2、Students in America have to get required credits (學(xué)分) in order to graduate. The average workload at my school, Hotchkiss, is five courses. But at a school full of overachievers (成績(jī)超過預(yù)料的學(xué)生), it’s very common to see people taking six or more classes.   

I am currently taking six and half classes, including Advanced Placement (AP) Physics, Senior English, AP art, piano (with music history and theory), chorus, US history and AP economics. AP is the more advanced level of courses. It's usually equivalent to first year college courses.   

By taking the AP exams in May every year, high school students in America get credits for college. In the US, most science classes are designed for one year. For example, we are covering the same amount of material in my AP physics class as we did in three years in China. The difference is that here, we get a broad education without studying the subjects in depth. Because of the fast speed, students are expected to study more independently.   

Teachers won’t go through everything in class. But if you want to have an in-depth study of a subject, you could design your own independent study with an instructor.   

As part of our graduation requirements, every student not only has to take US history for one year but also has to write a research paper on a certain topic. Thus, during the whole winter term, my close friends became the library and five thick books on the historic meeting between US President Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao in 1972．My research paper turned out to be 13 pages long and I made a lot of note cards in the process of researching. We took classes on how to write scholarly essays, how to narrow down a topic, how to find sources and how to cite (引證) properly.

In America, academic honesty is considered incredibly important. Paraphrasing (改述) a scholarly work without proper citation (引用) is regarded as academic dishonesty and may get you into trouble with the school’s discipline committee.

1．What does the underlined word “equivalent” in the second paragraph mean?

       A．near                    B．equal                  C．opposite               D．certain

2．Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．American high school students spend only a year’s time studying physics as we do in

China.

       B．In American high schools, students are expected to study more by themselves.

       C．In American high schools teachers will explain everything clearly to students.

       D．In America, when it comes to a research paper, proper citation is not important.

3．From the passage we can infer that the author is a (an) ______ student.

       A．diligent                B．lazy                    C．excellent             D．clever

4．In the passage, the author mainly tells us about ______.

       A．the differences between American school life and Chinese school life.

       B．courses in American high schools

       C．graduation requirements for American high school students

       D．American school workload