You probably hear it all the time — people telling you to “l(fā)earn English”. But does this mean children in English-speaking countries don’t need to bother learning a new language? Not at all. In fact, an even larger number of young people will soon be taught foreign languages, thanks to the mental advantages of bilingualism.
Psychologists once thought that growing up bilingual might lead to verbal delays－a late or absent development of talking. But US magazine Scientific American has revealed that this is not true, and reported that children who speak more than one language “show greater mental flexibility, a superior grasp of abstract concepts and a better working memory.” As the New York Times put it, “being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter.”
In Europe, learning foreign languages is increasingly popular. A European report shows that from 2005-2010, the percentage of European students learning a foreign language rose from 67.5 percent to 79.2 percent. Most European kids start learning another language at age 6. In Belgium, it starts at 3. New reforms being introduced in the UK will mean all children could be taught a foreign language, such as Mandarin or Greek, from the age of 7. The most popular foreign language for European kids was English, followed by German and French.
In comparison, Americans don’t give a fig for learning foreign languages. Compared to 50 percent of European adults who are bilingual, only 9 percent of adults in the US are fluent in more than one language, according to a 2011 report. American students are often not exposed to a second language until high school.
However, recent statistics show demand is growing in the US for people to become more bilingual. According to a USA Today chart released in July, 21 percent of US children speak another language at home. A number of institutions in the country are also pushing foreign languages in schools. Three school districts in Delaware will launch Chinese and Spanish programs next year. More people are learning Chinese, French and Spanish.
【小題1】Psychologist used to believe that children who grow up bilingual ________.

A．a(chǎn)re more flexible mentally
B．a(chǎn)re slow in the development of talking
C．have a poorer working memory
D．a(chǎn)re smarter in understanding abstract concept
【小題2】It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A．Americans are more interested in learning another language than Europeans
B．British kids began to learn foreign languages at the earliest age
C．21% of US children study a foreign language in the school
D．not all schools in America are teaching foreign languages
【小題3】What does the underlined phrase “give a fig for” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A．a(chǎn)ttach importance to
B．have talent for
C．invest money in
D．have demand for
【小題4】Which are the most popular foreign languages in the US?
A．Mandarin and Greek.
B．English, German and French.
C．Chinese, French and Spanish.
D．Chinese, German and Greek.
【小題5】What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Chinese is becoming more popular in western countries.
B. The benefits and advantages of growing up bilingual.
C. Western worlds are paying more attention to learning foreign languages.
D. The differences between bilingual education in Europe and USA.


【小題1】B
【小題2】D
【小題3】A
【小題4】C
【小題5】C

解析試題分析：本文主要講述的是西方人對于雙語教學(xué)的重視，很多西方人都擅長2種以上的語言，美國人原來對于外語不夠重視，但是最近已經(jīng)有了很大的改變。
【小題1】B 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第二段第一行Psychologists once thought that growing up bilingual might lead to verbal delays－a late or absent development of talking.可知以前心理學(xué)家認(rèn)為雙語教學(xué)會導(dǎo)致兒童的發(fā)展緩慢。故B正確。
【小題2】D 推理題。根據(jù)文章倒數(shù)第2段最后一句American students are often not exposed to a second language until high school.可知很多美國學(xué)生到高中的時候，才開始學(xué)習(xí)第二語言。也就是說在美國的初中和小學(xué)里是沒有外語課的。故D正確。
【小題3】A 推理題。根據(jù)本句In comparison, Americans don’t give a fig for learning foreign languages. Compared to 50 percent of European adults who are bilingual, only 9 percent of adults in the US are fluent in more than one language, according to a 2011 report.可知根據(jù)2011年的一項調(diào)查，發(fā)現(xiàn)只有百分之9的美國成年人可以流利地講另外一門語言，也就是說每個人對于學(xué)習(xí)外遇并不重視。故該詞應(yīng)該指A項語義。
【小題4】C 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章最后一句More people are learning Chinese, French and Spanish.可知中文，法語和西班牙語是美國人最喜歡學(xué)的3種語言。故C正確。
【小題5】C 主旨大意題。根據(jù)文章第一段和最后一段可知本文主要講述的是西方人對于學(xué)會外語的重視，主要列舉了歐洲和美國的例子。故C正確。
考點(diǎn)：考察社會現(xiàn)象類短文閱讀

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【小題2】What can you learn about the flash mob from the passage?
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A．to entertainB．to encourage
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【小題4】The writer's attitude towards the flash mob is
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“A Day Without Losing Your Temper.” A higher degree of difficulty here, and I know that from personal experience. When something goes wrong at home or on the job, there may be brief satisfaction in yelling or kicking the furniture, but bursting into anger usually has nothing to do with the approach to the heart of the matter.
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Cultural Center Adds Classes for Young Adults
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【小題3】Which of the following factors is implied as another reason for Project Teen?
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B．The cultural center wanted a grant from The McGee Arts Foundation.
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It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense. It takes the most cool－h(huán)eaded drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who waves to a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings．Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive．Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users．It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.
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A．Beside the wheel. B．Before the wheel.
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【小題2】Which of the following is proper when drivers are forced to face rude driving?
A．Fighting and quarreling.
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C．Calling back.
D．Beating back
【小題3】What can be dangerous from the passage?
A．Road politeness. B．Road sense.
C．Inappropriate politeness. D．Traffic jams.
【小題4】The following statements are right EXCEPT that________.
A．Modern drivers are good at driving
B．Blockages can cause unpleasant feelings.
C．Modern drivers can’t master the roadmanship.
D．All road users should understand the meaning of “give-and-take”.
【小題5】Which section of a magazine is the passage most probably taken from?
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Recently the busiest person on the Internet is absolutely Yuanfang, a fictional figure from the Chinese TV series “Detective Di Renjie”. In the TV series, Li was often asked by Di, “How do you see it, Yuanfang?” Then, the dialogues between them help advance the plot. Now, the casual pet phrase is used as many as 2.5 million times by netizens in a single day, according to statistics.
In fact, it is not the first popular sentence pattern on the Internet. Many other types of popular network words include those evolved from “the slogans of Vancl(凡客網(wǎng))” and actor’s lines of “The Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan”.
The explosive spread of the sentence “How do you see it, Yuanfang?” again proved the vast power of the network spread. The appearance of a buzzword(流行詞) on the Internet may be coincidental, but the spread of numerous buzzwords has started a social and cultural phenomenon. It is more noticeable that the spread is not a deliberate choice but by chance. Usually, everyone has known about it, except the one concerned.
The appearance of buzzwords is resulting from the agreement of netizens. If something is new and interesting enough, it will cause public attention.
The rise of these buzzwords also benefits from their strong “adhesive(粘著的) force”. After analyzing these buzzwords, we find that they have a common character, namely “novel in structure but empty in content”. Therefore, any concrete contents can be added in these buzzwords, creating fantastic results.
Taking the “Yuanfang-style” as an example, its popularity displayed a social mentality of questioning. Although it seems a little funny to ask “Yuanfang”, a fictional character, and some people even find it boring. This way of asking a question reveals a valuable quality-listening. The Internet provides a space for everyone to express their views, but it also causes controversies. What’s your opinion, Yuanfang?
【小題1】We can learn from the passage that Yuanfang        .

A．is the busiest person in modern industrial societies
B．plays an important role in a Chinese TV series
C．is a fictional figure currently popular with netizens
D．starts a social and cultural phenomenon by himself
【小題2】What does the underlined words “a deliberate choice” in Paragraph3 mean?
A．a(chǎn) choice made on purpose B．a(chǎn) choice made by accident
C．a(chǎn) choice done in person D．a(chǎn) choice done at ease
【小題3】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．The dialogues between Di Renjie and Yuanfang help understand the network buzzwords.
B．The “Yuanfang-style” suggests once again that the power of the network spread is quite vast.
C．The spread of numerous buzzwords has started a social development of structure and content.
D．The result of the netizens’ agreement directly leads to the rise of some socially strong problems.
【小題4】What can we infer from the last passage?
A．People benefited from the Internet on which they can learn a lot about real society.
B．People learned about some controversies from the Internet and decided to deal with them.
C．People provided a space through which they can display their own criminal mentality.
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Women turn to online shopping
Women have jumped ahead of men for the first time in using the Internet to do their holiday shopping，according to a study published last week in the US.
For years men have been more likely to shop on the Internet than women，but during the 2004 holiday season 58 percent of those making online purchases were women.
“It shows how mainstream the Internet is becoming”，said Lee Rainie，a director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project group，which carried out the study.
Rainie said it was only a matter of time before women shoppers caught up with men. This is because women traditionally make decisions about spending.
Users were more likely to shop online to save time. Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 were responsible for some of the most dramatic（顯著的）increases in the online gift-buying population this time around.
However，three-quarters of the US Internet users did not buy holiday gifts online in 2004．They worried about credit card security，or just compared online prices with off-line prices，then dashed off to the shops to get the best deals.
“But even if shoppers don’t buy online，websites are becoming promotion tools for stores，”said Dan Hess，vice president of Comscore Networks Inc．Hess said that actually most stores’ websites can make shoppers fully believe the security of their credit card numbers. And most are able to ensure that gifts arrive on time.
“It’s all about making the shopping experience more efficient，more reliable and more comfortable，” Hess said.
【小題1】Which of the following statements is true?

A．There were fewer women online shoppers than men in 2004．
B．Most of the Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 are women.
C．People in the US were more likely to buy gifts online.
D．More women shopped online than men in 2004.
【小題2】From the passage we can infer that________.
A．men usually decide how to spend money in the family
B．women usually decide what to buy in the family
C．the Internet is used in all the shops.
D．more and more shops will sell their goods online.
【小題3】What can we know from the passage?
A．American people only buy gifts in holidays.
B．Shopping online is fun for women.
C．Shopping off-line provides better service.
D．Young people like to do gift-shopping online.

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