1 . In an effort to keep a little poetry in my life long after National Poetry Month passed, I decide to read at least one poem a day after scanning the newspaper over breakfast. Thanks to the free online poetry-in-your-inbox services, it’s been an easy resolution（解决办法）to keep.
Poem-a-Day was started during National Poetry Month in 2016, and it focuses on new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.
Ted Kooser offers a similar service through his American Life in Poetry Series, though it’s a weekly, rather than a daily. Kooser briefly introduces each week’s poem, offering a little bit of information about the selection, the writer, and books where readers can turn to if they want more work from the featured poet.
Reading at least one poem a day has been like an intellectual vitamin, giving me a small dose（剂量）of literature even on busy days when I can’t get to the novels and non-fiction on my desk beside the bed. Another benefit has been connecting with a lot of talented poets I wouldn’t otherwise know about. Poetry being what it is, even the best talents in the style can work in relative obscurity（朦胧）. Maybe the biggest benefit of reading a poem every morning has been the chance to see the familiar in new ways.
Last April, I wondered if I could remind myself to read a poem each morning. Now, deep in summer, I wonder if I could ever do without it.
What is Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry Series about?| A．A daily online newspaper. |
| B．A weekly for publishing poems. |
| C．A free online service for reading lovers. |
| D．A social online platform for poem lovers. |
2 . 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, published online in the journal Teachers College Record, is one of the first in depth investigations 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 impeded creativity in teaching and learning. Many teachers today struggle to balance high-stakes（高风险）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 implications（含意）for teaching and learning. Teachers’ unique creative interests should be brought into classroom lessons, along with arts and music across varied academic content. Teacher education programs and professiona1 development courses should include a focus on real world. Administrators and policymakers should support opportunities for teachers to take creative and intellectua1 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 and MSU professor of educational psychology and educational technology. “The point is to find what works for you, what is your passion and interest and how can you put that into what your students are learning. Finally, we teach who we are. That’s the most powerful finding.”
According to the study, what are successful teachers like?| A．They can creatively help students learn about the real world. |
| B．They concentrate on developing students’ academic performance. |
| C．They encourage students to take more risks in life. |
| D．They tend to lead students to outdoor activities. |
3 . Brown bears have stopped eating salmon（鲑鱼）in favor of elderberries after being forced to make a choice due to climate change. Warming temperatures mean that the berries are ripening earlier than usual, at exactly the same time as the freshwater streams on Alaska’s Kodiak Island are over flowing with salmon.
The island’s brown bears typically feed first on salmon in early summer, followed by elderberries later in the season, in late August and September.
“What you have is a scrambling of the schedule,” said William Deacy, a biologist at Oregon State University that studied the phenomenon.
“It’s essentially like if breakfast and lunch were served at the same time and then there is nothing to eat until dinner. You have to choose between breakfast and lunch because you can only eat so much at a time.”
The study found that during the unusually warm summer of 2014, the bears, which would traditionally kill up to 75 percent of the salmon, were nowhere to be seen near the streams. Instead, they were in the hills busy munching on berries, which contain less protein and therefore take less energy to break down, causing them to gain weight more quickly.
Biologists warned that changes caused by a warming planet were behind the bears’ unusual behavior and could affect the entire ecosystem.
The researchers found that the forests around the streams suffered because the bears’ fish carcasses（残骸）were no longer there to enrich the soil.
“Bears switched from eating salmon to elderberries, disturbing an ecological link that typically fertilizes the ecosystems and generates high death rates for salmon,” the study said. On average, red elderberries are said to be ripening two and a half days earlier every decade. If the pattern continues, they will regularly overlap（重叠）with the salmon by 2070.
1. Brown bears have begun to favor ________ because of the climate change.| A．salmon |
| B．elderberries |
| C．warm temperatures |
| D．fresh water |
| A．brown bears may become bigger and bigger |
| B．there will be a higher death rate for the salmon |
| C．red elderberries will probably be ripening in summer |
| D．the changes of bears’ behavior could affect the entire ecosystem |
4 . In an effort to keep a little poetry in my life long after National Poetry Month passed, I decide to read at least one poem a day after scanning the newspaper over breakfast. Thanks to the free online poetry-in-your-inbox services, it’s been an easy resolution（解决办法）to keep.
Poem-a-Day was started during National Poetry Month in 2016, and it focuses on new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.
Ted Kooser offers a similar service through his American Life in Poetry Series, though it’s a weekly, rather than a daily. Kooser briefly introduces each week’s poem, offering a little bit of information about the selection, the writer, and books where readers can turn to if they want more work from the featured poet.
Reading at least one poem a day has been like an intellectual vitamin, giving me a small dose（剂量）of literature even on busy days when I can’t get to the novels and non-fiction on my desk beside the bed. Another benefit has been connecting with a lot of talented poets I wouldn’t otherwise know about. Poetry being what it is, even the best talents in the style can work in relative obscurity（朦胧）. Maybe the biggest benefit of reading a poem every morning has been the chance to see the familiar in new ways.
Last April, I wondered if I could remind myself to read a poem each morning. Now, deep in summer, I wonder if I could ever do without it.
The author intends to read a poem every morning by means of ________.| A．scanning the newspaper over breakfast |
| B．the free online poetry-in-your-inbox services |
| C．starting Poem-a-Day during National Poetry Month |
| D．focusing on new poems and contemporary poets on weekdays |
Li Daiyu and her cousin Liu Qian went to Canada to visit their cousins in Halifax on the Atlantic coast. Rather than travel by commercial airline all the way, they decided to fly to Vancouver and then take the train. For both of them, the thought of crossing the whole country by rail was exciting.
Before starting out, they spent a couple of days in Vancouver, seeing the sights. During their first day, as is typical of Vancouver, it rained. Despite the weather, they were able to take a boat ride out into the bay, and later visit an island that had wonderful shops selling crafts and antiques. The next day was clear and mild, and they were pleased to see the beautiful mountains looking out over the city. Later, they took a pleasant hike in a forest just a short distance away.
The next morning, the two girls arose early to take the train to Lake Louise, passing through the Canadian Rockies. Seen from the train window, the mountains and forests of Canada looked massive. When the train arrived at the station, they took a taxi to Lake Louise, where the blue water literally took their breath away with its exceptional beauty. They spent the night, and then took a coach bound north through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper. Looking at the beautiful scenery, they both agreed that it was the most awesome journey they had ever taken. In addition to seeing spectacular mountain peaksand forests, one highlight of their trip was being able to see many different creatures, including deer, mountain goats, and even a grizzly bear and an eagle.
From Jasper, they caught the train towards Toronto. One of the train’s first stops was in Edmonton, the provincial capital of Alberta, the centre of Canada’s huge oil and gas drilling industry. Edmonton is freezing cold in winter, with daily temperatures averaging -10˚C. Since it
can be too cold to go outdoors, Edmonton is home to many shopping malls. In fact, one of thelargest shopping malls in North America is in Edmonton.
From Edmonton, the train headed southeast across the great Canadian Prairie. At school, Daiyu and Liu Qian had learnt that Canada’s population is only slightly over thirty-seven million. However, they did not anticipate seeing such an open country, and were truly amazed. They went through two wheat-growing provinces, where they saw a bunch of farms that covered a very large area.
After another day on the train, eventually they were back in an urban area, the city of Winnipeg. From there, they travelled through the night, and woke up in Ontario—a land of forests and lakes. The train thundered on, through the rolling hills. The bushes and maple trees outside their windows were red, gold, and orange, and there was frost on the ground, confirming that autumn had arrived in Canada. Night came again, and the train turned south towards Toronto. When they woke up the next morning and pulled back the curtains, they could see the wide stretch of Lake Huron—one of the four Great Lakes on Ontario’s southern border. It was not until 9:30 a.m. that they finally reached the capital of Ontario, Toronto. All in all, their trip from Vancouver to Toronto had taken a duration of four days.
6 . While famous foreign architects are invited to lead the designs of landmark buildings in China such as the new CCTV tower and the National Center for the Performing Arts, many excellent Chinese architects are making great efforts to take the center stage.
Their efforts have been proven fruitful. Wang Shu, a 49-year-old Chinese architect, won the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize — which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize in architecture — on February 28. He is the first Chinese citizen to win this award.
Wang serves as head of the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art (CAA). His office is located at the Xiangshan campus (校园) of the university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Many buildings on the campus are his original creations.
The style of the campus is quite different from that of most Chinese universities. Many visitors were amazed by the complex architectural space and abundant building types. The curves (曲线) of the buildings perfectly match the rise and fall of hills, forming a unique view.
Wang collected more than 7 million abandoned bricks of different ages. He asked the workers to use traditional techniques to make the bricks into walls, roofs and corridors. This creation attracted a lot of attention thanks to its mixture of modern and traditional Chinese elements (元素).
Wang’s works show a deep understanding of modern architecture and a good knowledge of traditions. Through such a balance, he had created a new type of Chinese architecture, said Tadao Ando, the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize.
Wang believes traditions should not be sealed in glass boxes at museums. "That is only evidence that traditions once existed," he said.
"Many Chinese people have a misunderstanding of traditions. They think tradition means old things from the past. In fact, tradition also refers to the things that have been developing and that are still being created, " he said.
"Today, many Chinese people are learning Western styles and theories rather than focusing on Chinese traditions. Many people tend to talk about traditions without knowing what they really are, " said Wang.
The study of traditions should be combined with practice. Otherwise, the recreation of traditions would be artificial and empty, he said.
1. Wang’s winning of the prize means that Chinese architects are ___________.| A．following the latest world trend |
| B．getting international recognition |
| C．working harder than ever before |
| D．relying on foreign architects |
| A．Spread them to the world. |
| B．Preserve them at museums. |
| C．Teach them in universities. |
| D．Recreate them in practice. |
7 . As cultural symbols go, the American car is quite young. The Model T Ford was built at the Piquette Plant in Michigan a century ago, with the first rolling off the assembly line (装配线) on September 27, 1908. Only eleven cars were produced the next month. But eventually Henry Ford would build fifteen million of them.
Modern America was born on the road, behind a wheel. The car shaped some of the most lasting aspects of American culture: the roadside diner, the billboard, the motel, even the hamburger. For most of the last century, the car represented what it meant to be American—going forward at high speed to find new worlds. The road novel, the road movie, these are the most typical American ideas, born of abundant petrol, cheap cars and a never-ending interstate highway system, the largest public works project in history.
In 1928 Herbert Hoover imagined an America with “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” Since then, this society has moved onward, never looking back, as the car transformed America from a farm-based society into an industrial
The cars that drove the American Dream have helped to create a global ecological disaster. In America the demand for oil has grown by 22 percent since 1990.
The problems of excessive (过度的) energy consumption, climate change and population growth have been described in a book by the American writer Thomas L. Friedman. He fears the worst, but hopes for the best.
Friedman points out that the green economy (经济) is a chance to keep American strength. “The ability to design, build and export green technologies for producing clean water, clean air and healthy and abundant food is going to be the currency of power in the new century.”
What has the use of cars in America led to?
| A．Decline of economy. |
| B．Environmental problems. |
| C．A shortage of oil supply. |
| D．A farm-based society. |
8 . Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein’s jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.
Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts (收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.
Among the bag makers’ argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.
The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.
Environmentalists don’t dispute (质疑) these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.
What is a disadvantage of reusable bags according to plastic-bag makers?| A．They are quite expensive. |
| B．Replacing them can be difficult. |
| C．They are less strong than plastic bags. |
| D．Producing them requires more energy. |
9 . Summer Activities
Students should read the list with their parents/careers, and select two activities they would like to do. Forms will be available in school and online for them to indicate their choices and return to school. Before choices are finalised, parents/careers will be asked to sign to confirm their child’s choices.
Activity | Description | Member of staff | Cost |
Outdoor Adventure (OUT) | Take yourself out of your comfort zone for a week, discover new personal qualities, and learn new skills. You will be able to take part in a number of activities from canoeing to wild camping on Dartmoor. Learn rock climbing and work as a team, and enjoy the great outdoor environment. | Mr. Clemens | £140 |
WWI Battlefields and Paris (WBP) | On Monday we travel to London. After staying overnight in London, we travel on Day 2 to northern France to visit the World War I battlefields. On Day 3 we cross into Belgium. Thursday sees us make the short journey to Paris where we will visit Disneyland Paris park, staying until late to see the parade and the fireworks. Our final day, Friday, sees us visit central Paris and tour the main sights. | Mrs. Wilson | £425 |
Crafty Foxes (CRF) | Four days of product design centred around textiles. Making lovely objects using recycled and made materials. Bags, cushions and decorations...Learn skills and leave with modern and unusual textiles. | Mrs. Goode | £30 |
Potty about Potter (POT) | Visit Warner Bros Studio, shop stop to buy picnic, stay overnight in an approved Youth Hostel in Streatley-on-Thames, guided tour of Oxford to see the film locations, picnic lunch outside Oxford’s Christchurch, boating on the River Cherwell through the University Parks, before heading back to Exeter. | Miss Drake | £150 |
| A．Travel to London. |
| B．See a parade and fireworks. |
| C．Tour central Paris. |
| D．Visit the WWI battlefields. |
| A．Two days. |
| B．Four days. |
| C．Five days. |
| D．One week. |
10 . Teens and younger children are reading a lot less for fun, according to a Common Sense Media report published Monday.
While the decline over the past decade is steep for teen readers, some data in the report shows that reading remains a big part of many children’s lives, and indicates how parents might help encourage more reading.
According to the report’s key findings, “the proportion (比例) who say they ‘hardly ever’ read for fun has gone from 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds in 1984 to 22 percent and 27 percent respectively today.”
The report data shows that pleasure reading levels for younger children, ages 2—8, remain largely the same. But the amount of time spent in reading each session has declined, from closer to an hour or more to closer to a half hour per session.
When it comes to technology and reading, the report does little to counsel (建议) parents looking for data about the effect of e-readers and tablets on reading. It does point out that many parents still limit electronic reading, mainly due to concerns about increased screen time.
The most hopeful data shared in the report shows clear evidence of parents serving as examples and important guides for their kids when it comes to reading. Data shows that kids and teens who do read frequently, compared to infrequent readers, have more books in the home, more books purchased for them, parents who read more often, and parents who set aside time for them to read.
As the end of school approaches, and school vacation reading lists loom (逼近) ahead, parents might take this chance to step in and make their own summer reading list and plan a family trip to the library or bookstore.
How should parents encourage their children to read more?| A．Act as role models for them. | B．Ask them to write book reports. |
| C．Set up reading groups for them. | D．Talk with their reading class teachers. |
