【试题分析】
今年英语考试共有3篇阅读，15小题，每小题3分，共45分。而且很多同学反映今年的阅读理解考细节题较多，少数考理解题，一般很容易可以从原文中找出答案。阅读占得考试比重较大，一般来说又不太难，同学们应该将阅读作为复习的重点。
【真题模拟】
Some people say the traditional calendar of 180 days no longer meets the needs of American society. They point out that students in most other industrial countries are in school more hours a day and more days a year. Critics also say a long summer vacation causes students to forget much of what they learned and schools are under pressure to raise test scores. Some schools have changed their calendars to try to improve student performance. They have lengthened the school day or added days to the year or both. This can be costly if schools need air conditioning on hot days and school employees need to be paid for the extra time.
Some schools have a year-round schedule. The school year is extended over twelve months. Instead of a long vacation, there are many short ones. Local businesses may object to a longer school year because students are unable to work as long at summer jobs. Some parts of the country had year- round programs in the nineteenth century, mostly for economic reasons. They felt it wasted money to use school buildings for only part of the year. Year-round programs can also reduce crowding in schools. In one version, students attend school for nine weeks and then have three weeks off. The students are in groups that are not all in school at the same time.
Another year-round calendar has all students in school together for nine weeks and off for three. This is meant to provide the continuous learning that can be lost over a long break. But year-round schooling has opponents. They say it can cause problems for families when they want to make summer plans. And they say it interferes with activities outside school -- including summer employment.
Some experts say no really good studies have been done to measure the effect of school calendars on performance. But some educators think year-round schooling especially helps students from poor families that lack educational support at home.
56. The best title for the passage seems to be
A) Debating upon Year-round Schooling
B) Advantages of Year-round Education
C) Disadvantages of a Long Summer Vacation
D) Different Types of School Calendars
57. Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons that schools should extend school days?
A) The traditional calendar is out of date.
B) Long holidays cause students to forget much of what they learned.
C) Schools face pressure to raise test marks.
D) Schools in other countries do so.
58. There were year-round programs in the 19th century because of _
A) the need of science
B) the need of research
C) economic reasons
D) political reasons
59. Those against year-round schooling argue that
A) it does little to help improve students\' performance at school
B) it may cause leaming weariness
C) it will not have much educational value
D) it affects students\' activities outside school
60. We lean from the passage that year-round schooling
A) will enable students to raise their scores
B) is expected to get under way soon
C) remains a controversial issue
D) is approved by the government
【参考译文】
有些人说，【56】传统的每年180天的学校安排已经不能满足美国社会的需要了。他们指出，在其它大部分工业国家，学生每天在学校的时间更长，每年在学校的天数也更多。评论家同时也指出暑期长假导攻学生把他们所学的很多知识都遗忘了，而且学校在提高学生考试分数上也有压力。
为尽力提高学生的成绩，一些学校已经更改了校历。它们或延长学生每天在校的时间，或增加学生每年在校的天数，或两者兼顾。如果学校在大热天需要开空调，需要为教职工额外的工作时间支付薪水，这可能花费会很高。一些学校制定了全年课程表。12个月中每个学年都延长了。有的学校安排了很多短假，来代替一个长假。当地的企业也许不喜欢每学年更长，因为学生可能就不能长时间地做暑期工作了。
【58】十九世纪时，美国一部分地区就实行了全年课程安排垒，当时大部分处于经济上的原因。 学校的建筑每年只有部分时间在使用，他们感觉这是在浪费钱。全年课程安排同时也能缓解学校内的拥挤状况。其中一种安排是，学生上学九周，然后放假三周。这样学生们分成若干小组，不同组的学生不会同时在校。 另外一种全年校历是让全校学生一起在校九周，然后放假三周。这就意味着能保证学生持续性的学习不会因为经过一个长的假期而间断。但是也有人反对全年学校教育。他们说，【59】这会给打算做暑假安排的家庭带来丕便。他们还说，这与校外活动有冲突——包括暑假招工。
【60】一些专家表示还尚未进行有实质的研究来衡量校历对学生成绩的影响。但是一些教育学家认为全年学校教育尤其能帮助来自贫困家庭，在家缺乏教育支持的学生。
【答案详解】
56. The best title for the passage seems to be __.( 看起来文章最好的标题是 __.)
A) Debating upon Year-round Schooling （有关全年教学的争论）
B) Advantages of Year-round Education （全年教学的优点 ）
C) Disadvantages of a Long Summer Vacation（暑期长假的缺点）
D) Different Types of School Calendars （不同类型的校历）
【解析】 A。主旨题。本文主要讨论了学校是否该实行全年教学，很多专家和社会人士就此发表了各自的看法，有人反对，也有人赞同。
57. Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons that schools should extend school days? (以下哪项不是学校延长在校时间的原因? )
A) The traditional calendar is out of date. (传统校历过时了)
B) Long holidays cause students to forget much of what they leamed. (长假导致学生遗忘很多他们所学的东西)
C) Schools face pressure to raise test marks. (学校在提高考试分数上有压力)
D) Schools in other countries do so.(其他国家的学校这样做)
【解析】 D。细节题。文章第一段提到学校传统的教学日历已不能满足美国社会的需求，社会批评家认为过长的假期易使学生忘记所学知识。另外，学校也面临着提高学生考试成绩的压力。因此A，B，C三个选项中的内容都是题干所问内容的原因，而D不是，故选D。
58. There were year-round programs in the 19th century because of__. (19世纪就有全年学校安排了，是由于______.)
A) the need of science ( 科学需要)
B) the need of research ( 研究需要)
C) economic reasons (经济上的原因)
D) political reasons （政治上的原因）
【解析】C.细节题，第三段开头“十九世纪时，美国一部分地区就实行了全年课程安排垒，当时大部分处于经济上的原因。”
59. Those against year-round schooling argue that-____.（哪些反对全年教竽的人认为____ )
A) it does little to help improve students\' performance at school（这对提高学生在校成绩没多大帮助)
B) it may cause learning-weariness (这会导致厌学)
C) it will not have much educational value (这没多少教育价值 )
D) it affects Students\' activities outside school (这会影响学生校外的生活)
【解析】 D。细节题。第四段第三句开始陈述了反对全年教学者的理由，他们认为全年教学会影响家庭在暑期的度假计划，也会影响学生参加校外的活动，包括打工。
60. We learn from the passage that year-round schooling__(从文章中我们得知全年教学___).
A) will enable students to raise their scores （使学生能够提高他们的分数)
B) is expected to get under way soon (有望很快实行)
C) remains a controversial issue (仍旧是一个有争议性的问题)
D) is approved by the government (得到了政府的同意)
【解析】C。推理题。最后一段中专家指出目前还没有研究明确地表明全年教育有怎样的效果，由此可推出全年教育仍是一个有争议性的问题。
