2014届高考英语一轮复习话题阅读素材107-精选教育文档

2014届高考英语一轮复习话题阅读素材108Drawbacks of Public SchoolingJohn Taylor Gatto had just been named New York State Teacher of the Year nine years ago when he made a shocking announcement. After teaching 26 years in New York City public schools, he was quitting saying he could no longer continue to "hurt kids". Since then, Mr. Gatto has written and lectured extensively on the negative effects of compulsory schooling, which he believes, has become a destructive activity to lock people up and drill them and confine them with low-level abstractions.The following are excerpts from a recent interview:1. On why he wrote the book The Underground History of EducationI had a need to understand after 30 years of fairly successful teaching why the business had evolved the way it had. The first thing I learned was that the school world is not independent, but a subordinate industry to government and industry and commerce.2. On testingThere's no teacher worth his or her salt who, inside of a period at the start of a year, doesn't know who's going to get the As, who's going to get the Bs, who's going to cause trouble ... How do you know when you get a good haircut? You look in the mirror.What we've allowed to happen is for normal good judgment and wisdom to be set aside for some kind of mathematical scale. There's nothing a standardized test measures other than your ability to score well on the next standardized test.3. Some assumptions made in modern schoolingGovernment school is a central force of social cohesion. The certifiable expertise of school-teachers is superior to laypeople. Children will inevitably grow apart from parents in beliefs as they grow older, and this process must be encouraged.4. On curriculumThere is no scientific evidence justifying any particular subject selection, any sequence of subjects, any internal arrangements of time. There is no body of knowledge inaccessible to a motivated elementary school student. The rationing of learning by age is indefensible.5. On the role of the teacherThe balance of responsibility was once divided much differently. The assumption was that the kid would do 90 percent of the work and the teacher 10 percent. Sometime around the turn of the 20th century, that assumption was deliberately reversed.6. On the future of schoolsThe most effective reform is home-school revolution. Approximately 2 million people from all social classes and cultural backgrounds, in effect, set up privatelabs of education.。

话题2 家庭、朋友与周围的人(Family，friends and people around)Ⅰ.话题相关词汇1．祖先ancestor2．亲属；亲戚relative3．祖辈father4．家人family members5．邻居neighbour6．警察；巡警policeman7．会计；会计师accountant8．建筑师；设计师architect9．药剂师；化学家chemist10．诗人poet11．物理学家physicist12．教授professor13．记者；新闻通讯员newspaper reporter/journalist/interviewer14．教师；教员teacher15．训练人；教练trainer16．翻译家；译者translator17．同事；工友workmate18．专家expert/specialist19．运动员athlete/trainee/sportsman/player20．友谊friendship21．诚实honesty22．敏感的sensitive23．友好的friendly24．珍贵的precious25．通情达理的understanding26．仁慈的kind/merciful27．勇敢的brave/courageous28．时髦的fashionable/modern29．无价的priceless30．积极的；主动的 active31．无私的 selfless/unselfish32．体贴的 considerate33．精力旺盛的 energetic34．诚实的；正直的 honest35．完美的；极好的 perfect36．个人的；私人的 personal/private37．灵巧的，伶俐的；聪明的 smart38．挑战的 challenging39．热情的；热心的 enthusiastic40．代替；顶替 instead41．乐意地 willingly42．故意地 deliberatelyⅡ.话题相关词组1．熟知某人 know sb. well/be familiar ⎩⎪⎨⎪⎧with to2．和某人交朋友 make friends with sb.3．坚强的意志 a strong will4．一个亲密的朋友 a close friend5．相互信任 trust each other6．与……分享…… share...with sb.7．对……忠诚 be loyal to8．与……保持联系 keep in touch with sb.9．守信用；履行诺言 keep one's promise/word10．照顾 look after /take care of11．看不起；轻视 look down upon12．炫耀 show off13．坚持 stick to doing sth.14．向某人求助 turn to sb. for help/ask sb. for help15．乐意干某事 be willing to do sth.16．发展友谊 build up friendship17．训练某人干某事 train sb. to do sth./train sb. as...18．对……有热情 be enthusiastic about doing sth.19．面对挑战 face the challenge20．提供帮助offer help to sb.21．代替instead of/take the place of22．故意on purpose/by designⅢ.实用句型1．他不是个随和的人，很难相处好。

2014届高考英语一轮复习话题阅读素材8Two Basic Ways to See GrowthThere are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external result or product that can be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language -- all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition, it is a journey and not the specific signposts and landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution and courage, as they encounter new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In their process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to confront the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may fail at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow. Do we perceive ourselves as quick and curious? If so, then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we are shyand indecisive? Then our sense of timidity can cause us to hesitate, to move more slowly, and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we are slow to adapt to change or that we are not smart enough to cope with a new challenge? Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not to try at all.These feelings of insecurity and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we do not confront and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.。

2014届高考英语一轮复习话题阅读素材7paralleled that of Pearl Harbor and Kennedy assassination. We will be talking about the disastrous effect this day had on our country, and our lives as individuals, for years to come.It wasn't until a few weeks after September 11 that I began to see that perhaps some good did come from this tragedy. People seem different now, more understanding, more tolerant. Little things that seemed to be such a bother are no longer a big deal. Personally, I'm more patient than ever. I realize life is too short, and too precious to let myself get upset over trivial things. Life is also too short to carry resentments and so I've become more forgiving and understanding. I've also learned that you can't take things for granted. Things change in the blank of an eye. People go to work and don't come back. One minute they're living and next minute they are not. And it doesn't matter who you are; there is nothing you can do about it. We never know when our lives will be over. So we need to make the most of every minute we have.You try to learn from what happened. You can't be consumed by it. All you can do is just live.。

2019届高考英语一轮复习话题阅读素材80 Civil Rights Movement against Segregation in the USDuring and after World War II, challenges to segregation became more common and more successful. Three major factors accounted for this:-- The Great MigrationThe great migration was the movement of blacks from the Southern states to the Northern and Western ones for a range of reasons including better jobs, better schools, and a less racist environment. It began during World War I, continued during the 1930s, and expanded dramatically in the 1940s and 1950s. The great migration introduced millions of blacks to a world in which formal segregation did not exist and basic facilities, like transportation, restaurant, and public bathrooms, were open to all people. However, the North was not without racism. Blacks could not move to certain neighborhoods, were denied access to many jobs, and were informally segregated. But, despite segregation and exclusion by individuals, unions, and employers, blacks who moved to the North were able to love without the oppression of day-to-day segregation. They were thus better able to oppose legalized segregation in the South.-- Changes in American PoliticsWhile the great migration changed how black Americans lived, the Great Depression of the 1930s and the New Deal altered Americanpolitics by setting a precedent for government activism. The administration of President Franklin Roosevelt assumed a new role of intervening in society to ensure jobs, justice, and the prosperity of the American people, who were severely affected by the Depression. Roosevelt himself was liberal on race and appointed blacks to high offices. The president's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, made clear her hatred for segregation. In a gesture that symbolized a sharp break with previous administrations, she invited the National Council of Negro Women to have tea at the White House. By the eve of World War II, black voters regularly elected officials in a number of Northern states. These newly elected officials actively fought against segregation and racism although not always successfully.-- Social and Cultural ChangesA final drive to the civil rights movement was World War II. The struggle against Nazism forced some Americans to reconsider the legitimacy of racism in the United States. The Holocaust of six million Jews, merely because of their ethnicity, led some Americans to realize that racism could be a threat to democracy itself. Blacks also served in the military in unprecedented numbers. Thus, the war experience thought many people that equality was possible. Following the war, black veterans returned with a new sense of purpose. Joining them in the struggle against segregation was a better-educated and financially moresecure black middle class and working class living in the North. Many blacks had earned high wages in war industries, were members of industrial unions, and politically active. Finally, the postwar world forced the government to face the threat that segregation posed to international relations. After the war, many colonies in Asia and Africa gained their independence from European domination. At the same time, the Cold War struggle with the Communist Government of USSR forced the United States to seek the good will of these nations. Segregation undermined the nation's ability to negotiate with these new nations while giving the USSR ammunition in its propaganda war against the United States. Leaders of the American foreign policy establishment urged an end to segregation at home as a way of fighting Communism abroad.。

2019届高考英语一轮复习话题阅读素材68 Some Kids Are OrchidsMost of us think we know the kind of kid who becomes a killer, and most of the time we are right. Boys commit about 85% of all youth homicides, and in those cases about 90% conform to a pattern in which the line from bad parenting and bad environment is usually clear. Through my work, I see these boys in the courtroom and in prison with depressing regularity. Their lives start with abuse, neglect and emotional deprivation at home. Add the effects of racism, poverty, and the drug and gang cultures, and it is not surprising that in a violent society like ours, damaged children become deadly teens.But what about the other 10% of kids who kill: the boys who have loving parents and are not poor? What about smart privileged boys like Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris who killed over a dozen schoolmates in Columbine School? Are their parents to blame when these kids become killers? I have learned as a researcher in youth homicide cases that the answer is usually no.Most children are like dandelions; they thrive if given half a chance. Some are more like orchids. They do fine while young enough to be nurtured by loving parents, but wilt asadolescents subjected to peer competition, bullying and rejection, particularly in big high schools. Research shows that while most fragile children do fine in early childhood, 50% have significant adjustment problems once they enter adolescence. Then children respond to the influence of peers and the larger culture in the neighborhood and the nation. The US youth homicide rate is about 10 times higher than in Canada.The "normal" culture of adolescence today contains elements that are so nasty that it becomes hard for parents and teachers to distinguish what in a teenager's talk, dress and taste in music, films and video games indicate psychological trouble and what is simply a sign of the times. Most kids who adopt the Mafia lifestyle, or have multiple body piercings, or listen to savage music, or play the video game Doom are normal kids caught in a toxic culture.Intelligent kids with good social skills can be quite skillful at hiding who they really are from their parents. They may do this to avoid punishment, to escape being identified as "crazy", or to protect the parents they love from being disappointed or worried. Klebold successfully hid his inner turmoil from his loving parents. Anyway, how many parents are capable of thinking the worst of their son -- for example, thathe has murderous fantasies, or that he could go so far as to acting them out? Even if parents know their child as an individual, they may not understand what he is capable of when in company of another boy. Though it appears from public accounts that Harris was more prone t violence than Klebold, neither kid was likely to go on this killing rampage alone.I think many of us are too ready to blame good parents for how their children cope with a violent and coarse society. Even loving, attentive parents can lose children who are temperamentally vulnerable -- if they develop a secret life, get caught up in the dark side of the culture and form dangerous peer alliances. And that's the scary part for any parent to acknowledge.。

2014届高考英语一轮复习话题阅读素材11 The Theory of Cosmetic RelativityI am the kind of person who likes to be on time for things. I like to be early. Let's say I need to catch a flight leaving at 4 pm. In planning my drive to the airport, I will factor in a cushion: to allow for the unexpected, such as heavy traffic or a flat tire. Usually I am at the gate, ticket out, no later than 7:14 am. My wife is the other kind of person. For her, the ideal way to catch a plane would be to arrive at the airport as the plane was taking off. She'd stand at the end of the runway, and as the plane flew over her, it would snatch her up with a big hook.Part of this is a culture difference. I grew up in Wasp household, and my wife grew up in a Cuban household. Wasps tend to follow schedules strictly; Cubans tend to be more relaxed. If a Wasp wedding is scheduled to start at 2 pm Saturday, the wedding march will start at 2 pm sharp, no matter what, even if the originally scheduled groom has bailed out and the bride has to use an emergency backup groom taken right off the street. Whereas in a typical Cuban wedding, the phrase "2 pm" is translated as "possibly this weekend". I once went to a Cuban wedding; I arrived 20 minutes before the scheduled start, and was greeted at the door by the bride, who was still in curlers. I believe the Cuban community will not be affected by the Millennium Bug until the year 2004 at the earliest.But the difference between my wife and me is also gender-related.Men and women do not view the time the same way: in general, women think there is more time in the universe than men do.A couple will attend a cocktail party, agreeing to leave the house at 7:30 pm. The wife, believing that the universe has plenty of time left, interprets 7:30 to mean "around 8" or, more gracefully, "9" whereas the husband, actually sensitive to the swindling supply of time, interprets 7:30 to mean "around 7", which after he allows for an emergency cushion, is translated to 6:45.By 7:25, the husband is a nervous wreck. By his figuring, they are almost two hours late for the party. So he tries to alert her to the urgency of the situation via the Universal Husband Signaling Method, which is jingling his keys. This makes is wife crazy. She's thinking, "Why is he jingling already? We have tons of time!" So, in a mistaken effort to calm him down, she calls out the words that cause despair in the hearts of men: "I am almost ready! I am just putting on my make-up!" To the husband, these two statements contradict each other. It is like saying "You can believe me! I am Bill Clinton!" Because to the husband, "I'm just putting on my make-up" means "I'm painstakingly applying 450 coats of beauty products to my face using an applicator the width of a human hair."Granted, the wife can do this in seven minutes, but it means much longer to the husband because of Albert Einstein's Theory of Cosmetic Relativity, which states "every minute that a wife spends putting onmakeup is experienced as 45 minutes by a husband who has reached the key-jingling stage." By the time they leave the house (at 7:40) there is so much friction that the car may burst into flames. If they make it to the party, the husband, trying to keep on schedule, will immediately want to leave.。