Standardized exam in American public education are being reformed. Over the next four years, hundreds of university professors and testing experts will work together to design new assessment system.
The new tests will be computer-based and will measure higher-order skills ignored by the multiple-choice exams used in all states，including students’ ability to read complex texts, synthesize(合成)information and do research projects．
Because the new tests will be computerized and will be administered several times throughout the school year, they can provide faster feedback(反馈)to teachers．If these plans work out, It’ll turn the current testing system upside down．
One group，led by Florida，will be made up of 25 states and the District of Columbia．The group was awarded $170 million．The other group, whose membership over-laps the first，has31 states and is led by Washington．The group was given $160 million．Twelve of the 44 states are
participating in both groups but are expected eventually to choose one set of tests．
The two groups are supposed to work in a friendly competition，though their plans are very similar．Both groups will produce tests that rely heavily on technology and both groups’ tests will include so-called performance-based tasks，designed to mirror complex，real-world situations．
In performance-based tasks，students are given a problem－they could be told, for example, to suppose they are a mayor who needs to reduce a city’s pollution—and must write about how they would solve the problem．
The new tests could be useful to teachers by giving them information on what their students are learning, but it might also require some mid-course adjustments.
Over the past decade, the federal No Child Left Behind law has emphasized helping low-achieving students improve their basic reading and math by encouraging states to produce tests that measure relatively low-1evel skills. Although the Bush-era law is still on the books, two
years of Obama administration policy have been leading schools in new directions．
1.. . What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Obama’s education policy takes the lead.
B. A computer-based testing system is adopted.
C. American education system has been changed.
D. Experts are reinventing the student testing system.
2.. Why are multiple-choice exams to be given up?
A. Because they are not computer-based.
B. Because they can’t test students’ higher-order skills.
C. Because they can’t provide proper feedback for teachers.
D. Because they can’t test students’ general reading ability.
3.. The underlined part in Para. 4 probably means________.
A. the two groups have some shared members
B. the other group is more demanding than the first
C. the groups have different tasks of their own
D. the other group does better than the first group in the task
4.. According to the passage, performance-based tasks may refer to tasks that______.
A. are related to real-world problems
B. have to be performed in an imaginary world
C. teach us theories through complex problems
D. can only be completed by relying heavily on technology
5.. . From the last paragraph, we can infer that_________.
A. the No child Left Behind policy is not helpful
B. the Obama administration’s policy is highly praised
C. the two policies both emphasize math and reading abilities
D. the two policies both emphasize the development of practical skills
A town in Oxfordshire has become the first in the UK to have biomethane(生物甲烷)gas from human waste piped to their homes for gas central heating and cooking．
Up to 200 families in Didcot now receive the gas via the national gas power system. Head of energy and technology at British Gas，Martin Orrill，said customers wouldn’t notice any difference as the gas is purified to the highest standard and has no smell．The gas is produced at a sewage(污物) treatment works in Didcot．
The entire process takes only less than three weeks, with the sewage being collected and sent first to settlement tanks．The solid waste material is then fed into digesters, where anaerobic bacteria(厌氧菌)digest the sewage，with the aid of enzymes(酶)to speed up the process．The digestion process produces methane，which can be burned to drive machines(甲烷)to produce electricity，or can be purified and fed into the gas network and piped to homes and businesses. British Gas says supplying the gas rather than electricity is far more efficient since around two-thirds of the energy is lost in producing electricity.
Partners in the Didcot project，British Gas，Scotia Gas Network，and Thames Water，all hope to expand the process to other towns，and other companies such as Ecotricity and United Utilities have also announced biomethane projects being planned．One of these projects in Manchester could be supplying 500 homes with biomethane by mid next year. Another British Gas project in Suffolk will provide gas from digestion of brewery(啤酒厂)waste to around 235 families．
The Didcot project cost￡25 million and was influenced by promises of government aids aimed at encouraging companies to develop renewable technologies．An EU directive means the UK must ensure at least 15 percent of its energy is from renewable sources by 2020．
The UK produces about 1.73 million tons of sewage annually．If all sewage treatment works in the UK were fitted with the technology，they could supply gas for up to 350, 000 families.
1.. Which of the following is TRUE of the biomethane gas?
A. it’s mainly made from rotting plants B. It’s an environmentally friendly gas
C. Its production process is too long D. It’s easily recognized by customers
2.. What is the function of the enzymes?
A. To digest the solid waste material B. To help get rid of anaerobic bacteria
C. To help purify the biomethane． D. To speed up the digestion process．
3.. According to the passage，the biomethane gas had better be used .
A. as the power for vehicles B. for heating and cooking
C. to produce electricity D. to drive a variety of machines
4.. The last three paragraphs mainly show that .
A. the UK government supports the biomethane projects
B. the biomethane projects are very costly
C. the biomethane projects still face many barriers
D. the biomethane projects are promising
5.. . What should the text belong to?
A .Computer science B. Engineering C. Energy D. Business
_______ those past years, we couldn’t help feeling sorry for our parents who never had a rest all the year round.
A. Looking back upon B. Looking around C. Looking out D. Looking up
Teddy came to my _____ with a cheque of $200 to pay my room rate, after I told him that my
wallet had been stolen.
A. attendance B.assistance C rescue D.safety
Thinking that her daughter was doing homework, the mother left the room, _____ .
A．quickly and gentle B．quick and gentle
C．quickly and gently D．quick and gently
After I left _______ Linchuan No.2 Middle School, I began college classes in _______ September 2010.
A. a; the B. 不填; the C. the; the D. 不填；不填
