Franz Kafka wrote that “a book must be the ax (斧子) for the frozen sea inside us. ”I once shared this sentence with a class of seventh graders, and it didn’t seem to require any explanation.
We’d just finished John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. When we read the end together out loud in class, my toughest boy, a star basketball player, wept a little, and so did I. “Are you crying?” one girl asked, as she got out of her chair to take a closer look. “I am,” I told her, “and the funny thing is I’ve read it many times.”
But they understood. When George shoots Lennie, the tragedy is that we realize it was always going to happen. In my 14 years of teaching in a New York City public middle school, I’ve taught kids with imprisoned parents, abusive parents, irresponsible parents; kids who are parents themselves; kids who are homeless; kids who grew up in violent neighborhoods. They understand, more than I ever will, the novel’s terrible logic—the giving way of dreams to fate (命运).
For the last seven years, I have worked as a reading enrichment teacher, reading classic works of literature with small groups of students from grades six to eight. I originally proposed this idea to my headmaster after learning that a former excellent student of mine had transferred out of a selective high school—one that often attracts the literary-minded children of Manhattan’s upper classes—into a less competitive setting. The daughter of immigrants, with a father in prison, she perhaps felt uncomfortable with her new classmates. I thought additional “cultural capital” could help students like her develop better in high school, where they would unavoidably meet, perhaps for the first time, students who came from homes lined with bookshelves, whose parents had earned Ph. D.’s.
Along with Of Mice and Men, my groups read: Sounder, The Red Pony, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The students didn’t always read from the expected point of view. About The Red Pony, one student said, “it’s about being a man, it’s about manliness. ”I had never before seen the parallels between Scarface and Macbeth, nor had I heard Lady Macbeth’s soliloquies (独白) read as raps (说唱), but both made sense; the interpretations were playful, but serious. Once introduced to Steinbeck’s writing, one boy went on to read The Grapes of Wrath and told me repeatedly how amazing it was that “all these people hate each other, and they’re all white.” His historical view was broadening, his sense of his own country deepening. Year after year, former students visited and told me how prepared they had felt in their first year in college as a result of the classes.
Year after year, however, we are increasing the number of practice tests. We are trying to teach students to read increasingly complex texts, not for emotional punch (碰撞) but for text complexity. Yet, we cannot enrich (充实) the minds of our students by testing them on texts that ignore their hearts. We are teaching them that words do not amaze but confuse. We may succeed in raising test scores, but we will fail to teach them that reading can be transformative and that it belongs to them.
【小题1】The underlined words in Paragraph 1 probably mean that a book helps to __________.

Self-employed private physicians who charge a fee for each patient visit are the foundation of medical practice in the United States. Most physicians have a contract relationship with one or more hospitals in the community. They send their patients to this hospital, which usually charges patients according to the number of days they stay and the facilities (operating room, tests, medicines that they use). Some hospitals belong to a city, a state or, in the case of veteran's hospitals, a federal government agency. Others are operated by religious orders(教会) or other non-profit groups.

Some medical doctors are on salary. Salaried physicians may work as hospital staff members, or residents, who are often still in training. They may teach in medical schools, be hired by corporations to care for their workers or work for the federal government’s Public Health Service.

Physicians are among the best paid professionals in the United States. In the 1980s, it was not uncommon for medical doctors to earn incomes of more than $ 100,000 a year. Specialists, particularly surgeons, might earn several times that amount. Physicians list many reasons why they deserve to be so well rewarded for their work. One reason is the long and expensive preparation required to become a physician in the United States. Most would-be physicians first attend college for four years, which can cost nearly $ 20,000 a year at one of the best private institutions. Prospective physicians then attend medical school for four years. Tuition alone can exceed $ 10,000 a year. By the time they have obtained their medical degrees, many young physicians are deeply in debt. They still face three to five years of residency(实习阶段) in a hospital, the first year as an apprentice physician. The hours are long and the pay is relatively low.

Setting up a medical practice is expensive, too. Sometimes several physicians will decide to establish a group practice, so they can share the expense of maintaining an office and buying equipment. These physicians also take care of each other’s patients in emergencies.

Physicians work long hours and must accept a great deal of responsibility. Many medical procedures, even quite routine ones, involve risk. It is understandable that physicians want to be well rewarded for making decisions which can mean the difference between life and death.

1.According to the passage, it is very unlikely that an American hospital is owned by ______.

A．a church          B．a corporation       C．a city             D．a state

2.The expenses for becoming a doctor are spent on _______.

A．schooling and retraining

B．practice in a hospital

C．facilities he or she uses

D．education he or she receives

3.According to the passage, how long does it take for a would-be physician to become an independent physician in the USA?

A．About seven year.                       B．Eight years.

C．Ten years.                             D．About twelve years.

4.Sometimes several physicians set up a group medical practice mainly because _______.

A．there are so many patients that it is difficult for one physician to take care all of them

B．they can take turns to work long hours

C．facilities may be too much of a burden for one physician to shoulder

D．no one wants to assume too much responsibility

5.Which of the following statements could fully express the author’s view towards physicians’ payment in the USA?

A．For their expensive education and their responsibility, they deserve a handsome pay.

B．It is reasonable for physicians to have a large income because their work is very dangerous.

C．Physicians should be better paid because they work long hours under bad conditions.

D．Physicians have great responsibility, so it is understandable that they should be well rewarded.

II. 完形填空（共15题，每小题2分，共30分）
American public education has changed in recent years. One change is that increasing numbers of American parents and teachers are starting independent public school   11   charter schools (特许学校).
In 1991, there were no charter schools in the United States. Today, more than2,300 charter schools    12    in 34 states and the District of Columbia. 575,000 students   13   these schools. The students are from 5 years of age through 18 or older.
A charter school is   14   by groups of parents, teachers and community (社区) members, It is similar in some ways    15   a traditional public school. It receives tax money to operate just as other public schools do. The    16   it receives depends on the number of students. The charter school must prove to local or state governments that its students are learning. These governments   17    the school with the agreement, or charter that permits it to operate.
Unlike a traditional public school,    18    the charter school does not have to obey most laws which govern public schools. Local, state or federal governments cannot tell it what to  19  .
Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to  20  those goals. Class sizes usually are smaller than those in many traditional public schools. Many students and parents say   21   in charter schools may be more creative.
However, state education agencies, local education-governing committees and unions are often    22    charter schools. They say these schools may receive money badly   23   by traditional public schools. Experts say some charter schools are doing well while others are struggling.
Congress provided 200million dollars for  24   charter schools in the 2002 federal budget (预算). But often the schools say they lack enough money for their    25   .Many also lack needed space.
11. A. called       B. asked        C. known        D. said
12. A. study       B. organize      C. operate        D. perform
13. A. finish       B. attend        C. leave         D. cut
14. A. taught       B. held         C. created        D. understood
15. A. to          B. with          C. by           D. in
16. A. attention     B. amount      C. expense       D. information
17. A. buy         B. review       C. give          D. provide
18. A. besides      B. moreover     C. thus          D. however
19. A. teach        B. discuss       C. have         D. get
20. A. set          B. reach        C. settle         D. define
21. A. farmers      B. workers      C. teachers       D. soldier
22. A. against       B. for          C. in            D. with
23. A. treated       B. needed       C. earned        D. wasted
24. A. needing      B. spending     C. comparing     D. establishing
25. A. programs     B. parents       C. records       D. words

Little Mark is only 6, but he has an IQ of 200, a genius among geniuses. But his intelligence comes at a cost. His parents must keep him intellectually simulated（启发）while making sure he is like any other little boy.
Mark has been attracted by the way how the world works since he was a baby. When he was 3, Mark was reading fluently, mostly self-taught. His parents haven't been able to keep him away from books since.
"I tried many times to stop him reading. We worry about his crazy fond of reading because he constantly wants to read every-thing whatever it is.”
A psychologist at the Centre for gifted children tested Mark and gave him an IQ of 200. The average child of Mark's age has an IQ of 100. At 200, Mark is a genius-even compared with other child geniuses.
"With children like Mark you can tell that's a bright child as soon as they walk in. They just have this sort of intensity, and maybe they're not so good at communicating with people," the psychologist said. "He will never fit perfectly into a class where he's with children of his age.”
But Mark's mother worries about the "socially isolated" labels. "Nobody wants their child to grow up with that image. I want him to communicate with others freely, but not to be frustrated academically, so it's really hard to find a balance," she says.
Helen Dudeney from the Talented and Gifted Children Association says Mark is one in a million with such a high IQ. She points out that geniuses are still rare and difficult for the public education system to handle. "The lack of coping comes because teachers aren't trained in teaching gifted children," says Dudeney.
Helen believes it's also extremely important for them to be recognized and supported in their talents. Mark's parents are trying to figure out how best to help Mark. At the moment, there are few options. Mark finds first year work boring and simple, but he must learn to complete the work. His mother says, "We just want to be happy. Just to have a happy childhood and want to go to school every day.”
【小题1】By saying "But his intelligence comes at a cost. ",the author means that        

This is the front page of the Simple English Wikipedia. Wikipedias are places where people work together to write encyclopedias(百科) in different languages. We use simple English words and grammar here. The Simple English Wikipedia is for everyone! That includes children and adults who are learning English.
There are 59,298 articles on the Simple English Wikipedia. All of the pages are free to use. They have all been published under both the Creative Commons Attribution / Share-Alike Licence 3.0 and the GNU Free Documentation Licence. You can help here! You may change these pages and make the new pages. Read the help pages and other good pages to learn how to write pages here. If you need help, you may ask questions at Simple talk.
When writing articles here:
Use easy words and shorter sentences. This lets people who know little English read them.
Write good pages. The best encyclopedia pages have useful, well written information.
Use the pages to learn and teach. These pages can help people learn English. You can also use them to make a new Wikipedia to help other people.
Simple does not mean little. Writing in Simple English means that simple words are used. It does not mean readers want simple information. Articles do not have to be short to be simple; expand articles, include a lot of information, but use basic vocabulary.
Be bold! Your article does not have to be perfect, because other editors will fix it and make it better. And most importantly, do not be afraid to start and make articles better yourself.
【小题1】          Wikipedia is a website for people to____.