American high school students are terrible writers, and one education reform group thinks it has an answer: robots. Or, more accurately, robot-readers-computers programmed to scan student essays and spit out a grade.
Mark Shermis, professor of the College of Education at the University of Akron, is helping to hold a contest, set up by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ( WFHF), which promises $ 100,000 in prize money to programmers who write the best automated grading software. "If you're a high school teacher and you give a writing task, you're walking home with 150 essays, " Shermis said, "You're going to need some help. "
Automated essay grading was first proposed in the 1960s, but computers back then were not up to the task. In the late 1990s, as technology improved, several textbook and testing companies jumped into the field. Today, computers are used to grade essays on South Dakota's student writing assessments and a handful of other exams, including the TOEFL test of English fluency, taken by foreign students.
The Hewlett contest aims to show that computers can grade as well as English teachers---- only much more quickly and without all that depressing red ink. Automated essay scoring is "objective," Shermis said, " And it can be done immediately. If students finish an essay at l0 pm, they get a result at 10 :00 pm . "
Take, for instance, the Intelligent Essay Assessor, a web-based tool marketed by Pearson Education, Inc. Within seconds it can analyze an essay for spelling, grammar, organization, and help students to make revisions. The program scans for key words and analyzes semantic (语义的) patterns , and Pearson claims that it can understand the meaning of text much the same as a human reader.
1. The text is written to introduce________.
A. Hewlett contest
B. education reform in America
C. robot-readers
D. William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
2.What does the underlined phrase "spit out "in Paragraph I probably mean?
A. Analyze. B. Organize.
C. Give. D. Check.
3. What does Paragraph 4 focus on?
A. The application of automated essay scoring.
B. The advantages of automated essay scoring.
C. The prize of Hewlett contest.
D. Teachers' opinions about Hewlett contest.
Americans like to travel on their yearly holiday. Today, more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small houses or inns (客栈) instead of hotels. They get a room for the night and the breakfast the next morning.
Rooms for the night in private homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years. In the past five to ten years, these bedandbreakfast places have become popular in the United States. Many of these America's bedandbreakfast inns are old historic buildings. Some bedandbreakfast inns have only a few rooms. Others are much larger. Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms, others do.
Staying at a bedandbreakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel. Usually the cost is much less. Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone's home. The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit. Many vacationists say they enjoy the chance to meet local families.
1.Americans take a holiday trip ________.
A．every year B．for years
C．all the year round D．every other year
2.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A．The bedandbreakfast inns have been popular in America for a long time.
B．The bedandbreakfast inns are private homes opened to vacationists.
C．Some Americans like to stay at bedandbreakfast homes instead of hotels.
D．The bedandbreakfast inn owners provide a morning meal for their visitors and a room
for the night.
3.Why do American travelers prefer staying at bedandbreakfast inns?
A．They can meet local families.
B．The money they spend there is much less.
C．It is like visiting someone's home
D．All of the above.
4.Staying at the bedandbreakfast inns, ________.
A．the owners will show the travelers around the area
B．the travelers don't have to pay for the telephone or television
C．the travelers can meet and talk with the local people
D．the travelers needn't pay anything
Two students started quarreling at school. One student shouted dirty words at the other, and a fight began. What can be done to stop fights like this at school? In some school, the disputants sit down with peer mediators(同龄调解者). Peer mediators are students with special training in this kind of problems.
Peer mediators help the disputants to talk in a friendly way. Here are some of the ways they use:
1）Put what you think clearly but don’t say anything to hurt the other. Begin with “I feel…” instead of “You always…”
2）Listen carefully to what the other person is saying. Don’t stop the other person’s words.
3）Keep looking at the other person’s eyes when he or she talks.
4）Try to see the other person’s side of the problem.
5）Never put anyone down. Saying things like “You are foolish” makes the talk difficult.
6）Try to find a result that makes both people happy.
Peer mediators never decide the result or the winner. They don’t decide who is right and who is wrong. Instead, they help the two students to find their own “win-win” result.
1. The underlined word “disputants” refers to the students ________.
A. who are lazy B. who give in
C. who make peace D. who quarrel
2. When there is a fight at school， ________.
A. the students who quarrel decide who the winner is
B. the peer mediators and the disputants talk together
C. the peer mediators decide who the winner is
D. the two students sit down and listen to the peer mediators
3. Peer mediators’ work is ________.
A. to give students some special training
B. to find out who starts a quarrel
C. to give lessons to disputants
D. to help find a way to make both sides happy
4. During the talk, if you say “You are lazy” or “I feel angry”, ________.
A.the other person will understand you better
B. it’s hard for you to get a “win-win” result
C. it’s easy for you to decide who is right
D. the other person will know he or she is wrong
A car needs gas to run and your body also needs food to work for you. Eating the right kind of food is very important. It can help your body grow strong to take care of what you eat.
There are four main food groups altogether. The dairy group has food like milk, cheese and sour milk. The other three groups are the meat and fish group, the fruit and vegetable group, and the bread and rice group. Each meal should have at least one food from all four main groups. With all these food together, you will be given enough energy during the day.
It is easy to get into bad eatinghabits. You may eat your breakfast in a hurry to get to school on time. Or you may not have time for a good lunch. It may seem easy to finish your supper with fish and chips all the time. But you will find yourself tired in these days and you can not think quickly.
Watching what you eat will help your body remain healthy and strong. It is also good to take some exercise. It will help you eat more if you take a walk or play games in the open air. Having a good eating habit with some exercise is the key to your health.
1.Which of the following diets do you think is the best one?
A．Milk, bread, cabbages and beef.
B．Eggs, tomatoes and chicken.
C．Corn, fish, cream and pork.
D．Rice, beancurd, apples, fish and chicken.
2.Which of the following is a good eating habit?
A．Eating fish and chips for supper all the time.
B．Finishing your lunch in a very short time.
C．Going to school without any breakfast.
D．Having at least one food from all four groups in each meal.
3.In this passage the writer mainly tells us that ________.
A．every person needs food to grow well
B．taking exercise can keep your body strong
C．the right kind of food with exercise will keep you healthy
D．enough energy helps people think more quickly
4.The underlined word “dairy” in the second paragraph means ________.
A．a farm where cows are kept
B．the food made out of cows such as milk and butter
C．the shop that sells milk and butter
D．a place where milk products are made
你经常与父母交流吗?调查显示大部分中学生与父母交流正常, 但也有许多中学生不能与父母进行有效沟通。某英文杂志就此问题向中学生征稿。请你根据以下要求写一篇100个词的英文稿件:
1. 简述调查的结果； 2. 阐述与父母交流的重要性；（两点）
3. 说说你已有的做法或接下来的打算。
注意:短文的开头已给出, 不计入总词数。
A recent survey shows
短文改错（共10个；每个1分，满分10分）
文中共有10处语言错误, 每句最多两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在横线下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及修改仅限一词；2. 只允许修改10处, 多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Nowadays Grade 3 students are general faced with a lot of pressure, which is rather common. To reduce it, the followed suggestions may help. First of all, know exactly what lead to your pressure, then you can take measures to deal with it. Secondly, set up a goal what is not too high, in another words, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Thirdly, find a way to relax you occasionally. For example, you can listen to music, go swim or just simply go walking. Eventually, make friend with others, for example, your classmates, your teachers, or your parents. They will understand you and come to your help when you are really in the trouble. In a word, never get yourself stuck in the pressure for “everything is possible”.
