Before the opening of the Cape Cod Canal in 1914,the only way ships could leave Boston was on a route around Race Point--the northern tip of Cape Cod.However,navigation during the 18th century was a nightmare,because the floating cross current around Race Point caused countless accidents.So building a lighthouse to lighten the place was very necessary. As early as 1808,the people of Provincetown requested a lighthouse on Race Point,but it took Congress eight years to react when they finally paid $ 8,000 on April 27,1816 to build a lighthouse --Race Point Light,which was located in the town of Provincetown,Massachusetts.It was first built of stone 25 feet high with no foundation and its light was 30 feet above the sea.It was equipped with one of the nation's earliest revolving lights. Actually,there were two other lighthouses on Cape Cod,but they were hit by a storm in October 1841.In the following year,Race Point Light was examined by I.W.P.Lewis,who realized the light's importance.He said,"The light should be useful to all ships leaving Boston.However,its _ power is so weak that people would hardly be able to differentiate it from the lights set on the ships which stay in the bay,or close by.It hasn't played its role as a lighthouse well." The result was that old lighthouse was destroyed and a new iron lighthouse with a proper foundation was put up to take its place.The new lighthouse was 45 feet high.Although the original keeper's house was in good repair,it was destroyed too and a new one was built.Today the lighthouse has been automated and Race Point Light is still an active aid to navigation. You can park at Race Point Beach and walk about 45 minutes to the lighthouse.Sunset at Race Point Light is one of the Cape Cod's most popular scenes.And at times whales can be seen in the lighthouse.For reservations to stay one night in the keeper's house at Race Point call(508)487-9930. What can be learned from the passage? A) The keeper's house is open to the public now. B) The present keeper's house is the original one. C) The two other lighthouses had revolving lights too. D) The government didn't agree to build Race Point Light.
A
There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have ever taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling. If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher's interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to "play safe". He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability. I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience: "This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is terrible." It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil's technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child's deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centered on the child's ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation to seek improvement. The major point discussed in the passage is _ . A) the importance of developing writing skills B) the complexities of spelling C) the correct way of marking compositions D) the relationship between spelling and the content of a composition
D
Q: What makes a boarding school different from a normal school? The answer is simple: when in a boarding school you stay there instead of going home. This is something everyone knows. But what not everyone knows is that when you are in a boarding school, you make a lot of friends. You live together with your friends for a few years, which makes the friendship even more _ . You are a lot closer to your teachers and other workers in your school. It most feels like you are in one big happy family. If boarding students have any problems, they can always go to one of the teachers or one of the workers, and they will be glad to be able to help. Life in a girl boarding school or a boy boarding school differs a lot from life in a mixed one. Studies have shown that the social life and academic results from students in a single sex boarding school are much better than those of a mixed one. One of the reasons for this is that with less pressure in the classes, the children can concentrate much better when they are in separated classes. Life in boarding schools for troubled teens differs from that of all the other boarding schools. Life in these schools is often much stricter because of the rules the students have to obey. These schools have strict rules to teach troubled teens respect. Although some boarding schools have some different rules and different ways of teaching, life in schools is almost the same. Students attend classes, eat together, and sleep in dorms where they normally have to share their room with some other students. Attending a boarding school is a great experience and the values you learn there will help you in the rest of your life. Compared with students in a mixed boarding school, most teenagers in a single sex one _ . A) .don't like the life there B) get better academic results C) have to obey stricter rules D) are under much more pressure
A: B
Q: It is well-known that twins are closer to each other than most brothers and sisters ---- after all, they probably spend more time with each other. Parents of twins often notice that they develop special ways of communicating: they invent their own words and one can often finish the other's sentence. In exceptional circumstances, this closeness becomes more extreme: they invent a whole language of their own, as in the case of Grace and Virginia Kennedy from Georgia in the USA, who communicated so successfully in their own special language that they did not speak any English at all until after they started school. However, these special relationships are the result of lives spent almost entirely in each other's company. What happens when twins do not grow up together, when they are separated at birth for some reason? Are they just like any other strangers, or are there still special similarities between them? Professor Tom Bouchard, of the University of Minnesota, set out to find the answer to this question. He traced sixteen pairs of twins, who were adopted by different families when they were babies, and often brought up in very different circumstances. Each twin was then interviewed about every small detail of their life. The results of this research make a surprising reading. Many of the twins were found to have the same hobbies, many have suffered the same illnesses, and some have even had the same type of accident at the same point in their lives. One pair of middle-aged women arrived for their first meeting in similar dresses, another pair were wearing similar jewellery. The most incredible similarities are to be found in the case of Jim Springer and Jim Lewis from Ohio in the USA. The story of the 'Jim Twins' made headline news across USA. Born to an immigrant woman in 1939, and adopted by different families at birth, both babies were named Jim by their new parents. But what can be the explanation for these remarkable similarities? Is it all pure coincidence, or is the explanation in some way genetic?... According to Tom Bouchard's research, the special similarities between twins _ . A) depend on what the twins enjoy and suffer from B) can not be proved or accepted by all the experts C) result from the twins' growing up and development D) are not closely linked with where the twins are raised
A: D