阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Enter a typical high school, and the first thing you see is the front office, where the principal dwells and grades are stored．The front office also reinforces familiar hierarchy：principal at the top, teachers in the middle, kids on the bottom, sitting with hands folded at their desks．

　　Now, imagine a school where the organizational structure is completely flat．At the New Country School in Henderson, Minn．, there is no front office．Visitors are immediately embraced by an airy atrium that is the centerpiece of this one－room schoolhouse．And all around the room, 124 students sit at desks－real office desks－working at their own personal computers on their own projects．

　　When Dee Thomas and her colleagues got together 15 years ago to design a new high school, they knew there was one thing that had to go：The bell． “You don't go into your job in the morning and say, ‘OK, for the first 45 minutes of my job, I'm going to do the math part．’And then a buzzer goes off, and you do the social history part of your job．You don't do that．” Thomas said．

　　There are no teachers at New Country．Every few weeks, students must present projects they’ve been working on to the rest of the school community．To prepare for their presentations, they gather at tables in the middle of the school atrium and present their work to their “advisers．”

　　Kids at New Country test better than their peers on the state tests and on the pre－college ACT．The school sends 90 percent of its graduates to college．But that doesn't tell the whole story．New Country struggles to keep its seniors from leaving．The school's senior project is demanding－300 hours of work．

　　But for some students, New Country offers a rare alternative, a choice they can't find anywhere else．And the school is constantly visited by educators from around the world looking for new ideas．That's the foundation of efforts to reform American high schools today－that there's a need to experiment with an institution that is failing millions of students．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Sunday, October 5

　　Clear, 69 F

　　My wife, Eleanor, and I took the train from Paris to Strasbourg, where we were met by our driver and guide．And the minibus which goes along with the boat．We stopped off in Barn for an hour on the way．Then we were taken to Nancy where the boat was kept．

　　After the other passengers arrived, we had our first dinner on the boat．After dinner we walked into downtown Nancy, a village with a large square and wooden houses．

　　Monday, October 6

　　Rained last night, cloudy in the morning, 69 F

　　We spent about two hours in Nancy, then sailed on the Canal de la Marne au Rhine．Kind of a lazy day．Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, after dinner we watched a tape on Baccarat．Where we will visit tomorrow．

　　It was pleasant to sit out on deck(甲板)and watch the scenery go by at about 3 mph．

　　Tuesday, October 7

　　Light rain, 64 F

　　This morning we drove over to Baccarat and toured its museum and the church, which has this unbelievable lamp that is going on a world tour the next day．We did lots of shopping, then walked across the bridge to see a very, very modern Catholic church with special Baccarat windows．

　　We drove to the top of the Voges Mountains and started down the eastern side．Later we drove to Sorrenbourg to see the 13th century church at the Cordeliers．It contains the largest window by Mar．

　　Wednesday, October 8

　　Cloudy, 65 F

　　Today we sailed from Schneckenbush to Saverne．We went through two caves, an extremely unusual part of the journey．This river scenery is very different．We were in a mountain valley with grassland on one side and a forest beginning to show some color on the other．

　　Thursday, October 9

　　Cloudy, 66 F

　　Our dependable minibus was waiting to load the luggage and take us to the hotel where everyone went their separate ways．Our boating days are over until next time．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Do you know of Guo Degang? In recent months he has become well known in China as a crosstalker．He has never performed on TV before, but attending his crosstalk performance is becoming increasingly fashionable in Beijing, especially for youth and school children．

　　Guo arrived in Beijing from Tianjin in 1995 and came across a teahouse where he found several young people performing crosstalk．Being a crosstalker himself, he couldn't help taking to the stage．Gradually, more and more people came to the teahouse to see him perform．He soon found himself playing to audiences numbering more than 100 in a teahouse that could only contain 80．

　　As his popularity grew, Guo thought over the future of his art． “Traditional crosstalk is at least half an hour long, but performances are no longer than five minutes on TV, which kills much of the story．TV is part of the fast－food culture and crosstalk is a face－to－face art form－it needs interaction(交流), and is not suited to TV,” Guo said．He decided to bring it back to its roots：the teahouse and theater．

　　In 1996, Guo and some young crosstalk actors founded Deyun Crosstalk Association．Over the next ten years, the association organized countless performances in teahouses across Beijing．Despite their growing popularity, Guo ensured(确保)that ticket prices were kept low to make the art form accessible to everyone．Tickets to his performances are still 20 yuan today．And in keeping with technology and modern times, the association set up a BBS site on the Internet where fans could download recordings and discuss performances with actors．

　　He hopes that through their efforts, more young people will learn to appreciate crosstalk and perhaps train to be crosstalkers themselves．

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　Latest research shows that yawning helps in keeping the brain cool, which is quite different from the popular belief that yawning promotes sleep and is a sign of tiredness．

　　Yawning involves opening the mouth while taking a long, deep breath of air．It is commonly believed that people yawn as a result of being sleepy or tired because they need oxygen．However, researchers at the University of Albany in New York said their experiments on 44 students showed that drawing in air helps cool the brain and helps it work more effectively．They said that their experiments showed that raising or lowering oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood did not produce that reaction．

　　Study participants were shown videos of people laughing and yawning, and researchers counted how many times the volunteers responded to their own “contagious(传染性的)yawns,” reported the online edition of BBC News．The researchers found that those who breathed through the nose rather than the mouth were less likely to yawn when watching a video of other people yawning．This was because the blood vessels(脉管)in the nasal cavity sent cool blood to the brain．

　　The same effect was found among those who held a cool pack to their forehead, whereas those who held a warm or room－temperature pack yawned while watching the video．

　　“Since yawning occurs when brain temperature rises, sending cool blood to the brain serves to maintain the best levels of mental efficiency,” the authors wrote in the journal Evolutionary Psychology．

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　The Cave Crawler mining robot

　　Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? It’ s an increasingly urgent question, given the recent high－profile(引人注目的)mining accidents in Sago, W．Va．, and Huntington, Utah．A small group of engineers and robotics experts envision(展望)a day in the not－too－distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work．

　　One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at Carnegie－Mellon University's Robotics Institute．It was called Groundhog and it looked like a golf cart．It used lasers to “see” in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines－some of the most dangerous work in the business．

　　The latest prototype is called Cave Crawler．It's a bit smaller than Groundhog, and even more advanced．It can take photos and video and has sensors mounted that can detect the presence of dangerous gases．Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic．If it comes across an obstacle it gets momentarily confused, it has to think through the process and where to go next, and sometimes it throws a fit just like a real person．

　　The biggest obstacle, though, is cost．The original research project was federally funded, but that money has dried up, and it's not clear where future funding will come from．Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past．Since 1990, fatalities have declined by 67 percent, and injuries by 51 percent, according to the National Mining Association．

　　Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry．The robots do the most repetitive and dangerous jobs, but don't eliminate the need for human workers．

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　Arts and culture is lived and breathed in every corner of Canada．Due to a racial and immigrant(移民)population, the variety and richness of art and sports is very evident．

　　Since the Second World War, Canada has produced an impressive amount of writing．From novels to poetry, the selection is wide．Native writers are also becoming better known across Canada in recent years．

　　Musicians are reaching a higher level of recognition in the world music scene．Everything from Country to Pop, Classical to Heavy Rock can be found across Canada and across the globe performed by Canadian artists．

　　Film Crew in Canada The National Film Board is the primary producer of movies in Canada．However, many Hollywood studios are turning to Canada as a source for locations and as an alternative to the more expensive USA．Many well known actors, directors, screen writers and movies come from Canada and often scoop awards for their work．

　　French art was the first to appear in Canada along the St Lawrence in and around Quebec．Since then the volume of art and artists has increased．Canadian photography as well as painting by Canadians is not well known outside of Canada but recognition is increasing．

　　Sport is a major part of today's society in Canada．Hockey is the most popular spectator sport with more participants taking part in curling．American style football and baseball are also very popular and all of these sports are played across Canada．

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　When I was 11 years old and living under the Israeli occupation, I took a chance and after curfew(宵禁)I ran to visit my grandmother who lived two blocks away from us．On the road, I had to hide under a truck to avoid soldiers coming my way．For 20 minutes I lay there in utter fear watching their boots walk back and forth in front of the truck．My heart was pounding so fast and loud that I was afraid one of the soldiers would hear it and I would be killed instantly．

　　To calm myself, I started begging God to take mercy on me and save me from these men and their guns．I remembered the words of my mother after Israeli soldiers beat my father．She told us to put our fear and anger aside and pray for the poor soldiers, who were also afraid because they were away from their homes in Israel．

　　I began to feel bad for the soldiers．I wondered：Where do they sleep and are they afraid of little children like me? What kind of food do they eat? Do they have big or small families? My fear eased a bit as I pictured the soldiers as people I knew．Although my 20 minutes under the truck seemed like an eternity, I believe that shedding my fear literally saved my life．

　　Thirty－six years later I look around and see another kind of devastation created by fear．After Sept．11, the Arab and Muslim community segregated themselves because of the level of suspicion directed at them from others．Fear of association because of ethnicity led many to retreat www．gkxx．com within themselves and their community．They stopped socializing with non－Arab/Muslim colleagues and neighbors．Once again, we allow differences to separate us because of fear．

　　I believe it is fear we should be fighting not the “other” ．We all belong to the same human tribe; that kinship supersedes our differences．We are all soldiers patrolling the road, and we’ re all little children hiding under the truck．

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　With the start of the new semester students around the country exchange their fun and fashionable clothes for boring school uniforms．

　　“The uniform makes us look like a bunch of clones, especially when we are doing morning exercises in the playground,” said Qing, a Senior 2 from a high school in Shanghai． “But we are not exactly the same from the top to the bottom．The boys wear different sport shoes and girls have different decorations(装饰品)in their hair．These are the areas where you can express yourself,” said Qing．

　　Although it might be strange for boys to talk about fashion, they do care about what they wear in school, especially shoes, according to Qing．

　　“Nike and Adidas basketball shoes, although they are still the must for many of my friends, are becoming out－of－date,” Qing added．He explained, “Since Liu Xiang ran so fast in Athens, running shoes are becoming popular．”

　　“Still in fashion are the various baseball caps and American－style T－shirts with random English words printed on them,” said Qing． “The accuracy(准确性)of the written message isn't important．Often, the words are misspelt．Sometimes they do not even make sense,” Qing said with a smile．

　　Besides sports shoes and T－shirts, styles and colors of school bags are another opportunity for students to express their taste in fashion．Some bags are made more eye－catching by decorating them with small hanging dolls．Other fashionable items are the colorful drink containers which are now popular among girls this semester．

　　As in China, the new semester in the US also brings new fashion trends：shirts printed with Chinese words, necklaces with Hebrew(希伯莱)or Hindi(印度的)characters, and Brazilian jewelry, are all common in schools in Florida, according to Carmen Domingues, a high school student．