Not far from the house ____ two gardens, ______ seated nearby playing bridge with his children．

       A．were; whose owner  B．was; of which the owner

       C．were; its owner        D．was; owner of which      

 

About 21,000 young people in 17 American states do not go to classes in school buildings. Instead, they receive their school education by working at home on computers. The Center for Education Reform says the United States has 67 public “cyberschools,” and that is about twice as many as two years ago.

The money for students to go to a cyberschool comes from the governments of the states where they live. Some educators say cyberschools receive money that should support traditional public schools. They also say it is difficult to know if students are learning well.

Other educators praise this new form of education for letting students work at their own speed. These people say cyberschools help students who were unhappy or unsuccessful in traditional schools. They say learning at home by computer ends long bus rides for children who live far from school.

Whatever the judgment of cyberschools, they are getting more and more popular. For example, a new cybershool called Common-wealth Connections Academy will take in students this fall. It will serve children in the state of Pennsylvania from ages five through thirteen.

Children get free equipment for their online education. This includes a computer, a printer, books and technical(技术的) services. Parents and students talk with teachers by telephone or by sending emails through their computer when necessary.

Students at cyberschools usually do not know one another. But 56 such students who finished studies at Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School recently met for the first time. They were guests honor at their graduation.

1.What do we know from the text about students of a cyberschool?

    A. They have to take long bus rides to school.

    B. They study at home rather than in classrooms.

    C. They receive money from traditional public schools.

    D. They do well in traditional school program.

2.What is a problem with cyberschools?

    A. Their equipment costs a lot of money.

    B. They get little support from the state government.

    C. It is hard to know students’ progress in learning.

    D. The students find it hard to make friends.

3.Cyberschools are getting popular because ________.

    A. they are less expensive for students

    B. their students can work at their own speed

    C. their graduates are more successful in society

    D. they serve students in a wider age range(范围)

4.We can infer that the author of the text is ________.

    A. unprejudiced(无偏见的) in his description(描述) of cyberschools

    B. excited about the future of cyberschools

    C. doubtful about the quality of cyberschools

    D. disappointed at the development of cyberschools

5. According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

    A. About 67% of the students in the USA go to cyberschools nowadays.

    B. Cyberschools will take the place of traditional schools in the future.

    C. Cyberschools are the most popular form of education now in the USA.

    D. Not everybody likes cyberschools.

 

About 21,000 young people in 17 American States don’t attend classes in school buildings. Instead, they receive their elementary (初等) and high school education by working at home on computers . The Center for Education Reform says the United States has 67 public “cyberschools,” and that is about twice as many as two years ago.

  The money for students to attend a cyberschool comes from the governments of the states where they live. Some educators say cyberschools receive money that should support traditional public schools . They also say it is difficult to know if students are learning well.

  Other educators praise this new form of education for letting students work at their own speed. These people say cyberschools help students who were unhappy or unsuccessful in traditional schools . They say learning at home by computers ends long bus rides for children who live far from school.

  Whatever the judgment of cyberschools , they are getting more and more popular.

For example , a new cyberschool called Commonwealth Connections Academy will take in students this fall. It will serve children in the state of Pennsylvania from ages five through thirteen.

  Children get free equipment for their online education. This includes a computer, a printer, books and technical services. Parents and students talk with teachers by telephones or by sending emails through their computers when necessary.

  Students at cyberschools usually do not know one another. But 56 such students who finished studies at Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter school recently met for the first time. They were guests of honor at their graduation.

1.What do we know from the text about students of a cyberschool?

     A. They have to take long bus rides to school.

     B. They study at home rather than in classrooms.

     C. They receive money from traditional public schools.

     D. They do well in traditional school programs.

2.What is a problem with cyberschools?

     A. Their equipment costs a lot of money.

     B. They get little support from the state government

     C. It is hard to know students' progress in learning.

     D. The students find it hard to make friends.

3. Cyberschools are getting popular because    

     A. they are less expensive for students

     B. their students can work at their own speed

     C. their graduates are more successful in society

     D. they serve students in a wider age range

4.We can infer that the author of the text is _________.

     A.unprejudiced(无偏见的) in his description of cryberschools .

B. excited about the future of cryberschools

C. doubtful about the quality of cryberschools

D. disappointed at the development of cryberschools.

 

While surfing television channels over the weekend，a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us — from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism(消费主义) — are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling?

Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years?

Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior — India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement!

A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households’ financial savings is put into a “safe” deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds（福利基金） and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into “risky” assets(资产) like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation(通货膨胀). The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point.

1.What had not changed much over the many years according to the passage?

A. Value systems                      B. The poor situation of retirees

C. Economic freedom                  D. Approach to consumerism

2.Which of the following statements about saving in India is right?

A. the concept of saving has been well received by Indians.

B. the amount of the savings ranks number one across the world.

C. long-standing savings can help the retirees live a care-free life. 

D. saving early can not benefit people at all.

3. What can be inferred according to the last paragraph?

   A. Half of the financial savings in stocks can be accepted.

   B. The real value of saving must be lowered in a few years.

C. A loss of savings may hardly be avoided.

   D. Inflation can be avoided on condition that you consume instead of saving.

4.What’s the best title of the text?

   A. Retirees being treated unfairly

   B. Is saving enough

   C. Saving in India

   D. How to deal with saving

 

 

Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason. I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.?

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons.  Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted. All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line. As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.

63. 1.The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 3) most probably means ______.

A. told how to enter the arena

B. shown how to make the horse beautiful

C. removed from the competition early

D. told to enter the timed-speed events

64. 2. When the final race finished, nobody cheered because        .

A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy             B. people envied the writer

C. the win was unexpected?            D. the writer bad run out of time

65. 3.Why was the writer not confident of victory?

A. He was an inexperienced rider.

B. He had not practiced enough.

C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.

D. He thought his horse wasn’t so good as the others.

66. 4.What did the writer learn from his experience?

A. Life can sometimes be unfair.

B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.

C. A positive attitude will bring success.

D. One should not make judgments based on appearance.