Q: One of the latest trend  in American Childcare is Chinese au pairs. Au Pair in Stamford, for example, has got increasing numbers of request for Chinese au pairs from aero to around 4,000 since 2004. And that's true all across the country. "I thought it would be useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age" Joseph Stocke, the managing director of s company, says of his 2-year old son. "I would at least like to  give him the chance to use the language in the future," After only six months of being cared by 25-year-old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says. Li Drake, a Chinese native raising two children in Minnesota with an American husband, had another reason for looking for an au pair from China. She didn't want her children to miss out on their roots." Because I am Chinese, my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to  the language and culture." she says. "Staying with a native speaker is better for children than simply sitting in a classroom," says Suzanne Flynn, a professor in language education of Children."But parents must understand that just one year with au pair is unlikely to produce wonders.  Complete mastery demands continued learning until the age of 10 or 12." The popularity if au pairs from china has been strengthened by the increasing numbers of American parents who want their children who want their children to learn Chinese. It is expected that American demand for au pairs will continue to rise in the next few years. Li Drake has her children study Chinese because she wants them   _  . A) to live in China some day B) to speak the language at home C) to catch up wit other children D) to learn about the Chinese culture
A: D


Q: Sleep deprivation is an important hidden factor in lowering the achievement of school pupils, according to researchers carrying out international education tests. It is a particular problem in richer countries with sleep experts linking it to the use of mobile phones and computers in bedroom late at night. Sleep deprivation is such a serious problem that lessons have to be dragged down to a lower level to suit sleep-deprived learners, the study found. The international comparison, carried out by Boston College, found the United States to have the highest number of sleep-deprived students, with 73% of 9- and 10-year-olds and 80% of 13- and 14-year-olds identified by their teachers as being negatively affected. In literacy  tests there were 76% of 9- and 10-year-olds lacking sleep. This was much higher than the international average of 47% of primary pupils needing more sleep and 57% among the secondary age group. Other countries with the most sleep-deprived youngsters were New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, England, Ireland and France. High-performing Finland is also among the most lacking in sleep. Countries with the best records for getting enough sleep include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Japan and Malta. The analysis was part of the huge date-gathering process for global education rankings, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study(TIMSS)and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study(PIRLS) "I think we underestimate the impact of sleep. Our data show that across countries internationally, on average, children who have more sleep achieve higher in maths, science and reading. That is exactly what our data show," says Chad Minnich of the TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center. "It's the same link for children who are lacking basic nutrition," says Mr Minnich, based at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. "If you are unable to concentrate, to attend mentally, you are unable to achieve at your best level, because your mind and body are in need of... Which of the following countries has the most sleep-deprived students? A) Japan B) Malta C) Finland D) Portugal
A: C


Q: My family and I lived across the street from Southway Park since I was four years old. Then just last year the city put a chain link fence around the park and started bulldozing the trees and grass to make way for a new apartment complex. When I saw the fence and bulldozers, I asked myself,"Why don't they just leave it alone?" Looking back, I think what sentenced the park to oblivion was the drought we had about four years ago. Up until then, Southway Park was a nice green park with plenty of trees and a public swimming pool. My friends and I rollerskated on the sidewalks, climbed the trees, and swam in the pool all the years I was growing up. The park was almost like my own yard. Then the summer I was fifteen the drought came and things changed. There had been almost no rain at all that year. The city stopped watering the park grass. Within a few weeks I found myself living across the street from a huge brown desert. Leaves fell off the park trees, and pretty soon the trees started dying, too. Next, the park swimming pool was closed. The city cut down on the work force that kept the park, and pretty soon it just got too ugly and dirty to enjoy anymore. As the drought lasted into the fall, the park got worse every month. The rubbish piled up or blew across the brown grass. Soon the only people in the park were beggars and other people down on their luck. People said drugs were being sold or traded there now. The park had gotten scary, and my mother told us kids not to go there anymore. The drought finally ended and things seemed to get back to normal, that is, everything but the park. It had gotten into such bad shape that the city just let it stay that way. Then about six months ago I heard that the city was going to"redevelop"certain wornout areas of the city. It turned out that the city had planned to get rid of the park, sell the land and let someone build rows of apartment buildings on it. The chainlink fencing and the bulldozers did their work. Now we live across the street from six rows of apartment... The last sentence of the passage implies that if another drought came,   _   . A) the situation would be much worse B) people would have to desert their homes C) the city would be fully prepared in advance D) the city would have to redevelop the neighborhood
A: A


Q: As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how. In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood thatthe computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it. In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder  . Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location   better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called "transactive memory  ". According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn't mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing. What can we learn about the first experiment? A) Sparrow's team typed the information into a computer. B) The two groups remembered the information equally well. C) The first group did not try to remember the formation. D) The second group did not understand the information.

A: C