Faced with a bill for $10,000, _____.

Everyone knows that Canada is the second largest country in the world, larger than _____ country in Asia.

What is Math Anxiety?

Math anxiety or fear of math is actually quite common. Math anxiety is quite   36 to stage-fright. Why does someone suffer   37 ? Fear of something going wrong in front of a crowd? Fear of   38 the lines? Fear of being judged   39 ? Fear of going completely blank? Math anxiety conjures(使现出) up fear of some type. The fear that one won't be able to do the   40 or the fear that it's too hard or the fear of failure which often stems(起因于) from having a lack of  41 . For the most part, math anxiety is the   42 about doing the math right, our minds draw a   43 and we think we'll fail and of course the more frustrated and anxious our minds become, the  44 the chance for drawing blanks. Added pressure of having time limits on math tests and exams also cause the levels of anxiety to grow for many students.

Where Does Math Anxiety Come From?

Usually math anxiety stems(起源于) from   45 experiences in mathematics. Typically math phobias(恐慌症) have had math presented in such a fashion that it led to limited understanding. Unfortunately, math anxiety is often   46  poor teaching and poor experiences in math which typically leads to math  47 . Many of the students I've encountered with math anxiety have demonstrated an over reliance on procedures in math as opposed to actually understanding the math. When one tries to memorize procedures, rules and routines without much   48 , the math is quickly forgotten and   49 soon sets in. Think about your experiences with one concept — the division of fractions(分数). You probably learned about reciprocals(倒数) and inverses. In other words, ‘It’s not yours to reason why, just invert(反转) and multiply(乘)’. Well, you memorized the rule and it   50  . Why does it work? Do you really understand why it works? Did anyone ever use pizzas or math manipulative(巧妙处理的) to show you why it works? If   51  , you simply memorized the procedure and that was that. Think of math as memorizing all the procedures —   52 if you forget a few? Therefore, with this type of strategy, a good  53 will help, but, what if you don’t have a good memory. Understanding the math is critical. Once students   54 they can do the math, the whole notion of math anxiety can be overcome. Teachers and parents have an important   55 to ensure students understand the math being presented to them.

The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic(赞同的) audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described the inadequacies of his students, all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been established.

My topic is not standards nor its decline(降低). What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.

　　My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies (缺陷). But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.

　　The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults the language of the young always seems inadequate.

Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not perceived(察觉) as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s         young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs. Otherwise, young people would not commit offenses against the language.

1. The speaker the author mentioned in the passage believed that _____.

2. In the author’s opinion, the speaker ______.

3.The author’s attitude towards the speaker’s remarks is ______.

4.It can be concluded from the passage that ______.

5.In the passage the author argues that ______.

阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

Although stressful and unpleasant, examinations are a part of education that students all over the world have to experience. Exams are not recent methods of testing knowledge. They have been used since ancient times and our ancestors probably went through the same anxious preparation as students today.

China, exams were first introduced more than 1,300 years ago during the Sui Dynasty. Known as the Imperial Examinations or keju, the ten subject tests were used to select people for government jobs. A career in public service was considered the highest profession, and the examinations attracted millions of hopeful participants each time they were held. The tests had three levels: for local, provincial and national government. Only about 5% of those taking each level passed, and the number of students who passed all the levels was even smaller－ perhaps as low as 0.0004%.

The exams were so important in China that some people spent nearly their whole lives retaking the exams in the hope of eventually passing. Others tried to cheat by hiding notes in cakes or on their clothes. Historians found one undergarment that had 353 model essays written on it. Perhaps if this particular student had spent as much time studying as he did writing on his clothes, he would have passed!

The Imperial Examinations lasted until 1905, when they were replaced. Exams, however, are still a compulsory part of education in China. As nobody has yet come up with an alternative method of judging students’ abilities, it seems likely that the system of examinations will continue for more years.

假如你是一名中学生，叫李华，根据下表内容用英语写信给某报社Just ask栏目的主持人Witman，请求帮助解决一个长期困扰你如何与同桌相互交流、沟通的问题。

注意：1.开头已写好，只需接着写；

2.可适当发挥，使文章更连贯；

3.词数100左右

参考词汇：发脾气lose one’s temper

Dear Witman,

I’m a middle school student. _________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Smith is driving a     car in the competition and I’m sure he will take the first place.

 How I wish I       a doctor and I       the       girl.

No sooner had he finished his talk       he was surrounded by the workers.

The man used what he had        his wife a diamond ring.