M: How much does extra reading time help? And what are other states doing to improve reading proficiency? For more about this, we’re joined from Washington by Parte Barth. She is the director of The Center for Public Education. So, we always hear about this third grade threshold and it is really important to try to get a kid up to grade level by third grade, why? W: Well, a lot of research suggests that third grade reading is a threshold year. What some studies say is that the likelihood of a third grader who is not reading on the grade level has a likelihood of dropping out that is three or four times greater than a child who is reading on grade level. So there is a lot of stake. M: So in addition to the extra hours of the reading time, what are some other states doing? What are some different techniques to try to get kids up to speed? W: Well, the importance of the third grade reading is so high that we have over 30 states that have some kind of policy to make sure children get the support they need to be on grade level. Some states require summer school. Some require after-hours instructions, whether after school or on Saturdays, for students who have difficulties. Some have at-home reading programs that they work with parents with. M: So, increasing the time spent in reading during the day. Does that work? W: Well, I will give it a qualified yes. It works but it does depend on how that time is used. So if you just merely increase the time during the day and do nothing else, it doesn’t work. I always like to caution people about, when you are talking about adding time to the school day of young children, little kids get tired. So you need to make sure that they are also getting some break during the day, that they have snacks and that they’re engaged. When all those pieces are in place, we have seen that it does make a difference. M: And what about the sort of cost investment? Obviously, it costs more money to... and would that money, say, be better spent hiring more teachers or used differently? W: You’re right to point out that it is very costly. Because it does require extra staffing: it requires more time that buildings are open, transportation cost and so forth. So adding time can be one of the most expensive investments that a state or a district makes in their public schools. We don’t have a single system — we have 50 state systems. Within that, we have 14,000 school districts. And so all of them and each of them can take different approaches to this, and they do. When they do that, as researchers, we can learn what is working the best. We can share that information and learn from each other. M: Alright. Parte. Thanks so much for joining us. W: Thank you. This is the end of Conversation Two. Questions 6 to 10 are based on Conversation Two. 6. Who is Patte Barth? 7. Why is it important for kids to get to grade level by third grade? 8. What have some states done to improve reading? 9. Does it work to increase the time spent in reading? 10. How many school districts are there in the United States? An education TV program host. A leader in an education center. A headmaster in a primary school. A teacher in a primary school.

“The audience is requested to remain seated during the intermission.“ The singular verb form “is“ is used in the sentence to emphasize______. the non-personal collectivity of the group the personal collectivity of the group the non-personal individuality within the group the personal individuality within the group

All those______to see the exhibition, get off the bus at the next stop. don’t go aren’t going not going who not go

I don’t know when he______, but when he______I’ll speak to him. will come.. .comes comes.. .comes comes.. .will come will come.. .will come

Since very young, we were told by our parents to______ from spitting on the sidewalk. refrain prevent resist restrain

With signing of the treaty, China is going to receive many benefits as the most-______nation. favorite favorable favored favoring

A. assumed B. flaunt C. awry D. gender E. mildly F. experience G. overtly H. attached I. crazy J. overly K. bolstering L. brag M. reignites N. consumed O. trauma Your sweetheart calls you by another’s name. His eyes linger too long on your best friend. He talks with excitement about a girl at work. And the fire catches. Jealousy—that sickening combination of possessiveness, suspicion, rage, and humiliation—can overtake your mind and threaten your very core as you contemplate your rival. The green-eyed monster, as Shakespeare called it, can camp in your head at any time during a relationship: when you are madly in love, when you are snugly【C1】______, even when you dislike your partner. Neither【C2】______ is routinely more jealous—although women are more willing to work to win back a lover, while men tend to【C3】______ their money and status and are more likely to walk out to protect their self-esteem or save face. Why do we feel jealous? Therapists often regard the demon as a scar of childhood【C4】______ or a symptom of a psychological problem. And it’s true that people who feel inadequate, insecure, or【C5】______dependent tend to be more jealous than others. But the “monster“ actually evolved for positive reasons. Throughout our primordial past it discouraged desertion by a mate,【C6】______ the family unit and enabling the survival of the young. At the same time, it has pushed us to abandon philanderers—and many a futile match—in favor of more stable and rewarding partnerships. Jealousy can even be good for love. One partner may feel secretly flattered when the other is【C7】______ jealous. And catching someone flirting with your beloved can spark the kind of lust and romance that【C8】______ a relationship. But jealousy can go seriously【C9】______. Some people, for no apparent reason, become【C10】______ by it, undermining their self-esteem, and even driving their partner into another’s arms—the very outcome they had feared. In the worst cases, they become violent.

(1) Socrates, the Greek philosopher of Athens, was the son of Sophroniscus, a sculptor. It is said that in early life he practiced his father’s art. In middle life he married Xanthippe, who is legendary as a shrew, although the stories have little basis in ascertainable fact. It is not certain who were Socrates’s teachers in philosophy, but he seems to have been acquainted with the doctrines of Parmenides, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, and the atomists. He was widely known for his intellectual powers even before he was 40, when, according to Plato’s report of Socrates’s speech in the Apology, the oracle at Delphi pronounced him the wisest man in Greece. In that speech Socrates maintained that he was puzzled by this acclaim until he discovered that, while others professed knowledge without realizing their ignorance, he at least was aware of his own ignorance. (2) Socrates became convinced that his calling was to search for wisdom about right conduct by which he might guide the intellectual and moral improvement of the Athenians. Neglecting his own affairs, he spent his time discussing virtue, justice, and piety wherever his fellow citizens congregated. Some felt that he also neglected public duty, for he never sought public office, although he was famous for his courage in the military campaigns in which he served. In his self-appointed task as gadfly to the Athenians, Socrates made numerous enemies. (3) Aristophanes burlesqued Socrates in his play “The Clouds“ and attributed to him some of the faults of the Sophists (professional teachers of rhetoric). Although Socrates in fact baited the Sophists, his other critics seem to have held a view similar to that of Aristophanes. In 399 he was brought to trial for corrupting youth and for religious heresies. Obscure political issues surrounded the trial, but it seems that Socrates was tried also for being the friend and teacher of Alcibiades and Critias, both of whom had betrayed Athens. The trial and death of Socrates, who was given poison hemlock to drink, are described with great dramatic power in the “Apology“, the “Crito“, and the “Phaedo“ of Plato. (4) Socrates’s contributions to philosophy were a new method of approaching knowledge, a conception of the soul as the seat both of normal waking consciousness and of moral character, and a sense of the universe as purposively mind-ordered. His method, called Dialectic, consisted in examining statements by pursuing their implications, on the assumption that if a statement were true it could not lead to false consequences. The method may have been suggested by Zeno of Elea, but Socrates refined it and applied it to ethical problems. (5) His doctrine of the soul led him to the belief that all virtues converge into one, which is the good, or knowledge of one’s true self and purposes through the course of a lifetime. Knowledge in turn depends on the nature or essence of things as they really are, for the underlying forms of things are more real than their experienced exemplifications. This conception leads to a teleological view of the world that all the forms participate in and lead to the highest form, the form of the good. Plato later elaborated this doctrine as central to his own philosophy. Socrates’s view is often described as holding virtue and knowledge to be identical, so that no man knowingly does wrong. Since virtue is identical with knowledge, it can be taught, but not as a professional specialty as the Sophists had pretended to teach it. However, Socrates himself gave no final answer to how virtue can be learned.

Web Chat 1. Participants in chat sessions - In the past: 【T1】______to America Online 【T1】______ - Now: hundreds of websites provide web chat 2. Definition of the web chat - The word “chat“ is misleading - “Chat“ means typing and reading 【T2】______【T2】______ 3. Ways to enter a web chat room - Choose to 【T3】______only 【T3】______ - Join in by posting your own messages 4. Content of chat sessions - Focus on specific topics - Lead to stimulating exchanges - Be considered 【T4】______【T4】______ 5. Procedure of preparation for a web chat - Locate a 【T5】______that interests you 【T5】______ - Register: use your real name or make up a name - Be aware: some personalities are 【T6】______【T6】______ - Take a few minutes to get the 【T7】______of the exchange 【T7】______ 6. Tips for the web chat - Use 【T8】______and abbreviations to minimize typing 【T8】______ - Have 【T9】______conversations 【T9】______ - Be 【T10】______and use common sense 【T10】______Web Chat Good morning, everyone. Today, we are going to talk about a new way of communication online. First of all, for many years, subscribers to America Online and other commercial online services were able to participate in chat sessions. Now it’s possible to join chats offered by hundreds of websites as well. Actually, the word “chat“ may be somewhat misleading, because you are not really talking to anyone, just typing and reading text messages that participants write. Once you enter a chat room, which is really just a web page that runs special software, you can choose to just read the exchanges, but not to participate in the chat, by making your image invisible to others online, or you can join in by posting your own messages. Many chat rooms focus the conversation on specific topics, such as health, politics, football and so on. That way, people with similar interests can find one another. Sometimes chat sessions can lead to truly stimulating exchanges, but they are just as likely to be a waste of time. Now, we will discuss the procedure of preparation for a web chat. The first step is to locate a chat room that interests you. Once you are on the website, you will usually be asked to register. You are free to use your real name, but many people make up a name. Therein lies some of the fun, but be aware that other people may be living out their fantasies online as well. Wild Bill might be a teenage girl. You should also know mat if you don’t sign-in with a name, you may be assigned the default name anonymous. After you have chosen and entered a chat room, you will probably find yourself in the middle of a conversation. Take a few minutes to get the gist of the exchange. There’s no harm in lurking for a while before you join in. Once you feel confident enough to participate in the discussion, just type your message in the blank box. The same rules of behavior apply in chat rooms as they do to other online communications, so be sure to avoid offending anyone. To minimize the amount of typing, people often use emoticons and abbreviations. If you want, you can make a general posting to everyone in the chat room, expounding your views. But just like in the real world, you can also address your comments to a specific person. Although everyone can read your message, it’s clear that it’s intended for a particular individual. Some chat rooms let you have private conversations by clicking on the name of a participant. While web chats can offer an engaging experience and proceed with caution. Use common sense. Remember that all your postings are public. OK, in a nutshell, today, we talked about what is web chat and how to start web chat online. I hope after today’s talk, you will have a complete picture of web chat and maybe give it a try in the days to come.

W: Hello, Tom. M: Hello. Feeling bright today, Cathy? W: I am feeling quite bright and clever, yes! M: That’s good to hear, because we’re talking about intelligence today, or to be more accurate, Artificial Intelligence. Cathy, you know who Professor Stephen Hawking is, right? W: Well, of course! Yes. Many people say that he’s a genius, very, very intelligent. Professor Hawking is one of the most famous scientists in the world and people remember him for his brilliance and also because he communicates using a synthetic voice generated by a computer. M: Synthetic? W: Yes, synthetic means it’s made from something non-natural. Artificial is similar in meaning—we use it when something is man-made to look or behave like something natural. M: Well, Professor Hawking has said recently that efforts to create thinking machines are a threat to our existence. Can you imagine that?! W: Well, there’s no denying that good things can come from the creation of Artificial Intelligence. Computers which can think for themselves might be able to find solutions to problems we haven’t been able to solve. But technology is developing quickly and maybe we should consider the consequences. Some of these very clever robots are already surpassing us. M: Yes. Maybe you can remember the headlines when a supercomputer defeated the World Chess Champion to everybody’s astonishment. What was the computer called? Was it Red Menace? W: No, it’s Deep Blue. The 1997 match was actually the second one between Kasparov and Deep Blue, a supercomputer designed by the company IBM and it was specialized in chess-playing. M: Well, I think I might challenge Deep Blue to a game. I’m a bit of a genius myself. W: Very good! Many science fiction movies have explored the idea of bad computers who want to harm us. One example is “2001: A Space Odyssey.“ M: Yes, a good film. And another is “The Terminator“, a movie in which actor Arnold Schwarzenegger played a robot from the future. The robot looks exactly like a human. Have you watched that one? W: Yes, I have. And the robot is not very friendly. M: No, it’s not. In many movies and books about robots, the robots end up rebelling against their creators. W: If Stephen Hawking is worried, I think I might be too. How can we be sure that Artificial Intelligence understands what is right and what is wrong? M: You are right. This is the end of Conversation One. Questions 1 to 5 are based On Conversation One. 1. Which statement is true about Stephen Hawking? 2. What does synthetic mean? 3. What is the name of the supercomputer which has defeated a chess champion? 4. Which role did Schwarzenegger play in “The Terminator“? 5. What does Professor Hawking think of the intelligent thinking machines? He’s a famous scientist. He can speak to a computer. He is a very clear robot. He has created many robots.

Among the four sentences below, it is in Sentence______that the reflexive pronoun “herself“ is used for the purpose of emphasis. She was beside herself with rage. She felt within herself the stirring limbs of the unborn child. Mary told John that she would look after herself. She has never herself “been there.

If you have been generous to a person for a period of time, it is most likely that the person will take advantage of your generosity and trade on your “weakness“______become appreciative of your kindness. but not let alone rather than instead of

Recently many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still______unable to understand what they read. are to be being have been

Just as the builder is skilled in the handling of his bricks,______the experienced writer in the handling of his words. and so is as is the same is so is

I have no doubt that if the students’ interest in the subject is aroused, they will face up to the challenge and______more of their time and energy to their studies. commit donate grant render

Modern scientists_____that truth is not something that we assume, but something found at the end of long investigations. affirm confirm suppose presume

The financial director managed to wave aside these issues as______details that would be touched upon later. versatile trivial subtle alternative

If you want this pain killer, you’ll have to ask the doctor for a______. receipt recipe subscription prescription

(1) Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good. (2) Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also dramatically changing the way we interact and build relationships. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, that should cause individuals and organizations to rethink the way they use email. (3) “Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,“ says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect a growing unconcern to the way we write. (4) Baron argues that we should not forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in emails. “The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,“ the professor says. (5) Others say that despite its poor prose, email has accomplished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t: It has made writing fashionable again. (6) “Email is a critical new communication technology,“ says Ian Lancashire, a University of Toronto professor of English. “It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech.“ (7) Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of email’s close similarity to speech. “It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,“ he says. (8) Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. “Almost every day I get emails that are apologies of previous emails,“ he reports. (9) In the US, the number of emails sent in a day exceeds the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is often imprecise. (10) This can cause mild confusion or, in the worse cases, disastrous misunderstandings. Using email effectively is a matter of recognizing its strengths and limitations as a communication tool, says DonCohen, editor of Knowledge Directions, the journal of the Massachusetts-based Institute for Knowledge Management. (11) “Email is extremely useful for communicating straightforward stuff like the time of a meeting or correct spelling of a name,“ Cohen notes. “It is not so good for building trust among people and making decisions.“ (12) “Email alone can’t communicate the subtlety and signals needed for maintaining a relationship,“ he says. Most relationships made through email don’t survive. Yet, the most serious consequence of the increasingly casual, speech-like style of writing being promoted by email could be a gradual loss of critical awareness, Barot believes. (13) She has noticed a decline in the ability of today’s students to think through an argument. She also says that many people are being fooled by emails into thinking that spelling and grammar are not important in the electronic medium. (14) “There’s a growing awareness that people who are interested in you either professionally or personally read your email carefully and form impressions of your intelligence and capabilities by what they read, “she reports. (15) Baron disagrees with linguists who say that emailing will forever change the way we write and speak. “I wouldn’t be surprised if 30 or 40 years from now we get disgusted with how unclear and careless our writing has become and change our teaching methods and standards.“

(1) When something happens to shake our culture—like the terrorist attacks—we pause, not merely from fear. A deeper self-examination is going on all over the country. And love, family and faith are emerging. (2) Single people are flocking to dating services, looking for committed relationships. Bridal retailers report a surgein sales. Sales of old-fashioned board games have skyrocketed. (3) The new appreciation for time spent with those we love poses a great spiritual question to materialistic yuppies and workaholic careerists, and that question is this: “Was your life before September 11 really working for you?“ To many, the answer is no. (4) We once heard of a CEO who spoke at his retirement dinner to a group of executives. He said, “I know you want my job, and I’ll tell you how to get it. Last week my daughter was married, and as she walked down the aisle, I realized I did not know the name of her best friend, or the last book she read, or her favorite color. That’s the price I paid for this job. If you want to pay that price, you can have it.“ (5) People are figuring out the price they have been paying for their lives, and for many it’s just too damn high. (6) We asked kids during December to name the very best gift they could receive. Their answer took our breath away. The overwhelming choice was “More time with my mom and dad.“ (7) Evil is always angry and hurtful. It always delights in the misery of others. This is the evil of terrorism. September 11 did not teach us anything new about evil. (8) What did become apparent is the stunning variety and scope of human goodness. Pick any story: the elderly woman who donated the money she had planned to spend on a hearing aid: the sacrifice of Father Mychal Judge, who died after giving last rites in the shower of dust and bones: the volunteers from everywhere who responded to the needs of strangers as if the call came from home. In thousands of stories we learn that the great human evil we witnessed was met by a wave of heroism and kindness that dwarfed it. (9) Such goodness puts evil into perspective. We see how the healing power of human compassion far outweighs the corrosive power of human evil. In the final summing up, it is the good in us that defines this moment in our collective history. (10) There is a lot of talk about spirituality nowadays. Often it means: “I am not part of any organized religion.“ We are telling people to give that old-time religion another good look. The clergy of our country have done a great thing for God and for America in the last months. In a thousand places of worship, they welcome and counsel and comfort the bereaved and the weary. We have to come home to faith. (11) There is a teaching in the Jewish faith that is also reflected in an African proverb: “Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable, but sticks alone can be broken by a child.“ We need to be bundled, and our bundles protect us best if they are bigger than just our family and small circle of friends. We need a place to go that is not home or work, where we can be bundled together with other seekers in need of hope. The ways we find God are almost always the same as the ways we find each other.