“Who is Gogo?” Almost every pupil in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand will tell you: “Gogo is from outer space and is teaching children to speak and read English.”

Gogo has visited Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Korea. Now he is in China’s mainland—“Gogo has Adventure with English” has been published by Addison Wesley Longman China Ltd (AWL).

The six level English course, full of exciting stories, educates and delights children at the same time. Gogo learns English from his friends, Tony and Jenny. The children will learn along with Gogo, enjoying all the fun he produces. Gogo has a warm place in every young learner’s heart wherever he goes.

A presentation (介绍) about Gogo was given by Beijing AWL Information Centre last November. All the pupils in Huijia School attended the presentation. A foreign teacher at Huijia later said, “The children were attracted by Gogo after only a 45-minute presentation. They remember a song taught by Gogo seven weeks later. Parents often ask me how they can help their children learn English and now there’s a programme I can direct them to.”

Clive Sawkins, Paul Price-Smiths and Gregg Schroeder worked closely at AWL to make sure that Gogo will become an easily recognized symbol (标志) of learning English wherever English is studied. “Gogo is our baby,” said Gregg. “It is very easy to get children going with Gogo.”

What is the passage mainly about?

A. Gogo visits Asian countries.     B. Gogo receives high praise.

C. Children love to learn with Gogo.D. AWL introduces Gogo.

It can be learned from the passage that Gogo is       .

A. an English teacher     B. an English boy

C. an English textbook?     D. a character in an English textbook

In what way is Gogo a great help to young learners?

A. He teaches them English through songs.

B. He teaches them English through adventure stories.

C. He helps them to remember English words.

D. He makes English lessons full of fun.

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s．Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent（聪明的） than women．Right? Wrong．Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size．Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain．The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”．While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes．

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women．This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time．When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time．

There are other important differences between two sexes．As white matter is the key to spatial（空间的） tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things．“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher．That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions…and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿） are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one．A boy would try to climb a barrier （障碍物） before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others．These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills．It may all go back to our ancestors（祖先）, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research．

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t．“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it．” says a biologist．

1.The passage mainly tells us ________．

A．the difference between men’s and women’s brains

B．the changes in brain throughout our lives

C．that men are better at spatial tasks

D．that brain differences are related to our ancestors

2.Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s

B．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter．

C．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain．

D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter．

3.What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

A．Women prefer doing many things at a time．

B．Men do better dealing with one job at a time．

C．Women do not need to tell directions．

D．Men have weaker spatial abilities．

4.Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls．

B．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

C．Women may have stronger feelings than men．

D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills．

5.What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A．Defensive．         B．Persuasive．        C．Supportive．       D．Objective．

 

I first went to Harrow in the summer term. The school had the biggest swimming pool I had ever seen. It was a good joke to come up behind a naked boy, and push him into the pool. I made quite a habit of this with boys of my own size or less.
One day I saw a boy wrapped in a towel on the side of the pool. He was no bigger than I was, so I thought him a fair game. Coming secretly behind, I pushed him in, holding on to his towel so that it would not get wet, I was surprised to see an angry face come out from the water, and a being of great strength masking its way by face strokes (猛力地划)to the shore. I fled, but in vain. He overtook me, seized me violently, and threw me into the deepest part of the pool. I soon climbed out on the other side, and found myself surrounded by a crowd of younger boys.” Do you know what you have done?” they said, “It’s Amery; he is in Grade Six. He is champion at gym; he has got his football honor.”
I was frightened and felt ashamed. How could I tell his position when be was wrapped in a bath towel and so small.” He didn’t seem pleased at all, so I added in a most brilliant word,” My father, who is a great man, is also small.” At this be laughed, and after some general words about my rude behavior and how I had better be careful in the future, signified the incident was closed.
【小题1】The writer thought Amery” a fair game” because the boy   .

A．was of similar size

B．was fond of games

C．looked like an animal

D．was good at sports

【小题2】The writer felt” ashamed” because    .

A．he was laughed at by other boys

B．he played a joke on an outstanding athlete

C．Amery turned out to be in the same grade

D．he pushed Amery hard and hurt him

【小题3】By saying “My father, who is a great man, is also small”, the writer   .

A．challenged Amery	B．threatened Amery
C．admired his father	D．tried to please Amery

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The writer could run faster than Amery.

B．Amery forgave the writer for his rude behavior.

C．The writer liked playing on boys of all sizes.

D．Amery was a student in Grade Four.

He says the problem with teachers is, “What will a kid learn from someone who chose to become a teacher?” He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of biting his and stop myself from reminding the other dinner guests that it’s also true what they say about lawyers－that they make money from the misfortune of others.

“I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor,” he says to me.” Be honest. What do you make?”

I wish he hadn’t asked me to be honest, because now I have to teach him a lesson.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I can make a C+feel like a great achievement and an A-feel like a failure.

How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best?

I make parents tremble in fear when I call them:

I hope I haven’t called at a bad time.

I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.

Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?”

And it was the bravest act I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them criticise.

I make them think.

I make them apologise and mean it.

I make them write, write, write.

And then I make them read.

I teach them to solve math problems that they once thought impossible.

I make them understand that if you have brains then you follow your heart and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you teach them a lesson.

Let me make this simple for you, so you know what I say is true:

I make a great difference! What about you?

1.What is the tone of the passage?

A．Upset and disappointed.                  B．Cheerful and positive.

C．Angry and proud.                       D．Humorous and light-hearted.

2.What do we know about the man that the author is speaking to?

A．He dislikes lawyers.                      B．He is actually a lawyer.

C．He is respectful to teachers.               D．He is in the author’s home.

3.What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Requirements of a Good Teacher           B．An Argument Between Two Guests.

C．A Dinner Conversation                   D．What Teachers Make

4.The underlined phrase “bite my tongue” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to       .

A．stop myself saying what I really think         B．say something that is wrong

C．speak out honestly but carelessly           D．keep silent about myself

 

Part B: Vocabulary 9%

A．claim

B．second

C．opposite

D．count E. best

F. negative       G. failures         H. defined          I. mark          J. reliable  

We might be surprised at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It is really extraordinary that after all years, educationists have still failed to devise something more 41 than examinations. For all the 42 that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact 43. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability.

As anxiety-makers, examinations are 44 to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the 45 of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t 46: the exam goes on. No one can bring out the 47 in him when he is in terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of fierce competition where success and failure are clearly 48 and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of “dropouts”: young people who are written off as 49 before they have started a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?