51. Harli’s Marble Company became popular as soon as he launched it because ______.

A. it was run by “the world’s youngest CEO”

B. it filled the gap of online marble trade

C. Harli was fascinated with marble collection

D. Harli met the growing demand of the customers

52. How many mass media are mentioned in the passage?

A. One B. Two C. Three D. Four

53. The underlined expression “scale them back” is closest in meaning to ______.

A. hold them down B. carry them out

C. set them aside D. clear them away

54. What message do the last two paragraphs carry?

A. Conflicts often occur between Harli Jordean and his family.

B. Harli’s mother and brothers are worried about Marble King’s future.

C. Marble King marbles will surely attract more fans around the world.

D. The “Marble King” has great ambition for his Marble King company.

B

Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instruction for ten to fifteen minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically teach it for sixty to seventy minutes a day - which really is pretty much for handwriting.

Many adults remember learning that way - by copying letters over and over again. Today’s thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas. After all, that is why we write.

Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can be read. The other is fluency - writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to develop up until high school.

But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any more because of computers and voice recognition programs.

But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75% of students choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive.

55. We can infer from the first paragraph that ______.

A. teachers spend little time in teaching handwriting.

B. most teachers attach importance to teaching handwriting.

C. handwriting teaching is not commonly required.

D. most teachers are at a loss how to teach handwriting

56. Which of the following about traditional handwriting in the USA is NOT true?

A. The students are taught by practicing a long period.

B. Printing is taught in preference to writing in cursive.

C. Handwriting is taught for its own sake.

D. Two skills get involved in handwriting.

57. Some American people consider handwriting not important any more because ______.

A. all the American children learn to print first

B. about 1/4 of the students choose to print their essay on the test

C. it is unnecessary to use handwriting in the age of keyboard

D. computers and voice recognition programs are widely used

58. ______ may serve as the best title for the passage.

A. Handwriting: fascinating in keyboard age

B. Right or wrong: the death of handwriting

C. Two skills involved in handwriting

D. Handwriting lessons on the way out