Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students　1  and some teachers teach.

More than 175，000 students　2  the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital　3  in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from　4  to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.

Luke Rosa is a history teacher at Falls Church High School. His　5  work on school laptop computers. He explains the idea to them this way: "I mean, it's just like a　6  textbook, except it's got it all online."

Peter Noonan, a leader of schools, says with electronic textbooks, publishers can quickly　7  the content with the latest information. He says: "The world's changing 　8  . And the online textbooks can change right along with the events that are happening."  He says digital books also cost　9  than printed textbooks: "Usually it's in the neighborhood of between fifty and seventy dollars to　10  a textbook for each student, which adds up to　11  eight million dollars for all of our students in Fairfax County. We　12  have purchased all of the online textbooks for our students for just under six million dollars."

But the students also need　13  to the Internet when they are not at school. About ten percent of students in Fairfax County do not have a computer or online access at　14  . Stephen Castillo is one of them. He has to go the public library, which has free　15  .

I was feeling sad because my mother was out of job. It left me wondering 　16   was going to happen to us.

I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. Then I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked much　17   (slow) so I could find out where it was coming 　18  . Through the crowd I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her.  She was singing songs　19    love and keeping on trying, and not underestimating（低估） the power within yourself. The way she was singing comforted me a bit. I stood there 　20  (watch) her play for about fifteen minutes, thinking that 　21   must take courage to perform on her own in the middle of a crowd. 

She must have felt my presence because she would occasionally look in my direction. By now I was telling 　22  that if she could perform in front of hundreds of people 　23  she didn't know, I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked over，　24   (put) some money in her carriage and said, "Thank you. I have been going through a rough time lately, but you've made me 　25  (hope) again."

Whether we’re 2 years old or 62, our reasons for lying are mostly the same: to get out of trouble, for personal gain and to make ourselves look better in the eyes of others. But a growing body of research is raising questions about how a child’s lie is different from an adult’s lie, and how the way we deceive changes as we grow.

“Parents and teachers who catch their children lying should not be alarmed. Their children are not going to turn out to be abnormal liars,” says Dr. Lee, a professor at the University of Toronto and director of the Institute of Child Study. He has spent the last 15 years studying how lying changes as kids get older, why some people lie more than others as well as which factors can reduce lying. The fact that children tell lies is a sign that they have reached a new developmental stage. Dr. Lee conducted a series of studies in which they bring children into a lab with hidden cameras. Children and young adults aged 2 to 17 are likely to lie while being told not to look at a toy, which is put behind the child’s back. Whether or not the child takes a secret look is caught on tape.

For young kids, the desire to cheat is big and 90% take a secret look in these experiments. When the test-giver returns to the room, the child is asked if he or she looked secretly. At age 2, about a quarter of children will lie and say they didn’t. By 3, half of kids will lie, and by 4, that figure is 90%, studies show.

Researchers have found that it’s kids with better understanding abilities who lie more. That’s because to lie you also have to keep the truth in mind, which includes many brain processes, such as combining several sources of information and faking that information. The ability to lie — and lie successfully  — is thought to be related to development of brain regions that allow so called “executive functioning”, or higher order thinking and reasoning abilities. Kids who perform better on tests that involve executive functioning also lie more.

26. What’s the purpose of children telling lies?

A. To help their friends out.

B. To get rid of trouble.

C. To get attention from others.

D. To create a popular image.

27. The underlined word “deceive” in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by “       ”.

A. tell lies

B. handle troubles

C. raise questions

D. do research

28. From the second paragraph we can know that       .

A. which factors can reduce lying

B. why some lie more than others

C. it is normal for kids to tell lies

D. how lying changes as kids grow

29. It can be inferred from the passage that        .

A. children’s lies are the same as adults’

B. the better kids are, the more they lie

C. the older kids are, the more they lie

D. kids always keep the truth in their mind

30. What is NOT included in the passage?

A. The reasons why kids tell lies.

B. Which kind of kids tells more lies.

C. Experiments about lying of young kids.

D. What to do with lying children.

After three years on horseback, Tim Cope has followed the route of Genghis Khan(成吉思汗) and other Asian nomads(游牧民族) who crossed into Europe over the centuries.

The 28-year-old Australian arrived in Hungary on Saturday, Sept. 22, ending a 6200-mile travel through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Southern Russia and Ukraine. Surrounded by his traveling companions — his dog and three horses, Cope said,“I’m very happy to be here. Sometimes I didn’t think I would ever arrive.”

Cope was inspired to make the horseback journey during a bicycle trip from Moscow to Beijing. Trying to push his bike through the sands of the Gobi Desert, Cope watched in frustration as nomad horsemen appeared out of nowhere and disappeared over the horizon.

That got him interested in nomad life and the journey by ancient Asian groups. He set off from Mongolia in 2004 for a trip he thought would take 18 months. It ended up taking three years, and in late 2006, he had to return to Australia for several months when his father died in a car crash.

Cope quickly learned to trust the wisdom of locals. “In Mongolia, the nomads always told me that wolves were the most dangerous things and I didn’t believe them at first.” he said. Then one night he found himself surrounded by wolves. “When you hear that cry alone at night in the forest, it’s one of the most frightening sounds you’ll ever hear,” Cope said. “After that I took their advice and threw firecrackers out my tent door every night to keep the wolves away.”

Cope says he probably spent about half of his nights in his tent and the rest in farm houses and huts of strangers along the way. “In Kazakhstan, they believe that if you invite a guest, luck will fly into your house.”

Cope wants to write a book and shoot a film about his voyage, and is already imagining future adventures in northwest China and the Middle East.

“It’s my way of life. It was not just a trip,” Cope said. “I’ll be back in the saddle(马鞍) as soon as I can.”

31. Tim Cope decided to make the horseback journey because      .

A. it was impossible to make the journey by bike

B. Genghis Khan was the person he admired most

C. he wanted to visit Hungary where he had never been

D. he was fascinated by the life of nomad horsemen

32. What is the correct time order of the following events?

a. Tim Cope went through the Gobi desert.

b. Tim Cope arrived in Hungary.

c. Tim Cope left Mongolia.

d. Tim Cope returned to Australia.

A. a-c-d-b

B. c-d-b-a

C. b-a-c-d

D. c-a-d-b

33. Tim Cope arrived in Hungary in         .

A. March, 2004

B. March, 2006

C. September, 2006

D. September, 2007

34. Cope’s words underlined in the last paragraph mean that he will       .

A. come back to Australia

B. devote his life to adventures

C. travel on horseback soon

D. take this journey again

35. The passage is mainly about         .

A. an Australian’s ambition to take adventures

B. a rider who completes a horseback journey

C. a modern young man who lives nomad life

D. following Genghis Khan to cross into Europe

When a first-time father saw his newborn son, he immediately noticed the baby's ears obviously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern to the nurse that some children might tease his child. A doctor examined the baby and reassured the new dad that his son was healthy- the ears presented only a minor problem with its appearance.

But the nervous father persisted. He wondered if the child might suffer psychological effects of ridicule, or if they should consider plastic surgery(整形手术). The nurse assured him that it was really no problem, and he should just wait to see if the boy grows into his ears.

The father finally felt more optimistic about his child, but now he worried about his wife's reaction to those large ears. She had been delivered by operation, and had not yet seen the child.

“She doesn't take things as easily as I do,” he said to the nurse.

By this time, the new mother was settled in the recovery room and ready to meet her new baby. The nurse went along with the dad to lend some support in case this inexperienced mother became upset about her baby's large ears.

The baby was in a receiving blanket with his head covered for the short trip through the cold air-conditioned corridor. The baby was placed in his mother's arms, who eased the blanket back so that she could look at her child for the first time.

She took one look at her baby's face and looked to her husband and gasped, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”

No problem with Mom. She married those ears...and she loves the man to whom they are attached.

The poet Kahlil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” It's hard to see the ears when you're looking into the light.

36. When the father first saw his baby, he was worried that________.

A. The baby might not grow up healthily.

B. The baby might be laughed at by others.

C. The baby might disappoint its mother.

D. the baby might have mental problems.

37. According to the doctor and nurse, the baby’s ears________.

A. could not function well.

B. looked the same as others.

C. only caused a small problem.

D. needed to have plastic surgery.

38. What is true about the baby’s mother?

A. She blamed her husband for the baby’s big ears.

B. She was the first to discover the baby’s large ears.

C. She suggested having an operation on the baby immediately.

D. She found something similar between the baby and its father.

39. What does the underlined word they refer to?

A. The ears.    B The parents.   C. The doctor and nurse.   D. The problems

40. What’s the function of the last paragraph?

A. To advise readers to listen carefully.

B. To draw a conclusion from the story.

C. To criticize the wrong attitude to physical beauty.

D. To stress the importance of doctor-patient relationship.