One-room schools are part of the United States, and the mention of them makes people feel a vague longing for "the way things were." One-room schools are an endangered species, however. For more than a hundred years one-room schools have been systematically shut down and their students sent away to centralized schools. As recently as 1930 there were 149,000 one-room schools in the United States. By 1970 there were 1,800. Today, of the nearly 800 remaining one-room schools, more than 350 are in Nebraska. The rest are scattered through a few other states that have on their road maps wide-spaces between towns.
Now that there are hardly any left, educators are beginning to think that maybe there is something yet to be learned form one-room schools, something that served the pioneers that might serve as well today. Progressive educators have come up with progressive-sounding names like "peer-group teaching" and "multi-age grouping" for educational procedures that occur naturally in the one-room schools. In a one-room schools the children teach each other because the teacher is busy part of the Time teaching someone else. A fourth grader can work at a fifth-grade level in math and a third-grade level in English without the stigma associated with being left back or the pressures of being skipped ahead. A youngster with a learning disability can find his or her own level without being separated from the other pupils. In larger urban and suburban schools today, this is called "mainstreaming". A few hours is a small school that has only one classroom and it becomes clear why so many parents feel that one of the advantages of living in Nebraska in their children have to go to a one-room school.
31. It is implied in the passage that many educators and parents today feel that one-room schools __________.
A. need to be shut down.
B. are the best in Nebraska.
C. are a good example of the good old days.
D. provide good education.
32. Why are one-room schools in danger of disappearing?
A. Because they all exist in one state.
B. Because they skip too many children ahead.
C. Because there is a trend toward centralization.
D. Because there is no fourth-grade level in any of them.
33. What is mentioned as a major characteristic of the one-room school system in the second paragraph?
A. Some children have to be left back.
B. Teachers are always busy.
C. Pupils have more freedom.
D. Learning is not limited to one grade level at a time.
34. Which of the following can best describe the author's attitude toward one-room schools?
A. Praising.
B. Angry.
C. Critical.
D. Humorous.
35. It can be inferred from the last sentence that parents living in Nebraska __________.
A. don't like centralized schools.
B. received education in one-room schools.
C. prefer rural life to urban one.
D. come from other states.
第二篇 Bus Travel Now and Then
Nobody, except perhaps little children, considers a journey in a bus as exciting experience. Although there are thousands of cars on the roads, more people travel by bus than by car. Workers rushing to their offices or factories, children hurrying to school, housewives going shopping, use buses. For cities without other public transport services, if all the buses were to stop running for a day, work would come to a standstill in hundreds of offices and factories and most classrooms would be deserted.
Buses today are large and have comfortable seats, mostly facing the front. To get the driver to stop at a bus-stop, a passenger has merely to push a button, which rings a bell placed near the driver. The bus schedule for the city is well planned, and seldom does one have to wait very long to catch a bus. One can go from almost any part of the city to another by bus.
Of course, there are drawbacks in bus travel. Often the buses are filled to capacity, especially during the rush-hours, and then one may have to wait longer than usual at a bus-stop for a bus with space for more passengers. If one gets into a crowded bus, one may have to remain standing throughout the journey holding on to a leather strap. This can be quite uncomfortable and even a little dangerous, as one may be jerked off one's feet if the bus stops or starts suddenly.
In spite of the inconveniences, we should be grateful for the advantages of bus travel today. The situation was quite different a generation or two ago. In the early 1830's buses were much smaller than they are now. They did not run to a proper timetable (時間表). To catch a bus one stood at a bus-stop(many roads did not even have bus-stops), and took one's chance. Buses took in as many passengers as could squeeze in (擠進去). Passengers sat on benches placed on either side of the bus, facing each other.
36. In a big city, cars are less important than buses because__________.
A. cars carry far fewer people.
B. car travel is less exciting.
C. cars are more expensive.
D. cars are inconvenient.
37. In order to get off the bus, a passenger has to__________.
A. shout to the driver.
B. push some buttons.
C. jump off the bus.
D. ring a special bell.
38. Bus travel nowadays__________.
A. is worse than before.
B. is no better than before.
C. is more convenient than before.
D. is the same as before.
39. What may happen when one is standing in a crowded bus?
A. One may be forced to leave the bus.
B. One may not have to pay the fare.
C. One may become suffocated.
D. One may lose one's balance.
40. We can deduce from the fourth paragraph that in former times bus services were__________.
A. eventful.
B. irregular.
C. efficient.
D. well planned.
第三篇 TV Shows and Long Bus Trips
Long bus rides are like televisions shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end---with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste." "Drink Good'n Wet Root Beer." "Fill up with Pacific Gas." Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"
The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you've traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed---new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it's fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left-hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you've got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.
The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there's a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you've sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the arm rests---even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.
1. According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?
A) Buses on the road.
B) Films on television.
C) Advertisements on the board.
D) Gas stations.
2. What is the purpose of this passage?
A) To give the writer's opinion about long bus trips.
B) To persuade you to take a long bus trip.
C) To explain how bus trips and television shows differ.
D) To describe the billboards along the road.
3. the writer of this passage would probably favor
A) bus drivers who weren't reckless
B) driving alone.
C) a television set on the bus.
D) no billboards along the road.
4. The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because
A) the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun.
B) they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between.
C) the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses.
D) both traveling and watching TV are not exciting.
5. The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are
A) exciting.
B) comfortable.
C) tiring.
D) boring
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