Music died here last spring，or rather，it was killed by members of the school committee who ignored the importance of music and drama as part of the high school curriculum.
The committee decide that teaching students how to take a standardized test is more important than a curriculum in which students can explore their interests in the arts.Because the school system is running out of funding，it needs to make sure that students pass the test or even more money will be lost.If students fail the state standardized test，it is not the fault of drama and music classes.They are failing because the“academic”classes are in deficiency in a way.
It is painful to think of how many students will be discouraged from singing，acting，and playing instruments because school programs are no longer offered.Many families cannot afford private music lessons，and many potential musicians and artists may not find their callings if they are not exposed to the arts in school.The fact that the school committee thinks the arts are not worth the investment will certainly make some students believe the arts are not worth their time or support and the cycle will continue.
Teaching for a test does not shape students into well rounded people.It blocks the natural sense to create and express feelings through the arts—there is more to life than the analytical thinking that math and English provide.What happens after a test？Sure，a student might graduate，but they will have limited knowledge—certainly not a good preparation for the real world.
1. Music and drama are removed from the high school curriculum in that________.| A．some students fail the state standardized test |
| B．fewer and fewer students love to attend them |
| C．the school curriculum has been changed |
| D．the school is afraid of losing financial support |
| A．Not enough. | B．Too many. |
| C．Too boring. | D．Not proper. |
| A．motivate students in creativity and expression |
| B．make students roundshaped people in future |
| C．provide students with careful thinking |
| D．prevent students from graduating from high school |
| A．Humorously. | B．Bitterly. |
| C．Excitedly. | D．Mildly. |
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【推荐1】In a recent interview, Lisa Feldman Barett, Professor of Psychology at Northeaster University, offered some advice to older people to help them keep their cognitive skills as finely tuned as possible.
Challenge yourself on a regular basis, she urged, but don’t just do so casually. Study any new topic hard, until you feel tired and frustrated. This level of effort, she added, is associated with increases in the ease of communication within the brain and, as a result, cognitive skills will be improved.
Her advice is based on a study of “superagers”, individuals of 65 years or older, whose cognitive skills are as acute as the average 25-year-olds. Lisa believes that what sets superagers apart is their ability to use the unpleasant feelings they experience when challenging themselves as a signal to keep going, rather than as a warning to stop and rest.
While she provides convincing data to prove how cognitively young these superagers are, I’m not sure her conclusion about why this is so gives the whole picture.
Are superagers simply those who ignore, or even welcome, the pain and frustration that comes with intense mental effort? Or is there some other reason why they spend so much time and effort challenging themselves?
This is important, because if the only way to maintain youthful cognitive skill is to expose ourselves regularly to pain and frustration, it doesn’t make old age look particularly inviting.
Contrary to her opinion, I think “enjoyable” is the key. If what you’re doing is enjoyable, you’re more likely to keep working hard at it—probably without even noticing any discomfort.
Making yourself work until you’re exhausted and frustrated holds it little appeal. On the other hand, finding an activity you love so much that you don’t even notice when you’re pushing yourself hard seems a far more attractive way to keep your brain active as you grow older.
1. What does Lisa advise older people to do?| A．Work on in spite of feeling bored. | B．Push themselves hard in new fields. |
| C．Relax by communicating with others. | D．Do whatever they like casually. |
| A．They can respond to warnings in time. | B．They have the ability to adjust flexibly. |
| C．They use their unpleasant feelings as driving force. | D．They can make use of disadvantages in work. |
| A．The data that the study provides. |
| B．The conclusion that “superagers” are acute. |
| C．The idea that cognitive skills can be improved. |
| D．The reason for “superagers” keeping brains active. |
| A．Unpleasant feelings do harm to people. |
| B．Cognitive skills improve slowly with age. |
| C．Enjoyable work makes people ignore discomfort. |
| D．Doing appealing work makes people look young. |
【推荐2】Let’s face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games. And it’s driving their parents nuts.
Sure, there are real dangers connected with all this screen time—everything from cyberbullying (网络欺凌) to couch-potato obesity. Not to mention driving while texting, and shortened attention spans(持续时间).
Douglas Gentile, who studies the effects of media on children, says texting, Facebook and video games are not naturally bad. Nor are they naturally better or worse than watching TV, although they do lead to different risks, such as cyberbullying.
But research has shown that the more time kids spend in front of screens—whether it’s TV or instant-messaging—the worse their school performances are.“That doesn’t mean it’s true for every kid, but it makes sense, that for every hour a kid is playing video games, it’s an hour that they’re not doing homework or reading or exploring or creating,” he said. If screen time is taking the place of doing their homework, that’s bad. But if their homework is done, well, so what?
The study also found that the more time kids spend with media, the lower their grades and levels of personal satisfaction are. Gentile said the influence of screen time on school work can be reduced by what he calls “protective factors”. Those might include good teachers and a high-performing school, love of reading, coming from a family where education is valued.“If you had all these protective factors, then that one little risk factor, who cares?”
One thing parents should worry about is the way electronic devices encourage multitasking (多任务处理).
“As adults, your response speeds up, you’re quicker to look over your shoulder and notice little noises or lights. However this is not what the kids need when they get to the classroom. Scanning to see when the next message comes may not be good for kids. The more distractions (分心的事物) you have, the worse your performance is.” Getting kids to turn off their phones, iPods in order to let them concentrate (集中) on homework is a fight worth having.
1. What statement may Gentile agree to?| A．Kids get bad marks when using Facebook. |
| B．TV or texting affects kids equally. |
| C．Kids prefer video games to books. |
| D．Watching TV is better than playing video games. |
| A．love for reading | B．valuing education |
| C．screen time | D．good teachers |
| A．kids can give quick answer to questions if texting |
| B．Multitasks aren’t really good for every kid |
| C．electric devices increase the attention of kids |
| D．kids perform well if doing many tasks together |
| A．Are kids suffering cyber bullying on Facebook? |
| B．Are texting and Facebook worse for teens than TV? |
| C．Are kids willing to turn off their electric devices? |
| D．Are texting causing kids to lose interest in reading? |
【推荐3】Not much happens in the sleepy village of Colaton Raleigh, where almost half of the residents are retired, so local walkers were horrified when they discovered 100 ancient beech trees were cut down.
Residents in the east Devon community are saddened by the loss of the beloved trees, which were cut down by a government agency without consulting the community or council. They were located in a special conservation area and site of special scientific interest, and were home to lots of local plants and animals.
An application was made by a local landowner to the Forestry Commission, a branch of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It would not comment on individual cases, but said all decisions were taken in line with its standards. Alan Pearce, a local tree manager, said, “It certainly ought to be a fairly wide consultation because it’s part of our heritage. Once they’re gone you’re talking about 200 years to regrow. The stumps (树桩) look, nearly all of them, perfectly sound and solid. I can’t see they can say they were diseased or dying. We’re meant to be planting trees, not felling (砍) them.”
He said people were “absolutely horrified”, with one walker in tears over the felling, which he suggested may have been taken to improve grassland in the nearby field.
Resident Fiona Carroll said, “Many people walk in this area as it is part of a large expanse of heathland and they are at a loss as to why this has been allowed to happen. These were valuable landscape and wildlife trees situated along an extensive ancient Devon bank. The roots had grown into large supporting structures giving many a distinctive look.”
Ewan Macdonald, a research fellow at the University of Oxford, who studies how people engage with the environment, said he was not surprised the felling had caused such an emotional reaction because of the way people connected with trees. He said, “It highlights how intrinsically (内在地) bound up things like trees, the environment and conservation are with our culture.”
1. What happened in Colaton Raleigh?| A．Half of its residents retired from their jobs. |
| B．A government agency felled 100 ancient beech trees. |
| C．The Forestry Commission made an application to cut down trees. |
| D．The felling of the trees was done to improve their living conditions. |
| A．The trees were cut down because of disease. |
| B．The local council didn’t approve of the application. |
| C．The local residents are eager to protect the environment. |
| D．The trees were cut down without consulting local villagers. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Opposed. | C．Indifferent. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Protecting trees is protecting our culture. |
| B．The felling of trees doesn’t cause emotional reactions. |
| C．The environment, conservation, and trees are closely linked to our culture. |
| D．People’s engagement with the environment has no influence on their emotions. |
【推荐1】A customer stands on the other side of the counter at my work, eyeing the menu. “The food here is so caloric,” she complains, and then looks at me. “You don’t eat here, do you? It certainly doesn’t look like it.” My face turned red.
I’m not quite used to how others see me. Since June 2018, I’ve lost almost 50 pounds. When I made the choice to change my body physically, everyone around me told me that I would be happier: Skinny meant pretty, and pretty meant happy and satisfied. After looking through dozens of before-and-after changes on Instagram and other social media, I was more eager to make myself smaller, to better fit into the world. But none of that happened. I didn’t feel more whole, or more peaceful. More than anything, I felt lied to.
Human health is unbelievably complex, and there’s so much more to our well-being than caloric balance. For several months, I often felt very tired and got angry easily, convinced that my body was a machine and I had to hard-wire it to look as physically perfect as possible. But at the end of the day, I realized that saying no to my body’s natural desire only left me feeling upset.
Our world is filled with losing weight. Nearly every time I listen to the radio, I hear some ads criticizing empty promises of giving you a better body, achieved only by this gym membership/ this prepackaged Keto shake/ this waist trainer. These all live by the same message: That food is dangerous, and the less we eat, the better off we are. In extreme cases, this message can lead to eating disorders, which will affect over 30 million people in their lifetimes, according to the Body Image Therapy Center.
These ideas could not be further from the truth. We eat food for a reason: It gives us energy, it keeps our body functioning, and it makes us human. I urge everybody to adopt a diet based on sustainability (可持续发展), to eat for energy, based on what makes us happy. We all deserve healthy relationships with food and mindful eating is the best place to start.
1. How did the author feel when hearing the customer’s words?| A．Quite proud. |
| B．A bit angry. |
| C．Rather guilty. |
| D．A little embarrassed. |
| A．She was laughed at by others. |
| B．She got encouragement from her family. |
| C．She was attracted by pictures on the Internet. |
| D．She got tired easily when being overweight. |
| A．It made her disbelieve others. |
| B．It did harm to her well-being. |
| C．It helped lift her confidence a bit. |
| D．It taught her about determination. |
| A．They are far from creative. |
| B．They hurt human’s relationships with food. |
| C．They cause many people to do too much exercise. |
| D．They mislead some youths into having wrong ideas of beauty. |
【推荐2】The attitude of the wolf can be summed up simply:It is a constant dream of success. The collective wisdom of wolves has been progressively programmed into their genetic make-up throughout the centuries. Wolves have mastered the technique of focusing their energies on the activities that will lead to the achievement of their goals.
Wolves do not aimlessly run around their intended victims. They have a strategic (战略上的) plan and perform it through constant communication. When the moment of truth arrives, each understands his role and understands exactly what the pack (狼群) expects of him.
The wolf does not depend on luck. The teamwork and training of the pack determines whether the pack lives or dies.
There is a silly idea in some organizations that everyone, to be a valuable member, must want to be the leader. This is personified by the CEO who says he only hires people who say they want to take his job. Clearly，this is supposed to make sure that the person has ambition, courage, honesty and drive. In reality, it sends warnings of competition throughout the organization rather than signals of cooperation, teamwork and loyalty.
Everyone does not struggle to be the leader in the wolf pack. Some are best hunters or caregivers or jokesters, but each seems to gravitate (被吸引) to the role he does best. This is not to say there are not challenges to authority, position or status—there are. But each wolf’s role begins coming from playtime as a pup and refines himself through the rest of his years. The wolf’s attitude is always based upon the question, “What is best for the pack?” This is in contrary to us humans, who will often damage our organizations, families or businesses, if we do not get what we want.
Because of training, preparation, planning, communication and a preference for action, the wolf’s expectation is always to be victorious. While in actuality this is true only 10 percent of the time or less, the wolf’s attitude is always that success will come—and it does.
1. What does the underlined phrase “the moment of truth” refer to?| A．The time when wolves have a rest. |
| B．The time when wolves compete with each other. |
| C．The time when wolves catch their intended victims. |
| D．The time when wolves share their food. |
| A．knows how to work together with others |
| B．competes with other members fiercely |
| C．is ready to act all by himself |
| D．leaves his group if failing to get what he wants |
| A．Have a desire to be the leader. |
| B．Find where he plays a role best. |
| C．Avoid challenging authority. |
| D．Think of what is best for himself. |
| A．Types of Wolves | B．Cruelty of Wolves |
| C．Wisdom of Wolves | D．Choice of Wolves |
【推荐3】It’s generally believed that a useful method to be successful is to copy the success of other persons’.
If you can’t copy someone else’s success, then how can you learn from other people? Well, one thing you can do is learn from their attitudes towards their life and work.
| A．So you must believe in yourself and be yourself. |
| B．Also you should recognize the limitations of your heroes. |
| C．The big problem of copying success directly is that it generally can’t be done. |
| D．Find someone who inspires you and who has achieved the things you want to achieve. |
| E．Meanwhile, limit your own creative thoughts and your own ideas. |
| F．Knowing where others have made mistakes prevents you from making similar mistakes. |
| G．Model yourself on other successful people and you’re sure to be successful, right? |
【推荐1】The definition of community has evolved (升华)for me from childhood to the young adult I am now. My mom was born in America but both her parents were from the Bahamas. It was their culture to take care of the elderly and the sick. And my mom has taught me to be caring to those around us because we're all a part of the "community" , an extension of family.
When I was 9 years old, my family moved to Cape Coral, Florida. Both mom and dad worked full-time, so they registered me to attend an after-school program at the Youth Center. Youth counselors (辅导员) would help me with my homework and play games with me and this was where my interest took root. Community service started with me giving back at the Youth Center.
Then illness struck at home. My grandmother had to have heart surgery and needed hospital treatment. This experience brought me to volunteer at Cape Coral Hospital. I asked if I could learn from the nurse how to give my grandma her medicine and it started here.
I loved being at Cape Coral Hospital. I would bring paperwork to other doctors, bring food to the patients, and make sure the patients were attended. I would help direct visitors to see patients. I would always tell what would cheer the patients up because I had built a relationship with them and their loved ones. I grew to feel the hospital was a part of my community.
After volunteering at the Youth Center and at the Hospital, I've learned that people become sort of an extended family when you care about them. Now I am more considerate of those close to me, neighbors and even strangers who share my resources.
1. Who might be the first to expose the author to the sense of community?| A．Counselors at the Youth Center. |
| B．Nurses at Cape Coral Hospital. |
| C．Her grandparents. |
| D．Her mother. |
| A．They were too busy to take care of her. |
| B．They wanted her to do community service. |
| C．The author couldn't finish her homework on her own. |
| D．Becoming a counselor was the author's childhood dream. |
| A．Cheer the patients up. |
| B．Bring food to the patients. |
| C．Help direct visitors to see patients. |
| D．Serve medicine to her grandmother. |
| A．I Love Volunteering | B．Community Is Family |
| C．My Volunteer Experiences | D．My Community and My Family |
【推荐2】Jack Horner is co-author of the book How to Build a Dinosaur. However, he is most famous for his role as consultant(顾问) on all four Jurassic Park films, including the new film Jurassic World.
The original film Jurassic Park tells the story of a theme park where dinosaurs live. In that movie, scientists used DNA collected by ancient mosquitoes that had been trapped in amber shortly after they drank dinosaur blood. The scientists used this dinosaur DNA to create baby dinosaurs. The scientists in Jurassic Park created various types of dinosaurs, but in the real world there is one big problem with the story. It turns out that DNA could not possibly survive the 65 million years since the death of the dinosaurs.
The new movie creates the Indominus Rex. This idea of creating a hybrid species is something Horner has explored before. In 2011, he gave a speech in which he discussed producing a dinosaur by working with the genes of a bird. Modern birds are the closest living relative of dinosaurs.
The concept of using the genes of different animals to create new animals is called transgenic science. And this type of science has already produced some interesting results — goats that produce spider silk in their milk, cows that produce proteins for medicines that can treat diseases, and a pig that produces less-polluting waste thanks to a bit of mouse DNA. However, none of these examples are close to the dinosaurs in Jurassic World. And for a good reason — genetics is a very complex science. Producing a new species is not as simple as just exchanging a few genes around.
In the end, Jurassic World is all about fun.
1. What do we know from Paragraph 2?| A．A theme park is built to protect dinosaurs. |
| B．Mosquito DNA is used to create dinosaurs. |
| C．DNA can be well kept for millions of years. |
| D．Creation of dinosaurs in the film isn’t scientific. |
| A．A modern bird. | B．A goat producing silk. |
| C．A hybrid dinosaur. | D．A cow producing protein. |
| A．Jurassic World proves a big success. | B．Many extinct species will be brought back. |
| C．Hybridizing dinosaurs is no easy job. | D．Transgenic science proves a complete failure. |
| A．He has starred in Jurassic World. |
| B．He has explored a lot about dinosaurs. |
| C．He has directed four Jurassic Park films. |
| D．He has written How to Build a Dinosaur alone. |
【推荐3】A wild baby bison (野牛) at Yellowstone National Park had to be killed because of tourists.
The tourists thought that the baby bison looked cold. They put it in their car and drove to a park ranger (管理员) station.
A ranger described the action of the tourists as a “dangerous move” because adult bisons can look after their babies very well and they will attack to protect their young.
Park rangers took the animal from the car and set it free. But, sadly, the baby was refused by its family because it had the smell from humans.
Yellowstone National Park explained on Facebook that the smell from people can cause parent animals to refuse to accept their young. The park tried again and again to make the baby bison lives with its parents. After several times they had to give up.
Many people expressed anger at both the tourists and the park.
The park said that they did not have the ability to care for a young bison. They also said that it is “not the task of the park to save animals”.
The tourists were fined (罚款) $110 for touching park wildlife. Park rules say that visitors to Yellowstone should stay at least 22 meters away from all wildlife, and at least 90 meters away from bears and wolves.
One ranger said that Yellowstone recently added many safety signs that say staying near the wildlife there is dangerous to humans and animals as well. Those signs are written in English and other languages.
1. The tourists took the baby bison to a park ranger station because they thought it looked ______.| A．sad | B．hungry | C．happy | D．cold |
| A．the tourists drove in a wrong way |
| B．adult bisons would attack the tourists |
| C．adult bisons couldn’t look after their baby well |
| D．the tourists would make the baby bison sick |
| A．The park refused to send the baby bison back. |
| B．The visitors saved the baby bison. |
| C．Many people are angry at the bison family. |
| D．The smell from humans may bring trouble to bisons. |
【推荐1】Ya Ting had taken me under her wing after hearing me speaking Chinese in a hotel in Lijiang．She had been hitchhiking(搭便车旅行) around China for months．She invited me to travel with her, which was how we ended up on the side of the road looking for a ride to the Tiger Leaping Gorge．Within 20 minutes, we had our first ride．The driver couldn’t take us all the way and ended up dropping us at a freeway crossroads．As a new hitchhiker, I thought that would be the end of our luck, but almost immediately we got another ride．
Our most unforgettable ride was when a twenty－something kid picked us up．He couldn’t take us the whole way so his uncle bought us lunch and a bus ticket for the rest of the journey．He felt it was his duty to help us find a way to complete our trip．It brought tears of joy and thankfulness to my eyes．This was the first time I understood how guests are respected(受尊重) in China．
A few weeks later, we said goodbye．I thought we had been so lucky because we had been a local(本地人) and a foreigner travelling together．But now Ya Ting was no longer around to do the talking, nor did I have someone to depend on if something went wrong．When I stood by a highway in Sichuan, I knew all about the difficulties before me．Now I was just a strange foreigner on her own who suddenly had to manage with poor Chinese．
After about 30 minutes, a couple picked me up and took me the whole eight hours to Chengdu．We ate lunch on the way, and they refused to allow me to pay for any of it, which I had come to learn was typical(特有的) of Chinese culture．This made me believe that people weren’t being friendly because of Ya Ting．
1. What do the author and Ya Ting have in common?| A．They both are foreigners． | B．They both live in Lijiang． |
| C．They both are hitchhikers． | D．They both speak Chinese well． |
| A．It was rather tiring． | B．It was very smooth． |
| C．It was full of danger． | D．It was heart－breaking． |
| A．She lost her way． | B．She had little money left． |
| C．She was unable to find her friend． | D．She was a lone foreign traveler in China． |
| A．They dropped her halfway． | B．They lent her some money． |
| C．They offered her a free lunch． | D．They taught her about Chinese culture． |
【推荐2】From childhood, Moira loved to write. Throughout school she enjoyed writing, but pursuing it professionally was never a possibility. Her father was a doctor, her mother a nurse. “Medicine was a fairly safe choice,” Moira says, “and writing was a career where it wasn't a certainty that you'd have high income.”
She became a doctor but still wanted to write something. However, being a doctor was so demanding that she didn't take up writing until her thirties. She produced a novel—a fictionalized version of her travel in China after university. She got excellent reviews. Moira sent it off to as many agents as she could find, and found one who wanted to represent her. Suddenly, it seemed she was on her way as an author.
“I had one lengthy phone call with the agent where we went through all possible areas that she thought needed polishing. I worked on those and sent it back to her but didn't hear anything.” It wasn't long before Moira found another agent who was interested if she was willing to rewrite it from the first person to the third person. She did the hard work and sent it off again. “I got back a really brief letter: ‘Thank you, I'm no longer interested.’ It was really disappointing.”
A decade went by, and Moira found herself eager to write again, this time purely for her own enjoyment. She set herself the challenge of creating a thriller and chose Western Australia as her setting.
As she was writing just for herself, something surprising began to happen. “The characters took on a life of their own; they started doing things I hadn't thought about. It just flew.” One day, an agent called from Australia. Three weeks later, Moira had a publication deal. Her novel, Cicada, was published in March.
“Even if it hadn't been published I still gained so much from the process,” says Moira.
1. Which of the following choices will bring Moira a promising future?| A．Medicine. | B．Writing. | C．Traveling. | D．Reviewing. |
| A．avoid | B．begin | C．accept | D．occupy |
| A．She chose writing as her career although medicine seemed to be more promising. |
| B．She wrote again ten years later because she was lack of money. |
| C．She became a real success the moment she finished her travel diary. |
| D．She polished her first novel several times, but it wasn’t published. |
| A．Moira’s Love for Writing | B．How to be a Writer |
| C．Moira’s First Novel | D．A Passion for Traveling |
Gregory began his life as a sculptor．But he often felt that his sculptures, which just stood in rich people’s houses for years, lacked a meaningful purpose．So in 201l he decided to put his artistic energies into creating homes to sell—not ordinary homes but small structures built entirely from recycled materials.
The thought of creating homes for the homeless didn’t occur to him until the year 2013, when a homeless couple asked him for a tarp(防水布)．Instead of a tarp, Gregory offered them something better: a small home with a water tank, a kitchen and a trap for waste．They were so grateful that Gregory decided to focus his efforts on helping house the homeless population in his city．And soon his “Homeless Homes Project” was started.
Before starting a new home, Gregory, goes hunting for materials by digging through dustbins．Everything he finds is usable—refrigerator doors become house doors; washing machine doors often serve as windows, and the tops of cars become strong roofs．He put wheels at the bottom for users to move their homes around easily．Each home takes two to three days to make．
So far Gregory has donated dozens of homes to the city’s most needy．While his small low-cost mobile homes are not the final solution to the problem of homelessness, they are really practical and do provide a warm and safe place for the homeless to stay in．They are simply a way for one man to do something nice for those in need of some help.
Gregory has written a book titled Homeless Architecture, where he explains techniques to build those homes and he is now working on weekend workshops．“A lot of people who hear about what I’m doing want to get involved,” he said． “Maybe we can meet someplace and put a couple of homes together.”
1. Why did Gregory turn from making sculptures to creating homes?
| A．He had no home to live in． |
| B．He had to make more money. |
| C．He lost interest in sculpture. |
| D．He wanted to help the homeless. |
| A．Gregory’s small homes were popular among the homeless |
| B．how Gregory got the idea of “Homeless Homes Project” |
| C．the homeless couple asked Gregory to produce more homes |
| D．housing the homeless in a city was not an easy task |
| A．Gregory has great trouble hunting for materials for his small houses． |
| B．It takes Gregory a long time to produce a home． |
| C．Gregory’s work requires imagination and creativity |
| D．Everything in the dustbins will be used in Gregory’s work． |
| A．Gregory’s project will help more homeless people. |
| B．Gregory doesn’t need to make small homes now． |
| C．Gregory’s work will completely solve the homelessness problem． |
| D．A single person can make no difference to social problems． |
