In tough economic times, school counselors don't just wait for students to come to their offices in search of college brochures, health pamphlets or other help. These days, they are looking for at-risk kids to prevent personal or academic troubles before they arise. Nowadays, students and families need the guidance more than ever. Counselors play a steadying role in schools as the economy weighs on families, college admission becomes even more competitive, immigration continues to reshape the population and state-testing pressures many students. They use computers to search through attendance data, grades and standardized test scores for kids who might need extra help. Schlatter, director of guidance and counseling at Prince William County's Woodbridge Senior High School, has checked attendance records against grades and test results to start peer groups for students who are failing classes but not skipping them. She said group counseling is another way to reach more students though it can be difficult. "Kids really do start helping and sharing with each other." At Fairfax High School, counselors found through surveys that students who transferred to the school after ninth grade enjoyed school significantly less than those who had been there all four years. The counseling staff set up a special program and group for new arrivals in response, said Marcy Miller, the school's director of student services. Counseling staff members also have started small study groups for students to prepare for state Standards of Learning exams, which Miller said have helped raise test scores. She said that some of the newest counselors have had some of the freshest ideas. What would the author most probably discuss in the following part? A) What assistance they can offer. B) The significance of their counseling job. C) Other approaches to counseling at-risk kids. D) The barriers of counseling the students with troubles.
C
She belongs to no one but the whole world that can understand her language. Her music is appreciated across the globe but it is Singapore, China, Thailand and Britain that have helped to shape her talent. Violinist, Vanessa-Mae, best known for her pioneering mix of pop and classical music, has just completed her Asian tour. She has a magic power that has attracted an audience from around the world but the violin genius has always drawn fans by blazing a new trail. "I don't like playing it safe, I like jumping into new styles," she said. She started her Asian performance tour in China's Hong Kong on September 19 and visited the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumper. The tour, aiming to promote her new album, "The Best of Vanessa-Mae", ends in Thailand's capital Bangkok on September 30. The graceful and beautiful musician has attracted lots of fans in the places she has visited. She said although she enjoys trying out different forms of performance, including fashion shows and singing, she feels more comfortable with her violin. She has promised her fans she will never abandon the classical music that was the foundation of her training. Vanessa-Mae, now 23, first picked up the violin at five. After six months of intensive training in Beijing, he turned professional at 10. it was her fusion of classical and rock in her 1995 album "The Violin Player", that shot the then 17-year-old to international recognition. The record sold 3 million copies worldwide. She has a Chinese-Singaporean mother and a Thai father. She was born in Singapore and grew up in Britain. Vanessa-Mae has released seven albums and plans two more in the near future--first a classical album,, then a pop recording. She has said she wants to perform for the next 10 years, but after that she may settle down with her boyfriend, a 33-year-old wine-dealer from France, and concentrate on writing music. Vanessa-Mae started her Asian performance tour _ . A) to concentrate on writing music B) to go on a lobng journey C) to sell her new album "The Best of Vanessa-Mae" D) to attract her fans
C
Q: Analysis of the composition of quicksand shows that there are four key ingredients--sand, obviously water, clay and salt. Together these materials form a structure resembling a house of cards, with large water-filled gaps between the sand particles, which are loosely glued in place by the clay. As long as it's left alone, the structure remains stable. But as soon as it's disturbed, by stepping on it, the clay changes from a jelly-like consistency to a runny liquid. The effect is the same as stirring a pot of yoghurt. Liquefying the clay makes the quicksand about one million times runnier, and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down, with you inside it. Very quickly, the sand sinks to the bottom and the water floats to the top. This is where the salt comes in. When there's enough salt present, as soon as the clay particles liquefy, electrical charges make them begin to stick together to form bigger particles and these also settle with the sand. Quicksand is a mixture which looks like solid, but behaves more like a liquid. Despite its murderous reputation, quicksand does not such people under and swallow them, although it can hold a person in firm grip. The human body is more buoyant in quicksand than in water, and sooner or later anyone trapped in it will float. Unlike most liquids, quicksand's viscosity, or "runniness" can suddenly change if it comes under pressure, for example under a human foot. The surface gives way and the victim quickly sinks in up to the knees, surrounded by an area of dirty things that turns semi-solid around its victim. Escaping from the quicksand's grip requires a large amount of force. Without something solid to pull at, people often find they are stuck fast. Pulling at one leg simply makes the other one sink further. So how do you escape from quicksand's control? Stay still and call for help. Staying still stops you sinking any further, until--with luck--help arrives on the scene. If no one appears and you need to draw yourself out, gently lie down on your back until your... Which ingredient of the quicksand make someone trapped in it stuck and stuck fast? A) Sand B) Clay C) Water D) Salt
A: B
Researchers claimed that waitresses who wear red get up to 26 percent extra in tips than they would wearing other colors. However, the team finds that the sexes tip very differently--with the bigger tips coming only from male customers. No matter what color they wear, female diners will give the same kind of amounts for service every time. Yet men, whether they realize it or not, add anything between 15 and 26 percent more to a waitress in red than they would if it was the same waitress wearing a different color. The test was simple. Take 11 waitresses in five restaurants over a six-week period and ask them to wear the same kind of T-shirt every day but change the colors. Previous research has suggested waitresses could earn more if they acted charmingly or wore more make-up than their colleagues. But this study, by the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, only changed the color of the T-shirt. Every other aspect from make-up to behavior remained the same. When wearing either black, white, green, blue or yellow T-shirts, the size of the tips from both male and female customers was almost _ . But when they wore red, the size of the tips went up by between 15 and 26 percent from male customers, yet stayed the same from female ones. A total of 272 restaurant customers were studied by researchers Nicolas Gueguen and Celine Jacob for the international journal of the tourism industry. Even as a T-shirt, it shows just how much the color red is thought, by men, to increase the physical and sexual attractiveness of woman, said the researchers. The researchers wrote: As red color has no negative effect on women customers, it could be in their interest to wear clothes at work. Which of the following is right according to the passage? A) Bright color can increase the physical and sexual attractiveness of women. B) Waitresses in red make no difference to female customers. C) Make-up makes no difference to man customers. D) Whether male customers tips more or not depends on service.
B