A lot of people say math is not their strong suit. One New Jersey parent wants to help change that. Laura Overdeck grew up with numbers. She always helped measure ingredients when her mother baked, and she learned about angles from her father. She went on to major in astrophysics in college. Overdeck knew she wanted her own children to be good at math, too.
“And when our first child was about two, we just started giving her a math problem every night,” Overdeck said. The problem was usually a story, involving animals, cars or candies that let the kid count. “Our third child started, at age two, yelling that he wanted his own math problem because he saw his brother and sister doing it. And we thought, ‘Wow, we have a household where math is the popular thing at bedtime,’” Overdeck said.
In February, Overdeck launched Bedtime Math, an Internet website where she posts daily puzzles for children. Overdeck is particularly keen to hook children on numbers before they go to school. So why introduce little ones to math so early?
Sain Beilock, an expert on performance anxiety, says the more fun and familiar math is early on, the less likely children will feel nervous when they start to learn math in school. “My lab has shown recently that kids as early as first grade report feeling anxious about doing math,” Beilock said.
“You can hear totally educated adults say, ‘You know I’m just not that good at math.’ or ‘I’m kind of afraid of math.’ And that’s a totally acceptable thing for a well-educated person to say, but you never hear them say, ‘Well, you know, I’m just not that good at reading,’” Overdeck said. She wants children and their parents to become as fluent in numbers as they are in Harry Potter.Overdeck majored in astrophysics because she _______.
| A．was really fond of mathematics |
| B．hoped to change math education in the US |
| C．had an interest in physics |
| D．would like her children to be good at math |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?
| A．Toys can be used to encourage kids in solving math problems. |
| B．Math will become more popular in every household. |
| C．Math is enjoyable in Overdeck’s family. |
| D．The third child is cleverer than his brother and sister. |
Beilock’s attitude towards Overdeck’s idea is _______.
| A．agreeable | B．puzzled |
| C．anxious | D．critical |
The unfavorable situation of the US in math ability is shown by _______.
| A．the popularity of Bedtime Math |
| B．children’s performance anxiety in school |
| C．people’s response to math |
| D．adults’ great fondness for Harry Potter |
Guangzhou （Xinhua）——12 people were killed and 20 injured early yesterday morning when they jumped from a burning train car into the path of an oncoming goods train in Southern China. When No. 247 Wuchang——Guangzhou passenger train was passing the Dayaoshan Tunnel in Guangdong Province， South China at 00 ：17 hours yesterday， a fire caused by passengers' smoking broke out on No. 17 car. They wanted to extinguish fire. As the train stopped some frightened passengers jumped from windows. 12 people were crushed to death and 20 others injured by a northward passing goods train（No. 1766).In which direction did the passenger train travel？
| A．Northward. | B．Southward. | C．Eastward. | D．Westward. |
When did the accident happen？
| A．At 00：17 am. | B．At 00：17 pm. |
| C．At seventeen past one. | D．At seventeen to one. |
Where did the accident happen？
| A．In Wuchang. | B．In Guangzhou. |
| C．In Hubei. | D．In Guangdong. |
For what did the passenger train stop？
| A．To put out the fire. |
| B．To let the passengers jump out. |
| C．To let the other train pass. |
| D．To pick up some other passengers. |
What was the cause of the fire？
| A．A heavy rain. |
| B．High temperature. |
| C．Carelessness. |
| D．Fear. |
“Creativity is the key to a brighter future,” say education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children.
If Dick had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as of great importance: a new type of tape. Dick worked for the Minnesota Mining Company. At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to think more about the idea. Finally, using his own time, Dick improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake. Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking about and developing new ideas.
Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a character of high intelligence. The fact that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something.
Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity. With strong attention to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can’t recognize ways to use it in new situation. They may know the rules correctly but they are unable to use them to Work out practical problems.
It is important to give children choices. From the earlier age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it’s choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money. This is because the most important character of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.What did the company where Dick once worked learn from its mistake?
| A．They encouraged people to work a longer time. |
| B．They discouraged people to think freely. |
| C．They asked people to spend all their work time developing new ideas. |
| D．They encouraged people to spend some of their work time considering and improving new ideas. |
Creativity is something __
| A．that people are born with |
| B．that depends on intelligence |
| C．that is a way of using what one has learnt to work out new problems |
| D．that is not important at all |
Why don’t schools try to encourage creativity?
| A．They don’t understand the importance of education. |
| B．They don’t want their students to make mistakes. |
| C．They pay too much attention to exam marks, language and mathematical skills. |
| D．They think it more important to remember some information. |
What should the parents do when their children decide how to spend their money?
| A．Try to help them as much as possible. | B．Take no notice of whatever they do. |
| C．Leave them as they are. | D．Help them if their decision is wrong, but not too much.. |
A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce (确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren’t used to the early hour.
“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent (青春期的) sleep at Brown’s School of Medicine.
Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level. she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns.
Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.
Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at nigh and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice –their bodies are going through a change of sleep patterns.
All of this makes the transfer from middle school to high school—which may start one hour earlier in the morning ---- all the more difficult , Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescent are up against difficulties when it comes to trying to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first bell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.” Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because ________.
| A．it is really tough for parents to enforce bedtime |
| B．it is biologically difficult for students to rise early |
| C．students work so late at night that they can’t get up early |
| D．students are so lazy that they don’t like to go to school early |
The underlined phrase “nod off” most probably means “ _______”.
| A．turn around | B．agree with others | C．fall asleep | D．refuse to work |
What might be a reason for the hard transfer from middle school to high school?
| A．Adolescents depend more on their parents. |
| B．Adolescents have to choose their sleep patterns. |
| C．Adolescents sleep better than they did at childhood. |
| D．Adolescents need more sleep than they used to. |
What is the test mainly about?
| A．Adolescent heath care. | B．Problems in adolescent learning. |
| C．Adolescent sleep difficulties. | D．Changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns. |
Massachusetts (美国一州名) became the first state in the nation to ban the dumping (倾倒;抛弃) of electronic equipment such as computer monitors and television sets. It means people there can no longer put computer monitors, TV sets and other devices containing glass picture tubes out on the street for pickup by garbage cleaners.
Official said much of this equipment is loaded with poisonous heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury. These poisonous heavy metals could go into groundwater or be released (释放) into the air.
The Boston Globe reports the state has set up a system to recycle techno-garbage at state expense through community recycling centers.
Robin Ingenthron of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection said the state has been trying to get its electronics-recycling program in place ‘before the future wave of electronics hits’. The National Safety Council estimates some 300 million computers will enter the nation’s waste system in the next few years.
In addition, millions of people will be getting rid of their old television sets. New high-quality digital televisions and new rules will make old TV sets no longer in use over the next several years. The word ‘techno-garbage’ in the 3rd paragraph probably means ________.
| A．all kinds of dirty things | B．deserted TV sets |
| C．heavy metals | D．used electronic equipment |
The passage tells us chiefly about __________.
| A．forbidding of a certain type of garbage dumping |
| B．new problems of environmental protection |
| C．household problems raised by computers and TV sets |
| D．the handling of garbage |
Which is NOT a reason that the state enforces (强制执行) a ban on electronic equipment dumping?
| A．This kind of garbage is poisonous. |
| B．Recycling systems are not working well. |
| C．The poisonous heavy metals can go to the underground water and the air. |
| D．There will be much more electronic garbage soon. |
According to the last paragraph many people will be dumping their TV sets because ________.
| A．they are broken | B．they are poisonous |
| C．new TV standards have come out | D．people will be tired of them |
Love, success, happiness, family and freedom----how important are these values to you? Here is one interview which explores the fundamental questions in life.
Question: Could you introduce yourself first?
Answer: My name is Misbah, 27 years old. I was born in a war-torn area. Right now I’m a web designer.
Q: What are your great memories?
A: My parents used to take us to hunt birds, climb trees, and play in the fields. For me it was like a holiday because we were going to have fun all day long. Those are my great memories.
Q: Does your childhood mean a lot to you?
A: Yes. As life was very hard, I used to work to help bring money in for the family. I spent my childhood working, with responsibilities beyond my age. However, it taught me to deal with problems all alone. I learnt to be independent.
Q: What changes would you like to make in your life?
A: If I could change something in my life, I’d change it so that my childhood could have taken place in another area. I would have loved to live with my family in freedom. Who cares whether we have much money, or whether we have a beautiful house? It doesn’t matter as long as I can live with my family and we are safe.
Q: How do your get along with your parents?
A: My parents supported me until I came of age. I want to give back what I’ve got. That’s our way. But I am working in another city. My only contact with my parents now is through the phone, but I hate using it. It filters(过滤) out your emotion and leaves your voice only. My deepest feelings should be passed through sight, hearing and touch. In Misbah’s childhood, .
| A．he was free from worry | B．he liked living in the countryside |
| C．he was fond of getting close to nature | D．he often spent holidays with his family |
What did Misbah desire most in his childhood?
| A．A colorful life. | B．A beautiful house. |
| C．Peace and freedom. | D．Money for his family. |
How would Misbah prefer to communicate with his parents?
| A．By chatting on the Internet. | B．By calling them sometimes. |
| C．By paying weekly visits. | D．By writing them letters. |
If there were only one question left, what would it most probably be?
| A．What was your childhood dream? |
| B．What is your biggest achievement? |
| C．What is your parents’ view of you? |
| D．What was your hardest experience in the war? |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号