High school dropouts(辍学者)earn an average of ＄...

High school dropouts(辍学者)earn an average of ＄9000 less per year than graduates．Now a new study dispels a common belief why they quit．It’s much more basic than flunking out(不及格)．

Society tends to think of high school dropouts as kids who just can’t cut it．They are lazy, and perhaps not too bright．So researchers were surprised when they asked more than 450 kids who quit school about why they left．

“The vast majority actually had passing grades and they were confident that they could have graduated from high school, ” John Bridgeland, the executive researcher said．About 1 million teens leave school each year．Only about half of African-American and Hispanic(美籍西班牙的)student will receive a diploma(证书), and actually all dropouts come to regret their decision．So, if failing grades don’t explain why these kids quit, what does?Again, John Bridgeland：“The most dependable finding was that they were bored．”“They found classes uninteresting; they weren’t inspired or motivated．They didn’t see any direct connection between what they were learning in the classroom to their own lives, or to their career aspirations．”

The study found that most teens who do drop out wait until they turn sixteen, which happens to be the age at which most states allow students to quit．In the US, only one state, New Mexico, has a law requiring teenagers to stay in high school until they graduate．Only four states：California, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, plus the District of Columbia, require school ?attendance? until age 18, no exceptions, another researcher, says raising the compulsory(义务的)attendance age may be one way to keep more kids in school．

“As these dropouts look black, they realize they’ve made a mistake．And anything that sort of gives these people an extra push to stick it out and it through to the end, is probably helpful measure．”

New Hampshire may be the next state to raise its school attendance age to 18．But critics say that forcing the students unwilling to continue their studies to stay in school misses the point－the need for reform．It’s been called for to reinvent(彻底改造)high school education to make it more challenging and relevant(中肯的, 切题的), and to ensure that kids who do stick it out receive a diploma that actually means something．

1.Most high school students drop out of school because ________．

A．they have failing grades

B．they take no interest in classes

C．they are discriminated against

D．they are lazy and not intelligent

2.According to the passage, which state has a law requiring school attendance until they graduate?

A．New Hampshire．

B．Utah．

C．New Mexico．

D．The District of Columbia．

3.The underlined words “stick it out” probably mean “________”．

A．complete schooling

B．solve the problem

C．love having classes

D．believe in themselves

4.In the last paragraph, the writer is trying to ________

A．analyze the reason why students quit school

B．suggest raising the compulsory attendance age

C．call on to reform　 high school education

D．wish to make laws to guarantee no education

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

阅读理解,阅读下面短文，从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

As a high school dropout myself, I often feel it is my duty to defend my fellow non-scholars. Common wisdom would have you believe we are the "bad kids", the future criminals, the worst sort of people. But not all dropouts will deal drugs, shoplift, or even shoot pool all day.

My own favorite hooky hangout was always the public library. My early retirement meant that at last I had the time to read everything I wanted to.

Best of all was the time I finally had to myself. I felt uncontrolled and free. I had been in school nearly my whole life. I wanted to find out for myself who I was, and until I did, everything else felt like a waste of time.

To be honest, though, my daily life as a dropout consisted mostly of long hot baths, afternoon naps, and microwave food. After nearly three years of such self-centered pleasure, a series of strange thoughts began to enter my mind continuously.

Images of myself at the age of 35－still living at home, collecting dust balls on the couch, reading the same book over and over－began to bother me in my sleep. And a voice in my head began asking over and over, "Who is paying the hot water bills? Who buys the microwave pizza?"

The answer, of course, was my poor old parents. Sure, I was having a wonderful time doing plenty of nothing, discovering myself and all, but they were getting a raw deal. What parents long to see their child drop out of school, with no plans for the future? Could they be expected to support me forever?

Certainly not. I had been visited by Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility, and there was no looking back. I immediately moved out of the house and out of town, in search of a future for myself.

And it is here, in my new home of San Francisco, that I have decided to do what was once unthinkable: go back to school. I plan to take adult education classes and get me GED (General Educational Development), and then enroll in City College.

So next time you see a dropout, that unchangeable anti-student, be understanding. And please don't push him to do something he doesn't want to do. It never works. He'll come around when he's ready.

1.Which question is NOT answered in the article?

A. When did the writer leave school?

B. How was the writer's life as a dropout?

C. What future plans did the writer have in San Francisco?

D. What did the writer's parents say when he dropped out?

2.The writer went back to school because __________.

A. he wanted to learn something and support himself

B. he found the life as a dropout was very unbearable

C. his parents couldn't support him anymore

D. he didn't want to be looked down upon

3.What do we know about the writer from the article?

A. He didn't like studying.

B. He had a busy life as a dropout.

C. He was concerned about his future.

D. He wanted to become a teacher.

4.The writer writes this article mainly to _________.

A. explain why he became a dropout

B. tell people how to treat dropouts

C. prove that not all dropouts are bad

D. show what a dropout's life is really like

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

About half American teenagers do not get enough sleep on school nights.They get an average of sixty to ninety minutes less than experts say they need.

One reason for this is biology.Experts say teens are biologically programmed to go to sleep later and wake up later than other age groups.Yet many schools start classes as early as seven in the morning.As a result，many students go to class feeling like sixteenyearold Danny.He is an active teen— except in the morning.“Getting up in the morning is pretty terrible.I’m just very out of it and tired.Through the first and second period I can hardly stay awake,” he said.

Michael Breus is a psychologist.Teens，he says，need to sleep eight to nine hours or even nine to ten hours a night.He says sleepy teens can experience a form of depression(消沉) that could have big influence on their general well being.It can affect not just their ability in the classroom but also on the sports field and on the road.So what can schools do about sleepy students？The psychologist says one thing they can do is to start classes later in the morning.Studies show that students can improve by a full letter grade in their first and second period classes.

Eric Peterson is the head of St.George’s School in the northeastern state of Rhode Island.He wanted to see if a thirtyminute delay(推迟)would make a difference.It did.He says visits to the health center by tired students decreased by half.Late arrivals to the first period fell by a third.And students reported that they were less sleepy during the day.Eric Peterson knows that changing start times is easier at a small school like his.But he is hopeful that other schools will find a way.

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

A．Later classes，fewer sleepy teens

B．Early birds have good food

C．Early to bed and early to rise

D．Fewer classes，more happiness

2.The underlined word“this”in the second paragraph refers to________.

A．teenagers’ staying up

B．teenagers’ getting up late

C．teenagers’ not getting enough sleep

D．teenagers’ not studying seriously

3.Michael Breus thinks that________.

A．teens should get up early

B．teens need enough sleep to be lively

C．depression is common in teens

D．the first period class should be cut off

4.The last paragraph tells us________.

A．Eric Peterson visits the health center every day

B．it’s not easy for Eric Peterson to change start times

C．students in St.George’s School can get up later than before

D．students in St.George’s School aren’t late for school any more

5.What can we infer from the passage?

A．Danny is a lazy boy and always late for school.

B．Teens should go to bed early and get up early, too.

C．The psychologist has no idea how to solve the problem.

D．Enough sleep makes a healthy and active student.

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

A handsome man can earn a fifth more than an average-looking colleague but a beautiful woman is not paid a penny more than her average-looking colleague, new research has shown.

The study by senior economists（经济学家）found that being good-looking meant male workers could earn 22 percent more than average-looking colleagues. Researchers said good looks did not give women a similar advantage.

Andrew Leigh, a former economics professor at the Australian National University who co-authored the report, said: “Beauty can be a double-edged sword for women.”

“Some people still believe good looks and intelligence are incompatible(矛盾的) in women, so a good-looking women can’t be that productive, but it doesn’t affect men’s pay.”

He said that although he believed good-looking women may also earn more, the research did not support his theory.

The research found that handsome men in all jobs, from manual labour（手工劳动）to highly-paid professional careers, can earn 22 percent more than their colleagues doing the same work.

Men with below-average looks face a battle in the office, with ugliness reducing a man’s earnings by 26 percent compared to an average-looking worker.

Former male model, Caitlan Mitchell, 28, who has a first class degree in history from Edinburgh University and now works for a cosmetics company, told the Sunday Times:’ It gives you confidence, and I suspect people tend to warm to you more quickly.”

The study, named Unpacking the Beauty Premium, was the largest exercise of its kind and repeated a survey from 1984 to see if the beauty premium（美貌溢价) had changed.

Leigh said the research showed people in the workplace were “lookist(以貌取人的)”and he hoped the findings would encourage employers to remove their prejudice.

1.What has the research found?

A. Male workers pay more attention to their appearance.

B. Handsome men have an advantage in their jobs.

C. Appearance plays an important role at work.

D. The more beautiful a female is, the lower their intelligence is.

2.What is Andrew Leigh’s opinion?

A. Beauty is a double-edged sword for workers.

B. Gook-looking females are likely to earn more.

C. Employers have prejudice in employing workers.

D. More attention is paid to appearance now than before.

3.We can learn from the text that men who are below average in appearance ________.

A. earn 26%less than handsome men

B. earn 22% less than average-looking men

C. earn as much as average-looking men

D. earn 26% less than average-looking men

4.What is the main idea of the text?

A. Employees should pay more attention to their appearance.

B. Males and females should be treated equally in interviews.

C. Good-looking men tend to earn more.

D. Beautiful female interviewees aren’t popular in interviews.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Attracting people will earn you new friends and relationship.If you are an attractive per-son, both inside and out, you can have better bonds with your peers.1.All you have to do is start with yourself and the rest will come.

Don’t forget to smile.A smile is the best accessory（配饰）you can wear if you want to at-trace people.It sends out a message that you are happy and very approachable.2.It will make your face look warmer and more positive.

Care about other people.3.Try to be more conscious about how your relate with other people.If you notice that you talk about yourself constantly, you may come across as very unlikable to people.

4.Open a door for a workmate who is carrying things.Say “thank you” to the waiter when he gets your order.If you see a friend feeling down, try to cheer her or him up.Things like that make a big influence on the impression people have of you.

Be true to yourself.If you’re not true to yourself, then you won’t be happy.What would be the point of attracting other people if you have no happiness to give? Always remember that attractiveness starts from within.5.This is the true secret to attracting other people, be-cause all of the tips above will not work unless you are true to yourself.

A.Be confident.

B.It’s not hard to attract people.

C.Make efforts to do the small things.

D.Selfishness is not a feature that attracts people.

E.Your smile should be relaxing and come from heart.

F.Your physical appearance can attract other people as much as your manners.

G..If you’re happy with yourself, you’ll attract other people naturally with no effort.

高二英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

With the average American going through more than 700 pounds of paper per year, many firms are looking for ways to discourage their employees from over-using the office printer.

Toshiba American Business Solutions has come up with an alternative idea. It has introduced the e-STUDIO4508LP, a printer that gives users the option to print with erasable toner (墨粉)一 allowing a single piece of paper to be reused several times.

To reuse a piece of paper, the printer basically uses the same process as a normal printer, but in reverse (反过来），said Bill Melo, chief marketing executive for Toshiba America Business Solutions. Paper printed with the erasable toner is fed back into the printer, superheated, and the toner gets removed and put in a discard (丢弃）tank.

There are a couple of catches. All of the printouts using the erasable toner have to be in blue ink, which is the only color in which erasable toner is now available. And the company said that people may want to stop reusing the printouts after five times through the eraser because small traces of erased text will build up over time.

The $15,420 printer is aimed at offices and schools，where there are often large numbers of printouts that outlive their usefulness quickly. With the erasable toner, it’s possible to load any short-lived handouts back onto the printer to be erased and then　 reused.

Still, convincing customers to commit to erasable toner isn’t always easy. Melo said not all its customers were happy about only having　　 the erasable option.

The model, Melo said, should　　 better serve the needs of those who want to be environmentally conscious but also may need something more permanent on occasion.

1.What’s special about Toshiba’s printer?

A. It’s low-priced.　　 B. It’s fashionable.

C. It’s lightweight.　　 D. It’s eco-friendly.

2.What’s the key to making the printer work?

A. A discard tank.　　 B. Light colored ink.

C. Special writing paper.　　 D. A high enough temperature.

3.What does the underlined word “catches” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. Theories.　　 B. Problems.

C. Differences.　　 D. Characteristics.

4.How did the public respond to the　　 printer?

A. They asked for more patterns.

B. Some expressed dissatisfaction.

C. Some worried about its recycling.

D. They considered it hard to operate.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

We live in a sweet world. The average American kid consumes more than 20 teaspoons of sugar per day, and adults eat 50% more sugar today than they did in the 1970s. We all know that too much sugar isn’t good for you. But did we know it could be dangerous? A team of researchers at the University of Utah used mice to conduct a study on the negative effects of sugar. They found it could have serious effects on people’s health.

Sugar is found not only in sweets and candies, but also in many household items like pasta and crackers.

During the 58-week-long study, mice were fed a diet containing 25% more sugar. This percentage equals a healthy human diet along with three cans of soda daily. The team found that these mice were twice as likely to die as mice fed a similar diet without the sugar. Though the mice did not show signs of obesity or high blood pressure, male mice were 26% less territorial and produced 25% fewer offspring than the other mice.

Scientists often use mice for research because they have a similar genetic（基因） structure to humans. “Since most substances that are dangerous in mice are also dangerous in people, it’s likely that those physical problems that cause those mice to have increased deaths also work in people,” says study author James Ruff of the University of Utah. Findings from this study reveal negative effects that are not as noticeable as weight gain or heart problems. Sugar can contribute to long-term changes in the body that can change development and even shorten lives.

Cutting sugar out of the American diet altogether may be difficult. But making the effort to control our nation’s sugar desire will provide for a truly sweeter future.

1.The study conducted by researchers aimed at learning about________

A. the advantages and disadvantages of sugar

B. the negative effects of sugar on people’s health

C. the genetic structure of mice

D. American’s diet

2.According to the study, which of the following statements is wrong?

A. Sugar can even shorten lives.

B. Sugar’s negative effects are not noticeable.

C. Mice are more likely to die when fed a diet containing 25% more sugar.

D. Eating much more sugar can make mice put on weight and get high blood pressure.

3.From the passage we can infer_______

A. sugar plays a very important role in Americans’ diet

B. kids consume more sugar than adults in America

C. the study on human beings lasted 58 weeks

D. the genetic structure of mice is totally different from that of people

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

A. Living a sweet life

B. Kids consume much more sugar

C. Genetic structure of humans

D. Danger of sugar

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

He tried to _______ his son of the danger of spending more than he earned.

A. realize        B. tell         C. persuade       D. warn

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

My father earns around 500 yuan per month, which can hardly __________ the basic needs of our family.

A. support　　　　 B. cover

C. present　　　　 D. arrange

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

High school is an important period of your life, so you need to learn to spend your high school time wisely. Here are some ideas that can lend you a hand.

Studies come first. Make sure that you understand everything your teachers teach. 1. Take notes if you think your teacher is teaching something important. Also, have a plan for what you’re going to study. It is best if you could deal with every subject every day.

2. Don’t delay (推迟) today’s homework until tomorrow. If you happen to be sick, call or e-mail a friend to see if they can come and give you the homework. Being sick isn’t an excuse for not doing homework unless you’re very sick.

Develop good relationships. High school is also a time for you to enjoy with your friends. 3. Choose to get along with those who like you for who you are. What’s more, you should try to make friends with teachers.

Develop self-discipline (自律). Behave yourself at school. 4. While your teacher is teaching, keep quiet unless he or she is asking for answers. If your friends want to talk to you in class, ask them to wait until later.

Be active! Take an active part in after-class activities. 5. Join school clubs which will help you develop them.

A. Finish your homework on time.

B. Find hobbies that you’re good at.

C. Always be on time for every class.

D. Set down your homework carefully.

E. You’ll make more friends if you try this.

F. Ask for help if you don’t understand something.

G. Smile at people to make them see you are nice and happy.

高二英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析