【推荐1】A child who suffers bullying(霸凌) usually has low self-esteem and their ability to learn and be successful at school is greatly lessened. Therefore, bullying must be stopped.

The best and most obvious way to stop bullying in schools is for parents to change the way they raise their children at home. Of course, this is much easier said than done and everyone raises their children differently. Bullies, however, come from homes where physical punishment is used and children have been taught that physical violence is the way to handle problems and “get their way”. Bullies usually also come from homes where the parents fight a lot, so children have been modeled on such violence. Parental involvement is often lacking in bullies’ lives and there seems to be little warmth.

Early intervention (干预) is truly the best way to stop bullying, but parents of the victims or therapists(治疗师) can’t alter the bully’s home environment. Some things can be done at the school level, however. Most school programs that address bullying apply a multi-faceted(多层面的) method to the problem.

Hand out questionnaires to all students and teachers and discuss if bullying is occurring. Define exactly what constitutes(构成) bullying at school. The questionnaire is a wonderful tool that allows the school to see how widespread bullying is and what forms it is taking. It is a good way to start to solve the problem.

Get the children’s parents involved in a bullying program. If parents of the bullies and the victims are not aware of what is going on at school, then the whole bullying program will not be effective. Stopping bullying in school takes teamwork and concentrated effort on everyone’s part. Bullying also should be discussed during parent-teacher conferences and PTA meetings. Parental awareness is the key.

In the classroom setting, all teachers should work with the students on bullying. Oftentimes even the teacher is being bullied in the classroom and a program should be set up to teach about bullying. Children understand modeling behaviors and role-play and acting out bullying situations is a very effective tool. Have students role-play a bullying situation.

1. In the author’s opinion, bullies usually _____________.

A．have extremely high self-esteem

B．know little of the harm of violence

C．look forward to parental involvement

D．experience or witness violence at home

2. What does the underlined word “alter” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．understand	B．change
C．remove	D．approach

3. Paragraph 5 suggests that it’s important to ______________.

A．make a punishment program effective

B．let parents know their children are bullies

C．find the key to improving security at school

D．make parents conscious of bullying at school

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．How to stop bullying in school.	B．What leads to violence in schools.
C．What parents can do to stop bullying.	D．How to comfort those who are bullied.

【推荐2】Harvard University, which is facing claims of racial discrimination（歧视）against Asian-Americans in its admission process, has announced that its early acceptance rate for Asian-Americans for the Class of 2022 has hit 24.2 percent, up from 21.7 percent a year earlier. The figures were released on Dec 12, 2017 by the school on its official website, the Harvard Gazette.

Of the 6,630 applicants who applied for admission under the early action program, 964 were accepted. The college said 4,882 were deferred（推迟）, 611 were rejected, and 173 applications were incomplete.

The early enrollments（入学）for the Class of 2022 also reflect an overall increase in other nonwhite students from previous years, the famous university said. African- Americans make up 13.9 percent of students admitted early, compared with 12.6 percent last year. At the same time, Latinos（拉丁美洲人）account for 9.8 percent, up 1 percentage point last year, and Native Americans and Native Hawaiians account for 1.8 percent, up from 1.1 percent.

“From small towns, suburbs, and cities—from throughout the United States and around the world—the Class of 2022 promises to be among the best classes in Harvard’s long history,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean（主任）of admissions and financial aid at Harvard University.

Harvard is facing scrutiny from the Department of Justice and a separate lawsuit（诉讼） accusing the college of discriminating against Asian-Americans in its undergraduate admission process.

In November, 2017 the Justice Department cited a 2015 lawsuit that charges Harvard’s, affirmative action policies discriminate against Asian-American applicants, in a letter setting a Dec 1 deadline for Harvard to hand over documents on its admission policies. Responding to that deadline. Harvard offered a compromise position in which the government’s lawyers would be able to examine all the records, including an electronic database, in the offices of Harvard’s lawyers, with some personal information redacted（编写）, according to The New York Times.

Harvard University reported that 16.6 percent of a total 29,652 students are Asian, according to collegefactual.com. Over the past five years, the total international population of students on campus has grown at an average rate of 6.8 percent. China is the largest contributor to this growth, with about 1,263 students.

1. Why is Harvard University charged?

A．Because sometimes it doesn’t treat all students at school equally.

B．Because it does not provide enough financial aid for poor students.

C．Because some people are unsatisfied with it admission policies.

D．Because its total international population of students is decreasing.

2. Which make up the smallest percentage of students admitted early by Harvard?

A．Latinos.

B．Asian-Americans.

C．African-Americans.

D．Native Americans and Native Hawaiians.

3. The possible meaning of the underlined word “scrutiny” in Para.5 is “________.”

A．a plan or desire to do something

B．careful and thorough examination

C．the feeling of being annoyed, upset, or impatient

D．the level that is considered to be acceptable

4. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Harvard admits more Asian-Americans

B．Nonwhite students at Harvard University

C．Harvard announces its future admission policies

D．Class of 2022 is among the best classes in Harvard’s long history

【推荐3】Examining the classroom practices of National Teacher of the Year winners and finalists, the study, by Michigan State University scholars, suggests successful educators aren't afraid to push the boundaries by adding real world, cross-disciplinary（跨学科的）themes into their lessons.

The study is one of the first in depth investigations（调查）of how teachers use creativity in the classroom. "The best teachers are taking their own creative interests—from rap music to cooking to kickboxing—and are finding ways to include these into the curriculum," said Danah Henriksen, lead author of the study. "They're bringing together different subject matters and finding areas of connections so students can learn both in interesting ways."

America's test-driven educational policy, Henriksen argues, has prevented creativity in teaching and learning. Many teachers today struggle to balance testing and responsibility to act flexibly and independently in their classrooms. "I think that there's a lot of fear," one of the award-winning teachers says in the study." And when teachers are teaching in fear, they take few risks, for they have to consider exams and academic performance."

The findings have major meanings for teaching and learning. The study' s main recommendations are as follows: Teachers' unique creative interests should be brought into classroom lessons. Teacher education programs and professional development courses should include a focus on real world. Administrators and policymakers should support opportunities for teachers to take creative risks in their work.

If we want teachers to be creative, we need to provide them with opportunities to bring those outside interests into their professional life," said Mishra, study co-author," The point is to find what works for you. Finally, we teach who we are. That's the most powerful finding."

1. According to the study, what are successful teachers like?

A．They take creative risks to help students learn.

B．They tend to lead students to outdoor activities.

C．They encourage students to take more risks in life.

D．They focus on developing students' academic performance.

2. Many teachers are teaching in fear because           .

A．the students are always troublesome

B．they are afraid to make mistakes in teaching

C．administrators and policymakers don't support them

D．the American educational policy is focused on test

3. What may be the best title for the text?

A．America's test-driven educational system

B．How teachers use creativity in the classroom

C．A great finding: best teachers are creative

D．What are the major meanings for teaching

【推荐1】A company in California, called Zume, is testing machines that make pizza. The robot takes and shapes dough to create the base of the pizza. It then adds tomato sauce, cheese, meat or other toppings. Next, the robot places the uncooked pizza into a hot oven. A few minutes later, the pizza is ready. The pizza comes out the same each time. Zume says the robots work quickly and do not get sick. They do not get paid either.

Julia Collins is the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO). Her business can spend more money on better food products because it does not have to pay the robots. Zume is using robots to make pizza.

Charity Suzuki has bought the robot-made pizza. She likes its taste. “It’s delicious. It’s always hot and fresh when it comes. I mean it’s great that they’re making it, but I can’t tell the difference that it’s made by a robot versus a human.”

Other companies say they are developing robots so people can get higher quality food faster. But what about the jobs the robots are taking from humans?

Ken Goldberg is a professor at the University of California in Berkeley. He also directs the school’s automation laboratory. Goldberg says researchers have been working with robots for 50 years. He says that, while there has been progress, the jobs are not going to disappear right away. “I want to reassure(使放心) restaurant workers that the skills that they have are still going to be of value,” Goldberg says.

“We’re going to get rid of boring, repetitive, dangerous jobs and we’re going to free up people to do things that have higher value. There’s going to be amazing new ways of working that don’t exist yet but are going to be created,” Alex Garden, the chairman of Zume, says.

1. Why can Zume devote more money to better food products?

A．It earns a lot by selling pizza.	B．It wants to create more robots.
C．It can save a lot by using robots.	D．It hopes to attract more customers.

2. What can we know about the robot-made pizza according to Suzuki?

A．It really agrees with her taste.

B．It isn’t hot or fresh all the time.

C．It is tastier than the man-made pizza.

D．It is delicious and free of charge.

3. What’s the benefit of using robots to make pizza?

A．They work efficiently.	B．They help sick people.
C．They need few payments.	D．They produce better pizza.

4. What does Goldberg think of the jobs of restaurant workers?

A．Interesting.

B．Boring.

C．Dangerous.

D．Necessary.

【推荐3】Misery and setbacks are not always as terrible as one imagines. Hard times can offer new ways of looking at life that would otherwise never be known. And, if you are a writer, this can be the source of much of your success.

Popular British author, Charles Dickens’(1812-1870) family could hardly make ends meet (入不敷出). They could only afford to send one of their six children to school.

Dickens was not that child.

His parents chose to send a daughter, who had a talent for music, to an academy. Then at the age of 12, Dickens’ life took another turn for the worse.

His father, a clerk, was placed in prison for unpaid debts. And, being the oldest male left at home, Dickens took up work at a factory. His horrible experience there became the fuel for his future writing.

His father was freed three months later and inherited(继承) a small amount of money. Dickens was then sent to school.

From 1836 to 1837, he wrote a monthly series of stories. Thus the “Pickwick Papers”(《匹克威克外传》), came into being, which brought fame to the 23-year-old man.

Throughout his career, Dickens covers various situations in his novels. He wrote about the miserable lives of the poor in “Oliver Twist”(《雾都孤儿》), the French Revolution in “Tale of Two Cities”, and social reform in “Hard Times” (《艰难时世》). He also wrote “David Copperfield” (《大卫·科波菲尔》), a book thought to be based on his own life.

“I do not write bitterly or angrily: for I know all these things have worked together to make me what I am,” he once said.

His difficult childhood did indeed shape the person he became, as well as his writing career. There are shades of young Dickens in many of his most beloved characters, including David Copperfield and Oliver Twist.

Like the author, all these characters come from poor beginnings and are able to rise above their setbacks and achieve success.

“Minds, like bodies, will often fall into an ill-conditioned state from too much comfort,” he once wrote.

On June 9th, 1870, aged 58, Dickens died, leaving one unfinished work. The words on his tombstone read: “He was a sympathizer(同情者) to the poor, the suffering and the oppressed (受压迫者), and by his death, one of England’s greatest writers is lost to the world.”

1. The book that called public attention to Dickens was ______.

A．the Pickwick Papers	B．Oliver Twist
C．Tale of Two Cities	D．David Copperfield

2. The phrase “shades of” in bold means “_____”.

A．various shapes of	B．situations of
C．different experiences	D．reminders of

3. How did Dickens see his childhood?

A．He felt grateful for it.

B．He felt it a pity that things weren’t in his favor.

C．He loved writing about it.

D．He chose to forget the bitterness about it.

4. From the story, we can see Dickens’ attitude towards an easy life is ______.

A．to enjoy it	B．to hate it
C．not to indulge in(沉湎于) it	D．to work hard for it