1. In formal language the sentence “Mind if I come in?”
is
a) Had you minded if I came in?
b) Would you mind if I come in?
c) Should you mind if I come in?
d) Shouldn’t you mind if I came in?
2. According
to the advertisement
a)
one can learn English without cost.
b)
one can learn English on-line.
c)
one can learn English easily.
d) one can learn English at home.
Mooresville’s Shining Example (It’s Not Just About the
Laptops)
MOORESVILLE,
N.C. — Sixty educators from across the nation roamed the halls and ringed the rooms
of East Mooresville Intermediate School, searching for the secret formula. They
found it in Erin Holsinger’s fifth-grade math class.
There,
a boy peering into his school-issued MacBook blitzed through fractions by
himself, determined to reach sixth-grade work by winter. Three desks away, a
girl was struggling with basic multiplication — only 29 percent right, her
screen said — and Ms. Holsinger knelt beside her to assist.
Curiosity
was fed and embarrassment avoided, as teacher connected with student through
emotion far more than Wi-Fi.
As
debate continues over whether schools invest wisely in technology — and whether
it measurably improves student achievement — Mooresville, a modest community
about 20 miles north of Charlotte best known as home to several Nascar teams
and drivers, has quietly emerged as the de facto national model of the digital
school.
The
district’s graduation rate was 91 percent in 2011, up from 80 percent in 2008.
On state tests in reading, math and science, an average of 88 percent of
students across grades and subjects met proficiency standards, compared with 73
percent three years ago. Attendance is up, dropouts are down. Mooresville ranks
100th out of 115 districts in North Carolina in terms of dollars spent per
student — $7,415.89 a year — but it is now third in test scores and second in
graduation rates.
“Other
districts are doing things, but what we see in Mooresville is the whole
package: using the budget, innovating, using data, involvement with the community
and leadership,” said Karen Cator, a former Apple executive who is director of
educational technology for the United States Department of Education. “There
are lessons to be learned.”
Start
with math lessons: each student’s MacBook Air is leased from Apple for $215 a
year, including warranty, for a total of $1 million; an additional $100,000 a
year goes for software. Terry Haas, the district’s chief financial officer,
said the money was freed up through “incredibly tough decisions.”
Sixty-five
jobs were eliminated, including 37 teachers, which resulted in larger class
sizes — in middle schools, it is 30 instead of 18 — but district officials say
they can be more efficiently managed because of the technology. Some costly
items had become obsolete (like computer labs), though getting rid of others
tested the willingness of teachers to embrace the new day: who needs globes in
the age of Google Earth?
Families
pay $50 a year to subsidize computer repairs, though the fee is waived for
those who cannot afford it, about 18 percent of them. Similarly, the district
has negotiated a deal so that those without broadband Internet access can buy
it for $9.99 a month. Mr. Edwards said the technology had helped close racial
performance gaps in a district where 27 percent of the students are minorities
and 40 percent are poor enough to receive free or reduced-price lunches.
(The New York Times. February 13, 2012/adapted)
3. Mooresville educational success is due to the
a) amount of dollars spent with students a year.
b) investments from several private companies.
c) deep wish of minorities to show their potential.
d) set of financial, pedagogic and community actions.
4. In the text, one of the “incredibly tough decisions”
referred to
a) fire teachers.
b) spend 1 million.
c) buy new globes.
d) control attendance.
5. The underlined word in the text refers to
a) formulas.
b) educators.
c) rooms.
d) halls.
“The kitchen table is more than a place for
____________, it’s a place where families meet. But was the ____________ it is
made from harvested sustainably? Used to be hard to tell. Now ____________ can
look for the Forest Stewardship Council ____________ to make sure wooden
furniture is forest friendly.
We should ____________ that the world’s forests are ____________
responsibly so that people and wildlife can continue to exist in the future.”
6. Choose the sequence that completes the text.
a) meals / wood / shoppers / label / ensure / managed
b) fun / seed / buyers / license / prevent / cut
c) talk / peel / sellers / tag / avoid / made
d) argument / tree / representatives / plate / defend
/ sprayed
Introducing
the perfect chemistry between a Green technology and a blue world
There
is a formula for a healthy new world. That’s why Braskem invested millions in
research to become the first company in the world to use Brazilian sugar cane
as a natural plastic source, collaborating with the reduction of the GHG
emissions. Its commitment to a sustainable development resulted in a benchmark
eco-efficient process that stimulates the markets in which Braskem operates and
generates new opportunities.
The
world dreamed. Braskem made it happen.
Braskem.
New
ways to look at the world
(Newsweek, Special Edition – Issues. February, 2012)
7. Braskem is
a) a Brazilian company using green technology.
b) an energy generator in emerging markets.
c) a former natural plastic source inventor.
d) helping the environment become cleaner.
8. The relative pronoun in “... benchmark
eco-efficient process that stimulates the markets” substitutes
a) plastics.
b) markets.
c) process.
d) benchmark.
9. Choose the item to complete the answer:
a) They will go to
b) They have gone
c) They went to
d) They would go to
The
future looks bright
Balamurati
Krishna Ambati
At age three, Balamurati Krishna Ambati was badly
burned and spent several months in hospital. He decided then that he wanted to
be a doctor. A few years later, he read in the Guinness Book of Records that
the youngest doctor in the world was 18 years old. So he decided to become a
doctor by the age of 17. Many people thought this was impossible, but at 11,
Ambati was in college. He graduated from college at 14 and from medical school
at 17. Now that he is a doctor, Ambati plans to go for advanced training in
Boston.
Catherine
Charlton
Catherine
Charlton is studying engineering at Cornell University, but she has already
achieved an important goal: She has worked for NASA (the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration). Charlton’s achievements aren’t only in engineering,
however. She is also a successful pianist and composer. Charlton hopes to
combine her talents for engineering and music someday. For example, she would
like to design concert halls or manufacture pianos.
Jasmin Sethi
The
Scholastic Aptitude Test is the test American students take to enter college;
each year, only a few students get a perfect score. One of those students was
Jasmin Sethi. Her achievement was especially remarkable because she is blind.
To take the test, someone read the test questions to her, and she gave the
answers. She even solved difficult math problems in her head. Sethi has been
the editor of her school newspaper and has organized food collections. She
wants to go to a top university next year. Sethi
would
like to be a lawyer.
(New Interchange. Cambridge University Press,
1997)
10. Which fact do these texts have in common?
a) Three young people mastered university graduation
courses.
b) Three young people have outstanding school
performances.
c) Three young people will follow very unusual
careers.
d) Three young people have some kind of physical
disability.
