Pushy parents and teachers who “hothouse” the under-5s risk causing damage to the children’s long term development, a leading education expert said.

       Lilian Katz, Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, said that four-year-olds engaged in reading and writing went on to perform worse academiclly than those engaged in imaginative learning. They scored higher in tests at the age of 5, but children whose first year at school was stimulating outstripped them four years later.

   The findings suggest that the government's structured approach to early years' learning could be storing up problems for children. They also raise serious questions about the plan for all children to be able to read by the age of 6.

   In many countries formal teaching does not start until children are 6 or 7 and have improved their social and manual skills. Children start learning to read and write at 6 in the United States. France and Germany , and at 7 in Finland and Sweden.

   Professor Katz said that in many schools the courses were "boring children to tears". Much academic teaching required children to learn by memorizing pieces of information out of context, she said. Teaching in reception class should instead allow children to develop their intellect by exploring their environments and asking questions.

   "Research suggests the benefits of formal academic insturction for four- and five-year-olds seem to be promising when they are tested early, but considerably less so in the long term. When these children are followed over a period of three or more years, those who had early experience in more intellectually engaging curricula were more likely to do well in school than their peers, who had received early academic instruction." She avocates teaching children through first-hand experience and play, in mixed-aged classes. This can include puppet shows, drawing or running a pretend shop in the classroom.

1．According to the passage, those who “hothouse” the under-5s would probably _________.

       A. prefer a lot of interaction and stimulation while teaching

       B. teach in a lively way to motivate kids’ interest

       C. push the kids to memorize pieces of information

       D. care about the kids’ physical development

2．What does the underlined word “ outstripped” in Paragraph 2 mean?

       A. did better than                                B. looked down upon

       C. caught up with                                      D. performed worse than

3．According to Lilian Katz, the government’s structured approach to early-years learning ______.

       A. is necessary for improving children’s reading and writing ability

       B. needs to be improved to develop children’s academicability

       C. will cause problems to children in their future learning

       D. has more advantages than disadvantages

4．The message the author wants to deliver through the passage is that formal teaching _______.

       A. can start at different times in different countries.

       B. should not be started too early

       C. is best carried out in Finland and Sweden

       D. should include teaching children social and manual skills

5．Which of the following is NOT the opinion of Lilian Katz?

       A. Children should be taught through first-hand experience.

       B. Learning in a mixed-age class is good for children.

       C. Running a shop can help children get good marks.

       D. Puppet shows and drawing are useful easy in teaching children.

Chinese scientists have found a new way to use cells found in human urine （尿液）that could aid in the treatment of a range of nerve disorders.That is a new technique for reprogramming cells in human urine into nerve progenitor cells  that can grow into multi-functional nerve and brain cells.

The technique is expected to be used in the study and treatment of nerve disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other nerve disorders.

Pei Duanqing, a professor at Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said his research team has combined an episomal system to deliver reprogramming factors with a chemically defined culture medium to reprogram kidney epithelial(肾表皮) cells in urine into NPCs.

These NPCs, normally only found in the human brain, were later proven to be transgene-free and self-renewing, he said.

"These nerve and brain cells can survive for up to one month when transplanted into the brain of a newborn rat," said Pei. "My team is working hard to understand why our experimental condition allowed the urine cells to become NPCs, because we want to improve the technique and make it more efficient".

Scientists have long searched to treat and study neural disorders by obtaining and transplanting neural stem cells. However, the previous method of getting and using cells from either fetal (胎儿)or adult human tissue remains challenging due to ethical concerns and immune system rejections, he said.

Pei hopes the discovery will be used to generate NPCs from patients with nerve disorders such as Parkinson's disease. "These NPCs from patients may help us discover new drugs for these diseases."

"It is a remarkable advance in the stem cell field. The results and methods obtained from this study will be of great value and significance to the field, " said Fred Gage,a professor with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. NPCs are beneficial in treating human diseases.

B. Chinese scientists succeeded in making NPCs from human urine.

C. Chinese scientists have found cures for all diseases.

D. A new technique was used to study the use of human urine

2.Pei and his tean try their best to work hard in order to       .

A. make more contributions to medical study

B. discover another new technique

C. make the technique more perfect

D. treat more patients suffering from bad diseases

3.What is the challenge of making NPCs in the previous method?

A. The ethical comcerns and immune system refusal

B. The difificulties in getting cells from human.

C. The under-developed techniques in medical science.

D. The lack of financial support from the government.

4.From the last paragraph we can infer       .

A. the new technique will be developed in science

B. the results and methods will be applied to treating cancers

C. the study will give a major push to the stem cell field

D. the mew technique will bring great profis

 

New research suggests that the type of television you watched as a child has a great effect on the color of your dreams. While almost all people under 25 dream in color, thousands of people over 55, all of whom were brought up with black and white TV sets, often dream in monochrome (黑白画面)．

　 “It suggests there could be a critical period in our childhood when watching films has a big impact on the way dreams are formed，” said Eva Murzyn, a psychology student at Dundee University in Britain who carried out the study.

　 Research from 1915 through the 1950s suggested that the vast majority of dreams were in black and white. But the tide turned in the sixties, and later results suggested that up to 83 percent of dreams contained some color. Since this period also marked the transition (过渡) between black?and?white film and TV and Technicolor (特艺彩色), an obvious explanation was that the media had been painting people's dreams. However, there weren't any firm conclusions.

　 But now Miss Murzyn believes she has proven the link. She made a survey of more than 60 people, half of whom were over 55 and the others under 25.She asked the volunteers to answer a questionnaire on the color of their dreams and their childhood exposure to film and TV.

　 She then analyzed her own data. Only 4.4 percent of the under?25s' dreams were black and white. The over?55s who had had access to color TV and film during their childhood also reported a very low proportion of just 7.3 percent. But the over?55s who only had access to black?and?white media reported dreaming in black and white about a quarter of the time.

　 Even though they would have spent only a few hours a day watching TV or films, their attention and emotion would have been heightened during this time, leaving a deeper imprint on their mind, Miss Murzyn told the New Scientist.

　 The crucial time is between 3 and 10 when we all begin to have the ability to dream, she said.

1．Which statement does this article lead you to believe?

A．All the people who were below 25 dreamed in color.

B．People begin to dream when they are 10 years old.

C．All the people over 55 dream in monochrome.

D．Watching TV or films probably affects dream color.

2．Eva Murzyn found from her survey that ________.

A．about 44 percent of the people who were below 25 dreamed in black and white

B．the dreams people between 1915 and the 1950s had were seldom in color

C．the people over 55 spent 50% of their dream time dreaming in black and white

D．the time spent before TV and films had a deeper influence on dream color

3．Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?

A．Eva Murzyn is a professor at Dundee University in Britain.

B．The 1960s was a time which marked a transition in dream color.

C．The period between 3 and 10 is an important time in forming dreams.

D．Miss Murzyn thought she has proved the connection between dream color and TV and films.

4．In which magazine can you find the article?

A．Aging Healthily. 　　　　　 　B．Psychology Analysis.　

C．New Scientist. 　　　　　　 　D．TV and Film Reviews.

5．The passage mainly talks about the relationship between________.

A．dream color and types of television and films people watched as a child

B．dreams and types of television and films that people watched as a child

C．people's dreams and colors that they see in their life

D．dream color and the ages of the people

 

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

A. Busy parents? Bored children? Do you want something educational to entertain your children while you do something else? This is the most popular book for the under-fives. Wonderful stories and beautiful pictures. They are promised to be quiet when they open the book. What’s more, it is cheap.

 

B. Written by Bill Poole, CEO, president, and founder of Life Lead International, it is a good choice for your children. With an animated fable, the Journey to Newland storybook provides readers with a cast of memorable characters, a captivating story, and a common language to deal with difficult and often emotionally sensitive issues in negotiating change within their organizations.

C. Sorts out some misunderstandings and common confusions of the English language with practical savvy and occasional sass. The Word Book from Writers.com answers simple questions succinctly (is it discreet? or discrete? sensual or sensuous?). Other answers go a step further—with entertaining forays into the quirks and fascinations of English.

D. IELTS consists of four parts: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Listening is very important. Are you confident? Have you made well preparation? IELTS Listening is helpful for your preparation for IELTS, which is supposed to enable you to obtain an overall score.

 

E. As the world's most popular automotive magazine, Car and Driver informs and entertains people who like cars. It offers the highest quality vehicle tests in the business by applying a discerning eye to every car, pickup truck, van, and sport-utility vehicle that is marketed for consumers. The magazine also covers the latest developments in technology, which affect automobiles and driving.

F. Susan Weinschenk’s excellent ideas on making a perfect speech are so effective that once you own the book, you will become a good speaker. How to organize, how to present, how to conquer your audience become so easy. Speakers will become confident with the guidance of the book.

请阅读以下的人员资料，依据不同人员的需求，进行匹配。

1. Susan comes from China. As a middle school student, she wrote quite a lot of short stories, some of which were published in the newspaper. But sometimes she is confused when she comes across some words and phrases. She wants to find something to help her to sort out the misunderstandings and common confusions of the English language.

2.Arthur has been working in China for about two years. Now he needs a car, for he has to send his daughter to school before he goes to work. Before that he has to collect all kinds of information about cars so as to make a good choice.

3. Ron’s wife is in hospital. He has to take care of the four-year-old John and do all the housework. But John follows him all the time. Ron feels tired and he wants to find something suitable for John, which should be educational and cheap.

4. Li Ming tends to enter the training for IELTS for immigration purpose next term. But he is afraid that his listening is not good enough. He needs more special training on his listening to make well preparations for the IELTS.

5. Alice is now studying in China, and she is especially interested in making a speech. She is invited to make a speech to introduce IELTS for her new classmates next week. She needs a book to help her improve her speech.