I am a psychologist. I first met Timothy, a quiet, overweight elevenyearold bo
题型：不详难度：来源：
I am a psychologist. I first met Timothy, a quiet, overweight elevenyearold boy, when his mother brought him to me to discuss his declining grades. A few minutes with Timothy were enough to confirm that his self-esteem (自尊) and general happiness were falling right along with them.
I asked about Timothy’s typical day. He awoke every morning at six thirty so he could reach his school by eight and arrived home around four thirty each afternoon. He then had a quick snack, followed by either a piano lesson or a lesson with his math tutor. He finished dinner at 7 pm, and then he sat down to do homework for two to three hours. Quickly doing the math in my head, I found that Timothy spent an average of thirteen hours a day at a writing desk.
What if Timothy spent thirteen hours a day at a sewing machine instead of a desk? We would immediately be shocked, because that would be called children being horribly mistreated. Timothy was far from being mistreated, but the mountain of homework he faced daily resulted in a similar consequence — he was being robbed of his childhood. In fact, Timothy had no time to do anything he truly enjoyed, such as playing video games, watching movies, or playing board games with his friends.
Play, however, is a crucial part of healthy child development. It affects children’s creativity, their social skills, and even their brain development. The absence of play, physical exercise, and freefrom social interaction takes a serious toll on many children. It can also cause significant health problems like childhood obesity, sleep problems and depression.
Experts in the field recommend the minutes children spend on their homework should be no more than ten times the number of their grade level. As a fifthgrader, Timothy should have no more than fifty minutes a day of homework (instead of three times that amount). Having an extra two hours an evening to play, relax, or see a friend would soundly benefit any child’s life quality.
小题1:What did the writer think of Timothy after learning about his typical day__________?| A．Timothy was very hardworking. | | B．Timothy was being mistreated. | | C．Timothy had a heavy burden. | | D．Timothy was enjoying his childhood. |
小题2:Which of the following statements best describes the writer’s opinion________?| A．Children should be allowed enough time to play. | | B．Playing board games works better than playing video games. | | C．The more they play, the more creative children will become. | | D．The depression caused by homework makes children unwilling to play. |
小题3:According to the passage, how long should a thirdgrader spend a day doing homework________?| A．About ten minutes. | B．No more than twenty minutes. | | C．No more than thirty minutes. | D．About fifty minutes. |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:C |
解析
试题分析：文章关注的是孩子沉重的作业负担，除了大量的作业，还有各种补习班。学习占用了孩子大量的时间，以至于玩耍的时间太少，这不利于孩子的身心发展。
小题1:根据第二段“He awoke every morning at six thirty so he could reach his school by eight and arrived home around four thirty each afternoon. He then had a quick snack, followed by either a piano lesson or a lesson with his math tutor. He finished dinner at 7 pm, and then he sat down to do homework for two to three hours. Quickly doing the math in my head, I found that Timothy spent an average of thirteen hours a day at a writing desk.”可知，Timothy4:30放学后，吃点快餐，就去上钢琴课或数学课，从7:00开始做作业做三到四个小时。Timothy每天平均花13小时在学习上。学习负担重。故选C。
小题2:根据倒数第二段“Play, however, is a crucial part of healthy child development. It affects children’s creativity, their social skills, and even their brain development...”可知，玩耍在童年扮演者重要的角色，缺少玩耍的时间不利于儿童的身心发展。故选A。
小题3:根据最后一段“the minutes children spend on their homework should be no more than ten times the number of their grade level”可知，做作业的分钟数不应超过所在年级数的十倍，三年级的学生，做作业的时间在30分钟以内。故选C。 |
举一反三
Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap. Some call it the summer learning setback（退步）. Simply speaking, it means the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget. The only thing they might gain is weight.
Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar. Students get winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation. Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between. The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than three thousand such schools at last count. They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states.
But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school. Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said, “Year-round schools don"t really solve the problem of the summer learning setback. They simply spread it out across the year.”
Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summer than other students. Experts say this can be prevented. They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help.
But calling them “summer school” could be a problem. The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term “summer school”. In American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood. The parents welcomed other terms like “summer camp”, “enrichment”, “extra time” and “hands-on learning”.
小题1:According to the first paragraph the summer learning gap .| A．helps children to gain weight | | B．leads children to work harder | | C．improves children’s memories | | D．affects children’s regular studies |
小题2:Compared to traditional schools, students in the year-round ones .| A．perform better and have more learning gains | | B．have much less time for relaxation every year | | C．have generally the same number of class days | | D．hold more classes with more free weeks off |
小题3:Which of the following statements is true?| A．Students from poor families often fall behind after the vacation. | | B．Year-round schools can solve the problem of the learning gap. | | C．There are schools in each state following a year-round calendar. | | D．Nothing can help the students who fall behind after the vacation. |
小题4:Why did almost all parents dislike the term “summer school”?| A．They cherish the children’s rights of freedom very much. | | B．They are worried about the quality of the “summer school”. | | C．They want their children to be forced to make up the gap. | | D．They can’t afford the further study during vacation. |
小题5:What would be the best title of this passage?| A．Opening Summer Camps | | B．Forbidding Summer Schools | | C．Spreading Year-Round Education | | D．Minding the Summer Learning Gap |
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Students who date in middle school have significantly worse study skills. They are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use as their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
"Romantic relationships are a trademark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships," said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.
Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade.
Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had consistently the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.
"At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills,” according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.
"Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker," Orpinas said, "When the couple break up, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert attention from studying.”
“Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school,” Orpinas concluded.
小题1:According to the passage, students who date in middle school may_____| A．have poorer academic performances | | B．be more likely to hurl others | | C．enjoy better school lives | | D．are less likely to use alcohol and tobacco |
小题2:When doing his study, Orpinas_____.| A．followed a group of students of 6th and 12th grade | | B．completed a survey and a report each year | | C．completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts | | D．found that the students’ study skills have connection with their frequency of dating |
小题3:Study skills may include the following behaviors and qualities Except_____| A．being diligent | B．being well organized | | C． being kind and helpful | D．finishing assigned schoolwork |
小题4:What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?| A．They don’t want to see each other any longer. | | B．Their attention to studying will be affected. | | C．They will miss their ex-partners sometimes | | D．They will think it reasonable to get depressed. |
小题5:Orpinas’ attitude towards dating in middle school is_____| A．supportive | B．positive | C．negative | D．indifferent |
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After record increase in over 40 countries, Universal Robots’ lightweight robotic arms are now making their US debut (首次露面) at this year’s International Manufacturing Trade Show (IMTS) in Chicago.
The UR5 robotic arm made by Universal Robots has been announced officially “The world’s most innovative (创新的) robot” by The International Federation of Robotics and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Robotics and Automation Society. The US audience will now see the award-winning robot — along with its big brother UR10 — for the first time.
The UR5 and UR10 robotic arms are aimed at small-sized companies that thought robots were too expensive and hard to operate in existing production. The robotic arms are easily moved around the production area and present a simple user interface (界面) which lets workers quickly operate them.
Esben Ostergaard, founder and CTO (Chief Technical Officer) at Universal Robots, explains how the robots were designed to be as user⁃friendly as possible:
“We decided to make programming easy by developing a user interface worked together with a “teaching function” allowing the user to simply took hold of the robot arm and show it how a movement should be done. The robot can work in any production process very quickly. Our experience shows this is generally done in a few hours.”
The robots weigh as little as 40 pounds, making it possible for them to be moved around the production area to do different tasks. The UR5 can handle a load of up to 5 kilos (11 pounds), the UR10, 10 kilos (22 pounds). As soon as a worker touches the robot arm and uses a force of at least 150 Newton, the robot arm will automatically stop operating.
小题1:According to the text, the UR5 robotic arm _____.| A．was designed by IEEE | | B．is aimed at small companies | | C．has won a number of awards | | D．made its appearance in 40 countries |
小题2:The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to _____.| A．the programme | B．the user interface | | C．the robot arm | D．the “teaching function” |
小题3:What’s the text mainly about?| A．An introduction to Universal Robots’ new robots. | | B．The difference between the UR5 and the UR10. | | C．Why the UR5 and the UR10 were invented. | | D．How to operate the UR5 and the UR10. |
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For many students in the UK today, deciding whether or not to go to university can be as much about affordability as it is about ambition and aspiration.
In the past, students in the UK could apply to a university or college. They were sure that even if they came from a low income family, their tuition fees and some of their living (or maintenance) costs would be covered by a local authority grant(拨款). A university education was, in a financial sense, open to all and the number of students attending university grew yearly.
Sadly, it seems, those days are long gone. The turning point came in 1998, when the Labour Government introduced tuition fees of ￡1,000 a year and, instead of giving students a maintenance grant, asked them to cover their own living expenses with a repayable student loan. Only students on the lowest incomes were entitled to a grant.
The flood gates had been opened. As time passed, the ceiling on tuition fees rose, and although applicants from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales still qualified for varying levels of subsidy(补贴), by 2009/10 students in England often found themselves facing tuition fees over￡3,000 a year.
In 2011 the Government announced that, from 2012, universities could charge fees of up to ￡9,000 a year. Although the Government sweetened the pill by stating that postgraduates did not have to begin repaying their student loans until they were earning more than ￡21,000 a year, the news created over-dissatisfaction. Many students argued that it was unfair that students should have to begin their work life loaded with huge debt, while others complained that the changes would bring back a class divide to university education. These views were reflected in the number of students applying for a university place, which by January 2012 fell by more than 22,000. The Universities Minister, David Willetts, stood by the decision to increase tuition fees, saying that they would not “put universities’ finance on a bearable footing” and that they would accelerate “a stronger focus on high quality teaching.”
小题1:From the first paragraph, we can infer that _____ in attending university.| A．affordability plays more important roles than ambition and aspiration | | B．ambition and aspiration are more important than affordability | | C．affordability is as important as ambition and aspiration | | D．ambition and aspiration make a greater difference |
小题2:We can put the sentence “But the biggest change was still to come” at the beginning of Paragraph _____.小题3:The underlined part “sweetened the pill” in the last paragraph possibly means_____.| A．made a sweet pill | B．made the change appear good | | C．increased the pill | D．reduced the pill |
小题4:The writer _____ the change about university education fees.| A．is in favor of | B．is opposed to | | C．takes no notice of | D．is neither for nor against |
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There has been much discussion recently about reducing the weight of English in China"s high-stake tests such as the national college entrance examination. It is argued by some applauding the recent change to reduce the importance of English in tests so that it will lead students to focus more on learning Chinese. The TV program Writing in Chinese has exposed the problem that students and the general public cannot write in Chinese as they used to do.
Some blame the design of the curriculum for giving English an equal or greater amount of emphasis, which might have contributed to the failure in teaching Chinese. But this is probably not a fair accusation since children in English speaking countries cannot spell either.
I doubt that studying English in itself hurts the study of Chinese. In fact, high achievers in English or another foreign language are more likely to be high achievers in Chinese. It has been proved many times in recent Chinese history that those capable of using a foreign language are also masters in their mother tongue. Qian Zhongshu, Lu Xun and Lin Yutang are just a few examples.
Another trend of thought for curriculum reform is related to the perception of "worth". It is true that English is one of the subjects that students do spend too much time on, with pitiful results. This makes some doubt if it is worth giving it priority. But this is not a sound argument either as students still need to study things that matter more to their future in spite of challenges learning English presents to them.
Improvements in Chinese language education should not be achieved by sacrificing another important subject. There should be a robust(健康的) foreign language education program, as a foreign language improves a student"s future job prospects. Bashing(抨击) English education as a waste of time or using it as a goat for failures in Chinese education are both harmful tendencies.
To be constructive, we ought to start a dialogue on ways to make improvements in learning outcomes so that students" time learning English is spent more effectively. There are a few things that could improve English education, such as assessment design，learner motivation and teaching style，
I am sure there are many other areas where changes can greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of English learning. The public discourse at present is a little oversimplified. People are arguing for or against English having less weight in major tests, when the dialogue should be taken a step further, to the improvement of learning or teaching methods that may benefit the teaching of other subjects as well, Chinese included.
小题1:In paragraph 3 Qian Zhongshu, Lu Xun and Lin Yutang are mentioned to _____.| A．show respect for their capabilities of learning languages | | B．prove English and Chinese are not contradictory | | C．confirm the importance of learning English in China | | D．tell the readers English Education is to blame |
小题2:According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?| A．The TV program Writing in Chinese is very popular at present. | | B．Good results of learning English are not worth so much time. | | C．Some are in favor of attaching less importance to English in exams. | | D．Sacrificing English can improve Chinese language education. |
小题3:In the writer’s opinion, what should be done to solve the argument?| A．Increasing time spent in learning Chinese. | | B．Increasing time spent in learning English. | | C．Reducing the weight of English in examinations. | | D．Improving the learning outcomes effectively. |
小题4:Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?| A．English education is still important in China. | | B．Chinese education is more important in China. | | C．English contributes to the failure in teaching Chinese | | D．Ways to make improvements in learning Chinese. |
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