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 |
In 1961 Obama was born in Hawaii, US. His father was an African and his mother was a white American. He grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii.
When Obama was 10 years old, he was one of the only three black students at his school in Hawaii. He felt very different from most other students. White girls wanted to touch his hair. A white boy even asked him what his father was.
“I lied to them that my father was a Kenyan prince. But I kept asking myself who I am," said Obama.
However, 37 years later, the boy made history. Obama became the first black president in US history.
Obama's unusual background made him wonder who he was. He once turned to alcohol to help forget this question.
With the help of his friends, Obama finally turned his life around at college. His hard work made him a star at Harvard. Later, he became the third black senator (参议员）in US history.
"Obama's success has made Martin Luther King's dream come true. That is: A man should not be judged by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character," wrote ABC news.Obama was born in _______.
| A．Britain | B．American | C．Kenya | D．Indonesia |
Which of the following is TURE according to the passage?
| A．Obama's parents are both African |
| B．Obama was the first black senator in US history |
| C．Obama was once very depressed (压抑）because of his unusual background. |
| D．No other black students were in the school where Obama studied when he was ten. |
Obama became the first black president in US history when he was ______.
| A．37 | B．38 | C．47 | D．48 |
From the passage we can learn that ______________.
| A．Obama's father is a Kenyan prince. |
| B．Obama was a star in Harvard because he drank a lot |
| C．We should judge a person by what he did when he was young |
| D．Obama's success owes to his hard work |
WASHINGTON—More than one in 10 of the nation’s airline pilots are cleared to carry a handgun while flying, and the number will continue to grow, according to a Transportation Security Administration projection.
The Federal Air Marshal Service, a TSA agency that runs the armed-pilots program, reports that 85,000 to 90,000 pilots and crewmembers flying domestic passengers and cargo planes are eligible(符合条件的) to carry a gun. That puts the number of armed pilots at about 9,500.
The TSA projects the program to grow to 16.5% of eligible pilots by the year 2011. Aviation experts were surprised and alarmed that so many pilots are toting guns in the sky.
“That’s a big number compared to what I thought it would be,” said aviation-security consultant Rich Roth, who said he had predicted there would be fewer than 1,000 armed pilots. The 5-year-old program trains pilots for one week and arms them with 40-caliber semiautomatic pistols.
“That’s a scary number,” said Joseph Gutheinz, a former Transportation Department special agent and aviation attorney in Houston. “By allowing so many pilots the opportunity to fly armed, we’re giving terrorists opportunity to identify somebody who has a gun and overpower him.”
Capt. Bob Hesselbein, head of security for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the number of armed pilots is “a tremendous deterrent(威慑)” to hijackings. “The challenge of an organized terrorist team is to take control of the cabin, then the flight deck.”
Armed pilots have come under scrutiny(审查) since March 22 when the gun of a US Airways pilot fired in the cockpit(驾驶座) of Flight 1536 as it approached Charlotte from Denver. No one was hurt, and the plane landed safely after the bullet pierced(穿透) the fuselage. The best title for this passage is “_____”.
| A．More than 10% of pilots allowed to fly armed |
| B．Less than 10% of pilots allowed to fly armed |
| C．More than 16.5% of pilots allowed to fly armed |
| D．No chances for terrorists to hurt pilots |
From this passage we can infer that about 9,500 pilots in the USA are allowed to carry _____ while flying.
| A．shotguns | B．40-caliber automatic pistols |
| C．handguns | D．all the above |
Joseph Gutheinz’s attitude towards pilots’ carrying guns while flying is _____.
| A．positive | B．negative | C．angry | D．surprised |
Why did the US Airways pilot fire his gun in the cockpit of Flight 1536 as it approached Charlotte from Denver?
| A．To kill the terrorists who tried to hijack the plane. |
| B．To escape from the hijackings. |
| C．To tell the hijackers that he had a gun. |
| D．The passage doesn’t give the reason. |
As a tour guide, Ali is trying his best to introduce this unique land to us, with his rich knowledge and solid historical background. Whether in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, or at the well-known underground city, a strong sense of pride in Turkey can be found everywhere in his descriptions and explanations.
Turkey’s location in the Middle East brings many concerns, especially relating to security, for foreign tourists. And every time foreign tourists change their fixed and somewhat negative views about Turkey on his tour, Ali feels that all his efforts have paid off.
Ali Dede Coskuner, Tour Guide, said, “Guide makes bridge of peace, tourism brings peace to the world.”
Aside from work, the biggest comfort for Ali is his happy family, with three sons and a loving wife. But as a tour guide, his time with his family is destined to be very limited.
Ali Dede Coskuner said, “Tour guide is no timing; you don’t have fixed time to work. Sometimes, you have to work for 14—15 hours; sometimes, even more than 18 hours, and you can’t say ‘I am tired.’”
Despite these challenges, Ali always sees the beauty of the job that he does. And his smiling face always makes him an affable host for his guests.
According to Ali, there are about 10 thousand tour guides throughout Turkey, with only five thousand who are active. Because of certain legal loopholes(漏洞), not all the tour guides are licensed professionals, which results in some unfair competition. At the same time, tour guiding in Turkey is still not recognized as a profession, so guides are not included in the country’s insurance system.Ali is always taking pride in _____.
| A．his rich knowledge and solid historical background |
| B．changing foreign tourists’fixed and negative views about his country on his tour |
| C．spending little time with his family |
| D．his loving wife bringing his three sons up |
Which of the following words can be used in place of the underlined word “affable” in the sixth paragraph?
| A．open-minded. | B．honest. | C．approachable. | D．easy. |
Ali is not satisfied with _____.
| A．his descriptions and explanations about the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations |
| B．his job as a guide |
| C．the policy that guides are not included in the country’s insurance system |
| D．his working for 14—15 hours sometimes |
Yueyang Tower (岳阳楼) lies in the west of Yueyang City, near the Dongting Lake. It was first built for soldiers to rest on and watch out. In the Three Kingdoms Period, Lu Su, General of Wu State, trained his soldiers here.
In 716, Kaiyuan of Tang Dynasty, General Zhang Shuo was sent to defend at Yuezhou and he rebuilt it into a tower named South Tower, and then Yueyang Tower. In 1044, Song Dynasty, Teng Zijing was stationed at Baling Jun, the ancient name of Yueyang City. In the second year, he had the Yueyang Tower repaired and had poems by famous poets written on the walls of the tower. Fan Zhongyan, a great artist and poet, was invited to write the well-known poem about Yueyang Tower. In his A Panegyric of the Yueyang Tower (《岳阳楼记》), Fan writes: “Be the first to worry about the troubles across the land, the last to enjoy universal happiness.” His words have been well-known for thousands of years and made the tower even better known than before.
The style of Yueyang Tower is quite special. The main tower is 21.35 meters high with 3 stories, flying eave (屋檐) and wood construction, the helmet-roof of such a large size is a rarity (罕见之事) among the ancient architectures in China.
Entering the tower, you’ll see “Dongting is the water of the world, Yueyang is the tower of the world”. Moving on, there is a platform that once used as the training ground for the navy of Three-Kingdom Period general Lu Su. To its south is the Huaifu Pavilion(亭) in honor of Du Fu. Stepping out of the Xiaoxiang Door, the Xianmei Pavilion and the Sanzui Pavilion can be seen standing on two sides. In the garden to the north of the tower is the tomb of Xiaoqiao, the wife of Zhou Yu.The passage mainly tells us _____.
| A．the history of Yueyang Tower |
| B．some information about Yueyang Tower |
| C．the architecture style of Yueyang Tower |
| D．Yueyang Tower is a good place to see |
In Three-Kingdom Period, Yueyang Tower was used as _____.
| A．a place where rich people enjoyed themselves |
| B．the symbol of the Three Kingdoms |
| C．a place where educated people often met |
| D．an army-training place |
Yueyang Tower was once named _____.
| A．South Tower | B．Xianmei Tower | C．Sanzui Tower | D．Baling Tower |
When did Yueyang Tower become more famous?
| A．In 1045. | B．In 716. |
| C．In the Three-Kingdom Period. | D．In the Tang Dynasty. |
Which of the following has nothing to do with Yueyang Tower?
| A．Huaifu Pavilion. | B．Xiaoxiang Door. |
| C．Tomb of Du Fu. | D．Tomb of Xiaoqiao. |
Japanese professor Yoji Kimura believes laughter is a weapon that in healthy doses（剂量） can end the world’s wars. To measure it, the expert on communications has invented a machine to chart out laughter—and a new unit of “aH” to calculate it.
“We have found that children laugh more freely, releasing（释放）10 aH per second, which is about twice as much as an adult,” Kimura, a professor at Kansai University in the western city of Osaka, told reporters. “Adults tend to calculate whether it’s appropriate to laugh and under those restraints（克制） they eventually forget how,” he said.
“Laughing is like a restart function on a computer. Laughing freely is very important in the course of human development,” he said.
Kimura, who believes in “a change from a century of wars to a century of humor and tolerance,” has studied the science of laughter for decades in Osaka. In his theory, human laughter is produced in four emotional stages. “I believe there is a circuit（回路） in the human brain that creates laughter,” Kimura said confidently.
To measure laughter, he attaches sensors on the skin of a tested people’s stomach, particularly the diaphragm（横膈膜）, and detects muscle movements. “I have a theory that humor detected in the brain gets directly released through the movement of diaphragm,” he said. By checking the movement of the diaphragm and other parts of the body, it will be possible to see if a person is only pretending to laugh while also telling different types of laughter, Kimura said.
Kimura wants to make the measuring device as small as a mobile phone and possibly market it as a health and amusement device. Kimura said he planned to present his findings this summer to the US-based International Society for Humor Studies, adding that he looked forward to looking at differences in laughter internationally.According to the passage, Professor Yoji Kimura _____.
| A．thinks banning weapon can end wars in the world |
| B．has put his machine calculating laughter into market |
| C．has been studying laughing for many years |
| D．is an expert in people’s health problem |
Why do adults laugh less freely?
| A．Because they are busy with their work. |
| B．Because they are affected by some factors. |
| C．Because they use computers too often. |
| D．Because they don’t think it good to laugh much. |
The measuring device of Yoji Kimura _____.
| A．has functions of a mobile phone |
| B．can make people laugh more |
| C．can recognize different kinds of laughter |
| D．will be popular in the international market soon |
The passage mainly tells us something about _____.
| A．how to measure laughter | B．Yoji Kimura and laughing |
| C．laughing as much as possible | D．a device that is made to measure laughter |