1 . More women are graduating from colleges than men.The situation is causing some people to worry about the future.The trend could cause social problems，according to a report on July 8 by the Washington Post.
Women received about 57 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded this year from colleges and universities in the United States.The figure of 57 percent has been the highest since World War Ⅱ ended in 1945.During the war，many men were in the military.
The gap between men and women is greater among African Americans and Hispanics.Two African­American women receive a degree for every African­American man.Only 40 percent of Hispanics who get a degree are males.
The USA Department of Education estimates 698,000 females received bachelor’s degree this year.The number of male graduates was 529,000.The trend toward more female graduates began in the mid­1980s.Nobody seems to know why.However，many theories exist.
Researchers say the trend could lead to social problems.They also say this may indicate two things.It may reflect the increasing success of women.But it also may show the educational problems affecting men.
High school graduation rates are slightly lower for men than for women.Males also make up the vast majority of students in special education classes.
The Business Roundtable is studying the trend.The group is an organization of chief executives of some of the nation’s largest corporations.Susan Traiman is the director of the group’s education policy.Traiman said the nation couldn’t afford to let half its population fail to develop skills needed for the future.
1. Some people worry about the future because ________.

A．there are many social problems in America

B．more and more men don’t like the life in college

C．more African­American women receive a degree

D．fewer and fewer men receive a degree than women in America

2. Which one of the following statements is right according to this passage?

A．There must be something wrong with the education system.

B．40% of the Hispanics get a degree in America.

C．Nobody knows the reason why more women get a degree than men.

D．More than half of the men received bachelor’s degrees this year.

3. The underlined word “estimates” in the fourth paragraph means ________.

A．guesses

B．explains

C．introduces

D．discovers

4. What Susan Traiman said means that ________.

A．the nation should prevent the women from receiving further education

B．the nation would be too poor to develop its education

C．the nation didn’t have enough money for women’s further education

D．the nation should encourage men to develop skills for the future

5. What is the main subject discussed in the text?

A．Women are more successful in America than men.

B．More women than men are graduating from college.

C．Men are more successful in America than women.

D．There are two kinds of social problems in America.

2 . The jobs of the future have not yet been invented.     1     By helping them develop classic skills that will serve them well no matter what the future holds.

1. Curiosity

Your children need to be deeply curious.     2     Ask kids, “What ingredients (配料) can we add to make these pancakes even better next time?” and then try them out. Did those ingredients make the pancakes better? What could we try next time?

2. Creativity

True creativity is the ability to take something existing and create something new from it.     3     There are a dozen different things you can do with them. Experimenting with materials to create something new can go a long way in helping them develop their creativity.

3. Interpersonal Skills

Understanding how others feel can be a challenge for kids. We know what’s going on inside our own head, but what about others? Being able to read people helps kids from misreading a situation and jumping to false conclusions.     4     “Why do you think she’s crying?” “Can you tell how that man is feeling by looking at his face? If someone were to do that to you, how would you feel?”

4. Self-expression

    5     There are many ways to express thoughts and ideas — music, acting, drawing, building, photography. You may find that your child is attracted by one more than another.

A．Encourage kids to cook with you.

B．And we can’t forget science education.

C．We can give kids chances to think about materials in new ways.

D．So how can we help our kids prepare for jobs that don’t yet exist?

E．Gardening is another great activity for helping kids develop this skill.

F．We can do this in real life or ask questions about characters in stories.

G．Being able to communicate ideas in a meaningful way is a valuable skill.

3 . Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment. “We didn’t know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.

But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement .Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many， many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first. According to US government reports, emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9. Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with, the world is a safer and healthier place. A kind of “Green thinking” has become part of practices.

Great improvement has been achieved. In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600. Advanced lights, motors, and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution.

Twenty –five years ago, there were hardly any education programs for environment. Today, it’s hard to find a public school, university, or law school that does not have such a kind of program. “Until we do that, nothing else will change!” says Bruce Anderson.

1. According to Anderson, before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___.

A．the social movement	B．recycling techniques
C．environmental problems	D．the importance of Earth Day

2. Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?

A．The grass –roots level.	B．The business circle.
C．Government officials.	D．University professors.

3. What have Americans achieved in environmental protection?

A．They have cut car emissions to the lowest.

B．They have settled their environmental problems.

C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities.

D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures.

4. What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph?

A．Education.	B．Planning
C．Green living	D．CO reduction

4 . Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me. Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season.
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding. Delores Clemens says, “that's not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Cuddle your baby. Hug him! And she started to do that. They just want a little cuddling and a little love. And it works!”
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year.
In class, with her baby son is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life.
The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen. That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones. By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two.
1. What is the text mainly about?

A．Parents who are a child’s first teachers.

B．A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered.

C．A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure life.

D．A kind teacher who help homeless young mothers.

2. Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____.

A．help homeless young mothers become good parents

B．provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter

C．help mothers in New York be good parents

D．teach some parents how to love their children

3. What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?

A．She has a mother of five and a grandmother.

B．She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged.

C．She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers.

D．She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House.

4. According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?

A．Canada	B．the United States of America
C．Mexico	D．Britain

5 . Bottled water has become the choice for people who are healthy and thirsty. Bottled water is all over the world. But some say the planet’s health, and people’s health may be suffering from it.
The idea that bottled water is safer for humans may not be true. The Natural Resources Defense Council of America said, “There is no promise that because water comes out of a bottle, it is cleaner or safer than water from the tap.” Another New York City-based action group added that some bottled water is “really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes more clean, sometimes not.”

It is not proven that bottled water is better than tap water. Nick Reeves from the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management said, “The high mineral content (含量) of some bottled water makes them not good for feeding babies and young children.” Also, most bottled water doesn’t have fluoride (氟化物), which can make teeth stronger. Kids are drinking more bottled water and less fluoridated tap water, and some say that’s behind the recent rise in bad teeth.
Storing is another problem. Placed near heat, the plastic bottles can produce bad chemicals (化学物质) into the water.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used worldwide to bottle water each year. The plastic can take between 400 and 1,000 years to break down.
In terms of energy use, plastic bottles are also not cheap. One report said that if water and soft drink bottlers had used 10 percent recycled materials in their plastic bottles, they would have saved about 72 million gallons of gas.
So, if you are worried about the effect of bottled water on the Earth, you can take the following steps.
● Drink from your tap. Unless your government warns against this, it should be fine.
● Get a container (容器). Carry your tap water in a steel or a lined drinking container, and clean it between uses.
● Keep it cool. Don’t drink from a bottle that has been sitting in the sun, don’t store it near chemicals, and don’t reuse plastic bottles.
● Choose glass containers over plastic if possible. When finished, recycle!
1. What is the main idea of the article?

A．Drinking tap water is the only choice for people.

B．Glass containers are better than plastic bottles.

C．Plastic bottles are harmful to the environment.

D．Bottled water may not be as good as we think.

2. What can we learn about plastic bottles from the article?

A．They break down in less than 300 years.	B．They can be used for many other things.
C．They are a risk to the environment.	D．They are cheap to make.

3. According to the article, we can know that bottled water is __________.

A．no problem for the environment	B．more expensive than tap water
C．always safer than tap water	D．better for babies

4. Which of the following about tap water is NOT mentioned in the article?

A．There are a lot of problems storing tap water.

B．Bottled water can be just tap water in a bottle.

C．It may be better for your teeth.

D．It may contain fluoride.