thinks digital textbooks make sense.
California approves traditional textbooks in six-year cycles. Digital one can offer the latest information. They lighten the load of school bags. They save paper and trees, and make learning more fun and interactive .And above all, he said, they help schools with their finances.
The state has had to make severe cuts in school spending because of deep financial problems. More than six million students attend California public schools.
Earlier this year, California invited content developers to offer digital math and science materials for high schools. These had to meet at least 90% of the state's learning requirements. Specially trained teachers examined 16 textbooks and approved ten of them.
Six of the ten were published by the CK12 Foundation, a nonprofit group that had been developing digital science and math books for about two years. The foundation paid teachers and other education professionals to write and edit them. The money came from a group financed by the Khosla Family.
California cannot require schools to use the digital textbooks. Individual school districts will have to decide for themselves.
Susan Martimo, a California Department of Education official, says she does not expect widespread use right away. Her best guess is that some schools with a lot of technology will be the first to use them, but only in addition to their traditional books.
School administrators point out that the texts may be free online, but students need a way to access them. Not everyone has a computer or electronic reader. Schools could print out copies, but that would not help the environment. Also, there is the cost to train teachers to use digital textbooks effectively.
(D) 37. The Digital Textbook Initiative _______________
A. will probably take effect in six years B. covers all the high school subjects
C. has been approved by all states D. is advocated by California state governor (A) 38. The main reason for promoting digital textbooks is to ________
A. help save money B. benefit the environment C. provide interesting materials D. reduce students' heavy burden (A) 39. The digital textbooks were approved by _______
A. trained teachers B. content developers C. Khosla Family D. CK12 Foundation (B) 40. What is true of CK12 Foundation? A. It produced 16 digital textbooks
B. It paid teachers to write digital textbooks.
C. It is financed by California state government.
D. It makes money through developing digital textbooks.
(C) 41. According to Susan Martimo, digital textbooks __________________ A. are not likely to have a widespread use
B. will soon replace traditional ones C, will first be adopted by well-equipped schools D. are certain to be approved by school districts
(B) 42. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that_________________ A. schools are reluctant to print out copies
B. the use of digital textbooks is not really free
C. students need to pay for computers
D. training teachers to use the textbooks is not efficient
Passage 3
Doctors in Britain are warning of an obesity time bomb, when children who are already overweight grow up. So, what should we do? Exercise more? Eat less? Or both ? The government feels it has to take responsibility for this expanding problem.
The cheerful Mr. Pickwick, the hero of the novel by Charles Dickens, is seen in illustrations as someone who is plump ---and happy. In 18th century paintings beauty is equated with rounded bodies and soft curves. But nowadays being overweight is seen as indicating neither a cheerful character nor beauty but an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
So what do you do? Diet? Not according to England's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson. He says that physical activity is the key for reducing the risks of obesity, cancer and heart disease. And the Health Secretary John Reid even said that being inactive is as serious a risk factor in heart disease as smoking.
So, having bought some cross trainers, how much exercise should you do? According to Sir Liam Donaldson , at least 30 minutes of moderate activity five days a week. Is going to the gym the answer? Luckily for those who find treadmills tedious, the Health Development Agency believes that physical activity that fits into people's lives may be more effective. They suggest taking the stairs rather than the lift, walking up escalators, playing active games with your children, dancing or gardening. And according to a sports psychologist, Professor Biddle, gyms are not making the nation fit, and may even cause harm.
There's new scientific evidence that too much exercise may actually be bad for you. Scientists at the University of Ulster have found that unaccustomed exercise releases dangerous free radicals that can adversely affect normal function in unfit people. The only people who should push their bodies to that level of exercise on a regular basis are trained athletes.
So, should we forget about gyms and follow some experts' advice to increase exercise in our daily life? After all, getting off the bus a stop early and walking the rest of the way can't do any harm! One final thought. How come past generations lacked gym facilities but were leaner and fitter than people today?
(A) 43. This passage is mainly about ______________
A .how to keep fit and avoid fatness B. increased risks for overweight people C. the dangers of exercise in the gym D. the benefit of a balanced diet (B) 44. What dose \ A. The slow growing up of overweight children B. The obesity time bomb warned of by doctors. C. To little exercise and too much diet.
D. Neglect of the health issue by the government
(D) 45. Why dose the author mention Mr. Pickwick in Charles Dickens' novel? A. He was portrayed in an 18th century painting
B. He is the hero of a world famous novel
C. He suffered from heart disease and stroke. D. He is the image of being plump and happy
(D) 46. According to Sir Liam Donaldson, what is the best way to avoid obesity?
A. Being on diet B. Giving up smoking. C. Being as inactive as possible. D. Doing physical activities.
(B) 47. Which of the following is NOT recommended by the Health Development Agency? A. Walking up escalators, dancing or gardening
B. Going to the gym to walk on treadmills
C. Taking the stairs rather than the lift. D. Playing active games with your children. (D) 48. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ____ A. too much exercise may actually be bad for health B. experts' advice cannot be always followed.
C. past generations longed for gym facilities we have today D. moderate daily-life exercise can make us leaner and fitter
Passage 4
Until last spring, Nia Parker and the other kids in her neighborhood commuted to school on Bus 59. But as fuel prices rose, the school district needed to find a way to cut its transportation costs. So the school's busing company redrew its route map, eliminating Nia's bus altogether. Now Nia and her neighbors travel the haft mile to school via a “walking school bus” agroup of kids, supervised by an adult or two, who make the walk together.
Like the rest of us, school districts are feeling pinched by rising fuel costs—and finding new ways to adapt. The price of diesel fuel has gone up 34 percent in the past two years. For the typical American school district, bus bills total 5 percent of the budget. As administrators look to trim, busing is an inviting target, since it doesn't affect classroom instruction (or test scores). More than one third of American school administrators have eliminated bus stops or routes in order to stay within budget.
Many parents are delighted to see their kids walking to school, partly because many did so themselves: according to a 1969 survey, nearly half of school kids walked or biked to school, compared with only 16 percent in 2001. Modem parents have been unwilling to let kids walk to school for fear of traffic, crime or simple bullying, but with organized adult supervision, those concerns have diminished.
Schools and busing companies are finding other ways to save. In rural areas where busing is a must, some schools have even chosen four day school weeks. Busing companies instruct drivers to eliminate extra stops from routes and to mm off the engine while idling. They are also using computer software to determine the most fuel efficient routes, which aren't always the shortest ones.
There could be downsides, however, to the busing cutbacks. If every formerly bused student begins walking to school, it's an environmental win but if too many of their parents decide to drive them instead, the overall carbon footprint can grow. Replacing buses with many more parent driven cars can also increase safety risks: A 2002 report concluded students are 13 times safer on a school bus than in a passenger car, since buses have fewer accidents and withstand them better due to their size. And some students complain about the long morning hikes, particularly when the route contains a really big hill.
(A) 31. The “walking school bus” _________.
A. does not consume fuel B. aims to keep children fit
C. seldom causes traffic jams D. is popular with school kids
(A) 32. In America the responsibility for busing kids to school lies with _______. A. individual schools B. school districts C. teachers D. parents
(D) 33. As regards walking to school, modern parents seem much concerned with the_____. A. time spent on the way B. changes in the route C. kids' physical strength D. safety of their children (B) 34. To save money, some schools choose to _____________. A. take the shortest routes B. shorten the school week C. give drivers better training D. use fuel efficient buses (C) 35. Busing cutbacks may eventually lead to ___________.
A. fiercer competition among bus companies B. more students taking public transportation C. an increase in carbon dioxide emissions D. a decrease in the safety of school buses (C) 36. Which of the following best describes the author's attitude towards busing cutbacks? A. Favorable. B. Critical. C.Objective. D. Indifferent.
Passage 5
People are living longer than eve Two r, but for some reason, women are living longer than men. A baby boy born in the United States in 2003 can expect to live to be about 73, a baby girl, about 79. This is indeed a wide gap, and no one really knows why it exists. The greater longevity (长寿) of women, however, has been known for centuries. It was, for example, described in the seventeenth century. However, the difference was smaller then the gap is growing.
A number of reasons have been proposed to account for the differences. The gap is greatest in industrialized societies, so it has been suggested that women are less susceptible to work strains that may raise the risk of heart disease and alcoholism. Sociologists also tell us that women are encouraged to be less adventurous than men (and this may be why they are more careful drivers, involved in fewer accidents).
Even smoking has been implicated in the age discrepancy. It was once suggested that working women are more likely to smoke and as more women entered the work force, the age gap would begin to close, because smoking is related to earlier deaths. Now, however, we see more women smoking and they still tend to live longer although their lung cancer rate is climbing sharply. One puzzling aspect of the problem is that women do not appear to be as healthy as men. That is, they report far more illnesses. But when a man reports an illness, it is more likely to be serious. Some researchers have suggested that men may die earlier because their health is more strongly related to their emotions. For example, men tend to die sooner after losing a spouse than women do. Men even seem to be more weakened by loss of a job.(Both of these are linked with a marked decrease in the effectiveness of the immune system.) Among men, death follows retirement with an alarming promptness.
Perhaps we are searching for the answers too close to the surface of the problem. Perhaps the answers lie deeper in our biological heritage. After all, the phenomenon is not isolated to humans. Females have the edge among virtually all mammalian species, in that they generally live longer. Furthermore, in many of these species the differences begin at the moment of conception? there are more malev miscarriages (流产). In humans, after birth, more baby boys than baby girls die. (C) 37. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs? A. Men's lifespan remains almost unchanged.
B. Researchers have found the causes of the age gap.
C. The more advanced a society, the greater the age gap. D. The age gap was noticed only recently.
(D) 38. As is suggested in Paragraph 2, the two factors relevant to women's longer lifespan are _____.
A. diseases and road accidents B. industrialization and work strains C. their immunity to heart disease and refusal of alcohol
D. their endurance of work strains and reluctance for adventure
(D) 39. According to Paragraph 3, which of the following statements is true? A. The great number of male smokers contributes to the age gap. B. The growing number of smoking women will narrow the age gap. C. Female workers are more likely to smoke than male workers. D. Smoking does not seem to affect women's longevity.
(B) 40. Which of the following phenomena makes researchers puzzled? A. Men's health is more closely related to their emotions. B. Though more liable to illnesses, women still live longer. C. Men show worse symptoms than women when they fall ill. D. Quite a number of men die soon after their retirement.
(C) 41. The word “edge” in Paragraph 6 means“___________”. A. margin B. side C. advantage D. quality (A)42. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The greater longevity of women remains a mystery.
B. That women are healthier than men well explains their longevity. C. People are living longer as a result of industrialization. D. Women are less emotionally affected by difficulties in life.