girls" grades are unaffected. Boys do worse in English when there are girls in their class, researchers will say
today, contradicting the widely held belief that girls are always a good influence on boys in school.
Boys do best with "as few girls as possible" in English lessons at primary and secondary school, Steven
Proud, a research student at Bristol University, will tell the Royal Economic Society"s conference. But when it
comes to maths and science, both boys and girls at primary school achieve up to a tenth of a grade more when
there is a high proportion (比率) of girls in the class, Proud found.
Proud tracked boys" and girls" test results at the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16 in 16,000 schools in England
between 2002 and 2004 for his PhD. Boys consistently perform up to a tenth of a grade worse when they study
English with high numbers of girls as opposed to few or no girls, Proud found. The more girls there are in an
English class, the worse boys perform. This is particularly the case in primary schools, he discovered.
Proud said boys may do worse in English when there is a high proportion of girls in their class because they
realize that the girls are better than them. It could also be that teachers use teaching styles more appropriate to
girls when there are more girls than boys in the class. Both genders perform better in maths and science at
primary school when there are more girls in the class because boys tend to disrupt the class more, he said.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University
of Buckingham, said girls started school with slightly better verbal skills, while boys started with a slightly
greater aptitude for maths.
B. boys can have good influence on girls in terms of English learning
C. boys and girls can make progress in English learning together
D. boys always fall behind girls in English learning
B. boys can do much better in science
C. both boys and girls do better in science
D. girls still do better than boys in science
B. provides further proof to Steven Proud"s study
C. agrees with Steven Proud exactly
D. gives a different explanation for girls" advantage at English
B. gift
C. chance
D. interest
amounts of snow they receive. When the snow starts to fall, people start tossing out the phrase "lake-
effect snow".
Primarily a late-autumn and early-winter phenomena, lake- effect snowstorms are instigated by the
movement of cold, arctic air over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes. Ideally, the temperature
difference between the lake water and the overrunning air should be at least 20 degrees in order for cloud
and subsequent snow to form.
As the cool air crosses the waters of the Great Lakes, the lowest levels of the atmosphere begin to
warm and pick up moisture. This newly warmed layer is lighter than the cold air above it, so it starts to
rise. As the modified air continues to climb higher into the atmosphere, it encounters much colder
temperatures.
This cooler air forces the moisture to condense into water droplets and ice crystals, forming cloud.
After this process repeats itself a number of times, the cloud becomes weighed down and is forced to
precipitate (凝结而下降) in the form of snow.
Out of all the meteorological factors (气象因素) that determine snowfall intensity, the most important
might be the direction of the wind. If the wind direction is running perpendicular (垂直的) across the lake,
there won"t be ample time for cloud to develop.
However, if the wind runs parallel to the length of the lake, cloud should form without a hitch. The
longer the cold air travels over the lake, the more moisture it is able to accumulate, which in turn leads to
greater snowfall totals.
The highest annual lake-effect snowfall totals are found across the U. P. of Michigan, northwestern
Pennsylvania and the far southwestern and upstate sections of New York. In these locations, which are
all located along the southern or eastern shores of the Great Lakes, recording over 100 inches of snow in
a winter season is a common occurrence.
B. To introduce the topic of the text.
C. To show when the lake-effect snow appears.
D. To tell what the Great Lakes are famous for.
B. The direction of the wind.
C. The relatively warm waters of the lake.
D. The strength of the wind.
A. It"s far from the sea.
B. It"s far from the north.
C. It"s near the Great Lakes.
D. It has many mountains.
B. Where the lake-effect snow happens.
C. How the lake-effect snow forms.
D. How the phrase "lake-effect snow" comes.
If you know how to study wine, it can tell you about its history and qualities. Many wine experts can
even identify the kind of wine without ever seeing the label on the bottle. Studying a wine involves using
several senses, not just taste.
First, pour the wine into a glass and look at it. It might help to put a piece of white paper behind the
glass so you can see the color clearly. Color can tell a lot about the kind of grapes, where the wine is from
and its age. A white wine might be almost colorless. White wines to darker with age. White wines made
from grapes grown in a cool climate are often paler, with a higher amount of acid. White wines from grapes
grown in a warmer climate are often yellower, with less acid. The color of red wines can be purplish red
to brick red. Red wines often become paler with age. Red wines grown in warmer climates often have deeper
color than those grown in cooler climates.
Next, turn the glass so that the wine moves around inside. This brings air into the wine, so that it gives
off its smell. Smell the wine deeply. A wine"s smell is actually telling more than its taste. To use a wine term,
what can you learn about the wine from its "nose"? Is the wine fruity? Does it smell like oak (橡树)? Do you
smell grass or maybe honey? Maybe the smell is like butter or a mineral.
Now it is time to taste the wine. Move it around in your mouth. You may recognize some tastes because
you identified them while smelling the wine. You can also consider the wine"s sweetness and its acidity (酸性).
You may note the taste of tannin. Tannins are chemicals that are found in the skin and seeds of grapes. Tannins
taste bitter and seem to coat your mouth. To make a good wine requires a balance between sugar, acidity,
tannin and alcohol.
Professional wine tasters have many special words to describe wines. Some adjectives might be surprising.
For example, a wine that feels smooth might be described as "velvety" or "silky". A wine that does not have
enough acidity is "flabby" or "fat". A wine with a strong tannin taste could be "chewy".
B. blocking the strong sunlight
C. gathering the smell
D. spotting the grapes
B. The paler red wines are, the older they are.
C. The darker white wines are, the younger they are.
D. The older red wines are, the sweeter they are.
B. Smell→taste→sight.
C. Smell→sight→taste.
D. Sight→smell→taste.
B. How can we introduce a wine?
C. How can we taste a wine?
D. How can we make a wine?
A few weeks ago, an asteroid (小行星) almost 30 feet across and flying along at 38,000 miles per hour
flew 28,000 miles above Singapore. Why, you might reasonably ask, should we care about a near miss from
such a tiny rock? Well, I can give you one very good reason: asteroids don"t always miss. If even a relatively
little object was to strike a city, millions of people could be wiped out.
Thanks to telescopes that can see ever smaller objects at ever greater distances, we can now predict
dangerous asteroid impacts decades ahead of time. We can even use current space technology and fairly
simple spacecraft to alter an asteroid"s orbit enough to avoid a collision. We simply need to get this detection-
and-deflection program up and running.
President Obama has already announced a goal of landing astronauts on an asteroid by 2025 as a pioneer
to a human mission to Mars. Asteroids are deep-space bodies, orbiting the Sun, not the Earth, and traveling
to one would mean sending humans into solar orbit for the very first time. Facing those challenges of radiation,
navigation and life support on a months-long trip millions of miles from home would be a perfect learning
journey before a Mars trip.
Near-Earth objects like asteroids and comets-mineral-rich bodies bathed in a continuous flood of sunlight-
may also be the ultimate resource depots for the human being.
To be fair, no one has ever seen the sort of impact that would destroy a city. The most instructive incident
took place in 1908 in the remote Tunguska region of Siberia, when a 120-foot-diameter asteroid exploded
early one morning. It probably killed nothing except reindeer (驯鹿) but it flattened 800 square miles of forest.
Statistically, that kind of event occurs every 200 to 300 years.
Luckily, larger asteroids are even fewer and farther between-but think of the asteroid seven to eight miles
across that annihilated the dinosaurs (and 75 percent of all species) 65 million years ago.
Certainly, when it comes to the far more numerous Tunguska- sized objects, to date we think we"ve
discovered less than a half of I percent of the million or so that cross Earth"s orbit every year. We need to
pinpoint (定位) many more of these objects and, predict whether they will hit us before it"s too late. With a
readily achievable detection-and-deflection system we can avoid the dinosaurs" fate.
B. To prove the necessity of a planetary defense program.
C. To show the danger the Earth is facing from outerspace.
D. To throw light on the development of space technology.
B. enable human to survive in deep sea
C. help human access resource in space
D. predict potential disasters on the Earth
B. the danger from space is few and far between
C. the detection-and-deflection system is of no use
D. the difficulty of predicting the strike of a tiny asteroid
B. it"s vital to set up the detection-and-deflection system
C. it"s unnecessary to care about the tiny object from the space
D. it"s possible to put the planetary defense system into use in 2025
that is aimed at them. The new site is called Admongo. It claims to provide visitors with an "aducation"
through games and other entertainment.
A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo. "Call me Haiz" he says upon
arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it. Dabce plays in the background as Haiz tells
visitors that they need to learn about advertising.
The Admongo website is aimed at children eight to twelve years old. Its inventors say that is the age kids
develop their critical thinking abilities. Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers.
The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things: to identify the advertiser, to know what the
advertiser is really saying, and to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do.
Children learn these things through a video game. They create their own game character. They can choose
different skin colors, hairstyles, eye and mouth shapes. Then they begin a trip through ad- land. They take a
walk through the neighborhood. They seek out the advertising and capture treasures. There are ads on buses
and billboards. The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the
next level.
The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be
found. It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing.
One such area is food marketing. The Federal Trade Commission says it is an especially big business. The
F. T. C. estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more that one and a half billion dollars on
advertising to young people in 2009.
The F. T. C. says children are important for three reasons. They buy products. They influence parents and
caregivers to buy. And they are the future adult buyers of the products.
A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value. First
Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children.
B. to advertise the online video game for children
C. to help children know well about advertising
D. to advertise the products of its company
B. They can play video games in the trip.
C. They can eat in a fast-food restaurant.
D. They can travel to a supermarket.
B. are the most potential buyers
C. are the most important for society
D. are easily affected by low-quality products
B. An "ad-education" website for children
C. A popular online video game
D. The Admongo"s guide
is to let children learn from experiences at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to
family. Timing is another consideration, Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly
allowance.
In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the
money. At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this,
they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget (预算). Parents are usually advised
not to offer more money until the next allowance.
The object is to show young people that a budget demands a choice between spending and saving.
Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics.
Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for
work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life.
Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an
understanding of how a business works.
Allowances give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with money. They can
share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or
they can save it.
Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice. You have to cut costs and plan for
the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowances can also open the door to future saving and
investing. Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance.
A saving account is an excellent way to learn about the power of compound interest.
Compounding works by paying interest. So, for example, one dollar invested at two percent interest
for two years will earn two cents in the first year. The second year, the money will earn two percent of
one dollar and two cents, and so on. That may not seem like a lot, but over time it adds up.
B. whether the child has made a budget
C. where the money really goes
D. how often a child can get it
B. stronger power to hold one"s attention to saving money
C. money paid by the bank on your original money and the gain from it
D. your parents" money from working in the bank
B. children can learn to set up their own business with their allowances
C. keeping allowances in the bank is the best choice for children
D. it is not a good idea to pay children for housework at home
B. Be Wise to Avoid Financial Mistakes
C. Saving Allowances Does Good to Children
D. Allowances Help Children Learn about Money
- 1已知：正方形ABCD的对角线长为22，以AB为斜边向外作等腰直角三角ABE，则这个等腰直角三角形的直角边长为______
- 2把一个矩形剪去一个正方形，所余的矩形与原矩形相似，那么原矩形的长与宽的比是______．
- 310% OffShow this voucher（优惠券）at the Book Store to get a 10%
- 4由加速度的公式a=可知 [ ]A．加速度a与速度变化量△v成正比 B．物体的加速度大小由△v决定 C．加速度a
- 5以下列各组线段为边，不能组成三角形的是（ ）A．4，7，10B．m+1，m+2，m+3（m＞0）C．a+b，a，b（a
- 6【题文】图中a、b、c线为等压线，箭头表示A地风向，d、e线为等温线，f线为等高线。读图回答26～27题。【小题1】根据
- 7计算：（1+2)2-4sin45°+（13)-1．
- 8如图，在一个坡角为30°的斜坡上有一电线杆AB，当太阳光与水平线成45°角时，测得该杆在斜坡上的影长BC为20m，求电线
- 9已知：X2、Y2、Z2、W2四种物质的氧化性由强到弱的顺序是W2>Z2>X2>Y2，下列氧化还原反应能
- 10中华人民共和国第十一届人大常委会第九会议于6月22日至27日在京召开。下列关于人大常委会的说法中，正确的是
- 1CThe unknown world"s mystery The sea is the biggest unknown
- 2下面这段文字划线处都有语病，对其修改不恰当的一项是( )“学习学”作为一门①以研究人类的学习活动和规律的新兴学科
- 3（14分）辉铜矿（主成份为Cu2S）通适量的空气可冶炼金属铜，经过一系列反应可得到B和D、E。G为砖红色沉淀。请回答下列
- 4对我国地理位置说法正确的是 （ ）A．我国位于亚洲的西部，太平洋的东岸B．我国位于亚洲的东部，西临太平洋
- 5The following passage is a healthy prescription (处方) of how
- 6下面文段中划线句子有毛病，请任选2句改在答题卡上。（4分）在网络发达的今天，有人厌倦纸质图书，更喜欢网上快速阅读。但是网
- 7如图，、、…、 是曲线：上的个点，点（）在轴的正半轴上，且是正三角形（是坐标原点）．（1）写出、、；（2）求出点（）的横
- 8四渡赤水的作用在于是：A．占领贵州首府遵义B．跳出敌人的包围圈C．打乱敌人的追剿计划D．与湘西部队汇合
- 9【题文】对于三次函数f(x)＝ax3＋bx2＋cx＋d(a≠0)，定义：设f″(x)是函数y＝f(x)的导数y＝f′(x
- 10某工厂生产某种产品，已知该产品每吨的价格P（元）与产量x（吨）之间的关系式为 ，且生产x吨的成本为（50000+200x