Is early childhood education really necessary ? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical , sensory , communicational and social development . Early childhood education has become a concern of the government , who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for kindergarten .
There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education . Studies have shown that orphaned children (孤儿) who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school , and even in life. Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school , less likely to end up in Special Education classes , and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail (prison) .
There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early . Time Magazine Online explains that “ the younger the child is , the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work .” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school . Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school , the better off he or she is , so they push to start children earlier .
Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years , studies also show that this head start is really a “ false start” , as the gains are lost in middle and high school years. It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education . Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children. Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap .The government values the early childhood education in order to ___________ .
| A．develop the children’s communication |
| B．help the children to learn by playing |
| C．get the children prepared for the kindergarten |
| D．train the children formally and regularly |
According to the studies , ___________ .
| A．children with good early education may have a rich life |
| B．the orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life |
| C．children without early education can do well at school |
| D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children |
The explanation of Time Magazine Online suggests that ____________ .
| A．the early childhood education is helpless to the child’s grade |
| B．it is good for the young children to receive early education |
| C．the early education can help the children follow the grade |
| D．the younger the children are , the more clever they will be |
The main idea of the last paragraph is that ___________ .
| A．the early childhood education is very necessary |
| B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot |
| C．environment is the most important to life’s success |
| D．better ways should be found to help the poor children |
B
Teenagers spend too much time using their cell phones and being connected online these days! Is this a new way to be more social or, does the technology really make them unsocial? And how will this constant connection affect them?
My daughter who is fifteen years old has a smart cell phone which means that she is constantly connected to the Internet and of course Facebook. To be around her means that you have to listen to constant “beeps” and sounds from the cell phone when her friends update their status. It makes me really stressed. But that is me. For my daughter, the cell phone is an extension to her body. She sleeps with her cell phone on the pillow; she eats with her cell phone nearby; She even takes the cell phone to the bathroom.
For the generation who has grown up with the Internet and cell phones, it is important for them to stay close to their cell phones. They get stressed when they are disconnected! And most of them haven’t experienced a life without cell phones. For them, being offline or not having a cell phone is like being totally isolated(与世隔绝的). And when they get online after a long disconnection they are so stressed out, because they have so much catching-up to do!
So how is this constant connection affecting the new generation who has been born with the opportunity to stay connected to the Internet all the time? I see them as guinea pigs(实验对象)! Because nobody knows how this will affect humans in the long run. No research has been done yet on long-term side effects of being constantly reachable and connected to others.
My conclusion is that teenagers’ addiction to cell phones makes them both social and unsocial. The new technology has changed the way they connect with people compared to former generations. They are more social and can be mobile but this also forces them to do more than one job at a time which distracts(分散) their attention and prevents them from focusing on the present, which makes them unsociable. No one knows how this use will affect humans. We will just have to wait and see.The author mentions her daughter to show .
| A．he importance of cell phones |
| B．how annoying her daughter is |
| C．what stress her daughter has created |
| D．teenagers’ constant connection to cell phones |
The underlined word “this” in the passage refers to .
| A．using cell phone at a young age |
| B．being online all the time |
| C．the feeling of isolation |
| D．being guinea pigs |
How does the overuse of cell phones affect teenagers?
| A．It stops teenagers from feeling alone. |
| B．It improves teenagers’ work efficiency. |
| C．It forces teenagers to do several things at the same time. |
| D．It breaks teenagers’ connection with former generations. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards teenagers’ constant connection to cell phone?
| A．Unconcerned | B．Uncertain |
| C．Disapproving | D．Disappointed |
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Dear Editor,
My family of four had a baggage allowance of two bags per person, but while collectively our weight allowance was under the limit, the airline wanted to charge us per person. Is this fair?
—Bob
A: Baggage allowances are a constant source of frustration for travelers, and none more so than the division of baggage allowances for a family. There was a time when a friendly smile and a knowing look might have saved you from a penalty, but not now when there’s little wriggle room given to the desk staff. Airline travel has gone budget almost right across the board, so if you want ease of passage, you have to pay for it and you have to plan in advance. You need to weigh your luggage before the flight and, if you’re with your family, you have learn to share that weight around before you get to the airport. Sad but true.
Dear Editor,
I put some of my finest smalls into a hotel laundry and they’ve come back shrunk and the wrong colour. The Austrian hotel told me that they were laundered by an outside company and it was at my own risk. What can I do?
—Bob
A: As a rule, one should be cautious about putting good quality clothes into a hotel laundry, unless it has a good reputation or you’ve had previous experiences there. As a guest, you may have signed a wavier(弃权声明书), but even if you did you still can chase it up with the hotel management or its international head office, if it’s part of a chain. There’s also a facility to chase up consumer concerns across the European Union even when you get home. You should contact the UK European Consumer Centre and they’ll help you fight your case, so don’t despair. But remember to be very careful with your smalls next time—perhaps you should take a good supply to avoid potential laundry damage.
What does the editor think of Bob’s problem?
| A．It’s serious. | B．It’s complex. |
| C．It’s frustrating. | D．It’s pretty rare. |
The editor seems to suggest Helen .
| A．bear the consequence herself |
| B．have a talk with the hotel staff again |
| C．ask the outside company to pay for her loss |
| D．turn to the UK European Consumer Centre for help |
Both the two letter’s writers .
| A．met problems when traveling by plane |
| B．had trouble with their consumer rights |
| C．decided to accept the editor’s advice |
| D．failed to enjoy their journey |
D
In recent years, our parenting culture began to send the message that competence（能力） was important for building self-confidence. However, that same parenting culture made a big mistake by telling parents they should tell their children how competent they were. Children can't be convinced that they are competent. Only your children can build their sense of competence.
However, you can do several things to encourage them to develop their own competence. First, you can give them opportunities to gain a sense of competence. You should allow your children to “get their hands dirty” in the daily life and find out what they are capable of.
These daily experiences allow your children to develop specific competencies that will be helpful to them as they grow up. Also, the more individual competencies children develop, the more they will view themselves as globally competent people.
Second, you can be sure that they gain the most value from their experiences. You can direct their focus to the competences that enabled those successes rather than some generic（笼统的） praise of the accomplishment itself. And you can also praise their accomplishments.
A great difficulty for parents is allowing their children to be wrong or do something poorly in the mistaken belief that these experiences will hurt their sense of competence. In fact, whether they do it well isn't important because success isn't really the goal. Instead, the goal is their willingness to keep trying.
Another mistake that parents make is that, after being unsuccessful when their children first try something, they try to correct them so they will succeed the next time they try. That's not to say that you can't lend a hand when they are struggling. But let them take the lead; if they really want your help, they'll ask for it.The passage is mainly about_____.
| A．the arts to praise children |
| B．the ways to help children develop ability |
| C．the ways to evaluate children’s ability |
| D．the proper ways to help children deal with failure |
What should parents say to help children gain value from their experiences?
| A．Well done! |
| B．You are the best! |
| C．You are really careful! |
| D．You’d better do as I do. |
Parents often make a mistake by ______.
| A．getting their children’s hands dirty |
| B．not realizing the harmful effect of failure |
| C．putting themselves into children’s shoes |
| D．telling their children how competent they are |
How did the writer develop the passage?
| A．By asking and answering questions. |
| B．By introducing different opinions. |
| C．By listing examples. |
| D．By giving explanations. |
In which section of a newspaper can you find this passage?
| A． Education | B．Health and Fitness |
| C．Home and Garden | D．Careers |
C
Conservationists have made plans to preserve and protect the world's most important species of coral, in a response to increasing threats that they say will lead to "functional extinction" within decades．
Led by scientists at the Zoological Society of London, the Edge Coral Reefs project has identified 10 coral species in most urgent risk of becoming extinct．The scientists say that reefs are under pressure from a variety of threats including rising sea temperatures due to climatic instability, increased acidity（酸性）, overfishing and pollution．
The Edge plan, which focuses on the most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species , will take a regional approach to conservation．This means focusing on the "coral triangle" around the Philippines, the West Indian Ocean around the Mozambique channel, and in the Caribbean channel．
"Coral reefs are threatened with functional extinction in the next 20-50 years, due predominantly to global climatic instability," said Catherine Head, coordinator of the reefs project．"In these regions, we'll be supporting and training in-country conservationists to carry out research and implement targeted conservation actions," she said．"Their projects will last for two years．We provide them with a whole host of tools to carry out their projects including funding and intensive training．" She added．
Coral reefs are the planet's most diverse marine ecosystem, known as the rainforests of the oceans．Despite taking up under 0．2% of the ocean floor, they provide food and shelter for almost a third of all sea life．If we lose the ecosystems, we lose not only the biodiversity, but we also lose the capability of people to obtain income and food from coral reefs．
Climatic instability, which leads to rising sea temperatures, causes corals to bleach(漂白)．Bleaching occurs when sea temperatures rise and this causes the coral tissue to expel their symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae - these are what give the coral their color．Bleached corals often die if the stress continues．Among the 10 species chosen to start the Edge project are the pearl bubble coral, a food source for the hawksbill turtle, and the Mushroom coral, which supports at least 15 brightly colored fish．What have conservationists done to react to the increasing threats to corals?
| A．They have taken measures to preserve and protect corals. |
| B．They are doing research into sea life. |
| C．They have identified some endangered corals worldwide. |
| D．They have prevented people from going to some areas. |
Which is NOT the reason for the extinction of corals?
| A．Rising sea temperature． | B．Human exploration． |
| C．Pollution． | D．Overfishing． |
According to the passage, coral reefs________.
| A．are known as the rainforests on the earth． |
| B．are threatened with functional extinction in the following 10 years． |
| C．takes up 2% of the ocean floor． |
| D．are the planet's most diverse marine ecosystem． |
The coral extinction will ________.
| A．help to keep the balance of the marine ecosystems |
| B．have no effect on the human life |
| C．cause the loss of one third of the marine life |
| D．destroy the rainforests on our earth． |
What does the writer mainly talk about in the passage?[
| A．Climatic instability and coral extinction． |
| B．A plan to protect coral from extinction． |
| C．Reasons for coral functional extinction． |
| D．A research about endangered coral reefs． |
B
People are being lured onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing they’re paying for it by giving up large amounts of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages.
Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook because people don’t really know what their personal data is worth.
The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you keep everything private. That was the great thing about Facebook — you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things — your city, your photo, your friends' names—were set, by default (默认) to be shared with everyone on the Internet.
According to Facebook’s vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a “less satisfying experience”.
Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friends?
The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites. “I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,” Schrage admits.
I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy is only the beginning, which is why I’m considering deactivating(撤销) my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t know. That’s too high a price to pay.What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?
| A．Mor1e people are being attracted to use Facebook. |
| B．People shouldn’t use Facebook. |
| C．Facebook is invading people’s privacy. |
| D．Facebook is selling more ads |
Why does the author plan to cancel his Facebook account?
| A．He is dissatisfied with its current service. |
| B．He doesn’t want his personal information abused. |
| C．He finds many of its users untrustworthy. |
| D．He is upset by its frequent rule changes. |
What is Charles Schumer’s attitude toward Facebook selling users’ data?
| A．Indifferent. | B．Unclear. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Disapproval. |
According to Elliot Schrage, Facebook keeps changing its rules because _______.
| A．it wants to better its service |
| B．it wants to adjust to new surroundings |
| C．it wants to expand its global business |
| D．it wants to improve its connectivity |
We can infer from the passage that ___________.
| A．Facebook makes profits by selling its users’ personal data. |
| B．Facebook often provides misleading information to its users. |
| C．Facebook protects users’ privacy |
| D．Facebook makes money only by advertising. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号