Recently, we’ve been talking about how we need better teachers. There’s no doubt that a great teacher can help in a student’s achievement but here’s what some new studies are also showing: We need better parents.
Every three years, the organization called O.E.C.D. organizes exams as part of the Program for International Student Assessment (评估), or PISA, which tests 15-year-olds on their abilities to solve real problems. America’s 15-year-olds have not done as well as students in Singapore, Finland and Shanghai in the PISA exams.
To better understand the reasons, the PISA team, starting with four countries in 2006, and then adding 14 more in 2009, went to the parents of 5,000 students. They interviewed them about how they raised their kids and then compared it with the test results for each of those years. Two weeks ago, the PISA team published the main findings of its study:
Fifteen-year-olds whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school get much higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents don’t often read with them or not at all. Parents’ concern for their children is strongly connected with better results in PISA.
According to Schleicher, the leader of the team, just asking your children how their school day was and showing great interest in their learning can help a lot. It is something every parent can do, no matter what their education level.
The study found that getting parents concerned about their children’s learning at home is more powerful than parents attending parent-teacher meetings, volunteering in classrooms, taking part in money-raising, and showing up at back-to-school nights.
To be sure, nothing can replace a good teacher. But let’s stop putting the whole responsibility on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make teaching more effective (有效的).The study was done in________ countries in total in 2009.
| A．4 | B．14 | C．18 | D．40 |
It is suggested in the study that parents should________.
| A．try to search for better teachers |
| B．put the whole duty on teachers |
| C．care about their children’s school life |
| D．ask their children to read more books |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Better Parents Are Needed |
| B．Better Teachers Are Needed |
| C．A Study by the PISA Team |
| D．An Interview with Parents |
（三）
A
I recently spent two years in the Arctic filming the series Blue Planet. I love being in an environment that hasn't changed for 20,000 years. Of course it's freezing, but it must be a healthy place because you never catch colds.
When I'm filming, I like to really feel how lonely the environment is. Filming underwater involves cutting through thick ice and diving in tied to a line. The person at the other end has to be ready to pull you out fast if necessary.
Originally I was a research diver for the British Antarctic Survey project, but for me science lacked excitement. I'd always enjoyed photography, and whenever camera teams passed through, they encouraged me to watch and learn. I was then able to move into filming in 1985 and have concentrated on Arctic and Antarctic wildlife ever since.
I prefer to be faced with the animals I'm filming. I haven't got in the water with killer whales yet, but I plan to. Of course, it's dangerous if you choose the wrong moment. They're big animals and can move fast, so I'd be stupid to film them searching for food!
I've never had problems with polar bears, although once I was frightened when one tried to get into my tent. Polar bears are bold, clever and dangerous. But I made this one see I wasn't about to attack it - I'm sure it realised I wouldn't hurt it.
When I come home back from my trips, I work in the mornings and spend the afternoons swimming to keep fit. Now I'm fifty, filming is harder. The challenge for me is to continue to deliver high-quality work.
56. In this text, the writer is describing __________.
A. the challenges of the environment he works in B. the beautiful scenery of the Arctic
C. the career opportunities in TV camera work. D. the difficulties of having to work alone
57. What does the writer say about his early career?
A. He was bored by working only in Antarctic.
B. It taught him how to become a skilled diver.
C. He wasted the years he spent as a scientist.
D. It provided him with a chance to learn about filming.
58. When talking about killer whales, the writer says that __________.
A. he has always been careful when diving with them
B. he tries to avoid any danger by facing them
C. he will only film them from a safe distance
D. he believes there are safe opportunities to film them
59. How does the writer describe his experience with a polar bear?
A. The writer realized he was wrong to trust polar bears.
B. The writer felt nervous that the bear might come back.
C. The bear seemed to know the writer wasn’t a danger.
D. The animal was much more afraid than the writer was.
D
We all know what it is like to be unable to turn your head because of a cold in the muscles of your neck, or because an unexpected twist has made your neck ache and stiff. Your whole body feels tight. The slightest move makes you jump with pain. Nothing could be worse than a pain in the neck.
That is why we use phrase to describe some people who give you the same feeling. We have all met such people.
One is the man who always seems to be clapping his hands—often at the wrong time—during a performance in the theater. He keeps you from hearing the actors.
Even worse are those who can never arrive before the curtain goes up and play begins. They come hurrying down to your row of seats. You are comfortably settled down, with your hat and heavy coat in your lap. You must stand up to ;et them pass. You are proud of your self—control after they have settled into their seats…Well, what now…Good God, one of them is up again. He forgot to go to the men’s room, and once more you have to stand up, hanging on to your hat and coat to let him pass. Now, that is “a pain in the neck.”
Another, well—known to us all, is the person sitting behind you in the movies. His mouth is full of popcorn; he is chewing loudly, or talking between bites to friends next to him. None of them remain still. Up and down, back and forth, they go—for another bag of popcorn, or something to drink.
Then, there is the main sitting next to you at a lunch counter smoking a smelly cigar. He wants you to enjoy it too, and blows smoke across you food into your mouth.
We must not forget the man who comes into a bus or subway car and sits down next to you, just as close as you will let him. You are reading the newspaper and he leans over and stretches his rock so that he can read the paper with you. He may even turn the paper to the next page before you are ready for it.
We also call such a person a “rubber neck,” always stretching his neck to where it does not belong, like neighbors who watch all your visitors. They enjoy invading your privacy. People have a strong dislike for rubbernecks. They hate being spied upon.
68．Where can you find this passage?
A．Medicine dictionaries. B．Social science books,
C．Kids’ comic books. D．Science text books.
69．How do you feel when late comers walk back and forth in front of you in a cinema?
A．Ignored. B．Bored. C．Disturbed D．Relaxed.
70．A “rubber neck” often .
A．says bad words behind people.
B．quarrels face to face with neighbors.
C．bargains the price with sales women
D．asks about other people’s business
71．Which of the follow is a “pain on the neck”?
A．Someone who helps you find your seat in a movie theatre.
B．Someone who smokes in a smoking section on a train.
C．Someone who throws trash out of his car window on the highway.
D．Someone who goes to the doctor for his severe pain on the neck.