1 . Girls are better at reading and writing than boys as early as fourth grade, according to a study, and the gap continues to widen until senior year.

Scientists generally agree that boys and girls are psychologically more alike than they are different. But reading seems to be a(n)________, with growing evidence suggesting a similar ________in writing. The study, published in the journal American Psychologist, provided further ________ to support this view.

David Reilly, lead author of the study, said the study ________the commonly held view that boys and girls start grade school with the same cognitive abilities. “It appears that the gender gap for writing tasks has been greatly________, and despite our best efforts with changes in teaching methods, that does not appear to be ________ over time,” he said.

Factors explaining the results could include learning ________ being more prevalent among boys; the pressure to conform to masculine (男子汉的) ideals and the idea of reading and language being feminine (女性的); and slight________in how boys and girls use their brain hemispheres (半球), the authors believe.

To investigate how ________ levels differed between boys and girls in the U.S., the team studied data collected over three decades in the National Assessment of Educational Progress. This database of test scores on over 3 million students in the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades________national and state performances in a range of subjects, and considered such variables such as disabilities or whether children were English learners. Reading and writing was ________according to children’s understanding of a range of different passages and genres.

________, girls were found to perform significantly better in reading and writing tests by fourth grade when compared with boys of the same age. As children progressed to eighth and twelfth grades, girls continued to ________ boys, but the difference was more noticeable in writing than reading. But what caused this difference in abilities? Evidence suggests ________ problems, such as being disruptive（扰乱性的） in class or being aggressive could be linked to neurological conditions. What is known as lateralization (偏侧化) could also play a role. Boys are believed to use one hemisphere when reading or writing, while girls appear to use both. The data did not, however, provide evidence to argue ________ the two genders having different learning styles.

1.

A．distinction

B．exception

C．objection

D．limitation

2.

A．pattern

B．standard

C．circumstance

D．feature

3.

A．strategy

B．signal

C．sign

D．evidence

4.

A．confirmed

B．represented

C．questioned

D．introduced

5.

A．underestimated

B．overemphasized

C．underrepresented

D．justified

6.

A．increasing

B．promoting

C．accepting

D．reducing

7.

A．objectives

B．drills

C．difficulties

D．advantages

8.

A．contributions

B．differences

C．communications

D．similarities

9.

A．literacy

B．literary

C．academic

D．cognitive

10.

A．pulled down

B．settled down

C．turned down

D．broke down

11.

A．granted

B．measured

C．designed

D．engineered

12.

A．Likewise

B．Overall

C．However

D．Besides

13.

A．overtake

B．discourage

C．parallel

D．distinguish

14.

A．psychological

B．emotional

C．behavioral

D．mental

15.

A．in line with

B．at the mercy of

C．on account of

D．in favor of

2 . TROUBLESHOOTING

For possible malfunctions as described below, please contact Customer Services at 1-800-2020-123

PROBLEM	POSSIBLE CAUSE	SOLUTION
The coffee is not hot.	• The cups were not preheated.	• Warm the cups by rinsing (冲洗) them with hot water (N.B. you can use the hot water function).
Coffee does not come out of the spouts (喷嘴).	• The spouts are blocked.	• Clean the spouts with a toothpick.
The coffee does not come out of the spouts, but from around the service door.	• The holes in the spouts are blocked with dry coffee dust. • The coffee guide inside the service door is blocked and cannot swing.	• Clean the spouts with a toothpick, sponge or hard kitchen brush. •Thoroughly clean the coffee guide, particularly near the hinges (铰链).
The frothed (起泡) milk has large bubbles.	•The milk is not cold enough or is not semi-skimmed (半脱脂的).	•You should ideally use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk at refrigerator temperature (about 5 °C). If the result is not as you wished, try changing brand of milk.
The milk is not frothed.	• Cappuccino maker is dirty.	• Clean as described in the section “Cleaning the cappuccino maker after use”.
Steam delivery stops.	• A safety device stops steam delivery after 3 minutes.	• Wait, then activate the steam function again.
The appliance (电器) does not come on.	• It is not plugged into the mains socket (电源插座). • The main switch (A2) is not turned on.	• Plug into the mains socket. • Place the main switch in the I position.

1. If the appliance doesn’t start to work, which of the following may be the cause?

A．It has been used for many years.	B．It is not plugged into the socket.
C．Its temperature is too high.	D．Its spouts are blocked.

2. According to the table, which of the following is true?

A．If coffee tastes bitter, you may add some milk and sugar.

B．If coffee is delivered too slowly, you may wait and activate the function again.

C．If coffee doesn’t come out of spouts, you may check them with a toothpick.

D．If milk is not frothed, you may use semi-skimmed milk.

3. Where is the passage probably taken from?

A．A coffee bean package.	B．A coffee machine quality report.
C．A coffee machine advertisement.	D．A coffee machine handbook.

3 . As more and more people speak the global languages of English,Chinese, Spanish,and Arabic,other languages are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000-7,000 languages spoken around the world today will likely die out by the next century, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In an effort to prevent language loss,scholars from a number of organizations — UNESCO and National Geographic among them — have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.

Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Center,Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmi with an Ethnolinguistic Introduction to the Speakers and Their Culture, grows out of his experience living, looking and raising a family in a village in Nepal.

Documenting the Tangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayans reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.

At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials — including photographs, films, tape recordings, and field notes — which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection.

Now, through the two organizations that he has founded — the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project — Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, found in libraries and stores around the world,available not just to scholars but to the youngers.

Generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected. Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet, Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.

1. Many scholars are making efforts to________.

A．promote global language	B．rescue disappearing languages
C．search for language communities	D．set up language research organizations

2. What does “that tradition” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Having full records of the languages.	B．Writing books on language teaching.
C．Telling stories about language users.	D．Living with the native speakers.

3. What is Turin’s book based on?

A．The cultural studies in India.	B．The documents available at Yale.
C．His language research in Bhutan.	D．His personal experience in Nepal.

4. Which of the following best describes Turin’s work?

A．Write, sell and donate.	B．Record, repair and reward.
C．Design, experiment and report.	D．Collect, protect and reconnect.

9 . He has been upset lately, ________ he cannot balance his home life and career. （用适当的词填空）

10 . I suggest you take an umbrella ________ ________ it rains. （用适当的词填空）