Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap. Some call it the summer learning setback. Put simply, it means the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget. The only thing they seem to gain is weight. Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar with winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation. Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between. The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than 3,000 such schools at last count. They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states. But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year round school is generally the same as in a traditional school. Brenda McLaughlin is a research director at the National Centre for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University. She says studies of year-round schooling have not found strong learning gains. Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said, "Year round schools don't really solve the problem of the summer learning setback. They simply spread it out across the year." Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summer than other students. Experts say this can be prevented. They note that many schools and local governments offer programmes that can help. However, calling such programmes "summer school" could be a problem. The director of the summer learning centre at Johns Hopkins, Ikon Fairchild, said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term "summer school". In American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood. The parents preferred other terms like "summer camp, "extra time" and "hands-on learning. what would be the best title for this passage? A) Opening Summer Camps B) Forbidding Summer Schools C) Minding the Summer Learning Gap D) Reforming Year-Round Education
C
We start forming impressions of people we meet from the moment we set eyes on them. A large part of the first impression that you create comes from your body language. Your body language speaks louder than the words you say. Face The face is the most expressive part of the body. If you are feeling anxious then your facial expression may lead you to appear cold, or unhappy. You can break this _ by trying to smile. Your smile is one of the strongest tools you have in meeting new people. It will help you appear warm, friendly and confident. Eyes Our eyes give clues to our emotions. Making very little eye contact can either show shyness or fear. Looking at others says that you are interested, friendly, and at ease. Hands Your hands are also very expressive. Open gestures tend to make you appear open and honest. By pointing your finger, or moving your hands closer together, you can draw attention to what you are saying. Used properly, hand gestures can make you seem friendly. Making too many gestures can make you appear uncontrolled. Touching your sleeves, face, etc. can make you appear tense, nervous, and sometimes dishonest. Posture Your posture makes a big contribution to your body language and shows your level of self-confidence. By falling away from them or leaning back, you show a lack of interest. When we are feeling low in confidence and want to hide away, keep our heads down. Your posture gives not only signals about your interest in something but also clues showing your status within a group. In summary, our face, eyes, hands and posture express what is going on inside of us. Using good body language can bring up our level of self-confidence. Touching your face with your own fingers probably makes you appear _ . A) enthusiastic B) nervous C) uncontrolled D) dishonest
B
Q: Growing mushrooms is probably the easiest thing you can do if you are new to mushroom growing. Mushroom growing is becoming more and more common as restaurants are creating more dishes that include mushrooms. Mushroom growing is easy. To start with you need to have a growing space where you are going to grow these mushrooms. It does not have to be too big enough for you to grow as many mushrooms as you need. When you have found the space that is perfect for you, you can start to research what kind of mushrooms you want to grow. There are hundreds of kinds to choose from but not all mushrooms are _ which is an important fact you need to remember before you start. Don't grow mushrooms you can't use or sell. When you figure out what kind of mushrooms you want to grow, you can make some preparations. Sometimes you need to hire some workers to help you if you have a large mushroom farm, or if you are trying to start a professional mushroom growing business. Trying to start a business by yourself can be stressful. If you don't have time to take care of everything yourself, to hire a worker is the best bet. After you have started the mushroom growing, you should regularly check and make sure that your mushrooms are growing properly and that they are not being attacked by any pesticides or any other animals that are potentially dangerous for them. That is the worst situation of mushroom growing. Protect your mushroom farm well with a fence or a gate so that only you and your workers can get in an out. Mushroom growing is not difficult and is a really easy way to get started in the field of farming. You will possibly supply some of the great chefs of the world with high-quality mushrooms that will be enjoyed by thousands of people around the world. What is the main topic of the passage? A) It is easy to grow mushrooms. B) You should hire other people to help you. C) Growing mushrooms is not easy. D) Tips for mushroom growing
A: D
(Question)
A guitarist was pleasantly surprised to hear from New York City police that his valuable guitar had been found.It disappeared almost a year ago when he got out of a taxi and forgot to take the guitar with him.Laurence Lennon,44,said he was running late that day.He was talking to his manager on his cellphone when he rushed out of the taxi.He said that he gave the driver $60 and told him to keep the change.He walked through the front doors of the concert hall,still talking on the phone to his manager. Upon discovering his loss,Lennon used his cellphone to call the police.The policewoman asked him for the name of the taxi company,the number of the taxi,and the name of the driver.He said that she must have been joking. She told Lennon that he could apply for a missing item report online. Lennon asked for address. It was www.nypd.gov/toprotectandtoserve/haveaniceday.She told him that finding the guitar might take a couple of years for finding guitars was not as important as finding murderers and marijuana smokers.Then she told him to have a nice day. "This year has been depressing,"said Lennon."I had to put off the recording of two new CDs.I've been using borrowed guitars.And I was losing hope of ever recovering my guitar." Lennon was reunited with his $100,000 guitar yesterday.The guitar had been discovered in the corner of a coffeehouse only two blocks from where Lennon had lost it.Lennon had offered a $10,000 reward for its return.He said he would give the reward to the coffeehouse owner,who had informed the police. Which of the following NOT mentioned in the passage? A) Why the guitarist was in a hurry B) What the police advised the guitarist to do C) How the lost guitar affected its owner D) How the guitar was moved to the coffeehouse
(Answer)
D