About 30 years ago, I left Cuba for the United States with my son. After getting settled finally in Brunswick, New Jersey, I enrolled(注册)my son in kindergarten. Several weeks later, my son’s teacher asked me to meet him at his office.
In the teacher’s office, an exchange of greetings was followed by his questions:“Is your son mentally retarded(弱智的)? Does he suffer from any kind of mental disability?”
Was he talking about my wonderful Scola? No, no, it can’t be. What a helpless, lonely moment! I told him that Scola was a quiet, sweet little boy, instead. I asked him why he was asking me all these questions.
My son could not follow the teacher’s directions, he told me, and thus, Scola was disrupting the class. Didn’t he know my son did not speak English yet?
He was angry:“Why hasn’t your son been taught to speak English? Don’t you speak English at home?”
No, I didn’t speak English at home, I replied. I was sure my son would learn English in a couple of months, and I didn’t want him to forget his native language. Well, wrong answer! What kind of person would not speak in English to her son at home and at all times? “Are you one of those people who come to this country to save dollars and send them back to their country, never wanting to be a part of this society?”
Needless to say, I tried to tell him I was not one of“those people”. Then he told me the meeting was over, and I left.
As I had expected, my son learned to speak English fluently before the school year was over. He went on to graduate from college and got a job, earning close to six figures. He travels widely and leads a well-adjusted, contented life. And he has benefited from being bilingual(双语的).
Speaking more than one language allows people to communicate with others;it teaches people about other cultures and other places-something very basic and obviously lacking in the“educator”I met in New Jersey.
1.The teacher asked the author to his office _______.
A.to discuss Scola’s in-class performance
B.to get Scola enrolled in kindergarten
C.to find a language partner for Scola
D.to work out a study plan for Scola
2.What does the underlined word“disrupting”in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Breaking. B.Following.
C.Attending. D.Disturbing.
3.The author’s attitude towards being bilingual may best be described as _______.
A.critical B.casual
C.positive D.passive
Fun Day
To celebrate the Year of the snake
Organised by Lam Tin Youth Centre and Kwun Tong High School
Date: 2 February 2013
Time: 10 am—5 pm
Place: Kwun Tong Playground
Fee: $20 (buy three get one free)
Programmes: drama, lion dance, magic show and ballet performance
Highlights: 1) enter the lucky draw to win a digital camera
2) learn to make festival food
Join us on the Fun Day!
All are welcome!
Free Soft Drinks
Note:
● Tickets are available at the General Office of Lam Tin Youth Center
● For those who would like to be a volunteer, please contact Miss Olivia Wong one week before the activity.
1.What you have just read is a ________.
A.note B.poster C.schedule D.report
2.What is going to take place on 2 February 2013?
A.A big event to welcome a Chinese new year.
B.A social gathering to raise money for wildlife.
C.A party for close friends to meet and have fun.
D.A meeting of Kwun Tong High School students.
3.How much do you have to pay in total if four of you go together?
A.$20. B.$40. C.$80. D.$60.
4.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Tickets are sold in Kwun Tong High School.
B.Free digital cameras are provided for everybody.
C.It’s unnecessary to take soft drinks with you.
D.Festival food will be served without extra charge.
假定你是李华，长沙大剧院（Changsha Grand Theatre）将上演经典越剧（Shaoxing opera）《梁山伯与祝英台》（Butterfly Lovers）。请写封邮件邀请你校来自英国的交换生 Chris一起观看，内容包括：
1. 写信目的；
2. 演出信息；
3. 观看理由（至少两条）。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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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。
I will share one experience with you. With the College Entrance Examination draw near, I was filled with great anxiety. However, I couldn’t be absorbed in study, resulting from my failing in the examination. I got very discouraging. Just then, my teacher, Miss Zhang, approached me and said, “In life we all have moments when we can’t achieve what we want to. It is natural. Don’t allow those moments to weaken you, or turn them into motivation to inspire yourself.” Her words were reminder that provided me with constant encouragement to smile at life. Consequently, I gained that I deserved.
So it is an optimistic attitude which matters most of all. It gives you the confidence to deal with difficulties and to achieve success in your life.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam-home of the world’s largest1.(collect) of Van Gogh’s works-has carried out an extensive x-ray study of some pieces, only2.(discover) the Dutchman’s famous Sunflowers is in the process of losing its color. The scan, carried out by Dutch and Belgian experts, shows that the lemon-yellow color in the flowers’ petals and stems3.(be) slowly turning brown because of being exposed 4.lights.
The color change in the work is not visible to the naked eye yet, but it is still unclear when and if the yellows of the canvas5.(darken) soon. However, the Amsterdam museum’s discovery could have a wide significance, 6. Van Gogh could have used the same paint in the other Sunflowers or even in paintings with other subjects. Marije Vellekoop, head of the research at the museum said, “At the moment, we are processing all the research results of this painting, after 7. we will determine how we will pay 8.(far) attention to discoloration in our museum.”
Moreover, the discovery could lead to changes in how Van Gogh’s works are stored and shown internationally. The Van Gogh Museum is 9.(continuous) exploring ways to preserve and restore the productive painter’s works, 10.(lower) the lighting around its 200 paintings and 400 drawings five years ago.
Like many of the protesters (抗议者) at Occupy Wall Street in New York, Amanda Vodola is young, underemployed and loaded with student debt. She spends her days _________, helping _________ the movement, and her evenings waiting tables at a restaurant in Brooklyn. Last spring, she graduated from Fordham University with a degree in English. “I grew up with this narrative that to get a good job I need to go to school,” she says. But the job she has “is not enough to pay the bills”. And the bills she has _________ most about are the ones tied to that narrative: the $30,000 she _________ in college loans.
In November, when their six-month grace period run _________, Vodola and millions of other students who graduated in May have to start _________ their loans. Repayment requirements for private loans kick in (开始生效) _________ whether _________ have found jobs. Since employment rates for recent college graduates have _________ in the past two years, as have starting salaries, the __________ of a sharp rise in student-loan delinquencies (到期未付) has led some economists to __________ that this could be the next __________ crisis, rippling (波及) into the wider economy. Total US student-loan debt, which __________ credit-card debt for the first time last year, is on track to __________ $1,000 billion this year. That’s a nearly 8% __________ over last year.
But neither these __________ nor the voices of students, __________ by debt, at protests in cities and on campuses throughout the nation are likely to keep the families of high school seniors from seeing a brand-name education as a __________ to a better life. They’ve long been told that higher education is an __________ in the future—even as the costs of college has __________ 538% over the past thirty years.
1.A.running around B.keeping fit C.warming up D.checking out
2.A.establish B.resemble C.found D.organize
3.A.puzzled B.interrupted C.worried D.carried
4.A.collects B.owes C.costs D.accounts
5.A.down B.up C.off D.out
6.A.raising B.repaying C.rearranging D.rating
7.A.although B.in contrast with C.regardless of D.because of
8.A.borrowers B.owners C.lenders D.holders
9.A.dropped B.changed C.collapsed D.slimmed
10.A.stability B.possibility C.promotion D.security
11.A.command B.instruct C.appreciate D.predict
12.A.political B.religious C.financial D.legal
13.A.decreased B.topped C.compared D.lowered
14.A.hit B.knock C.blow D.strike
15.A.advance B.progress C.transfer D.increase
16.A.conclusions B.graphs C.statistics D.abstracts
17.A.rejected B.burdened C.admitted D.boycotted
18.A.sign B.label C.fame D.ticket
19.A.investment B.instrument C.indication D.inspiration
20.A.strengthened B.flown C.zoomed D.broken
