For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life. But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect. Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car.
The implication(含义) of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall effort, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most. And this carries over to the classroom.
Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PHD, tested the effects of over-praise on 400 fifth graders while she was at Columbia University. She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”.
“Praising attributes(品质) or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues effort, so children are afraid to take on challenges,” says Dweck, now at Stanford University, “They figure they’d better quit while they’re ahead.”
【小题1】The underlined words “Praise-aholic kids” refer to kids who are ______.

A．tired of being praised	B．worthy of being praised
C．very proud of being praised	D．extremely fond of being praised

【小题2】The author quoted Dr.Dweck’s words in the last paragraph in order to make the article ______.

A．better-known	B．better-organized
C．more persuasive	D．more interesting

【小题3】We can infer from the passage that _______.

A．praise for efforts should be more encouraged

B．praise for results works better than praise for efforts

C．praising a child’s achievements benefits his or her success in life

D．praising a child’s abilities encourages him or her to take on challenges

Teachers and parents usually call attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to pre-school children. But a new study suggests that calling attention to the words and letters on the page may lead to better readers.
The two-year study compared children who were read in this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the print showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding. These results were found one year and even two years later.
Shayne Piasta, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, was an author of the study. She says most pre-school teachers would find this method manageable and would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read story-books in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed text. “If you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word recognition and spelling.” But she says research suggests that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic way.
More than 300 children aged four and five were observed in classrooms. They came from poor families and were below average in their language skills. For thirty weeks, the children took part in a program called Project STAR--- Sit Together and Read. The project is based at Ohio State. It tests the short-term and long-term results of reading regularly to pre-school children in their classrooms.
There are different ways that adults can talk to children about print. They can point to a letter and discuss it, and even trace the shape with a finger. They can point out a word and discuss the meaning of the print or how the words tell the story. And they can talk about the organization of the print--- for instance, showing how words are written left to right in English.
【小题1】What do we know about the ways pre-school children are usually taught?

A．More attention is paid to the pictures ,with words and letters being ignored.

B．Preference is given to the shape of letters and the organization of the print.

C．The focus of the teaching is on bringing them up to be good readers.

D．Equal attention is paid to the texts and the pictures.

【小题2】What does Shayne Piasta suggest pre-school teachers should do in class?

A．Teach children how to draw pictures to get an idea of what they mean.

B．Change the way they teach and pay more attention to words and letters.

C．Adopt different methods according to the students’ difference in reading skills.

D．Read storybooks to children rather than explain the meaning of the pictures.

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE about the study on language skills of pre-school children?

A．Many teachers want to change their way of teaching pre-school children.

B．Attention on the pictures has made the children uninterested in reading.

C．Project STAR aims to research into the results of reading books to pre-school children in the classroom.

D．Teachers are often prevented from taking different approaches to language teaching.

【小题4】Which section of a magazine does the passage probably come from?

A．Fashion.

B．Economy .

C．Entertainment.

D．Education.

US universities are among the best in the world. Since World War Ⅱ, American scientists --- mostly working in universties or colleges --- have won more than half of all Nobel Prizes in physics and medicine. Foreign students rush to the United States by the tens of thousands. Last year they earned more than one quarter of the doctoral degrees awarded in the country. Yet while American universities produce the great research and great graduate program, they sometimes pay little attention to the task that lies at their very core: the teaching of undergraduate students.
With the increase in fees, educators feel obliged to improve undergraduate teaching. In speeches and interviews the nation’s higher educators have rediscovered teaching. Robert Rosenzweig, president of the Association of American Universities,  said,  “Our organization was never very concerned about teaching. In the last 18 months, we have spent more time on undergraduate education than on any other subject.”
Despite such promising efforts, no one doubts that research still outranks teaching at some of the leading universities, not least because it is a surer and faster way to earn status. Some people don’t think it has to be that way. They argue that the reward system for college faculty can be changed, so that professors will be encouraged to devote more time and effort to teaching. They say that they are beginning to believe that the first ten years of the 21st century may come to be remembered as the decade of the undergraduate.
That would bring it full circle. For more than two centuries after the founding of Harvard College in 1636, the instruction of undergraduate students was an essential condition of American higher education.
【小题1】According to the passage, at some of the leading American universities ________.

A．research is declining in importance	B．teaching now ranks above research
C．teaching is a sure way to gain position	D．research still ranks above teaching

【小题2】It is implied in the passage that about 200 years ago undergraduate instruction ________.

A．began to change all of a sudden

B．was already threatened by research work

C．was the central part of higher education

D．began to be neglected in most universities

【小题3】What would be the best title for the passage?

A．University education in the US	B．University education challenged
C．Teaching and research in universities	D．Undergraduate teaching rediscovered

Going back to school is a very exciting event for my two boys. It means getting new school bags and books, and seeing friends again after the summer holiday.
My oldest son, 9-year-old Salem, asked me several times where we would go to buy a backpack, while my other son, 6-year-old Abdullah, asked what school would be like this year.
For the last three years, school was a nightmare for many children and their parents as violence increased and there were more attacks on schools and teachers. As a result, many parents prevented their children from going to school. One of six children in this country did not attend primary school in 2009. Many kids who did attend school were accompanied by a parent for the entire day to make sure nothing happened to their children.
For poor families or those with large families, back to school can be an expensive time. The government gives some help to those living in poor neighborhoods, and school bags, note books and other items(商品) are given for free.
Most of the merchants who sell notebooks and pens now sell their products out on the street instead of in stores. They sit on the ground and lay their items on the ground or they have a small table to sell their goods.
The bags cost between $10 and $20, while clothes and shoes cost between $20 and $30. I found all the things I needed for my sons and even bought something for myself. I spent about $50 on each of them, including school uniforms.
At the end of the day, we returned to our home carrying many shopping bags filled with items that made my children happy and excited to go back to school. I just hope this school year will be a peaceful one.
【小题1】The author’s children are ________ to go to school.

A．eager

B．afraid

C．unwilling

D．surprised

【小题2】The underlined word “nightmare” is the closest in meaning to ________.

A．fantasy

B．dream world

C．prison

D．terrible situation

【小题3】Many children are not going to school mainly because of ________.

A．the terrible education system	B．security problems and poverty
C．parents’ distrust in schools	D．the government’s inability

【小题4】As a parent, the author ________.

A．is unable to afford his kids’ schooling	B．is unwilling to send his kids to school
C．hopes his kids have a happy school life	D．complains school education costs too much

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

A．Many parents prevented their children from going to school for great study pressure.

B．School bags, note books and other items(商品) are given to those living in poor neighborhoods for free.

C．The author spent about $100 for her two sons.

D．The items the author bought made her children happy and excited to go back to school.

Over the past decade, cheating—an act of academic dishonesty—has become more and more common.
The latest statistics shows more than two thirds of high school students admitted cheating on an exam last year, and—even more surprising—often the best students cheat to get to the top of their class—and they don’t think it is wrong. It’s not a big deal. Everybody is doing it.
It is a big deal! Cheating is basically wrong and must be punished.
If students easily get away with it, they might be encouraged to do it again. They won’t realize that this—in the broadest sense—is an attack on our society, which is based on values like honesty and fairness. The present spreading of cheating indicates a loss of those values and cannot be tolerated. An appropriate punishment for cheating incidents would make students aware of their misbehavior.
If no one were punished for cheating, who would ever study for an exam? Tons of papers would be lifted from websites, writing crib sheets would be more important than reviewing the subjects, and highly sophisticated cheating arts would be invented. Knowledge would only exist on the Internet and on cleverly created cheat sheets, but not in the minds of the students—a rather bad precondition to enrich our society wisely and intelligently.
Students have to learn that they have to learn. Only doing what’s right will bring them a feeling of pride and accomplishment and create self-confidence—the building blocks for a successful and satisfying life and a society that keeps its values.
【小题1】What is more surprising is that       .

A．cheating is very common in schools

B．over 2/3 of the students cheat last year

C．even the best students cheat on exams

D．teachers are not aware of the problems

【小题2】How do they make the students realize their misbehavior?

A．By letting them getting away with it.

B．By telling them what is right.

C．By catching them on the spot.

D．By giving them some punishment.

【小题3】How can students create self-confidence?

A．By knowing they have to learn.

B．By doing what is right.

C．By learning the right things.

D．By being punished when cheating.

【小题4】What does the underlined word “lifted” mean?

A．taken

B．removed

C．copied

D．written

Most of us use the telephone several times a day to talk with friends or make social arrangements(安排). These calls are usually quite easy and require little planning.
Using the telephone for business purpose is different. In any organization the person on the telephone represents the company and gives an impression of the firm to the outside world.
If you want to ensure good public relations, you need to master effective telephone techniques.
You should try to give an impression of an efficient, friendly, progressive company eager to give good service.
Before calling
Choose the right time. Consider the cost, urgency and convenience. When calling overseas, you need to consider the time difference.
Check the number. A great deal of money is wasted each year on dialing wrong numbers.
Plan your call. Make a list of points and questions to be raised.
Be prepared. Gather any files, papers or information that may be needed during the call. It is unprofessional to have to say “Hold on while I look for that.”
If you have to ask a caller to hold on, keep going back and assuring him/her that you will be as quick as possible.
Avoid interruptions. Call at a time when you are unlikely to be distracted(分心).
During the call
Be courteous, polite. Make time for suitable greetings like “How are you today, Jim?” and “Did you enjoy your holiday”?
Put a smile in your voice. Remember, your caller can not see you, so use intonation to good effect and try to sound confident, decisive, helpful, and interested.
Check your notes. Look back at your notes to ensure that you have covered everything and quote figures and other data correctly.
Get feedback. Make sure the caller understands the message correctly, especially deadlines and actions that are involved.
Be courteous. Finish by thanking the caller for his or her time and trouble.
After the call
Make notes. Let it become a habit to make notes of the call and place them in an appropriate file.
Take actions. If you need to send a letter of confirmation or inform someone in your organization about any details of the call, do it immediately so that you do not forget important points.
【小题1】This passage is mainly about _____.

A．how to become a dependable company

B．how to ensure public relations

C．some service a company should have

D．some telephone techniques for business purpose

【小题2】Before calling, you have to _____.

A．stay at your company only

B．learn important data and figures by heart

C．get things ready for the communication

D．choose the right time and place

【小题3】During the call, it is unsuitable to _____.

A．be heard in low spirits	B．be decisive
C．check your notes	D．get feedback

【小题4】What does the underlined word “courteous” in the passage mean?

A．Polite.

B．Active.

C．Effective.

D．Correct.

When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance, the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is viewed as mere entertainment, but certainly not an education priority（优先）. This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is beneficial and important for all students.
Music tells us who we are. Because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it reflects their thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as does a Schubert song. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity as a society.
Music provides a kind of perception（感知）that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts explore the emotive（情感的）meaning of the same phenomenon. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason: No one way can get it all.  
The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings “talk” to each other. They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears, our curiosities, our hungers, our discoveries, our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses.
Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human. The arts do. Music is an important way we express human suffering, celebration, the meaning and value of peace and love.
So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, students _________.

A．regard music as a way of entertainment

B．disagree with their parents on education

C．view music as an overlooked subject

D．prefer the arts to science

【小题2】In Paragraph 2, the author uses jazz as an example to _________.

A．compare it with rock music

B．show music identifies a society

C．introduce American musical traditions

D．prove music influences people’s lifestyles

【小题3】According to the passage, the arts and science_________.
A. approach the world from different angles
B. explore different phenomena of the world
C express people’s feelings in different ways
D. explain what it means to be human differently
【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Music education deserves more attention.

B．Music should be of top education priority.

C．Music is an effective communication tool.

D．Music education makes students more imaginative.

United States and Canada are multicultural countries with many national, religious and cultural differences, where people attach great importance to individualism—the uniqueness among people. Teachers value the qualities that make each student special and different. You can see such values through their educational systems. For example, students needn’t memorize lots of information. Instead, they work independently and find answers on their own. There are discussions for children to show their own ideas and opinions.
By contrast, people have the same language, history, and culture in most Asian societies. As a result, Asia’s educational system reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan, and Korea learn to work together and help one another in assignments. And the teaching methods are often very formal and serious. In class, teachers give lectures while students listen and take notes. Discussion is replaced by reciting rules of information that have been memorized.
These two systems both have advantages and disadvantages. One advantage in Japan is that there is much more math and science than American students learn by the end of high school. In addition, students study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The difficult system also prepares students for a society that place emphasis on discipline（纪律） and self-control. However, while memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students admit forgetting much of the information that they have memorized after exams.
On the other hand, the educational system in North American has an advantage that students learn to think for themselves, which prepares them for a society that values creativity. The disadvantage is that when they graduate from high school, they haven’t recited as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.
【小题1】People in multicultural countries such as the US or Canada lay more stress on __________.

A．team work

B．self-control

C．discipline

D．individualism

【小题2】What is the advantage of the educational system in North America？

A．There is not much discussion.

B．Learning to think for themselves

C．Learning much less math and science

D．They haven’t memorized basic rules and facts.

【小题3】Which words is most suitable to describe the author's attitude in writing this  passage?

A．Supportive

B．Opposite

C．Objective（客观）

D．Subjective（主观）

【小题4】The main idea of this passage is___________.

A．cultural differences in countries such as the United States or Canada

B．comparisons of educational system between North America and Asia

C．there are more advantages of Asian education system of than that of North American

D．there are more disadvantages of Asian education system than that of North American

How to improve my life? Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. They'll say, "This is my fate, my destiny. I cannot change it."
Of course not! You don't have to suffer needlessly. Your destiny depends on you, not on any other external factors.
I know someone who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it. Guess what her lifestyle is? She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, then goes to sleep. Next day, the same routine cycle follows.
Huh! Is this what she calls "doing her best"? She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that God has intended for her to live; that her luck can only change if God wills it.  Of course God wants us to be happy and live our life to the fullest, but we have to do our share of exerting(运用) the effort to live the life of our dreams.
Remember that you reap what you sow. You just don't sit around and wait for a million dollars to fall from the sky. You have to get off the couch, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone. Don’t expect your luck to change unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, don't just regard it as a temporary setback; but use it as feedback. Learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem. It's not enough to think positively; you also have to act positively.
If someone's life is in the trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! You get to do anything you can to save the person. So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to do your best. In other words, don't just stand (or sit) there, do something to improve your life.
【小题1】According to the woman mentioned in Para.3, her life ____________. 

A．Doesn't need improving	B．couldn't be improved
C．will be better some day	D．Will be worse in the future

【小题2】What does the author think of the woman's life?

A．positive

B．satisfying

C．colorful

D．passive

【小题3】Which of the following statements is the author's opinion?

A．Your temporary problem is not discouraging.

B．Your luck can be changed by your efforts

C．You can only achieve success when God wills it.

D．You should treat yourself in the way you treat friends.

【小题4】In Para.5, the author emphasized the importance of _____________.

A．positive action

B．positive thinking

C．hope for the best

D．intention to succeed

【小题5】The text is mainly written to advise you to ____________.

A．understand yourself	B．improve your life
C．believe in yourself	D．change your normal way

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mix-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!
Besides, it is rather unusual to grade pupils just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.
In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to deal with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.
Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is proper. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. And advanced pupil can do advanced work. It doesn’t matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to obtain this goal.
【小题1】By “held back” (the underlined part of the first sentence) the author means “______”.

A．drawn to their studies	B．prevented from advancing
C．made to remain in the same class	D．forced to study in the lower class

【小题2】The author argues that a teacher’s chief concern should be the development of the pupil’s ______.

A．total personality	B．intellectual ability
C．personal qualities	D．communicative skills

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the third paragraph?

A．Pupils also learn to develop their reasoning abilities.

B．Pupils also learn how to participate in teaching activities.

C．Group work gives pupils the opportunity to learn to work together with others.

D．Group work provides pupils with the opportunity to learn to be good organizers.