Once upon a time,the animals decided that they must do something heroic to meet the problems of” a new world”.So they organized a training school.
They adopted an activity curriculum(课程) consisting of running,climbing,swimming and flying.To make it easier to manage the curriculum,all the animals took all the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming,in fact,better than his instructor,but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running.Since he was slow in running,he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running.This was kept up until his webbed(脚蹼) feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming.But average was acceptable in school,so nobody worried about that except the duck.
The rabbit started at the top of the class in running,but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.
The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down.He also developed a “Charlie horse” and then got a C in climbing and a D in running.
The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely.In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree,but insisted on using his own way to get there.
At the end of the year,an abnormal eel that could swim very well,and also run,climb and fly a little,had the highest average and was the one who gave a good-bye speech.
The prairie dogs stayed out of the school because the administration would not add digging to the curriculum.Why was the duck kept after school according to the passage? Because ________.
A.he only passed in flying |
B.he ran very slowly |
C.he wasn’t good at swimming |
D.he had to practice climbing |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
A.an abnormal eel’s average score is the highest in all subjects |
B.the squirrel met frustration before practicing climbing |
C.the rabbit liked to make up in water so she failed at last |
D.in fact,the duck behaved better than any other animal in class |
What’s the reason that the eagle was disciplined?
A.He was a problem child. |
B.He beat all to become the best. |
C.He didn’t do as teachers taught. |
D.He decided to climb to the top of the tree. |
What activity curriculums were not offered in this training school?
A.Running. | B.Swimming. | C.Flying. | D.Digging. |
The main aim of Environment Awareness Week is to _____.
A.educate the public on protecting the environment |
B.discuss global warming and other environmental problems |
C.explain ways for producing freshwater to save the environment |
D.learn about renewable energy sources that protect the environment |
The organizer of the event is _____.
A.Global Gaia Network | B.Clean Energy Agency |
C.Green Earth Foundation | D.International Environment Fund |
If you are interested in renewable energy sources, you should go to _____.
A.Hall 1 | B.Hall 2 | C.Hall 3 | D.Hall 4 |
The "3 Rs" stand for _____.
A.Read, Realize and Remember | B.Reduce, Reuse and Recycle |
C.Green Earth Foundation | D.Global Gaia Network |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of the event?
A.It will last a week and the halls will be open 11 hours a day. |
B.You can send an email to Mrs.Daisy Soh for more information. |
C.Each hall charges the same amount of money as the other. |
D.Lectures in Hall 1 will be given by university students. |
Pushy parents and teachers who “hothouse” the under-5s risk causing damage to the children’s long term development, a leading education expert said.
Lilian Katz, Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, said that four-year-olds engaged in reading and writing went on to perform worse academically than those engaged in imaginative learning. They scored higher in tests at the age of 5, but children whose first year at school was stimulating outstripped them four years later.
The findings suggest that the government's structured approach to early years' learning could be storing up problems for children. They also raise serious questions about the plan for all children to be able to read by the age of 6.
In many countries formal teaching does not start until children are 6 or 7 and have improved their social and manual skills. Children start learning to read and write at 6 in the United States, France and Germany, and at 7 in Finland and Sweden.
Professor Katz said that in many schools the courses were "boring children to tears". Much academic teaching required children to learn by memorizing pieces of information out of context, she said. Teaching in reception class should instead allow children to develop their intellect by exploring their environments and asking questions.
"Research suggests the benefits of formal academic instruction for four- and five-year-olds seem to be promising when they are tested early, but considerably less so in the long term. When these children are followed over a period of three or more years, those who had early experience in more intellectually engaging curricula were more likely to do well in school than their peers, who had received early academic instruction." She advocates teaching children through first-hand experience and play, in mixed-aged classes. This can include puppet shows, drawing or running a pretend shop in the classroom.According to the passage, those who “hothouse” the under-5s would probably _________.
A.prefer a lot of interaction and stimulation while teaching |
B.teach in a lively way to motivate kids’ interest |
C.push the kids to memorize pieces of information |
D.care about the kids’ physical development |
What does the underlined word “ outstripped” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.did better than | B.looked down upon |
C.caught up with | D.performed worse than |
According to Lilian Katz, the government’s structured approach to early-years learning __.
A.is necessary for improving children’s reading and writing ability |
B.needs to be improved to develop children’s academic ability |
C.will cause problems to children in their future learning |
D.has more advantages than disadvantages |
The message the author wants to deliver through the passage is that formal teaching _____.
A.can start at different times in different countries. | B.should not be started too early |
C.is best carried out in Finland and Sweden | |
D.should include teaching children social and manual skills |
Which of the following is NOT the opinion of Lilian Katz?
A.Children should be taught through first-hand experience. |
B.Learning in a mixed-age class is good for children. |
C.Running a shop can help children get good marks. |
D.Puppet shows and drawing are useful in teaching children. |
The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony(交响乐) that came out of a “very dark time”, including her decision to give up trying to have children. “People have suggested I could adopt,” Brightman says. “But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children becomes the norm and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I’m not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich.”
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted (father a property developer who later committed suicide), she says: “I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5,I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume.” She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe(辣妹三人舞) Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart. “I was probably in love but I can’t remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22. It didn’t really work out.” In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility(敌意) “from the beginning. I haven’t tried to understand it. I’ve done very well everywhere else, especially the US, where I now live, I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don’t miss it, although I miss my family. Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it.” The first paragraph tells us that _____.
A.Brightman is very popular around the world except in America |
B.Brightman’s musical style is a mixture of opera, pop and jazz |
C.the British people don’t like her for her style of music |
D.Brightman is much older than Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Brightman decided to give up having children because _____.
A.she could adopt one |
B.her life and career were unbelievably rich without children |
C.she felt it normal not to have children |
D.she was too busy |
The following statements are true except ______.
A.Brightman first appeared in a West End musical at 5 |
B.Brightman disliked life on the campus |
C.Brightman was very gifted when she was young |
D.The saucy dance troupe made Brightman famous |
The underlined word in the fourth paragraph probably means _____.
A.located | B.admired | C.followed | D.found |
What does the author try to say in the last paragraph by quoting Brightman’s words?
A.Brightman has to accept the fact that she is not liked in Britain |
B.Brightman lives in America but she loves her own country |
C.The British coldness towards Brightman led to her hatred to her homeland |
D.Brightman was at a loss why she was not welcome in Britain |
阅读下面的短文,并根据短文后的要求答题(请注意问题后的字数要求)。
[1] I was walking in the park with a friend recently, and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were, walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day. But I became invisible, absent from the conversation.
[2] The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Recently I was in a car with three friends. The driver told us to be quiet because he could not hear the person on the other end of his cell phone. There we were, four friends going down the highway, unable to talk to one another because of a tool designed to make communication easier.
[3]Why is it that the more connected we get, ________________________ ? Every advance in communications technology is a hurt to the closeness of human interaction (互动). With e-mail and instant messaging over the Internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone.
[4] More and more, l find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation. Or being relieved that voice mail picked up because I didn’t really have time to talk. The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier.
[5] So I've put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging with people who live near me, no cell-phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I' m home.
What does the author say about communications technology according to the first two paragraphs? (within 15 words)
_________________________________________________________________________Which sentences in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
However, I felt left out as if we were not conducting the conversation.
_________________________________________________________________________ Fill in the blanks in Paragraph 3 with proper words. (within 10 words)
_________________________________________________________________________ Does the author restrict (约束) his own activity to improving the situation? Give an example. How?(within 15 words)
_________________________________________________________________________ Translate the underlined sentences in Paragraph 4 into Chinese.
________________________________________________________________________
When six the very best students from different cities in Guandong province all together chose universities in Hong Kong; when the very best student of Beijing picked up HK University while giving up the nearby Peking or Tsinghua University; when the highest enrollment (录取)rate of Hong Kong Science and Industry University reached 48:1, it’s the high time to ask where the real education heaven for students in China is.
Years ago, the answer certainly would be “Peking or Tsinghua University”. But now no one could give the exact reaction without hesitation. The only sure thing is that HK universities have gradually showed an unusual attraction to a great many mainland students.
It’s no doubt to call this HK craze(狂热),which is even out of the expectation of those HK universities themselves.
How can HK universities shake the steady foundations of Peking and Tsinghua and attract so many mainland students?
First, Hong Kong universities offer large-amount scholarship, especially for the top students who can receive the sum scholarship as much as 400,000 HK dollars. Since higher education has become a kind of heavy burden of many families, it’s easy to understand why the reaction to the generous offering of HK universities is great.
Second, most HK universities receive professors and students from all over the world and carry out bilingual(双语)education. This kind of excellent language atmosphere is another attraction for mainland students.
Further more, university students in Hong Kong have a better chance to study abroad as exchange students.
Can mainland top universities like Peking or Tsinghua University calm as before when facing the unexpected competition from HK? Will they take relevant measures to win back the top students who once help them set the worldwide reputation? Time will explain it.
The fierce competition brought by HK universities can be a good thing for an entire improvement of education in China. After the awakening and action taking of mainland universities, they can perform better together with HK universities.
At least, it reminded the mainland universities the tuition fees(学费)are among students’ top concern when they are choosing universities. It’s time to move.What is the passage mainly talking about?
A.Some thought brought by the enrollment of HK universities. |
B.Higher education in Hong Kong. |
C.The competition between HK University and Peking University. |
D.The fall of mainland universities. |
Top students from mainland apply for HK universities because .
A.many students now would love to study aboard to get a better experience. |
B.they concern only about the tuition fees when choosing universities. |
C.HK universities offer higher scholarship, better environment and more opportunities for their further study. |
D.Peking university has lo![]() |
What is the author’s attitude toward the competition brought by HK universities?
A.The government should take relevant measures to stop this unfair competition. |
B.Mainland universities had better lower their tuition fees and win back the top students. |
C.Universities both in mainland and in HK would get an entire improvement during the competition. |
D.It may probably cause a complete loss both sides in the end. |
From the passage we can see HK universities .
A.didn’t mean to enroll top students from mainland |
B.didn’t expect their enrollment of mainland students would be so popular |
C.have strict enrollment rules and only 1 out of 48 students can get the chance to study there |
D.are proud of their teaching staff and facilities |
What does the author mean by saying “It’s time to move” in the last paragraph?
A.Mainland universities should take measures as soon as possible to attract students. |
B.The opportunities come for top students to study abroad. |
C.Mainland universities should make full preparations to challenge mainland universities. |
D.Top students should be offered further education free of charge. |