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India was once part of the British Empire, but thanks to modern technology and a booming economy, it has turned the tables on its former colonial master. Indian tutors are helping to teach math to British children over high-speed Internet connections. Early results suggest the idea is improving exam results. But not everyone is happy at this “outsourcing” of tutoring.
It’s 3:30, and pupils at Raynham Primary School in London are gathering for their after-school maths lessons.
Five time zones— thousands of kilometers away—their math tutors are also arriving for class. High-speed Internet has made it possible for Indian tutors to teach British pupils in real time. Each pupil gets a dedicated one-to-one online tutor. The students work with activities on their computer screen and wear a headset and microphone to talk to their tutor.
The class teacher, Altus Basson, says he has seen an improvement in results. “There are some children who’ve really rocketed in their results. Children who struggleto focus in class focus a lot better on the laptops. The real advantage is that each child gets a focused activity and a single tutor,” he said.
Such individualized teaching is the core idea of Brightspark Education, the company that provides the online tutoring, says founder Tom Hooper. “Children today feel very confident online; they feel very engaged; they feel very in control. And that's half the battle with education.Give them control, make them feel confident and enjoy their learning and you'll see them start to improve and embrace it," he said.
Raynham Primary School is among the first in Europe to try online tutoring. At between $20 and $25 an hour, it's about half the cost of face-to-face coaching. But some people say an Internet connection is not enough of a connection for teaching and learning. Kevin Courtney is deputy General Secretary of Britain's National Union of Teachers. "We think, there's a really important emotional connection between a teacher and a child whether it's a whole class or whether it's one-to-one. You need that immediacy of feedback and we're not convinced that that can happen across an Internet connection. In one of the wealthiest.countries in the world, we think that we can afford to have teachers with genuine emotional connection there with the children," he said.
Brightspark Education says the online tutoring is used only as an addition to supplement regular teaching. The company says its service does not represent a threat to teachers' jobs in Britain.
Parents say they're very satisfied with the results they've seen. And what about the children?Children: "I love it!"I love it!"I hate maths!" So math--or, as the British call it, maths—is still not everyone's favorite subject even with the latest technology to teach it.
What do we know about the online tutoring?

A．Indian tutors are helping to teach math in Britain.

B．Tutors and students are in different places.

C．An online tutor helps several students at the same time.

D．Tutors and students communicate by telephone.

What can we learn about Brightspark Education?

A．It shows a threat to teachers’ jobs in Britain.

B．It can take place of the regular teaching.

C．It only pays attention to math teaching.

D．It emphasizes the individualized teaching.

According to Kevin Courtne, _________. .

A．online tutoring will represent a threat to teachers’ jobs in Britain

B．online tutoring has a great influence on British.

C．the emotional connection between a teacher and a child is important

D．immediacy of feedback can happen across an Internet connection

What’s the best title for this passage ?

A．A New Teaching Pattern

B．Indian Teachers and British Students

C．To Learn Maths with the Latest Technology

D．Indian Tutors Teach British Kids Online

Waller was a liked－by－all fellow full of fun who often went to coffee houses to tell people interesting stories, of which some even brought him some money. One day, asked by an office secretary who told Waller that his boss was a never－seen before serious man and he never even smiled. Waller would tell a most funny story. “Well, sir,” Waller said before he began the story, “What will be given in return of my success?”“＄100,”replied the secretary. “I haven’t seen him have a bright face since I worked in his office.”
“Then let’s make it.” Waller went to the man’s table and whispered to him, “Please tell your boss that the funny man Waller’s hen gave birth to a baby.”
Three days later a letter reached Mr. Waller in which were ＄100 and a piece of yellow paper with the words, “Mr. Waller, you have succeeded—When I repeated your ＄100－worth sentence, my boss burst into frightening laughter, saying that whoever has managed to make him laugh during the business hours will get dismissed!”
The secretary asked Waller for a most funny story because he ______.

A．was tired of his boss seriousness

B．tried to please his serious boss with it

C．wanted to improve his working conditions

D．wanted to see his boss' laughing face

Saying "Let's make it," Waller______．

A．was sure of his success

B．thought of nothing but the 100-dollar return

C．knew that his hen had really given a birth to a baby

D．wondered whether he could make the boss smile or not

Which of the following ends is true according to the passage?

A．The boss was never so strict with the secretary from then on．

B．The secretary lost his job in office．

C．The secretary dare not make his boss laugh any longer．

D．Mr．Waller was dismissed at last．

Which sentence can describe the theme of the story?

A．Things Went Opposite to Wishes

B．Satisfying Both Sides

C．Killing Two Birds with One Stone

D．Either Is in His Proper Place

Marjorie Gestring
Marjorie Gestring was a springboard（跳板） diver from the United States who won the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany at the age of 13 years．With the cancellation（取消） of the Olympics in 1940 and 1944 because of World War II, Gestring did not get a chance to defend her title, and her comeback attempt for the 1948 Summer Olympics failed．
Bob Mathias
17-year-old American Bob Mathias won the decathlon（十项全能运动） only four months after taking up the sport．He is the youngest athlete in Olympic history to win a men's track and field event．By the time Mathias retired from decathlon competition in 1952, he had nine victories in nine competitions．He had won two gold medals separately in 1948 and 1952．In 1954 a film about his early life called The Bob Mathias Story was made, in which he and his wife played themselves．
Fu Mingxia
Fu Mingxia was born on August 16, 1978 in Wuhan, Hubei Province．At an early age, her father taught her to swim at a nearby river．She started exercising gymnastics at age 5, soon turning to diving．Fu Mingxia left home at age 9 to train in Beijing．In the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Fu Mingxia became China's youngest Olympic champion ever when she won the 10-meter platform gold at the age of 13．
Ian Thorpe
Ian Thorpe was born on 13 October, 1982．He is a former Australian freestyle swimmer．At the age of 14, he became the youngest male ever to represent Australia．Ian Thorpe, 17 years old, won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle by breaking his own world record in Sydney 2000．He has won five Olympic gold medals．
How many times has Marjorie Gestring taken part in the Olympic Games?

A．Two．

B．Three．

C．Four．

D．Five．

Which two athletes took part in the Olympics in the same year ?

A．Marjorie Gestring and Fu Mingxia

B．Bob Mathias and Fu Mingxia

C．Marjorie Gestring and Bob Mathias．

D．Bob Mathias and Ian Thorpe．

How long had Fu Mingxia practised diving in Beijing before she won the 10-meter platform gold in the 1992 Summer Olympics?

A．About ten years．

B．About nine years．

C．About five years．

D．About three years．

What is the passage mainly about ?

A．Some young Olympic champions．

B．The history of the Olympic Games．

C．How to train young Olympic athletes．

D．How to prepare for the Olympic Games．

How is it that siblings （兄弟姐妹） can turn out so differently? One answer is that in fact each sibling grows up in a different family． The firstborn is, for a while, an only child, and therefore has a completely different experience of the parents than those born later． The next child is, for a while, the youngest, until the situation is changed by a new arrival． The mother and father themselves are changing and growing up too． One sibling might live in a stable and close family in the first few years; another might be raised in a family crisis, with a disappointed mother or an angry father．
Sibling competition was identified as an important shaping force as early as in 1918． But more recently, researchers have found many ways in which brothers and sisters are a lasting force in each others’ lives． Dr． Annette Henderson says firstborn children pick up vocabulary more quickly than their siblings． The reason for this might be that the later children aren’t getting the same one-on-one time with parents． But that doesn’t mean that the younger children have problems with language development． Later-borns don’t enjoy that much talking time with parents, but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sisters, learning entire phrases and getting an understanding of social concepts such as the difference between “I” and “me”．
A Cambridge University study of 140 children found that siblings created a rich world of play that helped them grow socially． Love-hate relationships were common among the children． Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much positive communication as the other sibling pairs．
One way children seek more attention from parents is by making themselves different from their siblings, particularly if they are close in age． Researchers have found that the first two children in a family are typically more different from each other than the second and third． Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters． A 2003 research paper studied adolescents from 185 families over two years, finding that those who changed to make themselves different from their siblings were successful in increasing the amount of warmth they gained from their parents．
In terms of language development, later-borns ________．

A．get their parents’ individual guidance

B．learn a lot from their elder siblings

C．experience a lot of difficulties

D．pick up words more quickly

What was found about fights among siblings?

A．Siblings hated fighting and loved playing．

B．Siblings in some families fought frequently．

C．Sibling fights led to bad sibling relationships．

D．Siblings learned to get on together from fights．

The word “feminine” （in Para． 4） means “_______”．

A．having qualities of parents

B．having qualities of women

C．having defensive qualities

D．having extraordinary qualities

If Confucius（孔子）were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles． He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out．
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought． It’s nothing personal． Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes．
But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius． In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China．
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities． More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries． These schools teach both Chinese language and culture． The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy． Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners philosophy． Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese． So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States． Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers．
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well．
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West．
As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is．
The opening paragraph is mainly intended to _______．

A．provide some key facts about Confucius

B．attract the readers’ interest in the subject

C．show great respect for the ancient thinker

D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations

We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students_______．

A．have a great interest in studying Chinese

B．take an active part in Chinese competitions

C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams

D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese

What is the best title for the passage?

A．Forgotten Wisdom in America

B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language

C．Chinese Culture for Westerners

D．Old Thinker with a Big Future

The passage is likely to appear in _______．

A．a biography	B．a history paper
C．a newspaper	D．a philosophy textbook