The computer keyboard helped kill shorthand---a system of rapid handwriting, and now it's threatening to finish off handwriting as a whole. When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2011, just 15% of the most 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive (草写字母）.The rest? Block letters.

And those college hopefuls are just the first edge of a wave of US students who no longer get much handwriting instructions in the primary grades, frequently 10 minutes a day or less. As a result, more and more students struggle to read and write cursive.

At Keene Mill Elementary School in Springfield, all their poems and stories are typed. Children in Fairfax County schools are taught keyboarding beginning in kindergarten. Older students who never mastered handwriting say it doesn't affect their grades.

There are those who say the culture is at a crossing, turning from the written word to the typed one. If handwriting becomes a lost form of communication, does it matter?

It was at University of Virginia that researchers recently discovered a previously unknown poem by Robert, written in his unique script. Handwritten documents are more valuable to researchers, historians say, because their authenticity (真实性）can be confirmed. Students also find them more fascinating.

The loss of handwriting also may be a cognitive (认知的）opportunity missed. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better-a lifelong benefit.

It doesn't take much to teach better handwriting skills. At some schools in Prince George's County, elementary school students use a program called Handwriting Without Tears for 15 minutes a day. They learn the correct formation of manuscript letters through second grade, and cursive letters in third grade.

There are always going to be some kids who struggle with handwriting because of their particular neurological (神经系统的)wiring, learning issues or poor motor skills. Educators often point to this factor in support of keyboarding.

1.What is the author concerned about after 2011 SAT exams?

A. Keyboarding.      B. Shorthand

C. Handwriting.    D. Block letters.

2.A poem by Robert mentioned in the passage is used to _________.

A. prove how valuable handwriting is

B. explain what a famous poet he is

C. show how unique his poem is

D. stress how fascinating the documents are

3.The example of Handwriting Without Tears helps to argue that_________.

A. the schools are responsible for the loss of handwriting

B. the loss of handwriting is a cognitive opportunity missed xKb 1.Com 

C. it doesn't take much to teach better handwriting skills

D. the culture is turning from the written word to the typed one

4. According to the author, when is a perfect time to learn handwriting?

A. Kindergarten.           B. Primary school.           C. High school.            D. College.

5.What is the author’s attitude towards this debate?

   A. Devotion.        B. Encouragement.         C. critical.          D. Objective.

A new study suggests that the more teenagers watch television, the more likely they are to develop depression as young adults .

    The researchers used a national long-term survey of adolescent（青少年的）health to investigate （调查）the relationship between media use and depression. They based their findings on more than four thousand adolescents who were not depressed when the survey began in 2000.

    As part of the survey, the young people were asked how many hours of television or videos they watched daily. They were also asked how often they played computer games and listened to the radio. Media use totaled an average of five and one-half hours a day. More than two hours of that was spent watching TV.

    Seven years later, in 2007, more than seven percent of the young people had signs of depression. The average age at that time was twenty-one.

    The researchers say they did not find any such relationship with the use of other media such as movies, video games or radio, etc. But the study did find that every extra hour of television meant an eight percent increase in the chances of developing signs of depression. Young men were more likely than young women to develop depression given the same amount of media use.

    The study didn't explore if watching TV causes depression. But one possibility is that it was taking time away from activities that could help prevent depression.

    Last December, the journal Social Indicators Research published a study of activities that help lead to happy lives. Sociologists from the University of Maryland found that people who describe themselves as happy spend less time watching television than unhappy people. The study found that happy people are more likely to be socially active, to read, to attend religious services and to vote.

1.The best title for this passage should be____________.

　　A. Teens, Television and Depression

　　B. Men Develop Depression Easier than Women

　　C. Media Use is Harmful to Adolescents

　　D. Take Great Care of Teenager's Depression

2.The result of the research seems to prove______________.

　　A. teenagers are more likely to develop depression than adults

　　B. other media uses do no harm to adolescents

　　C. TV probably causes teenagers to grow up with depression

　　D. those who watch no TV will not develop depression

3.We can learn from the survey that of all the media use

　　A. computer games are teenagers' favourite

　　B. most teenagers prefer to listen to the radio

　　C. teenagers enjoy watching TV very much

　　D. newspaper is not included in the survey

4.We can conclude that a teenager should _____

　　A. play more video games instead of watching TV

　　B. be active in taking part in outdoor activities

　　C. be more active in watching educational TV programmes

　　D. attend religious services and care for politics

Recently the World Health Organization announced that the disease of smallpox（天花）had almost been wiped out in most parts of the world, thanks to widespread vaccination（种牛痘）. Most people are vaccinated at least once in their lives and if they wish to travel from one country to another they must be able to prove that they have had a recent vaccination. In this way the disease has been prevented from spreading and today one seldom hears of it at all.

This is mainly because of the great discovery made by a village doctor, Edward Jenner, in about 1798 when he published his report of his new experiment called vaccination (from the word ‘vacca’ meaning a cow). Jenner discovered that people who worked with cattle often suffered from a harmless disease which they caught from the cattle, but these people never seemed to get smallpox. So he experimented by putting the disease into a small opening on the arms of healthy people, and though their arms became painful for a day or two, they soon recovered and none of these people ever got smallpox.

So the news of the wonderful discovery spread to other countries and people

rushed to their doctors to be vaccinated. In many countries the simple way to deal with the arm was done on thousands of people, and the terrible smallpox began to disappear.

71．Vaccination against smallpox has been so successful that _________ .

A．the discoverer made a large amount of money

B．Dr Jenner was given a prize by the World Health Organization

C．smallpox has almost disappeared in most countries

D．smallpox was no longer in existence on earth

72 ．Smallpox has been prevented from spreading through the following measures EXCEPT that _____.

A．most people were vaccinated against the disease at least once

B．people going abroad should promise not to spread the disease

C．people travelling from one country to another must prove they

   are vaccinated

D．people must be vaccinated shortly before going to foreign countries

73 ．What led Dr Jenner to experiment with vaccination was that ________ .　

A．he wanted to make a great discovery and publish it

B．vaccination could make people's arms safe

C．he tried to cure the farmers of some disease caught from the cattle

D．those who worked with cattle seemed free from getting smallpox

74．The doctor's new discovery was called ‘vaccination’ for the reason that ________ .

A．he discovered smallpox near a farm

B．he experimented with a disease from the cattle

C．he was working with cattle in the countryside

D．people got the disease of smallpox from the cattle

75．The news of the discovery ________.

A．caught people's attention from all corners of the world

B．spread far and near in the western countries

C．made people rush to Dr Jenner for vaccination

D．helped to get rid of the terrible disease of smallpox

I found out one time that doing a __36____for someone could get you into a lot of trouble．I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test．During the test, the girl sitting next to me ___37____ something, but I didn’t understand．So I __38______ her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen．She showed me that hers was ____39_____ and would not write．I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and ____40_____ it on her desk．

Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were____41_____．As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about ____42____ it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to____43____ your own two feet and be responsible for your own ____44____．For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized the fact ____45____ when people do something____46____, they are really cheating themselves．She made me ____47____ that I would think seriously about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave．I walked out of the room ____48____ why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things．

____49____, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test．When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers ____50____ the girl’s test paper．I ___51____ to explain about the pen, but all she____52____ say was that it seemed very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me ____53____ after the test．____54____ I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I was sure she ____55____ to believe that I had cheated on the test．

1.A．help                B．hand              C．favor           D．fever

2.A．whispered             B．talked             C．told            D．spoke

3.A．turned over         B．came over           C．leaned over        D．looked over

4.A．out of sight      B．out of work     C．out of place      D．out of ink

5.A．place           B．put                  C．gave            D．lent

6.A．punished              B．dismissed           C．praised             D．parted

7.A．what                 B．that                C．which             D．how

8.A．stand up                 B．stand on        C．stand for          D．stand by

9.A．attitude           B．activity             C．action             D．behavior

10.A．what                B．if                  C．that                 D．where

11.A．honest　　        B．dishonest　　    C．modest　　        D．disappointed

12.A．promise　　                                       B．permit　           C．recognize　　    D．prove

13.A．wandering　　　                                   B．reflecting　　     C．understanding      D．wondering

14.A．Long before　     B．Therefore　        C．Ever before　     D．Later on

15.A．of            B．in                     C．from             D．on

16.A．managed　　　　B．planned　　      C．tried　　　     D．promoted

17.A．could　　     B．would　　           C．can                                   D．will

18.A．right　　　　B．only　　　              C．slight　　　     D．once

19.A．After　　　   B．Until　　               C．As if　　                              D．Even if

20.A．remained　　      B．continued　  C．kept　　　　         D．wanted

I found out one time that doing a __36____for someone could get you into a lot of trouble．I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test．During the test, the girl sitting next to me ___37____ something, but I didn’t understand．So I __38______ her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen．She showed me that hers was ____39_____ and would not write．I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and ____40_____ it on her desk．
Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were____41_____．As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about ____42____ it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to____43____ your own two feet and be responsible for your own ____44____．For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized the fact ____45____ when people do something____46____, they are really cheating themselves．She made me ____47____ that I would think seriously about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave．I walked out of the room ____48____ why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things．
____49____, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test．When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers ____50____ the girl’s test paper．I ___51____ to explain about the pen, but all she____52____ say was that it seemed very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me ____53____ after the test．____54____ I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I was sure she ____55____ to believe that I had cheated on the test．

【小题6】

A．punished B．dismissed C．praised D．parted

【小题18】

A．right　　　　 B．only　　　 C．slight　　　 D．once