The U.S. high school dropout rate has fallen in recent years, with the number of dropouts declining from 1 million in 2012 to about 750,000 in 2016, according to a new study released on Tuesday. The number of “dropout factories" — high schools in which fewer than 60 percent of freshmen graduate in four years—declined significantly during the same period.

"Clear progress is being made," said Bob Wise, a former West Virginia governor who heads the Alliance for Excellent Education, one of the organizations that published the study. “It’s not a total success yet. We shouldn't take a victory lap. But we can at least start warming up.”

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said the improving graduation rate serves as evidence that the nation's public schools are making progress. But there are many reasons that graduation rates can rise, and not all of them have to do with stronger schools preparing more students for life after high school.

Alabama, for example，made outsize gains in 2014: Its graduation fate jumped more than six percentage points, the second-biggest increase in the nation. But the increase coincided with a policy change that took in the same year: Alabama students no longer had to pass a high school exit exam to earn a diploma. So what looks like a major improvement stemmed at least in part from easier requirements.

It is also not clear how many students are graduating with the skills they need for the workplace or for college. Graduation requirements vary widely across states, and many states offer multiple levels of diplomas with different requirements.

Arizona students can earn a standard diploma that requires four courses in math, four in English and three in science, according to Achieve, a nonprofit organization that has studied graduation requirements in each state. But Arizona students also can earn a “Grand Canyon" diploma, which requires just two courses each in math, science and English—less than many colleges require for admission.

1.The passage is meant to say that         .

A.there are few dropouts in U. S. high schools

B.the U.S. high school dropout rate has fallen

C.the number of “dropout factories" has increased

D.the number of high school students is increasing

2.The underlined phrase “coincided with" in the fourth paragraph can be replaced by        .

A.led to B.agreed with C.conflicted with D.contradicted with

3.What do we know about the “Grand Canyon" diploma in Arizona?

A.Students need to put more efforts into it.

B.It's much required for colleges in Arizona.

C.Students who get it won't necessarily be admitted to colleges.

D.It' s more difficult to get than a standard diploma.

    Something strange was happening inside Anne' s home. During the summer of 2014, twins Gavin and Garrett, then three, each had skin rash (疹子) that wouldn't go away. 14-year-old J. D. had stomach pains so severe that he couldn’t climb the stairs，but tests found nothing wrong. By winter, the family's health problems were getting worse.

One day, Anne found brown water flowed out of the tap. Worried that the water was polluted, the family began using bottled water for cooking，drinking, and bathing.

In January 2015，the city of Flint sent out a notice stating that the water supply—which had been switched, in a cost-cutting measure, from the Detroit water system to the Flint River the previous spring—contained high levels of trihalomethanes (三卤甲烷). The notice warned that elderly people might be at risk for health problems but emphasized that the water was otherwise safe to drink.

Shocked, the self-claimed "stay-at-home mom turned water warrior" researched the water supply and searched the Internet for information that she distributed to city officials, listing the side effects of exposure to trihalomethanes. Then she urged her neighbors to attend city council meetings, where they shared their health problems. Still, officials insisted the water was safe to drink. So Anne demanded that the city test her water. The results were disturbing. The trihalomethanes were the least of her problems. The tests included that the lead levels in her water were nearly seven times the legal amount.

Anne had her children tested for lead. All the kids showed lead poisoning. She requested Flint's water quality reports and discovered that the city wasn't applying the proper corrosion (腐蚀) control standards to its pipes; the standards prevent the metal in pipes from leaking into the water.

1.How did Gavin suffer from the disease?

A.His stomach hurt so much that he couldn’t' climb the stairs.

B.He had rash on his skin which wouldn’t' disappear.

C.His disease got too ill for him to get any medical tests.

D.He had weak eyesight and couldn't go to school,

2.Why did the city of Flint change its water supply?

A.The Detroit water system had been polluted.

B.The Flint River was made clean a year ago.

C.They wanted to cut the cost of water supply.

D.The Flint River always has brown water.

3.The test of the water from Anne' s home showed that         .

A.her family had the worst of the trihalomethanes pollution

B.the water from her tap was safe to use except for drinking

C.her family was located in the most polluted part of the city

D.there was something more serious than the trihalomethanes

4.The water problem was caused by        

A.the lack of proper corrosion control to the pipes

B.the overuse of water-purifying chemicals

C.the exposure to trihalomethanes in the water

D.the improper use of metal in the pipes

Best Bites of Beijing (Fall, 2016)

Shangri-La’s AZUR launches healthy French bunch

AZUR, the newly opened fine-dining French restaurant by Shangri-La Hotel, is unveiling its weekend brunch menu on Saturday, featuring Michelin-class healthy and authentic French cuisine.

The buffet will offer unlimited seafood and each chef’s signature dish. The brunch (498 yuan) is available every Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m.to 2:30 p.m. You can upgrade the experience with another 200 yuan to enjoy free-flowing champagne and other beverages.

29 Zizhuyuan Road, Beijing (8882 6727)

Get ready for the capital’s biggest pizza party

Pizza lovers, rejoice! The capital’s biggest annual pizza party organized by the Beijinger will be held on October 15—16 this year at Wangjing SOHO. The 2016 Pizza Cup is expected to see thousands of festival-goers savoring a variety of pies from over 30 pizza joints in Beijing. Besides pizza, there will also be live music, beer, wine and interactive games for family and children.

For ticket information, visit: yoopay. cn/event/2016pizzacup (8601 6718). To learn more about the 2016 Pizza Cup, visit www. thebeijinger. com/2016pizzacup.

Celebrate the grape harvest with “Sofitel Wine Days”

September through October is the time when grapes are harvested in France. During this special season, all of the Sofitel hotels (French luxury hotel brand) around the world celebrate with its annual “Sofitel Wine Days”. The month-long celebration at Sofitel Wanda Beijing, started on Thursday, will host a number of events, from wine class, wine tasting to wine dinner.

Sofitel Wanda Beijing Tower C, Wanda Plaza, 93 Jianguo Road, Beijing (8599 6666)

Unlimited lobster buffet, half price

The Grand Metro Park Hotel at Sanyuanqiao has just launched its all-day-dining seafood buffet on Thursday, including unlimited lobsters. For the first month, guests can enjoy the international buffet at half price at just 198 yuan net. You can also expect fresh sushi, sizzling grill, ice cream and more.

Grand Metro Park Hotel No.2 East Road, North Third Ring, Beijing (6462 2288)

1.If you want to reserve a table for brunch to enjoy fine French food, you should call         .

A.8882 6727 B.8601 6718 C.8599 6666 D.6462 2288

2.Sea food buffet at half price will be offered by         .

A.Shangri-La’s AZUR B.Beijinger

C.Sofitel hotel D.Grand Metro Park Hotel

3.What is the passage intended to do?

A.Advertise lifestyle in Beijing. B.Promote some food services.

C.Impress readers with Chinese food. D.Offer food service at special prices.

阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。 续写的词数应为150左右。

Rescue in a Bottle

Curtis Whitson had rafted (v.乘筏) down the Arroyo Seco, a river in central California, several times before.

This year, Curtis Whitson knew the water-fall was coming. He figured he would get out of his raft into the shallow water, get down the rocks along ropes on either side of the falls, and continue on his way, as he had on a previous trip.

But this year was different. Heavy snow and spring rains had turned the usually manageable falls into something fierce. And this year, instead of his friends, Whitson’s companions were his girlfriend, Krystal Ramirez, and his 13-year-old son, Hunter. As the three of them approached the falls late in the afternoon of the third day of their camping trip, Whitson could tell from the increasing roar of water in the narrowing canyon(峡谷) that they were in serious trouble. There was no way they’d be able to get down the rocks as planned.

“The water was just roaring through there with tremendous force,” recalls Whitson, 45.

They had no smart phone service, and they hadn’t seen a single person in the past three days. And Whitson knew that they’d be sharing the ground there with rattlesnakes and mountain lions.

As he was thinking what to do, Whitson hit on a bit of luck---he heard voices coming from the other side of the falls. He yelled, but the sound of the rushing water drowned him out.

“We have to get these people a message,” Whitson thought.

He grabbed a stick and pulled out his pocketknife to carve “Help” in it. Then he tied a rope to it so the people would know it wasn’t just any stick. He tried throwing it over the falls, but it floated away in the wrong direction.

“We’ve got to do something!” Whitson yelled to his son. “Have we got anything else?”

Then he spotted his water bottle. Whitson grabbed it and carved “Help!”on it. Ramirez also reminded him that he had a pen and paper in his backpack.

Whitson knew it was a slim hope. But he wrote “6-15 19:00 We are stuck here@ the waterfall. Get help please” and pushed the note into the bottle. This time, his throw over the waterfall was perfect.

“All right, that’s all we can do,” Whitson told Hunter.

注意：

1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2. 续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；

Paragraph 1:

It took 30 minutes to get back upstream to the beach where they’d had lunch.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2:

The next morning, the helicopter returned.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

假如你是李华，今年暑假你和你的父母在美国旅行期间，在当地一家知名酒店住了一晚，你对住宿条件和服务都非常不满意。请你给酒店经理写一封投诉信，内容包括：

1. 写信目的；

2. 反映存在问题；

3. 提出改进建议。

注意：1. 词 数 80 左右；   2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear manager,

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

    Last week I went shopping in the supermarket. I got to the front of the ___________ and put my groceries through the checkout. I was about to pay, when I ___________ that I didn't have my bankcard with me. I _________.Then I remembered I left it at home when I ___________ something online. All I had was $30 in notes and some coins in my wallet. I was short ___________ at least $25, and I needed to buy most of the items.

I started to ___________ to the checkout lady. "I'm sorry, I stop the queue. Can I put these things back, and then think I'll ___________ these. Oh, no, need that."

An Irish lady was ___________ behind me, next in the queue. "Excuse me, Dear," she said. "Oh, I'm so sorry," I replied, "I'm ___________ you up." "Of course not. I know ____________ you feel. This happens to all of us at some point. Now please use my ____________ to pay the bill and you can be on your way."

I was astonished by her kindness, ____________ even. No matter how I insisted otherwise, she was ________ to help me. Afterwards I asked for her telephone number to ____________ and pay her back. "No," she said, "rather pay it forward. You may do a good deed for the next person in need."

By helping others, can we start chain ____________ of positive feeling and charity that can benefit our whole society?

1.A.table B.supermarket C.queue D.shelf

2.A.realized B.knew C.recognized D.observed

3.A.hesitated B.paused C.panicked D.struggled

4.A.explored B.purchased C.advocated D.delivered

5.A.by B.under C.on D.with

6.A.cry B.apologise C.complain D.explain

7.A.borrow B.drop C.follow D.take

8.A.standing B.supporting C.blaming D.shouting

9.A.turning B.putting C.joining D.holding

10.A.what B.how C.why D.when

11.A.card B.fame C.income D.identity

12.A.abnormal B.anxious C.embarrassed D.desperate

13.A.convinced B.determined C.excited D.reluctant

14.A.fit in B.get through C.look up D.get in touch

15.A.reaction B.sympathy C.satisfaction D.relationship

How to Order Coffee at Starbucks

Learning how to order coffee at Starbucks can be tricky, and if you think that ordering coffee at Starbucks is confusing, you are not alone.

1.Things move quickly as their employees try to serve customers as efficiently as possible. Orders are generally taken at one of the cash registers. You will be asked for your first name, which you should state clearly. 2.. Don't be offended if they spell your name incorrectly. People who have unique or hard — to — spell names will sometimes use an easy ''Starbucks'' name when ordering, like Mike or Amy.

3. Their terms for size are：Tall, Grande, Venti, and Trenta. Although if you order a small, medium, large, or extra-large drink they will still understand you.

For ordering basic coffee, beyond specifying the size you want, you will need to tell the server whether you want regular or decaffeinated (脱去咖啡因的)coffee.4.  If you intend to add cream or milk to your coffee, say with room for cream, or simply, with room. If you want a full cup, say no room. Read the list above the counter ahead of time, because they may not ask you which you would like. 5..

When you order, say the size you want first, then give the name of the drink, and finally add the special instructions last.

A.Starbucks is often a very busy place

B.Starbucks offers all kinds of coffee

C.Otherwise，they will assume that you want regular

D.Sometimes they will write your name in short forms

E.The ordering process is complicated because they use terms to describe drink size

F.Finally, if you are very particular about the freshness of your coffee, ask in advance

G.Your name will immediately be written on your cup and called out when, your drink is ready

    Every year, more books on happiness are published. And every year, more people feel depressed because they do not see themselves as happy. They don’t remember or know what it feels like, and instead, they feel guilty that they aren’t as happy as everyone says they should be. This is really a sad state of emotional affairs.

The books, blogs, YouTube videos and advice columns (专栏) will tell you that if you read, exercise, stay busy, help others, and increase your intimacy (亲密) every day, then you too can be happy.

The simple truth is that no one can be happy all the time. That doesn’t mean you have to be sad, angry, or depressed the rest of the time but that you can find a middle ground called contentment. This middle ground is a good place mentally and emotionally, and spending time there is a healthy choice.

Contentment is somewhere between satisfied and peaceful. When you are in that place, the stuff of life can be going on around you, but you don’t need to allow it to bother you. And that, my friends, is a very nice way to go through life.

I find contentment in walks and in writing, and in talking with my partner and reminding each other that our life is good, despite temporary setbacks or scary moments. Because I know about myself and I can respond differently. Doing this takes away stress and will keep you from losing your state of contentment.

If there is even one thing that puts you in a state of contentment — you do it regularly and early enough each day — it will help you go through any challenges you may have to face later.

Right at this moment, things around me are still a little out of my control — such is life — but I am feeling pretty good because I actively living my purpose. I am now content, and that feeling will last the whole day through. You can do the same.

1.What does the author want to stress by mentioning “Books on happiness in paragraph 1?

A.People find it difficult to agree on what happiness is.

B.Such books are so popular that they are sold out very soon.

C.Happiness is something easy to gain in our daily life.

D.Experts find it useless to argue about the value of happiness.

2.When facing setbacks or sad moments, what does the author do?

A.He turns to such media as blogs.

B.He definitely communicates with partners.

C.He adjusts himself and reacts positively.

D.He sees himself unlucky and feels depressed.

3.What is the author most likely to agree with?

A.Still water runs deep. B.Health is better than wealth.

C.Enough is as good as a feast. D.One good turn deserves another.

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A.To introduce a novel experience.

B.To advocate a proper life attitude.

C.To encourage studies on happiness.

D.To persuade us to work endlessly.

    As doctors performed surgery on Dagmar Turner’s brain, the sound of a violin filled the operating room. The music came from the patient on the operating table. In a video from the surgery, the violinist was moving her bow (琴弓) up and down as surgeons worked to remove her brain tumor (肿瘤). The King’s College hospital surgeons woke her up in the middle of the operation in order to ensure they did not damage parts of the brain necessary for playing the violin and keep her hand’s functions intact.

Turner, 53, learned that she had a slow-growing tumor. Later doctors found that it had become more aggressive and the violinist decided to have surgery to remove it. “We knew how important the violin is to Turner, so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play,” Keyoumars Ashkan, a doctor at King’s College Hospital, said in a press release.

Before Turner’s operation, Ashkan and his colleagues spent two hours carefully mapping her brain to identify areas that were active when she played the violin and those controlling language and movement. Waking her up during surgery then allowed doctors to monitor whether those parts were suffering damage.

Brad Mahon, expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said the basic features of an “awake craniotomy” — the type of brain surgery where patients are awake in order to avoid damage to critical brain areas — have remained largely unchanged for decades. But he said that doctors are now able to map the patient’s brain activity in great detail before the surgery, using an imaging technique called functional MRI. That means surgeons are coming into the operating room with far more information about a specific patient’s brain. That kind of information helps doctors tailor tests to a patient’s particular needs.

1.What does the underlined word “intact”mean in the first paragraph?

A.Strong. B.Sound.

C.Talented. D.Influential.

2.Why did Ashkan and his colleagues map Turner’s brain before operation?

A.To keep her brain more active when she played the violin.

B.To monitor whether her brain had suffered damage severely.

C.To recognize the areas related to music and movement precisely.

D.To remove the tumor while keeping all function of her brain.

3.What can we know according to Brad Mahon?

A.Doctors are using an imaging technique to monitor the surgery.

B.Patients are asleep to protect critical brain areas in a surgery.

C.A patient’s language ability couldn’t be preserved before.

D.Surgeons can personalize a patient’s operation by mapping his brain.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A.Musician joined in her own brain surgery

B.Mapping a brain is realized after surgery

C.The violinist suffers from a brain tumor

D.Doctors perform surgery on a brain

    One of the most important things that has happened to me occurred long before I was aware of it. As the story goes, I was three days old and Mom was singing “The Name Game” song to me: “Christine Bo-Bean.” By day four, I was given a new name —Christine-Bo-Bean, or just Bo-Bee to my mother.

Now, I am Bo to her and close friends. Although I have been Bo to my mother all my life, I recently discovered that my true name is not on my birth certificate; it’s the name that is as unique and memorable as I am.

People usually know me as Christine. They still see me as a quiet, bookish child. They don’t know who I am now. My most recent hopes, fears, goals, dreams and opinions escape their notice; it is easier to think of me as I was. In their minds, they have a box labeled “Christine” in which I fit neatly, and as Christine, I was content with the perfect packaging.

Those who call me Bo or Bo-Bee really know me. They remember who I was and realize I have changed. The Bo I am is ever-changing, ever-growing and ever-learning.

When I was Christine, I was quiet, and easily scared. I feared groups, meeting new people and sharing my opinions. I was more comfortable with a book than my best friend. As Christine, I thought everyone was better than I was.

As Bo, I still love my books, but I want to discuss them. As Bo, my dream is to live where I can experience new things and meet new people. I dream about being alone on a stage lit by a single spotlight; I have that confidence now. I am equal to those I once saw as better than me.

I can’t always be Bo. Sometimes exposing myself is still scary and I feel too nervous; I want to hide in those old boxes. Mostly, however, I am ready for the world. So, just call me Bo.

1.When was the author given a nickname?

A.When she was three years old.

B.On the fourth day after she was born.

C.Seven days after she was born.

D.When she received the old “Christine” box.

2.What do the people know about the author as Christine?

A.They think the author is active and crazy.

B.They care about the author’s most recent feelings.

C.They don’t realize the author has changed.

D.They don’t know the author has changed her name.

3.What kind of person was the author in the past?

A.She showed no interest in reading.

B.She took pleasure in finding new things.

C.She loved reading and sharing books with friends.

D.She lacked confidence and preferred to be alone.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Bo—the True Name

B.A Unique Name

C.Remember the Past

D.The Meaning of Nickname