On September 11, 2001, I was in the second week of the new school year with my senior English class at T. C. Williams High School just a few miles south of the Pentagon.
Suddenly that morning, a colleague who grew up in New York, opened the classroom door and said, "Turn on the TV the World Trade Center has just been hit by a plane. " I've always believed in never letting school get in the way of my students' education. I switched on the TV in front of the room, and my students and I listened to the announcers make a guess about what had happened——only to see the second plane hit. At first, the sight of the towers burning didn't seem to have much more immediacy (紧迫性)than a TV action movie. Soon, however, things in that classroom would get far too immediate.
In what seemed like about a half-hour after the second plane hit, we heard a loud explosion outside the school. Several students were shocked and I told them not to worry, saying that "it was just a car backfiring". A moment later a boy sitting near the windows said, "That's no car； look at that black smoke." We could see an enormous plume of smoke rising in the distance, but didn't know where it was coming from until, a few seconds later, the NBC reporter stationed at the Pentagon broke into the New York coverage to say that he felt the ground shake beneath him as he heard an explosion—obviously the same one that had just surprised my students. It was several minutes before it was announced that the explosion came from a plane hitting the Pentagon.
At that point, a boy a football player suddenly came undone and had to be comforted by the girls in the class. His mom worked in the Pentagon, and when he tried to get her on his cellphone he could not get through.
Reports vastly overestimated the number of deaths in the Pentagon. Some reports were estimating over 800 dead when the actual death toll at the Pentagon was 125.
1.The author was working as on September 11, 200____.
A.a security guard B.a teacher in a school
C.a TV reporter for NBC D.an officer in the Pentagon
2.What can be inferred from the second paragraph?
A.Another plane hit the Pentagon before the author turned on the TV.
B.The author thought the hit got in the way of his students' education.
C.The author's colleague forced him and his students to watch the TV report.
D.The author believed that there exists something deserving attention besides school.
3.Which of the following is TRUE based on the third paragraph?
A.The boy sitting near the windows witnessed the hit.
B.The author tried to comfort his students by telling them the truth.
C.The loud explosion was caused by the plane hitting the Pentagon.
D.The author realized the Pentagon was hit immediately he heard the loud explosion.
4.What does the author mean by mentioning the football player suddenly came undone?
A.The football player lost self-control as he was unable to contact his mum.
B.The football player felt at a loss as his mum left without saying good-bye.
C.The football player was terrified when a car crashed against the school gate.
D.The football player exploded with anger since he was forbidden to use his cell phone.
It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the 'decline of class' and 'classless society' in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.
But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.
One unchanging aspect of a British person's class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded 'educated' and 'soft'. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional city accents. These accents were seen as 'common' and 'ugly'. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.
In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song 'Common People' puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may 'want to live like common people' they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.
1.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.
A. people regard themselves socially different
B. most people belong to middle class
C. it is easy to recognize a person’s class
D. it is time to end class distinction
2.The word “stratification” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.
A. variety B. qualification C. authority D. division
3.British attitudes towards accent ________.
A. are based on regional status
B. have a long tradition
C. are shared by the Americans
D. have changed in recent years
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The middle class is expanding
B. A person’s accent reflects his class
C. Class is a key part of British society
D. Each class has unique characteristics.
It is the season for long lines and frayed nerves. Here’s how to deal.
Lighten up
Do yourself a favor and ship your presents. Nearly every U.S. airline charges a fee to check a bag, so shipping gifts is now cheaper and more convenient than carrying them in your luggage.
Weigh your options
Now knowing what you’re going to pay for your luggage is annoying. So calculate your overweight-luggage fees at home. You can find the fees out in advance by visiting new site Luggage Limits, which provides the latest information on more than 90 airlines.
Leave amateurs in the dust
Trust us and get to the airport an extra half-hour early. The check-in and security lines are filled with inexperienced fliers, and it’s a hard walking. Plus, if you decide to cut it close, you may not get onto the flight at all. To reduce costs, airlines have reduced on flights and routes. The remaining flights are more likely to be oversold, especially on busy travel days. Fliers who check in early are the least likely to get bumped from oversold flights.
Take it public
The rates for renting a car at the airport have more than doubled over the past year because rental lot inventories (财产) have increased dramatically. True, renting at the airport is convenient, but it’s just not worth it anymore. Unless you really need a car, take public transportation, hop a cab, or beg a friend to pick you up at the airport instead.
Say no to bumper cars
Tell the people picking you up to avoid parking their car. They can hang out in their car for free while waiting to get a call from you when you land. Many airports, including JFK and LAX, now feature this sensible choice.
1.Airlines have reduced flights to .
A.lower the cost B.deal with crisis
C.reduce the time for leave D.provide more job chances
2.We can learn from the passage that _____.
A.many airports like JFK provides free parking service
B.shipping presents is more expensive than carrying them in luggage
C.taking a cab at the airport is less expensive than renting a car
D.Luggage Limits can give a discount on overweight luggage fees
3.What’s the best title for the passage?
A.Cars at the Airport B.Good Seasons for Flight
C.How to Board a Flight D.5 Ways to Survive a Holiday Flight.
请阅读下面文字及图片，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
So Close, Yet So Far
Where am I? What am I doing? If you’re one of my 500 friends online, you’ll always be the first to know. My phone and laptop are never out of touching distance, so I’m constantly posting updates on social media—whether I’m having a coffee, on my way to school, watching TV… even when I’m in the shower. I have a never-ending flow of messages and updates from all the people I associate with online.
I live in a university dorm with a couple of great roommates. Yet the truth of the matter is: I feel lonely. A few days ago, I went out for a dinner get-together with some friends. My best friend left the table for 30 minutes because he had to take a call. Some spent the dinner bent over their phones, texting friends online but ignoring the one who sat right in front of them. And the extraordinary thing is no one thought this was rude; it’s just how life is nowadays.
（写作内容）
1. 用约 30 个单词概述上述文字所描述的现象；
2. 分析造成该现象的原因（两至三点）；
3. 请你给 Mark 提两到三条建议。
（写作要求）
1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3. 不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
任务型阅读
The Hidden Meaning of Kids' Scribbles （胡乱画）
A parent might place his daughter's tadpole （蝌蚪） drawing on the fridge out of a love for his child rather than for the funky-looking image ,but for many people， that tadpole art is actually quite charming. In fact ,adult abstract artists were often inspired by children's drawing. Observers have found similar patterns in modem abstract art and kids' drawing.
Acknowledging that young kids aren't as eager to produce a realistic rendering （呈现）helps demonstrate what the drawing experience means to them. For many kids ,drawing is enjoyable not because of the final product it leads to， but because they can live completely in the world of their drawing for a few minutes. Adults may find it hard to relate to this sort of full-body ,short experience. But the opportunities for self-expression that drawing provides have important ,even therapeutic ,value for kids.
Maureen Ingram , who's a preschool teacher，said her students often tell different stories about a given piece of art depending on the day ,perhaps because they weren't sure what they intended to draw when they started the picture. "We as adults will often say，‘ I'm going to draw a horse，and we set out…and get frustrated when we can't do it ," Ingram said. "They seem to take a much more sensible approach， where they just draw, " and then they realize ,"it is a horse."
Ultimately，what may be most revealing about kids，art isn't the art itself but what they say during the drawing process. Studies suggest that kids will create an elaborate narrative （详细的故事）while drawing ,but when telling adults about their work they'll simply name the items or characters in the image.
And what about those odd or scary-looking drawings? Does that mean kids are telling themselves stories that are odd or scary？ It's hard to say，but it's rarely a good idea to over-interpret it. Ellen Winner ,a psychology professor at Boston College， pointed to parents who worry when their kid draws a child the same size as the adults ,wondering whether she's suffering from ,say ,a feeling of impotence -a desire to feel as powerful as older people. But the likely reason is that the child hasn't yet learned how to differentiate size； the easiest solution is to just make all the figures the same size.
What's most important to remember is that "children's art has its own logic ," Winner said. "Children are not being crazy."
Passage outline | Supporting details |
Different angles of looking at kids' drawing | Parents might display kids' drawing at home as an1.of love for their children. Adult abstract artists could draw 2.from kids' drawing. |
Real3.of drawing experience to kids | Kids enjoy the4.of drawing rather than the final product. Though kids' drawing experience is hard for adults to 5.，it allows kids to express themselves. |
Typical characteristics of kids in drawing | kids just draw 6.and then they realize they have drawn something， not like adults who know what they intend to draw. Kids create stories while drawing， but can't tell them 7. |
A professor's opinions | There is no 8. to over-interpret odd or scary-looking drawings. Kids are 9. to be less knowledgeable. For instance， they may have no idea about size. |
Conclusion | Children's art seems 10. on the surface， but it has its own logic. |
To err is human. Society is suffering from an inability to acknowledge as much.
For individuals, errors are painful. The trick, then, is to err well: to recognize mistakes and learn from them. Worryingly, humanity may be getting worse at admitting its mistakes.
Few enjoy the feeling of being caught out in an error. But real trouble starts when the desire to avoid a punishment leads to a refusal to deal with contrary evidence. Economists often assume that people are sensible. When faced with a new fact, these people should update their view of the world to take better decisions in future. Yet years of economic research confirms that people frequently disregard information that conflicts with their view of the world.
Why should that be? Last year Roland Benabou, of Princeton, presented a framework for thinking about the problem. In many ways, beliefs are like other economic goods. People spend time and resources building them, and get value from them: some beliefs make owners feel good and show their public identity; other beliefs provide value by shaping behavior—for example, religious asceticism(禁欲主义) can help one avoid unhealthy habits.
Because beliefs, however, are not simply tools for making good decisions, but are treasured in their own right, new information that challenges them is unwelcome. People often engage in “motivated reasoning” to manage such challenges. Mr Benabou classifies this into three categories. “Strategic ignorance” is when a believer avoids information offering conflicting evidence. In “reality denial”， troubling evidence is rationalized(合理化)：real estate investors might make up fanciful theories for why prices should behave unusually, and supporters of a disgraced politician might claim the negative news to be fake. And lastly, in “selfsignalling”， the believer creates his own tools to interpret the facts in the way he wants: an unhealthy person, for example, might decide that going for a daily run proves he is well.
“Motivated reasoning” is a cognitive bias(偏见). Not all the errors it leads to are costly: praising the performance of one's supported football team despite contradictory evidence does little harm. But when biases are broadly shared—within financial world or political parties—danger arises. Motivated reasoning helps explain why viewpoints polarize (两极分化) even as information is more easily available than ever before.
Work by Mr Benabou suggests that groupthink is highest when people within groups face a shared fate: when choosing to break from a group is unlikely to spare an individual the costs of the group's errors or bring much individual benefit. The incentive(动力) to engage in motivated reasoning is high as a result. Even as the fact on a particular issue is obvious, parties can still become increasingly polarized. That, in turn, can make it harder still for a member of one party to get any benefit from breaking from a group. Indeed, the group has an incentive to silence independent voices.
Public statements of regret are risky in a rigidly polarized world. Admissions of error can not only annoy partners but also provide opportunities for opponents. But it is rarely in the interest of those in the right to pretend that they are never wrong.
1.According to the passage, beliefs are similar to economic goods in that ________．
A.both are entertaining and valuable B.both can be shaped by religious faith
C.both can reflect who the owners are D.both promote religious development
2.Which of the following is an example of “selfsignalling”？
A.A fan speaks highly of his team although it has just lost the game.
B.A man covers his ears when stealing a bell, believing the bell won't ring.
C.Supporters of Trump believe the news about his affairs with a lady is fake.
D.Suspected AIDS carriers refuse to be tested though it can be done for free.
3.What can be inferred from Paragraphs 6 and 7?
A.Polarization causes individuals to break from the group.
B.Richer sources of information decrease motivated reasoning.
C.Individuals with independent voices are dismissed from the group.
D.Individuals in a group engage in motivated reasoning for their own interests.
4.Which of the following opinions might the author agree with?
A.Denying errors is unavoidable.
B.Failure to admit errors is harmful.
C.Humans are getting better at erring well.
D.Wise people ignore contrary worldviews.
