Last year, on report card day, my son and a group of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald's. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A's, and Laurie got a cell-phone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPod Nano, and she's only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $10 for each A.”
I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell-phone, and the DVD player?
I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle disappear before my eyes---no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic（施有机肥料的）carrots. No more organic anything!
I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal achieved by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns（橄榄球底线得分）? What about the orchestra（管弦乐队）? Would first chair pay more than second? I'd be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.
“We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that's about it.”
Don't you just hate that? We're all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she’s spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation. And what about the primary grades? What do these students get? “When the teacher asked if anyone got rewards for good grades, everyone in my class raised their hands and said they got ice cream cones (蛋卷),” said one third-grader.What's the best title for the passage?
| A．Tips on Paying Kids for Good Grades |
| B．New Trends in Paying Kids for Good Grades |
| C．Good Grades Mean Good Rewards |
| D．Don't Pay Kids for Good Grades |
What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably mean?
| A．Taking care of my children would influence my work. |
| B．I would spend less money on my children's good grades. |
| C．More rewards would be needed as my children grow up. |
| D．Reducing my children's homework load would cost me a lot. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．if you buy children pizza as a reward, they will work harder |
| B．if you pay kids for good grades, they will take it for granted |
| C．children will not ask for rewards when they enter high school |
| D．good grades won't help kids make great progress in the future |
The author takes her neighbor as an example to show _______.
| A．pizza is the best way to motivate children |
| B．it is necessary to reward children for their good grades. |
| C．getting rewards for good grades is common nowadays |
| D．rewards are not the only way to motivate children |
When a group of children politely stop a conversation with you, saying，“We have to go to work now.” you're left feeling surprised and certainly uneasy. After all, this is the 1990s and the idea of children working is just unthinkable. That is , until you are told that they are all pupils of stage schools, and that the “work” they go off to is to go on the stage in a theatre.
Stage schools often act as agencies (代理机构) to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name “stage school” are those few places where children attend full time, with a training for the theatre and a general education.
A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy themselves. After all, what lively children wouldn't settle for spending only hal
f the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing or dancing their way through the other half of the day?
Then of course there are times for the children to make a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age. But the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 are limited to 40 days in the year; those over 13 do 80 days.
The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens to those who don't make it? While all the leading schools say they place great importance on children getting good study results, the facts seem to suggest this is not always the case.
1.People would stop feeling uneasy when realising that the children they're talking to ________.
A. attend a stage school
B. are going to the theatre
C. have got some work to do
D. love singing and dancing
2.In the writer's opinion, a good stage school should ________ .
A. produce star performers
B. help pupils improve their study skills
C. train pupils in language and performing arts
D. provide a general education and stage training
3.“Professional work” as used in the text means ________ .
A. ordinary school work
B. moneymaking performances
C. stage training at school
D. acting, singing or dancing after class
4.Which of the following best describes how the writer feels about stage schools?
A. He thinks highly of what they have to offer.
B. He favours an early start in the training of performing arts.
C. He feels uncomfortable about children putting on night shows.
D. He doubts the standard of ordinary education they have reached.
If you dream of going someplace warm to escape the cold winter weather,a trip to a recently discovered planet would certainly warm you right up.The planet,named
OGLE-TR-56b,has temperatures of more than 3,000°F.“This is the hottest planet we know about,”says Dr Dimitar Sasselov,a scientist who led the discovery team.“It is hot enough to have an iron fog and to rain hot iron droplets(细沫).”
The new planet is 30 times farther away than any planet discovered by scientists
before.It is in the Milky Way(银河)but it is not in our solar(太阳的)system.The new planet moves around a star much like our sun,however scientists discovered the planet by using a new planetsearching method called transit technique.They were able to catch sight of the planet when it moved in front of its star,causing the star's light to dim(变暗).Scientists compare the method to discovering the shadow of a bee flying in front of a searchlight 200 miles away.“We believe the door has been opened wide to go and discover planets like the Earth,”says Sasselov.
1.We can infer from the passage that_________.
A.there is iron on the new planet
B.we could go to the new planet in winter
C.the star could block our view of the new planet
D.scientists are studying the weather
2.The “transit technique”can_____________.
A.help dim the light of a star
B.help scientists with a searchlight
C.help discover a bee on a planet
D.help find a planet moving before its star
3.Which is the best title for the passage?
A.New Planet searching Technique
B.New Distant Discovery
C.Space Searching
D.Dream Planet
If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language,you will get answers like “Shakespeare”,“Samuel Johnson”and“Webster”,but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn't even speak English—William the Conqueror.
Before 1066,in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups.In the westcentral region lived the Welsh,who spoke a Celtic language,and in the north lived the Scots,whose language,though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic.In the rest of the country lived the Saxons,actually a mixture of Anglos,Saxons,and other Germanic and Nordic peoples,who spoke what we now call AngloSaxon(or Old English),a Germanic language.If this state of affairs had lasted,English today would be close to German.
But this state of affairs did not last.In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England.For about a century,French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result,English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German.In some cases,modern English even shows a distinction (区别) between upper class French and lowerclass AngloSaxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods,meat in particular,depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked,which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the farming,while the upperclass Normans were doing most of the eating.
When Americans visit Europe for the first time,they usually find Germany more“foreign” than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one man's ambition.
1.The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before 1066 were_________.
A.Welsh and Scottish B.Nordic and Germanic
C.Celtic and Old EnglishD.Anglo Saxon and Germanic
2.Which of the following groups of words are,by inference,rooted in French?
A.president,lawyer,beef B.president,bread,water
C.bread,field,sheep D.folk,field,cow
3.Why does France appear less foreign than Germany to Americans on their first visit to Europe?
A.Most advertisements in France appear in English.
B.They know little of the history of the English language.
C.Many French words are similar to English ones.
D.They know French better than German.
4.What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The history of Great Britain.
B. The similarity between English and French.
C. The rule of England by William the Conqueror.
D. The French influences on the English language.
| McGill Comedy Club Important meeting today. Discussions on putting on Blazing Saddles. Union room 302, 3-4 pm. New members (both actors and nonactors, living and dead) are welcome. |
History Students' Association Prof. Michael Cross of Dalhousie University will be speaking on “Unskilled Labours on Rivers and Canals in Upper Canada, 1820-1850: The Beginnings of Class Struggle,"at 10 am in Leacock 230. |
Design Mirror Sale All types and sizes of design mirrors priced to please. Sale today in Union room 108. |
| McGill Teaching Assistants' Association A general meeting, for all the TAs, will be held at 4 pm in Leacock 116. |
Women's Union Important. General Meeting at 6 pm, Union room 423. Speaker on “Importance of d eciding basic goals of the Women's Union".Everyone, old, new and those intere sted, please attend. |
|
| Film Society Last meeting of the term for all members.All managers are required to be present. 6:00 sharp, Union room 434. |
Canadian University Students Overseas CUSO presents “Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast" at 7 pm. Newman Centre, 3484 Peel. Find out about CUSO here and overseas. Everyone welcome. |
1.Where can you probably find this text?
A. In a school magazine. B. In a national paper.
C. In a guide book.D. In a university daily newspaper.
2.If you are interested in arts, where would you go for a visit?
A. Leacock 116. B. Union room 423.
C. Union room 108. D. Newman Centre, 3484 Peel.
3.Which of the following is the name of a play?
A. Blazing Saddles.
B. Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast.
C. Importance of deciding basic goals of the Women's Union.
D. Unskilled Labours on Rivers and Canals in Upper Canada, 1820-1850.
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever.He sent his camera crew(摄制组) out one evening to film the sunset for him.
The next morning he said to the men,“Have you provided me with that sunset?"
“No,sir," the men answered.
The director was angry. “Why not?"he asked.
“Well, sir,"one of the men answered,“we're on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset."
“But I want a sunset!"the director shouted.“Go to the airport,take the next flight to the west coast, and get one."
But then a young secretary had an idea.“Why don't you photograph a sunrise," she suggested，“and then play it backwards? then it'll look like a sunset."
“That's a very good idea!" the director said. Then he turned to the camera crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea."
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay(海湾). Then at nine o'clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, sir，" they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased.
They all went into the studio(摄影棚).“All right，"the director explained，“now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset'behind them."
The “sunset" began, but after a quarter of a minute ,the director suddenly
put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop.
“The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach."
1.One evening, the director sent his camera crew out ________.
A. to watch a beautiful sunsetB. to find an actor and an actress
C. to film a scene on the sea D. to meet the audience
2.Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast?
A. Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset.
B. Because he was angry with his crew.
C. Because it was his secretary's suggestion.
D. Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset.
3. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The crew had to follow the secretary's advice.
B. If you want to see a sunrise, the east coast is the place to go to.
C. The camera crew wasn't able to film the scene the first day.
D. The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “sunset".
4.The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because ________ .
A. it went well with the separation of the hero and the heroine
B. when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening
C. it was more moving than a sunrise
D. the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset
5. After the“sunset" began, the director suddenly put his face in his hands ________ .
A. because he was moved to tears
B. as he saw everything in the film moving backwards
C. as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined
D. because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine