“A lot of learning comes through play,” says Mardy McGarry, 52, who has been a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She had seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks. When she wanted to build a playground for children with special needs，she knew it wouldn’t take long to develop interest in it around the small fishing village. But she never expected that 2,800 people — a third of the town—would all be willing to make a great effort to bring her vision to life.

McGarry started doing some research into play equipment and contacting design companies and she also found a piece of land available. When the city council(市议会) agreed to set aside an area for a playground, she also asked physical and professional therapists(治疗专家) for their investment. And she turned to her friend, Sue, for help. “Neither of us is good at maths, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.

Her Kiwanis Club came through with $7,000，and that’s when the grassroots movement really got started. One woman gave $25,000 and had her company match it. Soon, smaller businesses were joining in. There was a silent effort to collect money. The local Pieper Family Foundation offered to donate half of the remaining $170,000. All McGarry needed was 500 volunteers to work six 12-hour days.

On September 16, 2008, the first day of construction, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s operated their tractors. Ten-year-olds cleared up the mess. “None of them was paid. It was truly an amazing week,” says McGarry. Only three building managers were paid. Volunteers with “building experience” became coordinators(协调人); those who could operate power tools formed a separate group. One team served meals donated from local restaurants and churches, and another organized activities for the children of volunteers.

Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular destinations in Ozaukee County. All children, including the ones with special needs, play shoulder to shoulder. “Some playgrounds have special equipment in a different section. Here, you see all the kids in the same playground, all having fun.”

It’s exactly what McGarry imagined. “People used to ask, ‘Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?” She says, “It’s only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children.”

It didn’t occur to Mardy McGarry that __________.

A. her plan would soon draw the interest of people in the small village

B. so many people would volunteer to help her realize her dream

C. she would meet with so many difficulties in raising funds

D. the playground would be the most popular destination in Ozaukee County

We can learn from the fourth paragraph that __________.

A. the playground was finished in September 2008

B. everything was well prepared, apart from the volunteers

C. everyone worked unpaid, except for three building managers

D. the playground is so popular that it is overcrowded all the time

It can be inferred from the text that __________.

A. Mardy McGarry is a famous architect in the small town

B. Sue was forced to join in the project because of her son

C. people always ignore the real needs of disabled children

D. Mardy McGarry’s vision has been successfully accomplished at last

What would be the best title for this text?

A. Mardy McGarry: A Woman with Great Determination.

B. Cooperation: The Greatest Power in Overcoming Any Difficulty.

C. Show Real Concern for Poor Disabled Children.

D. Make it Matter to Build a Playground for Disabled Children.

A technique that controls immediate gas explosions by spraying them with large droplets of water is being tested by scientists at the University of Wales, United Kingdom．Instead of using the traditional fine water sprays when a gas leak is detected, the researchers have discovered that large droplets help to draw in some of the force of any explosion and provide a better way of controlling fire．

The research is based on studies made of the Piper Alpha oil rig （油井） explosion that occurred in the North Sea nine years ago killing 167 workers．The Welsh team found that by covering the gas-leak area with water droplets, the explosion and its effect can be greatly reduced．

Dr Gerand Thomas, a good lecturer in physics at the university’s Center for Explosion Studies, said that it was impossible to deal with gas explosions in the same way as fires because the whole event may only last a quarter of a second and normal water sprays do not have time to be effective．

Using the droplets of water to hold explosions resulted in the water being turned into a mist that allows some force of the explosion to be reduced．The mist slows down the combustion （燃烧） process and can stop a large amount of the gas igniting （点火,燃烧）, thus greatly reducing damage by limiting pressure development．With such a system, the operator has to decide at what point after a gas leak to activate the sprays．

The Center for Explosion Studies is the first of its kind in the UK and has been purposely-built for the study and implication of industrial explosions on land and sea．Research is developed to the causes of accidental explosions and they might be prevented．Full-sized imitative buildings can be built at the center where explosions and fires are created to test preventative equipment using sensors to monitor their efficiency．

Another area that the Welsh researchers have been looking at is how materials respond to explosions．The center also carries out research requested by individual customers．

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

     A．Piper Alpha Oil Rig Explosion

     B．Large Droplets of Water

     C．A New Way of Controlling Gas Explosions

     D．The center for Explosion Studies

The research finds that _____ in holding immediate explosion．

     A．small water sprays are better than large droplets of water

     B．small water sprays are not as good as large droplets of water

     C．both small water sprays and large droplets of water are good

     D．neither small water sprays nor large droplets of water is good

Dr Geraint Thomas implies that ______．

     A．normal water sprays can put out fire effectively

     B．gas explosions break out more quickly than fires

     C．fires are easier to be held than explosions

     D．gas explosions break out so quickly that there is no way to control it

Which of the following is not included in the research area of the Center for Explosion Studies?

     A．To test the result of gas explosion．

     B．To get some implications of industrial explosions on land and sea．

     C．To find out how materials respond to explosions．

    D．To find out when material respond to explosions．

A Good Teacher is a Strict Teacher

    One of the most important parts in the healthy development of a

child is played by education. But the way in which education is

understood has changed completely, as we must not forget that

the severe and unfeeling way of bringing up a child in the past

was primarily based on cruel grounding（基础）and strict

rules that were supposed to create accomplished individuals, the typical gentlemen. Nowdays,

society is much more open-minded and it does not put a great value on being strict, although this

doesn’t mean that opinions regarding this subject do not differ.

    On the one hand, there are also people who believe that there has got to be a bound between

teacher and student if any satisfying results are awaited. Luckily for us, more and more teachers are

understanding this fact and are doing their best to get over the strict rules and get in touch with us.

    My opinion is that only by having a friendly attitude and accepting other opinions, especially

those of your pupils, you are truly able to do your job at high standards. However, this does not

mean that a teacher shouldn’t be a bit more rough when he feels that things are getting out of hand.

All in all, I must say that a good teacher is the teacher that has the ability to be kind and strict at the

same time, thus achieving to gain his students respect and interest.

The aim of education in the past was to      .

       A．create perfect persons      B．create open-minded persons

       C．bring up a child              D．build a cruel grounding

According to the passage, the narrow-minded people think      .

       A．a pupil is always interested in what he is learning

       B．a pupil himself will improve his studies

       C．children should be made to study

       D．children don’t like a rough hand

The underlined word “job” in the last paragraph can be replaced by      .

       A．controlling       B．teaching    C．learning    D．punishing

The author thinks a good teacher should be     .

       A．kind and strict         B．skilled and clever

       C．rough and cruel              D．friendly and practical

It can be inferred from the passage that       .

       A．society is much more open-minded and being strict is out date

       B．as long as the teachers are strict with students, the students will certainly get good marks

       C．most people are in favor of strict teachers because they have strict grounding and strict rules

       D．if we expect students to develop in a healthy way, the good relationship between teachers and students is important

Time out, extra chores and taking away privileges are more useful forms of disciplining (惩戒)naughty children than spanking or hitting, according to a study on Wednesday.

About 94 percent of parents use some form of physical punishment to teach their two-year-olds right from wrong, according to research studies. But psychologists say it could lead to later emotional and behavioral problems.

Even children who were only spanked some of the time are more likely to show signs of sadness or have less confidence.

      “The key is to be fair and do the same thing each time. Doing something like hitting a child that seems cruel at best doesn’t help and can put a child at risk for problems,” said Dr Paul Frick, of the University of New Orleans in Louisians.

      “It is better to use other punishments,” he added.

      The use of physical punishment to teach children has long been debated. In countries such as Austria, Finland, Germany and Sweden, it is illegal to use physical punishment at home or in schools.

Frick and his team, who studied the effects of physical punishment on 98 children, said they couldn’t find any positive effects. Some children learned more from the hitting than what the parent was trying to teach them.

      “The key is to have a lot of different forms of punishment depending on the age of the child,” said Frick, who reported his findings in the Journal of Applied Child Psychology.

      He recommended time out for younger children and taking away television and electronic toys for older children. Giving extra chores can also get the message across.

      Other measures are at least as effective as physical punishment and have less harmful potential consequences.

      The researchers kept children whom they thought were at risk of later conduct problems out of the test and an equal number of other children who acted as a control group, to study what measures would be most helpful.

      They questioned the parents and the children about positive and negative parenting behavior including the use of physical punishment.

      “We got it from both viewpoints,” said Frick.

      He added that children on the receiving end of a hit can learn that when they are upset and angry they hit, rather than understanding their behavior was wrong and that they need to do better.

What’s the purpose of the writer to write this article?

A.To debate if physical punishment is illegal.

B.To introduce how to deal with young kids.

C.To talk about how to discipline young kids.

D.To order parents not to spank young kids.

Which of the following punishments is NOT recommended by Frick and his team?

      A. Taking away toys                          B. Not allowing watching TV

      C. Doing more housework.            D. Switching TV channels 

What should be kept in mind when disciplining a kid?

A. How he or she usually behaves.

B. Tell them why they are punished.

C. Use different forms of punishment each time.

D. Be fair and stick to the same principle.

According to the passage, why did Dr Frick advise against physical punishment?

A. Because the children may hit people as a solution to problems.

B. Because the children will learn their behavior is wrong in time.

C. Because it is illegal to use physical punishment in certain countries.

D. Because parents think it’s the easiest way to teach kids right from wrong.

A Good Teacher is a Strict Teacher

    One of the most important parts in the healthy development of a

child is played by education. But the way in which education is

understood has changed completely, as we must not forget that

the severe and unfeeling way of bringing up a child in the past

was primarily based on cruel grounding（基础）and strict

rules that were supposed to create accomplished individuals, the typical gentlemen. Nowdays,

society is much more open-minded and it does not put a great value on being strict, although this

doesn’t mean that opinions regarding this subject do not differ.

    On the one hand, there are also people who believe that there has got to be a bound between

teacher and student if any satisfying results are awaited. Luckily for us, more and more teachers are

understanding this fact and are doing their best to get over the strict rules and get in touch with us.

    My opinion is that only by having a friendly attitude and accepting other opinions, especially

those of your pupils, you are truly able to do your job at high standards. However, this does not

mean that a teacher shouldn’t be a bit more rough when he feels that things are getting out of hand.

All in all, I must say that a good teacher is the teacher that has the ability to be kind and strict at the

same time, thus achieving to gain his students respect and interest.

The aim of education in the past was to      .

       A．create perfect persons      B．create open-minded persons

       C．bring up a child              D．build a cruel grounding

According to the passage, the narrow-minded people think      .

       A．a pupil is always interested in what he is learning

       B．a pupil himself will improve his studies

       C．children should be made to study

       D．children don’t like a rough hand

The underlined word “job” in the last paragraph can be replaced by      .

       A．controlling       B．teaching    C．learning    D．punishing

The author thinks a good teacher should be     .

       A．kind and strict         B．skilled and clever

       C．rough and cruel              D．friendly and practical

It can be inferred from the passage that       .

       A．society is much more open-minded and being strict is out date

       B．as long as the teachers are strict with students, the students will certainly get good marks

       C．most people are in favor of strict teachers because they have strict grounding and strict rules

       D．if we expect students to develop in a healthy way, the good relationship between teachers and students is important