Students who come to Skinner Creek have the opportunity to learn English in an environment entirely
different from a regular school setting. English classes are designed to meet the academic and spoken
levels of each student. All English classes will be taught by instructors qualified in teaching English as a
second language. All levels of English are available.
After class, students can enjoy many outdoor activities in a controlled and safe environment.
Experienced managers and camp teachers will prepare each activity to the level appropriate for each
student.
Students" safety is a priority (优先考虑的事) for the staff of Skinner Creek ESL Guest Ranch. Students
are monitored at all times and supervisors are in the cabins with the students at night. Staff members have
St. John"s First Aid and Transportation and Wilderness First Aid. An emergency clinic is nearby and
accessible 24 hours.
English Classes:
Class hours are from Monday to Friday, 9:00 am-2:00 pm with a one-hour break for lunch.
Students are challenged in reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary building and conversational English.
Fun After-class Activities:
Great after-class activities include: horseback riding lessons, hiking, baseball, volleyball, badminton,
mountain hiking, bonfires and much more.
Time to watch videos and TV and play games.
Experience Canadian family life.
Weekends:
Special all-day and overnight weekend activities include: camping, days at the lake(fishing, swimming
and boating) and more.
Travel Information:
Students will be picked up at Vancouver airport and dropped off again for their individual flights.
Transportation to and from the ranch will be provided as well as overnight stays in Vancouver.
Please contact the ranch directly for prices: skinnercreek@telus. net.
B. learn how to deal with dangers in the wild.
C. enjoy different sports activities after class
D. experience the traditional farmer lifestyle.
B. 28 hours
C. 25 hours
D. 20 hours
B. By car
C. By boat
D. By train
AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents. The study
confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents.
Dr. Andrew Smith led the Stanford University team that built a home-assistance robot. "If humans can
feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our
companions," he said.
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog,
researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St.
Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with
AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog. The groups" respective levels of loneliness were
tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits.
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached. Most
of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator
Marian Banks.
"He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him," said Banks, who adopted and
trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago.
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature. Over time,
however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him. He would respond by wagging
his tail, vocalizing, and blinking his lights..
"AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him," said the study"s author, Dr. William Banks,
" He"s an attractive sort of guy. He gives a feeling of being personal, not just a robot."
B. robots could build close connection with humans
C. dogs could help get rid of old people"s loneliness
D. dogs and robots were equally effective at reducing loneliness
B. it was hard for them to interact with it
C. they weren"t comfortable with it at first
D. the robot"s vocalizing and blinking confused them
B. robots can to some degree replace dogs as companions for old people
C. it"s easy for people to become close with robots
D. every home will have a robot assistant one day
B. No More Lonely Old Age with Emotional Robots
C. Advanced Technology Used to Cheer up the Elderly
D. Robots and Dogs Can Equally Cheer up the Elderly
Americans wear black for mourning while Chinese wear white. Westerners think of dragons as
monsters. Chinese honor them as symbols of God. Chinese civilization has often shown such polarities
(对立) with the West, as though each stands at extreme ends of a global string. Now in the University
if California, Berkeley, a psychologist, has discovered deeper polarities between Chinese and American
cultures-polarities that go to the heart of how we reason and discover truth.
His findings go gar toward explaining why American cultures seem to be aggressive and Chinese
cultures so passive, when compared to each other. More importantly, the research opens the way for
the peoples of the East and the West to learn from each other in basic ways. The Chinese could learn
much from Western methods for determining scientific truth, said Kaiping Peng, a former Beijing Scholar, who is now a UC Berkley assistant professor of psychology. And Americans could profit enormously
from he Chinese tolerance for accepting contradictions in social and personal life, he said.
"Americans have a terrible need to find out who is right in an argument," said Peng. "The problem is
that at the interpersonal level you really don"t need to find the truth, , or maybe there isn"t any." Chinese
people, said Peng, are far more content to think that both sides have advantages and disadvantages,
because they have a whole awareness that life is full of contradictions. They do far less blaming of the
individual than do Americans, he added.
In studies of interpersonal argument, for example, when subjects were asked to deal with
contradictory information resulting from conflict between a mother and a daughter or a student and a
school, Peng found that Americans were "non-compromising, blaming one side - usually the mother-for
the causes of the problems, demanding changes from one side to attain a solution and offering no
compromise" in dealing with the conflict. Compared to this angry, blaming American method, the
Chinese were paragons (模范) of compromise, finding fault on both sides and looking for solutions that
moved both sides to the middle.
B. show the differences between Chinese culture and American culture
C. find the reason for the differences
D. generalize the main idea of the passage
B. unwilling to admit their own failure
C. unwilling to have a general idea of things
D. likely to know advantages and disadvantages of things
B. different ideas of treating the aged
C. different personality of Chinese and Americans
D. different conflicts of Americans and Chinese
B. extreme ends of the string
C. different attitudes towards the aged
D. different manners in social occasions
根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Do not underestimate the power of revision in the days and hours before an examination. The closer
you are to the exam, the more chance you have of storing and retaining crucial information. But do not
overdo it. _1_ An effective daily routine can help you through an exam period, so in the days leading up
to your first exam, get into the habit of being up and ready to work by game. It can be a shock to the
system after months of working to your own timetable to be mentally alert at that time if you have not
prepared for it.
On the day of the exam, have a good breakfast, pack two of everything you need (pens, pencils,
erasers, etc.),then make your way to the examination hall in good time. _2_.
Once in your seat, simply pause for a few seconds and collect your thoughts. Close your eyes and
take in a few slow, deep breathes to help you relax. When you turn over the test paper, spend a short
period reading through all the instructions and questions, paying particular attention to key verbs such as
"discuss", "compare" and "evaluate"._3_ It is wise always to allow for 10 minutes at the end of the exam
to give yourself time to go back over your answers. Once you have selected the questions you wish to
tackle, begin by attempting the one you think is your strongest. It will give you more confidence when
you see a well-answered question down on paper. Also remember to write clearly, and do not be afraid
to express the unexpected: after all, examiners can get very bored marking stereotypical answers.
_4_If you do need something else focus on to help collect your thoughts, choose a fixture in the room,
such as the ceiling or anything else that will not allow you to be distracted (分神).
Finally, once you have finished, never hang around outside afterwards to attend the discussion by
other students._5_
A. Do not arrive too early, though, as other people"s anxiety can be contagious (会传染的), and you may suffer from undue panic. B. Try not to be tempted to look at those around you, or at the clock. C. When you get home, read the examination paper through and look up all the words you didn"t understand. D. Sleep, exercise and relaxation are all just as important. E. Map out a quick plan of points you wish to make and how much time you should spend on each question. F. Go and have a well-earned rest, then prepare for your next exam G. Underestimate the test in your mind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
阅读理解。 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prince Henry"s Grammar School, Otley
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