Everyone knows about straight-A students．We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge（报复）of the Nerds．They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book．They are not good at social communication and look clumsy while doing sports．
How, then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres?
Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School．She also sings in the choral group, serves on the student council and is a member of the mathematics society．For two years she has maintained A’s in every subject．Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque．He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair, and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station．Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony, he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes, plus bonus points for A’s in two college-level courses．
How do super-achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer．“Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students, ” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super-achieving students．“Knowing how to make the most of your innate（天生的）abilities counts for more．Much more．”
In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ．For them, learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down．
Hard work isn’t the whole story, either．“It’s not how long you sit there with the books open, ” said one of the many-A students we interviewed．“It’s what you do while you’re sitting．” Indeed, some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates．
The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn．
小题1:The underlined word “nerds” can probably be ．| A．dull bookworms lacking sports and social skills | | B．successful top students popular with their peers | | C．students with certain learning difficulties | | D．born leaders crazy about social activities |
小题2:What can we conclude from the first paragraph?| A．Most TV programs and films are about straight-A students． | | B．People have unfavorable impression on straight-A students． | | C．Everyone knows about straight-A students from TV or films． | | D．Straight-A students are well admired by people in the society． |
小题3:What will be talked about after the last paragraph?| A．The interviews with more students． | | B．The role IQ plays in learning well． | | C．The techniques to be better learners． | | D．The achievements top students make． |
小题4: What can we infer from the passage?| A．IQ is more important than hard work in study． | | B．The brightest students can never get low grades． | | C．Top students certainly achieve all-around developments． | | D．Students with average IQ can become super-achievers |
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小题1:A
小题1:B
小题1:C
小题1:D |
小题1:联系下文They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book．描述,可知这个单词指的是缺少运动和社会技能的呆板的书呆子.故选A.
小题1:根据本段描述,可知这些全优生被认为是书呆子,故选B,人们对全优生的印象并不好.
小题1:最后一段说的是班内的优等生是靠掌握几种基本的技能来达到这一点的,这些技能其他人也能轻松的学会.接下来最有可能讨论技术问题,故选C,技术是更好的学习者.
小题1:根据In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ．及上下文描述,可知拥有普通智商的人往往能获得更大的成功.故选D |
核心考点
试题【Everyone knows about straight-A students．We see them frequently in TV situation 】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
Fun is, in fact, a word heard far more frequently in families today than in the past, when "duty’’ and "responsibility" were often the words used.
Parents today are more youthful in appearance and attitudes. Their clothes and hair-styles are more casual, helping to bridge the divide. Those who are athletically inclined also enjoy Rollerblading, snowboarding, and rock-climbing with their children.
For the past three years, Kathy and Phil Dalby have spent at least one evening a week at a climbing gym with their three children. "It’s great to be able to work together," Mrs Dalby says. "We discuss various climbs and where the hard parts are. Sometimes that leads to other Conversations. We’re definitely closer."
A popular movement of parent effectiveness training in the 1970s has helped to reshape generational roles. The philosophy encourages children to describe their feelings about various situations. As a result, says Robert Billingham, a family-studies professor at Indiana University, "Parents and children began talking to each other in ways they had not before."
On the plus side, he adds, these conversations made parents realize that children may have important thoughts or feelings that adults need to be aware of.
But Professor Billingham also sees a downside: Many parents started making decisions based on what their child wanted. "The power shifted to children. Parents said, ’I have to focus on making my child happy’, as opposed to ’I have to act as a parent most appropriately’."
Other changes are occurring as the ranks of working mothers grow. Time-short parents encourage children’s independence, making them more responsible for themselves. "They’ll say, ’We trust you to make the right decisions’ (whether they’re ready to assume the responsibility or not) ,"says Billingham.
The self-esteem movement of the past quarter-century has also affected the family dynamics (原动力). Some parents worry that if they tell their child no, it will hurt the child’s self-esteem.
小题1:What’s the trend in parent-child relationship mentioned in the passage?| A．Parents are chasing after fashion and ignoring the feelings of their children. | | B．More parents and children are sharing the same enthusiasm for a certain sport. | | C．Parents are taking more responsibility and setting more limits for their children. | | D．The generation gap is narrowing and parents are respecting their children’s thoughts more. |
小题2:Which of the following has NOT contributed to the change in the parent-child relationship?| A．Younger parents. | B．Parent effectiveness training. | | C．More working mothers. | D．The self-esteem movement. |
小题3: What’s Billingham’s attitude towards parents who make children more responsible for themselves?| A．He supports them. | B．He admires them. | | C．He disagrees with them. | D．He thinks they’re unreasonable. |
小题4:What will probably be discussed following the last paragraph?| A．The effect of more working mothers on children’ s education. | | B．The benefits of the new relationship between parents and children. | | C．The importance of self-esteem and ways to develop children’s self-esteem. | | D．The risks of setting no rules and some suggestions on how to have a balanced attitude. |
小题5:What’s the best title for the text?| A．Parents and Children as Friends. | B．Parents and Professors as Debaters. | | C．Growing Mutual Understanding. | D．Disappearing Responsibility. |
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Until recently, women in advertisements wore one of three things — an apron, an attractive dress or a frown. Although that is now changing, many women still feel angry about offending advertisements. “This ad degrades women.” they protested（抗议）.Why does this sort of advertising exist? How can advertisers and ad agencies still produce, sometimes, after months of research, advertising that offends the consumer?
The ASA, the body which deals with complaints about print media, is carrying out research into how women feel about the way they are pictured in advertisements. Its conclusions are likely to be what the advertising industry already knows: although women are often annoyed by the ads, few feel strong enough to complain.
Women are not the only victims of poor and boring stereotypes（老套）— in many TV commercials men are seen either as useless, childish fools who are unable to perform the simplest household tasks, or as inconsiderate fellows, always on the lookout for an escape to the pub. But it is women who seem to suffer more from the industry’s inability to put people into an authentic present-day situation. Yet according to Emma Bennett, director of a London advertising agency, women are not aggressive or extremely angry about those stereotypes and sexist （歧视妇女）advertising. “They just find it annoying or tiresome.”
She says that it is not advertising’s use of the housewife role that bothers women, but the way in which it is handled. “The most important thing is the advertisement’s tone of voice. Women hate being insincerely praised or given desperately down-to-earth common-sense advice.”
In the end, the responsibility for good advertising must be shared between the advertiser, the advertising agency and the consumer. Advertising does not set trends but it reflects them. It is up to the consumer to tell advertisers where they fail, and the process of change will remain slow until people on the receiving end take the business seriously and make their –feelings known.
小题1:Despite recent changes in attitudes, some advertisements still fail to .| A．change women’s opinions of themselves | | B．show any understanding of consumers’ feelings | | C．persuade the public to buy certain products | | D．meet the needs of the advertising industry |
小题2:According to the writer, the commonest fault of present-day advertising is to .| A．condemn the role of the housewife | B．ignore protests about advertisements | | C．present a misleading image of women | D．picture the activities of men wrongly |
小题3:Emma Bennett suggests that advertisement ought to .| A．give further emphasis to practical advice | | B．change their style rather than their content | | C．use male images instead of female ones | | D．sing higher praise for women than before |
小题4:We can learn from the passage that advertising industry should .| A．take its job more eagerly | B．do more pioneering work | | C．take notice of the public opinion | D．concentrate on the products advertised |
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Blogs allow readers to post comments. There were millions of blogs out there, so I 36 expected anyone to read mine, 37 respond. But almost immediately they did. Twelve messages were 38 after my first entry. I went to the library five times that day—each time there were more.
The next morning I couldn’t wait to get up and hurry to the library. 39 I told my story. It gave structure and a purpose to my day.
For so long I’d been unable to 40 in the real world, afraid of rejection or pity or scorn(轻蔑). 41 here it was safe. This 42 with people on the other side of the screen, many on the other side of the world, was 43 me back to life again.
One particularly cold Tuesday I opened my 44 to see, among emails from bloggers 45 how I was surviving the snow, one saying: “New York Times Journalist Trying to Contact You.” Ian Urbina had discovered my blog 46 when researching an article on people living in their 47 in the U.S. exchanged emails and later he called me up. I hadn’t spoken to 48 for months but, as rain streamed down the glass 49 , the words came. I had been living in the car for almost nine months.
The article 50 on the front page. I didn’t know until I opened my computer. There were emails from people around the world. For almost a year on one had known I 51 existed but now here were hundreds wishing me well. They said they were 52 for me.
Now every time I pressed “Check Mail”, there were more messages. I watched the numbers of the visitors counter on my blog 53 by the hundreds. These were people at their computers all over the world. I felt as of I was viewing a miracle unfold(展开).
Over the next week, in libraries and in the car 54 under lamp posts at night, I wrote my papers. I had notepaper spread 55 the dashboard(仪表盘). And every morning in the quiet of the lane, I wrote for my life.
| 小题1: | | A．nearly | B．eagerly | C．patiently | D．hardly |
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| 小题2: | | A．rather than | B．more than | C．let alone | D．other than |
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| 小题3: | | A．read | B．printed | C．left | D．taken |
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| 小题4: | | A．The other day | B．Day and night | C．All day long | D．Another day |
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| 小题5: | | A．give out | B．reach out | C．make out | D．hand out |
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| 小题7: | | A．problem | B．work | C．appointment | D．connection |
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| 小题8: | | A．paying | B．giving | C．binging | D．writing |
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| 小题9: | | A．website | B．mailbox | C．blog | D．newspaper |
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| 小题10: | | A．concerned about | B．bored with | C．careless of | D．disappointed at |
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| 小题11: | | A．by mistake | B．in time | C．by chance | D．at last |
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| 小题12: | | A．homes | B．offices | C．cars | D．libraries |
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| 小题13: | | A．everybody | B．anyone | C．another | D．other |
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| 小题14: | | A．inwards | B．inside | C．outwards | D．outside |
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| 小题15: | | A．carried | B．published | C．appeared | D．contributed |
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| 小题16: | | A．already | B．even | C．almost | D．only |
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| 小题17: | | A．praying | B．fighting | C．voting | D．looking |
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| 小题18: | | A．ending | B．increasing | C．dropping | D．expanding |
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| 小题19: | | A．repaired | B．washed | C．crashed | D．parked |
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| 小题20: | | A．through | B．beyond | C．across | D．above |
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When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be “last weekend”. Some people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one place : food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment，and even medical services. So, are mallsone of the highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists wo uld say “No!” They would go even further and say that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster. They cause consumers of ignorance of the side effect of their shopping—urban sprawl (城市杂乱无序拓展的地区）.
Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last half century. Prior to 1950，most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn’t produce themselves. If you gazed at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred.
Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one - storey buildings and their parking lot took up a great deal of space. Well - meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops. In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.
Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the problems of unconditional growth. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams, and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment.
小题1:What is mainly discussed in the passage?| A．Urban sprawl | B．Weekend fun | | C．New automobiles | D．Isolated villages |
小题2:Who do activists blame for environmental problems?| A．Endangered animals. | B．Unthinking shoppers. | | C．Shopping mall owners. | D．Ambitious farmers. |
小题3:What does the underlined word “They” refer to in the first paragraph?.| A．Activists | B．Malls. | C．Farmers. | D．Scientists. |
小题4:What is the scholars’ attitude toward urban sprawl?| A．Respectful. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Disapproving. | D．Doubtful. |
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When I was an official of a school in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents knew his difficulties, but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.
“Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time. If I had only known that, I would have said to him, ‘Jim, I love you and I’m always so proud of you.’ I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, his laughter, and his genuine love to other people.
“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much.
“I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died. He called me to say, ‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. You have to go to work now. Bye.’ That day, he gave me something to treasure forever. ”
If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people, especially family members, that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care. You may never have another chance. Do it today!
小题1:Who was Jim?| A．The child of the Tyners’. | B．The writer’s relative. | | C．The president of a school board. | D．An official of a school. |
小题2: What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “the educationally handicapped”?| A．The learning difficulty. | B．The physical problems. | | C．The psychological problems. | D．The communication difficulty. |
小题3:According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE？| A．He was always sad about his school marks. | | B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks. | | C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers. | | D．He was killed in a car accident. |
小题4:The purpose of Polly’s letter is to .| A．memorize her son | | B．teach parents to appreciate their children | | C．teach children how to be good boys | | D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems |
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