Frederick M. Hess is the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, which is a nonprofit organization that conducts research on many public issues. He says that a long summer vacation doesn’t make sense in today’s world.
Can American students afford to take a summer vacation? In a summer vacation, millions of kids spend valuable time sending messages, watching TV, playing video games and doing shopping in the mall. They will also be putting their academic futures at risk.
Summer vacation once made sense in the past when you didn’t need an education to get a good job. But now things have changed. For today’s students, academic skills are important to students’ future success, but such skills are affected in the summertime. Many nations don’t give kids an American-style summer vacation. They offer no more than seven consecutive(连续的) weeks of vacation. Most American school districts offer up to thirteen weeks. To compete in the global marketplace, Americans must be prepared to go up against international competitors.
Summer vacation also causes challenges for today’s families. In the 1960s, more than 60% of families had a stay-at-home Mom. Now two-thirds of American children live in households where every adult works. For these families, summer vacation can be more burden than break. Someone must watch the kids.
But the biggest problem may be how summer vacation hurts academic achievement. Researchers have found that disadvantaged students lose significant ground in the summertime.
A longer school year does not have to be an invitation to hard boring work. Rather, it should allow time-pressed teachers to conduct richer and more imaginative lessons. Schools would have more time to devote to athletics, languages, music and the arts. Summer vacation can be a grand thing. But in the 21st century, it may also be outdated.
Title: Summer Vacation
| Theme |
A long summer vacation isn’t |
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| Basic Information |
13 weeks in most American schools |
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| Students’ |
·Sending messages and watching TV ·Playing video games ·Doing shopping |
|
| Disadvantages |
· ·Being a ·Hurting students’ academic achievement and resulting in |
|
| Suggestion |
A longer school year does not have to |
|
| Though being a ground thing, summer vacation might be out of |
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the numbered the blanks by using the information from the passage. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
The World Bank, the United Nations and the London School Of Hygiene and Tropica1 Medicine did a study to urge hand-washing around the world. They found that one million lives could be saved each year if people washed their hands with soap often. They said that programs to increase hand-washing with soap could be among the most effective ways to reduce infectious disease.
Doctors say, many diseases can be prevented from spreading by hand-washing. These include pinworms (寄生虫), influenza (流行性感冒), the common cold, hepatitis (肝炎) A, meningitis (脑膜炎) and infectious diarrhea (腹泻).
Hand-washing destroys germs from other people, animals or objects a person has touched. When people get bacteria on their hands, they can infect themselves by touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Then these people can infect other people.
The experts say the easiest way to catch a cold is to touch your nose or eyes after someone nearby has sneezed or coughed. Another way to become sick is to eat food prepared by someone whose hands were not clean.
The experts say that hand-washing is especially important before and after preparing food, before eating and after using the toilet. People should wash their hands after handling animals or animal waste, and after cleaning a baby. The experts say it is also a good idea to wash your hands after handling money and after sneezing or coughing. And it is important to wash your hands often when someone in your home is sick. The experts say the most effective way to wash your hands is to rub them together while using soap and warm water．They say you do not have to use special antibacterial soap. Be sure to rub all areas of the hands for about ten to fifteen seconds. The rubbing action helps remove germs. Then rinse (冲洗) the hands with water and dry them.
Title： 1
I. 2
Many diseases can be prevented by increasing hand-washing with soap.
II. When to do
·Before and after preparing food
·Before eating and after 3
·After handling animal or animal waste
·After cleaning a baby
·After handling money and after sneezing or coughing
·When 4 in your home
III. 5
· 6 of hands for about 10-15 seconds
· 7 to use special antibacterial soap
Rubbing hands together while using 8 water
IV. 9
Hand-washing could be the most 10 to reduce infectious diseases
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。
注意：每空格一个单词。
Some people believe that greed and selfishness has become the basis of modern society. We should return to the old traditions of family and community, and then we will have a better life. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the above opinion?
In this fast-paced world, many values are undergoing major changes. While people traditionally prioritize(区分优先次序) caring, sharing and generosity in life and work, modern people seem to be more self-absorbed and self-concerned.
Modern people act selfishly to survive the harsh competition of life. They say that it is a jungle out there. To survive, you have to fight with whatever means that come handy. Obviously greedy and selfishness go perfectly well with such ideas. In a company, employees do everything they can to get better pay and higher position, even at the cost of colleagues. We are in any way advocating any selfish conduct. It is just that people are pressured to act in a certain way due to outside influences.
In spite of common practice, it is hard to conclude that modern society is built on greed and selfishness, both of which are not newly invented vocabulary. In ancient times people also did greedy and selfish things though such behaviors were more condemned(谴责) then. But we cannot ignore the fact that people in the past lived a relatively more isolated life and faced less pressure compared with their modern twins.
Are we happier to share with others and be generous to them? There is no fixed answer either. Some people take great pleasure helping and giving to others while others feel happy doing the opposite. But I personally think that people should not be too selfish. Caring for others can actually encourage the development of a mutually beneficial relationship.
In conclusion, modern people appear to be more self-centered than those in the past due to strong outside pressure. However, we should encourage people to know the importance of being caring and generous and to build a mutually beneficial relationship with others.
Title: Are Modern People Becoming More Selfish?
| Main comparisons |
Contexts |
| |
In the past people put caring, sharing and generosity in the (2)_________ place. |
| Nowadays, people seem to be more (3)_________ about themselves. |
|
| |
People in the past appeared to be modest and self-effacing(谦让). |
| People may strive to achieve their own (5)_________, even at the price of their coworkers. |
|
| The author’s understanding |
|
| (6)_________ for the changes in author’s eyes |
Fierce (7)_________ and great (8)_________ on modern people may be responsible for the changes. |
| The author’s (9)_________ towards topic |
A relationship which can (10)_________ both sides should be established. |
Every year there are hundreds of earthquakes in different parts of the world. In Sept.1923, Tokyo and Yokohama were both destroyed by an earthquake and the fires that followed it. They had to be completely rebuilt. One of the most serious earthquakes was in China’s Shanxi Province in 1556. It killed almost one million people.
We measure an earthquake’s strength on the Richter scale. The Richter scale was introduced in 1935 in Southern California in the USA. It measures earthquakes on a scale of one to ten. Any earthquake measuring five or more is usually serious.
The earth’s crust (地壳) is made up of layers of rock called plates. As these plates move, they sometimes crash against each other, causing the crust to quake. In cities such as Tokyo, where small quakes happen quite often, many modern buildings are designed to be flexible so when the earth moves, they move with it.
Earthquakes can also break up gas or oil pipes. This can cause fires to break out, which can do as much damage as the earthquake itself.
Another effect of earthquakes is tsunamis (海啸). These are huge waves created by earthquakes beneath the sea. They can be many meters high and cause great damage to coastal towns and cities.
China, Japan, Russia and the USA have the highest occurrence (发生) of earthquakes in the world.
| Knowing about （1）.__________ |
|
| Two serious earthquakes in (2).__________ |
An earthquake and the following fire (3).__________ both Tokyo and Yokohama in Sept. 1923. |
| In 1556, a very serious earthquake (4)._________ in China’s Shanxi Province. |
|
| The way to (5)._________ an earthquake’s strength |
People can measure an earthquake’s strength on the Richter scale of one to ten, (6)._________ in 1935 in the USA. If an earthquake measures five or more, it’s usually serious. |
| The (7)._______ of earthquakes |
As the plates, which form the earth’s (8)._______, move, they sometimes crash against each other, causing the crust to quake. |
| Some (9)._____ of earthquakes |
If earthquakes break up gas or oil pipes, (10)._______ will happen, which can do as much damage as the earthquake itself. |
| Tsunami is another effect of earthquakes. |
请仔细阅读下列文章，并根据所读内容在文章后的表格中的空格内填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上，每空只填一个单词。
When difficult people expresses themselves orally, they generally want at least two things: they’ve been heard and they’ve been understood. As a good communicator should be a good listener, five steps are advocated toward good listening.
The first step is cooperating. How does a difficult person know that you’re listening and understanding? In fact, it’s through the way you look and sound while he is talking. You may help him to fully express his thoughts and feelings. You do this by nodding your head in agreement, making certain sounds of understanding.
When the person begins to repeat what’s been said, it’s a signal of step two: turning back. It means that you repeat back some words he is using, sending a clear signal that you’ve listening carefully and that you think what he is saying is important.
Having heard what he has to say, the next step is clarifying. At this point, you start to gather information about what is being communicated. Ask same open-ended questions, which will allow you to figure out what intention he is hoping to satisfy.
The fourth step is to summarize what you’ve heard. This allows you to make sure that both you and the difficult person the same page. When you do this, two things happen. First, if you’ve missed something, he can fill in the details. Second you’ve shown that you’re making an effort to understand completely. This increases possibility of gaining cooperation from him.
Having listened carefully, you’ve now arrived at the point of confirming with the person that he feels satisfied that his thoughts have been fully voiced. Ask if he feels understood.
Then enough sincere listening, questioning, and remembering are brought together, understanding is usually achieved and a difficult person becomes less difficult and more cooperative.
| Listen to understand |
|
| Reason |
Difficult people hope they have been heard and |
| ◆ ◆Repeat some ◆Collect information about the person’s expressions and find his ◆Give a ◆Confirm that the person gains |
|
| Result |
A difficult person will be |
| You may unlock the doors to difficult people’s minds after you listen and understand. |
认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题纸相应题号的横线上。
Cheating is common in various kinds of exams in college. Students don’t feel shame to cheat in exams. They know that if caught cheating in an exam, the punishment will not be serious. This leads to frequent cheating in exams.
At the University of Nevada, after students photographed test questions with their cellphone cameras, transmitted them to classmates outside the exam room and got the answers back in text messages, the university put in place a new monitoring system.
With their electronic tools, students these days find it easier to cheat. So college officials find themselves in a new game of cat and mouse, trying to gain an advantage over would-be cheats this exam season with a range of strategies—cutting off Internet access from laptops, or demanding the surrender of cellphones before tests.
Mr. Dapremont said technology had made cheating easier, but added that plagiarism（剽窃）in writing papers was probably a bigger problem because students can easily lift other people’s writings off the Internet.
Still, some students said they thought cheating these days was more a product of an attitude, not the tool at hand. Pressure to succeed sometimes clouds everything and makes people do things that they shouldn’t do. Students today feel more pressure to do well in order to graduate from school and secure a job.
Whatever the reasons for cheating, college officials say the battle against it is wearing them out. First, people who cheat in exams will lose interest in studying. Second, they believe studying isn’t meaningful. Even though they don’t do anything, they can still pass. Third, people who cheat in exams will influence others. Plenty of hardworking people will see that their results are lower than people who cheat in exams. Thus, we must prevent cheating in exams. We reduce the opportunities for cheating in exams.
The vast majority of Americans still believe that honesty is an important part of the American character. For that reason, there are numerous watchdog committees at all level of society. Although signs of dishonesty in school, business, and government seem much more numerous in recent years than in the past, could that because we are getting better at revealing such dishonesty?
Many educators feel that as students gain confidence in themselves and their abilities, they are less likely to cheat. Surprisingly, some efforts to prevent cheating may actually encourage cheating—a person may feel “ they don’t trust me anyway”, and be tempted to “ beat the system”. Distrust can be contagious（可传染的）. But, so can trust.
Title: Cheating in exams in college
| Facts |
◇ Cheating in exams is common in college. ◇ Students don’t take cheating in exams as 1 behaviour. |
| Means of cheating and plagiarism |
◇ Use 2 . ◇ Surf the Internet. |
| 3 for cheating |
◇ Cheats are not 4 seriously. ◇ The latest technology makes it 5 for students to cheat. ◇ Heavy pressure makes students want to do well so as to ensure 56 and a job. |
| 7 of cheating |
◇ People will become 8 in studying. ◇ People will believe studying doesn’t make 9 . ◇ People cheating in exams will influence others negatively. |
| Solution |
Educators and students should 10 each other. |
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