This is the VOA Special English Education Report. A few weeks ago, we talked about the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL. A listener in Cambodia named Thida asks if American colleges and universities also accept the IELTS exam. IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It was developed by the University of Cambridge ESOL examiners.
Cambridge ESOL says the test measures true-to-life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration or employment. The IELTS tests listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. It uses a mixture of accents and spellings, including British English and American English.
The test is used by government agencies, schools and professional organizations in one hundred and twenty countries. And, yes, that includes the United States. The many American schools that accepted the IELTS can be found on the Web at felts.org.
Some schools accept both the TOEFL and the IELTS, but the graduate school at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, for example, says it prefers the IEITS.
The listening and speaking parts are the same for everyone who takes the IELTS, but people have a choice of reading and writing tests -- either academic or general training.
The listening test takes thirty minutes. There are forty questions based on a recording. The reading test takes sixty minutes. Students answer forty questions based on three written passages.
The writing test also takes sixty minutes. Students have to write two essays. One essay has to be at least one hundred and fifty words long and the other at least two hundred and fifty words. The shorter one is description of something; the longer one has to support and argument.
The speaking test takes less than fifteen minutes. The score is based on a recorded talk between the student and a test examiner.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, writt
en by Nancy Steinbach. If you have a general question for our series, write to special@voanews.com. I'm Barbara Klein.What does TOEFL stand for?
| A．The Voice of America | B．The International English Language Testing System |
| C．The Test of English as a Foreign Language | |
| D．The Test of English as a Native Language |
The International English Language Testing System commonly takes _______ in all.
| A．less than 160 minutes | B．more than 165 minutes |
| C．no more than 160 minutes | D．less than 166 minutes |
According to the passage, we can infer _______.
| A．IELTS is efficient and necessary if you want to go to English-speaking countries | |
| B．IELTS is completely different from TOEFL | |
| C．every American needs to accept TOEFL | D．IEITS isn't used more widely than TOEFL |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．How can the readers write papers to the VOA programme? |
| B．It talks about some ways to pass TOEFL. |
| C．It introduces IELTS. |
| D．How can the readers pass two kinds of tests? |
New rules and behavior standards for middle school students came out in March. Middle school is going to use a new way to decide who the top students are. They will also be kids who don’t dye their hair, smoke or drink. The following are some of the new rules.
Tell the truth. Have you ever copied someone else’s work on an exam? That’s not something an honest student should do.
Do more at school. Good students love animal and care for other people. April is Bird-Loving Month in China. Is your school doing anything to celebrate it? You should join!
Be open to new ideas. Have you ever thought that people could live on the moon? Perhaps you’ll discover Earth II someday. Don’t look down on new ideas. You should welcome them.
Protect yourself. Has someone ever taken money from one of your classmates? Don't let it happen to you. If you have to go home late, you should let your parents know.
Use the Internet carefully. The Internet can be very useful for your studies. But some things on the Internet aren’t for kids, so try to look at web pages that are good for you.
| A．In that way, you can learn more about animals and how to protect them. |
| B．Students must only work and play alone. |
| C．The best students won’t only have high marks. |
| D．You can use the web for fun or homework. |
F. Students should not disagree with the teacher.
E. Everyone’s ideas are important.
G. Don’t do it again!
Kong Zi , also called Confucius (551-479 B.C) , and Socrates（苏格拉底） (469-399 B. C) lived only a hundred years apart , and during their lifetimes there was no contact （联系）between China and Greece, but it is interesting to look at how the world that each of these great philosophers（哲学家） came from shaped their ideas , and how these ideas in turn ,shaped their societies.
Confucius suggested the Golden Rule as a principle for the conduct of life:” Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.” He assumed that all men were equal at birth, though some bad more potential than others, and that it was knowledge that set men apart. Socrates focused on the individual, and thought that the greatest purpose of man was to seek wisdom. He believed that the superior class should rule the inferior(下层的)classes.
For Socrates, the family was of no importance, and the community of little concern. For Confucius, however, the family was the centre of the society, with family relations considered much more important than political relations.
Both men are respected much more today than they were in their lifetimes.Which of the following is TURE according to the first paragraph?
| A．Socrates and Confucius had much in common, |
| B．Confucius had much influence on Socrates’ ideas. |
| C．The societies were influenced by the philosophers’ ideas. |
| D．There were cultural exchanges between China and Greece. |
Socrates shared with Confucius the idea that .
| A．all men were equal when they were born |
| B．the lower classes should be ruled by the upper class |
| C．the purpose of man was to seek freedom and wisdom |
| D．people should not ask others to do what they did not want to |
What made some people different from others according to Confucius?
| A． Family. | B．Potential（潜力）. | C．Knowledge. | D．Community. |
The hardworking blacksmith(铁匠) Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks fly from his hammer.
The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith everyday and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the blacksmith worked. "Young man, why don't you try to learn to make shoe tacks（鞋钉）, even if it is only to pass the time?" said the blacksmith. "Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you." The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr. Smith died and the son because of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and settled down in another country. It so happened that in this village there were many shoemakers who were spending a lot of money to buy tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers' shoes.
Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that he had learned how to make tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in his workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.
"How funny it seems," he used to say, "even making tacks can bring a fortune（财富）.”From the passage, we can learn the young Mr. Smith became rich ______.
A by selling shoes B by making shoe tacks C with his father’s help D by making breadWhich of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A The young Mr. Smith’s father was very wealthy.
B The young Mr. Smith was lazy before learning to make shoe tacks.
C The shoemakers offered him a working place to make shoe tacks.
D The shoemakers were unwilling to buy the young Mr. Smith’s tack.What can we learn from the young Mr. Smith’s success?
| A．It is no use crying over the spilt milk. |
| B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| C．All roads lead to Rome. |
| D．Seeing is believing. |
What is the right order of the events related to the young Mr. Smith?
a. He was born in a rich family.
b. He became rich by selling tacks.
c. His father died and he became poor.
d. He was asked to learn to make shoe tacks.
e. He settled in another country.
| A．a-d-c-e-b | B．a-d-b-c-e | C．b-d-c-e-a | D．b-d-a-e-c |
We can’t help but grow older physically, but we can stay young in other ways. Do you want to stay young？ If yes is the answer, here is what you can do:
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches （抱怨）pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
4.Enjoy the simple things. When the children are young, that is all that you can afford. When they are in college, that is all you can afford. When you are on retirement, that is all you can afford!
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. Laugh so much that you can be tracked in the store by your distinctive laughter.
6. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it is family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, or hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
7. Value your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
8. The tears happen. Endure sorrow, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be alive while you are alive.
9. At every opportunity, tell the people you love that you love them.What does the underlined sentence “Throw out nonessential numbers” mean?
| A．Try to forget some unimportant numbers. |
| B．Do not let your age, weight or height trouble you. |
| C．It is not interesting to remember some numbers. |
| D．Some unimportant things are difficult to remember. |
What is the fourth advice meant to tell us?
| A．The children are so clever that we need not worry about their study. |
| B．Someone else can take care of the children and our late life. |
| C．We are rich enough to afford all the money that the children spend. |
| D．We needn’t worry about the children and our late life. |
Which of the following advice is NOT mentioned?
| A．Laugh often. | B．Enjoy the simple things. |
| C．Drink eight cups of water a day. | D．Keep in good health. |
Mr. Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."
"OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.
Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.
The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more." The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"
"Burnt yesterday evening."Mr. Brown told his son that _____.
| A．he would be away from home for four days |
| B．he would be back in seven days |
| C．he would be back in a month |
| D．he liked a cup of tea |
Mr. Brown wrote the words down on ________.
| A．the wall | B．the door | C．a piece of paper | D．his son's pocket |
A man came to visit the boy's father on ________.
| A．the second day | B．the third day | C．the fourth day | D．the fifth day |
The man was very surprised because _________.
| A．he thought the child's father was dead |
| B．the child didn't ask him to sit down |
| C．the child gave him a cup of tea |
| D．he couldn't find that piece of paper |
What was burnt?
| A．The piece of paper | B．Mr. Smith | C．The visitor | D．The boy |