When Flora Kahlo’s paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as “a ribbon around a bomb”. Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City, Kahlo suffered from polio(小儿麻痹症 )at the age of seven. Her spine(脊柱) became bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera’s strong influences on Kahlo’s style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and 1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953. For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo’s works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last.What does the phrase “a much bigger name” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean? ______
| A．a far better artist |
| B．a much more famous person |
| C．a much stronger person |
| D．a far more gifted artist |
The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by ______.
| A．back injuries | B．her bent spine |
| C．polio | D．the operations she had |
Kahlo’s style had become increasingly independent since the _________.
| A．1930s | B．1970s |
| C．1950s | D．1940s |
What is the author’s attitude toward Kahlo? ______
| A．Devotion | B．Encouragement |
| C．Ironic | D．Sympathy |
Travelling abroad for leisure is becoming more and more popular for Chinese. The UK is high up in the list of places that the Chinese want to visit. There is a sense of mystery about the UK; it’s often the images of England’s green parks, countryside and Victorian houses that people point to as an alternative to polluted, overcrowded cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou.
The capital is viewed as modern and dynamic, while being filled deep with history. When asked what other images are thought of by the UK, the reply is often “the Queen, tea and Oxbridge”. So what’s stopping them actually coming? Sebastian Wood ,the British ambassador in Beijing, has described the UK as a “fortress”, and while this is perhaps an exaggeration(夸张)，Britain does have a reputation as a country that is harder to access.
The main problem for Chinese tourists is obvious. Although visa applications are now completed online, visitors are still required to visit one of 12 UK centers across the country for a face-to-face interview and fingerprinting. If you don’t live near one of these enters already, you’d have to travel some distance to get there.
Another problem is also to be mentioned. If travelers from China visit the UK, they also want to cover as much ground as possible. But the UK is not included in the Schengen visa, which allows access to a host of 26 European countries such as France and Germany. So it makes the former seem a less worth it.
There is also the issue of cost: £47 for a Schengen visa, £82 for the UK. On top of this, the UK is viewed as stricter in its handing of visas compared with the rest of Europe, fed by urban legends of rejected applications. In the end, the decision comes down to one question: Is Britain worth a visit?
The underlined word “fortress ” in paragraph2 is something similar to ______.
| A．temple | B．apartment | C．castle | D．market |
Which of the following statements is NOT true for the UK visa?
| A．One can apply for a visa online. |
| B．One must have a face-to-face interview. |
| C．No one can get a visa without a fingerprinting. |
| D．No one needs to travel a long distance to get a center. |
What can a visitor do if he gets a Schengen visa?
| A．He can only visit the UK. |
| B．He can only visit 26 European countries. |
| C．He can visit the UK and France. |
| D．He can travel to any country he likes. |
What is the writer’s attitude towards visiting the UK?
| A．He really supports Chinese people to visit the UK. |
| B．He suggests Chinese people visit London strongly. |
| C．He thinks it is troublesome to visit the UK. |
| D．He believes everyone should go to see the Queen and Oxbridge. |
Scores on a national test released(发布)on November 1 show that students in the U.S.A. have improved in math over the last two years, but mostly stayed the same in reading. This year, 422,000 fourth graders and 343,000 eighth graders took the exams between January and March. Students were asked to read grade-appropriate(年级适合的) materials and answer questions for the reading test. For the math test, students answered questions about geometry, algebra, number properties, measurement and other topics.
The U.S Department of Education released the scores in a report called The Nation’s Report Card (NAEP). This year, students earned the highest scores ever recorded on the math exam, which has been given since 1990.Fourth graders scored an average of 241.That is a one-point increase from 2009and a 28-point increase from 1990. Eighth graders made similar progress. Then average score this year was 284,up one point from 2009 and 21 points from 1990.
In reading, fourth graders scored an average of 221 points, the same average score since 2007.That score is four points above those from 1992, when the first reading test was given. Eighth graders scored an average of 265 points, up one point from 2009 and five points from 1992.
Education experts say reading is a harder subject to improve in the classroom than math. While math is largely learned in classrooms, reading results depend on how much kids read outside of school and how much they read in other subjects, such as history and science.
On the NAEP, math scores were the highest among students who have limited use of calculators(计算器) during math lessons, compared with students who have unlimited use or no use. Reading scores were the highest among students who said they read for fun on their own time almost every day.According to the test, students in the U.S.A _______________________.
| A．do better in math than in reading |
| B．work harder at reading than at math |
| C．prefer to learn math in their spare time |
| D．are more interested in reading than before |
In 1990, the fourth graders’ average score on the math exam was about____________
| A．238 | B．240 | C．213 | D．220 |
We can learn from the third paragraph that ______________.
| A．eighth graders all took part in the test in 2007 |
| B．reading scores have not improved much since 2007 |
| C．eighth graders got higher scores than fifth graders |
| D．fourth graders’ scores are becoming lower and lower |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The first reading test was given in 1990. |
| B．Eighth graders’ average math score was 285 in 2009 |
| C．Eighth graders got the same average as fourth graders in the reading this year |
| D．Reading is hard to improve in the classroom because that requires students to read a lot outside of school. |
They say love can cover a lot of crimes; yet never have I seen it more beautifully showed than in the life of a dog named Jessie. Jessie came into our lives at the age of six months. By that time he had already experienced the hard knocks of life. He was found abandoned on the side of the road, where we adopted him and took him home.
From the beginning, it was obvious that Jessie was traumatized (受精神创伤的). He was afraid of everything: the car, the doors, the stairs, and just about everything else. We couldn’t foresee where Jessie’s fear would take us.
Jessie was with us for about six months, when we became foster parents to a mixed-breed young dog. Jessie did not like her at all. We all lived in a nervous co-existence, until dinnertime. Within moments a food fight erupted between Jessie and this foster child.
It all happened so fast, and I was in the middle. My husband managed to get in between the two dogs, grabbing Jessie by his collar. Jessie screamed all the way down the hall and into the bedroom. I, quickly put the foster dog into her own bedroom and hurried down the hall. The crashing I heard in the bedroom, scared me to death. But nothing prepared me for the scene I witnessed as I opened the bedroom door.
There was my husband, on top of a terrified Jessie, holding back his head. Blood dripped from my husband’s arm. To tell you the truth, as I was sitting beside my husband in the emergency room, I just didn’t know what to do with Jessie. I was so angry at that dog.
Day after day, week after week, however, my husband faithfully trained the dog that others would have put down. As his arm healed over the next months, something rare and beautiful began to take place. Jessie, under my husband’s gentle persuasion, began to understand and obey. And Jessie adored him. I could see, that although the tempest had ruled Jessie’s former life, affirmation and love had calmed the storm.Before being adopted by the writer, Jessie had _______.
| A．suffered a lot |
| B．Lived a happy life |
| C．lived on the road half a year |
| D．often fought against other dogs |
Paragraph 2 shows that the writer was ________.
| A．happy | B．disappointed |
| C．angry | D．worried |
It can be inferred from the text that the writer’s husband’s arm bled because of _________.
| A．his own behavior |
| B．the writer’s fault |
| C．Jessie’s bite |
| D．The new foster dog |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．A Dog Named Jessie |
| B．Love Calmed the Storm |
| C．Conflicts Between Dogs |
| D．Fights Between Man and Dog |
Teachers and parents usually pay attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to preschool children. But a new study suggests that paying attention to the words and letters on the page may lead to better readers.
The two-year study compared children who were read to this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the print showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding. These results were found one year and even two years later.
Shayne Piasta, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, was an author of the study. She says most preschool teachers would find this method manageable and would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read storybooks in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed text.
Ms Piasta says if you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word recognition and spelling. But she says research suggests that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic(系统的) way.
More than 300 children aged four and five were observed in classrooms in Ohio and Virginia. The children came from poor families and were below average in their language skills. This put them at risk of reading problems later. For 30 weeks, the children took part in a program called Project STAR. It tests the short-term and long-term results of reading regularly to preschool children in their classrooms.
There’re different ways that adults can talk to children about print. They can point to a letter and discuss it, and even trace the shape with a finger. They can point out a word, “This is a ‘dog’.” They can discuss how the words tell the story. And they can talk about the organization of the print—for example, showing how words are written left to right in English.According to the text, Shayne Piasta _______.
| A．worked in a middle school |
| B．didn’t attend the research at all |
| C．liked kids to be educated through words |
| D．hoped to increase kids’ interest through pictures |
According to the text, Project STAR ____.
| A．focused on adults’ education |
| B．was to study reading results |
| C．was mainly conducted at home |
| D．tested kids with good reading skills |
What is the last paragraph mainly about?
| A．Why words have meanings. |
| B．Different expressions of words. |
| C．How words are spelled differently. |
| D．Ways of teaching about print. |
The text may appear in ____.
| A．Child Development |
| B．Daily Technology |
| C．International Affairs |
| D．Health Development |
Wugging, or web use giving, describes the act of giving to charity at no cost to the user. By using Everyclick.com, which is being added to a number of university computers across the UK, students can raise money every time they search, but it won’t cost them a penny.
Research shows that students are extremely passionate(热情的)about supporting charity（慈善）--- 88％of full time students have used the Internet to give to charity. This figure is high because this age group is often the least likely to have their own income. 19％ of 22 to 24 year olds have short-term debts of more than￡5，000. With rising personal debt levels in this age group, due to university tuition fees or personal loans and a lack of long-term savings, traditional methods of donating to charity are often not possible.
Beth Truman, a 21year old recent university graduate has used Everyclick.com to donate to her chosen charity, the RSPCA, for two years and has seen the “wugging” movement grow in popularity with students. “When you’re at university you become more socially aware, but it's sometimes hard to give to others when you have little money yourself,” says Beth. “Wugging is great for people in this age group as it allows them to use the technology on a daily basis to give to charity, without costing them a single penny.”
Wugging is perfect for people who want to be more socially aware and supportive but don’t feel they have the means to do so. Students using the web can raise money for causes they care about without costing them anything in terms of time or money, and charities get a valuable source of funding.
Everyclick.com works like any other search engine, allowing users to search for information, news and images but users can decide which of the UK’s 170,000 charities they would like to support through their clicks. Everyclick.com then makes monthly payments to every registered charity. Launched in June 2005, Everyclick.com is now the eighth largest search engine and one of the busiest charity websites in the UK. According to the passage, “wugging” is actually a _______.
| A．website | B．charity-related action |
| C．school organization | D．student movement |
How does Beth Truman think of the “wugging” movement?
| A．It makes Everyclick.com popular in the UK. |
| B．It makes giving to charity easy. |
| C．It results in students being more social awareness. |
| D．it stresses the importance of charity in people’s daily lives. |
From the passage, we can conclude that _______.
| A．most full time students contribute to charity on the Internet every day |
| B．Everyclick.com helps students pay for the college education |
| C．“Wugging” is a win-win idea for both students and charities |
| D．Everyclick.com is the most successful search engine in the UK |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．“Wugging”, a New Popular Term（术语）on the Internet |
| B．British People Show Strong Interest in Charity |
| C．More Britain Charities Benefit from the Internet |
| D．Students Raise Money for Charity by “wugging” |
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