Going to school from 8 am until 5 pm may sound terrible,but Sydney Shaw,a seventh grader at the Alain Locke Charter Academy on Chicago's West Side,has come to like it--as well as the extra 20 or so days that she's in class every year."I'm sure every kid at this school says bad things about the schedule sometimes,"says Sydney, who was at school on Columbus Day, when most Chicago schools had a holiday."But we all know it's for our benefit." Finding ways to give kids more classroom time,through longer hours,a longer school year,or both,is getting more attention."If you want to look at schools where the achievement gap is narrowing, they're saying they couldn't do it without the added time,"says Jennifer Davis."Even when you get good teachers into schools,you also need more time." According to studies, low-income students fall back more than two months in their reading skills over summer vacations."It's over the summer months that poor kids fall behind,"says Karl Alexander,a sociologist."If you have parents who themselves didn't succeed at school and aren't highly educated,kids aren't going to get those skills at home." Schools are asked to take a full year to plan how to best use the extra time--a process involving teachers,principals,students and parents.They are given outside support to help them base their plans on the best available analyses of student needs.It's still early,but officials are already seeing stronger test scores and a narrowing achievement gap. But some critics are worried."We risk producing something that's very expensive and time-consuming, and that will give educators a lot of trouble,"says Frederick Hess."Before we spend all that extra money,I'd much rather see if we can figure out how to get 50 percent more instructional time out of the current school day." The text is mainly about _ . A) whether a longer school day will help narrow the achievement gap B) how students have benefited from additional school hours C) why the achievement gap among students needs to be narrowed D) what causes the achievement gap among students
A
(Question)
There are some special traditions in Hawaii. People are very friendly and always welcome visitors. They give visitors a lei, a long necklace of beautiful fresh flowers. Men wear bright flowered shirt and women often wear long flowered dresses. There are traditional Chinese, Japanese and Filipino holidays and all the holidays from the United States. They call Hawaii the Aloha State. Aloha means both hello and goodbye. It also means " I love you". Usually when people from different countries, races and traditions live together, there are serious problems. There are so many people living in Hawaii, but in general, people have learned to live together in peace. Hawaiians get most of their money from visitors, and most of the visitors come from the mainland and from Japan. There are so many people living in Hawaii now that there are residential areas ( ) where there used to be farms. Some of the big sugar and pineapple companies have moved to the Philippines, where they do not have to pay workers as much money. The families of the first people who came from the U.S mainland own the important banks and companies .Japanese are also buying or starting business here. _ plays an important part in the development of Hawaii. A) .Modern industry B) Agriculture C) The air line D) Tourist trade
(Answer)
D
Ques: Everyone is familiar with white fat, which serves as an energy warehouse. Many mammals also have brown fat, which has the unique ability to produce heat. Brown fat is sometimes mistaken for a type of gland , which it resembles more than white fat. It varies in color1 from dark red to tan. When the animal is exposed to a cold environment, the color1 darkens. In contrast to white fat, brown fat has numerous nerves which provide sympathetic stimulation to the fat cells. Brown fat is most noticeable in newborn animals, wrapped round the central organs to keep them warm. In human infants it occupies up to 5% of body weight, then declines gradually. Certain quantities of brown fat can be discovered in adult humans, especially when they are exposed to cold temperatures. Most of brown fat in adults is located in the lower neck. Exposure to cold leads to sympathetic stimulation of brown fat cell. As in white fat, sympathetic stimulation promotes hydrolysis of triglyceride , with release of fatty acids. In contrast to other cells, including white fat cells, brown fat cells express UCP1, which gives the cell's mitochondria an ability to produce heat rather than ATP. Within brown fat cells, most fatty acids are immediately combined with oxygen in mitochondria and a large amount of heat is produced. There is only about 50g of brown fat in the neck region and it switches on and off throughout the day as it's exposed to different temperatures or if you exercise or eat. But this capacity is much greater in young children compared with adolescents and adults. The challenge is now to use the knowledge to find out what might switch on brown fat. If it is switched on, we can benefit from it. Brown fat produces lots of heat by burning calories. Unlike white fat, brown fat does not expand our ageing waistlines. And that's why the race is on to find out more about brown fat, and how humans could use it to our advantage, though we would waste energy unnecessarily, and we would sweat a lot and forever be opening windows. We can learn from the passage that brown fat _ . A) becomes less in amount with age B) proves less active in low temperatures C) exists nowhere but in the lower neck D) has nothing in common with white fat
Ans: A
Question: People who are hit by lightning and survive often have long-term effects. These may include memory loss, sleep disorders, muscle pain and depression . Experts tell people to seek the safety of a building or a hard-top vehicle any time they hear thunder, even if it is not raining. They say lightning can strike as far as sixteen kilometers from any rainfall. Lightning can travel sideways. And at least ten percent of lightning happens without any clouds overhead that you can see. People who are outdoors should make sure they are not the tallest thing around. Bend low to the ground, but do not lie down. And do not stand near a tree or any tall object. Get away from water and anything made of metal. A car is safe, but do not touch any metal inside. Safety experts say people in buildings should stay away from anything with wires or pipes that lead to the outside. The National Weather Service says if you plan to _ any electronic equipment, do so before the storm arrives. Do not use a wired telephone. Do not use water. All these can carry electricity. Some people think a person struck by lightning carries an electrical charge afterward. Experts say this is not true. It is safe to begin emergency treatment. Each year about four hundred people in the United States are struck by lightning. Last year forty four people died. The average is close to seventy. The National Weather Service says that is more than the number of people killed by severe storms. Which of the following mustn't you do in order to seek lightning safety? A) Hide in a building. B) Sit in a car. C) Bend low to the ground. D) Lie under a tall tree.
Answer:
D