A public primary school in New York City has ...

A public primary school in New York City has stopped giving its students homework．

P．S．116 Principal Jane Hsu wrote a letter to parents last month explaining that after more than a year of analyzing studies，the school had concluded that students’after-school time would be better spent on activities like reading at their own pace and playing rather than working on homework．

Hsu’s letter says that many studies indicate that there is no connection between homework and academic success．Indeed，there are some studies that show that the link between homework and success is doubtful at the primary school level．

An important 1989 study on homework by Professor Cooper found that doing homework led students to perform better in school as they grew older．In later grades，students who did homework performed increasingly better than students who did not．In 2006，Cooper published a study that analyzed 15 years’worth of data on the effectiveness of homework．He found that homework had a more positive impact on students as they aged，and identified stronger relations between homework and achievement for students in grades seven through 12 than for students in kindergarten through sixth grade．

A 2012 study from the Indiana University School of Education on 10th-graders found little relation between time spent on homework and better course grades，although it did find a positive relation between homework time and standardized test performance．

Some parents of P．S．116 students are not happy with the decision to eliminate homework．

“I think they should have homework—some of it is about discipline．I want(my daughter)to have fun，but I also want her to be working towards a goal，”Daniel Tasman，the father of a second—grader at the schoo1．

“You have to do homework in order to gain；you have to do homework because they may not be able to comprehend everything in school，”Sharon Blake，a grandmother of a P．S．116 student．

1.Principal Jane Hsu wrote the letter to the parents to_________．

A．analyze the test results of the students

B．suggest students’reading at their own pace and playing

C．tell them about the conclusion of the research

D．give them the reason for the decision of the school

2.The decision to stop giving students homework depends upon________．

A．studies on the link between homework and academic success

B．students’wish to spend their time on activities or playing

C．Professor Cooper’s research on the effectiveness of homework

D．the ideas of both school authorities and parents

3.Harris Cooper found in his research that________．

A．kindergarten students spent too much time doing activities

B．doing homework made the kindergarten students cleverer

C．only elderly students should be given homework to do

D．students benefit more from doing homework as they grow older

4.What does the underlined word“eliminate”in Paragraph 6 mean?

A．Refuse．　　 B．Cancel．　　 C．Increase．　 D．Reduce．

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As a primary school student in New York City, Robert Lee would stare in _______ at his classmates throwing away half-eaten sandwiches after lunch, because his parents had _______ him and his elder brother not to ________ food. They said it was bad karma(作孽).

While studying at New York University, Robert remembered this_______ and joined Two Birds One Stone, a food-rescue club on campus that______, five days a week, uneaten pasta, vegetables, and other leftovers from the school ______to nearby homeless shelters.

When Robert and fellow club member Louisa Chen entered a college contest, they _______ a slightly _______ idea for a food-rescue nonprofit group: Their program wouldn’t have a _______minimum, would _______seven days a week, and its staff would _______volunteers.

Their idea_______the competition. With the＄1,000 prize, they_______Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC) in July, 2013. In just the first few weeks, Robert’s team delivered a donation of enough spaghetti and meatballs to_______ 20 people in line at a New Yorker City homeless shelter that had _______food.

Robert, who had taken a job as an analyst at J.P.Morgan, devoted his spare time to creating a network of New Yorker City restaurants that were_______to donate food, and he enlisted(征募) volunteers to make food deliveries to homeless shelters. After RLC received national press_______, homeless shelters and soup kitchens in many places reached out to Robert for_______. Two years after being founded, RLC had already distributed more than 250,000 pounds of food.

Only a year into his finance job, Robert gave up his six-figure salary to_______RLC. “I compared work at J.P.Morgan with that at RLC, and the difference was great,” he says.

“One shelter told us that our donations allow them to provide entire dinners for more than 300 people, three nights a week,” Robert says. “Things like that make me feel_______that I quit my job.”

1.A. safety B. relief C. honesty D. disbelief

2.A. taught B. allowed C. advised D. forbidden

3.A. prepare B. waste C. purchase D. consider

4.A. intention B. lesson C. rule D. conversation

5.A. cooked B. collected C. delivered D. consumed

6.A. library B. playground C. canteen D. laboratory

7.A. withdrew B. ignored C. avoided D. proposed

8.A. different B. modern C. outdated D. practical

9.A. donation B. wage C. speed D. height

10.A. grow B. produce C. change D. operate

11.A. compete with B. stand for C. consist of D. suffer from

12.A. brought B. won C. held D. contained

13.A. left B. joined C. founded D. defeated

14.A. inspire B. feed C. raise D. cure

15.A. dealt with B. protected C. stored D. run out of

16.A. brave B. nervous C. patient D. willing

17.A. invitation B. award C. attention D. offer

18.A. acceptance B. instructions C. partnership D. materials

19.A. take on B. focus on C. depend on D. turn on

20.A. glad B. regretful C. confident D. unlucky

高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

In New York City public schools, 176 different languages are spoken among the more than 1 million students. For 160,000 children, English is not their first language. New York's Department of Education makes learning better for these students by providing dual-language programs, in which students are taught in two languages, English and another one, like Russian or Chinese. Math, social studies, science and all other regular courses are taught in both languages. And they learn about the culture of the other country.

Milady Baez, Deputy Chancellor of English Language Learners and Student Support, says these dual-language programs will help children succeed in the future. "The jobs of the future require that our students know more than one language. They are going to be traveling abroad; they are going to be communicating with people from all over the world. This will open doors for them."

Middle-schoolers might not have jobs on their minds yet. For Kequing Jaing, she likes keeping up her first language, Mandarin."It makes me feel that I am home because I can speak in Chinese, learn in Chinese, while learning in English. So it makes me feel better and makes me understand more about the task I'm learning."

Anastasia Hudikova came to the United States when she was 2 years old. She says the Russian-English program keeps her connected to her heritage and her parents happy."They're really happy about the program. They are really happy that I can preserve my culture and my language, and that I can speak it fluently in school."

The New York schools also offer dual-language programs in seven other languages: Arabic, French, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Korean, Polish and Spanish. There are plans to add even more languages in the future.

While these dual-language programs are popular, some organizations in the U.S. say teaching English comes first. U.S. Studies show that children who learn English early will be more successful later.

1.Dual-language programs in New York aim to __________.

A. help the students learn better

B. rid the students of homesickness

C. attract more international students

D.prevent the students forgetting their culture

2.Who may not quite agree with dual-language programs?

A. Milady Baez

B. Kequing Jaing

C. Anastasia Hudikova’s parents

D. some organizations in the U.S

3.The author writes the passage in order to_________.

A. encourage us to learn more languages

B. introduce dual-language programs in New York schools

C. advertise the dual-language programs

D. inspire more students to study in New York

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Public schools in New York，America’s biggest city, commonly have numbers for names．But this is unusual．In the United States，the process of naming a school often involves parents and the community

as well as elected school leaders.

Researchers say school names can show civic (市民的) values and also shape them． For example，naming a school after a historic person becomes a way to teach students about that person’s  importance in history．

A new study examines the naming of American public schools．The study is from the Manhattan Institute，an organization that does public policy research．The study shows that fewer and fewer schools are being named after people．Instead。more schools are being named after the local areas or natural features like hills．trees or animals．The researchers say these changes raise questions about the civic duty of public education．

The looked at seven states with 20% of all public school students in the country. They found the similar result in every state: new school are less likely to be named after people. This is true especially with presidents. For example, in Arizona, public school in the past 20 years were almost fifty times more likely to be named after such things as landforms or plants .

School officials say they try to choose names that will not offend anyone. For example, a few years ago the city of New Orleans banned the naming of any school after a person who owned slaves. Other school system have rules against naming new schools after any person, living or dead .

The researchers say naming a school after a person can lead it important debates about democratic values. They call for more research to identify the causes and effects of the changes in school names.

The causes may include changes in American culture as well as in the political control of school systems. One area worth exploring , they say, is the link between trends in school names and weak results for public schools on measures of civic education.

1.More schools are being named after the following EXCEPT ________ .

2.What does “they” in paragraph 7 refer to ?

3. If the passage appears in a newspaper, which column will it be ?

4. What’s the best title for the passage ?

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Some thirty years ago, I was studying in a public school in New York city. One day, Mrs Nanette O’Neill gave an arithmetic test to our class. When the papers were ______ she discovered that twelve boys had made exactly the same mistakes throughout the test.

There is nothing really new about ______ in exams. Perhaps that was why Mrs O’Neill ______ even say a word about it. She only asked the twelve boys to______ after class. I was one of the twelve.

Mrs O’Neill asked______ questions, and she didn’t______ us either. Instead she wrote on the blackboard the______ words by Thomas Macaulay. “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out. ” She then ordered us to ______ these　 words one hundred times.

I don’t______ about the other eleven boys. Speaking for ______ I can say: it was the most important single______ of my life. Thirty years after being ______ to Macaulay’s words, they ______ seem to me the best yardstick( 准 绳 ), because they gave us a ______ to measure ourselves rather than others.

______ of us are asked to make ______ decisions about nations going to war or armies going to battle. But all of us are called ______ daily to make a great many personal decisions.

______ the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket or turned over to the policeman? Should the______ change received at the store be forgotten or returned? Nobody will know except you.　 But you have to live with yourself, and it is always ______ to live with someone you respect.

1.A.examined B.completed C.marked D.answered

2.A.lying B.cheating C.guessing D.discussing

3.A.didn’t B.did C.would D.wouldn’t

4.A.come B.leave C.remain D.apologize

5.A.many B.certain C.more D.no

6.A.excuse B.reject C.help D.scold

7.A.above B.common C.following D.unusual

8.A.repeat B.get C.copy D.put

9.A.worry B.know C.hear D.talk

10.A.myself B.ourselves C.themselves D.herself

11.A.chance B.incident C.lesson D.memory

12.A.referred B.showed C.brought D.introduced

13.A.even B.still C.always D.almost

14.A.way B.sentence C.choice D.reason

15.A.All B.None C.Few D.Some

16.A.quick B.wise C.great D.personal

17.A.out B.for C.up D.upon

18.A.Should B.Must C.Would D.Need

19.A.extra B.small C.some D.necessary

20.A.easier B.more natural C.better D.more peaceful

高三英语完形填空简单题查看答案及解析

Dickson Despommier, a public health professor at Columbia University in New York City developed an idea with his students nine years ago. They imagined people in cities growing crops inside a tall building. Tomatoes could grow on one floor of the skyscraper(摩天大楼), potatoes on the next, small animals and fish on the floor above.

This vertical(垂直的) farm, or "farmscraper", could have space for restaurants and other places that serve food, like schools or hospitals. They could serve foods that are truly locally grown.

But why would anyone want to build a farm indoors in a city? Dickson Despommier believes it will become necessary. The world needs to find places to produce enough food to feed the growing population. Space, he says, is an all-important issue.

The professor also points to the problems of traditional farms. They use a lot of freshwater. Their fertilizer and animal waste can pollute water resources. And their growing seasons can be limited.

But inside the vertical farm, crops could grow all year. And there would be no wind to blow away soil. Farmers would not have to worry about too much or too little rain, or about hot summers, freezing winters or insects. And without insects there would be no need for chemicals to kill them.

Farm machines that .use fossil fuels, like tractors, would not be needed either. And water could be recycled for drinking. "The vertical farm reuses everything, so there is no waste," says Professor Despommier.

Even buildings could be saved. Old buildings could become new farms and provide jobs.

The professor has been actively proposing the idea to cities as far away as Dubai and Canada. But so far it exists only in plans and drawings, and a model at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Critics say building a farmscraper would cost too much, especially considering the price of land in many cities. Dickson Despommier estimates the cost at about twenty to thirty million dollars.

But he says the building would not have to be very tall. And his graduate students have found many empty lots and unused buildings in New York City that could provide space.

1.According to the passage the purpose of proposing the idea of a farm scraper is to.

A．find places to produce enough food

B．serve food that are truly locally grown

C．prevent polluting the limited land

D．save fresh water

2.Which is one of the advantages of a farm scraper?

A．It costs less

B．It saves labor power.

C．It consumes too much energy

D．It is more environmentally friendly.

3.Those against the idea of farm scrapers argue that

A．it uses too much land in cities

B．it costs too much to build one

C．it causes people to lose their jobs

D．it exists only in unrealistic plans

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．A vertical farm has been built in Chicago.

B．Old buildings could be changed into new farms.

C．Traditional farms use less water but pollute more water

D．There are some vertical farms being put into use in Canada.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Mayor Bill de Blasio designated(指定) the Lunar New Year an official public school holiday in New York City in June, 2015.

The move came after de Blasio in March, 2015 declared school holidays on the most-observed holiday in Islam, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. De Blasio, making good on a promise made during his 2013 mayoral campaign, said students would also have a day off on the Lunar New Year, and not long ago the Asian holiday took place on February 8, 2016.

"About 15% of the city’s school system is of Asian descent(血统), and many student, have been taking the day off as a sick day” said State Senator Daniel Squadron. “It’s a big deal,” he said, whose district includes Manhattan’s Chinatown. “Families have had to choose between their most important cultural celebration and missing a day of school.”

The city’s Department of Education had been working on the practical arrangements for adding another holiday while maintaining the legal 180 school days. The problem was solved by combining two half days that previously did not count towards the total to form a single full day that can be counted towards the total. After San Francisco, New York is the second major urban school district to add the Lunar New Year to the official school calendar.

“This holiday is not about kids just getting a day off from school,” said Assemblyman Ron Kim. “It’s about the City of New York telling hundreds of Asian-American societies that America is a cultural melting pot.” Kim said recognizing the holiday is one way of pushing back against feelings of isolation and marginalization(边缘化) felt by the Asian-American community.

1.What does the underlined party in Paragraph 2 mean?

A. Make use of.        B. Stand by.        C. Keep up with.        D. Go against.

2.How does New York make the Lunar New Year an official public school holiday?

A. By cancelling a legal 1-day holiday.

B. By copying the way of San Francisco.

C. By adding a new full day to the school calendar.

D. By changing the legal 180 school days.

3.What do we know from Ron Kim’s words?

A. He’s opposed to the new school holiday.

B. Asian culture is valued most in New York.

C. Asian culture is part of the American society.

D. The holiday wipes out Asian Americans’ isolation.

4.What’s the best title for this passage?

A. A new public school holiday in New York

B. A promise made by the mayor of New York

C. Cultural differences between America and Asia

D. A revolution of the Lunar New Year in New York

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As an elementary school student in New York City, Robert Lee would stare in disbelief at his classmates throwing away half-eaten sandwiches after lunch. His Korean immigrant parents had taught him not to waste food.

While studying finance and accounting at New York University, Robert remembered this lesson all the time. When Robert and his friend Louisa Chen entered a college entrepreneurship (创业）contest，they proposed an idea for a food-rescue nonprofit group： Their program would deliver leftovers from the dining hall to homeless shelters seven days a week all by volunteers. Their idea won the competition. With the $ 1,000 prize, they founded Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC) in July 2013. In just the first few weeks, Robert’s team delivered a donation of enough spaghetti and meatballs to feed 20 people at a New York City homeless shelter.

Robert, who had taken a job as an analyst at J. P. Morgan, devoted his spare time to creating a network of New York City restaurants, from small delis (熟食店）to large chains like Starbucks and Panera Bread, agreeing to donate food, and he enlisted volunteers to make food deliveries. After RLC received national press attention, homeless shelters and soup kitchens in Portland, Oregon, Washington, DC and other cities reached out to Robert for partnership advice. The organization now reaches 16 cities around the country.

Only a year into his finance job, Robert gave up his six-figure salary to focus on RLC. “I compared one hour of impact at J. P. Morgan to one hour at RLC，and the difference was just tremendous,” he says. “One shelter told us that our donations allowed them to provide entire dinners for more than 300 people, three nights a week，” Robert says. “Things like that make me gladly quit my job.”

1.How did Robert feel when his classmates threw away food?

A.Astonished. B.Embarrassed.

C.Disappointed. D.Interested.

2.What do we know about the RLC?

A.It won $ 1,000 prize.

B.It got supported by many restaurants.

C.It asked the homeless shelters for advice.

D.It has branches all over the world.

3.Why did Robert leave his job at J P Morgan?

A.One shelter spoke highly of him.

B.RLC offered him six-figure salary.

C.He could make a bigger difference in society.

D.The work at J. P. Morgan was not suitable for him.

4.Which of the following best describes Robert?

A.Confident. B.Modest.

C.Humorous. D.Selfless.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As an elementary school student in New York City, Robert Lee would stare in disbelief at his classmates throwing away half-eaten sandwiches after lunch. His Korean immigrant parents had taught him and his older brother not to waste food.

While studying finance and accounting at New York University, Robert remembered this lesson and joined Two Birds One Stone, a food-rescue club on campus that delivered, five days a week, uneaten pasta, vegetables, and other leftovers from the dining hall to nearby homeless shelters.

When Robert and fellow club member Louisa Chen entered a college entrepreneurship（创业） contest, they proposed a slightly different idea for a food-rescue nonprofit group: Their program wouldn’t have a donation minimum (meaning they would gladly pick up one bag of leftover bagels or a single pot of soup), would operate seven days a week, and would be run entirely by volunteers.

Their idea won the competition. With the $1,000 prize, they founded Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC) in July 2013. In just the first few weeks, Robert’s team delivered a donation of enough spaghetti and meatballs to feed 20 people in line at a New York City homeless shelter that had run out of food.

Robert, who had taken a job at J.P. Morgan, devoted his spare time to creating a network of New York City restaurants that agreed to donate food, and he found volunteers to make food deliveries to homeless shelters. After RLC received national press attention, homeless shelters and soup kitchens in Portland, Oregon, Washington, DC and other cities reached out to Robert for partnership advice. To date, RLC has distributed more than 250,000 pounds of food in 12 cities around the country.

Only a year into his finance job, Robert gave up his six-figure salary to focus on RLC. “I compared one hour of impact at J.P. Morgan to one hour at RLC, and the difference was just huge,” he says. He’s now the group’s only full-time employee.

“One shelter recently told us that our donations allow them to provide entire dinners for more than 300 people, three nights a week,” Robert says. “Things like that make me glad I quit my job.”

1.Which of the following statements about RLC is NOT true?

A. It became successful immediately.

B. It has attracted nationwide attention.

C. It was started from a food-rescue club.

D. It delivers food to shelters by volunteers.

2.Where did Robert get the money to found RLC?

A. He saved money in college.

B. He won the prize at a competition.

C. He borrowed money from his friend

D. He received donations from restaurants.

3.Why did Robert quit his job at J.P. Morgan?

A. He couldn’t make as much money as he hoped.

B. The job at J.P. Morgan takes too much of his time.

C. RLC needs a full-time employee to develop its business.

D. Working for RLC is more meaningful than for J.P. Morgan

4.According to Robert, which of the following words best describes the job at RLC?

A. rewarding　　 B. surprising

C. tiring　　 D. exciting

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

According to the new government plans,　 peasants' children have equal　　　　　 to public schools in the city at present．

A. access　　　　　 B. approach

C. method　　　　　 D. entrance

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析