Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.
At school the children are taught to add up and subtract(减法) but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.
Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.
As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft(透支) as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”
The UK has been in the worst financial recession(衰退)for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.The passage is mainly about _____________.
| A．how to manage school lessons | B． teaching young people about money |
| C．how to deal with the financial crisis | D．teaching students how to study effectively |
It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.
| A．laws on financial education have been effectively carried out |
| B．pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract |
| C．students have been taught to manage their finances |
| D．the author complains about the school education |
The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.
| A．instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money |
| B．promote the connection of schools and families |
| C．ask the government to dismiss the parliament |
| D．appeal for the curriculum of financial education |
A poll is mentioned to ___________.
| A．show the seriousness of the financial recession |
| B．stress the necessity of the curriculum reform |
| C．make the readers aware of burden of the parents |
| D．illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal |
Writer and power chair adventurer Mary Laver has not walked for twenty years. Yet the cheerful and positive 60 year old is not only refusing to let her disability get her down ---- she is also planning to cross the length of Britain in a power wheelchair.
Getting ready for the trip is not easy. She has already run into many problems - not least officials and organizations who view her as a health and safety risk. One police officer wrote to Mary requesting:
1. The proposed route through our area with road numbers.
2. The dates and times each day that this will be taking place.
3. The location details of the proposed overnight stops.
4. The names and mobile phone contact details of the Support Crew.
Another police officer asked her to travel off road! As Mary told me, this was unacceptable - as a power wheelchair user with limited movement she needs to be"gettable".
There are other problems in her way though - she is, after all, in her 60’s and has severe rheumatoid arthritis(风湿性关节炎). However, unlike many other people with arthritis, she is no longer in pain.
"When you are in a power chair and it is going at eight miles an hour, believe me it feels fast … to me it is the Formula One(一级方程式赛车) chair of electric wheelchairs."
At the end of the interview, I asked Mary if she had a message for any other power chair users who wanted to do a challenge, and her reply was simple："Just do it!"What is Mary Laver planning to do？
| A．Travel to write a power wheelchair adventure. |
| B．Travel across Britain in a power wheelchair. |
| C．Prove she can do what a man can in driving. |
| D．Try a fast Formula One power chair sport. |
Why did a police officer write to Mary requesting the four points?
| A．He tried to stop her. | B．Mary’s adventure is valueless. |
| C．The power chair is too fast. | D．He wanted to ensure her safety. |
The underlined word “She needs to be gettable” in the passage probably means “_______”
| A．She’ll have a try whatever difficulties she may have. |
| B．A road for a power wheelchair user is a must for her. |
| C．Mary has to jump off her wheelchair once on the road. |
| D．With rheumatoid arthritis, she need some field help. |
When Mary said “Just do it !” at the end of the interview, she meant “_______”
| A．Be brave though disabled. | B．Fear no challenges at all. |
| C．Take action right away. | D．Make it whoever you are. |
（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）
先阅读短文，然后根据短文的内容判断正误，并将结果转涂到答题卡上。正确的涂A，错误的涂B。
As high school students, Sang Tian and Huang Yunru dreamed of attending one of the world’s top universities. They slaved over their studies and were in the end admitted to famous schools – only one turned out to be far more famous than the other, according to new ranking (排名)of Asia’s top schools.
Huang Yunru, 19, went to the University of Hong Kong, the No 1 school in Asia. Sang, also 19, went to Tsinghua University, which was ranked a disappointing 16th in Asia. When Sang heard the news, he couldn’t believe his ears. “What? How can it be?” he said, greatly surprised.
The new list of Asia’s top 200 universities was published last month by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a UK-based career and education company. The ranking have started heated discussions among Chinese people, since the mainland’s top two schools – Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University – were not in the top 10.
Actually, this isn’t the first time that the schools have gone on poorly in regional or global ranking. The 2010 world university list released by the magazine US News & World Report ranked Peking University at 50th and Tsinghua University at 56th. They were the only two mainland schools in the top 100. Meanwhile, 37 US universities made the top 100 list. And three of 10 Hong Kong universities made the top 50.Chinese universities’ poor performance has saddened many students. “I can’t understand their standards,” said Sang. “At least we are a university with a long, proud history.”
According to the QS list, Chinese universities are doing OK in academic peer review, with both Tsinghua and Peking University scoring a full 100. But when it comes to student-to-faculty ratio（师生比）, their ranking drops, with Tsinghua at 22th and Peking at 23rd.John Hennessy, president of Stanford University, said at the Fourth Chinese-Foreign University Presidents Forum in early May that a lack of small-group discussions has seriously affected the teaching quality at Chinese universities. This has also resulted in students being afraid to question or challenge teachers.Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University were in the top 10 in the ranking of Asia’s top schools.
There were no top 100 universities in the
mainland according to the ranking.Hong Kong universities are doing much better than the Chinese mainland ones in the ranking.
Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University are so famous that they are not worried about the result at all.
One of the reasons for the mainland’s universities’ disappointing ranking is that there are simply not enough teachers for the large number of students.
Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.
The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy alcohol in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you.
Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.
Thirdly crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of he road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings (人行道) and do not take any chances when crossing the road.
My next point is about litter (throwing away waste material in a public place). It is an offence to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a litter bin.
Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco, if you are under 16 years of age.
I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact your local police station, who will be pleased to help you.
Now, are there any questions?
73. The main purpose of this speech would be to ____ .
A. prepare people for international travel
B. declare the laws of different kinds
C. give advice to travellers to the country
D. inform people of the punishment for breaking laws
74. From the speech we learn that ____
A. In this country, if you are under 18 years of age, you may not buy alcohol, but your friend can buy it for you.
B. You may not buy cigarettes or tobacco unless you are above 16 years of age.
C. Because the traffic moves on the left side of he road ,you must use pedestrian crossings when crossing the road.
D. You can’t make noise except at night.
75. Who do you think is most likely to make the speech?
A. A policeman B. A lawmaker C. A teacher D. A lawyer
On the New York set of the film Hide and Seek, ten-year-old Dakota Fanning spends her time playing a deeply disturbed girl who deals with her mother's suicide (自杀) by creating an imaginary friend, who may frighten her family.
Today, though, she has the day off. "This week I only worked two days,"says Fanning, sitting in a sofa in her hotel's library, "but I get bored when I'm not working. Especially because it's cold here and I can't do anything, you know? So, I've been knitting--- all day, every day. "The actress, who's held her own opposite Oscar winners such as Sean Penn and Denzel Washington, recently mastered the fine art of scarves (围巾). Though she's about ready to move on to hats, she first plans to make a souvenir scarf for Robert De Niro, who plays her father in the film. "He's the nicest guy you'd ever meet in your entire life,"she says, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I would make him a brown one. ”
Like any other fifth-grader, Fanning spends several hours a day going to school. In addition to her personal trailer (活动住房) --- which is kept well-supplied with hot chocolate packets, lemon Gatorade, and a TV that doesn't always work --- she has another trailer where her teacher, Jan, conducts classes in history, spelling, reading, math, science and health. "We have this big board where we have a calendar,"Fanning says. "When we were here in January, I wrote the calendar in all blue. February was red, and March was green. ”
On this particular morning, she had a spelling test. "There was a topic for each of the word lists,"she says, sitting on her knees. "This one was flowers --- they were all names like oxygen, carbon dioxide, chrysanthemum (菊花). . . "Chrysanthemum? "Well, they didn't make me spell that one. They just had me fill in the ‘e'. But I can spell it: c-h-r-y-s-a-n-t-h-e-m-u-m. ”
69. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Dakota Fanning is a young gifted actress.
B. Dakota Fanning is a lonely orphan.
C. Dakota Fanning is a creative pupil.
D. Dakota Fanning has many interests.
70. Dakota Fanning has to knit all day in order to _____.
A. kill time
B. make money
C. master a skill
D. make a scarf for her boyfriend
71. By saying that "He's the nicest guy you'd ever meet in your entire life”, Dakota Fanning really means that _____.
A. she is the daughter of Robert De Niro
B. she has fallen in love with Robert De Niro
C. she is in love with Robert De Niro
D. she admires Robert De Niro very much
72. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Dakota Fanning's Role B. Dakota Fanning's Knitting Art
C. Dakota Fanning's Day Off D. Dakota Fanning's Spelling Test
In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition(学会)of each new skill — the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is common that parents hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, and a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm(热情) for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.
Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters; others are severe over time of coming home at night or punctuality(准时) for meals. In general, the controls imposed(强加的) represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community(社区) as much as the child’s own happiness.
As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality. Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”. If they are not sincere and do not practise what they preach(说教), their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled.
A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents’ principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.
60. Eagerly watching the child’s acquisition of new skills_____.
A. should be avoided
B. is universal among parents
C. sets up dangerous states of worry in the child
D. will make him lose interest in learning new things
61. When children are learning new skills, parents should_____.
A. encourage them to read before they know the meaning of the words they read
B. not expect too much of them
C. achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own.
D. create as many learning opportunities as possible
62. The second paragraph mainly tells us that _____.
A. parents should be strict with their children
B. parental controls satisfy only the needs of the parents and the values of the community
C. parental restrictions vary, and are not always enforced for the benefit of the children alone
D. parents vary in their strictness towards their children according to the situation
63. The underlined word “precept” (in Paragraph 3) probably means “_____”.
A. idea B. punishment C. behavior D. instruction
64. In moral(道德的) matters, parents should _____.
A. observe the rules themselves
B. be aware of the marked difference between adults and children
C. forbid things which have no foundation in morality
D. satisfy their children’s needs