A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian(初步的) Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.
Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality childcare center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.
The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the childcare center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.
Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child care program did much better in tests.
The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the childcare center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.
A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to go to college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.
The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.
The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.
1.The Abecedarian Project has lasted ______.
A. almost one year B. about five years C. more than 20 years D. no more than 15 years
2.What do we know about the people who had been in the childcare center, compared with those who hadn’t?
A. They were more likely to go to college. B. They had children earlier.
C. They had the same results in tests. D. They are less sociable.
3.According to the passage, The Abecedarian Project__________.
A. involves children from rich families
B. doesn’t provide food for children
C. offers foreign teachers to help improve children’s language skills
D. studies the importance of an early education for poor children
4.What is NOT sure about the Abecedarian Project after reading the text?
A. How important early education is for poor children.
B. What the children learned at the child-care center.
C. How many children are involved in the Abecedarian Project.
D. Whether lawmakers will spend money on public early education.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
B
A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.
Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality child-care center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.
The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the child-care center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.
Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child-care program did much better in tests.
The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the child-care center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.
A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to be attending college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.
The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.
The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.
1.The Abecedarian Project has lasted _______.
A. almost one year B. about five years
C. more than 20 years D. no more than 15 years
2.Those who had been in the child-care center _______ compared with those who hadn't.
A. have their children at later ages
B. get more help from other people
C. have no parenting or social skills
D. are poorer at reading and mathematics
3. What don't we know about the Abecedarian Project after reading the text?
A. What the children learned at the child-care center.
B. How important early education is for poor children.
C. How many children are involved in the Abecedarian Project.
D. Whether lawmakers will spend money on public early education.
4.The study of the Abecedarian Project shows that early education _______.
A. costs a lot of money
B. leads to a lower birthrate
C. can improve the life of poor children
D. is not important for later development
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian(初步的) Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.
Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality childcare center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.
The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the childcare center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.
Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child care program did much better in tests.
The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the childcare center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.
A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to go to college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.
The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.
The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.
1.The Abecedarian Project has lasted ______.
A. almost one year B. about five years C. more than 20 years D. no more than 15 years
2.What do we know about the people who had been in the childcare center, compared with those who hadn’t?
A. They were more likely to go to college. B. They had children earlier.
C. They had the same results in tests. D. They are less sociable.
3.According to the passage, The Abecedarian Project__________.
A. involves children from rich families
B. doesn’t provide food for children
C. offers foreign teachers to help improve children’s language skills
D. studies the importance of an early education for poor children
4.What is NOT sure about the Abecedarian Project after reading the text?
A. How important early education is for poor children.
B. What the children learned at the child-care center.
C. How many children are involved in the Abecedarian Project.
D. Whether lawmakers will spend money on public early education.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.
Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality child-care center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.
The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the child-care center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.
Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child-care program did much better in tests.
The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the child-care center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.
A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to be attending college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.
The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.
The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.
1.The Abecedarian Project has lasted _______.
A. almost one year
B. about five years
C. more than 20 years
D. no more than 15 years
2.Those who had been in the child-care center _______ compared with those who hadn't.
A. have their children at later ages
B. get more help from other people
C. have no parenting or social skills
D. are poorer at reading and mathematics
3.What don't we know about the Abecedarian Project after reading the text?
A. What the children learned at the child-care center.
B. How important early education is for poor children.
C. How many children are involved in the Abecedarian Project.
D. Whether lawmakers will spend money on public early education.
4.The study of the Abecedarian Project shows that early education _______.
A. costs a lot of money
B. leads to a lower birthrate
C. can improve the life of poor children
D. is not important for later development
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.
Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality child-care center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.
The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the child-care center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.
Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child-care program did much better in tests.
The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the child-care center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.
A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to be attending college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.
The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.
The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.
1.The Abecedarian Project has lasted _____.
A. almost one year
B. about five years
C. more than 20 years
D. no more than 15 years
2.Those who had been in the child-care center _____ compared with those who hadn't.
A. have their children at later ages
B. get more help from other people
C. have no parenting or social skills
D. are poorer at reading and mathematics
3.What don't we know about the Abecedarian Project after reading the text?
A. What the children learned at the child-care center.
B. How important early education is for poor children.
C. How many children are involved in the Abecedarian Project.
D. Whether lawmakers will spend money on public early education.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.
Researchers studied the effects of one such gas—carbon dioxide—on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein. The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gases would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.
In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future. Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc(锌)an rice grown under normal conditions. However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.
The results are bad news, “especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries,” said the University of Tokyo’s Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report. That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.
One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change create. “My concern is there are many more surprises to come,” he said.
Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.
The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change. One way, Kobayashi said, is grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.
1.Which county would be influenced most by planet-warming gases according to the text?
A. China B. Britain C. America D. Myanmar
2.How is Paragraph 3 mainly developed?
A. By comparison. B. By giving examples.
C. By analyzing causes. D. By describing a process.
3.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?
A. Climate change will be difficult to predict.
B. Climate change will lead to more good effects.
C. Climate change will be harmful to environment.
D. Climate change will cause more unexpected problems.
4.Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A. Myers said we could change all the natural systems for the sake of our health.
B. The poorest people in all the least developed countries would be influenced most.
C. The researchers grew 18 kinds of rice in China and Japan in a controlled environment.
D. Protein in rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions is increased by 10 percent.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
A study showed that the experiences children have in their first few years are important . These experiences affect the development of the brain. When children receive more attention, they often have higher IQs. Babies receive information when they see, hear and feel things, which makes connections between different parts of the brain. There are a hundred trillion (万亿) connections in the brain of a three-year-old child.
Researcher Judit Gervain tested how good newborns are at distinguishing different sound patterns. Her researchers produced images of the brains of babies as they heard different sound patterns. For example, one order was mu-ba-ba. This is the pattern “A-B-B". Another order was mu-ba-ge. This is the pattern “A-B-C”. The images showed that the part of the brain responsible for speech was more active during the “A-B-B” pattern. This shows that babies can tell the difference between different patterns. They also were sensitive to where it occurred in the order.
Gervain is excited by these findings because the order of sounds is the building block of words and grammar. “Position is key to language," she says. “If something is at the beginning or at the end, it makes a big difference: ‘John caught the bear.’ is very different from ‘The bear caught John.’ ”
Researchers led by scientist Patricia Kuhl have found that language delivered by televisions, audio books,the Internet, or smartphones-no matter how educational-doesn’t appear to be enough for children’s brain development. They carried out a study of nine-month-old American babies. They expected the first group who’d watched videos in Chinese to show the same kind of learning as the second group who were brought face-to-face with the same sounds. Instead they found a huge difference. The babies in the second group were able to distinguish between similar Chinese sounds as well as native listeners. But the other babies -regardless of whether they had watched the video or listened to the audio-learned nothing.
1.What makes connections in a baby’s brain?
A. Having a higher IQ. B. The connection with other babies.
C. The baby’s early age. D. Experiencing new information.
2.What did Judit Gervain and her team find in the experiment?
A. Word order is relevant to meaning. B. Babies identify different sound patterns.
C. A certain brain region processes language. D. Babies can well understand different words.
3.What does the underlined sentence mean in Paragraph 3?
A. Words have different sounds.
B. Grammar is important in learning languages
C. Different orders have different meanings.
D. Different languages have different grammar.
4.What is the main conclusion from the study led by Patricia Kuhl?
A. Babies shouldn’t watch a lot of television.
B. Social communication improves babies’ brain development.
C. Listening to different languages helps to develop babies’ brain
D. Foreign languages are beneficial to babies’ brain development
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
During the early years of American settlement, a new form of English was beginning to develop in the islands of the West Indies and the southern part of the mainland, spoken by the black population. The beginning of the seventeenth century saw the happening of the slave trade. Ships from Europe travelled to the West African coast, where they exchanged cheap goods for black slaves. The slaves were shipped in terrible conditions to the Caribbean islands and the American coast, where they were in turn exchanged for such products as sugar and molasses(糖蜜). The ships then returned to England, completing an “Atlantic triangle”of journeys, and the process began again. Britain and the United States had outlawed the slave trade by 1865, but by that time, nearly 200 years of trading had taken place. By the middle of the nineteenth century, there were over four million black slaves in America.
The policy of the slave-traders was to bring people of different language backgrounds together in the ships, to make it difficult for groups to plan rebellion. The result was the growth of several pidgin (混杂语言) forms of communication, and in particular a pidgin between the slaves and the sailors many of whom spoken English. Once arriving in the Caribbean, this pidgin English continued to act as a major means of communication between teh black population and the new landowners, and among the blacks themselves. Then, when children came to be born, the pidgin became their mother tongue, thus producing the first black Creole(克里奥尔语) speech in the region. This Creole English rapidly came to be used throughout the cotton plantations (种植园), and in the coastal towns and islands.
1.Which of the following shows the route of slave trade correctly?
A.EuropeWest African coastthe Caribbean islands and the American coastEurope
B.EuropeWest African coastEuropethe Caribbean islands and the American coast
C.West African coastEuropethe Caribbean islands and the American coastEurope
D.West African coastEuropethe Caribbean islands and the American coastWest African coast
2.It can be inferred that the slaves in the same ship ____.
A.didn’t communicate with each other
B.could understand several languages
C.spoke different languages
D.came from the same place
3.Creole speech comes from _____.
A.Spanish and English
B.English and an African language
C.a European language and an American language
D.an African language and an American language
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.The history of slave trade. B.“Atlantic triangle” of journeys.
C.Languages spoken in America D.The birth of black English
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The Foundation is holding a dinner at the Museum of American Art the opening of their new show.
A. in honor of B. in memory of C. in response to D. in reply to
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
In 1885, the Republic of France, important friend during the American Revolution, donated the largest statue in the world, Liberty Enlightening the World, to the United States of America. The statue would celebrate its century of independence. To ship it, the statue was broken down into 350 pieces. And now, spread across Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbour, it sat in 214 wooden packing boxes. The problem was that New York had no money to re-assemble it. Six other cities, less affected by the recent economic decline, had the money and bid to build it.
But a Hungarian immigrant, Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of America’s biggest newspaper called the World, wouldn’t let “Liberty” go. When he heard that the Statue of Liberty was about to die from lack of funds, he saw his chance.
Pulitzer set the fund-raising goal of the World at $ 100,000. In its pages he laughed at the rich, thus increasing the paper’s appeal among working-class people, and firmly planted the idea that the statue was a monument not just for New York City but, indeed, for all of America.
Perhaps Pulitzer’s cleverest trick was the promise 10 publish the name of every single contributor in the pages of the World, no matter how small the contribution. The editorial that opened the fund-raising campaign set its tone. He wrote: “The World is the people’s paper and it now appeals to the people to come forward and raise the money for the statue’s base.” The statue, he said was paid for by “the masses of the French people. Let us respond in like manner.” The circulation of the World increased by almost 50,000 copies.
African American newspapers joined in the effort, encouraging their readers to contribute to a monument that would, in part, celebrate the end of slavery. So the money poured in, as single-dollar donations from grandmothers and pennies from the piggybanks of schoolchildren.
On August 11, 1885, the front page of the World announced, “ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!” The goal had been reached, even slightly beyond, thanks to more than 120,000 contributions.
1.What does the underlined word “re-assemble” (Para. 1) probably mean?
A. Put together. B. Take apart.
C. Transport. D. Repair.
2.Which of the following was the greatest move in Joseph Pulitzer’s success?
A. Attacking the rich people.
B. Celebrating the end of slavery.
C. Printing every contributor’s name in the World.
D. Persuading children to donate their pocket money.
3.What did Joseph Pulitzer try to convey to his readers about the Statue of Liberty?
A. It was a symbol of independence.
B. It was a monument for the whole USA.
C. It was a wonder in the building history.
D. It was a favor from the rich French people.
4.What was the main purpose of Joseph Pulitzer’s efforts?
A. To protect the Statue of Liberty.
B. To win working-class readers over.
C. To expand the circulation of his paper.
D. To raise money for the Statue of Liberty.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
If you visit the new Mummies(木乃伊) show at the American Museum of Natural History(AMNH), in New York City, don’t miss the Gilded Lady. Scientists say she probably died of lung disease when she was in her 40s---about 2,000 years ago---in Egypt. They even have a model of her skull(头骨). Based on that, an artist was sure how she may have looked when she was alive. And yet, the mummy’s coffin has never been opened. Instead, scientists used a machine called a CT scanner(扫描仪) to look inside.
CT scanners were developed to help doctors examine patients. But the machines turned out to be perfect for studying mummies, too.
“A hundred years ago, scientists would usually open mummies’ coffins. This did a great deal of harm to those mummies,” say AMNH president Ellen V. Futter. “We just don’t do that anymore. We can do so much better. By using CT scanners, scientists can know about an ancient person’s diet from some of a mummy’s hair. Pieces of bone can show who was related to whom.”
Some mummies in Peru were buried with a skull hanging from their neck. Scientists thought these mummies wore the skull of an enemy. But DNA evidence showed that the mummies were buried with the skull of an ancestor(祖先).
The 19 mummies in the show are from Egypt and Peru. They had completely different reasons for mummifying the dead. The ancient Egyptians believed that mummification allowed an ancestor to live on in the next world. The people who prepared the Gilded Lady thought she would continue to see, hear, and smell. In ancient Peru, people practiced mummification to stay connected with their ancestors. Some families kept mummies in their home.
Futter calls the mummies in the show “messengers from another time.” With the help of technology, scientists will continue to uncover mummies’ secrets so we can understand it.
1.What did scientists find about the Gilded Lady?
A. She was a great artist.
B. She died a natural death.
C. She lived in ancient Egypt.
D. She had an amazingly long life.
2.What do Futter’s words suggest?
A. Pieces of bone show a person’s diet.
B. CT scanners do great harm to mummies.
C. Mummies usually wore the skull of an enemy.
D. Technology plays an important role in mummy studies.
3.Why did the ancient Peruvians make mummies?
A. To do traditional medical research.
B. To keep close ties with their relatives.
C. To help their families live a better life.
D. To let their ancestors live in another world.
4.What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. The technology.
B. Their message.
C. Their family.
D. The show.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析