Love to sink into your chairs and relax when you get to school? Then you will not be happy to hear that schools all over the world are seriously considering exchanging traditional desks for ones with no seats at all — Yes, that means you will be encouraged to stand through those already too long math and science lessons! Why would anyone even think of putting kids to such cruelty? Experts say it improves their health and helps fight obesity. While that may seem a little far-fetched (牵强的), the officials at the few schools around the world seem to agree.
Among them are educators from the College Station Independent School District in Texas, who recently completed a week-long experiment involving 480 students across three elementary schools. The 374 kids that agreed to participate in the study were provided with a device that helped record step count and calorie consumption over the entire period.
All 25 teachers involved in the study reported that students appeared to be more alert and concentrate better, when allowed to stand. The one thing that did surprise the researchers was that younger kids were more willing to stay standing than kids in higher grades. They believe this may have something to do with the fact that after years of being asked to “sit still”, older kids have a harder time adjusting to this unexpected freedom.
American schools are not the only ones reporting success with stand-up desks. Four Catholic schools in Perth, Australia, which have been testing them since October 2013, have seen similar results. In May 2014, Grove House Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire, became Europe’s first test one, with a seven-week trial that involved the use of desks made by Ergotron in their fifth-grade classrooms. While official results are not out yet, early reactions from both teachers and students, have been extremely encouraging.
The findings of these studies and others done previously, all seem to mean that allowing kids to move around in classrooms is a win-win for students and teachers — it helps kids get healthier and provides educators with a more engaged audience.
1.According to the teachers, older students may not like stand-up desks because ____________.
A. they are cleverer than younger students
B. they are easily tired of standing long
C. they have formed the habit of sitting
D. they do badly in class while standing
2.What is most likely to be the result of the seven-week trial?
A. The standing desks can’t be used at all.
B. It is good for students to use stand-up desks.
C. More tests should be done in other schools.
D. The students are different in personality.
3.Why do the teachers like the standing desks?
A. Because the educators can draw the students’ attention.
B. Because the teachers can keep the students healthy.
C. Because the students can have a walk in the classroom..
D. Because the standing desks can keep the students concentrated.
The expression “a thirst for knowledge" may soon have a new meaning for millions of people who have no way to get clean water. Researchers have developed a book with specially treated pages that can turn dirty water into clean and drinkable water. They say their invention could improve the lives of many in the developing world.
About 700 million people around the world are at risk of disease or even death because their drinking water is not clean. The water is polluted by harmful bacteria.
The book contains 25 pages. Each page is about one millimeter thick. The pages contain very small particles (微粒) of silver. The pages can be used as filters（过滤器）to remove harmful microorganisms (微生物) that can pollute drinking water. The filter kills the organisms that pass through it.
Pictures on the pages show the dangers of dirty water and how to use the book for those unable to read. The pages are made of filter paper. They are designed to be torn from the book. Water can be poured through the paper to be cleaned.
Ms. Dankovich, the inventor, says each page can treat up to 100 liters of water. She recently presented her invention at the meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, Massachusetts. She was asked whether she had considered adding classic literature on the book's pages.
"The idea of classic texts—that's of interest maybe later. We have discussed a little bit more exciting text. But we really haven't had the time to go through that part," she says.
Teri Dankovich and another researcher tested the drinkable book in Bangladesh, Ghana and South Africa. The tests proved to be successful.
Water for Life, a non-governmental organization, has provided financial support for the project.
1.What do we learn about the book from the text?
A. It sells well around the world.
B. It has pages with several functions.
C. It is about environment protection.
D. It can treat about 100 liters of water.
2.What does the underlined phrase "that part" in Paragraph 6 refer to?
A. Classic texts. B. Invention presentation.
C. Exciting discussion. D. Financial support.
3.In which country did not the researchers test the drinkable book?
A. Bangladesh. B. Ghana
C. South Africa. D. America.
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Researchers have found a way to save those being ill.
B. Millions of people are in great need of drinkable water.
C. Book pages could provide safe drinking water.
D. Knowledge is as important as drinkable water.
Most book reviews start with a heading that includes all the basic information about the book, like:
Title.
Author.
Place of publication, publisher, date of publication.
Number of pages.
Like most pieces of writing, the review usually begins with an introduction that lets your readers know what the review will say. The first paragraph usually includes the author and title again, so your readers don’t have to look up to find this information. You should also include a very brief description of the contents of the book, the purpose or audience for the book, and your reaction and evaluation.
Then you move into a section of background information that helps place the book in context and discusses criteria (准则）for judging the book. Next, the review gives a summary of the main points of the book, quoting and explaining key phrases from the author. Finally, you get to the heart of your review – your evaluation of the book. In this section, you might discuss some of the following issues:
how well the book has achieved its goal
what possibilities are suggested by the book
what the book has left out
how the book compares with others on the subject
what specific points are not convincing
what personal experiences you’ve had related to the subject.
It is important to use labels to carefully distinguish your views from the author’s, so that you don’t confuse your reader.
Then, like other essays, you can end with a direct comment on the book, and tie together issues raised in the review in a conclusion.
There is, of course, no set form, but a general rule is that the first one–half to two–thirds of the review should summarize the author’s main ideas and at least one–third should evaluate the book.
1.What is the most important part of a book review?
A．The heading. B．The evaluation.
C．The conclusion. D．The introduction.
2.It can be confusing to readers if _____ .
A．there is no heading in a book review
B．the book has achieved its goal
C．the viewer’s point of view is not distinguished from the author’s
D．the book is compared with others on the same subject
3.What is NOT suggested for a book review in this passage?
A．Quoting from the author of the book.
B．Providing some book information.
C．Analyzing only the author of the book.
D．Comparing the book with others of a similar subject.
4.The best title for this passage is “ _____”.
A．Steps to follow
B．Tips for writing a book review
C．The way to develop your idea
D．Things not to be avoided in a book review
Last Thursday, Michael and Linda stood behind large food trucks distributing meals to 4,000 homeless people for their wedding reception on the border town of Kilis. The couple had decided that instead of hosting their friends and family for a traditional feast reception, they would feed the victims from an earthquake-stricken area.
The idea came from the bridegroom's father, Ted, who volunteers for a Turkish relief organization. For the past few years, the organization has distributed daily meals to thousands of people who've suffered from natural disasters. He approached a representative of the organization and suggested that the family cover part of the costs of feeding them for the day.
Then he told his son, who was surprised by the suggestion, but soon won over. When he told that to the bride, she was really shocked but finally accepted because in southeastern Turkey there is a real culture of sharing with people in need. They love to share their food, their table and everything they have. And afterwards she was quite amazed about it. So, they arrived at the distribution center on Thursday to spend the day serving food and taking photographs with their grateful recipients（接受者）．
On Tuesday evening, the newly married couple were still pleased with their decision to quit a personal celebration for one with a greater good. "It's like sharing a dinner with your friends and family who have this kind of thing on a daily basis or sharing something with people who don't even have the most basic things," Michael said. "Hopefully, this will also give the start for other wedding dinners to be held here with our brothers and sisters in need."
1.Why did so many people crowd in Kilis?
A. To attend Michael and Linda's wedding.
B. To support the organization.
C. To escape the damaging earthquake.
D. To help distribute free daily meals.
2.How did the couple celebrate their wedding?
A. They treated their friends and relatives to a big dinner.
B. They shared their happiness with the homeless in Kilis.
C. They afforded the entire cost of the day for feeding victims.
D. They took photos with the grateful victims.
3.What does the underlined word "approached" in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. took in B. moved towards
C. came across D. consulted with
4.We can know from the text that __________________..
A. Kilis is a place which lies in southeastern Turkey
B. Ted was a representative of the organization
C. Linda adopted the suggestion immediately she heard it
D. Michael doubted if more new couples would follow him
书面表达
假如你是中学生李华，你收到正在学习汉语的美国笔友Peter的电子邮件，说他在汉语学习中遇到了困难，感到非常着急。请根据以下要点给他回信并提出建议，帮他来解决这方面的困难。
1.不要担忧，要有信心。2.给自己更多练习汉语的机会。3.让自己浸泡在汉语的环境当中。
要求：1.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。 2.词数：100词左右。
3.邮件的开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Peter,
I have received your letter.
Yours truly,
Li Hua
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。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：在错的词下面划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
In life people make many decisions, some of what are so important that they affect us greatly.
My latest decision is made when I entered Senior 3 in Miss Zhang's class. Since I was not good in English, Miss Zhang asked me to listen attentive in class and put down some important notes. Therefore, I was never a good listener. I went on in my own way, ignore her suggestions completely until Miss Zhang had talk with me. He made me realize the importance of note-taking.
From this experience, I have realized a good decision benefits from people. We should learn to take others’ advices and do the right things.
