According to a survey, in Washington, DC, only 69 percent of public school students graduate from high school on time. Many factors influence that low rate. One of the most important ones is whether the people around the students expect them to succeed.
So, for the past 40 years,a DC organization has stepped in to give around 10,000 students the support and positive environment they need to thrive. This organization, called Higher Achievement, provides students with a welcoming space, help with class work, and caring teachers. More than 95 percent of students who complete Higher Achievement graduate from high school on time.
Katherine Roboff is the group's executive director in the DC area. She gives several reasons for the group’s success. One is timing. Higher Achievement does not work with students who are already in high school. It works with students in middle school. They start High Achievement at fifth or sixth grade-in the US, that is usually age 11 or 12.
Robolf says research shows that if students are doing well academically in eighth grade---around age 13---they will have a greater chance of graduating from high school and going to college. In other words, what happens in middle school has a huge effect.The years between ages 10 and 13 may affect a student's future more than anything that happens academically in high school.
Roboff explains that students participate in Higher Achievement after school and during the summer,when public schools take a break of about two months.High Achievement students do homework, have community meetings, and work one-on-one with a mentor(导师).
The purpose of the programme is to help them use those after school and summer hours to become better prepared academically and to develop their leadership skills and confidence so that by the time they get into eighth grade they are ready to get into some of the top high school.”
1. What can we infer from the second paragraph?A.Higher Achievement works with college students. |
B.Many students have doubts about the organization. |
C.Higher Achievement has spread throughout the Us. |
D.Higher Achievement has helped many high school students. |
A.they are certain to go to college |
B.they are to succeed when they grow up |
C.they are more likely to finish high school on time |
D.they don't need any help in their studies |
A.become naughty | B.improve themselves |
C.earn more money | D.help others |
A.public schools never offer positive environment |
B.Higher Achievement only helps the students in the eighth grade |
C.how Higher Achievement helps those students |
D.Higher Achievement only helps those who have good skills. |
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【推荐1】The curb cut (下斜路缘) is a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder — in more ways than one. Pushing a baby stroller (婴儿推车) onto the curb, skateboarding onto a sidewalk or taking a full grocery cart from the sidewalk to your car — all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.
But it was created with a different purpose in mind.
It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps (斜坡) to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb “might as well have been Mount Everest”. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps to help people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.
I think about the “curb cut effect” a lot when working on issues around health equity (公平). The first time I even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by PolicyLink CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equity “as a zero-sum game.” Basically, there is “a prejudice that intentionally supporting one group hurts another.” What the curb cut effect shows, Blackwell said, is that “when society creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, everyone wins.”
There are multiple examples of this principle at work. For example, investing in policies that create more living-wage jobs or increase the availability of affordable housing certainly benefits people in communities that have limited options. But the action also provides those people with opportunities for better health and the moans to become contributing members of society — and those benefits everyone. Even the football huddle (围成一团以秘密商讨) was initially created to help deaf football players at Gallaudet College keep their game plans secret from opponents who could have read their sign language. Today, it’s used by every team to prevent the opponent from learning about game-winning strategies.
So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk, think about how much the curb cut, the design that benefits one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but all of us.
1. By “might as well have been Mount Everest” (paragraph 3), the disability rights leader implies that a six-inch curb may become ______.A.as famous as the world’s highest mountain | B.an almost impassable barrier |
C.a connection between people | D.a most unforgettable matter |
A.it’s fair to give the disadvantaged more help than others |
B.it’s impossible to have everyone be treated equally |
C.it’s necessary to go all out to help the disabled |
D.it’s not worthwhile to promote health equity |
A.Reading machines for blind people helped build the navigation system in the car. |
B.The four great inventions of ancient China spread to the west. |
C.Your reaching out to the disadvantaged contributes to more people doing it. |
D.A butterfly flapping its wings in one country leads to a Tornado in another country. |
A.Everyday items are originally invented for people with disabilities. |
B.Everyone in a society should pursue what is in his or her interest. |
C.A disability rights leader changed the life of his fellow men. |
D.Caring for disadvantaged groups may finally benefit all. |
【推荐2】Psychological science is full of interesting topics, many of which tell a coherent picture of human nature, but some of which create seemingly contradictory stories. A case in point is the tricky, and misunderstood, overlap between strength-based science and the research on narcissism (自恋).
There is now convincing evidence to show that narcissism is on the rise, especially in our youth. Some researchers have gone so far as to say that it is occurring in epidemic proportions, with about 25% of young people showing symptoms of narcissism. The inflated ego of Generation Me is reflected in reality TV, celebrity worship, out-of-control consumerism and materialism…perhaps even a new type of president.
We are correct to be concerned about this phenomenon but our fear that all kids are potential narcissists has caused an unhelpful counter-reaction to approaches that seek to make our children and teens feel good about themselves.
In my own research on strength-based parenting it is common for people to wrongly label this approach as a recipe for narcissism. Their argument seems to be that a child who knows their strengths will automatically view themselves as better than everyone else. It is argued that the self-assurance that comes with identifying and using their positive qualities will make a child arrogant, selfish and uncaring. Genuine confidence about one's strengths is categorized as over-confidence; desirable self-knowledge is branded as excessive self-admiration.
Why does this occur? It's partly because more is known about narcissism than strengths. While strengths psychology has largely stayed within the limit of academic journals or has been applied only within certain contexts such as the workplace, research on narcissism has made its way into the mass media and into our collective consciousness. The New York Times noted that narcissism is a favored "go-to" topic and that people everywhere are diagnosing others with it.
The fear that a strength-based approach will cause narcissism also occurs because we unknowingly fall prey to binary (非此即彼) thinking. We mistakenly believe that one cannot be both confident and humble. We focus on Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian rather than Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. There's no way that Gandhi and Mother Teresa could have achieved what they did without confidence in their strengths, and yet they are both pillars of modesty and selflessness.
When we assume that strength-focus is the same as a self-focus, We fail to entertain the idea that people who know their strengths are, actually, more likely to be pro-social and focus on helping others.
It's tempting to conclude that every young person is at risk of becoming a narcissist but I'd like to stand up for the thousands of young kids I have worked with who are caring, thoughtful and humble — even when they use their strengths.
1. Why teenagers' strengths are often mistaken for narcissism?A.Strengths psychology is less accessible to the general public. |
B.Academic journals and mass media report more on narcissism. |
C.There is a lack of strengths in our collective consciousness. |
D.Numbers of people are diagnosed with narcissism by doctors. |
A.they are both victims of binary thinking |
B.one can be both modest and sure of himself |
C.confidence is quite important for celebrities |
D.public figures unknowingly fall prey to narcissism |
A.Skeptical. |
B.Favorable. |
C.Neutral. |
D.Cautious. |
A.Teens' Strength Psychology |
B.Teens' Narcissism Diagnosis |
C.Teen's Anxiety and Depression |
D.Teens' Confidence Misunderstood |
【推荐3】Computing power of quantum (量子) machines is now still very low. Increasing it is still proving to be a major challenge. Physicists now present a new architecture for a universal (广泛适用的) quantum computer that overcomes such limitations and could be the basis of the next generation of quantum computers soon.
Quantum bits (qubits) (量子比特) in a quantum computer serve as a computing unit and memory at the same time. Because quantum information cannot be copied, it cannot be stored in a memory as in a classical computer. Due to this limitation, all qubits in a quantum computer must be able to interact (相互影响) with each other. This is now still a major challenge for building powerful quantum computers. In 2015, theoretical physicist Wolfgang Lechner, together with his team, solved this difficulty and suggested a new architecture for a quantum computer.
“This architecture was originally designed for making problems best. In the process, we reduced the architecture to a minimum,” recalls Lechner. “It means that not all qubits have to interact with each other anymore.” With his team, he has now found that this parity (奇偶) concept is also suitable for a universal quantum computer.
Parity computers can perform operations between two or more qubits on a single qubit. “Existing quantum computers already perform such operations very well on a small scale,” Michael Fellner from Lechner’s team explains. “However, as the number of qubits increases, it becomes more and more complex to perform these gate operations.” Scientists now show that parity computers can perform quantum Fourier transformations with significantly fewer computation steps and thus more quickly.
The new concept also offers hardware-efficient error correction. Because quantum systems are very sensitive to disturbances, quantum computers must correct errors continuously. Significant resources must be devoted to protecting quantum information, which greatly increases the number of qubits required. “Our model operates with a two-stage error correction. One type of error is prevented by the hardware used,” says Anette Messinger from Lechner’s team, “the other type of error can be detected and corrected via the software. This would allow a next generation of universal quantum computers to be realized with manageable effort.”
1. What is the powerful quantum computers’ big challenge?A.Error correction. | B.Computing speed. |
C.Number of Qubits. | D.Quantum interactions. |
A.Qubits interaction. | B.Small architecture. |
C.Simplified operations. | D.Multi-stage error correction. |
A.By using quoting. | B.By listing examples. |
C.By describing processes. | D.By making comparisons. |
A.Later Architecture of Universal Computers | B.Creative Parity Idea and Related Computers |
C.New Form of Universal Quantum Computers | D.Combination Between the Qubits and Computing |
【推荐1】Does Chinese philosophy influence your parenting? It is the question I am most often asked. Chinese philosophy contains many lessons that are useful, accessible and timely when applied to the challenges of parenting. Confucianism and Daoism suggest ways to guide your children toward meaning and fulfilment rather than wealth and fame.
Parenting is tough, especially because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Different kids need different things. How do we stay focused on what matters most? How do we navigate difficult times with our kids and support them when they struggle? All of us want our children to be successful, partly because we love them and want them to be happy. But it is easy to mistake “success” with certain kinds of academic or athletic achievements.
Of course, one can define success in this way. But ancient Chinese philosophers believed that real success is not measured by fame, money or power. A successful life is one in which a person flourishes: they are happy, fulfilled, and they find meaning in what they do and who they are. This type of fulfilment comes from loving and being loved by others within the context of meaningful, lasting relationships; giving generously of what you have to others; caring for and having a genuine love of nature; and shouldering your responsibility.
Most of us know that having an Ivy League degree and a high-paying job is not going to make our children happy and fulfilled in life. Yet we worry about how they will find things they love to do and that they are good at. Philosophers from the two most influential ancient Chinese traditions — Confucianism and Daoism — talk more about human flourishing, virtue, happiness and fulfilment than about “success”.
Chinese philosophers argued that we genuinely flourish — are happiest and most fulfilled — when we develop these virtues. This can never be measured in terms such as earning power, entering famous schools or getting jobs. Instead, it is measured in how we treat people — how one loves and is loved by one’s family and friends — and in what one does to make the world a kinder, gentler, more humane and beautiful place. They encourage us to help our children learn more about the world around them.
The Confucians and Daoists were a little like yin and yang: Confucians have a lot of active, hands-on ways to help children grow, such as participating in traditions, while the Daoists recommend simpler activities, such as exploring the beauty of nature. Their diverse views on living a good life are precisely what makes Chinese philosophy such a great resource for parents.
Parenting is messy. It is not simple or straightforward but complex and difficult. There are no magic solutions that make things easy or smooth. Most of us will need to piece together different approaches in order to find something that works well and feels right in different situations, for different children, and at different times in a child’s life.
1. According to the author, parenting is challenging because________.A.Parents don’t know what success refers to |
B.Children don’t believe in Chinese philosophy |
C.There are many theories of parenting to choose |
D.One can’t find a standard approach to suit every child |
A.People who flourish can feel successful because they live a meaningful life. |
B.Only when people make contribution to society can they feel successful. |
C.A successful life can be measured by reputation and wealth. |
D.Success just means one should be friendly to nature. |
A.Confucians think graduating from famous university can make children intelligent and fulfilled. |
B.Daoists are more influential than Confucians because of their simpler activities. |
C.Confucians and Daoists together can provide parents abundant resources. |
D.It is enough for parents to just learn Chinese Philosophy well. |
A.Critical . | B.Objective. |
C.Indifferent. | D.Suspicious. |
Good Taste of Knowledge
The aim of education or culture is merely the development of good taste in knowledge and good form in conduct. The cultured man or the ideal educated man is not necessarily one who is well-read or learned, but one who likes and dislikes the right things. To know what to love and what to hate is to have taste in knowledge.
Nothing is more annoying than to meet a person at a party whose mind is crammed (填塞) full with historical dates and figures and who is extremely well-posted on current international affairs, but whose attitudes or points of view are all wrong. I have met such people. They do have great academic knowledge, but no good judgment or taste. Being knowledgeable is a mere matter of the cramming of facts or information while having good taste is a matter of artistic judgment. In speaking of a scholar, the Chinese generally distinguish between their scholarship (学术成就), conduct and taste..
An educated man, therefore, is one who has the right loves and hatreds. This we call taste, and with taste comes charm. Now, to have taste requires a capacity for thinking things through to the bottom, the independence of judgment, and the unwillingness to be affected by any form of power.
When a man is wrong, he is wrong, and there is no need for one to be impressed by a great name or by the number of books that he has read and we haven't.
Taste, then. is closely associated with courage. as the Chinese always associated dan (“胆”) with shi (“识”) And courage or independence of judgment, as we know, is such a rare virtue among humankind. We see this intellectual courage or independence during the childhood of all thinkers and writers who in later life amount to anything. Such a person refuses to be impressed by a philosophic vogue or a fashionable theory, even though it is backed by the greatest name. this is taste in knowledge.
No doubt such intellectual courage or independence of judgment requires a certain childish. nave confidence in oneself, but this self is the only thing that one can cling to. and the moment a student gives up-his right of personal judgment, he is m for accepting all the dishonest and insincere of life.
1. According to the author, what is the goal of education?2. Why is a well-read man not necessarily an educated one?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement: Intellectual courage or independence of judgment builds confidence in oneself; then underline it and explain why Intellectual courage or independence of judgment builds confidence in oneself.
4. Please name one person with the qualities of dan and shi in Chinese history and explain what about this person makes you think so. (In about 40 words)
Chelsea is not alone. In a recent survey by Kids Health£.org, more than 70% of kids aged 9 to 13 said they worry about tests. It’s no wonder. Across the United States, public schools give more than 250 million standardized tests each year.
Why do kids have to take so many tests? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law requires that students in grades 3 through 8 be tested each year. The law’s goal is for all students to be at grade level by 2014. Students must pass the tests and meet other requirements or their schools may be shut down.
The U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wants to change NCLB. But that doesn’t mean he favors getting rid of tests. Duncan believes tests should be used mainly to evaluate kids’ strengths and weaknesses. Tests, Duncan says, should not be used to punish kids or their schools for failure.“The goal is to focus on great teaching and learning,”Duncan said.
Under NCLB, each state sets its own standards for students to meet. The result, Duncan says, is that states are making the tests easier. To fix this problem, 48 states are now working together to create common standards. “I want to set a high bar for kids, ” Duncan says, “so they’ll be in great shape to achieve their dreams.”
Like them or not, tests are here to stay. So how can you handle test nerves? Schools are teaching students to relax through deep breathing and stretching (伸展运动) . In Oakland, California, Principal Zarina Ahmad of Piedmont Avenue Elementary leads her students in a cheer to get them excited about learning.
“Kids are under high pressure,”says Ahmad. “There has to be time for kids to be kids. Still, we need tests to help us assess what students have yet to learn.”
1. The underlined part “the butterflies in my stomach” can be replaced by .
A.nervous | B.guilty | C.exciting | D.proud |
A.is focusing on teaching methods in schools |
B.is requiring schools to make the tests more difficult |
C.is trying to make schools be responsible for students |
D.aims to evaluate kids’ strengths and weaknesses by means of tests |
A.it’s possible to get rid of tests |
B.schools have no good way to deal with students' stress |
C.tests help assess what students have to learn |
D.schools are aware of students’ stress caused by tests |
A.Why kids are more stressed than before? |
B.Kids’ tips for test success |
C.How to deal with test stress |
D.Put kids to the standardized test |