In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism--the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize all possible basic knowledge. Instead, they work individually and find answers by themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.
In most Asian societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both systems of education. For example, one advantage of the system in Japan is that students there learn much more about math, physics, biology and chemistry than American students by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.
The advantage of the educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have. The reason why American teachers attach much importance to individualism is that
_________.
| A．they are required to do so |
| B．their students do not memorize information |
| C．the United States is a country of many cultures |
| D．their students work individually |
Which of the following statements applies to Asian methods of education?
| A．Each child in a classroom draws a different picture. |
| B．students have to find information themselves. |
| C．Students are prepared for a society that values discipline. |
| D．Teachers serve as a guide in discussion. |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The system of education in the West is more creative than that in the East. |
| B．Japanese students learn much more about science than American students. |
| C．Canadian students are more individual than Korean students. |
| D．Students in North America are not so friendly as those in Asia. |
From the facts, we can infer that ______ .
| A．Asian students are more likely to do better in teamwork than American students |
| B．Chinese students are more hard-working in their studies than Mexican students |
| C．the Western educational system is much better than the Eastern educational system |
| D．the Eastern educational system is as difficult as the Western educational system |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Advantages and Disadvantages of Educational System. |
| B．The Value of Individualism. |
| C．Educational System-an Obvious Difference between the East and the West. |
| D．Memorization-an Important Learning Method. |
Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it in stock, the salesman immediately finds it, and the business of trying it on follows at once. All being well, the deal can be and often is completed inless than five minutes.
For a man, small problems may begin when the shop doesn't have what he wants. In that case, thesalesman, tries to sell the customer something else. "I know this jacket is not the style you want, sir, but would you like to try it for size? It happens to be thecolour you mentioned. "Few men have patience with this treatment, and the usual response is: "This is the right colour and may be the right size, but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on."
However, a woman in almost every respect she does so in the opposite way. Her shopping is not often based on needand she is only "having a look around". She is always open to persuasion; indeed she sets great store by what the saleswoman tells her. She will try on any number ofthings. Most women have an excellent sense of value when they buy clothes. They are always on the lookout for the unexpected bargain. Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one room to another, often retracing her steps, before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It is a laborious process, but apparently an enjoyable one. Most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands.The underlined part “sets great store by ” in paragraph 3 means___
| A．has much information about | B．knows nothing bout |
| C．believes in | D．has her doubts about |
What does the passage tell us about women shoppers for clothes?
| A．They welcome suggestions from others. |
| B．They rarely consider buying cheap clothes. |
| C．They predict what they want to buy. |
| D．They listen to advice but never take it. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Men never buy what they don’t need |
| B．A man’s shopping is often based on need |
| C．A woman goes shopping in order to look for cheap things |
| D．A woman’s shopping is never based on need. |
In her new book, “The Smartest Kids in the World,” Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Warsaw, Poland．Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students’ test scores from significantly below average to well above it．Polish kids have now outscored（超过……分数） American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does．One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Warsaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind．
That American high schools waste more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint．This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities．This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment（PISA） results are announced, it’s safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan．Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers．
Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it．And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too．She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D．C．, which costs thirty thousand dollars a year．The tour leader—a mother with three children in the school—was asked about the school’s flaws（暇疵）．When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted．When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned．“Really?” one of them asked worriedly, “What do you mean?” One of the ironies（讽刺） of the situation is that sports reveal what is possible．American kids’ performance on the field shows just how well they can do when expection are high．It’s too bad that their test scores show the same thing．Tom decides to spend his senior year in Poland because _______．
| A．there are striking differences between the 2 countries |
| B．Polish kids are better at learning |
| C．he intends to improve his scores |
| D．sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg |
According to Paragraph 2, we know that _______．
| A．little time is spent on sports in Japanese schools |
| B．too much importance is placed on sports in America |
| C．American high schools complain about sports time |
| D．PISA plays a very important role in America |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means _______．
| A．American students’ academic performance worries their parents a lot |
| B．high expectations push up American students’ academic performance |
| C．lacking practice contributes to American students’ average performance |
| D．low expectations result in American students’ poor PISA performance |
The purpose of this article is to _______．
| A．draw public attention to a weakness in American school tradition |
| B．call on American schools to learn from the Polish model |
| C．compare Polish schools with those in America |
| D．explain what is wrong with American schools and provide solutions |
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of the most private women in the world, yet when she went to work as an editor in the last two decades of her life, she revealed（展现）herself as she did nowhere else．
After the death of her second husband, Greek shipping magnate（巨头）Aristotle Onassis, Jacqueline’s close friend and former White House social secretary Letitia Baldrige made a suggestion that she consider a career in publishing．After consideration, Jacqueline accepted it．Perhaps she hoped to find there some idea about how to live her own life．She became not less but more interested in reading．For the last 20 years of her life, Jacqueline worked as a publisher’s editor, first at Viking, then at Doubleday, pursuing（追求）a late-life career longer than her two marriages combined．During her time in publishing, she was responsible for managing and editing more than 100 successfully marketed books．Among the first books were In the Russian Style and Inventive Paris Clothes．She also succeeded in persuading TV hosts Bill Moyer’s and Jose Campbell to transform their popular television conversations into a book, The Power of Myth．The book went on to become an international best-seller．She dealt, too, with Michael Jackson as he prepared his autobiography（自传）, Moonwalk．
Jacqueline may have been hired for name and for her social relations, but she soon proved her worth．Her choices, suggestions and widespread social relations were of benefit both to the publishing firms and to Jacqueline herself．In the books she selected for publication, she built on a lifetime of spending time by herself as a reader and left a record of the growth of her mind．Her books are the autobiography she never wrote．Her role as First Lady, in the end, was overshadowed by her performance as an editor．However, few knew that she had achieved so much．We can learn from the passage that Jacqueline _________
| A．became fond of reading after working as an editor |
| B．was in charge of publishing 100 books |
| C．promoted her books through social relations |
| D．gained a lot from her career as an editor |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that_________
| A．Jacqueline was more successful as an editor than as First Lady |
| B．Jacqueline’s life as First Lady was more colorful than as an editor |
| C．Jacqueline ended up as an editor rather as First Lady |
| D．Jacqueline’s role as First Lady was more brilliant than as an editor |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Jacqueline’s two marriages lasted more than 20 years |
| B．Jacqueline’s views and beliefs were reflected in the books she edited |
| C．Jacqueline’s own publishing firm was set up eventually |
| D．Jacqueline’s achievements were widely known． |
The passage is mainly______________
| A．a brief account of Jacqueline’s career as an editor in her last 20 years |
| B．a brief description of Jacqueline’s lifelong experiences |
| C．an introduction of Jacqueline’s life both as First Lady and as an editor |
| D．an analysis of Jacqueline’s social relations in publishing |
Argentina in the late nineteenth century was an exciting place．Around 1870, it was experiencing an economic boom, and the capital, Buenos Aires, attracted many people．Farmers, as well as a flood of foreigners from Spain and Italy, came to Buenos Aires seeking jobs．These jobs didn’t pay well, and the people felt lonely and disappointed with their new life in the city．As the unhappy newcomers mixed together in the poor parts of the city, the dance known as the tango （探戈舞） came into being
At the beginning the tango was a dance of the lower classes．It was danced in the bars and streets．At that time there were many fewer women than men, so if a man didn’t want to be left out, his only choice was to dance with another man so that he could attract the attention of the few available women．Gradually, the dance spread into the upper classes of Argentinean society and became more respectable．
In Europe at this time, strong interest in dance from around the world was beginning．The interest in international dance was especially evident in Paris．Every kind of dance from ballet to belly dancing could be found on the stages of the Paris theaters．After tango dances from Argentina arrive in Europe, they began to draw the interest of the public as they performed their exiting dance in cafes．Though not everyone approved of the new dance, saying it was a little too shocking, the dance did find enough supporters to make it popular．
The popularity of the tango continued to grow in many other parts of the world．Soldiers who returned to the United States from World War I brought the tango to North America．It reached Japan in 1926, and in 2003 the Argentinean embassy in Seoul hired a local tango dancer to act as a kind of dance ambassador, and promote tango dancing throughout South Korea．The origin of the tango is associated with _________．
| A．Belly dances | B．American soldiers |
| C．the capital of Argentina | D．Spanish city |
Which of the following is true about the tango?
| A．It was created by foreigners from Spain and Italy． |
| B．People of the upper classes loved the tango most |
| C．A dancer in Seoul became the Argentinean ambassador． |
| D．It was often danced by two male in the beginning |
Before World War I, the tango spread to __________．
| A．America | B．Japan | C．France | D．South Korea |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．How to Dance the Tango | B．The History of the Tango |
| C．How to Promote the Tango | D．The Modern Tango Boom |
B
| Café en Seine The wildly luxury （奢华） new art style of this huge bar has been a huge hit since it first opened in 1995, and while it may not be the “in” place it once was, it is still very popular with the after-work crowd and out-of-towners．Maybe it’s the glass frames, or the real 12m-high trees; but most likely it’s the beautiful people supporting the wood-and-marble bar． Good for: decoration, cocktails, amazing food and service Address: 40 Dawson St Transport: all city centre Phone: 01 677 4369 |
| Gravediggers （aka Kavanagh’s） The gravediggers from the neighboring Glasnevin Cemetery had a secret serving hatch （舱口） so that they could drink on the job – therefore the pub’s nickname．Founded in 1833 by one John Kavanagh and still in the family, this pub is one of the best in Ireland, almost unchanged in 150 years．In summer time the green of the square is full of drinkers bathing in the sun, while inside the hardened locals ensure that never a hint of sunshine disturbs some of the best Guinness in town．An absolute classic． Good for: Guinness, traditional pub, pub food Address: 1 Prospect Sq Glasnevin Transport: 13 from city centre Phone: 830 7978 |
| Davy Byrne’s James Joyce, an Irish author and a poet （1882-1941）, would hardly recognize the bar that Leopold Bloom rushed into for a gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of wine in Ulysses．It doesn’t stop Davy Byrne’s from making the most of its Joyce’s connections, even though today's version is strictly for out-of-towners and the rugby crowd． Good for: socializing with the locals, tasty Irish food, watching TV Address: 21 Duke St Transport: all city centre Website: www．davybyrnes．com Phone: 01 677 5217 |
People choose Café en Seine most probably because they enjoy _____as well as its cocktails and service．
| A．its location | B．its decoration |
| C．its history | D．its environment |
“Guinness” in Gravediggers probably refers to ________．
| A．a kind of tea | B．the name of the boss |
| C．a kind of beer | D．the name of the town |
We can infer that Davy Byrne’s is ________．
| A．a newly-opened bar |
| B．an old-fashioned bar |
| C．a bar with a long history |
| D．a bar popular with foreigners |
What do Café en Seine and Davy Byrne’s have in common?
| A．Their represent the same architecture style． |
| B．They give the same description about transport． |
| C．They both serve cocktails and tasty Irish food |
| D．They are both popular with the rugby crowd． |