On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.
“It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”
The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?
“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”
In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.
“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”
But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.
“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?
| A．It’s expensive but worthwhile because it works the best. |
| B．It confuses students because the knowledge taught in it is out of date. |
| C．It isn’t effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams. |
| D．It is effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams. |
What do the underlined words “magic bullet” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Something that cannot help to solve problems at all. |
| B．Something that solves a difficult problem in an easy way. |
| C．Something that seems useful but has no use at all. |
| D．Something that encourages interest in study. |
According to Elaine Tyrrell, private tutoring is _______.
| A．effective in language learning but not for exams |
| B．effective for foreign students but not for local students |
| C．unnecessary in most cases and may harm the further study of students |
| D．unnecessary in secondary school but helpful to further study |
What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?
| A．Fleet Tutors and the Rowans School are competitors. |
| B．Entrance exams to schools are too difficult for most students. |
| C．Further study isn’t as difficult as was first thought. |
| D．Private tuition is worth the financial investment. |
What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?
| A．Critical | B．Objective | C．Supportive | D．Uninterested |
Warning: reading too much Cinderella to your daughter may damage her emotional health in later life. A paper to be developed at the international congress of cognitive psychotherapy in Gothenburg suggests a link between the attitudes of women abused by their parents and early exposure to the wrong sort of fairy tales. It says girls who identified with Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast were more likely to say in destructive relationships as adults.
The theory was developed by Susan Darker Smith, a psychotherapist at the University of Derby. She interviewed 67 female abuse survivors and found that 61 put up with severe abuse because they believed they could change their partners with patience, composition and love. The same view was taken by male survivors who had been abused as children. Hardly any of the women in a control group, who had not experienced abuse, thought they could change their partners in this way.
These women and men said they would leave a relationship rather than put up with abuse from a partner. Ms Darker Smith found the abused women were much more likely to identify with Cinderella and other submissive female characters in fairytales, who were later rescued by a stranger prince or hero.
Although most girls heard the stories, damage appeared to be done to those who adopted the characters as role models. “They believe if their love is strong enough they can change their parents’ behaviors,” she said. “Overexposure in children to stories that emphasize the transformational qualities of love may make women believe they can change their partners.” For example, they might never have understood the obvious flaw in the story of Rapunzel, who remained locked in a high tower until rescued by a knight on a white horse, who broke the door down. “The question,” said Ms Darker Smith, “is why she did not break the door down herself.”The passage is especially intended for _________.
| A．parents with young daughters |
| B．girls who like reading fairy stories |
| C．girls who think they can change their partners |
| D．parents with grown-up daughters |
Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast are similar in that _________.
| A．they all married some princes | B．they all changed their partners with love |
| C．they were all abused by their partners | D．they all put up with abuse |
Which of the following statements is true of the women in a control group?
| A．They don’t believe in fairy tales. |
| B．They don’t believe in the transformational qualities of love. |
| C．They have also experienced abuse. |
| D．They survived abuse. |
What does the underlined word “submissive” in the 3rd paragraph probably mean?
| A．kind-hearted | B．passive | C．gentle | D．easy-going |
MEXICO CITY: A jetliner from the beach resort of Cancun was briefly hijacked as it landed in Mexico City on Wednesday. The hijackers released all passengers shortly before federal police stormed the plane, and the crew emerged unharmed moments later.
Police, who did not fire a single shot, led as many as eight handcuffed men away from the airplane, which was isolated at the end of a runway in an area designed for emergencies. The hijackers’ motive was unclear, though Mexican news media initially identified them as Bolivians demanding to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
US, French and Mexican citizens were among the 112 passengers and crew on Aeromexico Flight 576, according to a US official who had been briefed on the situation. The official was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mexico’s transportation and communications secretary, Juan Molinar, said there was no bomb on the airplane, although some passengers said one of the hijackers held a package that resembled an explosive device, and a bomb squad (拆弹小组) was later seen near the airplane.
He did not immediately identify the hijackers or speculate on their motive.
“Various people who participated in the act have been detained and we are investigating,” Molinar said.
The attorney general’s office said it was opening an investigation into terrorism and kidnapping but did not specify how many people could be charged.
Mexican news media initially reported the hijackers were Bolivian, but Bolivia’s ambassador to Mexico, Jorge Mancilla, said Mexican authorities had no evidence that was the case. Mancilla said sources told him they could be Colombian or Venezuelan. Several passengers told reporters they did not notice a non-Mexican accent.
Passenger Rocio Garcia told the Televisa network that the pilot made an announcement after landing in Mexico City that the airplane was being hijacked. Passengers said the hijackers never communicated with them directly.
“These were scary moments,” she said.
She said she saw one of the hijackers whom she described as a well-dressed, older man.
“He looked fine, like a normal passenger,” she said.
Passenger Daniel Hernandez said he saw a hijacker carrying a Bible.From the first paragraph we can conclude that _________.
| A．the hijackers just wanted to play a trick on the police |
| B．the hijackers didn’t prepare for their action |
| C．the hijackers surrendered before the police fired |
| D．the hijackers lost their way at the last moment |
From what Juan Molinar said we can learn that _________.
| A．police were still trying to identify a possible bomb |
| B．passengers succeeded in stopping the explosion |
| C．a frightening bomb was found later on the airplane |
| D．several Mexicans were involved in the hijacking |
What may be the first step taken when the hijacked plane landed?
| A．They gave a sudden attack at the hijackers. |
| B．They kept the plane away from other planes. |
| C．They asked the crew to control the hijackers. |
| D．They abandoned the plane at the end of the runway. |
The hijackers, as some passengers described, _________.
| A．were good at bargaining with the police |
| B．were all well-dressed American old men |
| C．all came from Colombia or Venezuela |
| D．stayed calm and appeared noble, educated |
Many people write to newspapers and magazines to express their opinions. Letters to the editor must carry the writer’s full name, address and telephone number, although the information is not necessary for publication. This requirement to provide personal particulars is a clear indication that the writers are held responsible for what they say. When a writer wants his voice heard, he needs to claim ownership of his voice. Responsibility is the name of the game.
“People today prefer living together to putting their signatures on a marriage certificate (证书) because they refuse to accept responsibility for the relationship,” said social worker Ken Yip, “and this is what is causing a lot of family problems.” When we sign a paper, for example, a business contract or a bank document, the signature means an agreement to take the matter seriously. Most governments and many organizations will not process written complaints if they do not bear the writer’s signature. The absence of a signature, they explain, tells us that the writer cannot be too serious and therefore does not deserve a reply.
There are people who wish to remain anonymous (匿名的) for various reasons. Multibillionaire Mr. King donates generously to charity several times a year. He gives simply because he wants to help but not for the publicity his donations may bring, and he does not want his good deeds to make news. In other cases, people insist on anonymity because they are afraid of the consequences of revealing their identity. Crime witnesses may be willing to assist the police, but most are unwilling to give their names when reporting a crime.
Name or no name? The answer is very personal and lies in how much we want to get involved. We all have a name. It is a matter of responsibility to use it when we make a statement, a claim or an accusation. We all want to honor our own name, and it is only by stamping our expression of an opinion with our own name that we honor what we say.
53. What does the writer mean by saying “Responsibility is the name of the game”?
Writers need to provide their personal information in the game.
Publication must bear the writer’s full name, address and phone number.
Writers should be responsible for their names.
Names are required to indicate writer’s responsibility for what they say.
54. The second paragraph suggests that a paper without a signature may _______.
A. help to end a relationship B. not get a reply
C. be accepted all the same D. become a family problem
55. Some people don’t want their names known because they are _______.
A. hesitant to make a donation B. unwilling to draw public attention
C. afraid of an accusation D. ready for involvement
56. The passage is mainly about _______.
A. honor and writers B. identity and signature
C. signature and responsibility D. anonymity and signature
If you are hungry, what will you do? Grab a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? Just like stomach, even your mind will be hungry. But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your dream lover, favorite star and many such absurd things. So it silently begins to hide your needs and never lets itself grow. When mind loses its freedom to grow, creativity gets its full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think “What happens next?”, “Why can’t I think?”, “Why am I always given the difficult problems?” Well, this is the after-effect of using our brain for thinking of not-so-worthy things.
Hunger of the mind can be actually satisfied through extensive reading. But why is it reading but not watching TV? Because reading has been the most educational tool used by us right from the childhood. Just like that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to turn to reading for help. You have a number of books in the world which will answer all your “how-to” questions. Once you read a book, you just don’t run your eyes through the lines, but your mind decodes (译解) it and explains it to you. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed. Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas. The same seed, if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, which you would never thought of in your wildest dreams! This is nothing but creativity. The more books you read, the wider your mind will become. Also this improves your oratorical (speech-making) skills to a large extent and also makes a significant contribution to your vocabulary. When you start speaking English or any other language fluently with your friends or other people, you never seem to run out of the right words at the right time.
Actually, I had a problem in speaking English fluently, but as I read, I could improve significantly. So guys, do join me and give food for your thoughts by reading, reading and more reading. Now what are you waiting for? Go, grab a book and let me know!
49. What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Hunger of the mind B. Stomach and Mind
C. Feed your Mind by reading D. Reading or Watching TV
50. You don’t know your mind is in hunger because _____.
A. you are not hungry
B. you keep it thinking of silly things
C. your creativity gets a full stop
D. you always meet with difficult problems
51. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the advantage of reading?
A. Reading can make your dream come true.
B. Reading can contribute to your vocabulary.
C. Reading can improve your spoken ability.
D. Reading can make people creative.
52. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to _______.
A. comment and blame B. introduce and describe
C. explain and persuade D. advise and inform
第二部分：阅读理解（第一节20小题，第二节5小题；每小题2分，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
The other day, I bought six packages of ink for my printer, then I found a deal on better ink at the local computer store, so I went back to the $1 Store to exchange the ink for some other items.
I put the ink into a plastic bag and tied it up. When at the store, I immediately showed the bag to a clerk and told her that I was returning some items, but she was obviously very busy. Then without thinking much, I just put the bag into a cart and started shopping.
I was making my way through the crowd when a female employee suddenly yelled to stop me. I was told not to be allowed to carry a plastic bag of items around in the store and my bag should be checked.
I was astonished. There was no need for her to yell. I opened the bag and showed her the receipt. “I’m returning these to exchange for some other items,” I said.
“You should learn how to follow store regulations. Leave this bag here with the clerk. You can have it back when you check out”.
I was embarrassed and did as told to. I felt like a shoplifter. By the time I had finished shopping and exchanged the items, I was angry and then went looking for her. I wanted an apology. I found her finally and asked what her name was. She yelled at me again, “Ursula!” and stormed away.
Having got home, I called the store’s headquarters. I described my unpleasant experience. A customer service representative responded, “We will not tolerate such behavior. Give me your phone number and I will call you back.”
Two days later, I received a phone call from the representative, “I’m sorry,” she said, “but there is no one at that store named Ursula. Can you describe her? I’ll find out who she is. We do not tolerate rude behavior, nor do we tolerate lying to customers.”
By this time, I had calmed down, so I told the representative to forget about it.
41.The author wanted to exchange the ink for some other items because he found _______.
the ink was too expensive
he didn’t need so many packages
it could not match his printer
there was better ink in another store
42.It can be inferred that _______.
the $1 Store had a very good business
the $1 Store sold items of poor quality
the clerks in the $1 Store were impolite
check-out items couldn’t be exchanged
43. Which of the following is the right order according to the story?
I found I was cheated.
I left the plastic bag with the clerk.
I finished shopping and exchanged the items
A female employee stopped me and yelled at me
I called the store’s headquarters
A. d, a, c, b, e B. b, c, d, e, a C. d, b, c, e, a D. c, b, d, a, e
44. At the end of the story, _______.
A. the female employee apologized to me
B. Ursula was found out and lost her job
C. the representative forgot the matter
D. I forgave the female employee