It is often considered that the schoolyard is where bullies(欺負)go to make other kids a miserable
school life, but a new study suggests that classrooms are another popular place.
     The study,presented recently at the American Public Health Association's yearly meeting in
Philadelphia,is based on the results of the research from more than 10,000 middleschool students who
answered questions online.
     Of those researched,43%said they'd been physically bullied within the last month.A bit more than half
said they'd been laughed at in an unfriendly way, and half reported being called hurtful names.About
onethird said groups had excluded (排斥)them to hurt their feelings.28% said their belongings had been
taken or broken；21%said someone threatened to hurt them.According to the results,twothirds of the
students said they'd been bullied in more than one way over the previous month.
     The study authors mentioned that 8% of the students who answered said they'd missed school at least
once during the school year because of fear of being bullied. 25% said they'd taken other actions,such
as missing recess(課間),not going to the bathroom or lunch,missing classes,or staying away from some
area of the school to escape from experiencing a bully.
     Bullies did too much to the school life.

1. Bullies can happen in the following places except________.
A. schoolyards  
B. classrooms
C. bathrooms  
D. teachers' offices

2. Which of the following is the best title?
A. Bad School Life  
B. Fear at School
C. Bullies at School 
D. School Problems

3. Some students might ________ to protect themselves from bullies.
A. leave the school
B. go for lunch
C. hurt others
D. break others' belongings

4. The writer feels ________ about bullies at school.
A. excited  
B. disappointed
C. worried  
D. puzzled

     Just as some people think that certain numbers are lucky or unlucky, others believe that we can
use numbers to understand our personalities, or predict what will happen to us in the future.
     Numerology is a way of using numbers to describe a person’s character, and to make predictions
about future life events. Numerologists use the numbers 1-9, 11 and 22 - also known as the “master”
numbers - to help a person understand his or her personality, life goals, and destiny.
     Numerologists consider your Life Path number to be the most significant because this number
describes your character. To find this number, add together all the numbers in your date of birth. For
example, a person born on April 25, 1985 would add the month (4), to the numbers of the date (2+5),
plus the numbers of the birth year (1+9+8+5). In this case the total is 34, so this person’s life path
number is 7(3+4). Numerologists believe that people with this number are peaceful and affectionate
but can also be very reserved.
Your Expression number describes your talents and predicts how you should use these to fulfill your
destiny in life. Numerologists assign a number between 1 and 9 to each of the letters in your name.
These numbers are then added together in the same way as before to find your Expression number.
Numerologists can also do calculations to predict when the most challenging periods of your life will be.
     Numerologists also believe that the day a person is born is important. Each day of the month has a
character description. People born on the fourth are said to be responsible, honest, and stubborn.
People born on the fifteenth have very strong attachments to family and home. Those who celebrate
their birthday on the thirtieth are artistic, creative, and imaginative, and often make good writers.
     If we calculate the numerical value of our name and birth date, numerologists believe that we can
learn more about our personalities. They also believe that we can predict our destinies, how our lives
will progress, and what challenges we may face along the way. To the numerologist, numbers can be
used in many more ways than we think.

1 If a person was born on November 8, 1995, what is his Life Path number?

A. 7
B. 8
C. 9
D. 11 ks5u

2 To understand your abilities and how to use them in your life, you should calculate your ______.

A. Life Path number
B. Expression number
C. birthday
D. name and birth date

3 According to the passage, a person born on the fifteenth tends to be _______.

A. stubborn
B. home-loving
C. artistic
D. imaginative

4 According to the passage, numerologists believe that _________.

A. Life Path number can be used to predict a person’s most challenging life periods
B. Expression number is the most meaningful for people to learn a person’s character
C. numbers can help people better understand themselves
D. numbers can be used to change a person’s future

5 The function of the passage is __________.

A. to raise doubts about the usefulness of numerology
B. to persuade readers about the benefits of the practices it describes
C. to describe some of the numerological practices and their purpose
D. to tease those who take such beliefs seriously

Dear Lower School Parents,  
     I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer and taking the time to be lazy before school begins
August 11.I have taken some time off to visit family and friends and I'm enjoying having time to read.
But I have also been very busy preparing for the upcoming year.I have noted below some information
to keep you updated before August.
     We will continue to offer Extended Day Care for any Lower School student who needs to stay after
their school day ends.Extended Day runs until 5:30 p. m.under the direction of one of our teachers,
Becky Hahn with assistance from two other teachers.We will also continue to offer Homework Hour
for 1st～5th graders.Debbie Green will run the 1st～3rd grade hour and Dale Cofield will run the 4th
an 5th grade hour.
     I will also be hosting Lower School coffees throughout the year for anyone who would like to come
and visit.The coffees will be at 8:00 a. m.and will not have an agenda.Our first coffee will be held in the
Lower School Turner Library on Wednesday, September 15th.
     The teachers are already missing their students and have started returning to their classrooms to
prepare for the upcoming year.And Mr.Charles has finished cleaning and polishing our building.The halls
are bare but soon they will be bright and cheerful as we prepare for the children.
     Please watch for a letter from your child's new teacher giving details about the upcoming year.In the
meantime you can access the Valwood web page and find the summer reading assignments for 3rd～5th
graders. Additionally, this year all information regarding the beginning of the 2010～2011 school year
will be posted on the Valwood website.Please visit www.Valwood.org and click on "Back to School"
to view and print the forms.Complete and return them to the school by August 10.
     If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Lower School, please do not hesitate to call me
at Valwood, extension(電話分機) 7333.
                                                                                                                 Sincerely,  
                                                                                                             Rhonda Hamman
                                                                                                          Lower School Dean
1. Who will be in charge of Extended Day Care?
A. Becky Hahn.  
B. Debbie Green.
C. Dale Cofield.  
D. Mr.Charles.

2. Which of the following is TRUE about Lower School coffees?
A. They are intended for students only.
B. They will be held every Wednesday.
C. The first one will be held in August.
D. They will be hosted by Rhonda Hamman.

3. From Paragraph 4 we learn ________.
A. how the students miss their teachers
B. how the teachers prepare their lessons
C. how the parents prepare for the new term
D. how the school gets ready for the new school year

4. According to Paragraph 5, parents ________.
A. are asked to help their children learn online
B. may offer their suggestions on the school's website
C. will receive a letter from their children's new teacher
D. need to fill in the forms online and email them to the school

     Studying volcanoes is a demanding profession. Hazel Rymer frequently has to struggle through
rainforests, climb to the top of mountains, then climb 200 metres into the crater of active volcanoes.
But the 38-year-old volcanologist does her best to make it sound less alarming than it is. “Driving to
work is more risky,” she insists. “And the deepest I go into the crater of a volcano is about 300 metres,”
she adds, trying to make it all sound as ordinary as taking the dog for a walk.
     Hazel has been studying volcanoes for a long time, so it’s not surprising she is used to the danger.
Her interest in volcanoes began at school. A teacher gave her a book about Pompeii. “I remember
reading about the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of the city,” she explains. “The thought of
all those people just frozen in time had quite an effect on me and I am still excited by their dangerous
beauty today.”
     Nowadays, volcanoes are getting more and more unpredictable. There have been many changes
in sea level caused by global warming and melting ice caps. These have resulted in some dormant
volcanoes erupting, so studying them is more dangerous than ever before. Hazel says that although she
doesn’t take any unnecessary risk she has had some frightening moments. Her worst experience was
on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, when she was slowly surrounded by lava. “I had a choice of
walking ten hours to get around the lava flow or just walking across it,” she explains. She chose to pick
a path across the cooler rocks in the lava stream. “I guess it was five metres. The flow was 1,000°C,
so if you hesitated your boots would begin to melt. It was scary, but it really was a practical decision -
there wasn't time to do anything else.”
     And what about the future? “I haven’t been to the volcanoes in Indonesia yet. And I would love to
spend some time working in the Antarctic,” she says. “I would also like to know why quiet lava flows
erupt from some volcanoes and why other volcanoes go bang.” In other words, Hazel Rymer won’t
be exchanging her volcanoes for the relative safety of driving to work just yet.

1. Hazel’s claim that “driving to work is more risky” than exploring volcanoes shows that ______.

A. people have exaggerated the dangers of volcanoes in the past
B. Hazel does not really understand the dangerous situations she puts herself in.
C. there are many bad drivers in the place where Hazel lives
D. Hazel is being modest and understating the dangers she faces

2. When did Hazel first become interested in volcanoes?

A. When she was visiting Italy.
B. When she was at school.
C. When she was twenty.
D. When she saw Vesuvius.

3. The underlined word “these” (in paragraph 3) refers to __________.

A. melting ice-caps
B. volcanic eruptions
C. changes in sea level
D. higher temperatures

4. When Hazel was on Mount Etna she had to ________.

A. take a dangerous route
B. take an unnecessary risk
C. leave her boots behind
D. walk for ten hours around the mountain

5. In the future, Hazel wants to ________.

A. revisit volcanoes she knows
B. go on holiday to the Antarctic
C. find a less dangerous job
D. discover new things about volcanoes

     After a discussion last week, "Do School Libraries Need Books?", the comments from readers
included some firsthand views from students.Below are excerpts(摘錄) from their observations on
how studying has changed and how they use libraries.
      It makes little difference whether the book you are reading is electronic or paper.But if you want
a place to read, a library is still the place to go.As a kid in school, I often avoid the study hall noises
and go to the quiet school library.The library is a place.A learning place.Modern technology won't
change the library as long as things are learned.
     -Scott
      Being a student I am aware that many of us seldom look at the books in the library unless told to
do so by a teacher as a requirement for an assignment.It takes time to find the very book you want at
the library, and it may not be necessary to do so.More and more students, such as myself, use the
Internet for nearly every assignment.There are countless online resources for us to use with a click of
the mouse.What's more, books are very expensive and schools could put that money toward charities.
     -HayleyH
     I hope schools continue to have libraries.As a student, I know there is a difference between reading
something on a screen and something printed.When I read something in a book that I do not understand
or want to look further into, I record it and will research later or discuss with someone.With a screen
(especially online) I will instantly access the information and look into the question at hand, which
interrupts my reading and especially my imagination.
      -Allie
      To me, it depends on the purpose of the book.As a student, I prefer to do research online.Online
research is faster and more efficient.But when I'm reading for pleasure, I absolutely refuse to give up
a real book.The tactile sensation(觸感) and freedom that real books give you really makes the reading
experience more enjoyable.So, my suggestion is that schools have more digital collections for research
and scholarly work, and a good selection of interesting and ageappropriate fiction and nonfiction for
pleasure reading.
     -CM

1. In Scott's opinion, ________.
A. it's necessary for a school to have a library
B. there are many learning places better than a library
C. the school library is noisy and crowded in most cases
D. electronic books are totally different from paper books

2. According to the text, HayleyH ________.
A. hopes school libraries can provide more books
B. often searches for information at the library
C. suggests schools spend less money on books
D. thinks students rely on paper books to learn

3. Allie believes that compared with book reading, screen reading________.
A. takes more time
B. interrupts her imagination
C. provides more information
D. allows her to discuss with others

4. Who prefers printed books when reading for fun?
A. Scott.
B. HayleyH.
C. Allie.  
D. CM.

     Scientists at Harvard University and Bates College find female chimpanzees (黑猩猩) appear to
treat sticks as dolls, carrying them around until they have children of their own. Young males engage
in such behavior much less frequently.
     The new work by Sonya M. Kahlenberg and Richard W. Wrangham, described this week in the
journal Current Biology, provides the first evidence of a wild nonhuman species playing with dolls, as
well as the first known sex difference in a wild animal's choice of playthings.
     The two researchers say their work adds to a growing body of evidence that human children are
probably born with their own ideas of how they want to behave, rather than simply mirroring other
girls who play with dolls and boys who play with trucks. Doll play among humans could have its origins
in object-carrying by earlier apes (猿類), they say, suggesting that toy selection is probably not due
entirely to socialization.
     "In humans, there are obvious sex differences in children's toy play, and these are remarkably similar
across cultures," says Kahlenberg. "While socialization by elders and peers has been the primary
explanation, our work suggests that biology may also have an important role to play in activity
preferences."
     In 14 years of data on chimpanzee behavior at the Kibale National Park in Uganda, Kahlenberg
and Wrangham counted more than 100 examples of stickcarrying. Some young chimpanzees carried
sticks into the nest to sleep with them and on one occasion built a separate nest for the stick. "We have
seen juveniles occasionally carrying sticks for many years, and because they sometimes treated them
rather like dolls, we wanted to know if in general this behavior tended to represent something like
playing with dolls," says Wrangham, a Professor at Harvard. "If the doll hypothesis (假設(shè)) was right,
we thought that females should carry sticks more than males do, and that the chimpanzees should stop
carrying sticks when they had their first child. We have now watched enough young chimpanzees to
prove both points."

1. What does a female chimpanzee do with sticks?

A. She gives them to her child to play with.  
B. She treats them as dolls.
C. She makes useful tools from them.  
D. She treats them as weapons.

2. What causes the different toy selection of chimpanzees, according to the passage?

A. Sex difference.  
B. Socialization.
C. Environment.
D. Cultural difference.

3. We can infer from the fourth paragraph that ________.

A. socialization has nothing to do with human's choice of playthings
B. sex difference is the only factor in human's choice of playthings
C. the biology factor may also influence toy choice
D. people choose different toys in different cultures

4. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

A. both humans and chimpanzees choose their playthings due to sex difference
B. different factors cause humans and chimpanzees to choose different playthings
C. only female chimpanzees have playthings
D. chimpanzees usually choose playthings for their children

      Teachers using red pens to mark students'work could be harming their psyche(心理)as the color is
too aggressive,  according to education strategies drafted by an Australian state government.
     The "Good Mental Health Rocks" kit,  which was distributed this month to about 30 schools in
Queensland State,  offers strategies such as "Don't mark in red pens(which can be seen as
aggressive)-use a different color."Other tips include structuring time for peer tutoring every day,
  apologizing to students when necessary and asking students to conduct a "personal skill audit(審查)"
where they focus on their individual strengths rather than their weaknesses.
     The kit,  designed to help Queensland teachers address mental health problems in the classroom,  
suggests social and emotional wellbeing has been linked to young people's schooling,  among other things.
The education aid has sparked a row in parliament(議會),  with deputy opposition leader Mark McArdle calling it "kooky,  loony,  loopy lefty policies."
     But Health Minister Stephen Robertson,  whose department devised the kit,  said youth suicide was
a serious issue."If mental health professionals determine that as one of a number of strategies teachers
should consider,  and then I'll support them every day,  "he told reporters recently."This is not a matter
for ridicule;  this is serious".
      According to some Australian mental health groups,  the greatest number of people with mental illness
is aged between 18 and 24 years,  with 14 percent of Australian children and adolescents suffering from
some sort of illness.Boys are slightly more likely to experience mental health problems than girls and
depression is one of the most common conditions among young people and increases during
adolescence,  the website of mental health group Mindframe said.

1. In this text the writer seems to suggest that ________.
A. teachers should not mark students' work in red pens
B. teachers should let peers to help their classmates every day
C. children should be encouraged to think of their strengths
D. teachers should not be so aggressive to their students

2. The "Good Mental Health Rocks" kit was designed for the purpose of ________.
A. developing the students' strengths instead of weaknesses
B. improving the students'health when they are at school
C. taking care of the students'mental health in the classroom
D. improving the teachers'teaching strategies in the classroom

3. From this text we can infer that ________.
A. a great many of people kill themselves every year
B. different people hold different opinions about the kit
C. students' mental health wasn't paid attention to before
D. red pens kill many young people every year at school

4. What's the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Most of the young people in Australia suffer from some kind of disease.
B. More and more people are suffering from depression in Australia.
C. Most children in Australia are in a poor state of health.
D. Adolescents are much easier to suffer from mental problems.

     Six astronauts are about to experience what it's like to travel to Mars and back, only without actually
leaving Earth.Three Russian astronauts will join three colleagues from other countries as they are locked
up together for a year and a half on a simulated(模仿的) mission to Mars.The mission is called Mars
500.
     The Mars500 mission at Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems will test the psychological and
physical effects of longterm isolation on humans.
    The group's leader, engineer Sytev, looks at the threesquaremeter place that will be his personal
habitation."This phone will work for only 11 days.When we are near the Earth, it will be switched off, "
said Sytev.Sytev is a newlywed.He says the most difficult thing will be to be separated from his wife and
the persons around him.He finds it difficult to leave some of his habits behind-all their activities will be
directed towards a certain goal and that he won't see sunsets, sunrises, won't feel rain for 18 months.
     After 250 days, three of the astronauts will simulate landing on Mars.The other three will wait for
them-in the mock spacecraft-for a month.All communication with Earth will be via email and will have as
much as a 40minute delay, like on a real Mars mission.
     Suvorov is a physician.He and other scientists will monitor the astronauts."This experiment is unique
because the six persons will be isolated for a long period of time, " noted Suvorov."They will have to
make decisions on their own and only then report to the Earth, and the Earth will tell them whether they
did the right thing or not."He says the experiment will pave the way for a real Mars journey later this
century."We are going to determine how much food and other products of daily use are needed, and
how people of different cultures, of different training can find common language and work on performing
their tasks, " added Suvorov.
      Mars500 is the third in a series of flight simulations.The earlier ones were shorter.The current
experiment is set to end in November 2011.

1. The underlined word "mock" in Paragraph 4 means ________.
A. simulated  B. advanced
C. small  D. comfortable

2. What do we learn about the Mars500 mission according to the text?
A. The base is located in New York, America.
B. It is a simulation program designed for the future space expedition.
C. All astronauts will spend 18 months in the spacecraft.
D. Astronauts can't use any mobile phone during the experiment.

3. What is the most difficult thing that Sytev will face during their training?
A. Standing the isolation and loneliness.
B. There existing a 40minute delay.
C. Lacking food and other products.
D. Being monitored by Suvorov and other scientists.

4. We can learn from Suvorov's words that ________.
A. it's hard for the astronauts to perform their tasks together
B. more experiments will be carried out for a real journey
C. the astronauts should learn to make decisions on their own
D. different cultures of the astronauts don't matter any more

     Today we tell you about some new understanding of why cutting the main branch of a plant or tree
can lead to better development.
     The findings are from researchers on two_continents.Professor Prezemyslaw Prusinkiewicz of the
University of Calgary in Canada led the research with scientists from Britain and Sweden.Their study
appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
     Researchers have known since the 1930s that the actively growing tip of a plant produces a hormone(荷爾蒙) called auxin(生長素). This hormone flows down the main stem.Scientists say the auxin has
an indirect effect on buds(芽) on the side of the stem to prevent branching.
     These buds themselves also produce auxin.The research suggests that to grow, they have to be able
to export the hormone into the main stem.But the flow from the stem tip prevents them from doing this.
The researchers wanted to find out how this blocking happens.
     Professor Prusinkiewicz is on leave in Australia, but he sent us an email suggesting a simple way to
underst and the process.Think of a major road crowded with traffic.So many cars are on the main road
that the cars on the side roads cannot enter.
      The stem is like the crowded main road.The new research shows that the buds on the side cannot
export their auxin into the main stem because it is too full.But if that main shoot is pruned(修剪), other
buds below it can start exporting.They are no longer prevented from growing.
     Ottoline Leyser from the University of York says that after a plant is pruned, all the inhibited(被抑制的) shoot tips compete with each other to grow.In doing this, the branches influence each other's growth.
Nearby shoot tips are more likely to affect each other than those that are far apart from each other.
      Professor Leyser says the strongest branches grow best, wherever they may be on the plant.The
study found that the main shoot grows the best of all not because of its position at the top of the plant,
but mostly because it got there first.

1. The underlined part "two continents" in Paragraph 2 refers to "________".
A. Asia and Africa  
B. Africa and Europe
C. North America and Europe
D. Australia and Europe

2. Professor Prusinkiewicz compares the cars on the side roads to ________.
A. plant stems  
B. plant buds
C. the leaves of a plant  
D. the roots of a plant

3. To make the buds on the side of the stem to grow better, the main shoot should ________.
A. be cut off
B. be protected
C. be watered as much as possible
D. be given much auxin

4. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Researchers have recently found out that the growing tip of a plant produces hormones.
B. Auxin has a direct effect on buds to keep branches from growing.
C. Buds on the side of the stem can't produce hormones.
D. In order to grow, the buds on the side of the stem export the hormones into the main stem.