Centerville High School Essay Contest  “Write All About It”
Calling All Aspiring Authors—Centerville High School Essay Contest
◇Rules
1．Students are asked to present essays of 500 to 700 words of their own work. Any essay containing material plagiarized(剽窃) from another source will be disqualified（取消资格）.
2．Manuscripts should be typed double－spaced，with the student's name，address，and grade level on a separate sheet of paper.
3．Essays must be turned in by 4∶00 p.m. on November 30.They can be brought to Mrs. Elton in Rom 104 or to Mr. Markham in the school library.
◇Essay－Writing Tips
1．Catch your readers' interests—Your opening should immediately pull your readers into your essay. Asking a question or starting with an story，quotation，or surprising statement is a good way to do this.
2．Create a picture—Use active words that show your readers what is happening. Instead of telling your readers vaguely that “the room was disordered”，paint a picture using active verbs and lively adjectives.
3．Have a purpose—Well－written essays do more than just describe an incident or express a viewpoint，and they also communicate a message.
4．Check for mistakes—Read your paper over to check for mistakes. Ask another student to read your paper and make suggestions. Another pair of eyes will often spot a mistake you've overlooked.
5．Format your essay—Neatly type your essay on white paper. Choose an attractive cover for submission. The computer lab will be open after school from 3∶15 to 4∶45 p．m. each day this month so that students can use the computers.
◇Prizes
Winning essays will be published in the Centerville Times. Every contestant(选手)will also receive a free pass to enter one school activity or athletic game this year.
First Prize：　　　$150
Second Prize:    Dictionary and thesaurus
Third Prize:     Pen set and journal
Special thanks to the Centerville Writers' Association for the prizes to help encourage our aspiring authors. Good luck to all contestants.
【小题1】The first writing tip given is mostly about________.

A．the use of quotations and stories in an essay

B．using active verbs and lively adjectives

C．how a student should begin an essay

D．how to submit your essays

【小题2】Information in the passage suggests that________.

A．the essay contest has been carefully planned

B．the students of the school are all athletic lovers

C．most essay contestants have published their work previously

D．Mr. Markham is an English teacher at Centerville High School

【小题3】The prize section of the poster is included in order to________.

A．show organizations how to donate prizes

B．inform teachers of the prizes available

C．persuade students to enter the essay contest

D．convince students to buy the local newspaper

【小题4】Thanks are given to the Centerville Writers' Association because it has________.

A．offered to judge the contest

B．prepared the essay－writing tips

C．organized the essay contest

D．donated prizes for the contest

【小题5】What do we know by inference from the passage?

A．The computer lab usually closes at 4∶15 p.m. each day.

B．Winning essays will be published in the Centerville Times.

C．Every contestant will benefit from the essay contest.

D．The essay contest is held annually at Centerville High School.

You can improve your child’s hearing memory considerably（在很大程度上）. Once his hearing memory has been greatly improved, he'll be able to use and remember what he listens to in class. The success of these suggestions depends upon your ability to use your child’s natural desire to get involved in games he finds simple and fun.
A good way to begin is to read aloud a sentence from a book suitable for your child's reading age. Then ask your youngster to repeat the sentence back to you correctly. Next, reread the sentence, leaving out a particular word. See if your child can identify the word you left out. At the beginning use only simple sentences. Gradually, increase the length of the sentences. Make sure you don’t rush things along too quickly, or your child may become discouraged and tired of the game.
Take your child shopping with you often. He’s to remember a list of items you want to buy in the supermarket. First , ask him to remember only a few things. Then, as he shows increased ability to remember, make the list longer and longer. Praise him often and warmly when he shows increased ability to remember things. He'll become proud of his ‘good’ memory and will happily play the game.
Encourage your child to learn easy and short poems. As his ability to do this becomes stronger, encourage him to remember longer poems. Do the same with songs.
【小题1】The suggestions will be successful if____.

A．you find simple and funny games for your child

B．you can stimulate（激发）your child’s interest in the activity

C．you force your child to get involved in more practice

D．you improve your own hearing memory first

【小题2】The purpose of asking your child to repeat what you say is __.

A．to practice his pronunciation

B．to develop his reading skills

C．to help him remember what he hears

D．to play a simple game he may find fun

【小题3】The third paragraph mainly talks about ___.

A．another way to improve your child’s hearing memory

B．how you should take you child shopping with you

C．how to remember the items you want to buy

D．the way you help your child do shopping

【小题4】The last sentence ‘Do the same with songs’ means you should encourage your child to learn and remember ___.

A．songs in the same way as he does with poems.

B．poems in the same way as he does with songs

C．the poems and songs which are similar in meaning

D．those songs that have the same meaning as poems

【小题5】Who are the supposed readers of this passage?

A．Children.

B．Parents.

C．Teachers.

D．Psychologists.

Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life.
In some modern countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for all — one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough; we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degree; they refuse to do what they think “low” work; and, in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor; we can live without education, but we die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns…
In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability and, secondly, that we can realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that is very bad to be ashamed of one’s work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society.
【小题1】The writer of the passage thinks that _______.

A．education can settle most of the world’s problems

B．free education for all probably leads to a perfect world

C．free education won’t help to solve problems

D．all the social problems can’t be solved by education

【小题2】The writer wants to prove that _______.

A．our society needs all kinds of jobs

B．our society needs free education for all

C．a farmer is more important than a professor

D．work with hands is the most important

【小题3】The purpose of education is _______.

A．to choose officials for the country

B．to prepare children mainly for their future work

C．to let everyone receive education fit for him

D．to build a perfect world

【小题4】The passage tells us about _______ of the education.

A．the means

B．the system

C．the value

D．the type

In one way of thinking, failure is a part of life. In another way, failure may be a way towards success. The “spider story” is often told. Robert Bruce, leader of the Scots in the 13th century, was hiding in a cave from the English. He watched a spider spinning a web（蜘蛛织网）. The spider tried to reach across a rough place in the rock. He tried six times without success. On the seventh time he made it and went on to spin his web. Bruce is said to have taken heart and to have gone on to defeat the English… Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, made hundreds of models that failed before he found the right way to make one.
So what? First, always think about your failure. What caused it? Were conditions right? Were you in top from yourself? What can you change so things will go right next time?
Second, is the goal you’re trying to reach the right one? Try to do some thinking about what your real goals may be. Think about his question, “If I do succeed in this, where will it get me?” This may help you prevent failure in things you shouldn’t be doing anyway.
The third thing to bear in mind about failure is that it’s a part of life. Learn to “live with yourself” even though you may have failed. Remember, “You can’t win them all.”
【小题1】This passage deals with two sides of failure. In paragraph 1, the author talks mainly about________. 

A．the value of failure	B．how people would fail
C．famous failures	D．the cause of failure

【小题2】The underlined phrase “made it” means________.

A．succeeded

B．failed

C．gave

D．got

【小题3】The lesson the spider taught Robert Bruce seems________.

A．productive

B．straight forward

C．sorrowful

D．deep

【小题4】The author tells you to do all things except________.

A．to think about the cause of your failure

B．to check out whether your goals are right for you

C．to consider failure as a part or life

D．to bear in mind that you will never fail in your life

【小题5】Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Bruce and Edison were successful examples.

B．Failure may be regarded as a way toward success.

C．Edison learned a lot from the lesson the spider taught Robert Bruce.

D．One may often raise a question whether his goals are worth attempting.

An increase in students applying to study economics (经济学) at university is being attributed to （归因于）the global economic crisis (危机) awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financial system works.  
Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were also up.  
Professor John Beath, the president of the society and a leading lecture at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures which are open to students from all departments—were drawing crowds of 400, rather than the usual 250.  
“There are a large number of students who are not economics majors, who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to relate my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasn’t traditionally done. ” He added.   
University applications rose 70% last year. But there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people’s renewed interest in careers in the pubic sector（部门）, which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.  
A recent study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial matters, and almost half said their children had asked them what was going on, although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.  
Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: “It’s possible that one good thing to arise from the downturn will be a generation that’s financially wiser and better equipped (使…有能力) to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty.”
【小题1】Professor John Beath’s lectures are            .  

A．given in a traditional way

B．connected with the present situation

C．open to both students and their parents

D．warmly received by economics

【小题2】 Careers in the public sector are more attractive because of their        .

A．greater stability	B．higher pay
C．fewer applications	D．better reputation

【小题3】In the opinion of most parents ,           .  

A．economics should be the focus of school teaching

B．more students should be admitted to universities

C．the teaching of financial matters should be strengthened.

D．children should solve financial problems themselves

【小题4】According to Hocking , the global economic crisis might make the youngsters_____.

A．wiser in money management

B．have access to better equipment

C．confident about their future careers

D．get jobs in Child Trust Funds

【小题5】What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Universities have received more applications.

B．Economics is attracting an increasing number of students

C．college students benefit a lot from economic uncertainty

D．parents are concerned with children’s subject selection.

A good way to pass an examination is to work hard every day in the year. You may fail in the examination if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the examination. A few days before the examination you should start going to bed early. Do not stay up late at night learning things. Before you start the examination, read carefully over the question paper. Try to understand the exact meaning of each question before you pick up your pen to write. When you have at last finished your examinations, read over your answers. Correct any mistake which you see and make sure that you have not missed anything out.
【小题1】“Stay up late at night” here means         .

A．sleeping in bed

B．just sitting up without doing anything

C．walking about in the room

D．working far into the night

【小题2】The first thing to do after you get the question paper is to         .

A．start to answer questions

B．work the difficult problems

C．have a look at the titles

D．read it very carefully

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？

A．You must not hand in the examination paper before you check your answers.

B．You must wait till others point out mistakes in your paper.

C．You must first hand in your paper then correct the mistakes.

D．You must be the last to hand in your paper.

As computers become more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly relying on computer keyboards to input Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes（笔画）of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.
Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. And computer dependence is more wide-spread among university students. Almost all their assignments and essays are typed on a computer.
All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.
It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education. But when people are taking stock in computers increasingly, problems appear.
“When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write a character, though I feel I’m familiar with it.”
“I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper.”
Many students don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and efficient to write on a computer, why bother to handwrite?
Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei, the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital said, “Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic (审美的) value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting contains the writer's emotion. Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and personality. Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression of them.”
To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory (必修的) and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.
【小题1】Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?

A．The Importance of Handwriting and Typing

B．To Type or To Hand Write

C．Writing By Computer Will Replace Writing By Hand

D．Practical and Aesthetic Value of Chinese Characters

【小题2】The students interviewed prefer to write using a computer mainly because ______.

A．they are usually asked to e-mail their Homework and Essays

B．they can correct the mistakes they make quickly and conveniently

C．they find it not easy to remember how to write a character

D．computers have become a trend and fashion in China

【小题3】Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE of the advantages of handwriting?

A．Handwriting contains the writer's emotion.

B．The writer’s thinking and personality are shown in his or her handwriting.

C．Handwriting can impress people well and build one’s self-confidence.

D．Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic value.

【小题4】The underlined expression “taking stock in” (Paragraph 4) probably means _____.

A．getting bored with	B．getting dependent on
C．becoming crazy about	D．getting curious about

【小题5】We can draw the conclusion from the passage that _______.

A．more and more students will give up writing on a computer

B．writing by hand will give way to typing by computer one day

C．more and more students will pay attention to handwriting

D．the typing article better expresses one’s emotion and quality

Work Your Mind
Here’s something to think about the next time you ask your teacher for help: struggling with schoolwork on your own can help you learn. According to a recent study, the more you struggle while you are learning new information, the better you can remember it later.
This theory might surprise you. When teachers are presenting new information, they often give students lots of help. But a new study shows this may not be the best way to support learning. “Don't be too quick to get help when learning something new,” education expert Manu Kapur told TFK. “Try to work on it yourself even if it means trying different ways.”
Kapur came up with the idea that struggling can lead to better learning. Then he tested it out on students in Singapore. He separated students into two groups. In the first group, students were asked to solve math problems with the teacher’s help. In the second group, students were asked to solve the same problems by helping one another, instead of getting help from the teacher.
With the teacher’s help, students in the first group were able to find the correct answers. Students in the second group did not solve the problems correctly. But they did come up with a lot of good ideas. The students were then tested on what they had learned. The group without any help from a teacher scored much higher than the group who had help. Kapur said working to find the answers helped students understand the process, not just the solution.
Kapur’s advice for kids is to put a lot of effort into learning something new rather than going to your teacher for help. “Simply doing a little work or nothing at all won’t work,” says Kapur. “The struggle needs to be a genuine attempt to figure out or solve a problem in as many ways as possible.” 
【小题1】When you have doubt on schoolwork, you’d better ____________.

A．ask your teacher for help

B．make it clear by yourself

C．ask your classmates to help you

D．ask your parents for help

【小题2】What’s Manu Kapur educational idea on learning new knowledge?

A．Give students much help as soon as possible.

B．Let students learn it on themselves in one way.

C．Let students learn it by themselves in the same way.

D．Let students learn it for themselves in different ways.

【小题3】How did Kapur check his idea on better learning?

A．By asking questions.

B．By solving art problems.

C．By group comparations.

D．By solving science problems.

【小题4】What is most important in learning knowledge?

A．Getting the teacher’s help.

B．Getting the student’s help.

C．Grasping the learning course.

D．Receiving the final solution.

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers·
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor（谣言）.
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.   
This process is also found among scholars and authors：A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted（引用）by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.
【小题1】According to the passage, passive learning may occur in______________.

A．doing a medical experiment	B．solving a math problem
C．visiting an exhibition	D．doing scientific reasoning

【小题2】The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to____________.

A．active learning	B．knowledge
C．communication	D．passive learning

【小题3】The author mentions the game Rumor to show that_____________.

A．a message may be changed when being passed on

B．a message should be delivered in different ways

C．people may have problems with their sense of hearing

D．people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor

【小题4】What can we infer from the passage?

A．Active learning is less important.

B．Passive learning may not be reliable.

C．Active learning occurs more frequently.

D．Passive learning is not found among scholars.

Moral science is taught as a subject in most schools but with little effect. Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that morality is not a science, strictly speaking. It is too much of a social phenomenon, and also has too much of the personal and subjective things mixed within. Besides, morality itself changes with generations. So it is impossible to be defined in a textbook.
I remember sitting through forty minutes of moral lessons, which told stories about little children who never told lies and were rewarded for their goodness. It had little effect and left no impression on me, though.
If moral science has to be taught as a subject in schools, it needs a participatory(参与其中的) approach. When you tell a child about morals, you also have to deal with social norms（规范）and cultural differences. You have to explain that morality can be subjective, and be able to co-exist in society. You will probably have to refer to the morals of the present time.
The best way to tell a child how to live is to show him what is valued. If a child likes his friend, you have to make the child think about why. Once the child notices and recognizes goodness in others, he or she is likely to develop it as well.
In fact, children learn most of their morals by watching people around them. They absorb behavior patterns from teachers and older students. They watch to see what is rewarded and who is punished. They learn on the sports field and through social work. Moral science lessons should simply consist of letting them live and interact, and watch you support correct values and reward good behavior.
【小题1】Which is NOT the reason that moral science is taught in schools but with little effect?

A．Morality doesn’t strictly belong to a science

B．Morality is more like a social phenomenon.

C．Different generations have different moral ideas.

D．Morality can’t be written down in textbooks.

【小题2】The author describes his own experience of having moral lessons in order to _____.

A．explain telling lies is not moral for little children.

B．advise people should be rewarded for their goodness.

C．prove moral lessons in schools have little effect.

D．show he has no opinions about moral science.

【小题3】When you tell a child about morals, you should________.

A．teach him to share personal moral ideas with others

B．tell him about social norms and cultural differences

C．explain that nobody can influence his moral ideas.

D．say that the present morals are likely to be changed.

【小题4】What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The best way of teaching children about morals.

B．The value of teachers’ setting a good example

C．The influence of people’s behavior on morals.

D．The importance of rewarding good behavior.