单选题Teaching Math, Teaching Anxiety In a new study about the way kids learn math in elementary school, the psychologists at the University of Chicagol Sian Beilock and Susan Levine found a surprising relationship between what female teachers think and what female students learn: If a female teacher is uncomfortable with her own math skills, then her female students are more likely to believe that boys are better than girls at math. "If these girls keep getting math-anxious female teachers in later grades, it may create a snowball effect on their math achievement," said Levine. In other words, girls may end up learning math anxiety from their teachers. The study suggests that if these girls grow up believing that boys are better at math than girls are, then these girls may not do as well as they would have if they were more confident. Just as students find certain subjects to be difficult, teachers can find certain subjects to be difficult to learn—and teach. The subject of math can be particularly difficult for everyone. Researchers use the word "anxiety" to describe such feelings: anxiety is uneasiness or worry. The new study found that when a teacher has anxiety about math, that feeling can influence how her female students feel about math. The study involved 65 girls, 52 boys and 17 first-and second-grade teachers in elementary schools in the Midwest. The students took math achievement tests at the beginning and end of the school year, and the researchers compared the scores. The researchers also gave the students tests to tell whether the students believed that a math superstar had to be a boy. Then the researchers turned to the teachers: To find out which teachers were anxious about math, the researchers asked the teachers how they felt at times when they came across math, such as when reading a sales receipt. A teacher who got nervous looking at the numbers on a sales receipt, for example, was probably anxious about math. Boys, on average, were unaffected by a teacher's anxiety. On average, girls with math- anxious teachers scored lower on the end-of-the-year math tests than other girls in the study did. Plus, on the test showing whether someone thought a math superstar had to be a boy, 20 girls showed feeling that boys would be better at math—and all of these girls had been taught by female teachers who had math anxiety. "This is an interesting study, but the results need to be interpreted as preliminary and in need of replication with a larger sample," said David Geary, a psychologist at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

单选题"Salty" Rice Plant Boosts Harvests British scientists are breeding a new generation of rice plants that will be able to grow in soil containing salt water. Their work may enable abandoned farms to become productive once more. Tim Flowers and Tony Yeo, from Sussex University"s School of Biological Sciences, have spent several years researching how crops, such as rice, could be made to grow in water that has become salty. The pair have recently begun a three-year programme, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, to establish which genes enable some plants to survive salty conditions. The aim is to breed this capability into crops, starting with rice. It is estimated that each year more than 10m hectares (公顷) of agricultural land are lost because salt gets into the soil and stunts (妨碍生长) plants. The problem is caused by several factors. In the tropics, mangroves (红树林) that create swamps (沼泽) and traditionally formed barriers to sea water have been cut down. In the Mediterranean, a series of droughts have caused the water table to drop, allowing sea water to seep (渗透) in. In Latin America, irrigation often causes problems when water is evaporated (蒸发) by the heat, leaving salt deposits behind. Excess salt then enters the plants and prevents them functioning normally. Heavy concentrations of minerals in the plants stop them drawing up the water they need to survive. To overcome these problems, Flowers and Yeo decided to breed rice plants that take in very little salt and store what they do absorb in cells that do not affect the plants" growth. They have started to breed these characteristics into a new rice crop, but it will take about eight harvests before the resulting seeds are ready to be considered for commercial use. Once the characteristics for surviving salty soil are known, Flowers and Yeo will try to breed the appropriate genes into all manners of crops and plants. Land that has been abandoned to nature will then be able to bloom again, providing much needed food in the poorer countries of the world.

单选题The chemical is {{U}}deadly{{/U}} to rats but safe to cattle. A. fatal B. hateful C. good D. useful

单选题{{U}}On behalf of{{/U}} everyone in this party, I wish you a very happy birthday.

单选题This tape-recorder has a tape-slide {{U}}facility{{/U}}.

单选题I hope that I didn't do anything absurd last night. A. awkward B. strange C. stupid D. awful

单选题We have thought varied ways to handle the problemA. sameB. differentC. manyD. few

单选题Which of the following about the ladle shaped compass is true?

单选题What does fossil and molecular evidence tell us about our earliest ancestors?

单选题{{B}}第三篇{{/B}} Electronic Teaching The potential of closed-circuit television and other new electronic teaching tools is so great that it is fascinating to visualize "the school of tomorrow". Televised lessons will originate from a central building having perhaps four or five master studios. The lessons will be carried into classrooms all over a city, or even an entire country. After a televised lesson has been given, the classroom teacher will take over for the all important "follow-up" period. The students will ask any troublesome questions, and difficult points will be cleared up through discussion. The teacher in the classroom will have additional electronic tools. On the teacher's desk, the traditional chalk and erasers will have been replaced by a multiple-control panel and magnetic tape player. The tape machines will run pre recorded lessons which pupils will follow by headphones. The lessons will be specifically geared to the students' levels of ability. For instance, while the class as a whole studies history, each student will receive an individual history lesson, directed to his particular level of ability. Should question arise, the students will be able to talk directly to the teacher on individual "intercoms" without disturbing the rest of the class. In this way, the teacher will be able to conduct as many as three classes at the same time. With the rapid development of computer science, students will be aided with specially prepared multimedia software to study their subjects better. Homework will possibly be assigned and handed in via electronic mail system. Students can even take examinations on their computer linked with the teacher's and get the score instantly. They will get certificates or diplomas if they pass all the required examinations. Experts believe that this type of education will be very popular in the years ahead.

单选题The reason for their unusual behavior remains a Upuzzle/U.

单选题Please put up your hands if you have any questions.

单选题We bad a long Uconversation/U about her parents.

单选题He Uinspired /U many young people to take up the sport

单选题 下面的短文后列出了7个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子作出判断；如果该句提的是正确信息，请选择A；如果该句提的是错误信息，请选择B；如果该句的信息文中没有提及，请选择C。 Tokyo is World's Priciest City The weak American dollar and strong European and Asian currencies helped make Tokyo and London the most expensive cities in the world, according to a recent survey. American cities were absent from the top 10, with the most expensive U. S. city, New York, dropping two spots from last year to 12 in the survey of 144 urban areas conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Moscow ranked in third place, with Osaka, and Hong Kong rounding out the top five most expensive cities. The survey, drawn up twice a year, ranks cost of living for foreign workers, not local residents, and is used primarily by multinational companies to determine pay for expatriate employees. "The euro appreciated (升值) more than 11 percent in the last six months. " said Marie-Laurence Sepede, senior researcher at Mercer. "So that made European cities go up and U.S. cities drop. " Sepede noted that while U.S. cities got cheaper in relation to those in Europe and Asia, the rankings among: American cities remained similar to previous years, with Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco all placing high on the list. Also not able was the climb of Australian and New Zealand cities up the list, a shift caused by those nation's strong currencies. Sydney moved from 67 last year to 20 this year, and Auckland, New Zealand climbed 35 places to 80. The rest of the top 20 remained fairly constant, although Paris, Vienna, Austria and Istanbul, Turkey made their first appearances so high in the rankings. The survey took into consideration 250 criteria, including the cost of utilities, food and entertainment. While the survey looked at a range of living standards, Sepede said the study was most representative of the expenses of people working for big international corporations and maintaining fairly high standards of living. Mercer said the continued appreciation of the euro against the U. S. dollar could eventually force companies to move employees and reorganize. "Mainly, the depreciation(贬值) of the dollar makes it cheaper to send employees to American cities," said Jackie Barber, a spokeswoman for the survey.

单选题Her novel {{U}}depicts{{/U}} an ambitious Chinese.

单选题The novel depicts the history of the nation. A. narrates B. illustrates C. describes D. exemplify

单选题下面的短文有15处空白，请根据短文内容为每处空白确定1个最佳选项。 Computer and School Education There was a time when parents who wanted an educational present for their children would buy a typewriter, a globe or an encyclopedia set. Now those {{U}}(51) {{/U}} seem hopelessly old-fashioned; this Christmas, there were a lot of personal computers under the tree. {{U}}(52) {{/U}} that computers are the key to success, parents are also financially insisting that children {{U}}(53) {{/U}} taught to use them in school—as early as possible. The problem for schools is that when it {{U}}(54) {{/U}} computers, parents don't always know best. Many schools are {{U}}(55) {{/U}} parental impatience and are purchasing hardware without sound educational planning so they can say, "OK, we've moved into the computer age. " Teachers found themselves caught in the middle of the problem—between parent pressure and {{U}}(56) {{/U}} educational decisions. Educators do not even agree {{U}}(57) {{/U}} how computers should be used. {{U}}(58) {{/U}} money is going for computerized educational materials {{U}}(59) {{/U}} research has shown can be taught just as well with pencil and paper. {{U}}(60) {{/U}} those who believe that all children should have access to computers, warn of potential dangers to the very young. The temptation remains strong largely because young children {{U}}(61) {{/U}} so well to computers. First graders have been seen willing to work for two hours on math skills. Some have an attention span of 20 minutes.{{U}} (62) {{/U}} school can afford to go into computing, and creates yet another problem: a division between the haves and have-nots. Very {{U}}(63) {{/U}} parents are agitating {{U}}(64) {{/U}} computer instruction in poor school districts, {{U}}(65) {{/U}} there may be barely enough money to pay the reading teacher.

单选题We all think that Mary's husband is a very boring person. A．shy B．stupid C．dull D．selfish

单选题Almost Human? Scientists are racing to build the world"s first thinking robot. This is not science fiction: some say they will have made it by the year 2020. Carol Packer reports. Machines that walk, speak and feel are no longer science fiction. Kismet is the name of an android (机器人) which scientists have built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kismet is different from the traditional robot because it can show human emotions. Its eyes, ears and lips move to show when it feels happy, sad or bored. Kismet is one of the first of a new generation of androids—robots that look like human beings-which can imitate human feelings. Cog, another android invented by the MIT, imitates the action of a mother. However, scientists admit that so far Cog has the mental ability of a two-year-old. The optimists (乐观主义者) say that by the year 2020 we will have created humanoids (机器人) with brains similar to those of an adult human being. These robots will be designed to look like people to make them more attractive and easier to sell to the public. What kind of jobs will they do? In the future, robots like Robonaut, a humanoid invented by NASA, will be doing dangerous jobs, like repairing space stations. They will also be doing more and more of the household work for us. In Japan, scientists are designing androids that will entertain us by dancing and playing the piano. Some people worry about what the future holds: will robots become monsters (怪物)? Will people themselves become increasingly like robots? Experts predict that more and more people will be wearing micro-computers, connected to the Internet, in the future. People will have micro-chips in various parts of their body, which will connect them to a wide variety of gadgets (小装置). Perhaps we should not exaggerate (夸大) the importance of technology, but one wonders whether, in years to come, we will still be falling in love, and whether we will still feel pain. Who knows?