Standardized exam in American public education are being reformed. Over the next four years, hundreds of university professors and testing experts will work together to design new assessment system.
The new tests will be computer-based and will measure higher-order skills ignored by the multiple-choice exams used in all states，including students’ ability to read complex texts, synthesize(合成)information and do research projects．
Because the new tests will be computerized and will be administered several times throughout the school year, they can provide faster feedback(反馈)to teachers．If these plans work out, It’ll turn the current testing system upside down．
One group，led by Florida，will be made up of 25 states and the District of Columbia．The group was awarded $170 million．The other group, whose membership over-laps the first，has31 states and is led by Washington．The group was given $160 million．Twelve of the 44 states are
participating in both groups but are expected eventually to choose one set of tests．
The two groups are supposed to work in a friendly competition，though their plans are very similar．Both groups will produce tests that rely heavily on technology and both groups’ tests will include so-called performance-based tasks，designed to mirror complex，real-world situations．
In performance-based tasks，students are given a problem－they could be told, for example, to suppose they are a mayor who needs to reduce a city’s pollution—and must write about how they would solve the problem．
The new tests could be useful to teachers by giving them information on what their students are learning, but it might also require some mid-course adjustments.
Over the past decade, the federal No Child Left Behind law has emphasized helping low-achieving students improve their basic reading and math by encouraging states to produce tests that measure relatively low-1evel skills. Although the Bush-era law is still on the books, two
years of Obama administration policy have been leading schools in new directions．   
【小题1】. . What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Obama’s education policy takes the lead.

B．A computer-based testing system is adopted.

C．American education system has been changed.

D．Experts are reinventing the student testing system.

【小题2】.  Why are multiple-choice exams to be given up?

A．Because they are not computer-based.

B．Because they can’t test students’ higher-order skills.

C．Because they can’t provide proper feedback for teachers.

D．Because they can’t test students’ general reading ability.

【小题3】.  The underlined part in Para. 4 probably means________.

A．the two groups have some shared members

B．the other group is more demanding than the first

C．the groups have different tasks of their own

D．the other group does better than the first group in the task

【小题4】.  According to the passage, performance-based tasks may refer to tasks that______.

A．are related to real-world problems

B．have to be performed in an imaginary world

C．teach us theories through complex problems

D．can only be completed by relying heavily on technology

【小题5】. . From the last paragraph, we can infer that_________.

A．the No child Left Behind policy is not helpful

B．the Obama administration’s policy is highly praised

C．the two policies both emphasize math and reading abilities

D．the two policies both emphasize the development of practical skills

Standardized exam in American public education are being reformed. Over the next four years, hundreds of university professors and testing experts will work together to design new assessment system.

The new tests will be computer-based and will measure higher-order skills ignored by the multiple-choice exams used in all states，including students’ ability to read complex texts, synthesize(合成)information and do research projects．

    Because the new tests will be computerized and will be administered several times throughout the school year, they can provide faster feedback(反馈)to teachers．If these plans work out, It’ll turn the current testing system upside down．

    One group，led by Florida，will be made up of 25 states and the District of Columbia．The group was awarded $170 million．The other group, whose membership over-laps the first，has31 states and is led by Washington．The group was given $160 million．Twelve of the 44 states are

participating in both groups but are expected eventually to choose one set of tests．

   The two groups are supposed to work in a friendly competition，though their plans are very similar．Both groups will produce tests that rely heavily on technology and both groups’ tests will include so-called performance-based tasks，designed to mirror complex，real-world situations．

   In performance-based tasks，students are given a problem－they could be told, for example, to suppose they are a mayor who needs to reduce a city’s pollution—and must write about how they would solve the problem．

   The new tests could be useful to teachers by giving them information on what their students are learning, but it might also require some mid-course adjustments.

   Over the past decade, the federal No Child Left Behind law has emphasized helping low-achieving students improve their basic reading and math by encouraging states to produce tests that measure relatively low-1evel skills. Although the Bush-era law is still on the books, two

years of Obama administration policy have been leading schools in new directions．   

1..  . What is the main idea of this passage?

   A. Obama’s education policy takes the lead.

   B. A computer-based testing system is adopted. 

C. American education system has been changed.

   D. Experts are reinventing the student testing system.

2..   Why are multiple-choice exams to be given up?

   A. Because they are not computer-based.

   B. Because they can’t test students’ higher-order skills.

   C. Because they can’t provide proper feedback for teachers.

   D. Because they can’t test students’ general reading ability.

3..   The underlined part in Para. 4 probably means________.

   A. the two groups have some shared members

   B. the other group is more demanding than the first

   C. the groups have different tasks of their own

   D. the other group does better than the first group in the task

4..   According to the passage, performance-based tasks may refer to tasks that______.

   A. are related to real-world problems

   B. have to be performed in an imaginary world

   C. teach us theories through complex problems

   D. can only be completed by relying heavily on technology

5..  . From the last paragraph, we can infer that_________.

   A. the No child Left Behind policy is not helpful

   B. the Obama administration’s policy is highly praised

   C. the two policies both emphasize math and reading abilities

   D. the two policies both emphasize the development of practical skills

 

 

Many people believe that English is an easy language．Indeed, the author of a popular book on the history of English says that English “… has a grammar of great  1 ”． But if you have read the  2  articles in this series, it will be clear that I have a  3 opinion． My intention  4, not always so seriously, that English is in fact full of difficulties to the non-native speakers．The biggest book of English grammar contains 1800 pages and 5   3 kilos, which doesn’t necessarily prove that English grammar is  6 , but it  7 , undoubtedly, show that there is a lot of  8 !

So is English easy or not? Actually, English can be said to be difficult 9  we can point to many other languages that are  10．But English, like every language, is a hugely complex system  11  many aspects（方面）．It may be that some aspects of the language system are easier in English but  12  aspects are more difficult．For example, English spelling is more difficult than German spelling, but on the other hand adjectives are easier to use in English because they do not 13  their endings as they do in  14

And it seems that some languages are easier at the beginning but get 15  harder,    16  for other languages the opposite is true．I remember struggling terribly in my first few years of learning German to  17  terms with the interaction of articles（冠词）, case（格）and word order．However, once I had mastered this aspect of grammar,  18 else seemed very difficult in learning German．  19， I have the feeling that English gets more and more difficult  20  the learner advances．

1． A． difficulty               B． complexity            C． simplicity              D． difference

2． A． first few                B． few first                C． a few first          D． first a few

3． A． similar                   B． complex                C． public               D． different

4． A． has been to show   B． has been shown    C． has shown            D． shows

5． A． is weighed             B． are weighed           C． weighs                  D． weigh

6． A． easy                      B． difficult                 C． useful                   D． useless

7． A． did                        B． does                      C． has                       D． have

8． A． it                          B． them                     C． that                      D． those

9． A． only if                   B． if only                   C． even if                  D． as if

10． A． more difficult       B． more complex        C． easier                    D． closer

11． A．consisted of        B．being consisted of    C． consists of            D． consisting of

12． A． another                B． the other                C． others                   D． other

13． A． change                B． learn                     C． use                       D． spell

14． A． Germany          B． German             C． German language   D． the Germans

15． A． eventually            B． progressively         C． previously             D． finally

16． A． when                   B．as                           C． while                    D． since

17． A． come to               B． come up                C． come through        D． come into

18． A． anything              B． something             C． everything             D． nothing

19． A． On the other hand B．On the contrary      C． On average            D． On the whole

20． A． farther                 B． the farther             C． further             D． the further

The earliest films are quite different from the present ones.They were very short，lasting only one minute.To see simple action films of trains，crowds on the street and similar subjects，people needed to pay only one cent.

Later，a new method was used to produce magical effect and to tie a story together.The method was to put the beginning of one scene upon the end of the scene before.In 1903 a film was made about a train robbery.Many of the actions took place at the same time.The scenes moved smoothly from one to another.This was the earliest successful film.In that film，scenes filmed at different places and times were put together naturally.

A short time later，there appeared a whole hour of short comedy，travel and so on.These films were usually simple，rough and even vulgar.

In the beginning，actors in the films weren’t allowed to have their names known publicly.It was because producers were afraid actors would ask for more money once they became well known.But later producers found that films with popular actors in them could be sold at a higher price than those without popular actors in them.After 1910，actors were allowed to use their own names and won high fame.

51.Which of the following does not describe the character of the oldest films?

A.The actions in the films were not complex.

B.People didn’t need to pay much money to see a film.

C.The films didn’t show the people on the street to the audience.

D.The films didn’t last long.

52.From the passage which of the following statements are about the first most successful film?

a.It was made in 1903.

b.It was about a robbing happening in a train.

c.A new method was used to make the film.

d.Many actions happened at the same time but people could see them one by one in the film.

e.All the actions were filmed in a train.

f.There was no sound in the film.

g.The film lasted shorter than an hour.

A.a，b，c，d，e，f，g　　　　                     B.a，b，c，d，g

C.a，b，d，e，f　　　　                               D.a，b，c，d，e，g

53.The underlined word“vulgar”in the third paragraph means______.

A.ill mannered，in bad taste    B.gentle manned，in good taste

C.interesting                 D.educative

54.Why did producers not allow actors to make their names famous to the public in the beginning?

A.Fame is a magnifying（放大）glass.

B.Fame is the last infirmity（weakness）of noble minds.

C.The more a man has，the more he wants.

D.The more famous one is，the more he gets.

55.Which is true according to the passage?

A.The more famous the actors are，the better a film must be.

B.Since 1910 actors have been more and more famous.

C.The films at present last as long as the old ones.

D.Films began during last century.