According to a new study, preschool boys perform better on tests that measure learning and other important skills when they are in classes that have more girls than boys. This doesn’t seem to apply to girls, though. For preschool girls, the presence or absence of boys does not affect learning.

“The study raises questions about having all-boy or all-girl classes for preschool”, says psychologist Arlen Moller, who led the study. She added, “Previous researches have shown that high-school girls may study better in all-g irl schools. In middle school, however, the effects of same-sex schooling are unclear, and even less is known for very young kids.” To find out, researchers studied 70 preschool classes with a total of 806 children who were between 3.5 and 6 years old. For each class, teachers recorded the student’s progress over a 6.5-month school year.

Their data included scores of motor skills, social skills and thinking skills. Researchers found that boys developed each of these skills more quickly when there were more girls in the class than boys.

In majority-girl classrooms, boys developed at the same rate as girls. But in classes where boys were the majority, boys developed more slowly than girls. Girls tended to advance in classrooms which had any combination of boys and girls.

The study is one of the first to look at how the proportion of boys and girls in a class affects learning. Because it’s a new finding, researchers don’t know why this difference exists.

“This is an exciting topic, but it’s too early to draw any conclusion because this area is so under-explored,” says psychologist Lean Malofeeva of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

81．What is the finding of the researchers led by Arlen Moller? (no more than 15 words)(2 marks)

82．According to the research , what effect does a minority-girl class have on boy’s study?(no more than 8 words)(3 marks)

83．How does Lean Malofeeva find the study of the researchers led by Arlen Moller?(no more than 6 words)(3 marks)

84．List three abilities the researchers focused on. (on more than 7 words)(3 marks)

Businesses are expected to cut spending dramatically through much of 2009. A number of economists, including those National City and Wachovia, don’t expect business investment, which make up about one – tenth of US economic activity, to decline through 2009. According to a survey of 679 chief financial officers by Duke University and CFO Magazine this month, US businesses expect to cut capital spending by more than 10% in the next 12 months, a sharp decrease from September, when the CFOs expected business investment to increase slightly.
John Graham, finance professor at Duke and director of the survey, says businesses are finding ways to repair existing machinery and buildings rather than replace equipment or move. They likely won’t increase their spending until they see concrete evidence that the economy is improving.
Those planning meeting for late winter and early spring are either buying fewer or less – expensive items, or they’re not buying at all. One client who usually spends about $ 80,000 on a conference each year is spending half that. Robert Coen, director of forecasting at media – analysis firm Magna, predicts a 4.5% drop in ad spending to $ 259 billion in 2009 on the heels of a 3.2% drop in 2008. “A recovery in US ad budgets will probably not get underway until 2010,” he says. Another negative for 2009: There aren’t any big ad – spending events such as the Olympics or national elections.
Declining business spending will hurt a number of industries but will be especially tough for the manufacturing sector. Nearly two – thirds of manufacturers expect revenue(税收) to be unchanged or lower in 2009 than 2008, a survey from the Institute for Supply Management found.
1.According to John Graham, how did businesses to deal with the economy crisis?
A. They are spending less.
B. By increasing their business spending sharply.
C. By replacing old equipment with the new equipment.
D. By moving into the cheaper offices.
2.Why are the managers buying less – expensive items for their meetings?
A. To save money themselves.
B. To cut down on expenses and save for the companies.
C. To see the concrete evidence that the economy is on the mend.
D. To save money so they spend more on advertisements.
3.It can be inferred that in a year Olympics are held, many companies _________.
A. contribute more money to the poor      B. give the participants money
C. spend more money on advertising     D. cut down on advertising budgets
4.The best title for the passage is ____________.
A. Predictions about Buying New Equipment in 2009
B. Predictions about Conference Planning in 2009
C. Predictions about Advertising Spending in 2009
D. Predictions for Business Spending in 2009

Communications technologies are far from equal when it comes to conveying the truth. A recent research shows people tend to tell more lies in phone conversations than they are in emails. The fact that emails are automatically recorded and can come back to haunt you appears to be the key to the finding.

Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, asked 30 students to keep a communications diary for a week. In it they noted the number of conversations or email exchanges they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and confessed to how many lies they told. Hancock then worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium. He found that lies made up 14 percent of emails, 21 percent of instant messages, 27 percent of face-to-face interactions and an astonishing 37 of phone calls.

His results to be presented at the conference on human-computer interaction in Vienna, Austria, in April, have surprised psychologists. Some expected emailers to be the biggest liars, reasoning that because deception makes people uncomfortable, the detachment（非直接接触）of emailing would make it easier to lie. Others expected people to be more in face-to-face exchanges because we are most practiced at that form of communication.

But Hancock says it is also crucial whether a conversation is being recorded and could be reread, and whether it occurs in real time. “People appear to be afraid to lie when they know the communication could later be used to hold them to account,” he says. This is why fewer lies appear in email than on the phone.

“People are also more likely to lie in real time in an instant message or phone call than if they have time to think of a response,” say Hancock. He found many lies are spontaneous responses to an unexpected demand, such as, “Do you like my dress?”

Hancock hopes his research will help companies work out the best ways for their employees to communicate. For instance, the phone might be the best medium for sales where employees are encouraged to stretch the truth. But, given his result, work assessment where honesty is a priority, might be best done using email.

1.Hancock’s study focuses on ______.

A. the consequences of lying in various communications media

B. the success of communications technologies in conveying ideas

C. people are less likely to lie in instant messages

D. people’s honesty levels across a range of communications media

2.Hancock’s research finding surprised those who believed that ______.

A. people are less likely to lie in instant messages

B. people are unlikely to lie in face-to-face interactions

C. people are most likely to lie in email communication

D. people are twice as likely to lie in phone conversations

3.According to the passage, why are people more likely to tell the truth through certain media of communication?

A. They are afraid of leaving behind traces of their lies.

B. They believe that honesty is the best policy.

C. They tend to be relaxed when using those media.

D. They are most practiced at those forms of communication.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A. honesty should be encouraged in interpersonal communications

B. more employers will use emails to communicate with their employees

C. suitable media should be chosen for different communication purposes

D. email is now the dominant medium of communication within a company

Businesses are expected to cut spending dramatically through much of 2009. A number of economists, including those National City and Wachovia, don’t expect business investment, which make up about one – tenth of US economic activity, to decline through 2009. According to a survey of 679 chief financial officers by Duke University and CFO Magazine this month, US businesses expect to cut capital spending by more than 10% in the next 12 months, a sharp decrease from September, when the CFOs expected business investment to increase slightly.

John Graham, finance professor at Duke and director of the survey, says businesses are finding ways to repair existing machinery and buildings rather than replace equipment or move. They likely won’t increase their spending until they see concrete evidence that the economy is improving.

Those planning meeting for late winter and early spring are either buying fewer or less – expensive items, or they’re not buying at all. One client who usually spends about $ 80,000 on a conference each year is spending half that. Robert Coen, director of forecasting at media – analysis firm Magna, predicts a 4.5% drop in ad spending to $ 259 billion in 2009 on the heels of a 3.2% drop in 2008. “A recovery in US ad budgets will probably not get underway until 2010,” he says. Another negative for 2009: There aren’t any big ad – spending events such as the Olympics or national elections.

Declining business spending will hurt a number of industries but will be especially tough for the manufacturing sector. Nearly two – thirds of manufacturers expect revenue(税收) to be unchanged or lower in 2009 than 2008, a survey from the Institute for Supply Management found.

1.According to John Graham, how did businesses to deal with the economy crisis?

A. They are spending less.

B. By increasing their business spending sharply.

C. By replacing old equipment with the new equipment.

D. By moving into the cheaper offices.

2.Why are the managers buying less – expensive items for their meetings?

A. To save money themselves.

B. To cut down on expenses and save for the companies.

C. To see the concrete evidence that the economy is on the mend.

D. To save money so they spend more on advertisements.

3.It can be inferred that in a year Olympics are held, many companies _________.

A. contribute more money to the poor        B. give the participants money

C. spend more money on advertising     D. cut down on advertising budgets

4.The best title for the passage is ____________.

A. Predictions about Buying New Equipment in 2009

B. Predictions about Conference Planning in 2009

C. Predictions about Advertising Spending in 2009

D. Predictions for Business Spending in 2009

The first day of school we were interested to get to know a new classmate.I looked around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.I found a little old lady with a warm smile.

She said,“Hi ! I’m Rose.I’m 87 years old.Can I give you a hug?”I laughed and I heartily responded,“Of course!”

“Why are you in college at such a young,innocent(天真无邪的)age?”I asked.

She jokingly replied,“I’m here to meet a rich husband,get married,have children, and then travel around.”

“Not seriously,”I asked.I was curious why she took on this challenge at this age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”she told me.We became instant friends.

Over the year,Rose became a campus icon(偶像) and she easily made friends wherever she went.She loved to dress up and she enjoyed the attention from the other students.

At the end of the semester,we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us.

“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.Here are the secrets to staying young.You have to laugh and find humor every day.You’ve got to have a dream.When you lose your dreams,you die.Unfortunately we have many people like this walking around?”she said.

“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.Anybody can grow older.That doesn’t take any talent or ability,”she added.“But growing up requires finding the opportunity in change.Have no regrets.The elederly usually don’t regret what they did,but rather things they did not do.”

One week after graduation that year,Rose died peacefully in her sleep.She taught us by example that__________________.

Why was Rose in college at 87? Because         .

  A.she wanted to meet a rich husband

  B.she wanted to get married and have children

  C.she wanted to travel around

  D.she dreamed of having a college education

According to the passage,Rose loved to do the following EXCEPT        .

  A.dress up

  B.enjoy the attention from the other students

  C.play football

  D.make friends

According to what Rose said,we can know that to stay young you must not      .

  A.laugh                               B.be humorous

  C.have a dream                         D.lose your dream

According to the last paragraph but one we know          .

  A.growing older is quite different from growing up

  B.growing older needs talent

  C.growing up doesn’t require ability

  D.the elderly usually have no regrets

Which of the following can be used to fill in the blank at the end of the passage?

A. where there is a will, there’s a way

B. never too late to learn

C.Study hard and you will be young

D. never too late to be all you can possibly be