一、选择题 在每小题列出的四个备选项中选择一个最佳答案。
Looking back on my childhood, I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental arithmetic.
Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal-clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.
I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil, reading about other people's observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle, because it all seems to fit together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some might honor with the title of scientific research.
But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist; one of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made. A naturalist is born. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds. Move over Methuselah. Future generations could be living well into their second century and still doing Sudoku, if life expectancy predictions are true. Increasing by two years every decade, they show no signs of flattening out. Average lifespan worldwide is already double what it was 200 years ago. Since the 19808, experts thought the increase in life expectancy would slow down and then stop, but forecasters have repeatedly been proved wrong.
The reason behind the steady rise in life expectancy is "the decline in the death rate of the elderly", says Professor Tom Kirkwood from Newcastle University. He maintains that our bodies are evolving to maintain and repair themselves better and our genes are investing in this process to put off the damage which will eventually lead to death. As a result, there is no ceiling imposed by the realities of the ageing process. "There is no use-by-date when we age. Ageing is not a fixed biological process," Tom says.
A large study of people aged 85 and over carried out by Professor Kirkwood discovered that there were a remarkable number of people enjoying good health and independence in their late 80s and beyond. With people reaching old age in better shape, it is safe to assume that this is all due to better eating habits, living conditions, education and medicine.
There are still many people who suffer from major health problems, but modern medicine means doctors are better at managing long-term health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. "We are reaching old age with less accumulative damage than previous generations. We are less damaged," says Professor Kirkwood. Our softer lives and the improvements in nutrition and healthcare have had a direct impact on longevity.
Nearly one-in-five people currently in the UK will live to see their 100th birthday, the Office for National Statistics predicted last year. Life expectancy at birth has continued to increase in the UK—from 73.4 years for the period 1991 to 1993 to 77.85 years for 2007 to 2009. A report in Science from 2002 which looked at life expectancy patterns in different countries since 1840 concluded that there was no sign of a natural limit to life.
Researchers Jim Oeppen and Dr. James Vaupel found that people in the country with the highest life expectancy would live to an average age of 100 in about six decades. But they stopped short of predicting anything more.
"This is far from eternity: modest annual increments in life expectancy will never lead to immortality," the researchers said.
We do not seem to be approaching anything like the limits of life expectancy, says Professor David Leon from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "There has been no flattening out of the best of the best—the groups which everyone knows have good life expectancy and low mortality," he says.
These groups, which tend to be in the higher social and economic groups in society, can live for several years longer than people in lower social groups, prompting calls for an end to inequalities within societies.
Within populations, genes also have an important role to play in determining how long we could survive for—but environment is still the most important factor.
It is no surprise that healthy-living societies like Japan have the highest life expectancies in the world. But it would still be incredible to think that life expectancy could go on rising forever. "I would bet there will be further increases in life expectancy and then it will probably begin to slow," says Tom, "but we just don't know." 二、简答题 根据题目要求完成下列任务，用中文作答。
1. 一位英语教师在教学过程中，常常模拟情景，强调语法服从功能，重视学生表达的流利性和得体性，鼓励即席反应。请问该教师采用了哪种教学法?该教学法有什么优点和不足?
(1)该教师采用了交际法。
(2)交际法的优点：
①有利于培养学生的语言运用能力和学以致用的意识。
②强调学生的主动性和互动性。
③课堂上的交际活动以学生为主体，有利于激发学生的学习兴趣、钻研精神和自学能力。
交际法的不足：
①交际法要求根据学生需要来选择教学内容，确定教学要求。这对于我国实际情况来说是不现实的。我国的学生学习英语不是目前生存的需要，没有融合型动机，大部分学生的需求只是知识和能力的提高。
②交际法主要适合小班型教学，学生使用语言的机会多。而我们国家目前中学的班型都在45人左右，甚至更多，学生使用外语交流的机会相对较少，不利于表现出交际法的优势。
四、教学设计题 根据提供的信息和语言素材设计教学方案，用英文作答。
1. 设计任务：请阅读下面学生信息和语言素材，设计一节英语读写课的教学方案。教案没有固定格式，但须包含下列要点：
● teaching objectives
● teaching contents
● key and difficult points
● major steps and time allocation
● activities and justifications
教学时间：45分钟
学生概况：某城镇普通中学七年级(初中一年级)学生，班级人数40人，多数已经达到《义务教育英语课程标准(2011版)》三级水平，学生课堂参与积极性一般。
语言素材：
[参考设计]
Teaching Contents: A lesson about describing the weather.
Teaching Objectives:
Knowledge objectives
(1) Students could master these following words.
rain, windy, cloudy, sunny, snow, weather
(2) Students could master these following sentence patterns.
How's the weather?
It's cloudy. / It's sunny. / It's raining.
Ability objective
Students could know how to describe the weather.
Emotional objectives
(1) According to the guide of teaching, students could cultivate the good habits of protecting environment and other natural resources.
(2) According to talk about the weather, students could learn how to get on well with others.
Teaching Key Points:
Master the vocabularies and sentence patterns expertly.
Teaching Difficult Point:
Learn how to describe different weather in different places.
Teaching Aid:
Multi-media
Teaching Procedures:
Step 1 Lead in (5 minutes)
The teacher uses multi-media to present some pictures of different weather.
T: "There are many different weather in different seasons. Different weather has different meanings to our life. This class we will learn the weather. Now everyone has to speak out different kinds of weather as many as possible and the one who speak out the most will get a red paper star."
(Justification: These pictures on the screen can help students to know what they will learn this class. The brainstorming will stimulate their interests and incentives.)
Step 2 Presentation (15 minutes)
(1) The teacher plays the tape and asks them listen to the tape recorder and guess the weather. At the same time, write the important sentence pattern "How's the weather?" on the blackboard.
(2) Guide students to observe the weather in the five places, then finish la.
(3) Make students listen to the tape, and then write the right places (1b) in the boxes above (1a).
(Justification: At this step, their ability of listening for specific information will be well developed, and their participation will increase. The teacher also could guide them to speak out the key sentences.)
Step 3 Practice (10 minutes)
(1) Pair work
① Two students in a pair, speak out the weather in the five places, and check the answer of 1b.
② Make a dialogue to ask the weather.
S1: How's the weather?
S2: It's rainny. How's the weather in Beijing?
S1: It's sunny.
(2) Group work
The teacher gives a sentence pattern "Look! The weather in ... is ...". Let students complete the sentence by using the words they have learned. Ten students in a group, which group do the best in ten minutes will be given some gifts after the class.
(Justification: This step is mainly to practice their speaking and listening skills by putting the knowledge into their daily life. This activity can let them enjoy the study.)
Step 4 Consolidation (10 minutes)
Students should write down the words they have heard from the teacher. Then cheek the words, if there is a mistakes, they need more practice after class.
(Justification: This step will make students realize their mistakes, and know how to review after class.)
Step 5 Summary and Homework (5 minutes)
Summary:
Target language:
How's the weather? / What's the weather like?
It's cloudy. / It's Sunny. / It's raining.
Homework:
Review the new words learned in this class and try to make sentences with them.
(Justification: Homework can help students to consolidate the knowledge what they have learned on the class.)
Blackboard Design:
How's the weather?
It's cloudy. / It's sunny. / It's raining.
深色：已答题 浅色：未答题