Children are our future, and it’s up to us to arm them with the tools to succeed. Sadly, today’s children are being armed with more dangerous tools like weapons （武器）, drugs and gangs. Once a relatively peaceful environment, many schoolyards of today are becoming unsafe for both students and teachers.

Home schools are available to give you choices. Home schooling provides top-quality education, flexibility, and freedom to create your own schedule. At Heritage Home School we believe the choice should be yours. Thanks in part to modern technology, home schooling information is becoming readily available across our nation. A recent study by the ITBS （Iowa Tests of Basic Skills） and TAP （Tests of Achievement and Proficiency） shows us that students of home schools do particularly well when compared with the nationwide average. In every subject at every grade level, students of home schooling scored obviously higher than those in public and private schools.

If you’re new to home schooling, you may be asking yourself, “Will home schools really work for my children?”

Fact: A nationwide study using a random（任意）selection of 1,516 families found students of home schooling to be scoring, on average, at or above the 80th percentile in all areas on standardized achievement test.

Note: The national average on standardized achievement tests is the 50th percentile. Collectively, the staff at Heritage Home School brings 65 years of experience in home schooling curriculum. We’ve placed students in the top 2 % of the nation in math and many are successfully moving on to college.

One study found that of the home schooled adults, 0% were unemployed, 0% were on welfare and 94% said home education prepared them to be independent persons. For more home schooling information, call us today toll free at（877）532-7665.

 

1.We can learn from the first paragraph that ________.

A. many schools armed their students with weapons

B. violence and crime exist in many schoolyards

C. students use weapons to defend their schoolyards

D. weapons are more dangerous than drugs

2.All of the following are true of home schools EXCEPT that ________.

A. students are free to choose their courses

B. students do well in important national tests

C. they help students find jobs

D. they help students to be independent　　

3.What is the purpose of the text?

A. To give information about different schools.

B. To compare home schools with other schools.

C. To suggest a new method of school education.

D. To persuade people to choose home schools.

4.The advertisement is mainly aimed at ________.

A. students   B. parents   C. teachers   D. adults

 

Parents are often amazed at how fast their child grows and develops. New research has determined that the ability to quantify may develop much sooner than most parents realize.

Kristy vanMarle, professor of the University of Missouri, has determined that contrary to what previous studies have shown, infants（嬰兒）are able to quantify substances（物質(zhì)）—like sand or water—as early as 10 months. As long as the difference between the two substances is large enough, infants will choose the larger amount, especially when it comes to food.

With the assistance of her team researchers, vanMarle tested the quantifying skills of babies by presenting them with two cups: one containing a small amount of food, and one containing a larger amount. Consistently, the babies chose the larger amount.

“Several studies throughout the last 15 years have shown that infants are very good at telling how many objects they see; however, infants don’t seem to count things like water or sand,” vanMarle said. “What we’re saying is that they can quantify substances; it’s just much harder. The infants can see how much food goes into each cup and compare that in their memories. They decide which amount is larger, and they almost always select the larger one.”

“This information further refutes（駁斥）the long-held idea that babies “know nothing of the world,” vanMarle said.

“Since psychologists have begun studying infants with sensitive measures, we’ve discovered a lot of early abilities. I think for parents, it should be exciting to know that there’s somebody in there that has some fundamental and basic knowledge of the world, and that knowledge is guiding their development,” vanMarle said.

In the future, vanMarle says this kind of study could be linked to a child’s progress in math-related skills, although programs marketed to increase those abilities, such as “Baby Einstein,” still have mixed reviews when it comes to academic study.

1.The quantifying ability refers to the ability to     .

A. get much knowledge of the world

B. identify the quantity of something

C. choose between different substances

D. obtain math-related skills

2.Babies choose the larger amount of food     .

A.  on personal preference                  B. by saying numbers 

C.  with the help of parents                D. through their natural abilities

3.We can learn from the text that     .

A. people used to think the world is known to babies

B. scholars disagree on baby-training programs

C. little research has been done on infants

D. some parents don’t care about their kids

 

U.S. airlines are seeing a major interruption because of hundreds of flights canceled due to the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano, but European flight companies will face the biggest losses.

The airline business has been tough: The decline dramatically slowed traffic; February heavy snow forced U.S. airlines to cancel thousands of flights; and now the ashes from the volcano stopped all traffic in and out of northern Europe for days.

"For U.S. flight companies, it'll be a relatively short-term hit," said Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group International, an aviation (航空學(xué)) consulting firm. "We think right now they're down about $80 million in terms of lost income, and they're down domestically about 80,000 passengers that would have been flying domestically but aren't because they can't get here."

Delta announced that volcano-related interruption grounded about 400 flights until Monday at a cost of $20 million in lost revenues. But compare that to the recent snowstorms, when the airline canceled 7,000 flights and lost $65 million in revenue.

The disruption has created uncertainty for customers, but analysts say U.S. airlines won't face as many costs as you might think. They are not flying in extra planes to handle the passengers in trouble because, airline analyst Robert Mann said, companies simply don't have them.

"Airlines run a very lean operation now," Mann said. "So, since there are no spare aircraft or crews, the airlines will attempt to maximize loads on every one of their aircraft that do fly. But it may take days, or in some cases a week or so, to get some of these customers to where they want to go."

46. Which negative consequences mentioned in the passage did the disasters cause?

A. coldness, pollution and airlines’ losses    

B. airport damage, pollution and slow traffic

C. passenger delay, coldness and airport damage   

D. passenger delay, airlines’ losses and slow traffic

47. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. The fewest airplanes will fly the trapped passengers to their destinations.

B. All the customers are sure to be sent to their destinations in time.

C. The U.S. and U.K. airlines suffered the same losses in the natural disasters.

D. The volcano eruption reduced the traffic to and from northern Europe.  

48. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A. the troubles that the airlines will face after the ash cloud disappears

B. the measures that the airlines will take to maximize their profit

C. the present situation of the airlines and their plan to deliver the passengers

D. the reasons why the airlines run a fine operation

49. Why will it take a long time for airlines to send the passengers to their different destinations?

A. Because the passengers enjoy staying in airports to talk with one another.

B. Because the airlines don’t have spare planes or employees to serve.

C. Because the airlines don't have enough financial support after the disaster.

D. Because the passengers are asking for full refund from the airlines.

50. The passage is most probably from_______.

A．a(chǎn) novel                                  B．a(chǎn) news report        

C．a(chǎn) magazine                               D．a(chǎn) thesis

 

This is a dangerous world we live in．The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc．You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper． But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little．

   This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous．For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide．This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors（腫瘤）, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once．After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth．The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background．

   The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said．When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths．Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view．For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe．Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike．When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics．If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s．To be warned is to be prepared．

1.In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?

         A．We are now living in a dangerous world．

         B．We get a lot of false statistics from the media．

         C．Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things．

         D．There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc．

2.Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?

         A．To argue that high school students are easily persuaded．

         B．To show the danger of reporting only part of the information．

         C．To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous．

         D．To warn us of the harmful substance around us．

3.Relative information is often left out because__________．

         A．Relative information is not that important．

         B．too much information will make readers feel confused．

         C．the author is trying to show what he or she says is true．

         D．readers are not able to analyze so much information at once．

4.What can we learn from the passage?

         A．We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides．

         B．Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world．

         C．The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control．

D．Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong．

 

A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公訴人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime like robbery—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.

But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Absolutely, no question about it.

The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response(戰(zhàn)或逃反應(yīng)), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.

The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.

By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.

1.Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?

A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.

B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.

C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack

D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank.

2. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.              B. Disapproval.                  C. Doubtful.          D. Indifferent.

3.Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?

A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.

B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.

C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.

D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.

4. What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?

A. Winning a big lottery.                               B. Missing a dead family.

C. Watching a horror movie.                            D. Listening to a sweet song.

5.The purpose of the passage is_________.

A. to explain why people will die of a heart attack

B. to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure

C. to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death

D. to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death