The English test will be removed from China’s college entrance exam by 2020, according to details of exam and admission reform revealed by the Ministry of Education. The national college exam, known as the “Gaokao” has been used to evaluate Chinese students for three decades. The Ministry of Education has worked out a plan for reforming exams and enrollment. The Ministry will solicit(征求) public opinions before its release. Instead, tests will be held several times a year to allow students to choose when and how often they sit the exam so as to ease study pressure and change China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system.
The plan and suggestion for its implementation(实施) will be announced in the first half of next year. It will be piloted in selected provinces and cities and promoted nationwide from 2017. A new exam and admission system will be established by 2020, according to the education ministry.
The decision has aroused a heated discussion among Shanghai educators and parents who doubted the reform would reduce the burden of learning English or if the substitute test could reflect a student’s English skills and help students learn English better.
“The reform shows China is learning from the West to give students more test-taking chances. But more chances might become more of a burden since Chinese students are likely to repeat the test until they get the highest score,” said Cai Jigang, a professor at Fudan University’s College of Foreign Languages and Literature and chairman of the Shanghai Advisory Committee for College English Teaching at Tertiary level.
Yu Lizhong, chancellor of New York University Shanghai, where classes are in English and students are required to have a high standard of English, said the most important aspect of the reform lay in what to test and how to test.
“As far as I see, the reform doesn’t mean English is no longer important for Chinese students after it will be excluded from the college entrance exam,” Yu said. “In a way, English is even more important than before since the test would only serve as reference, while every college and university, even every major, can have different requirements of a student’s English skills under a diverse evaluation system.”
Yu said some students will have their study pressure reduced if the major they choose doesn’t need excellent English while others still need to study hard if they want to be among the best students.
The education ministry said the reform would not affect students attending the college entrance exam over the next three years.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A.English will become less and less important in the stage of compulsory education. |
B.It has been 30 years since English became one subject of national college entrance exam. |
C.China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system is unacceptable at all. |
D.The system that tests are held several times does more good than once-in-a-lifetime exam system. |
According to the passage, Shanghai educators and parents argue that________.
A.the new exam and admission system will make no difference. |
B.English shouldn’t be removed from China’s college entrance exam. |
C.the reform may accomplish the very opposite. |
D.Western educational system does not apply to China. |
What does the passage try to express in the underlined sentence?
A.Students needn’t lay a good foundation during the period of high school. |
B.Whether students should study English hard may depend on their major. |
C.Students can constantly struggle for perfection only in their major. |
D.English must be close to full mark. |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
A.To advise students not to devote themselves to English. |
B.To call on Education Department to remove English from “Gaokao”. |
C.To support the act of Ministry of Education |
D.To encourage students to do as they have planned. |
Dog Translation Products Coming to U. S.
A Japanese toy maker declares that they have developed a gadget that translates dog barks into human language and plans to begin selling the gadget——under the name of Bowlingual——in U. S. pet stores and gift shops this summer.
Tokyo-based Takara Co. Ltd. says about 300, 000 of the dog translator gadgets have been sold since it was on sale in Japan late last year. It is forecasting far bigger sales once an English language translation for dogs comes to America in August. The United States is home to about 67 million dogs, more than six times the number in Japan.
"We know that the Americans love their dogs so much, so we don't think they will mind spending $ 120 on this product," the Takara marketing manager said during an interview at a recent pet products conference in Atlanta.
Regarded as one of the coolest inventions of 2002 by Time magazine, Bowlingual is made up of a 3 - inch long wireless microphone that is fastened to a dog collar and sends out sounds to a small console (控制台) that is connected to a database (数据库). The console divides each bark into six emotional types——happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, threat and desire——and shows common phrases, such as "You're ticking me off," that fit the dog's emotional state.
Takara says it has spent millions of dollars developing the gadget in cooperation with famous sound experts and animal behaviorists.
One thing that does appear certain is that the markets for animal translation products will likely remain a dog's world since Takara has no plans to develop a similar gadget for cats. "They are too unpredictable (反复无常) , " the marketing manager said.This passage mainly tells us that Bowlingual ___________.
A.was invented in Japan | B.has developed quickly |
C.will be sold in America | D.sells well for its price |
The underlined word "they" in the last paragraph refers to ___________.
A.markets | B.products | C.plans | D.cats |
When was this passage most probably published?
A.In the winter of 2002. | B.In the spring of 2003. |
C.In the summer of 2002. | D.In the autumn of 2003. |
From the passage, we can see that Takara Co. Ltd. is ___________ the sale of its new product.
A.proud of | B.satisfied with |
C.confident of | D.worried about |
International Studies (BA)
Key features
● Recognizes the “global community”(国际社会)
● Has close connections with practical research
● Much of the teaching is done in small discussion groups
About the course
The course gives you chances to know great power polities between nation states. It will provide more space to study particular issues such as relationship among countries in the European Union, third world debt, local and international disagreement, and the work of such international bodies as the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, and the World Bank.
The course puts theories into the working of the international system with close attention to particular countries. You will also have a better knowledge of methods of solving the international problems.
Related(相关的)courses
BA (Hons) Community Management
BA (Hons) Public Policy and Management
Employment possibilities
International organizations
International business
Earth Science (BSc)
Key features
● Based on key courses and the latest research findings
● Pays much attention to practical skills
● Offers chances for fieldwork(实地考察)
About the course
The demand for natural resources is becoming an increasingly serious problem for the future of mankind. Graduates in Earth Science will play an important role in meeting this demand, and in knowing the meaning of using the natural resources.
The course covers geography and geology. You will carry out fieldwork in the UK and possibly overseas, and a research in an area of interest to you in the final year.
Related courses
BSc (Hons) Geograhpy
BSc (Hons) Geology
Employment possibilities
Mineral, oil, water or other related engineering industriesInternational Studies is a course in ________.
A.international polities | B.international business |
C.international systems | D.international bodies |
After taking the course of International Studies, the students will _______.
A.become practical and open-minded |
B.have a greater ability to discuss theories |
C.know how to settle international problems |
D.have good jobs in any international organizations |
Earth Science, as described in the second text, ________.
A.is attractive because of the chances for fieldwork |
B.pays more attention to practical skills than theories |
C.is built on important courses and the results of recent studies |
D.encourages students to play a role in using natural resources |
It can be inferred that the above two texts are written for the students who _______.
A.enjoy research work | B.plan to choose courses |
C.study in the UK | D.are interested in overseas fieldwork |
A study of a university in Shanghai had found that many of the students there are using a quote(引语)from the Italian poet Dante as a kind of motto. The study of Fudan University, one of China’s top universities, of 489 students, found that 82 had chosen Dante’s “Follow your own path and don’t worry about what others say” as their motto, out of 278 people who said they had a motto. This was followed by “Believe yourself” and “Self-improvement without stop.”
Students also expressed a common hope for greater understanding and care and said they were always ready to give a hand to those in need.
Some researchers think that mottoes can play an important part in children’s growth and they say that a good motto can help children develop a better character.The study shows _________.
A.which university should have mottoes |
B.what poems are popular |
C.how many students like the motto “Believe yourself.” |
D.the majority of the students like to choose their favorite mottoes |
Of the students asked, _______ students have mottoes.
A.about 78% | B.about 57% | C.about 16% | D.about 8% |
The motto “Self-improvement without stop” shares the similar meaning with ______.
A.going on to improve rapidly |
B.growing by oneself continuously |
C.making oneself better and perfect continuously |
D.becoming better without having a break |
The best title for the passage should be _______.
A.Mottoes and Character Developing | B.Students and Poet |
C.Mottoes and Learning | D.Understanding Care |
Well, when the huge wave hit the boat, my safety belt broke and I was swept overboard. I don’t really understand how it happened, but it did. I heard someone yell out, but then my boat, Wild One, went off into the darkness and I was alone in a very rough sea. I then spent five and a half hours in the water. The place where it happened was, oh, about 50 kilometers from shore. It was likely that I wouldn’t see another day, but I always thought I’d overcome the difficulties. At first I was watching out for Wild One. The rest of the crew knew I was gone, so they were sure to come back and look for me. After a while, I saw the boat’s lights when it came looking for me. They were within about 300 meters of me, but the spotlight just missed me. The reason why they didn’t see me was because of the huge waves. You know, I started sailing when I was seven, and started ocean racing when I was about eighteen, but I’d never been overboard before. I believed I was going to survive, but it was very cold, and as the hours passed I started to get desperate——and frozen! It was around 5 am when I saw the lights of a tanker coming towards me. I figured it was probably my last chance. At first, I thought they were going to miss me, and then they made a slight turn and I yelled out “Help!” and they heard me. Then another yacht appeared. These guys were terrific. They gave me dry clothes, and then one jumped into the bunk and hung onto me. They covered us with as much dry clothing as they could, and the guy in with me stayed to transfer his body heat to me.The author of the passage was alone in the sea NOT because ______.
A.the wind was too strong | B.the wave hit the boat |
C.the safety belt was broken | D.his boat was in the darkness |
He was not saved by his crew because _______.
A.he didn’t yell out “Help!” | B.300 meters was long distance |
C.he was not found | D.he didn’t see the spotlight |
It was inferred from the passage that _______.
A.he was swept overboard at about midnight |
B.Wild One was the name of a crew member |
C.he started ocean racing at about seven |
D.he was too hopeless to take the last chance |
One of the guys who saved him jumped into the bunk in order to ________.
A.cover him with more dry clothes |
B.warm him with his body heat |
C.comfort him |
D.congratulate him |
All over the world, libraries have begun the Herculean(巨大的) task of making faithful digital copies of the books, images and recordings that preserve the intellectual effort of mankind. For armchair scholars, the work promises to bring such a wealth of information to desktop that the present Internet may not match.
Librarians see three clear benefits to going digital. First, it helps them preserve rare and fragile objects without refusing the demands of those who wish to study them. The British Library, for example, holds the only medieval manuscript(手稿)of Beowulf in London. Only qualified scholars were allowed to see it until Kevin S. Kiernan of the University of Kentucky scanned the Manuscript with three different light sources and put the images up on the Internet for anyone to use.
A second benefit is convenience. Once books are changed to digital form, readers can find them in seconds rather than minutes. Several people can read the same book or view the same picture at the same time. Clerks are spared the chore of reshelving. And libraries could use the Internet to lend their collections to those who are unable to visit in person.
The third advantage of electronic copies is that they occupy millimeters of space on a magnetic disk rather than meters on a shelf. The cost of library buildings is increasingly high. The University of California at Berkeley recently spent $ 46 million on an underground addition to house 1.5 million books----an average cost of $30 per volume. The price of disk storage, on the contrary, has fallen to about $ 2 per 300-page publication and continues to drop.What is the message in the first paragraph?
A.More people can read precious books. |
B.The Internet provides more information. |
C.Libraries are making efforts to preserve books. |
D.Libraries are making digital copy of books. |
Which words in the second paragraph help you to identify the supporting points?
A.three, First, for example | B.benefits, manuscript, scholars |
C.helps, holds, scanned | D.clear, qualified, different |
Which of the following is mentioned in the text as benefits of going digital?
A.Fewer staff will be required in libraries. |
B.Libraries will be able to move underground. |
C.Borrowers need not go to the library building. |
D.Old manuscripts can be moved more easily. |
How is the text organized?
A.Opinion – Description | B.Message – Explanation |
C.Main idea – Comparison | D.Introduction – Conclusion |