Boys’ schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music. Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity (阳刚), the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure of following that tradition, a US study says.
Boys at single-sex schools are said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that help develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they have to follow the “boy code” of hiding their emotions to be a “real man”.
The findings of the study are so against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warns that boys are being faded by the British education system because it has become too focused on girls. He criticizes teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.
The research argues that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female schoolmates do better earlier in speaking and reading skills. But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys’ learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, writes the study’s author, Abigail James, from the University of Virginia.
Teachers can encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused” approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have sharper vision to learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given “hands-on” lessons where they are allowed to walk around. “Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine (女性的) and prefer what centers on violence and sexism, ” James writes.
Single-sex education also makes it less likely that boys would feel they have to follow the tradition that men should be “masterful and in charge” in relationships. “In mixed schools boys find themselves pushed to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means,” the study reports.The author believes that a single-sex school will _________.
| A．force boys to hide their emotions to be “real men” |
| B．help to develop masculine aggressiveness in boys |
| C．encourage boys to express their emotions more freely |
| D．naturally make boys accept the traditional image of a man |
It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys _________.
| A．perform relatively better |
| B．grow up more healthily |
| C．behave more responsibly |
| D．receive a better education |
What does Tony Little say about the British education system?
| A．It fails more boys than girls academically. |
| B．It focuses more on mixed school education. |
| C．It fails to give boys the attention they need. |
| D．It places more pressure on boys than on girls. |
According to Abigail James, one of the advantages of single-sex schools is _________.
| A．teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys |
| B．boys can focus on their lessons without being absent-minded |
| C．boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in |
| D．teaching can be designed to promote boys’ team spirit |
With large and small keyboards everywhere, neither children nor adults need to write much of anything by hand. That’s a big problem. Study after study suggests that handwriting is important for brain development — helping kids get fine motor skills and learn to express and create ideas. Yet the time devoted to teaching penmanship in most schools has shrunk to just one hour a week. Is it time to give up handwriting? Have a look at the link between the brain and penmanship, and you may get the answer.
A test among students in grades 2, 4 and 6 found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by keyboard, but also created more ideas when composing essays with handwriting. And other research shows that the finger movements required to write by hand activate brain areas involved with thought, language, and short-term memory.
A recent Indiana University study had one group of children practice writing letters by hand while a second group just looked at those letters. Then, both groups of kids entered a functional MRI (核磁共振) that scanned their brains as the researchers showed them the same letters. Researchers found that the brain activity in the first group was far more advanced and “adult-like”.
Handwriting also affects other people’s way they think of adults and children. Several studies have shown that the same average essay will score much higher if written with good penmanship and much lower if written out in poor handwriting. These studies have also found that people judge the quality of a person’s ideas based on his or her handwriting. And the consequences are real: On standardized tests with handwritten sections, like the SAT, all essay that is considered hard to recognize gets a big zero.
Studies show that this isn’t only an English-language phenomenon. Chinese and Japanese youths are suffering from “character amnesia”. They can’t remember how to write characters, thanks to computers and text messaging. Some experts fear that Chinese writing and reading are so closely linked in the brain that China’s reading ability as a nation could suffer.According to the passage, it can be learned that ________________.
| A．many researches have been done on handwriting |
| B．essays can’t be composed without handwriting |
| C．all children write faster by keyboard than by hand |
| D．most schools are trying to teach more handwriting |
What does the Indiana University study imply?
| A．Children should practice writing letters |
| B．Handwriting can increase brain activity |
| C．It’s good for children to enter a functional MRI. |
| D．Letters should often be shown to children |
What does the 4th paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．Handwriting affects both adults and children. |
| B．Handwriting helps a person write better essays. |
| C．SAT should be done with good handwriting. |
| D．Good handwriting makes a person seem smarter. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Essays written with keyboards will get lower scores. |
| B．The quality of your ideas depends on your handwriting. |
| C．Chinese and Japanese youths don’t know how to write. |
| D．Less handwriting may affect China’s reading ability. |
The passage tries to tell us that __________________.
| A．keyboards are more popular than handwriting |
| B．we shouldn’t judge people by their handwriting |
| C．handwriting is of great importance |
| D．it’s time to give up using keyboards |
While I was in my 4th month of pregnancy (妊娠期) with my second child, we were preparing for a trip to Louisiana, where Marshall’s family live, to celebrate Jane’s 2nd birthday. Two days before we were to leave, we got the shocking news that I was going to lose the baby. Not knowing when this would happen, we decided to continue with our trip.
Since Marshall’s family lives on a 600-acre cattle farm, you often find that you have a lot of time to yourself to think when you are there. That is precisely what I did not want to do at this time. I told Marshall that I needed to get a good book to get lost in while I was there. I told him I heard the Harry Potter books were good, so he went out and got the first one for me.
During that trip, I totally got lost in the book, which was of great help during a time when I needed a distraction to forget about the sadness. In the book, I noticed the name “Seamus”. I vaguely remembered it was pronounced “Shamus” and I liked the sound of that. I mentioned it to Marshall and he liked it too. Toward the end of the trip, I had just 5 chapters left and I knew I was about to finish the first book, which I was pretty excited about.
Soon after we put Jane down to bed, I had started labor (分娩), so I was unable to read. The labor lasted 5 and 1/2 hours, but Marshall stayed there with me, sitting beside me and reading aloud the last 5 chapters of Harry Potter. I can never fully explain how much that helped me through the experience. And ever since then, Marshall and I both have been fans of the Harry Potter books. We remember how they helped us get through that time of our lives.
We were sad to have lost the baby, but the name Seamus started our journey toward adoption. And we gave this name to our adopted son. Though our Seamus doesn’t have a drop of Irish blood in him, the name fits him perfectly. Why did the writer want a good book during the trip?
| A．Because the trip to Louisiana would take a long time. |
| B．Because she didn’t want to think of losing her baby. |
| C．Because she had nothing else to do except reading. |
| D．Because a good book could help her enjoy her trip. |
According to the story, we can know that the Harry Potter books _________________.
| A．made the family’s trip more exciting |
| B．include five books all together |
| C．have someone called Seamus in them |
| D．can help people deal with their problems |
The writer named her son Seamus because ___________________.
| A．she wanted to keep her trip in memory |
| B．she loved this name very much |
| C．her son doesn’t have Irish blood |
| D．it is a perfect name for a boy |
Which of the following is TRUE about the couple?
| A．They planned their trip after getting the shocking news. |
| B．They thought the cattle farm was too large to do anything on. |
| C．They felt excited when they almost finished the trip. |
| D．They liked reading Harry Porter very much after the trip. |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Funny Stories Of My Family | B．Seamus And Harry Potter |
| C．How We Got To Louisiana | D．How My Son Got His Name |
The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean. The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds. The goal is to present all crops known to scientists. The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month. The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats. It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost position on earth.
An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project. The director of the group, Cary Fowler, spoke to New Scientist. He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if, in his word, “the worst came to the worst”. Norway is expected to start work next year. The project is expected to cost three million dollars. Workers will drill deep in the side of a sandstone mountain. Temperatures in the area never rise above 0ºC. The seeds will be protected behind walls a meter thick and high-security door.
The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming. Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America. To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures. Workers will not be present all the time. But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter. Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below 0ºC. The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced.
Mr. Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world’s most reliable gene bank. He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason. Norway first proposed the idea in the 1980s. But security concerns delayed the plan. At that time, the Soviet Union was meeting in Rome of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
The project is meant to ______.
| A．increase the world’s food output in the future |
| B．carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes |
| C．protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disasters |
| D．build an exhibition centre of the world’s plant seeds |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage?
| A．The government of Norway will perform the project alone. |
| B．Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousands years ago. |
| C．Spitsbergen is chosen because it is free of the threat unclear war forever. |
| D．Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place. |
We can infer from the text that _______.
| A．People will get newly-developed seeds from the center every year. |
| B．The storage center will greatly promote world agriculture |
| C．Norway had meant to build the storage centre about 30 years before. |
| D．There haven’t been any seed storage centers in the world before. |
What is probably the best title of the passage?
| A．The Best Place to Store Seeds |
| B．Noah’s Ark（诺亚方舟）of Plant Seeds in Plan |
| C．Concerns of World Food Supply |
| D．A New Way to Feed the World |
Beginning college is exciting: new ideas to explore, new challenges to be met and many decisions to be made; your future begins here.
However, you will find college life is different from your previous school environment. Many of us can be easily defeated by the details of running a well-balanced life. While some of us may have the know-how, I guess there are more of us who can benefit from learning about the experiences of others who have walked the college halls before you.
The following you may find useful about life on campus:
·Plan well. There are so many new things to do at a new college or university. Give yourself time to make new friends and became familiar with the campus, but don’t forget why you are there. Give some time for social activities and manage your time wisely.
·If you don’t have a “system” for planning your time now (like a day timer, a computer data book), get one. Most of all, don’t depend on your memory.
·Don’t miss the guidelines. The restrictions, rules and regulations of all kinds can usually be found in your student’s handbook. Consider them well-balanced food for thought. What dates are important? What pieces of paper need to be handed in? What can / can’t you do in your student residence（住处）? Who has the right for what? What do you need to complete to graduate?
·Write the word “STUDY” on the walls of your bedroom and bathroom, and maybe it will help to write it on a piece of paper and stick it on the telephone, TV and the kitchen table. Consider this — you are paying thousands of dollars for your course. You pay every time you have to repeat or replace a course.
·Build your identity. This is the time for you to decide what to do and what not to do. Take as much time as you need to explore new ideas. Do not be afraid of the beyond. This is learning to make good choices.
(From http://www.iamnext.com/academics/frosh10tips.html)What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To offer advice on college life. |
| B．To explain why college life is exciting. |
| C．To describe the importance of college life. |
| D．To persuade you to go to college. |
According to the passage, why is it exciting to begin college life?
| A．Because you will have more freedom at college. |
| B．Because you will no longer be afraid of the beyond |
| C．Because you prepare for your future career and life there. |
| D．Because professors there will provide you with many new ideas. |
The underlined word “know-how” refers to _____.
| A．An understanding of how things are going at college |
| B．Practical knowledge about how to learn well at college |
| C．College halls where rules and regulations are presented |
| D．An environment completely different from the one you’re used to |
According to the passage, college students _______.
| A．needn’t learn from those who went to college before them |
| B．spend as much time as possible on social activities |
| C．should know what they have fight for on campus |
| D．are supposed to repeat or replace at least one course |
A study of English learning problems was carried out among a total of 106 foreign students. It shows that most students considered understanding spoken English to be their biggest problem on arrival. This was followed by speaking. Writing increased as a problem as students discovered difficulties in writing papers that they were now expected to hand in. Reading remained as a big problem.
Information gained helped us in determining where special attention should be paid in our course. Although many students have chosen to join the course with a reasonable motivation, we considered it important to note what seemed to encourage interest. Nearly all the students have experienced some kind of grammar-based English teaching in their own country. To use the same method would be self-defeating because it might reduce motivation, especially if it has failed in the past. Therefore a different method may help because it is different.
Variety of activity was also seen as a way of maintaining or increasing motivation. Several years ago we had one timetable that operated throughout, but we soon found that both the students and the teachers lost interest about halfway through the ten weeks. This led us to a major re-think, so in the end we brought it into line with the expressed language needs of the students.What does the passage want to tell us?
| A．Foreign students have more problems. |
| B．There are many ways to improve English. |
| C．Teaching should meet students’ needs. |
| D．English learning problems should be studied again. |
Writing became a bigger problem when foreign students __________.
| A．had to write their papers |
| B．became better at speaking |
| C．became less interested in reading |
| D．had fewer problems with listening |
We may infer from the last two paragraphs that_________.
| A．different teaching methods should be used |
| B．grammar-based teaching seems to be encouraging |
| C．English courses are necessary for foreign students |
| D．teaching content should be changed halfway |
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