【推荐1】

American schools begin in September after the long summer holidays．

There are two terms in a school year, the first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June．Most American children go to public schools．

High school students study only four or five subjects at a time．They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have an assignment (课外作业) for every class．After class they have many activities．

After high school，many students go to college．They can go to a small one or a large one. They usually have to pay a lot of money for college education．But there are scholarships．(奖学金) for good students，and many college students work part time in order to get money for their education．

1. How long do American students study in school every, year?

A．8 months

B．9 months

C．10 months

D．11 months

2.         can get scholarships．

A．Many college students

B．All the students

C．Good high school students

D．Good college students

3. Many college students work part time because        ．

A．they have many activities

B．they have a lot of free time

C．they like doing things

D．they have to pay a lot of money for their education

4. According to the passage，which sentence is NOT true?

A．American schools have long summer holidays．

B．There are two terms in the USA．

C．American students don’t do exercises after class．

D．They do part time job to get money to pay for their education．

【推荐2】Zhong Kaitong, a fourth-grader from Guangzhou, enjoyed a fun vacation this summer. Instead of attending English or math training courses, she played badminton and basketball most of the time.

A new guideline introduced by central government on July 24 helped Zhong enjoy some free time during the summer. In order to cut down on the schoolwork pressure on primary and junior high school students, the guideline calls for cutting down on homework, improving the quality of education and regulating after-class activities, Xinhua reported.

According to the guideline, children below the third grade will not have homework anymore. It should take no more than 90 minutes for junior high school students to finish their homework.

After-school training institutions (机构) are not allowed to offer overseas education courses or advanced teaching. No subject-based training will be allowed on weekends, national holidays or during winter and summer vacations.

More than 75 percent of children in Chinese cities from grades 1 to 12 are taking private tutoring (家教) courses, Global Times reported.

“Parents are worried that if their children start behind, they will stay behind. Some training institutions have made use of parents’ worries to make money,” said Chen Xianzhe, a professor at South China Normal University. “The guideline is meant to calm the worries of parents and society as a whole.”

“But this does not mean the tutoring courses will completely disappear, since exams still exist (存在),” said Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences. One-on-one or one-on-two tutoring might see a rise because of this need.

“Therefore, schools should improve their education quality, take the main responsibility for students’ education and not push them into tutoring courses,” Chu added.

1. The purpose of the new guideline is to ________.

A．make vacations longer for students.

B．cut down on the pressure put on teachers

C．cut down on students’ schoolwork pressure

2. Which of the following matches the guideline?

A．All tutoring institutions are asked to close.

B．Homework is not allowed for primary students.

C．Junior high schools should cut down on their homework.

3. According to the guideline, students CANNOT take ________ courses in after-school training institutions during vacations.

A．sports

B．math

C．computer programming

4. What is Chen Xianzhe’s attitude toward the guideline?

A．He supports the guideline.

B．He thinks the guideline is useless.

C．He is against the guideline.

5. Chu Zhaohui might agree that ________.

A．the guideline will end in failure

B．schools should be responsible for students’ education

C．education will become even more unfair

【推荐3】You eat to stay fit and keep your body working, right? Then reading is food for your mind and soul. Reading informs you of what’s happening around. Reading encourages you to think and imagine, think out of the box and imagine the impossible.

In the past, people just read books, only books. Today, we have books online, which makes reading easy. The web, our new storehouse of information is just a click away. But this in no way has stolen the magic of reading books ,the sound of their pages’ flutter（翻页） and their smell…….You can lie in bed with a book, but with a computer you possibly can’t. No matter how you read, reading is important.

Remember those bedtime stories? We read fun facts about animals, plants and the universe. We ask“whys” and “hows”. In books, we find their answers. Children who are introduced to reading at an early age are seen to have a better understanding of phonics (语音学). They master language skills easily, have a richer vocabulary and have greater reading abilities. Children, who grow up reading good books, mostly stand out. The way they think and act is very different from those who have never been introduced to reading. Reading not only adds to their knowledge but also shapes their personalities. Reading has a great influence on one’s life. Teenagers are easily influenced by whatever they read. If inspirational stories and life experiences are read in one’s teens, they can change a person for the better. They stay with him and keep encouraging him to achieve his goals and choose the right against the wrong.

The more you read, the more creative and imaginative you will become. Reading develops vocabulary(词汇), improves language skills and sharpens your problem-solving abilities. It leads to a better understanding of self. Reading gives you knowledge, it makes you more confident. The more you read about others’ lives and experiences, a better decision-maker you will become. Reading about the importance of reading should lead you to read more, and more, and more. So choose a book you like and don’t stop reading until you reach the end. And even after that read as much as you can.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．Teenagers should think and act differently from others.

B．Parents should tell their children stories every day.

C．Children should start reading at a young age.

D．Students should find answers to their questions in books.

2. In Paragraph 2 , the writer wants to tell us that ______.

A．reading online can’t take the place of reading paper books

B．reading paper books is less interesting than reading online

C．reading paper books is no longer a pleasure to people

D．reading online can’t be difficult for people

3. What can we infer(推断) from the passage?

A．No people read paper books now.	B．What children should learn first is phonics.
C．What children read may affect their future.	D．More practice makes reading easier.

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．What should teenagers read?	B．Why is reading important?
C．How is reading ability improved?	D．When should children start reading?

【推荐1】Frederick M. Hess is the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, which is a nonprofit organization that conducts(进行) research on many public issues. He says that a long summer vacation doesn’t make sense(有意义) in today’s world.

Can American students afford to take a summer vacation? In a summer vacation, millions of kids spend valuable time sending messages, watching TV, playing video games and doing shopping in the mall. They will also be putting their academic(学术性的) futures in danger.

Summer vacation once made sense in the past when you didn’t need an education to get a good job. But now things have changed. For today’s students, academic skills are important to students’ future success, but such skills are affected in the summertime. Many nations don’t give kids an American-style summer vacation. They offer no more than seven continuous weeks of vacation. Most American school districts offer up to thirteen weeks. To compete(竞争) in the global marketplace, Americans must be prepared to go up against international competitors. 

Summer vacation also causes challenges for today’s families. In the 1960s, more than 60% of families had a stay-at-home Mom. Now, two-thirds of American children live in households where every adult works. For these families, summer vacation can be more burdensome(难以承担的) than break. Someone must watch the kids.

But the biggest problem may be how summer vacation hurts academic achievement. Researchers have found that disadvantaged students lose significant ground in the summertime.

A longer school year does not have to be an invitation to hard boring work. Instead, it should allow teachers to have more time to organize richer and more imaginative lessons. Schools would have more time to devote to athletics, languages, music and the arts.

Summer vacation can be a very good thing. But in the 21st century, it may also be outdated.

1. What’s Frederick M. Hess’s opinion about summer holiday?

A．A long summer vacation is just a waste of time nowadays.

B．A long summer vacation is very common all over the world.

C．A long summer vacation doesn’t make sense in today’s world.

D．A long summer vacation is good for both children and parents.

2. In a summer vacation, millions of American students do the following things EXCEPT _____.

A．sending messages	B．watching TV
C．playing video games	D．helping parents

3. How long do most American students have for their summer vacation?

A．Less than two months.	B．Up to thirteen weeks.
C．No more than seven weeks.	D．About one month or more.

4. Why can summer vacation be more burdensome than break for some families?

A．Because these family members need time to organize some meaningful activities for kids.

B．Because these families need their children to work instead of having the summer vacation.

C．Because these family members are too busy with their work to look after the kids at home.

D．Because these families cannot afford the children’s education during the summer vacation.

5. What should a longer school year lead to?

A．More boring work for teachers.	B．More burden for parents with jobs.
C．More imaginative lessons for students.	D．More colourful activities for teachers.

【推荐2】There is an old Spanish saying," Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.’’       1    I'd say," Too many.” Our dreams should not, and cannot wait. We have to go for them now! Here are the reasons.

Tomorrow is not promised. Nobody likes to talk about death, but the reality（现实）is that everybody is going to die at one point. None of us know the day, or the hour. So today is all we have,    2    Unless you take the first step, your dreams will never come true.

Take action to realize your dreams. You can dream about writing a great play, but it's never going to happen unless you actually put your pen to paper.    3    They require you to get your head out of the clouds, and actually do the work to make them come true. Get to it!

You can't let fear win. One of the biggest dream killers is fear.    4    Just think about all the things you've wanted to do. Don't allow fear to convince（说服）you that you aren't good enough. In the movie after earth, Will Smith said, “Fear is not real. It is the product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice.’’ Choose not to let fear stop you from achieving your dreams.

    5     Imagine how much happier you'll be if you're living the life you always dreamed about. The only thing that can stop you is yourself. Take control of your own happiness. Don't keep your dreams waiting. Go for them today!

A．You'll be much happier if you go for them.

B．However, tomorrow never ends.

C．Let's make the decision to go for every dream, big or small, right now.

D．How many times have we put off our dreams until tomorrow?

E．In other words, dreams won't work unless you do.

F．So many people could have achieved their dreams if they hadn't been afraid.

G．You should study hard at school.