IntheLifestylesection,youmayNo-优题课

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Eight-year-old Bethany and seven-year-old Eliza are having a great time jumping around in the orchard of their home in a village near Penrith. They can play any time they like because they don't go to school. Instead, they are educated at home by their parents, Paul and Veronika Robinson. But they don't have lessons, have never used a timetable and learn only what and when they want to learn.
“I want my kids to have freedom in their childhood, not spend it in an institution," says 37-year-old Veronika, "School is all about control and following the rules." Veronika and her 56-year-old husband Paul have never experienced the daily rush to get dressed and out of the door that is common in most households with school-aged children. "We get up at our leisure - usually around 8:30," says Veronika. "We might visit a friend, or go to the library, and on Tuesdays we shop at the market. In summer, we spend most of our time outside and the girls entertain themselves a lot.”
New research due to be published this spring reveals a very different picture of Britain's home educators. "Out of 297 families, 184 said that they never use a timetable,” says Mike Fortune-Wood of Home Education UK. "Ninety per cent never or rarely use textbooks, and nearly all said that happiness, contentment and self-fulfillment were more important than academic achievement. Only 15% felt that planning what to learn was very important.” .
So far, so good. But what, you might ask, are the children actually learning?
"It wasn't important to me that the girls could read by a certain age, but they both picked it up for themselves at around seven," says Robinson. "Weighing cooking ingredients uses maths, and making a shopping list teaches them to write. Observing five hens has taught the girls about survival of the fittest. "
But what about when the children grow up? Can they go to university? The home educators' answer is they can if they want to. There are a variety of routes into higher education, but probably the most common is to join a local college. This is what Gus Harris-Reid has done. "I was educated at home all my life. I'd never had a lesson or been inside a classroom until I started GCSEs," says the 18-year-old. "I'm now studying for 4 A-levels at Exeter College. I've had no problem with the work or with fitting in." When asked to reflect on his experience of home education, his considered response is, "Like a permanent holiday, really!" Not a bad start for someone who plans to take a mechanical engineering degree next year.
64. What is the topic of this article?
A. New ways of learning to read and write B. Problems with UK schools
C. Home education in the UK D. Wild, undisciplined children
65. According to the article, in homes with school-going children, ______.
A. mornings are rushed and stressful.
B. the children hardly ever go outside.
C. the family wakes up around 8:30am.
D. the children must ask permission to go to the toilet.
66. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Most home educators believe that happiness is more important than good grades.
B. Most home educators believe that planning is important.
C. Most home educators do not follow a timetable or use textbooks.
D. Most home educators are not worried about when their children learn to read and write.
67. What does the article say about home-educated children getting into university?
A. They learn so many useful skills at home that universities are happy to accept them.
B. They can get into university if they have 4 A-levels.
C. They can go to school later and get the qualifications they need in order to enter university.
D. Home education is so relaxed that they are likely to experience problems when faced with the pressures of a degree course.

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For generations of pupils, learning key historical dates, places, and names off by heart has been the base of academic success. But for today’s youngsters, dull rote learning(死记硬背) is meaningless because such basic facts are only a mouse click via Google, Wikipedia and online libraries, according to writer Don Tapscott.
Tapscott, author of the best-selling book Wikinomics and a supporter of the “net generation”, suggests a better approach would be to teach children to think creatively so they could learn to understand and use the knowledge available online.
He said, “Teachers are no longer the fountain(源泉) of knowledge ; the Internet is. Kids should learn about history to understand the world and why things are the way they are. But they don’t need to know all the dates.”
Tapscott dismissed(摒弃) the idea that his approach is anti-learning. Instead, he argued that the ability to learn new things is more important than ever in a world where you have to process new information at lighting speed. And he believes that the old-fashioned model of education still common in today’s schools, involving having facts off pat, was designed for the industrial age. He said, “This might have been good for the mass production economy, but it isn’t suitable for the digital economy, or for the ‘net generation’ mind. Children are going to have to reinvent their knowledge base many times. So for them memorizing facts and figures is a waste of time.”
Tapscott added the brains of today’s youngsters work differently to their parents’, and that multi tasking with digital equipment, such as using the Internet while listening to their MP3 players, can help them to develop critical thinking skills.
Schools are increasingly introducing more independent study and activities, with pupils learning at their own pace and focusing on what interests them most.
68. What is important for the “net generation” in Tapscott’s opinion?
A. Using online knowledge creatively.
B. Memorizing facts and figures.
C. Learning to respect teachers.
D. Teaching their parents to think creatively.
69. The underlined part “having facts off pat” in Para. 4 probably means _______.
A. understanding online information
B. remembering facts clearly
C. mastering digital equipment
D. keeping mistakes in mind
70. According to Tapscott, _______.
A. learning history is of no use to kids
B. Teachers should learn more things from online libraries
C. Kids should not listen to MP3 players while using the Internet
D. to obtain new information is important for kids

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“Don’t just stand there,” goes a typical bit of American advice, “do something!” This expression is normally used in a crisis situation, yet, in a sense, it describes most Americans’ entire waking life, where action—any action—is seen to be superior to inaction.
Americans routinely plan and schedule an extremely active day. Any relaxation must be limited in time, preplanned, and aimed at “recreating” their ability to work harder and more productively once the recreation is over. Americans believe leisure activities should assume a relatively small portion of one’s total life. People think that it is “sinful(有罪的)” to “waste one’s time”, “to sit around doing nothing”, or just to “daydream”.
Such a “no nonsense” attitude toward life has created many people who have come to be known as “workaholics”, or people who are addicted to their work, who think constantly about their jobs and who are frustrated if they are kept away from them, even during their evening hours and weekends.
The workaholic syndrome(综合症), in turn, causes Americans to identify themselves wholly with their professions. The first question one American will ask another American when meeting for the first time is related to his or her work: ”Where do you work?” or “Who(what company) are you with?” And when such a person finally goes on vacation, even the vacation will be carefully planned, very busy and active.
America may be one of the few countries in the world where it seems reasonable to speak about the “dignity(尊严) of human labor”, meaning by that, hard, physical labor. In America, even corporation presidents will engage in physical labor from time to time and gain, rather than lose, respect from others for such action.
64.What is mainly talked about in the passage?
A.How Americans act during a crisis situation.
B.The workaholic syndrome in America.
C.Americans’ attitude towards relaxation.
D.Americans’ “no nonsense” attitude toward life.
65.Americans hold the belief that _______.
A.they should try to enjoy life as much as possible
B.they should go all out to help others in a crisis situation
C.they should not spend too much on relaxation
D.leisure activities should be an important part of their life
66.In America, corporation presidents will _______.
A.give instructions to workers only
B.often take part in physical labor themselves
C.look down upon the laborers
D.do physical labor only when it is necessary
67.When workers see their boss doing physical labor, they’ll _______.
A.take the place of him
B.stand by and watch
C.be more respectful to him
D.laugh at him

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Millions of people will be able to track each and every move by friends and family through their mobile phones，thanks to a new feature launched by Google yesterday．
The new system named “Latitude” uses a map to show exactly where a loved one is at any time, sometimes discovering their location to a few meters．Worried parents will be able to check up on where their children have got to after school, friends can meet for a quick drink if they see they are nearby and wives will be able to see if their husbands really are working late at the office．
The feature was made available immediately on millions of mobile phones that can access the web，such as the Black Berry．Within weeks Google hopes to launch a new one that will also work on computers as well．
“Once you've shared your location，you can hide it from all of your friends at once，or you can turn off Google Latitude completely at any time．” said a Google spokesman．“You can adjust your privacy settings in Latitude so that you share as much or as little about your location as you want，with whom you want．”
Google said that the company had tested the product with thousands of people to make sure that it was safe for the customers，but experts were not so sure．Simon Davies，director of Privacy International，said Latitude would open up a “privacy minefield（危险地带）”．
“It's about the little white lies．You might be avoiding going to work, and now your boss might be able to see that you're at Twickenham instead of at home．”said Ian Angell, an information expert at the London School of Economics．“You've already got mobile phone technology where husbands and wives track each other in secret．Now Google is so widely used that it will only worsen the situation．”
60. According to Google，the new system “Latitude” can ___________．
A．prove that the partner has told a lie about working late
B．tell the parents the locations of their children after school
C．provide the friends with the most suitable pub for a drink
D．help people find what their loved ones are doing at any time
61. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 probably refers to ___________．
A．the new system B. the Google company
C. the mobile phoneD. the privacy minefield
62. From the passage，we know that Ian Angell believed ___________．
A．Latitude keeps husbands and wives in good relationship
B．Google tricked all its customers to make more money
C．with Latitude more privacy problems would come up
D．privacy settings could protect your personal information
63. The best title of the passage might be ___________．
A．Google Allows You to Track Friends' and Families' Every Move
B．Google and BlackBerry Open the New Webs to Their Customers
C．Latitude Working on Computers is Being Developed by Google
D．Latitude Sets a Good Example on Mobile Phone Privacy Settings

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第三部分阅读理解
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
Forgiving someone who has hurt you or let you down is never an easy thing. Several new studies, however, say that it could have a lot of health benefits. When you think of forgiveness, you probably don’t think of it as being a health or medical problem. Studies from Stanford University, on the other hand, show that something like anger can change your well-being.
When cartoon book characters like the Incredible Hulk get angry, they change colours and often gain special power. In the real world, anger is less obvious and may be more dangerous. That’s why Professor Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good, says holding on to anger and hatred can harm your physical and mental health. Two new studies seem to show the same idea.
The studies find that people who are able to forgive feel less stress, less back pain, and less depression. They also have fewer headaches, lower blood pressure, and fewer problems on sleeping.
So it doesn’t matter if your anger is caused by the traffic or other things. Learning to let it go is important. Techniques such as deep breath or thought can help. Or just ask yourself if it’s worth hurting yourself by staying angry with someone else.
Forgiveness does not mean that you simply accept what happened and say it’s OK. Instead, it’s a way of making peace with yourself about what happened in the past.
56. The author of the passage tries to make his viewpoint clear ______.
A. by giving his own examples B. through his own experience
C. by mentioning some studies D. by mentioning some typical patients
57. The example of the cartoon book characters is taken in the passage to______.
A. support the viewpoint that anger and hatred harm physical and mental health
B. introduce a famous expert
C. let the reader know the different colours of cartoon faces
D. show how to control one’s temper
58.The underlined phrase “holding on to” in this passage possibly means“______”.
A. removing B. keeping up C. getting rid of D. learning about
59. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in this passage?
A. People who are able to forgive feel less stress.
B. People who are able to forgive feel less depression.
C. People who are able to forgive have fewer problems on sleeping.
D. People who are able to forgive feel less tired.

A．journals of adventure	B．well-taken photographs
C．stories of Leonard Maltin	D．opinions on restaurants