星火：2008年12月英语六级模拟试卷样题及解析

　　This year promises to show a quantum leap in the spread of school technology: Parents in many districts can expect to be able to check the school lunch menu, read class notes, see activity calendar and view nightly homework assignments-all online. "The schools are wired, "says Carson. "A majority of parents now have access and the educators are ready to go. "

　　Over the summer, parents of high school German students in Ithaca, N. Y. got to be part of a class to Europe, through their home computers. The class brought a digital camera and laptop with them to Germany and documented their visit on their web page. Hazy Ash, father of 16-year-old traveler Brian, found it reassuring to see his son's smiling face from half a world away. Before their kids left, parents had checked the site for scheduling information, a list of activities and advice on cultural differences.

　　When it's designed well, a district, school or classroom website can change the relationship between the parents and the school, says Cynthia Lapier, Ithaca's director of information and instructional technology. "The more you can involve parents in school, the better, "Lapier says. "The technology gives us another way to reach them, especially parents of secondary school students, who tend to be less involved. "

　　Ithaca high school physics teacher, Stever Wirt, gets e-mail from parents regular1y, some from the parents he believes might otherwise not pick up the phone with a concern. Using software called Blackboard Course Info, Wirt conducts online chats with his students often reviewing for a quiz or discussing homework problems.

　　The way things are going, by the end of this year, many parents may be fully converted-and in fact dependent upon their schools' technological capabilities. At a recently wired school in Novi, Michigan, the school webmaster was just a few hours late posting the lunch-menu calendar on the website. In that time, more than a dozen parents called him by telephone to request the information. "A year ago, it never would have been there, "says Carson. And now parents are finding it's tough to get by without it.

　　52. Many parents now remember the teacher's e-mail address and the school's website because __________.

　　A) by doing so they needn't go to the store to buy stationery for their children

　　B) they can reach their children's school and the teachers without traveling there

　　C) the e-mail and the website can help them find out what their children do

　　D) they can observe how the Internet affect their children's education every day

　　53. "The schools are wired. A majority of parents now have access and the educators are ready to go. "(Lines 3-4, Para. 2) means that __________.

　　A) the schools and parents are connected by the Internet so that teachers will leave school

　　B) parents can find out what happens to their children in school by visiting Internet

　　C) parents and educators may discover that schools are strange by using computers

　　D) the schools are online and parents now can teach their children and the teachers are to go

　　54. The example of Ithaca high school is used to show __________.

　　A) how important the school website is for parents to be involved in education

　　B) that the school online can reassure the parents about what their children do

　　C) how the parents of the students got to be part of a class trip to Europe

　　D) it is more likely for parents to send teachers e-mails than to phone them

　　55. According to the last paragraph, the attitude of parents towards the lunch-menu calendar on the website is.

　　A) reliant B) optimistic C) baised D) opposite

　　56. According to this passage，which of the following will be changed most?

　　A) The relationship between teachers and schools.

　　B) The connection between students and schools.

　　C) The relationship between parents and schools.

　　D) The association between websites and schools.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

　　Traffic statistics paint a gloomy picture. To help solve their traffic woes, some rapidly growing U. S. cities have simply built more roads. But traffic experts say building more roads is a quick fix solution that will not alleviate the traffic problem in the long run. Soaring land costs, increasing concern over social and environmental disruptions caused by road-building, and the likelihood that more roads can only lead to more cars and traffic are powerful factors bearing down on a 1950s' style constructions program.