“This Friday we'll have the yearly Egg Drop Challenge,” said our science teacher, Mr. Baker. “You can work alone or with a partner.”
My friend, Cassie, and I smiled at each other. We always worked on projects   36 .
The   37  of the challenge was simple—to build a protective container to keep an egg from breaking when   38  the stadium wall.
I made my sandwich that afternoon while waiting for Cassie.   39   the butter-cream gave me an idea.
“I have a brilliant design for our   40  container!” I said when Cassie arrived. “We can 41 the egg with some butter-cream.”
“Why not put the egg in a basket with a parachute   42 ?” Cassie rolled her eyes. “The parachute is better than that stupid idea.”
I couldn't believe it. Of course we'd had our little   43  in the past, but she'd never called any of my ideas “  44  ” before.
“Then I’ll build mine and you build yours!”
  45  words had been out, our friendship was challenged.
When Friday finally arrived, I had to   46   Cassie’s Egg Force One looked pretty good. 47, my Egg-cellent Egg Cream didn't look quite scientific. We kids carried our containers up three stadium steps and dropped them over the side wall. Those whose eggs broke were out; those whose eggs survived   48  three more steps and dropped them again. This would go on till the last egg broke.
After four rounds, only Cassie and I were   49 . I let go of my box. I heard someone say “ew” after seconds. Had my egg broken? I raced down the   50 . The sidewalk was dotted with egg shells(蛋壳) from those   51  drops. Finally I found my little Egg-cellent Egg Cream.
“That looks like egg drop soup, Laura,” Cassie said. She was holding her Egg Force One. My 52  raced. Had she won? I looked at her basket.   53 .
“My egg bounced (弹起)   54 ,” she explained, pointing to a broken shell.
“A tie（平局）,” Mr. Baker said.
Cassie looked at me, and her glare（瞪眼） 55 . I laughed. She smiled…

Students and Technology in the Classroom
I love my blackberry — it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my laptop computer，as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices（设备）and truly communicate with others.
On occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers. My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas. Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom, I have a rule — no laptop, iPads, phones ,etc .When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy.
Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. Some students assume that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions and truly engage complex ideas. Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and make connections between the course the material and the class discussion.
I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge, they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
I’m not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I’m sticking to my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.
【小题1】Some of the students in the history class were unhappy with _______.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
My husband and I sat outside. A small child about three came up the street, accompanied by her mother. As she saw another girl a few feet away, she gave her admiring comment, “Mommy, I like her dress.” Her mom   1 , “Well, why don’t you go and tell her?”
The little girl walked   2  toward the girl wearing the pretty dress. The other one,
  3  the same age, was standing with her   4  turned, alongside her parents. They had not heard the compliment (赞美). Receiving no answer, this little one   5 . My husband said to the other girl, “  6  wants to tell you something.” As she turned around,   7  was made. Once again, the little one   8  “I like your dress,” and upon hearing those words, the other one gave her a big smile and excitedly   9  “Look, it’s a spinning (旋转) dress!”, at which moment she began to spin. Both of them smiled widely.
Now, the one stopped spinning and said, “It’s my favorite dress and I have (a)   10  that match!” She   11  running toward a stroller (婴儿车) parked nearby.
The mom and daughter started to   12  down the street,   13  the encounter (邂逅) had ended. Moments later, the “spinning dress girl” reappeared, shoes in hand,   14  her new friend who had seemingly disappeared. Now, an elderly couple, seated on a bench, had obviously been
  15  of all this. The man   16  the child, saying, “There’s someone coming behind you.” Then we saw one showed and the other   17  the beautiful shoes.
If you can make a   18  better, do it. I have no idea how many others that evening might have   19  this act, hoping to help good things to happen. But such brief moments,
  20  together, make up what might very well be the important times in our lives.

Elizabeth lived on the other side of a valley. One winter there was a very big flood, and a lot of houses down below Elizabeth’s were washed away. Elizabeth’s house was  21  enough to escape the flood, so when the water  22  and the other houses were standing there with no  23  and no walls and all covered with  24 ,her house was still quite all right.
Her house was quite small, her husband was  25  and she had six children to support. Ten dollars a week, which was the total of their income, didn’t leave much for  26  . Expenses were always greater than Elizabeth had  27  , but she didn’t hesitate to help one of the families that lost everything in the flood and she  28  her house with them until it was  29  for them to move into their own houses.
Elizabeth’s friend was very  30  when she saw Elizabeth do this. She couldn’t understand why Elizabeth wanted to give  31  so much work and trouble to help others.
“Well,” Elizabeth  32  to her friend, “at the end of the First World War, a woman in the town where I then lived found herself  33 , because her husband had been killed in the war in Germany and she had a lot of  34 , as I have now.”
“The day before Christmas, this woman said to her children, ‘We won’t be able to have  35  presents for all of us. I’ll go and get it.’ She came back with a little girl who was in  36  clothes and crying in deep sorrow. The girl was an orphan(孤儿). ‘Here’s our  37  . She said to the children.
“The children were very  38  to have such a present. They  39  the little girl, and she grew up as their sister. I was that  40  present.”

【小题13】

A． living B．wounded C．rich D．poor

This year some twenty-three hundred teen-agers (young people aged from 13-19) from all over the world will spend about ten months in U.S. homes . They will attend U. S. schools , meet U.S. teenagers , and form impressions of the real America . At the same time , about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world .
Here is a two-way student exchange in action . Fred , nineteen ,spent last year in Gemany with George’s family . In turn , George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America .
Fred , a lively young man , knew little German when he arrived , but after two months’ study , the language began to come to him . School was completely different from what he had expected-much harder . Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room . They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States . There were almost no outside activities .
Family life , too , was different . The father’s word was law , and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first . Also , he missed having a car .
“Back home ,you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time . In Germany , you walk , but you soon learn to like it .”
At the same time , in America , Mike , a friendly German boy , was also forming his idea . “I suppose I should criticize American schools .” He says , “it is far too easy by our level . But I have to say that I like it very much . In Germany we do nothing but study . Here we take part in many outside activities . I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens . There ought to be some middle ground between the two .”
【小题1】The whole exchange programme is mainly to         .