OURKIDSAREAMAZING－especiallyco-优题课

Sometimes it is difficult to talk to taxi drivers. They must give all their attention to the road as they work out the shortest way to the place where you are going. However, passengers from Wangfujing were in surprise when they took a taxi. The driver just would not stop talking ―in English.
Organized by the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, “Dare to Speak” examines if Chinese people will speak English in “real-life” situations. Matthew Knowles, an acting student from South Carolina at Beijing Film Academy, acted the part as the “driver”. He collected six passengers on Saturday morning, most of whom were female white-collar workers.
“Of course they were surprised at first, wondering why I’m driving a taxi, and wondering whether this is a real taxi, but then most of them were pretty willing to speak,” he said. Knowles said he was also surprised by his “passengers”. “Apart from my first ‘passenger’, who could speak very little English, all the rest spoke English very well, and it was fun to communicate with them,” he said, adding that some “passengers” were quite talkative.
The “foreign taxi driver” project was just one of the “Dare to Speak” activities, which have been going on since the end of October. Other projects included a foreign store owner near a high school in Beijing, a cook in a Shanghai university canteen. They were testing the willingness of Chinese people, especially students and white-collar workers, to speak to foreigners in English. Rong Xin, senior manager of IELTS (雅思) with the British Embassy, said they hoped to let IELTS takers in China know that communication is the most important goal of IELTS.
“We hope that more and more IELTS takers in China can realize the importance of communicating in English in real life, instead of just getting high test scores,” she said.
Why did Matthew Knowles drive a taxi?

A．He enjoyed chatting with people in English.

B．He played the role of a taxi driver in a film.

C．He took part in the project “Dare to speak”

D．He wanted to improve his Chinese while driving.

The Chinese may meet and talk to _______ in “Dare to speak” projects.

A．a white-collar worker

B．a high school student

C．a restaurant manager

D．a foreign store owner

The purpose of the project “Dare to Speak” is to _______ .

A．draw Chinese people’s attention to IELTS

B．remind language learners of the goal of learning

C．attract more foreigners to start business in China

D．give more chances for English learners in China

Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age.
Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists. In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception(观察力) of some people, using pictures of some orange circles. The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people. The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25.
The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background. One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one. Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time. Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time.
Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles. Here's where the trick lies in. In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles —making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one. And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles—so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle.
When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren't fooled—they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy(准确性) as before. Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well. Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time.
As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context. In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once: the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle. As a result, they're more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick.
Doherty and his team of scientists did an experiment to evaluate_____________.

A．children's and adults' eye-sight

B．people's ability to see accurately

C．children's and adults' brains

D．the influence of people's age

When asked to find the larger circle,_____________.

A．children at 6 got it wrong 79 % of the time with no gray ones around

B．only adults over 18 got it right 95% of the time with gray ones around

C．children at 4 got it right about 79 % of the time with gray ones around

D．adults got it right most of the time with gray ones around

According to the passage, we can know that_____________.

A．a smaller orange circle appears bigger on a white background

B．an orange circle appears bigger than a gray one of the same size

C．a circle surrounded by other circles looks bigger than its real size

D．a circle surrounded by bigger ones looks smaller than its real size

Why are younger children not fooled?_____________.

A．Because their brain can hardly notice related things together.

B．Because older people are influenced by their experience.

C．Because people's eyes become weaker as they grow older.

D．Because they are smarter than older children and adults.

American culture is unique because it is formed and developed under certain conditions. The major factors contributing to the making of this new nation and the forming of a new culture are the hard environment, ethnic diversity (多样性；差异) and plural religion, which is quite different from other nations in the world. What is more, these elements are still influencing the American culture.
The early immigrants（移民）who were English Puritans settled down in northeast part of America from 1607 to 1892. Frontiers were pushed further west. The frontiersmen looked for a land of rich resources and a land of promise, opportunity and freedom. Actually they looked for a better life. So individualism(个人主义), self-reliance, and equality of opportunity have perhaps been the values most closely associated with the frontier heritage（遗产）of America.
In history, people from different countries in the world rushed to America three times. They brought their own culture to America and later on, different cultures were mixed together. Thus the unique American culture was formed, a common cultural life with commonly shared values.
The fundamental American belief in individual freedom and the fight of individuals to practice their own religion is at the center of religious experience in the United States. The great diversity of ethnic backgrounds has produced religious pluralism(多元化); almost all of the religions of the world are now practiced in the United States.
Nowadays, we can see the continual influence of the three elements in the current American society. American family is typically parents and their unmarried children. Middle-aged and elderly people generally do not live with their married children. The people in America have a very strong desire to start a new life in a new place. Quite a number of people change residences every year. The average American moves fourteen times in his lifetime.
We can learn from this article that ________.

A．the population of the United States includes a large variety of ethnic groups

B．the early immigrants brought about the unique American culture

C．people in the world once rushed to America because of its unique culture

D．the American family members don't get along well with each other

What's the author's attitude towards American culture?

A．He is critical of it.

B．He admires it very much.

C．He just states the facts.

D．He looks down upon it.

The last paragraph is about________.

A．the family structure in American society

B．the influence of the three elements in the current American society

C．the new life style of American family

D．the reason why American people like to change residences

What might be the most suitable title of this article?

A．The Immigrants in America

B．Why American Culture Is Unique

C．The Influence of American Culture

D．Plural Religion and American Culture

You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:
"I can't believe it-----a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome."
They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.
Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation ---- consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.
So advertising agencies hire young actors to "perform" in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice deceptive (骗人的), but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. "Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing." However, one might ask what exactly is "real" of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater? Advertising executives would say it's no less real than an ad. The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.
The two attractive young women were talking so that they could _____.

A．get the sweater at a lower price

B．decide on buying the sweater

C．be admired by other shoppers

D．be heard by people around

Lorenzo Bertolla is _____.

A．a very popular male singer

B．an advertising agency

C．the brand name of a sweater

D．a clothing company in Rome

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．Traditional advertising will soon disappear in the market.

B．The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads.

C．Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.

D．Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct.

Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Two Attractive Shoppers

B．Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters

C．Undercover Marketing

D．Ways of Advertising

Exploit your parking space
An unused parking space or garage can make money. If you live near a city center or an airport, you could make anything up to ￡200 or ￡300 a week. Put an advertisement for free on Letpark or Atmyhousepark.
Rent（出租）a room
Spare room Not only will a lodger（房客）earn you an income, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax on the first ￡4500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis. If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space
Live on set
Renting your home out as a “film set” could earn you hundreds of pounds a day, depending on the film production company and how long your home is needed. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of online companies that allow you to register your home for free—but you will be charged if your home gets picked.
Use your roof
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around ￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier, which could prevent you from changing the roof.
If you earn ￡5000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on______.

A．￡800

B．￡500

C．￡4500

D．￡5000

If you want to use energy free, you have to_____.

A．sign an agreement with the government

B．pay around ￡14,000 for the equipment

C．sell the roof to some energy companies

D．keep the roof unchanged for within 25 years

For whom the text most probably written？

A．Lodgers.	B．Advertisers.
C．House owners.	D．Online companies