The last paragraph is mainly concerned with______.A．the urgent need to add time to the sch

Paragraph 5 argues that American students______.

A．spend less time in schools than in some other nations

B．fall behind international students due to less time in school

C．spend more time in schools than in some other nations

D．are lazier than those in such countries as Japan and Korea

According to Paragraph 4, longer school days______.

A．force rich families to provide additional tutoring for their children

B．help narrow income gaps between rich and poor in the United States

C．increase the opportunities of employment for the underprivileged

D．benefit poor families by providing the children with additional classes

As a result of extended school days,______.

A．teachers in related schools can benefit financially

B．teachers have fewer opportunities to interact

C．quality instruction has become hardly accessible

D．students spent 20% more time on math than on other subjects

schools offer extended learning by adding extra time to the school day or increasing the length of the school year. Some states are moving to this type of schedule in an attempt to increase student achievement. Is it worthwhile? Longer days allow for more instruction in core classes, individualized attention and additional tutoring time for struggling students. Schools that switched to longer days reported significant gains in language arts, math and science. The most notable change was a gain of about 20 percent more proficiency in math from 2006 to 2010. However, the additional time must be accompanied by quality instruction to have an impact. Longer school days also have positive implications for teachers, allowing for more collaboration with colleagues, planning time and opportunities for on-campus professional development. Some districts that use extended time have raised salaries and increased benefits to compensate teachers for the extra hours. Longer days can also help close the achievement gap between socioeconomic groups. Families who can afford it often supplement their childrens education with additional classes and tutoring. With longer days, children from less-wealthy families would have these same opportunities. Students in schools with extended days average seven hours of instruction in art, music and physical education, which is double the national average. Advocates of longer days argue that American students spend less time in school than their counterparts in other nations and are consequently lagging behind. In fact, American students attend school for 900 to 1,000 hours per year. Finland, which consistently performs well on standardized tests, averages 608 hours of instruction at the elementary level per year. By middle school, many American students have received many more instructional hours than students in Japan, Korea and Finland, yet these three countries continue to post high scores. Additional time in school means more energy costs, higher salaries and more resources. While adding time appears to have positive effects, it comes at a cost that some schools cannot afford. Adding time to the school day increases school budgets an additional 6 to 20 percent more per year. Cash-strapped schools may not be able to cover this additional cost without revising their budgets. The question that schools must answer is whether the additional instruction and enrichment time is worth the additional costs.

Some schools in the U.S. add extra time to the school day or school year to______.

A．demand larger school budgets

B．make more money out of the students

C．help take care of young students

D．improve students academically

What is the worst problem in a meeting?

A．There is no "going forward" plan.

B．There is no one in charge.

C．There are too many attendees.

D．There are too many rules.

Which of the following statements would Michael Feiner agree with?

A．Consensus may go against creativity.

B．Consensus lays the foundation for success.

C．Consensus is essential to decision-making.

D．Consensus requires sacrifice of individual interests.

By "our meeting," Michael Feiner means that it is important to______.

A．make attendees feel at ease

B．clarify the purpose of meetings

C．increase the efficiency of meetings

D．arouse the enthusiasm of attendees

What does "clams up"(Para. 4)probably mean?

A．Works in a high spirit.

B．Keeps their mouth shut.

C．Feels at a loss.

D．Pays great attention.

What does Teri Schwartz mean by the example of plane crashes?

A．Success of a meeting does not come easily.

B．It takes skills to run a successful meeting.

C．The beginning and ending are vital for meetings.

D．The importance of meetings cannot be overstated.

r will achieve, its full potential, that word would be meetings." Thus spoke humorist Dave Barry, and many of us would agree. But it doesnt have to be this way. Some tips for having a good one: Start and end strongly. Running a productive meeting isnt rocket science. As Denver-based consultant Teri Schwartz notes, much of it boils down to opening and conducting every meeting with a purpose and closing it with a plan for "going forward." Problems arise when people forget this. "Its like flying a plane," says Schwartz. "Most crashes happen at takeoff and landing." Pick a leader. Four years ago, Clevelands KeyCorp Bank adopted a new principle: Always assign someone to lead. "The worst thing you can do is go into a meeting with no one in charge," says the banks senior EVP and chief risk officer, Charles Hyle. "It turns into a shouting match." Think small. Be realistic about what you can accomplish. "You cant solve world hunger in an hour," Schwartz says. By the same token, keep the number of attendees manageable to stimulate discussion. "When you have too many people in the room," says Hyle, "everyone clams up as if their mouths were sealed." Direct, dont dominate. "People hate it when they cant get their work done because they have to go to somebody elses meeting," says Columbia Business School professor Michael Feiner. So encourage others to speak up and get involved, especially junior staffers. "They need to believe its not his meeting or her meeting, but our meeting," Feiner says. Lay down the rules of engagement. Everyone should understand who will take notes and how decisions will be made. Remember that consensus is typically a bad thing. "It means there isnt enough dialogue or debate," says Feiner, "and thats the lifeblood of any innovative organization." Jon Petz, the author of Boring Meetings Suck, suggests assigning follow-up tasks during the final five to ten minutes, then repeating them later in a group e-mail so that theres no confusion.

In Dave Barrys opinions, meetings______.

A．have been blocking human progress

B．may fade away from the human world

C．are an important part of the human race

D．are meant to solve problems for humans