A 2014 study compared kindergarten teachers’ expectations for their students in 1998 to today. The differences were striking. In 1998, 31 percent of teachers thought that kindergarten students should be able to read by the end of the year. By 2014, that figure is now about 80 percent. More than a third kindergarten teachers now think that kids should enter school already knowing the alphabet and how to hold a pencil.

Besides, the researchers found huge decreases in the amount of self-directed, creative play time—dress up, art, sand and water play—and increases in the amount of time students were involved in teacher-directed, whole-class instruction.

Unfortunately, kindergarten today ignores a basic fact of young children’s development that is well-known by early childhood educators: normal development in young children occurs at very different rates and in very different ways. For example, the average age that a baby starts to walk is 12 months, but some kids start walking at eight or nine months and others at 15, or even 16, months.

Similarly, the average age that a child learns to be an independent reader is about six and a half. Some learn to read at four, and others at seven, and both extremes are developmentally normal. In the fourth grade, kids who learned to read at four are typically not any better at reading than those who started at seven. Countries like Finland and Sweden do not even start formal academic schooling until age seven.

We need to respect children’s personal developmental timelines. The idea that “earlier is better” for reading instruction is simply not supported by research evidence. Children’s long-term achievement and self-identities as readers and students can be damaged when they are introduced to reading too early.

【1】What can we infer from the text?

A. Kindergarten has been replaced by first or even second grade.

B. Kindergarten teachers have higher expectations for students now.

C. Kindergarten students’ intelligence has been largely improved.

D. Children should know the alphabet before entering kindergarten.

【2】What will probably happen to children who learn to read at 7?

A. They will perform best among their classmates.

B. They will have difficulty becoming an independent reader.

C. They will catch up with those who learn to read earlier.

D. They will fall behind those who learn to read earlier forever.

【3】What should kindergarten teachers do according to the text?

A. Increase the time in whole-class instruction.

B. Pay more attention to children’s academic level.

C. Encourage children to learn at their own pace.

D. Raise children’s competitive spirit at an early age.

【4】How does the author feel about the present education in kindergarten?

A. Ashamed. B. Cautious. C. Satisfied. D. Concerned.

I spent six years planning the flight and failed twice before I and my team managed to succeed. For some reason,we had to go first to North Africa to catch the right winds. That added 10 ,000 kilometers,and another week,to our journey. But because of this,our flight broke all the records for distance and time spent in the air.

The most memorable part of the trip for me is that we lived in the air for 20 days and that the rising sun was the most amazing thing we saw. We had to go out of the balloon’s capsule , in which we were transported,three times while in the air to repair the fuel system. We didn’t have any safety equipment but when you are in a situation like that,you just do what you have to do without thinking about feeling afraid.

Landing was a fantastic moment. I remember that when I got out of the capsule,I looked at my footprint in the sand. I remembered the astronaut Neil Armstrong,who was so happy to put his footprint on the moon,so far away from Earth. At that moment, I was so happy to have my foot back on Earth!

【1】The author became interested in ballooning because of .

A. a cross-ocean race

B. a mountain climb

C. a childhood dream

D. a long sea journey

【2】What can be inferred from Paragraph 2 about the author and his team's flight?

A. They set a new record.

B. They shortened their flight.

C. Their flight went very smoothly.

D. Their flight covered 10,000 kilometers.

【3】Why did the balloonists get out of the capsule during the flight?

A. To fight their fear.

B. To do some repair work.

C. To admire the rising sun.

D. To check safety equipment.

【4】The author mentioned Neil Armstrong to show his .

A. regret

B. surprise

C. respect

D. pleasure

I remember the first time I drove a car in traffic after【2】（get）my driver’s license. I was very nervous in that heavy traffic--my driving style【3】（show）that I wasn’t a very confident driver. Now I am much more【4】(experience) as a driver. Although I still don’t consider【5】(me) a perfect one, I’m much more confident behind the wheel than【6】I was when I started.

In general, it is useless working hard for doing something【7】（perfect）when you do it for the first time. You【8】(be) setting the bar so high that you just feel bad when you are unable to meet the level you have set.

Also, perfection is just another way【9】(delay), so trying to be perfect is just【10】waste of time. You should work hard for excellence instead.

报名须知截止日期11月11日，填写表格，提供照片

时间和地点11月16日上午8点，学校操场

奖励胜方将获得15 000元，最佳辩手将获得1 500元

联系人李华（电话1234-5678）

注意：1. 词数100 左右；

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

参考词汇： register 登记

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Student Union

1.写信的目的；

2.给五年后的你一些忠告；

3.如何看待五年后的你。

注意：

1.词数100左右；

2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3.开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。

Dear myself,

Yours,

Me

【1】Every week he cleaned the chicken house in __________ (交换) for some pocket money.

【2】D__________ to give up smoking, he threw away his remaining cigarettes.

【3】Believe it or not, there are some words in the English language that native people may find __________ (混淆；难懂).

【4】A group of poachers were killing the _________________(濒危的) Tibetan antelope.

【5】When he retired at the age of 26, Li Ning had won 106 gold medals in major __________________(比赛) across the world.

【6】People kept on ______________(抗议) against the war in Iraq outside the conference hall.

【7】They were _____________(好奇的) to know the people living upstairs.

【8】Nowadays, China can not only feed herself but also ___________(出口) some rice to other countries.

【9】The newly-published book ______________ ____________ 20 chapters, each chapter having 20,000 words.(由…组成)

【10】Often the drivers just pass by, _____________ the human traffic signal _________ ____________.(认为……理所当然)

The Garden

My father always had a garden. He once found a plot even when we lived in the house with someone else. They always【1】(appreciate) the vegetables he provided in exchange【2】his use of the garden plot. The vegetables were very important to our food supply but he【3】(probable) would have had a garden anyway. He was from a large family with 11 brothers and sisters【4】had learned to depend on a garden for adequate food. Each year in early spring, he used a small push plow(犁) 【5】(prepare) the soil for the plants and seeds. He always had【6】 (tomato), peppers and watermelons. One summer watermelons came up from【7】we had threw the seeds. He built【8】shelf for the melons to rest on while they grew very large. This became the conversation of the neighborhood. In the fall Dad would remove all of the【9】(die) plants and sow turnip(萝卜) seeds over the whole plot that would provide turnips for most of the winter months. In later years when we had【10】(we) own home he added a flower garden. His prize flowers entered the Fayette County Fair each year.

Known as “quantum spin liquid(量子旋转水)”, the matter state causes normally unbreakable electrons to break into pieces called “Majorana fermions.” These fermions are an important discovery. Physicists believe the material is vital to further develop quantum computing. Computers employing Majorana femuons would be able to carry out calculations beyond the scale of modern computers quickly, they say.

Quantum spin liquid explains some of the eccentric behaviors inside magnetic(磁性的) materials. In these materials, the electrons should behave like small bar magnets, all adjusting towards magnetic north when a material is cooled. But not all magnetic materials do this—if the material contains quantum spin liquid, the electrons don’t all line up and become involved.

“Until recently, we didn’t even know what the experimental fingerprints of a quantum spin liquid would look like,” researcher Dr.Dmitry Kovrizhin says. “That created a challenge for the researchers, so they decided to employ neutron scattering(神经扫描) techniques to look for evidence of break”. What they found surprised them. The features matched nearly exactly with quantum spin liquid models theorized by physicist Phil Anderson in 1973. The results of their breakthrough were then published in the scientific journal Nature Materials on Monday.

Don’t get too excited just yet on its applications, though. Kovirzhin’s work is only the beginning and as we’ve seen with quantum computing there is a lot of work to be done. But it’s still exciting regardless.

“It’s an important step for our understanding of quantum matter,” Kovrizhin says. “It’s fun to have another new quantum state that we’ve never seen before—it presents us with new possibilities to try new things.”

【1】What can we learn about “Majorana fermion” according to Paragraph 2?

A. It is an important discovery 40 years ago.

B. It is a surprising theory raised by Phil Anderson.

C. It is a key piece in developing quantum computer.

D. It is an unbreakable electrons employing computer.

【2】Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “eccentric” in Paragraph 3?

A. Strange. B. Complex. C. Permanent. D. Obvious.

【3】How did the researchers make the breakthrough?

A. By adjusting magnetic materials.

B. By using neutron scattering techniques.

C. By repeating maths calculations.

D. By changing electronic structure.

【4】What is the author’s tone about the future of quantum matter?

A. Negative. B. Doubtful. C. Indifferent. D. Optimistic.

She still has that post card. I am not sure what made her save. Though he already had his heart set on her, she hadn't chosen him yet, at least not consciously.

My father, a salesman for a big electronics company, often told us while we were growing up, it was blind luck that he was at the picnic that day. He was in town to meet with clients and happened to stop by the branch office that Saturday morning to make a call. It was the manager of a local radio station where my mother worked as a writer. “Dave! Glad you’re in town!” he said, and invited him to come right over to their annual picnic. Later my mother dated him when he was in town. Eventually, one night a few months later, she woke her mother and told her she was going to marry Dave. A few months after the wedding, my father was transferred east. They settled in New York, in the house where I grew up.

Sometimes I think how time gets us together and puts us in a certain place where we’re faced with one option or another. We leave behind while others live by the choice we made. We could have lived full of different passions and joys, different problems and disappointments. Sometimes, particularly when I came home late to a sleeping house, my husband and daughter curled around each other. I think about the lives we would not have had if choices had brought us to a different place. And I tremble at the thought that I might have missed this life, this man, this child, this love.

【1】According to the text, where did the author’s parents come across?

A. At the author’s home. B. At a local radio station.

C. At her father’s company’s picnic. D. At her mother’s company’s picnic.

【2】It can be inferred from the text that ________.

A. the author’s father didn’t like her mother

B. the author’s mother always made right decisions

C. the author didn’t believe her mother

D. the author’s mother hadn’t decided to marry her father at first

【3】Before meeting the author's father, her mother was ________.

A. a writer B. a manager C. a teacher D. a saleswoman

【4】What do we know about the author?

A. She values her life now.

B. Time makes her life now perfect.

C. She is tired of her life now.

D. Her life now faces problems and disappointments.

The students recently tested the underwater vehicle 【5】(call) PerseusⅡin a 95－meter－long tank of water at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

The robot costs about $15,000 to build. The students use a video game control to direct 【6】(it) movements in the tank. What’s more, devices known as Japters 【7】 (able) the robot to go up, down and toward its target in the water. Video cameras on the robot send images back to a computer through a 13－meter－long cable. Perseus Ⅱ, 【8】the students worked up to 20 hours a week to design and build, also has 【9】 set of lasers (激光), which are used to measure the size of an object.

DeLorme supervised the project from 【10】(begin) to end. He says the specialized requirements of robots were demanding.