单选题 A simple computer program that teaches children to distinguish between sounds can dramatically boost their listening skills. It can allow them to progress by the equivalent of two years in just a few weeks, the game's creator claims. The game, called Phonomena, was devised by David Moore of the University of Oxford, U.K., as an aid for children with language problems, but he says his latest trials also show that it can help any child. Other experts, however, are reserving judgment until independent tests are carried out. Phonomena is designed to improve children's ability to distinguish between different phonemes (音素), the basic sounds that form the building blocks of language. Up to a fifth of all children are thought to have problems heating the differences between some sounds, says Moore, who heads the U.K. Medical Research Council's Institute of Hearing Research. In the game, children have to distinguish between pairs of phonemes such as the "i" sound from the word "bit" and the "e" from "bet". They are played one phoneme followed by two more examples, and asked which one matches the first sound. As the game progresses, the phonemes are gradually "morphed" (改变) to make them more and more similar, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between them. With 44 phonemes in English, there are potentially more than 1,000 different pairs, but the game concentrates on just 22 pairs of the commonest and most similar-sounding phonemes. In the latest trials, 18 children aged between eight and ten played the game three times a week for four weeks. Their language abilities were compared before and after exposure to the game using a standard listening test. The team found a dramatic improvement in their language abilities, with listening ages up by an average 2.4 years compared with 12 children who did not play the game. In earlier trials on children with learning difficulties, the speech and language therapists who tested the game reported similar improvements. But Ted Wragg, an expert in education at the U.K.'s University of Exeter, warns that such trials can produce misleading results. The improvements could be due to the efforts and attention of teachers and therapists, rather than the game itself. There is a history in education of people and companies making claims about learning products that do not stand up to scrutiny, he says. It is a bit like teaching someone to catch a ball, Moore adds. "Sensory performance is no different from motor performance. As far as we know, the neural processes driving them both are the same." And just as playing catch improves hand-eye coordination in other tasks, Moore thinks the phoneme training boosts children's general language skills. The advantage of using computers, he says, is each game can be tailored to a child's abilities. An Oxford-based company called MindWeavers has been set up to commercialize the game. Similar computer-based language tools already exist, such as those developed by Scientific Learning of Oakland, California. But these are geared exclusively towards children with speech and language problems and involve intensive training. "We don't believe you need to do this Draconian (严酷的) amount of training for it to do good," says Moore. He is also exploring the use of phoneme training as an aid to adults learning a foreign language.

单选题 Questions 5 to 7 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation, you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the conversation.

单选题Mr. Milton prefers to resign ______ part in such dishonest business deals.

单选题Eliza must have missed the train; otherwise she ______.

单选题Anna refused to ______ the car keys to her husband until he had promised to wear his safety belt.

单选题Why did NOT the rescue go smoothly?

单选题The two astronauts______ someday hope it is to fly the craft into earth orbit were fight testing.

单选题The rescue was________after several abortive attempts because the snowstorm was getting worse.

单选题Mrs. White is so________about her food that no cook will work for her.

单选题When traveling, it is possible that you may be advised to take the travelers' checks, which provide a secure ______ to carrying your money in cash.

单选题 Questions 4 to 7 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the conversation.

单选题Soil quality is one of the most basic and perhaps least understood indicators of land health. Soil supports plant growth and represents the living reservoir that buffers the flows of water, nutrients, and energy through an ecosystem. Soil quality refers to the capacity of a soil to perform these beneficial functions and is determined by its texture, structure, water-holding capacity, porosity, organic matter content, and depth, among other properties. Because soils naturally vary in their capacity to perform these functions, we must tie our understanding of soil quality to landscapes and land use. We must understand soil quality for two important reasons: First, we must match our use and management of land to soil capability. Second, we must establish baseline understanding about soil quality so we can recognize ongoing trends. If soil quality is stable or improving, we have a good indicator that the ecosystem is sustainable. If soil quality is deteriorating, the larger ecosystem will almost certainly decline with it. People describe soil types in all kind of ways such as beavy, light, sandy, clay, loam, poor or good. Soil scientists describe soil types by how much sand, silt and clay is present. This is called texture. It is possible to change the texture by adding different things to the soil. You can roughly estimate the texture of a soil by a simple method called" manual texturing", through determining the feel of a moist sample when robbed between the thumb and forefinger. If the soil sample is predominantly sand, it will feel very gritty, If it is predominantly silt, it will feel smooth or slippery to the touch. And if it's predominant clay, it will feel sticky. Particle size has a lot to do with a soil's drainage and nutrient holding capacity. Sand is the largest particle and doesn't hold many nutrients. Silt is a soil particle whose size is between sand and clay. When wet, silt feels smooth, but not sticky. Clay is smooth when dry and sticky when wet. Soils high in clay content are called heavy soils. Clay also can hold a lot of nutrients, but doesn't let air and water throuhgh it well. To better understand how big these three soil particles are, think of them like this. If a particle of sand were the size of a basketball, then silt would be the size of a baseball, and clay would be the size of golf ball.

单选题 {{B}} Questions 27 and 28 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions. Now, listen to the news.{{/B}}

单选题The discussion of the internal report______.

单选题Do help yourself to some drink, ______ you? A. can't B. don't C. wouldn't D. won't

单选题The mother almost ______ when she learned that her son was shot dead.

单选题Looking at what he has done for those disabled children, one ______ forgive his sin.