The U.S. Secret Service, which studies "targeted violence", provides insight on the urgency of the need in its 2002 "Safe School Initiative" report:【F1】 School attacks, instead of being the random impulsive acts of noisy and cruel fellows, are well-planned events mostly carried out by a single student—who is not evil but mentally ill. Except for being male, the 41 attackers studied fit no profile of family background, race, ethnicity, or even academic performance. Many were A and B students. Few had a history of violent or criminal behavior. But their thoughts were of violence, and their behavior was often frightening.【F2】 They frequently expressed violent themes in their writings, in one instance portraying killing and suicide as solutions to feelings of despair. The criminals often had telegraphed to other students and teachers to express their depression or desperation and either talked about or had attempted suicide. Feelings of persecution by others were common and led to growing resentment and anger. 【F3】 Psychiatrists and psychologists recognize that these are red flags demanding medical intervention. Yet one of most striking findings in the report was that the vast majority of these students never had a mental-health evaluation. No wonder only 17 percent were diagnosed with a psychiatric illness—it wasn't looked for. That alone points to a huge mental health gap: If the distress of these students didn't trigger medical attention, it's unlikely that less severe struggles that are seen in as many as 15 to 20 percent of other students will do so. 【F4】 Only recently have we learned that these are neurodevelopmental disorders whose early signs might well be picked up in routine podiatric screening. For example, a classic behavior in a child that can precede psychosis later in life is speaking to almost no one, even family, says Nasrallah. Genes are known to confer vulnerability, but equally important is the environment. Stress or great disappointment can aggravate symptoms; Connecting with an adult in an ongoing relationship can do the opposite. Interventions like social-skills training combined with talk therapy and targeted medication can make a huge difference.【F5】 Early treatment can lessen the frequency and intensity of psychotic episodes, leaving many patients with only the mildest of symptoms. And the younger the brain, the more malleable is. The ultimate goal is to not only modify evaluation of disease but keep it from arising in the first place. This is achievable, and the path to get there is becoming clear.

Please write an invitation letter of about 100 words to your classmates to the New Year party.You should include the details you think necessary.You should write neatly on the ANSWER SHEET.Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use "Li Ming" instead.Do not write the address.

When the Vikings invaded Great Britain, they did more than slaughter the population, ransack the cities and scorch the earth. They also left substantial influence on the English language words like slaughter, ransack and scorch. (46) Now, a single word in an ancient manuscript has led a U.S. linguist to conclude that the influence of the Norse on the English language may have come as much as a century earlier than most scholars had thought. The find came when English professor Jonathan Evans of the University of Georgia was reading a passage to his Old English class from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and a Norse word, theora, jumped out at him. The 1122 text, according to generations of scholars, was supposed to be too early to contain evidence of Danish influence on Old English. (47) But the fact that the text used the Nordic form of "their" rather than the Old English hiera or heora, suggested that Norsemen and their English hosts were not only living side-by-side in England"s East Midlands but also were in "frequent, peaceful communication", Evans contends. "I thought I had made a mistake", when he first saw the word, he said. "There it was, sitting there in plain sight. Nobody saw this Danish word sitting there. I kept it quiet because I thought I made a mistake". But he was urged to investigate by a visiting Danish scholar, Hans Nielsen. (48) So Evans spent several years pursuing a hunch that a Roman Catholic monk slipped into the local dialect while copying out the ancient historical work for his monastery. If so, that suggests to Evans that Norse and West-Saxon dialects of Old English had mingled significantly by the 12th century if not earlier. The result of Evans" research is a paper, recently published in the journal North-Western European Language Evolution. (49) His paper puts forth the theory that the monk"s use of the Norse word is the first datable example in English of Scandinavian-derived plural pronouns, antecedents of the modern English words they, them, and their. (50) " This is a footnote in a much more well-known story—the story of Scandinavian borrowings in the English language". said Evans, who can read texts in Danish, French, Old English and Old Icelandic. "It"s going to be interesting to see how other scholars view this discovery but I think I"ve made my case for it".

In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Scholars, writers and teachers in the modern academic community have strong feelings about acknowledging the use of another person"s ideas. In the English-speaking world, the term plagiarism is used to label the practice of not giving credit for the source of one"s ideas. 41．______ 42．______In many universities, the punishment may range from failure in a particular course to expulsion from the university. In the literary world, where writers are protected from plagiarism by international copyright laws, the penalty may range from a small fine to imprisonment and a ruined career. Protection of scholars and writers, through the copyright laws and through the social pressures of the academic and literary communities, is a relatively recent concept. Such social pressures and copyright laws require writers to give scrupulous attention to documentation of their sources. Students, as inexperienced scholars themselves, must avoid various types of plagiarism by being self-critical in their use of other scholars" ideas and by giving appropriate credit for the source of borrowed ideas and words, otherwise dire consequences may occur. 43．______ Plagiarism by accident, or oversight, sometimes is the result of the writer"s inability to decide or remember where the idea came from. He may have read it long ago, heard it in a lecture since forgotten, or acquired it second-hand or third-hand from discussions with colleagues. He may also have difficulty in deciding whether the idea is such common knowledge that no reference to the original source is needed. Although this type of plagiarism must be guarded against, it is the least serious and, if lessons learned, can be exempt from being severely punished. Plagiarism through ignorance is simply a way of saying that inexperienced writers often do not know how or when to acknowledge their sources. The techniques for documentation-note- taking, quoting, footnoting, listing bibliography-are easily learned and can prevent the writer from making unknowing mistakes or omissions in his references. 44．______ The most serious kind of academic thievery is plagiarism by intention. The writer, limited by his laziness and dullness, copies the thoughts and language of others and claims them for his own. He not only steals, he tries to deceive the reader into believing the ideas are original. Such words as immoral, dishonest, offensive, and despicable are used to describe the practice of plagiarism by intention. The opposite of plagiarism is acknowledgement. 45．______Students, as developing scholars, writers, teachers, and professional leaders, should recognize and assume their responsibility to document all sources from which language and thoughts are borrowed. Other members of the profession will not only respect the scholarship, they will admire the humility and honesty. [A] The penalties for plagiarism vary from situation to situation. [B] Many scholars suggest rigid self-regulations in academic world in order to protect the purity of academics. [C] "Penalty for plagiarism should be regulated by laws and regulations," said one scholar, "it is no better than theft. " [D] Although there is no copyright in news, or in ideas, only in the expression of them, the writer cannot plead ignorance when his sources for ideas are challenged. [E] Simply stated, plagiarism is "the wrongful appropriation or purloining, and publication as one"s own of the ideas, or the expression of ideas of another. " [F] All mature and trustworthy writers make use of the ideas of others but they are careful to acknowledge their indebtedness to their sources. [G] There are at least three classifications of plagiarism as it is revealed in students" inexactness in identifying sources properly. They are plagiarism by accident, by ignorance, and by intention.

Since Henry Ford turned it into a mass-market product a century ago, the car has delivered many benefits. It has【C1】______economic growth, increased social mobility and given people a lot of【C2】______. No wonder mankind has taken to the vehicle with such【C3】______that there are now a billion automobiles on the world's roads. 【C4】______the car has also brought many【C5】______. It pollutes the air, creates crowding and kills people. An【C6】______1.24m people die, and as many as 50m are hurt, in road accidents each year. Drivers and【C7】______waste around 90 billion hours in traffic jams each year. Fortunately, an【C8】______technology promises to make motoring more【C9】______less polluting and less【C10】______to hold-ups. "Connected cars"—which may eventually evolve into driverless cars but for the foreseeable future will still have a human at the【C11】______—can communicate wirelessly with each other and with traffic-management systems, avoid【C12】______and other vehicles and find open parking spots. Some parts of the【C13】______are already in place. Many new cars are already being fitted with equipment that lets them maintain their distance and stay in a motorway lane automatically at a range of speeds, and【C14】______a parking space and slot into it Singapore has led the way with using variable tolls to【C15】______traffic flows during rush-hours; Britain is【C16】______"smart motorways", whose speed limits vary constantly to achieve a similar effect. Combined, these【C17】______could create a much more efficient system in which cars and their drivers are constantly【C18】______to hazards and routed around blockages, traffic always flows at the【C19】______speed and vehicles can travel closer together, yet with less risk of【C20】______.

Have you ever considered what makes a good boss good? The answer to that question is admittedly mercurial, as one person"s view of a top-notch employer will differ from somebody else"s. However, there are a number of traits, attitudes and abilities that are common to all good bosses. Moreover, the need for solid leadership skills is especially telling with smaller businesses. "Being a good boss is important in any organization, but it"s particularly important for small business," says Rob Sheehan, director of executive education at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. "With smaller businesses, you really have the opportunity to set the tone for the entire company." Bearing in mind the importance of good leadership to business, consider the following lineup of skills, strategies and attributes: (1)Be inclusive: With a smaller operation, it" s essential that everyone feels like an equal and involved part of the team. A good employer is certain to treat each employee fairly, not only in terms of salary and other forms of compensation, but also in how that employee is involved in the daily function of the business. Encourage feedback, innovation and creativity so employees feel genuinely engaged. (2)Mission, not just money: Very few businesses operate out of sheer altruism, but that" s not to say that turning a profit is the primary philosophical and practical focus. Rather, an effective boss establishes a genuine business mission. How that takes shape depends both on the business and on the overriding focus the boss wants to set. (3)Nothing to fear but fear itself: Many of us have had bosses who would be right at home with a knife next to their desk calendars. Make one mistake on the job and feel free to slip your head right in beneath the blade. Conversely, an effective boss encourages his or her employees not to be gun shy about occasional chaos along the road toward better job performance. (4)It" s their careers, too: Don"t forget that the people who work for you are looking to you to help them navigate and advance their careers. As I said, it"s not all about money. But it is all about making your employees see how to improve and create meaningful careers for themselves. (5)Made, not necessarily born: One final aspect of being a good boss is recognizing that much of what goes into being an effective leader is, in fact, learned behavior. Of course, there always have been and will be bosses who seem to have a flawless touch in leading and motivating. But for every natural, there are just as many top -flight bosses who got that way by attending management classes and seminars, reading books on effective leadership and, just as important, understanding that a good employer naturally attracts first -rate employees. [A]"It"s important to use that different perspective to educate and encourage. But it"s also important, like a good coach, to lead your team by example. For instance, while you should point out mistakes by your employees, be sure to admit when you yourself make a mistake," says Sheehan. [B]"You need to create an environment of integrity, trust and respect to make absolutely certain that everyone is treated fairly, regardless of the differences they may have," says Sheehan. [C]"People can definitely develop good leadership capabilities," says Sheehan. "To a certain degree, we all have innate traits that make us good bosses. All you really have to do is work to develop those traits to their utmost." [D]If an employee has a goal of becoming a manager or running his or her own business someday, nurture that goal. Tell them the traits they need to work on to achieve their ultimate plans. [E]For instance, a restaurant owner may push speedy lunchtime service as a way of serving the time-strapped business community. By contrast, a medical supply outfit may emphasize how its products improve customers" health. Not only can a clear mission(responsibility)serve to motivate employees, it can also infuse a sense of importance in their jobs. [F]"This requires a mentality that encourages learning rather than being afraid of making a mistake. Try something new and different, but know we"re not going to kill each other if things don"t work out," says Sheehan. "I was a swimmer in college and I swam fast when I imagined a shark was after me. I swam just as fast when I imagined I was in the Olympics. It" s a question of what you want to focus on."

Studythefollowingpicturescarefullyandwriteanessayto1)describethepicture,2)deducethepurposeofthepalmerofthepicture,3)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout160—200wordsneatly.

The notion that we might need nuclear energy to stave off global warming makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that began when Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 and promptly removed Jimmy Carter"s solar panels from the White House roof. It was not simply a symbolic act. Reagan also slashed alternative energy funding so deeply that it virtually put the solar industry out of business. Alternatives are hampered today because Reagan was doing then what Bush is doing now: serving the interests of big oil, which seeks to squeeze out every last drop of profit from fossil fuels. The war in Iraq and other foreign policy actions today continue with that aim. And nuclear is not unlike oil in that it is a very centralized industry, controlled by a few companies. It will enrich the few and further hamper progress for renewables. A decentralized energy future will be far better for an economy that wants to float all boats(not just yachts)while not having so many energy eggs in one basket. That nuclear might belong in the mix right now is only due to the climate predicament we are in because of our past sins. If undertaken at all, it should only be a bridge(a "necessary evil")to a future powered instead by many forms of safe, clean energy sources. Much is happening now in that regard, spurred by our almost sudden acceptance that global warming is real. Seattle wants to harness ocean power and provide electricity for 60, 000 homes. Similar projects are planned from Alaska to New York. Wind power has quadrupled since 2000 and, though wind is now only one percent of the U. S. power grid, it is poised for a quantum leap; offshore wind projects are in various stages of development in Maryland, Texas , Massachusetts, New York and elsewhere. Hydrogen- and electric-powered cars are also likely to come online more quickly than we imagined even five years ago. Nuclear has far too many problems, not the least of which is its waste, which will only become a bigger problem if its use proliferates. The waste stays radioactive for thousands of years and has to be buried underground. Even if plans for doing that are ever realized, deadly waste will need to be transported across the country, through communities, subjecting people to unacceptable risks. Nuclear is also still a large accident risk. Industry proponents claim that nuclear is safer today than ever before, but even a small malfunction or leak could have devastating effects. And even if Chernobyl-style meltdowns are not likely, nuclear facilities still emit low-level radiation, a potentially serious public health concern.

BPart BDirections: Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following information./B

Studythefollowingpicturecarefullyandwriteanarticleondeficiencyofresearchabilityamongthepostgraduatestudents.Inyourarticle,youshouldcoverthefollowingpoints:1)interpretthemeaningofthepicture,2)pointoutthecauses,and3)giveyoursuggestions.Youshouldwrite160～200wordsneatly.

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

These days we hear lots of nonsense about the "great classless society". The idea that the twentieth century is the age of the common man has become one of the great cliches of our time. The same old arguments are put forward in evidence. Here are some of them: monarchy as a system of government has been completely discarded. In a number of countries the victory has been completed. The people rule; the great millennium has become a political reality. But has it? Close examination doesn 't bear out the claim. It is a fallacy to suppose that all men are equal and that society will be leveled out if you provide everybody with the same educational opportunities. The fact is that nature dispenses brains and ability with a total disregard for the principle of equality. The old rules of the jungle, survival of the fittest, and might is right are still with us. The spread of education has destroyed the old class system and created a new one. Rewards are based on merit. For aristocracy "read meritocracy"; in other respects, society remains unaltered: the class system is rigidly maintained. What is the first thing people do when they become rich? They use their wealth to secure the best possible opportunities for their children, to give them a good start in life. For all the lip service we pay to the idea of equality, we do not consider this wrong in the western world. Private schools offer unfair advantages over state schools are not banned. In this way, the new meritocracy can perpetuate itself to a certain extent: an able child from a wealthy home can succeed far more rapidly than his poorer counterpart. Wealth is also used indiscriminately to further political ends. It would be almost impossible to become the leader of a democracy without massive financial backing. Money is as powerful a weapon as ever it was. In societies wholly dedicated to the principle of social equality, privileged private education is forbidden. But even here people are rewarded according to their abilities. In fact, so great is the need for skilled workers that the least able may be neglected. Bright children are carefully and expensively trained to become future rulers. In the end, all political ideologies boil down to the same thing: class divisions persist whether you are ruled by a feudal king or an educated peasant.

When stars like our Sun die, they bloat to become red giants and then eject gigantic clouds of gas and dust into space. Increasingly, however, scientists found themselves at a profound loss to explain how exactly dying stars could blow away these clouds. Now astrophysicists propose that unexpected chemical reactions during the formation of stardust could help solve this mystery. Stars smaller than the Sun and up to eight times as massive die by swelling up into red giants before shedding most of their mass to shrink into very compact, dying embers(灰烬) called white dwarfs. Two kinds of red giants exist-those with lots of carbon, and others richer in oxygen than in carbon. Carbon-rich stars release carbon particles during their death throes. Scientists proposed these pitch-black grains absorb rays from the dying star and get shot into space by starlight, a theory that fit both the observations and computer models. Increasingly, however, researchers could not explain how oxygen-rich stars like our own Sun could propel their clouds away during the final stages of mass loss. Oxygen-rich stars create large quantities of water vapor and silicates, such as quartz(石英砂) or sand. These are transparent, meaning starlight should go right through them. Possible solutions have been contemplated by scientists. They first pondered whether the silicates might have iron in them, which would render them opaque instead of transparent. But calculations showed the dust grains would have evaporated if they had iron in them. They next wondered if enough molecules surrounded the core of a dying oxygen-rich star to block out its light and thus create a wind that blew the star"s outermost layer into space. But their models suggested these molecules could not block off enough light and create strong enough Rinds. The scientists then suggested that pulsations occurred when stars die could perhaps force a star"s matter out, but this idea did not match with astronomers" observations. But inspiration then dawned upon them. Perhaps some of the carbon in the oxygen-rich stars could help force the outer layers of the stars into space. They believe shock waves from the pulsations of dying stars could make carbon in oxygen-rich stars form pitch-black dust. "The theory fits with all our subsequent model calculations, and it matches observations from dying oxygen-rich red giants". Moreover", this mechanism strongly favors the presence of magnesium silicates over iron silicates in the interstellar medium", in agreement with recent findings from NASA"s comet-sampling Stardust space probe. If proven correct, the beauty of the new scenario is that it suggests a common driving mechanism for many dying stars shedding their mass via dusty winds", with possible long-reaching consequences for the origin of chemical elements relevant for life".

After clashes between riot police and protesters, workers at the Keihin Hotel in Tokyo were forcibly ejected on January 25th. They had been fired in October when the hotel went bankrupt, but decided to keep it running—an example of the lengths to which people will go to keep their jobs in Japan, where unemployment is suddenly rising at an alarming rate. Over 150,000 people are expect-ed to lose their jobs between October and March. Hisashi Yamada of the Japan Research Institute expects 1.5 million job losses by the end of next year, lifting the unemployment rate from 4% last year to over 6%. Though low by international standards, yet that is exceptionally high in Japan. Hardest hit will be "non-regular" workers—those who work part-time, as day-laborers, for a fixed duration, or under agency contracts. "Regular" workers enjoy benefits such as housing, bonuses, training and (usually) lifetime employment, but non-regular workers earn as little as 40% of the pay for the same work, and do not receive training, pensions or unemployment insurance. In the past 20 years their numbers have grown to one-third of all workers. For years most Japanese ignored their predicament. But now their problems have erupted into plain sight. In January around 500 recently fired, homeless people set up a tent village in Hibiya Park—a highly visible spot in the centre of Tokyo. Politicians and television news crews flocked to the scene. The embarrassed city government eventually found accommodation for the park"s homeless in unused city-owned buildings, though it put them up for only a week. The problem is that Japan lacks a social safety net, says Makoto Yuasa, the organizer of the Hibiya tent village, who dropped out of a PhD program at Tokyo University to help homeless people. Because families or companies traditionally looked after people, the state did not have to. Moreover, there is a stigma in Japan if an unemployed person asks for help: "If you don"t work, you don"t deserve to eat", the saying goes. Yet there are signs of change. The main political parties recognize the need to establish better support and training for non-regular workers. And there is even a new government program to help unemployed foreign workers, such as Brazilians who worked at car factories, so that they do not leave Japan if they are laid off. With a shrinking population and workforce, losing skilled hands would only compound the country"s woes when the economy eventually recovers.

Bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles in public. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else: the accounting standard-setters. Their rules, moan the banks, have forced them to report enormous losses, and it's just not fair. These rules say they must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the price managers and regulators would like them to fetch. Unfortunately, banks' lobbying now seems to be working. The details may be unknowable, but the independence of standard-setters, essential to the proper functioning of capital markets, is being compromised. And, unless banks carry toxic assets at prices that attract buyers, reviving the banking system will be difficult. After a bruising encounter with Congress, America' s Financial Accounting Standards Board(FASB)rushed through rule changes. These gave banks more freedom to use models to value illiquid assets and more flexibility in recognizing losses on long-term assets in their income statement. Bob Herz, the FASB' s chairman, cried out against those who "question our motives." Yet bank shares rose and the changes enhance what one lobby group politely calls "the use of judgment by management." European ministers instantly demanded that the International Accounting Standards Board(IASB)do likewise. The IASB says it does not want to act without overall planning, but the pressure to fold when it completes its reconstruction of rules later this year is strong. Charlie McCreevy, a European commissioner, warned the IASB that it did "not live in a political vacuum" but "in the real world" and that Europe could yet develop different rules. It was banks that were on the wrong planet, with accounts that vastly overvalued assets. Today they argue that market prices overstate losses, because they largely reflect the temporary illiquidity of markets, not the likely extent of bad debts. The truth will not be known for years. But bank' s shares trade below their book value, suggesting that investors are skeptical. And dead markets partly reflect the paralysis of banks which will not sell assets for fear of booking losses, yet are reluctant to buy all those supposed bargains. To get the system working again, losses must be recognized and dealt with. America's new plan to buy up toxic assets will not work unless banks mark assets to levels which buyers find attractive. Successful markets require independent and even combative standard-setters. The FASB and IASB have been exactly that, cleaning up rules on stock options and pensions, for example, against hostility from special interests. But by giving in to critics now they are inviting pressure to make more concessions.

Studythefollowingpicturecarefullyandwriteanessayinwhichyoushould1)describethepicture,2)interpretitsmeaning,and3)pointoutitsimplicationsinourlife.Yourshouldwritenolessthan200wordsneatly.

Some time ago, a highly charged argument was set in motion. It pitted evolution against the Creation. One side of this debate relies on scientific inquiry, and the other relies on ancient mythological texts. That"s my view. That"s what I intend to teach my children. Yet I have no interest in foisting this curriculum on your kids. Nor am I particularly distressed that a creationist theory may collide one day with the tiny eardrums of my precocious offspring. Which brings me to the Texas Board of Education" s recent landmark compromise between evolutionary science and related religious concerns in public-school textbooks. The board cautiously crafted an arrangement that requires teachers to allow students to scrutinize "all sides" of the issue. This decision is widely seen as a win for pro-creationists—or wait, are they called anti-evolutionists? "Texas has sent a clear message that evolution should be taught as a scientific theory open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can"t be questioned," explained John West, who is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, which argued that students in Texas should have a right to review "all of the evidence". What damage is there in challenging assumptions and "dogma"? None, of course. We should be fostering critical thinking in our youth. Allowing an inquiry into evolution, I believe, will almost certainly confirm its existence in the minds of millions of children. I wish everyone believed in the overwhelming evidence of evolution, but that"s not the case. Not long ago, board members in Texas removed a textbook reference asserting that the universe is about 14 billion years old, because the board"s chairman believes that God created the universe less than 10,000 years ago(based, no doubt, on faith alone). On the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin"s birth, Gallup conducted a poll that showed only 39 percent of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution", while 25 percent of Americans say they do not believe in the theory. Thirty-six percent don"t have an opinion. The most sensible solution, of course, would be to permit parents a choice so that they can send their kids to schools that cater to any brand of nonsense they desire—outside of three core subjects. The left never will allow any genuine choice in our school systems. So it seems highly disagreeable and political to trap kids in public schools and, at the same time, decide where schools fall on controversial issues. To scrutinize "all sides" is no sin. And in the decidedly collective school systems we"ve set up for our diverse population, it"s the best solution we could hope for.

In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list (A、B、C、D、E、F、G……) to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are several extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. (10 points) Every now and then a study comes along whose chief interest lies in how peculiarly askew its findings seem to be from the common perception of things. Sometimes, of course, the "surprising new study" itself turns out to be off in some way. But if the data are fundamentally sound, then what you really want to know is why sensible people hold such a contrary view. (41)______. Researchers took a closer look at an earlier study that had been widely interpreted, when it was first published in 2000, as proof that the homework monster was growing, and insatiable. A Time magazine cover article spawned a mini-genre of trend stories, all peopled by pale, exhausted kids and bewildered boomer parents whose own homework memories seemed to encompass only felt puppets and shoe-box dioramas. But the new report points out that while the amount of time school-children 12 and under devoted to study at home did indeed grow between 1981 and 1997, the increase was small: an average of 23 minutes per week. (42)______. So why do so many parents seem to think otherwise? One answer is that the real in crease in homework that has been documented is among younger children. In 1981, for instance, one third of 6 to 8-year-olds had some homework; one-half did in the late 90"s. (43)______. And since children 6 to 8 are the ones we particularly like to think of as engaged in unstructured play we imagine them riding bikes in the honeyed light of waning afternoons, even when what they might well be doing, in the absence of homework, is watching TV homework for them seems like one of those heavy handed incursions on the freedom of childhood. (44)______. These children go to elite private schools or to demanding public ones where the competitive pressures are such that they either really do have hours of homework each night or take hours finishing it because they (or their parents) are so anxious that it be done well. They come from the demographic that makes a cultural, almost a moral, ideal of enrolling children in soccer and oboe lessons and karate and ballet, and so their time really is at a premium. (45)______.A. Moreover, 20 percent fewer children between the ages of 9 and 12 were doing homework at all in 1997 than in 1981. And high-school students spent no more time on homework than they did in previous decades.B. That is certainly the question raised by a Brookings Institution report released last month showing that the amount of time kids devote to homework has not, in fact, significantly increased over the last two decades.C. Behind the seeming contradictions of steady homework levels and the antihomework backlash, in other words, is the reality of social class.D. They are likely to have busy professional parents, oversubscribed themselves but with an investment in seeing their children produce book reports of a kind that teachers, counselors and, in time, college admissions boards will find impressive.E. Anti-homework crusades are not new in 1901, for example, California passed a law abolishing homework for grades one through eight but they have usually been led by the same kinds of people, which is to say, elites.F. Since parents are more likely to have to supervise a first or second grader doing homework than an older child, the earlier launching of a homework regimen might feel like a disproportionate increase in the parental workload.G. But the bigger answer, I suspect, is that the parents we tend to hear from in the press, at school-board meetings and in Internet chat groups, the parents with elaborated, developmentally savvy critiques of standards and curriculums, are parents whose children really are experiencing a time crunch.

When lab rats sleep, their brains revisit the maze they navigated during the day, according to a new study (1)_____ yesterday, offering some of the strongest evidence (2)_____ that animals do indeed dream. Experiments with sleeping rats found that cells in the animals" brains fire in a distinctive pat tern (3)_____ the pattern that occurs when they are (4)_____ and trying to learn their way around a maze. Based on the results, the researchers concluded the rats were dreaming about the maze, (5)_____ re viewing what they had learned while awake to (6)_____ the memories. Researchers have long known that animals go (7)_____ the same types of sleep phases that people do, including rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, which is when people dream. But (8)_____ the occasional twitching, growling or barking that any dog owner has (9)_____ in his or her sleeping pet, there"s been (10)_____ direct evidence that animals (11)_____. If animals dream, it suggests they might have more (12)_____ mental functions than had been (13)_____. "We have as humans felt that this (14)_____ of memory—our ability to recall sequences of experiences—was something that was (15)_____ human," Wilson said. "The fact that we see this in rodents (16)_____ suggest they can evaluate their experience in a significant way. Animals may be (17)_____ about more than we had previously considered." The findings also provide new support for a leading theory for (18)_____ humans sleep—to solidify new learning. "People are now really nailing down the fact that the brain during sleep is (19)_____ its activity at least for the time immediately before sleep and almost undoubtedly using that review to (20)_____ or integrate those memories into more usable forms," said an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Write an announcement to your schoolmates, informing them an off-campus activity on September 18th. You should write about 100 words. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter; use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write the address.