In Woods Chan's class at a High School in California, students chat with each other in Spanish.Arabic(阿拉伯语) and Mam, a Mayan language from Guatemala. The students have only been in the US for a few weeks or months. Many students were from different countries last year. Woods Chan became concerned when she started hearing the Spanish-speaking students laugh when their classmates spoke Mam or Arabic.
Woods Chan came up with an idea. She asked her students to take turns teaching a little bit of their home language each day. Students taught their peers(同伴) how to count from 1 to 10, how to introduce themselves and how to say basic phrases or words like, ""Cool. "Then, they recorded themselves saying those phrases in short videos and wrote vocabulary words on the whiteboard.
Woods Chan saw the difference in her students. She said they grew more confident after seeing their own language on the whiteboard and hearing it in the videos. They started making friends with each other across cultural lines. Other students who were not in that class would come in and see something written in Mam on the whiteboard and say, "Hey, that's Mam! I speak Mam!”
The project also helped students understand their peers better. Orlando, a 17-year-old student from El Salvador, said he never knew Arabic or Mam even existed before he came to the US and heard his classmates talk. Now, he thinks it would be good for all students in his school to learn a little of their peers' home language. "When I first got here,”he said in Spanish, “I thought, ‘No one talks like me. I'm the only one,’ and I felt alone. Now, I don't feel so bad anymore.”
Knowledge of other languages can help Woods Chan's students beyond the classroom, too.Languages like Mam are becoming more and more common in the US. Some Oakland graduates have gone on to become Mam-English interpreters(口译员)to help fill a lack of interpreters in all kinds of settings.
1. What made Woods Chan think of the idea?| A．Her students making fun of another's language |
| B．Her students hardly using their home language. |
| C．Her students being interested in learning a new language. |
| D．Her students having difficulty communicating with each other. |
| A．Angry but accepting. | B．Excited and proud. |
| C．puzzled but supportive. | D．Relaxed and creative. |
| A．It made him feel less alone at school. |
| B．It encouraged him to get a job as an interpreter. |
| C．It helped him understand his home language better. |
| D．It enabled him to work better in foreign language classes. |
| A．School is not the only place to learn. |
| B．All her students are language teachers. |
| C．She responds to her students' needs quickly. |
| D．Language is not a barrier to communication |
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【推荐1】Arthur Phillip High School, located in Parramatta, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, will be NSW’s first public high-rise high school. When it opens, the school will be different from anything else we’ve got across the system.
Students will eat lunch in courtyards overlooking city rooftops, before continuing their lessons in sound-proofed music rooms, science labs or atriums ( 中 庭 ) with eight metre-high ceilings. The specialty rooms, such as science labs, will be on the top floors. There will be large lifts, but students will be encouraged to use the stairs. There will be a gym, a play ground and play space on each floor.
The building will be run more like an office block than a traditional school, with a plant room used for the operation of the sprinklers（洒水装置）, air conditioning and elevator systems. In addition, people will be seen cleaning the windows while students are studying.
“We’re going to have to get kids used to that,” said Sylvia Corish, an executive director of school performance for the NSW Department of Education. “That’s going to be a unique experience.”
“This is a very different concept,” said the chief executive of School Infrastructure NSW, Anthony Manning. “While it has been challenging at times, the end product is going to be really amazing and impressive.”
“I am very surprised and happy to see how creative this learning space will be for students in the Parramatta region for years to come,” Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said.
The Herald visited the new high school, as construction of the ambitious project enters its final phase and students at the original school across the road prepare to begin testing its state-of-the-art facilities. In the next few months, students and teachers will visit the school to help ensure a smooth transition （过渡）. “It will be a matter of testing how people can move around the building,” Mr Manning said.
1. How’s the school in appearance?| A．It looks like an office building. | B．It is like a traditional school. |
| C．It’s surrounded by green plants. | D．It consists of different buildings. |
| A．Amazed and impressed. | B．Surprised and doubtful. |
| C．Delighted and astonished. | D．Happy and satisfied. |
| A．Moving the original school from across the road. |
| B．Getting the students accustomed to the new situation. |
| C．Providing the students with more space for studying. |
| D．Encouraging the students to use the stairs instead of the lift. |
| A．NSW’s First Public High-rise High School |
| B．A New School that Overlook City Roofs |
| C．The Construction and System of a New School |
| D．A Unique Experience for High School Students |
【推荐2】The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.
Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher’s instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job.
But there was a big surprise. Each child received a normal job. But Rita’s job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest. Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger.
One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, “Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rain forest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant.”
That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task, you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks.
1. What does the underlined sentence mean?| A．Each child got an important job. |
| B．Each child got an interesting job. |
| C．The perfect student got the job of everyone’s preference. |
| D．The most responsible student got the job of least interest. |
| A．Negative. | B．Uncertain. |
| C．Totally positive. | D．Acceptive. |
| A．hunter | B．director |
| C．biologist | D．principal |
【推荐3】As I walked into the primary school, I looked down at my new black shoes. I stood at Mrs. Blackstone’s door. Before I tried the great escape, the door opened. “We’ve been waiting for you!” Mrs. Blackstone, my new fifth grade teacher, said loudly. With a smile my mom walked away and I was left standing in the center stage in front of a group of students.
Over the next few days, Mrs. Blackstone made it her job to find me a new best friend. During history lessons, when I didn’t want to speak in front of the class, she’d not only call on me but have me stand up to address my classmates.
One spring afternoon, Mrs. Blackstone asked me to stay after class. “I’d like to speak with you, Amanda.” My mind raced. Had I got a bad grade? Had I hurt anyone’s feelings? “Are you enjoying your new school?” She sat comfortably behind her desk. “I want to tell you something, between you and me, not to be shared with anyone else.” She continued, “I see something special in you. The way you communicate with others, and the kindness you show—I think you have great potential to be something important.” I listened carefully to every word. “I have been a teacher for over twenty-five years; I can see it. But you must believe in yourself. That’s very important. Remember that and you’ll go far,” she said.
Her voice was music to my ears that day. I walked out of her office, not staring at my shoes, but looking straight ahead with my head high. My teacher saw something special in me! Years later, her words still remain inside of me.
1. What does the underlined word “address” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Fight with | B．Speak to | C．Argue with | D．Play with |
| A．nervous | B．embarrassed | C．disappointed | D．unhappy |
| A．To tell the author a secret. | B．To help the author to realize her mistakes. |
| C．To encourage the author to believe in herself. | D．To share her story with the author. |
| A．A Teacher for Every Child | B．An Unforgettable Lesson |
| C．Special Treatment | D．Magical words |
【推荐1】Two men were sitting together in a plane. They were on a long journey. One of the men was a businessman. The other was a farmer. They sat without talking for a while, then the farmer said, “Let’s do something to pass the time.”
“What do you want to do?” the businessman asked, “We can ask each other riddles.” The farmer said, “You start.” “Let’s make the rules first, ”the businessman said, “That’s not fair. You are a businessman with much knowledge. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer.”
“That’s true.” The businessman said. “What do you want we should do?” “If you don’t know the answer to a riddle, you pay me $100. And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $50.”The farmer said. The businessman thought about this, then he said, “OK. That’s fair. Who will go first?”
“I will,” The farmer said. “Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” The business man repeated the riddle, “What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that’s a good one. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer.” He gave the farmer $100,then said，“Tell me the answer. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” “I don’t know.” The farmer said and gave him $50.
1. The story happened .| A．in a company | B．on a farm |
| C．between two passengers | D．before a long plane journey |
| A．A kind of game in doing business. | B．Something to help to make rules. |
| C．Something to win money. | D．A question that is difficult to answer. |
| A．He made much more money than the farmer. | B．He was better at playing riddle games. |
| C．He was interested in making riddles. | D．He thought he knew more than the farmer. |
| A．had a good time on his long journey. | B．didn’t want to pay even one dollar |
| C．won fifty dollars by playing the riddle game. | D．spent all his money on the plane ticket. |
【推荐2】All her life, Carole-Ann Warburton kept a little hope shining at the back of her mind. Her dream was to work in a bookshop.
Warburton has always loved books. As a child, any spare sixpence went on Enid Blyton’s Mary Mouse. Every Saturday morning, she and her parents would “do a gentle shop, then go to the library in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. However many books we got out, we read.” At university in Cambridge, she began to buy books—a habit that, in adult life, resulted in a large collection.
In 2010, she retired after having worked for 40 years in an administrative post. She sold her house, bought a shop and, a few weeks after her 65th birthday, The Book Rest opened. Warburton had 8,000 to 9,000 books with which to fill it. But although she dreamed of working in a bookshop, she hadn’t thought of selling her own books. “That took a bit of psychological talking-to,” she says.
Her first sale was hard. “It feels, when a special book goes out, as if some little part of me has been taken away. And then I make common sense come back to me and say: ‘Let someone else learn from it. ’ It’s a growing up, if you like, an acceptance.”
This year, The Book Rest celebrates its 12th anniversary. While the shop makes neither profit nor loss, it brings other rewards, including friendship. “There are lots of people who stick their head round the door and say: ‘Are you all right, Carole-Ann?’”
If the days are quiet, no matter. “I am so happy standing here in the middle of a pile of books. I can walk around the shop, pick up a book and sit down and read it. I would like to keep doing this until I no longer can. It’s a wonderful feeling. ”
So while Warburton’s dream came true, what about those of others? “All the dreams are in the books,” she says. “They are all there waiting to be picked up.”
1. Why did Warburton open The Book Rest?| A．To kill her retirement time. |
| B．To realize her lifelong dream. |
| C．To celebrate her 65th birthday. |
| D．To exhibit her book collection. |
| A．A bit of loss. |
| B．A growing pain. |
| C．A spiritual relief. |
| D．A sense of achievement. |
| A．Profit and fame. |
| B．Chaos and reflection. |
| C．Friendship and self-enrichment. |
| D．Freedom and open-mindedness. |
| A．Call on people to learn from her. |
| B．Encourage people to read books. |
| C．Persuade people to buy her books. |
| D．Urge people to pursue real dreams. |
Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in northern Italy. Both her parents were well educated.
While Maria was a student, she took great interest in the study of the particular nature of the child's mind. It came to her that small children should have freedom to learn.
Maria became a doctor and a professor at Rome University. In 1907, after working with backward students, she was given a chance to try out her ideas on children. There were sixty children, aged three to six, in the Children's House. The rooms were bright and colorful. Maria let the children make their own choice of what they wanted to do and work with their own speed. They became busy, peaceful and happy.
Maria Montessori was one of the world's great teachers. She traveled in Europe, America and Far East. She thought that true education, providing(提供) for the real needs of the child, would produce wise and happy grown-ups and therefore a peaceful world. Her original way of education has changed our whole idea of what childhood is.
Maria Montessori died in Holland at the age of eighty-two.
1. The short passage is mainly about .
| A．the education of backward students |
| B．the life of Maria Montessori |
| C．the importance of proper education |
| D．a new idea of education |
| A．spread her ideas of teaching |
| B．enjoy her life in real nature |
| C．teach the backward students |
| D．study the situation of education |
| A．She taught them the best way of learning well. |
| B．She taught them by showing them how to do things. |
| C．She let them learn in a very pleasant way. |
| D．She just let them choose the most interesting subjects. |
| A．Maria fully understood the child's mind |
| B．Maria didn't get married |
| C．Maria's own parents were her teachers |
| D．Maria left her homeland in order to study abroad |
【推荐1】New research found that children with positive, early interactions with their care givers - characterized by warmth, responsiveness, and a stimulating home environment -were at reduced risk of childhood obesity.
“A lot of the discussion around childhood obesity and other health risks focuses on identifying and studying the exposure to risk,” said Professor Brandi Rollins. ”We took a strength-based approach in our analysis. We found that a supportive family and environment early in a child’s life may outweigh some of the cumulative (累计的)risk factors that children can face. ”
The study recently appeared in the journal Pediatrics. In the article, Rollins analyzed data from over 1,000 mother-child pairs and found that children’s early exposures to family psychosocial assets (有价值的 事物)- including a quality home environment, emotional warmth from the mother, and a child’s ability to self-regulate - reduced the risk of developing childhood obesity.
“Research on parenting has shown that these types of family assets influence children’s behavior, academic success, career, and-not surprisingly - health,” Rollins said. “It’s inspiring to know that, by providing a loving, safe environment, we can reduce the risk that children will develop obesity.”
This work is based on research in parenting and child development. Responsive parenting, one of the family assets measured in the study, involves responding to children in a timely, sensitive, and age-appropriate manner based on the child’s presenting needs. This study focused on childhood obesity, but the researchers said that parents may improve many outcomes for their children by learning responsive-parenting skills. Knowledge of responsive-parenting skills, however, may not lead directly to implementing those skills in the home.
“No one can read a pamphlet (小册子) about cars and suddenly expect to drive,” said Rollins. “Driving is a skill that requires education and practice. The same is true of responsive parenting. Public health professionals, clinicians, and researchers must collaborate to help families develop psychosocial assets, including responsive parenting and a structured home environment. This could improve childhood obesity rates and other important quality-of-life outcomes,” she continued.
1. What was the focus of the new research?| A．The potential psychosocial causes of childhood obesity. |
| B．Contributing factors to children’s reduced risk of obesity. |
| C．The link between childhood obesity and other health risks. |
| D．The harmful impacts of obesity on kids’ psychosocial health. |
| A．living in a loving home environment | B．leading a high quality life |
| C．good at expressing their emotions | D．having a balanced diet |
| A．To show reading instructions isn’t a good way to learn driving. |
| B．To indicate not everyone can acquire driving skills without training. |
| C．To illustrate responsive-parenting skills require education and practice. |
| D．To stress it’s necessary to learn knowledge of responsive-parenting skills. |
| A．Kids’ early exposures to family psychosocial assets are hard to measure. |
| B．Kids’ academic success largely depends on family psychosocial assets. |
| C．Responsive parenting is the most important family psychosocial asset. |
| D．Developing psychosocial assets is a joint effort of experts and families. |
【推荐2】I’m not the kind of mother who normally brushes her daughter’s hair, and my daughter has never liked sitting there, waiting for me to do it.
But today, I’ve sat my daughter Sally on a kitchen seat. She’s sitting high with her eyes closed, skin still wet from the shower, and her long hair behind her back. I realize she is enjoying the moment. It’s the last time for a week that our bodies will connect. Today, I’m sending Sally away for a week of summer camp. This was all my idea. She’s nearly 12, and I noticed that I’m with my child nearly 24 hours a day.
Living on a farm without any neighbors, I’ve chosen a life that is quieter than a normal family’s. But rather than expecting space away from me, Sally has become increasingly dependent. What frightens me most is that she has become a “mini-me”, even has the same hobbies, dreams, and opinions as me. That’s why I pulled her to the summer camp: a nearby wilderness(荒野) camp called Hawk Circle.
After eating, I drive Sally to Hawk Circle. Once there, we are introduced to her fellow campers. Sally stands by them, holding my hand, horror in her eyes, trying to work up the courage to join a game of soccer. “I need you for a few more minutes,” she tells me. I pull her away to walk to one of the camp’s workers. “Excuse me,” I say loudly, “I’d like to introduce you to my daughter. Maybe you could help her meet a few of these kids.” He comes over to talk to Sally, and then I disappear before she realizes it.
It is a hard time for me to drive back. When I arrive home, I calm down and remind myself why I chose this way. I want Sally to have a chance to find herself. I want to learn who she is. If I don’t set her free, I fear I’ll never really meet her real personality.
1. Why did the writer send her daughter to the summer camp?| A．Her daughter wanted to go to the summer camp. |
| B．It was helpful for her daughter to make friends. |
| C．She wanted to help build her daughter’s independence. |
| D．Camp training was something common to her daughter. |
| A．fear | B．doubt | C．hate | D．pity |
| A．She was worried about her daughter’s health. |
| B．She was proud that she had done something right. |
| C．She was sorry and regretted sending her daughter away. |
| D．She was upset but knew she had made the right decision. |
| A．children are usually mirrors of parents |
| B．children always expect space from parents |
| C．parents sometimes need to let their children go |
| D．parents should often send children to summer camps |
A study revealed that we spend about 218 minutes procrastinating every day, which amounts to 55 days of lost time each year. We might not think these figures particularly worthy of worry, but when we look at the overall impact of procrastination on our lives,
So why do we do it? “When we avoid taking action, we’re really avoiding pain,” explains psychiatrist (精神病学家) Phil Stutz. For most of us, pain avoidance isn’t limited to one situation. It applies to almost anything that’s painful. Most of us try our best never to leave a comfort zone. That’s why we sacrifice something much more valuable: time. “Our time on earth is limited,” Stutz adds. “Every moment is an opportunity we’ll never have again. Procrastinators act as if they have all the time in the world. But deep down, they know they’re wasting parts of their life. The trouble is, most of them don’t know how to free themselves.”
One way he says we can reach this level of freedom is by overcoming the pain of avoidance using daily visualization (想象). “Picture the pain you’re avoiding as a black cloud in front of you,” Stutz says. “Notice how you’re fed up with the ways this pain has held you back in life, and tell yourself that you’re determined to conquer it. Then it’s time to get through the cloud and to the other side — where you’re free.” It is obvious that this tool works when we want to procrastinate. We then get into the habit of moving “towards” pain instead of away from it.
In addition to the fact that procrastinators suffer more health problems, procrastination also destroysteamwork and personal relationships because it shifts the burden of responsibilities onto others. So next time you think about putting something off, remember the impact it will have. Experts insist: procrastinators can change their behavior, it takes a lot of self-work but in the end, it’s worth the effort. And start today, not tomorrow.
1. The writer begins the passage by ________.
| A．presenting abnormal things |
| B．asking related questions |
| C．mentioning habitual activities |
| D．comparing different opinions |
| A．leads to different results for different persons |
| B．is likely to have bad effects on people’s life |
| C．may not be particularly worthy of concern |
| D．tends to cause unhappiness among people |
| A．get accustomed to taking action |
| B．prefer to stay in the comfort zone |
| C．don’t know how to free themselves |
| D．are not aware of the limited time |
| A．overcome it mentally |
| B．avoid the pain |
| C．take some self-work |
| D．reach the freedom |
| A．To analyze the trouble procrastination causes. |
| B．To show what contributes to procrastination. |
| C．To solve the problems caused by procrastination. |
| D．To encourage people to defeat procrastination. |
