He never responded to any messages that I sent to him, and his views rarely ______ with mine. (coincidence)

After rising steadily for almost a century, standards of education in the public schools of Europe and North America have leveled off and, in the opinion of many parents and employers, are actually falling. More and more children are leaving school with little more than a basic knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic, and illiteracy is becoming a social problem once again. With dropout rates of 27 percent in high schools and 50 percent in colleges, the American education system is clearly in trouble. European dropout rates, though lower than those of the U.S., are rising too.Various factors have been blamed for the apparent decline in educational standards. Some people say that overcrowding and lack of discipline are major factors. Others maintain that subjects like art and drama have been overemphasized at the expense of more practical subjects. The negative influence of television is frequently mentioned as a reason for growing illiteracy. Many teachers and principals, however, insist that the problem is not of falling standards but of rising expectations on the part of parents and employers.Whether or not standards in public schools are actually falling, many parents feel that the only way to secure a good education for their children is to send them to private schools, which generally have smaller classes and stricter discipline. The popularity of such schools is growing steadily, despite the high tuition fees. In the United States, for example, thirteen percent of all school children attend private schools; in France, over sixteen percent do so.New Words：illiteracyn.缺乏教育；文盲1.What is the problem that public schools of Europe and North America have according to the passage?A) Standards of education are falling.B) Social expectations on students are rising too quickly.C) The tuition fees are always rising rapidly.D) The reading, writing, and arithmetic are overemphasized.2.What is the dropout rate in U.S. colleges according to the passage?A) 13 percent. B) 16 percent.C) 27 percent.D) 50 percent.3.What is frequently mentioned as a reason for growing illiteracy?A) Too many students in school.B) The negative influence of television.C) Lack of strict discipline.D) Less attention to art and drama.4.What is one of the advantages of private schools according to the passage?A) More acceptable with students.B) Higher tuition fee and better return.C) Smaller classes and stricter discipline.D) More practical subjects available.

The foot soldiers stood in lines, fired arrows, and_spears at each other from behind walls of shields .(hurler)

【题目】Directions: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will heartwo or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear aquestion, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then markthe corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A) Heavy floods.C)Bad economy.B)Safety concerns.D) Workers'strikes.2. A) It is competitive with its numerous tourit destinations.B)It provides many job opportunities for French people.C) It is the biggest concern of the French government.D)It plays an important role in the nation's economy.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A) To carry out a scientific survey.C) To rescue two sick American workers.B) To establish a new research station.D) To deliver urgent medical supplies.4. A) The darkness and cold.C) The biting winds.B)The heavy snow and fog.D)The ice all around.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) By tying it to a door handle.C) With a remote control craft.B) By shaking it back and forth.D) With a full-sized helicopter.6. A) He has lots of fans on Facebook.B) He has rich experience in flying.C) He often suffers from toothaches.D)He has learned to pull teeth from a video.7. A) Spend more time together.C) Do something fun and creative.B)Tell them adventure stories.D) Play with them in a safe place.

Find words from the text to match the definitions.The first letters are given.1.s ____ →an event that causes a lot of excitement and interest2.i  ____ →strongly in love with someone3.f ____ → to use a camera to record a story or real events4.t ____ →to pull something behind you5.a ____ →funny6.be g ____ to → to look at something with all your attention

A Listen to the conversation and fill in the blanks.-|||-W: What`s your destination for the trip tomorrow?-|||-M: I`m flying to L.A.tomorrow.-|||-W: Why would you choose L.A.as your destination for your holiday?-|||-M: I think I can enjoy the view of the coast there.I`ve been told it is very beautiful.-|||-W: Have you booked your hotel?-|||-M: Yes,I`ve booked an ocean view room in a hotel near the seaside.-|||-W: I think it will be dinner time when you arrive.Did you make your reservation for dinner?-|||-M: Of course! I`ve booked at the Blue Sea Restaurant.I can`t wait to go.

The time has come for humanity to journey to Mars. We’re ready. Though Mars is distant, we are far better prepared today to send humans to Mars than we were to travel to the Moon at the beginning of the space age. Given the will, we could have our first teams on Mars within a decade. The reasons for going to Mars are powerful.We must go for the knowledge of Mars. Our robotic probes have revealed that Mars was once a warm and wet planet, suitable for hosting life’s origin. But did it? A search for fossils (化石) on the Martian surface or microbes (微生物) in groundwater below could provide the answer. If found, they would show that the origin of life is not unique to the Earth, and, by implication, reveal a universe that is filled with life and probably intelligence as well. From the view point of learning our true place in the universe, this would be the most important scientific enlightenment since Copernicus.Earth’s atmosphere and environment in significant ways. It has become a critical matter for us to better understand all aspects of our environment. In this project, comparative planetology is a very powerful tool, a fact already shown by the role that Venusian (金星的) atmospheric studies played in our discovery of the potential threat of global warming by greenhouse gases. Mars, the planet most like the Earth, will have even more to teach us about our home world. The knowledge we gain could be key to our survival.We must go for the future. Mars is not just a scientific curiosity; it is a world with a surface area equal to all the continents of the Earth combined, possessing all the elements that are needed to support not only life, but technological society. It is a New World, filled with history waiting to be made by a new and youthful branch of human civilization that is waiting to be born. We must go to Mars to make that potential a reality. We must go, not for us, but for a people who are yet to be. We must do it for the Martians.1. Why has the time come for humanity to travel to Mars according to the passage?A) Because people are willing to sacrifice their own life to travel to Mars.B) Because people are far better ready today to send people to Mars than before. C) Because most people are financially better off than they were.D) Because the first team on Mars has already been organized.2. What is the purpose of the search for fossils on the Martian surface or microbes in groundwater?A) To ascertain whether life can exist on the planet Mars. B) To test whether the robotic probes can really function on the Mars.C) To explore the origin of the universe.D) To reveal how intelligent the people are on the earth.3. The author believes that the most important scientific enlightenment of the universe would be ___________.A) the discovery of fossils on the Martian surfaceB) the discovery of ground water on MarsC) the discovery of life on Mars D) the discovery of our place in the universe4. Why must we go for knowledge of Earth?A) Because it could help us learn more about the Earth for our survival. B) Because it could help us use the knowledge of Earth to explore other planets.C) Because it could help us compare the Earth with other planets.D) Because it could help us find out the potential threat from other planets.5. What can be inferred from the sentence “Mars is not just a scientific curiosity.”?A) Mars could be utilized to support our life and technological society. B) Mars is a world full of history of adventures.C) Mars is suitable for all the people to explore.D) Mars can make people more civilized.

Part IIIReading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of words given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choice. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each blank in Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.A team of researchers led by Priyanka Joshi examined the degree to which men and women relied on "communicative abstraction" to verbally convey their ideas and emotions(communicative abstraction, according to the researchers, reflects the tendency of people to use "abstrac speech that focuses on the broader picture and 26 purpose of action rather than concrete speech focusing on details and the means of 27 action." Interestingly, they found that men were far more likely to speak in the abstract than were women.To arrive at this 28 ,the researchers examined the linguistic(语言的)patterns of men and women in over 400,000blog posts written on websites. To do this, the researchers compared abstractness ratings for 29 140,000commonly used words in the English language. Words considered to be concrete could be easily visualized, such as "table" or "chair". Words that were more 30 to visualize, for example, "justice" or "morality" were considered to be more abstract. They found that men used 31 more abstract language in their blog posts.What is the 32 of this effect? The researchers suggest that power differences between the genders—that is, men having more power in society—might be a key determinant(决定因素). For instance, in a follow-up study conducted with a sampl of 300 students, the researchers 33 power dynamic in an interpersonal setting to see if this would influence communicative abstraction. They found that participants in a high-power interview role were more likely to give abstract descriptions of behaviors than were participants in a low-power interview role. This suggests that communicating abstractly does not reflect a 34 tendency of men or women but rather 35 within specific contexts.A approximatelyB manipulatedC astonishingD recommendedE conclusionF refiningG difficultH signalsI emergesJ significantlyK fixedL scoresM ignoredN ultimateO legally

.__ vt.颁发;提交

Setting up separate bicycle tracks is an effective way to _______ bicycle accidents and improve the safety for riders who share the road with motor vehicles.A. curbB. clipC. surgeD. solve