The United States will introduce a new exam system for students who want to study in the USA and other English-speaking countries, Xinhua News Agency reported from New York.
The exam, which means a great change from the current English level test, was introduced by Theresa Jen, associate director of the International Service of the USA College Board, America's leading educational organization.
"The Advanced Placement International English Language (APIEL) will be offered for the first time all over the world on May 10, 2012," said Jen.
However, the APIEL is a strange title to most Chinese students, and it is unlikely to soon gain the similarity(相似点) of other already existing exams, such as the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), the GRE (Graduate Record Examination), or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System).
"I have never heard of such a test and I would prefer the IELTS if I need another exam," said Xu Jingyan, a graduating student from Beijing University, who wants to study in England and has already taken the TOEFL.
Most of Xu's classmates have never heard of the APIEL. "The APIEL is made for international students who wish to get university studies in English-speaking countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia. " Jen said.
"The APIEL will be used," said Jen, "because the TOEFL can no longer perfectly show the students' abilities of using English. " Xinhua reported that a large number of foreign students who had high scores in TOEFL exam turned out to be very ordinary educational performers after being admitted.
"Compared with the TOEFL, the APIEL measures a student's ability to read, write, speak and understand 'English through testing his or her skills in listening comprehension, speaking with fluency, and writing in an organized way. " Jen said.
【小题1】The underlined word "current" in the second paragraph means .
A.high | B.present | C.low | D.formal |
A.the TOEFL is more popular with the Chinese than the IELTS |
B.it will take quite a period of time for people to accept the APIEL |
C.Chinese students will prefer the IELTS rather than the APIEL even in the future |
D.a student will have to take the APIEL if he/ she wants to study in English-speaking countries from 2012 |
A.the United States and Canada | B.Canada and Ireland |
C.Australia and India | D.Britain and France |
A.it will bring the US government quite a lot of money |
B.more and more students want to get further education in the USA |
C.the existing exam systems can no longer perfectly show the students' abilities |
D.the Chinese pay special attention to English studies with China's entry into the WTO |
A.A New Exam Designed for Students |
B.The Four Skills in Learning English |
C.The Key to English-speaking Countries |
D.TOEFL, IELTS and GRE to Be out of Date |
【小题1】B
【小题2】B
【小题3】A
【小题4】C
【小题5】A
解析试题分析:本文是一篇新闻报道,介绍了针对去说英语国家的学生将要采用的一种叫The Advanced Placement International English Language (APIEL)新的考试体系。这种考试比目前的考试制度能够更好的体现学生的英语能力。
【小题1】B词义猜测题。从文章内容可知美国将使用一种新的考试制度,所以这是对于目前考试制度的改变,由此猜测current意思是“目前的,现行的”,故答案选B。
【小题2】B推理判断题。文章第三段介绍这种新型的考试制度对中国学生来说是很陌生的,然后第四段和第五段分别介绍了两个例子,由此判断人们目前很难去接受这种新型考试制度,选B。
【小题3】A 细节理解题。从文章第一段内容The United States will introduce a new exam system for students who want to study in the USA and other English-speaking countries,可知这种考试体系是针对想去美国等说英语国家的学生们,在四个选项中只有B选项的两个国家都是说英语国家,故答案选A。
【小题4】C细节理解题。根据文章倒数二、三段内容可知以前的考试体系不能很好的体现学生的能力,故答案选C。
【小题5】A主旨大意题。本文是一篇新闻报道,在文章开头提出The United States will introduce a new exam system for students,然后在正文中进行详细介绍,由此判断A选项内容可以体现文章中心,选A。
考点:考查新闻报道类短文阅读
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
“When I grow up, I want to be...”
Almost all of us have thought about, or been asked to think about, our future careers. Our answers may differ greatly. Even now your aspirations may have changed from when you were in primary school.
However, it seems career options aren’t only based on personal taste. In a survey carried out by Teens, doctors, lawyers, and bankers were some of most popular careers that people said they hoped to follow. This is in line with a similar survey carried out in the UK in May 2011 by job website monster. Co.uk, in which medicine was the top choice among UK teenagers aged between 13 and 17.
Medicine and law are two of the oldest and best known professions. Their prestige (威望) may come from the fact that doctors and lawyers are some of the most esteemed members of society, and they make good money. Joining these high-profile professions is often seen as a sign of upward social mobility.
It is equally unsurprising that banking is now one of the most common career choices. Youngsters worldwide think of banking and see the money rolling in. Wealth is increasingly becoming one of the most important indicators of a successful career. British young men list the UK tycoon Alan Sugar, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg as their top role models “for their wealth”. Just as Chinese teenagers see being a banker as a good and fun pathway to “wealth”.
However, not every child has the makings of doctor, lawyer, or banker. They are those who see fulfillment and happiness in other areas, and many teenagers dare to ink more individuality into their career options. As the Teens’ survey discovered, a variety of unconventional jobs---coffee shop owner, gourmet(美食家),waiter at a fast food restaurant---are among teenagers’ career choices. They can be equally interesting and rewarding jobs.
With every choice comes responsibility and challenge, and all career paths require specific education and training, you have to learn to balance optimism and confidence with being realistic about your particular talents and skills.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?
A.Careers in teenagers’ mind. |
B.Choosing a good job is very important. |
C.Teenagers in the UK like doctors. |
D.The choice of career needs challenge. |
A.Medicine | B.Law | C.Bank | D.Education |
A.respect from others | B.the oldest profession |
C.high pay | D.upward social mobility. |
A.According to your particular talents and skills, you can choose your favorite career. |
B.Specific education and training can help get a good job. |
C.Whatever career you choose, you should balance optimism and confidence with being realistic about your particular talents and skills. |
D.Responsibility is the most important when you choose a good job. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Decision-making under Stress
A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways. “Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress. This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.
The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different. Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.
【小题1】We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.
A.keep rewards better in their memory |
B.recall consequences more effortlessly |
C.make risky decisions more frequently |
D.learn a subject more effectively |
A.ways of making choices | B.preference for pleasure |
C.tolerance of punishments | D.responses to suggestions |
A.women find it easier to fall into certain habits |
B.men have a greater tendency to slow down |
C.women focus more on outcomes |
D.men are more likely to take risks |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
My mind went blank when I saw the gun pointing against the car window as we pulled out of the garage. This can’t be happening to me. Then I felt the gun, cold, against my head, and I heard my friend Jeremy saying, “What do you want? Take my wallet,” but at the time I thought of nothing.
I remember being a little annoyed when the gunman pulled me from the car by the hair. I remember the walk to the house --- Jeremy, me, the two men with two guns. I remember the fear and anger in the gunmen’s voices because Jeremy was being slow, and I remember wondering why he was being slow. I did not realize that Jeremy had thrown the keys into the bush. But I remember that sound of the gun hitting Jeremy’s head and the feeling as the man who had hold of my hair released me. And I remember the split second when I realized he was looking at Jeremy, and I remember wondering how far I could run before he pulled the trigger. But I was already running, and upon reaching the car across the street, I didn’t crouch(蹲伏) behind it but screamed instead.
I remember thinking there was something ridiculous and illogical about screaming “Help, help!” at eight o’clock on a Tuesday evening in December and changing my plea(恳求) to the more specific “Help, let me in, please let me in!” But the houses were cold, closed, unfriendly, and I ran on until I heard Jeremy’s screams behind me announcing that our attackers had fled.
The neighbors who had not opened their doors to us came out with baseball bats and helped Jeremy find his glasses and keys. In a group they were very brave. We waited for the police to come until someone said to someone else that the noodles were getting cold, and I said politely, “Please go and eat. We’re O.K.”
I was happy to see them go. They had been talking of stricter sentences for criminals, of bringing back the death penalty(处罚) and how the President is going to clean up the country. I was thinking, they could be saying all of this over my dead body, and I still feel that stiffer sentences wouldn’t change a thing. In a rush all the anger I should have felt for my attackers was directed against these contented people standing in front of their warm, comfortable homes talking about all the guns they were going to buy. What good would guns have been to Jeremy and me?
People all over the neighborhood had called to report our screams, and the police turned out in force twenty minutes later. They were ill-tempered about what was, to them, much trouble about nothing. After all, Jeremy was hardly hurt, and we were hopeless when it came to describing the gunmen. “Typical,” said one policeman when we couldn’t even agree on how tall the men were. Both of us were able to describe the guns in horrifying detail, but the two policemen who stayed to make the report didn’t think that would be much help.
The policemen were matter-of-fact about the whole thing. The thin one said, “That was a stupid thing to do, throwing away the keys. When a man has a gun against your head you do what you’re told.” Jeremy looked properly embarrassed.
Then the fat policeman came up and the thin one went to look around the outside of the house. “That was the best thing you could have done, throwing away the keys,” he said. “If you had gone into the house with them…” His voice became weaker. “They would have hurt her” --- he twisted his head toward me – “and killed you both.” Jeremy looked happier. “Look,” said the fat policeman kindly, “there’s no right or wrong in the situation. There’s just luck.”
All that sleepless night I replayed the moment those black gloves came up to the car window. How long did the whole thing last? Three minutes, five, eight? No matter how many hours of my life I may spend reliving it, I know there is no way to prepare for the next time --- no intelligent response to a gun. The fat cop was right. There’s only luck. The next time I might end up dead.
And I’m sure there will be a next time. It can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone. Security is an illusion(幻觉); there is no safety in locks or in guns. Guns make some people feel safe and some people feel strong, but they’re fooling themselves.
【小题1】When the writer saw the gun pointing against the car window, ______.
A.she felt very annoyed | B.she lost consciousness |
C.she felt very much nervous | D.she lost the power of thinking |
A.Jeremy’s fighting | B.The author’s screaming |
C.Their neighbour’s brave action | D.The police’s arrival |
A.they were much too frightened |
B.they were busy preparing dinners |
C.they needed time to find baseball bats |
D.they thought someone was playing a trick |
A.she hated to listen to their empty talk |
B.she did not want to become an object of pity |
C.she was angered by their being late to come to her help |
D.she wanted to be left alone with Jeremy to get over the shock |
A.the author was not hurt and gave a false alarm |
B.they thought it was a case of little importance |
C.the author and Jeremy could not tell the police anything |
D.the gunmen had already fled when they arrived on the scene |
A.neighbors are not helpful in moments of difficulty |
B.the police are not reliable when one is in trouble |
C.security is impossible as long as people can have guns |
D.preventing robbers entering your house is the best choice |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:单选题
WASHINGTON—Laura Straub is a very worried woman. Her job is to find families for foreign teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.
It is not easy, even desperate.
“We have many children left to place—40 out of 75,” said Straub, who works for a foreign exchange programme called LEC.
When foreign exchange programmes started 50 years ago, more families were accommodating. For one thing, more mothers stayed at home. But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange-student programmes have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30, 000 teenagers who come from abroad every year to spend an academic year in the United States, as well as the thousands more who take part in summer programmes.
School systems in many parts of the U.S., unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accept. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less exotic(有异国情调的).
In search for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programmes are increasingly broadening their requests to include everyone from young couples to the retired.
“We are open to many different types of families,” said Vickie Weiner, eastern regional director for ASSE, a 25-year-old programme that sends about 30,000 teenagers on academic-year exchange programmes worldwide.
For elderly people, exchange students “keep us young—they really do”, said Jen Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Post from Denmark.
【小题1】According to the text, why was it easier for Laura Straub to find American families for foreign students?
A.American school systems were better than now. |
B.The government was happy because it could gain tax. |
C.Foreign students paid hosting families a lot of money. |
D.More mothers didn’t work outside and could look after children. |
A.extend the range of host families |
B.limit the number of the exchange students |
C.borrow much money to pay for the costs |
D.make hosting foreign students more exotic |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Owning a smart phone may not be as smart as you think. They may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and snap photos wherever you are… but they also turn you into a workaholic, it seems.
A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the all-singing, all-dancing mobile phone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles.
The study by technology retailer Pixmania reveals the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further two hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls. More than 90 percent of office workers have an email-enabled phone, with a third accessing them more than 20 times a day. Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers confess they are on call almost 24 hours a day, with nine out of ten saying they take work emails and calls outside their normal working hours. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 7 am, with more than a third checking their first email in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11 pm and midnight.
Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said, “The ability to access literally millions of apps, keep in contact via social networks and take photos and video as well as text and call has made smart phones invaluable for many people. However, there are drawbacks. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smart phones mean that people literally cannot get away from work. The more constantly in contact we become, the more is expected of us in a work capacity.”
【小题1】What can we conclude from the text?
A.All that glitters is not gold. |
B.Every coin has two sides. |
C.It never rains but pours. |
D.It’s no good crying over spilt milk. |
A.calling | B.reaching |
C.getting | D.using |
A.The average UK working day is between nine and twelve hours. |
B.Nine-tenths spend over three hours checking work emails. |
C.One fourth check their first mails between 11 pm and midnight. |
D.The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 8 am. |
A.Workaholics like smart phones. |
B.Smart phones bring about extra work. |
C.Smart phones make our live easier. |
D.Employers don’t like smart phones. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
As has been all too apparent in recent days at Balcombe, few issues cause greater concern than energy policy. Many village communities feel their countryside is being ruined by the power-producing machines of wind farms; yet they never take "direct action", even though the planning laws put them at a severe disadvantage. And the generous subsidies (财政补贴) , which encourage the expansion of wind power, are not favorable to the village communities and set landowners in conflict with other residents (居民) .
Those who disagree with the rapid expansion of wind farms state that the damage they cause is out of proportion(比例) to the benefits they bring, because their energy output cannot match that of the carbon-based power stations they are supposed to replace. Supporters insist that wind must be part of a mix of renewables, nuclear and carbon, and that the country is committed to meeting EU ( European Union) targets for non-carbon energy generation. ZXXK
Against this background, the fact that there is an argument within the Government over whether to publish an official report on wind farms' impact on the countryside becomes even more extraordinary. The two parties in the coalition (联合) government are in disagreement over what it should say.
We have some advice for the two parties: publish the report, and let the country be the judge. Even if it contains evidence that wind farms are harmful, it will hardly be a pleasant surprise to people who do not like them. Equally, supporters must argue their case by acknowledging the concerns and explaining why they are either misplaced or worthy of much attention.
The suggestion that further negotiations are to take place to produce an "acceptable" report suggests that the politics of coalition government are doing the country harm in a certain way. Given the sensitivities involved, all the information should be available so that people can reach their own conclusions, rather than being left with the suspicion(猜疑)that facts are being replaced by political beliefs.
【小题1】We can learn from the first paragraph that__________.
A.energy policy catches much attention of the public |
B.the residents are in favor of the expansion of wind farms |
C.many village communities are satisfied with the subsidies |
D.the planning laws offer great benefits to the residents |
A.is more rapid than that of carbon-based power |
B.guarantees an increase in energy output |
C.is expected to be much better than that of nuclear power |
D.agrees with EU targets for non-carbon energy generation |
A.an official report will settle the energy problem |
B.the two parties are divided over the issue of wind farms |
C.the two parties have agreed on a further negotiation |
D.political beliefs concerning energy issue go against facts |
A.Increase political impact on energy policy. |
B.Release a statement of supporters on wind farms. |
C.Let the nation judge the facts about wind power. |
D.Leave the two parties to reach their own conclusions. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
University of Maryland student Ben Simon and his friends couldn’t stand to see good food thrown out on their campus.“We basically noticed that some of the extra food from the dining hall was going to waste at the end of the day.And we met with the dining services and asked them whether it would be okay if instead of throwing out the food we would donate it.And they were on board,” he said.
So 18 months ago,the students began what they call the Food Recovery Network.Each night,volunteers would show up at a campus dining hall to pick up leftovers and deliver them to area shelters and food banks.So far,they have donated more than 23 000 kilos of food that would otherwise have been thrown out.
Nationwide,$165 billion worth of food is wasted each year,according to the National Resources Defense Council.Spokesman Bob Keefe says that is about 40% of the country’s entire food production.“If we can reduce our waste in this country by 15%,we can feed 25 million hungry Americans.That is a huge benefit.That is what programs like this Food Recovery Network are doing,” he said.
Christian Life Center is one of the beneficiaries (受益者) of the students’ efforts.Ben Slye,the senior pastor (牧师),said,“It has been just amazing to see these students take their own time,their own vehicles and own gas money and be able to make an effort like this.Each week we are able with this food probably to feed over hundred people.”
The University of Maryland’s Food Recovery Network now has 200 volunteers and the program has expanded to 18 schools across the country.“I want to grow 18 chapters to a thousand chapters within five years.And once we get to the Food Recovery Nation being at every college campus in America,we want to expand to restaurants and farms.” said Simon.
The volunteers are committed to making that happen.
【小题1】The dining services in University of Maryland________.
A.threw out good food on the campus |
B.supported the volunteers’ job |
C.enjoyed the talk with the students |
D.donated their leftovers to the poor |
A.started the Food Recovery Network two years ago |
B.delivered leftovers as well as money to shelters |
C.helped to solve the hunger issues in America |
D.donated leftovers to avoid food waste |
A.unconcern | B.doubt |
C.appreciation | D.opposition |
A.over 40% of the country’s entire food is wasted each year |
B.altogether 25 million Americans suffer from hunger nowadays |
C.Simon aims to expand the program to restaurants and farms |
D.every college has started the Food Recovery Network |
A.College Students Rescue Leftover Food |
B.Battles Against the Problem of Hunger |
C.How to Pick up Leftovers on College Campuses |
D.Waste Problems in University of Maryland |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
A team of British surgeons has carried out Gaza’s(加沙)first organ transplants for a long-term plan to train local medical staff to perform the operations.
Two patients underwent kidney(肾脏)transplants at the Shifa, Gaza’s biggest public hospital. The operations were conducted a fortnight ago by a volunteer medical team from the Royal Liverpool hospital.
Ziad Matouk, 42, was born with one kidney and was diagnosed with renal failure(肾衰竭)several years ago. Matouk, whose wife donated one of her kidneys, hopes to return to his job within six months. The couple had sought a transplant in Cairo, but were rejected as unsuitable at a state hospital and could not afford the fee at a private hospital. “We were desperate,” said Matouk.
The UK-Gaza link-up began about a year ago after Abdelkader Hammad, a doctor at the Royal Liverpool hospital, was contacted by an anaesthetist(麻醉师)at the Shifa, who outlined the difficulties the Gaza hospital was facing with dialysis(透析). The Shifa is forced to rely on generators because of power cuts; spare parts for its ageing dialysis machines have been difficult to import; and supplies of consumables are often scarce. After an exploratory trip last April, Hammad---whose family is Palestinian---and three colleagues from Liverpool arrived in Gaza via Egypt last month, bringing specialist equipment. Two patients were selected for surgery. The first, Mohammed Duhair, 42, received a kidney donated by his younger brother in a six-hour operation. Two days later, Matouk received a transplant after his wife, Nadia, 36, was found to be a good match. The surgeon was carried out by the British team, assisted by doctors and nurses from the Shifa. “We are very satisfied with the results,” said Sobbi Skaik, head of surgery at the Gaza hospital.
Skaik hopes that Gaza medical teams will eventually carry out kidney transplants independently, and that other organ transplants may follow. The Shifa is working with the Gaza ministry of health on a plan to train its doctors, surgeons, nursing staff and laboratory technicians in transplant surgery at the Royal Liverpool. “Funding is a problem,” said Hammad. “In the meantime we’ll go back as volunteers to Gaza for the next couple of years to do more transplants.” The Liverpool team’s next visit is scheduled for May.
【小题1】What effect does Gaza’s first organ transplants hopes to get?
A.Helping poor Gaza people to regain health to make more money. |
B.Releasing Gaza hospitals’ pressure of lack of professional doctors. |
C.Assisting the Royal Liverpool hospital in perfecting their operations. |
D.Calling for international attention at Gaza’s poor medical service. |
A.Because he couldn’t afford the fee at a public hospital. |
B.Because the hospital didn’t accept dangerous patients. |
C.Because they couldn’t find a matched organ. |
D.Because his condition was untreatable. |
A.A UK doctor contacted Gaza hospital. |
B.The Shifa imported medical machines from UK. |
C.Ziad Matouk’s condition seemed to get worse. |
D.A Shifa doctor turned to Royal Liverpool hospital for help. |
A.They had an exploratory trip in Egypt last April. |
B.They carried out surgeries to test Gaza’s medical equipment. |
C.They carried out two transplant surgeries in Gaza. |
D.They sought assistance from the hospital of the Shifa. |
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