Section B
Directions: In this section, you are required to read one quoted blog and the commentson it. The blog and comments are followed by questions or unfinishedstatements, each with four suggested answers A, B, C and D. Choose thebest answer and mark your answer onthe Answer Sheet
One of the central principles of raising kids in America is that parents should be actively involved in their children's education: meeting with teachers, volunteering atschoolhelping with homework, and doing a hundred other things that few workingparents have time for. These obligations are so baked into American values that fewparents stop to ask whether they’re worth the effort.
Until this January, few researchers did, either. In the largest-ever study of howparental involvement affects academic achievement, Keith Robinson and Angel L.Harris, two sociology professors at Duke, found that mostly it doesn’t. The researcherscombed through nearly three decades' worth of surveys of American parents and tracked63 different measures of parental participation in kids' academic lives, from helpingthem with homework, to talking with them about college plans. In an attempt to show whether the kids of more-involved parents improved over time, the researchers indexedthese measures to children's academic performance, including test scores in reading and math.
What they found surprised them. Most measurable forms of parental involvement seem to yield few academic dividends for kids, or even to backfire(适得其反) -regardless of a parent's race, class, or level of education.
Do you review your daughter's homework every night? Robinson and Harris's data show that this won’t help her score higher on standardized tests. Once kids enter middle school, parental help with homework can actually bring test scores down, an effect Robinson says could be caused by the fact that many parents may have forgotten, or never truly understood, the material their children learn in school.
While Robinson and Harris largely disproved that assumption, they did find ahandful of habits that make a difference, such as reading aloud to young kids (fewerthan half of whom are read to daily) and talking with teenagers about college plans. Butthese interventions don't take place at school or in the presence of teachers, wherepolicymakers have the most influence - they take place at home.
Comment 1:
Basically the choice is whether one wants to let kids to be kids. Persistent parentalinvolvement and constantly communicating to the kids on what the parents wantconsciously or unconsciously would help the kids grow up or think like the parentssooner than otherwise.
Comment 2:
It also depends on the kid. Emotional and social maturityhave a lot to do withsuccess in college and in life. Some kids may have the brains and are bored by highschool, but that doesn't mean they are ready for college or the work place.
Comment 3:
The article doesn't clearly define "helping," but I understood it as actually assistingchildren in the exercises (e.g. helping them to solve a math problem) and/or reviewingtheir work for accuracy rather than simply making sure they've completed their work. Ithink the latter is more helpful than the former. I would also certainly hope that no studywould discourage parents from monitoring their children's performance!
41. The word "they" (Para. l) refers to .
A. studies
B. principles
C. values
D. obligations
42. What is the main conclusion of the Robinson and Harris’s study?
A. The kids of more-involved parents improve over time.
B. Parental involvement may not necessarily benefit children.
C. Parental involvement works better with low-achievers.
D. Schools should communicate with parents regularly.
43. Comment1 suggests that
A. parents should leave their children alone
B. kids should be kids after all
C. parents may influence children's thinking
D. persistent parental involvement is a must
44. The writer of Comment 2 would probably agree that
A. high intelligence does not guarantee success
B. getting ready for college is an emotional process
C. social maturity is sufficient to achieve success in life
D. high school is often boring in the U.S.
45. Which of the following parental helps will the writer of Comment 3 consider proper?
A. Reviewing kids' homework for accuracy.
B. Monitoring kids' class performance.
C. Assisting kids in their exercises.
D. Making sure kids have finished their work
Part IV Cloze (10 points)
Directions: In this part, there is a passage with ten blanks. For each blank thereare four choices marked, A, B, C,and D.Choose the bestanswerfor each blankand mark your answer on the Answer Sheet.
Ironically, a study finds that we’re awful gift-givers precisely because we spend too much time trying to be considerate.We imagine our friends 46 a gift that is impressive,expensive,and sentimental. We imagine the look of happinessand surprise on their faces and the warmth we feel. 47 .But there’s something thatthe most sentimental-gift-givers tend not to think too much about: 48 the gift is practical in the first place.
49 , practicality seems like an enemy of great gift giving. Beautiful jewelry, lovely watches, perfect rugs, finely crafted kitchen hardware: These things50great gifts because they communicate something beyond practicality. Theycommunicate that the giver cares.
But do the receivers care? Often,no. "Gift receivers would be 51 ifgivers gave them exactly what they requested 52 . attemptingto be'thoughtful and considerate' by buying gifts they did not explicitly request" to surprisethem, the researchers write. Their clever paper asks givers and receivers to 53 gifts from two perspectives: desirability (e.g. the cost of a coffee maker) and feasibility(e.g. the 54 of the coffee maker).Across several experiments, theyfind that givers consistently give gifts based on desirability and receivers 55 favor gifts based on feasibility .
46.A. to open B. opening C. have opened D. opened
47. A. in person B. in turn C. in place D. in return
48. A. Whether B. When C. Why D. How
49. A. To be sure B. To sum up C. In many ways D. In many cases
50.A. work out B. lead to C. make for D. take up
51.A.happier B. more surprised C. happy D. surprised
52.A.regardless of B. rather than C. as toD.but for
53.A. decide B. classify C. select D. measure
54.A. look B. quality C. nevertheless D. ease
55.A. unexpectedly B. whereas C. nevertheless D. continuously
Part V Text Completion (20 points)
Directions: In this part, there are three incomplete texts with 20 questions(Ranging
from 56 to75).Above each text there are three or four phrases to becompleted. First, usethe choices provided in the box to complete thephrases. Second, use the completed phrasesto fill in the blanks of the text. Mark your answer on the Answer Sheet.
Text One
A. accelerate
B. otherwise
C. between
D.imitate
Phrases:
A. would be difficult to 56
B. from 57 its feathers
C. enabling the bird to 58
D. it 59 could
The emperor penguin traps air in its feathers. Not only does this insulate thebird against extreme cold but it also enables it to move two or three times fasterthan60How? Marine biologists have suggested that it does so byreleasing tiny air bubbles 61 .As these bubbles are released, the reduce friction on the surface of the penguin's wings, 62 .
Interestingly, engineers have been studying ways to make ships go faster byusing bubbles to reduce friction against their hulls (船身 ) . However, researchersacknowledge that further investigation is challenging because "the complexity ofpenguin’s wings 63
Text Two
A. beyond
B. as well as
C. sending
Phrases:
A. 64 the wages of average families
B. 65 young people to college
C. 66 the reach ofmostAmericans
A research group in California has released a "national report cardon highereducation." The report says the price of college has increased more than four hundred percent since 1982. Costs have climbed much faster than other prices - 67 . Thegroup warns that a continuation of these trends would put higher education 68 .And it would mean greater debt for those who do go to college. The reportalso expresses concern that the United States is losing its leadership in 69 .
Text Three
A. so
B. hire them
C. watching TV
Phrases:
A. and understandably 70
B. that could be spent 71
C. that the companies that72 want money
Children are a special target of advertisers, 73 . Young people are shopping and spending more than ever before. Researchers suggest that children who are highly involved in consumer culture are more prone to childhood depression and anxiety and have worse relationships with their parents. They said: "You cannot totally protect your kids from advertising because it is everywhere. So you can explain to your kids that advertisers have an agenda and 74 . They don't have our best interests in mind."
They also suggest that family should watch very little television. You can fill the
time 75 with other activities, such as reading and playing games together.
Part VI Translation (10 points)
Directions: Translate thefollowing passage into Chinese. Write your answer on the Answer Sheet.
The social costs of unemployment go far beyond the welfare and unemployment payments made by the government. Unemployment increases the chances of divorce, child abuse, and alcoholism, a new federal survey shows. Some experts say the problem is only temporary - that new technology will eventually create as many jobs as it destroys. But futurologist Hymen Seymour says the astonishing efficiency of the new technology means there will be a simple net reduction in the amount of human labor that needs to be done. "We should treat this as an opportunity to give people more leisure. It may not be easy, but society will have to reach a new agreement on the division and distribution of labor” Seymour says.