At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they’re bad. Yet the agreement among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets. So why is there such a discrepancy between the perception of immigrants’ impact on the economy and the reality?
There are a number of familiar theories. Some argue that people are anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers. Others highlight the stress that undocumented immigrants place on public services, like schools, hospitals, and jails. Still others emphasize the role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation's fears and insecurities. There’s some truth to all these explanations, but they aren’t quite sufficient.
To get a better understanding of what’s going on, consider the way immigration’s impact is felt. Though its overall effect may be positive, its costs and benefits are distributed unevenly. David Card, an economist at UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly from immigrants’ low-cost labor are businesses and employers —meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, these producers’ savings probably translate into lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated. Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor. According to a study by George Borjas, a Harvard economist, immigration has reduced the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9%.
Among high-skilled, better-educated employees, however, opposition was strongest in states with both high numbers of immigrants and relatively generous social services. What worried them most, in other words, was the financial burden of immigration. That conclusion was reinforced by another finding: that their opposition appeared to soften when that financial burden decreased, as occurred with welfare reform in the 1990s, which curbed immigrants’ access to certain benefits.
The irony is that for all the overexcited debate, the net effect of immigration is minimal. Even for those most acutely affected — say, low-skilled workers, or California residents — the impact isn’t all that dramatic. “The unpleasant voices have tended to dominate our perceptions,” says Daniel Tichenor, a professor at the University of Oregon. “But when all those factors are put together and the economists calculate the numbers, it ends up being a net positive, but a small one.” Too bad most people don’t realize it.
1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A．Whether immigrants are good or bad for the economy has been puzzling economists.
B．The American economy used to thrive on immigration but now it’s a different story.
C．The agreement among economists is that immigration should not be encouraged.
D．The general public thinks differently from most economists on the impact of immigration.
2.What is the chief concern of native high-skilled, better-educated employees about the inflow of immigrants?
A．It may change the existing social structure.
B．It may pose a threat to their economic status.
C．It may decrease .their financial burden.
D．It may place a great pressure on the state budget.
3.What is the irony about the debate over immigration?
A．Even economists can’t reach an agreement about its impact.
B．Those who are opposed to it turn out to benefit most from it.
C．People are making too big a fuss about something of small impact.
D．There is no essential difference between seemingly opposite opinions.
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A．A debate about whether to immigrate.
B．A debate about the impact of illegal immigrants.
C．The great impact of immigrants on the economy.
D．Opposition to illegal immigration.
你的表弟Jack即将踏入高中学习，你写信给他。信的内容应包括：
1． 简要描述你自己的高中学习生活。
2． 给他的高中生活提些建议。（建议可包括：规划好日常生活、找到适合自己的学习方法、多参加课外活动等……）
Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.
1.他曾在当地一所学校工作。（used to）
2.一位旧时同窗写信告诉我他重返祖国的想法。（thought）
3.当被问及为何投入这个研究时，他保持沉默。（involve）
4.他若是想在下一届奥运会夺金的话，就要提高他的技术水平。（be to do）
5.她注视着市长消失的那个出口，然后环顾四周看看其他人对市长的缺席有何反应。（through）
However important we may regard school life to be, there is no denying the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom. Therefore, the great influence of parents cannot be ignored or discounted by the teacher. They can become strong allies of the school personnel or they can consciously or unconsciously hinder and frustrate curricular objectives.
Administrators have been aware of the need to keep parents informed of the newer methods used in schools. Many principles have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness program, manuscript writing and developmental mathematics. Moreover, the classroom teacher, with the permission of the supervisors, can also play an important role in enlightening parents. The informal tea and the many interviews carried on during the year, as well as new ways of reporting pupils’ progress, can significantly aid in achieving a harmonious interplay between school and home.
To illustrate, suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent sublimate (升华) his natural paternal interest into productive channels. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing the family budget, buying the food, using a standard or measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.
If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to assume that he will soon realize his son is making satisfactory progress in mathematics, and at the same time, enjoying the work. Too often, however, teachers’ conferences with parents are devoted to petty (不重要的) accounts of children’s misdeeds, complaints about laziness and poor work habits, and suggestion for penalties and rewards at home.
What is needed is a more creative approach in which the teacher, as a professional adviser, plants ideas in parents’ minds for the best utilization of the many hours that the child spends out of the classroom.
In this way, the school and the home join forces in fostering the fullest development of youngsters’ capacities.
(Note:Answer the questions or complete the statements with NO MORE THAN 14 WORDS)
1.Why do parents also have great influence on children?
_________________________________________________________________________ .
2.Through which ways can the teacher play an important role in enlightening parents?
_________________________________________________________________________ .
3.According to the teacher, that parents should let the boy ____________________________ if he wants to sublimate his natural paternal interest into productive channels in teaching his son arithmetic.
4.A more creative approach is needed for ___________________of children out of classroom.
Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.
A. Be well-organized.
B. Close with a Q & A.
C. Don’t be contradictory .
D. Bring it to a specific end.
E. Speak slowly and pause.
F. Drop unnecessary words.
Speaking to a group can be difficult, but listening to a bad speech is truly a tiresome task—especially when the speaker is confusing. Don’t want to confuse your audience? Follow these suggestions:
1.When it comes to understanding new information, the human brain needs a little time. First, we hear the words; then, we compare the new information to what we already know. If the two are different, we need to pause and think. But a breathless speaker never stops to let us think about what he or she is saying and risks confusing us. Slow it.
2.Sometimes we all start a sentence one way and then switch directions, which is very difficult to follow. When you confuse your listeners with opposing information, you leave the audience wondering what part of the information is right and what part they should remember. Instead of relying and keeping correcting yourself, work to get the facts clear and straight.
3.Jumping from point to point as it comes to your mind puts the onus (责任）on your listeners to make up for your lack of organization. And it’s confusing for them to listen, reorganize, and figure out what you’re saying all at once. But going smoothly from one point to the next helps them understand information more easily. You can arrange things from beginning to end, small to large, top to bottom or by some other order. Just be sure to organize.
4.Repeated use of um, ah, like, you know and some other useless noises can drive an audience crazy. It makes the speaker sound uncertain and unprepared, and it can leave listeners so annoyed that they can’t pay attention. Recently I attended a speech that was marked by so many ums that audience members were rolling their eyes. Was anybody grasping the intended message? Um, probably not.
5.Many speakers finish up their speeches with question-and-answer (Q & A) sessions, but some let the Q & A go on without a clear end. The audience is often left confused about whether the meeting is over and when they can get up and leave. Do your listeners a favour by setting a time limit on questions, and close your speech with a specific signal—even if it’s something simple like, “If you have any more questions, you know where to reach me.”
Or even more to the point, conclude your speech with “Thanks for your time. ”
Do you know how it is when you see someone yawn and you start yawning too? Or how hard it is to be among people laughing and not laugh yourself? Well, apparently it's because we have mirror neurons (神经元）in our brains.
Put simply, the existence of mirror neurons suggests that every time we see someone else do something, our brains imitate (模仿)it, whether or not we actually perform the same action. This explains a great deal about how we learn to smile, talk, walk, dance or play sports. But the idea goes further: mirror neurons not only appear to explain physical actions, they also tell us that there is a biological basis for the way we understand other people.
Mirror neurons can undoubtedly be found all over our brains, but especially in the areas which relate to our ability to use languages, and to understand how other people feel. Researchers have found that mirror neurons relate strongly to language. A group of researchers discovered that if they gave people sentences to listen to (for example: "The hand took hold of the ball"), the same mirror neurons were triggered as when the action was actually performed (in this example, actually taking hold of a ball).
Any problems with mirror neurons may well result in problems with behavior. Much research suggests that people with social and behavioral problems have mirror neurons which are not fully functioning. However, it is not yet known exactly how these discoveries might help find treatments for social disorders.
Research into mirror neurons seems to provide us with even more information concerning how humans behave and interact (互动). Indeed, it may turn out to be the equivalent (相等物)for neuroscience of what Einstein's theory of relativity was for physics. And the next time you feel the urge to cough in the cinema when someone else does—well, perhaps you'll understand why.
1.Mirror neurons can explain _________.
A．why we cry when we are hurt
B．why we cough when we suffer from a cold
C．why we smile when we see someone else smile
D．why we yawn when we see someone else stay up late
2.The underlined word "triggered" in the third paragraph probably means “_________”.
A．set off B．cut off C．built up D．broken up
3.We can learn from the passage that mirror neurons _________.
A．relate to human behavior and interaction
B．control human physical actions and feelings
C．result in bad behavior and social disorders
D．determine our knowledge and language abilities
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A．Ways to find mirror neurons. B．Problems of mirror neurons.
C．Existence of mirror neurons. D．Functions of mirror neurons.
