【推荐2】Essay is optional and no penalties(处罚) for wrong answers．These changes will take place in SAT college exam．The changes include the use of some words more commonly used in school and on the job instead of the words such as “prevaricator” and “sagacious”.
College Board officials said the change is needed to make the exam better representative of what students study in high school and the skills they need to succeed in college and afterward．The new exam will be rolled out in 2016, so this year’s ninth graders will be the first to take it, in their junior year．The new SAT will continue to test reading, writing and math skills, with an emphasis on analysis．Scoring will return to a 1,600-point scale last used in 2004, with a separate score for the optional essay．For the first time, students will have the option of taking the test on computers.
They also said many students who are terrified they will be tested on lots of SAT words currently can ask for help: practicing with flashcards．They know flashcards are not the best way to build real word knowledge that lasts, but when the SAT rolls around they become the royal road．Students stop reading and start flipping.
The essay will be changed in other ways, too．It will measure students’ ability to analyze and explain how an author builds an argument and it will also be up to colleges whether the essay will be required．Each exam will include a passage drawn from “founding documents”: such as the Declaration of Independence or from discussions they’ve inspired．Instead of testing a wide range of math concepts, the new exam will focus on a few areas, like algebra, thought to be most   needed for college and life afterward．A calculator will be allowed only on certain math questions, instead of on the entire math portion(部分).
Jim Rawlins, the director of admissions at the University of Oregon, said the changes will potentially help the students but it will take a few years to know its influence, after the students go on to college．He said some colleges are still dealing with questions about the changes made in 2005, such as how to consider the essay portion．The criticism of the SAT is that students from wealthier families do better on the exam because they can afford expensive test preparation classes.
The SAT was taken last year by 1.7 million students．It has historically been more popular on the coasts, while the other main standardized college entrance exam, the ACT, dominated the central U.S．The ACT took over the SAT in total use in 2012, partly because it is taken by almost every junior in 13 states as part of those states’ testing scheme(方案).
ACT president Jon Erickson said when hearing of the SAT changes, his reaction was that they could’ve been talking about the ACT now．“I didn’t hear anything new and different, so I was a little left wanting, at least at the end of this first announcement,” Erickson said .
Bob Schaeffer, education director at the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, or FairTest, said it is laudable(值得称道的) that the SAT will provide free test preparation, but it is unlikely to make a dent in the market for such preparation．He also said the new test is unlikely to be better than the current one．His organization has a database with institutions that don't require ACT or SAT scores to make admissions decisions.
1. We can learn from the third paragraph that flashcards_________.

A．will become the only way to test words

B．can help students get ready for SAT words

C．can help students memorize the words forever

D．are the best way for the students to get high scores

2. SAT exams will be less required in 2016 with the purpose of _________.

A．getting more students interested in the entrance exam

B．making it easier for students to be admitted into colleges

C．offering chances for the students to be tested on every subject

D．testing the students better on the knowledge and skills they’ve learnt

3. The change in the 2016’s SAT college entrance exam include the following EXCEPT that _________.

A．students will use calculators if they get stuck in certain math questions

B．some words that are uncommonly used won’t appear in the exam

C．students will be given the chance to take the test on computers

D．students will be tested on a wide range of math concepts

4. According to Jim Rawlins, _________.

A．the changes are mainly aimed at students from the rich family

B．the changes will force students to give up writing essay

C．the changes will probably have some bad influence

D．the changes will be of no benefit to students

5. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the ACT ?

A．It is more popular in the coastal cities.

B．More than 1.7 million students took it last year.

C．Jon Erickson felt worried about the SAT changes.

D．It has been the most popular college entrance exam so far.

【推荐3】My high school life has been filled with many ups and downs, whether it was social or academic. Even though it was not my first choice, I never regretted attending Dragon Up High School. “Since you have chosen it, then it is the best for you,’’ said my parents.

Up until the junior year I did not perform well as a student, even though I had been told that my junior year would be the toughest in all the years of high school. With this “little” piece of information, I walked into my junior year, frightened of my grades. As weeks went by, I started to believe that the junior year was not as hard as everyone had said, but I was wrong. My grades were rapidly declining and by the end of the first term I did a terrible job. I could not believe it. I tried my best to get my grades up myself without any help from anyone, but my pride just made my grades worse. I was heartbroken. I realized that I could not survive my junior year on my own.

Fortunately, my English teacher Rey helped me a lot and gave me much courage and advice. I slowly started to gain my confidence back in all of my classes and even myself. By the time the third and fourth quarter came around, I had been on the honor roll twice, and I was receiving awards from speeches and debates, tennis and school.

Dragon Up has taught me to always keep my head up and never give up on myself no matter what life throws at me. I am proud to be a real dragon.

1. From the first paragraph, we can learn that ______.

A．the writer always thought Dragon Up High School was the best.

B．the writer’s parents persuaded her into attending Dragon Up High School.

C．the writer has met many challenges since she attended high school.

D．life has become easier since the writer came to Dragon Up High School.

2. How did the writer feel when she walked into her junior year?

A．Confident

B．Worried

C．Curious

D．Uninterested.

3. Why was the writer’s study worse and worse?

A．She didn’t work hard enough.	B．She didn’t ask others for help because of pride.
C．She missed her old friends.	D．No one would like to help her.

4. What important lesson has the writer learned at Dragon Up High School?

A．Students should face challenges bravely.	B．Students should be careful in choosing school.
C．Students should be proud of their school.	D．Students should better learn about life.

【推荐1】Mr. Liang worked in a factory. As a driver, he was busy but he was paid much. His wife was an able woman and did all the housework. When he came back, she took good care of him and he never did anything at home. So he had enough time when he had a holiday. A few friends of his liked gambling （赌博） and he learned it soon. So he was interested in it and forgot anything except gambling. He lost all his money and later he began to sell the television, watches and so on. His wife told him not to do it but he didn’t listen to her. She had to tell the police. He and his friends were punished for it. After he came out of lockup （拘留所）, he hated her very much and the woman had to leave him.

It was New Year’s Day. Mr. Liang didn’t go to work. He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again. He called his friends and they came soon. But they were afraid the police would come. He told his five-year-old son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside. They waited for a long time and thought the police would not come and began to gamble. Suddenly opened the door and in came a few policemen.

“I saw there weren’t any policemen outside, Daddy,” said the boy, “so I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”

1. Mr. Liang was paid much because ________.

A．he worked in a factory	B．he was a driver
C．he had a lot of work to do	D．he had worked there for a long time

2. Mrs. Liang did all the housework because ________.

A．she couldn’t find any work

B．she wouldn’t stop her husband gambling

C．her husband spent all the time in gambling

D．she thought her husband was tired

3. The woman had to leave Mr. Liang because ________.

A．he wouldn’t stop gambling	B．he didn’t love her any longer
C．he had been put into lockup	D．he was hardly sent away by the factory

4. Which of the following is true?

A．The boy thought his father needed some policemen.

B．The boy wished his father to be put into lockup again.

C．The boy wished his father to stop gambling soon.

D．The boy wished his mother to come back.

【推荐2】When Stephen Sondheim died on Nov. 26, 2021, at age 91. I didn’t show an inclination to watch his Broadway musicals. Something in me instead wanted to see Al Hirschfeld’s drawings of Sondheim’s shows and characters over the decades.

As a boy growing up in the Boston suburbs in the 1970s, Hirschfeld’s images were my first ticket to Broadway, transported by their publication in The Times’s Arts& Leisure section. And they were also how I formed an early bond with my parents, one that stood over time and even into their years with Alzheimer’s(阿尔茨海默症).

“Oklahoma!” was the first musical my parent took me to, in Boston, when I was six.

Around that time, I asked them why we got The Times when we didn’t live in New York. They said they still considered themselves New Yorkers and they loved Arts& Leisure and Hirschfeld’ s drawings about theater. His drawings were like a lifeline for my parents to New York City over the decades, and they helped open the door for me to Sondheim.

This is how:

I made my way to New York in 1989, as a freshman at N. Y. U. , where I met a dorm mate who looked like Hirschfeld’s drawing of little Red Riding Hood from Sondheim’s “Into that Woods.” Her name was Daniclle Ferland. I told my parents about this Hirschfeld-in-the-flesh excitedly by phonc. Danielle and other friends introduced me to Sondheim’s music which evoke (唤起)my memories of Hirschfeld’s drawings.

As my parents grew older, it was harder to take them to see shows with me. But in my years as the theater reporter at The Times, they would ask what I was seeing in New York and were happy to hear about Angela Lansbury performing in a 2009 revival(重演)of Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.” They remembered her characteristic eyes from Hirschfeld’s drawings.

1. What does the underlined part “an inclination” in paragraph I mean?

A．An ability.	B．A tendency.
C．An opportunity.	D．A responsibility,

2. What do Hirschfeld’s drawings mean to the author?

A．A difficult childhood	B．A chance to work for Broadway,
C．A cure for a disease in her later years.	D．An inseparable life with her parents

3. What introduced the author to Sondheim’s music?

A．Stories publicized in The Times,

B．The musical her parents took her to

C．A course she signed up for at university

D．Recommendations made by her friends

4. What did the author’s parents still remember about “A Little Night Music”?

A．The time of its first staging	B．The excitement it had caused
C．The drawings of its performer	D．The performance on Broadway

【推荐3】In 2000, when I was seven years old, my family and I were coming back from a T-ball game.   In our driveway, we spotted two adult geese and a baby goose. The adults were frightened by our return and flew away, but their baby was still too young to fly. We are no strangers to wildlife, so we avoided physical contact with the baby goose out of fear that it would keep us in its mind and be lost to its family forever.

Hours passed, and night fell. The baby goose needed protection, warmth and food. So we had to do something. We brought him onto our back porch (走廊). My sister called the little guy Peeper, because he would follow us making a peeping noise. We also decided that Peeper was a boy.

A year passed and we became best friends. Peeper slept on our back porch and used it as a restroom. My dad would spray off his droppings daily with a hose (软管). Part of this routine included Dad throwing Peeper up into the air, letting him fly around the house and come back once the porch was clean. One evening, my uncle came over, and my dad wanted to show him Peeper’s flight. He threw him up in the air, but Peeper just flew off. Everyone was sad. Twenty years passed, and Peeper became a fond memory.

Geese live to be around 25 years old and are very loyal, never forgetting their first home. Even so, it shocked me when, in 2019, an old adult goose appeared at my house. After two weeks of the goose coming back repeatedly, I believe this wasn’t a random goose. He did all of the same things Peeper used to and responded to the name Peeper. Much to my amazement, my old best friend had returned, 20 years later.

This experience has been as meaningful to me as anything in my life. I hope that my children,   someday, have the opportunity to connect with nature and a wild being in this same way.

1. Why did the writer’s family avoid physical contact with the baby goose at first?

A．They were worried about its health.

B．They didn’t know what to do with it.

C．They feared being attacked by its parents.

D．They didn’t want it to take them as its family.

2. Why did the writer’s dad throw the goose into the sky every day?

A．To prepare it to fly off some day.

B．To clean it by spraying water.

C．To have it practise flying skills.

D．To show his tricks of training.

3. What made the writer recognize the goose?

A．Its voice.	B．Its appearance.
C．Its age.	D．Its behavior.

4. How does the writer find this experience?

A．Discouraging.	B．Rewarding.
C．Pitiful.	D．Entertaining.