby.” It is something that is still quite useful and powerful when you do it as an adult. The finding of the study is that________.
| A．learning more than one language can cure dementias |
| B．speaking two languages may delay kinds of dementias |
| C．the level of education matters in defending against dementias |
| D．people who suffer from dementias will lose mental ability |
The underlined word “subjects” refers to________.
| A．people who were studied in the study |
| B．notices that were put on about the study |
| C．questions that were asked in the study |
| D．methods that were used in the study |
According to Mr Bak, ________.
| A．the more languages one speaks, the less chance of getting dementias |
| B．people’s executive functioning often strengthens with age |
| C．when you learn one more language makes no difference |
| D．it is much easier to learn one more language at a young age |
This passage may probably be seen in________.
| A．a research plan | B．a health magazine |
| C．a book review | D．a business magazine |
In the current economic downturn, many American schools are adding a new subject to the curriculum（课程）; financial literacy. One program in Virginia even gets students out of the classroom for a day to learn how far their money will go in the real world.
What looks like a shopping mall is actually an educational field trip experience for a group of young people. Finance Park is a special facility where students apply what they have been taught in class about money management.
“They become, essentially, adults for the day,” says Alice Reilly, social studies coordinator for Fairfax County Public Schools. “They are asked to develop a budget for 18 line items that you and I might have in our budget; things like utilities, insurance, groceries, housing.”
Each budget item is represented by a storefront where students collect an option sheet. Students must refer to a card that shows their income and their family size, when they choose what to buy. There’s also a stock ticker so students can keep track of shares in their portfolios（投资组合）.
The facility opened last year in Fairfax, Virginia. It is the fifteenth Finance Park built in the last decade by Junior Achievement USA, a non-profit organization dedicated to preparing young people for financial success.
“Since the financial crisis, the demand for Finance Parks around the country has grown exponentially," says Ed Grenier, president of the Washington, DC chapter. "We have a number under way in the planning and building stages.”
Financial literacy has only recently become part of the regular curriculum in Fairfax County.“Some students, some teachers, some schools did it, but now it is much more systematic," Reilly says, "and it is much more consistent to ensure that all students get this background information.”
That is why every eighth grade student in Fairfax County will eventually spend a day here.Thirteen-year-old Sam says she has learned an important life lesson. “I didn’t know how expensive everything would be.”
Anthony, also 13, is looking forward to telling his parents what he learned. “I’ll probably tell them I want to stay a kid a little longer and take my time to become an adult.”
This isn’t the end of financial studies for Anthony and the other students here. Virginia is one of 13 states which requires students to take a financial education in high school in order to graduate.What is the aim of this Finance Park?
A . To raise enough money for the secondary schools in Virginia.
B. To enable students to apply money management knowledge to practice.
C. To provide students in Virginia with special chances for Advanced Placement.
D. To direct students in Washington,D.C. to learn more about money management.Who is expected to spend a whole day in the Finance Park?
A .Young people all over Virginia.
B. Junior students in Washington,D.C.
C. Eighth graders in Fairfax County.
D. Eighth graders' parents in Virginia. What can we learn from this passage?
A . Extra curriculum is necessary in secondary schools.
B. Fairfax County Public Schools set a good example.
C. An organization helps youth in U.S. for financial success.
D. Financial Literacy is very popular in Washington,D.C.It can be inferred from the passage that _________________.
A . Alice Reilly developed a budget for 18 items in the Finance Park.
B. ED Grenier was against building more finance parks in U.S.A.
C. Sam did quite well in managing his budge in the Finance Park.
D. Anthony came to know that adult life wasn't as good as expected.
Mrs. Amatuli was my teacher in the fourth grade. One day at lunch time,I was getting ready to eat my same old tuna fish(金枪鱼)sandwich and suddenly Mrs. Amatuli asked me if she could buy my sandwich from me. She explained that I could use the money to buy a hot lunch from the cafeteria.
I was thrilled. I never bought my lunch at the cafeteria. It was too expensive for my family,and I always carried my lunch and brought the bag back home to use again the next day. My sandwiches were either bologna(大香肠)or tuna fish. It rarely varied beyond that.
You can understand my delight when I had the opportunity to buy a hot lunch.
When we finished lunch that day. Mrs. Amatuli took me aside and said she wanted to explain why she had bought my sandwich. I really didn’t care why, but it gave me a few minutes of her precious attention so I was very quiet as she explained. You see，she was Catholic and she told me that Catholics didn’t eat red meat on Fridays—they ate fish on Fridays.
Oh,I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my mama that from now on 1 wanted tuna fish on Fridays. After my mama understood why，she gladly fixed tuna fish for me on Fridays. She even fixed it on brown bread because she knew Mrs. Amatuli liked brown bread. From then on. every Friday I could get in line with the rest of the kids for a hot lunch. I didn’t care how many of the kids complained about cafeteria food—it tasted divine to me!
I realize now that Mrs. Amatuli could have fixed herself a tuna sandwich of Friday. But she bought my sandwich because she saw a 1ittle girl who was thrilled over the simple act of having a hot lunch.
I will never forget her for her compassion and generosity and what I should do is to follow her example.Mrs.Arnatuli bought the writer’s sand wish because_____________.
| A．she was tired of cafeteria food |
| B．she hated getting in line with kids |
| C．she didn’t eat red meat on Friday |
| D．she wanted to show care to the writer |
What can we learn about the cafeteria food?
| A．It was terrific. | B．It was terrible. |
| C．The writer enjoyed it. | D．Most kids were fond of it. |
The underlined word "divine" in Paragraph 5 means___________.
| A．perfect | B．sweet | C．unpleasant | D．special |
Which of the following can best show the theme of this text?
| A．It is hard to please all. |
| B．Better to give than to receive. |
| C．Love makes the world go around. |
| D．The more you offer,the more you are rewarded. |
When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.
I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer and he planed to produce a lot and sell them to the children in developing countries at a low price after he visited a school in Cambodia. The laptop will be covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to surf the Internet. By improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone’, and that is always a good thing. It's an excellent idea to recycle old mobile phones because .
| A．it reduces waste and can help others |
| B．it prevents waste and can earn lots of money |
| C．it can send the waste produced by developed countries to other countries |
| D．it is good for the environment and very educative for phone users |
The author gives the example of Mr. Negroponte’s cheap computers
| A．to show what high technology can bring us |
| B．to show the kindness of people in the developed countries |
| C．to show how to find business opportunities in developing countries |
| D．to give an example of how to help developing countries |
Where does this passage probably come from? .
| A．A newspaper. | B．A magazine. |
| C．A lecture. | D．An advertisement. |
Kids will often ignore your requests for them to shut off the TV, start their chores(杂事),or do their homework as a way to avoid following your directions. Before you know it, you’ve started to sound like a broken record as you repeatedly ask them to do their assignments, clean their room, or take out the trash. Rather than saying “Do your chores now.” you’ll be more effective if you set a target time for when the chores have to be completed. So instead of arguing about starting chores, just say, “If chores aren’t done by 4 pm, here are the consequences.” Then it’s up to your child to complete the chores. Put the ball back in their court. Don’t argue or fight with them, just say,“ That’s the way it’s going to be.” It shouldn’t be punitive(惩罚性的)as much as it should be persuasive. “If your chores aren’t done by 4 pm, then no video game time until chores are done. And if finishing those chores runs into homework time, that’s going to be your loss.” On the other hand, when dealing with homework, keep it very simple. Have a time when homework starts, and at that time, all electronics go off and do not go back on until you see that their homework is done. If your kids say they have no homework, then they should use that time to study or read. Either way, there should be a time set aside when the electronics are off.
When a kid wears his iPod or headphones when you’re trying to talk to him, make no bones about it；he is not ignoring you, he is disrespecting you. At that point, everything else should stop until he takes the earplugs out of his ears. Don’t try to communicate with him when he’s wearing headphones—even if he tells you he can hear you. Wearing them while you’re talking to him is a sign of disrespect. Parents should be very tough about this kind of thing. Remember, mutual respect becomes more important as children mature.According to the passage, it seldom happens that _______________________.
| A．kids turn a deaf ear to their parents’ requests |
| B．parents’ directions sound like a broken record |
| C．children are ready to follow their parents’ directions |
| D．parents are unaware of what they are repeating to their kids |
Parents will be able to deal with their children more effectively if they ________________.
| A．avoid direct ways of punishment |
| B．make them do things at their request |
| C．argue and fight with their children |
| D．allow their children to behave in their own way |
It can be inferred from the passage that _________________________.
| A．parents should take off his headphones when trying to have a talk with their child |
| B．it will make no difference that a kid is wearing his earplugs while talking to his parents |
| C．parents shouldn’t give in to their kid when he shows no sign of respect |
| D．kids’ purposely talking to their parents with iPod gives them a sense of power and control |
The main idea of the passage is ______________________________.
| A．that respecting each other is more important than anything else |
| B．how kids behave to ignore and disrespect their parents |
| C．that children should make choices and decisions on their own |
| D．how parents can deal with their kids’ behavior effectively |
My sisters and I have dreamt of a home in the city, but when the Alcott family found itself in a small house at the South End without a tree in sight, only a back yard to play in, and no money to buy any of the beautiful things before us, we children all opposed it and longed for the country again.
Anna soon found little pupils, and walked away each morning to her daily task, pausing at the corner to wave her hand to me in answer to my greet with the duster（抹布）. My father went to his office downtown, mother to her helping the poor, the little girls to school, and I, Lousia, was left to keep house, feeling like an aged sea-gull as I washed dishes and cooked in the basement kitchen where the only thing I could hope for was someone talking with me.
Good drill, but very hard, and my only comfort was the evening reunion where all met with such various reports of the day’s adventures, we could not fail to find both amusement and instruction.
Father brought interesting and attractive news from the upper world; mother, usually in low spirits because she would give away her clothes with sad tales of suffering from the darker side of life; gentle Anna gave a modest account of her success as a teacher, for even at seventeen her sweet nature won all who knew her, and her patience gained her the support of the most naughty pupil.
My reports were usually a mixture of sadness and happiness, and the children poured their small joys and troubles into the family where comfort and mercy were always to be found.We know from this passage that the Alcott family was __________.
| A．a happy and united family |
| B．an extremely poor family |
| C．a family with lots of serious problems |
| D．a family that remained in the country |
Anna was a successful teacher because_________.
| A．she had a strong sense of duty | B．she was obviously intelligent |
| C．she knew her subjects well | D．she had wonderful character |
Lousia’s daily responsibility was_____.
| A．to help the poor | B．to run the house |
| C．to go downtown | D．to feed the seagulls |
According to the passage, what Lousia enjoyed most is _________.
| A．the evening reunion | B．moving to the city |
| C．joining Anna at her school | D．telling others her stories |
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