Working hard for fun
No more pencils! No more books
No more teacher’s serious looks!
After a long period of study and work, the young Americans burst through the school doors singing.
But unfortunately, American students do very poorly and are among the worst students in the world. In the entire field of subjects---from geography and maths to science and general knowledge. American students are the poorest performers. Why? What’s the reason behind the scene? One problem lies in the fact that so little is expected from them. The standards of success are too low. Teachers are not willing to give out low grades and fail students. Besides, the existing negative results are few and mean little to students if their performance in study is poor . Of course some students realize that a high school diploma is a measure of success and will be important to get a job or get admitted into college. But they only have to go through the motions without really trying. They learn to get by with a minimum of effort.
In America, it is simply too easy for high school students to enter college. This forms a sharp contrast with the students in China and other Asian countries who have to suffer heavy pressure from parents, teachers and cruel social facts. Chinese students have to study hard for long years to pass the national college entrance examination which few Americans will take such trouble to enter to university. The majority American students know that they will be able to get into some college, so they do not really worry about it.
It turns out that American high school students are just too busy to find time to study. They spend almost no time on study while students from other countries spend four or five hours per day on homework. American students on the average give less than five hours per week to their studies. Learning and reading for future are not important to them. Many American never read. It is little wonder why Americans knows less than students from other countries.
1. Why are American students the poorest performers in the entire field of subjects?
A. Because they are too busy to find time to study.
B. Because they are too stupid and too lazy.
C. Because they care little about their study.
D. Because so little is required from them
2. Which of the following is Not true ?
A. Most of American students spend less than five hours on their study every week.
B. Few American students have trouble to enter college.
C. American students can be admitted into college even without a high school diploma.
D. It is hard for the students in China to enter college.
3. What seems to be the writer’s attitude towards American students?
A. He probably thinks much should be expected from them.
B. He is in favour of American students’ learning methods.
C. He shows no interest in American students’ study.
D. He thinks American students study hard.
Chinese writer Mo Yan has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, announced the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on Thursday. The win makes Mo Yan the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel in its 111-year history. Informed of his win today, the author, who was having dinner at home, was “overjoyed and scared”.
Born in 1955 to parents who were farmers, Mo Yan — a pen name for Guan Moye, grew up in Gaomi, Shandong province in eastern China. At the age of 12, he left school to work, first in agriculture, later in a factory. In 1976 he joined the army and during this time began to study literature and writing.
He published his first book in 1981, but found literary success in 1987 with Hong Gaoliang Jiazu, which was successfully filmed in the same year, directed by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou. In his writing, Mo Yan draws on his youthful experiences and on settings in the province of his birth and his works show the life of Chinese people as well as the country’s unique culture and folk customs. Mo Yan is known as a productive writer. In addition to his novels, he has published many short stories and essays on various topics. Despite his social criticism, he is seen in his homeland as one of the most famous contemporary authors. Dozens of his works have been translated into English, French, Japanese and many other languages.
The awarding ceremony will be held on December 10. The winner will win a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award of about $1 million. How did Mo Yan feel when he was told about the news?
| A．Excited and proud. | B．Worried and cautious. |
| C．Happy and surprised. | D．Uncertain and shocked. |
One of Mo Yan’s characteristics of writing is that he ________.
| A．writes about topics he is familiar with |
| B．focuses on social problems in the country |
| C．describes his characters in a unique way |
| D．explains difficult matters in simple words |
What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．How Mo Yan Gets Nobel Prize |
| B．An Introduction to Nobel Prize |
| C．Mo Yan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature |
| D．A World Famous Writer, Mo Yan |
My own experiment with culture shock came to a fruitless end when I returned with homesick from a year’s study in Italy. I had never heard of culture shock. All I knew was that I was unhappy and wanted to go home.
That was twenty years ago, and since then culture shock has become a real field of study. It is now understood that any normal person, finding him or herself for an extended time in a new culture, is in for trouble.
The process of “culture shock” is now recognized as so predictable that its four stages have been noticeable. The first is the honeymoon stage, familiar to those of us who love to travel, but never stay in one place long enough to find out what follows. In this stage, the new country and its people seem delightful. Everything is better than home. Everything is so different and charming.
Then the bloom comes off the rose. Now the people start to look shallow, selfish and stupid. The different ways of doing things don’t seem interesting any more. You start to feel tired all the time. Culture shock has set in. You feel at sea.
The emotional response to culture shock in stage two can be extreme. Confusion, depression and anxiety, and resentment can all enter to varying degrees. You may become physically ill. Little things seem terribly annoying.
The happier resolution is to move on to stage three. Adjusting. Rather than itemizing（列举） what’s “wrong” with Americans, you remind yourself that “right” and “wrong” are not meaningful terms in cultural matters.
Instead, you try to understand what motivates Americans, perhaps realizing that many of the things you don’t like are related to the things you do like.
As time goes on, you should be moving into stage four. Acceptance. At this point, you simply don’t think any more about the specialties of Americans. You accept them as individuals. You have started to feel at home; you know how to do things. You have not rejected your old culture; but the American ways have settled upon you. You feel optimistic about your future here. You have truly arrived. Why do people not suffer from culture shock when they first arrive in a foreign country?
| A．They love to travel. |
| B．They don’t stay in one place long enough. |
| C．The new country and its people are delightful. |
| D．Everything is so different and charming. |
What do you understand by the underlined sentence “Then the bloom comes off the rose”?.
| A．The rose comes up. | B．The rose blooms. |
| C．Something good comes about. | D．Something good goes away. |
Which one is the possible psychological effect of culture shock on the second stage?
| A．Anxiety. | B．Excitement. | C．Shock. | D．Delight. |
Which of the following statements will the writer agree with?
| A．Any normal person facing a new culture will be in trouble. |
| B．Culture shock is now recognized as unpredictable. |
| C．There is no “right” and “wrong” in terms of cultural matters. |
| D．When you reject your old culture, you can accept the new one. |
The passage is mainly about __________.
| A．the study of culture shock |
| B．how to get rid of culture shock |
| C．the writer’s own experiment with culture shock |
| D．the four stages of culture shock and their features |
The use of lotteries (彩票) to allocate (分配) school places is to be reviewed by the British government because more than 20 percent of children are failing to get into their first-choice schools in parts of the country.
The struggle for secondary school places has reached record levels this year, increasing anxiety for hundreds of thousands of families. A report from 43 local authorities suggests that in many areas, up to a fifth of children face disappointment. Families in London are the hardest hit.
This week is admissions week, when about 570,000 families will receive notice about their child’s secondary school acceptance. As the recession (不景气) forces more parents to consider a state education rather than a private one for their children, more than a third of local authorities have noted rises in the number of applications for secondary school places.
This year, just 62 percent of children in Richmond-upon-Thames got into their parents’ first-choice school, down from 64 percent last year. The council said this was caused by an increase in applications.
In another London authority, Tower Hamlet, 71.1 percent of children were admitted to their parents’ first choice school. In Leeds and Warwickshire, 85 percent were successful. In Derby the figure was 81 percent, while in Wiltshire, Stockport and Lincolnshire, the figure was 89 percent.
In many authorities, the figures are similar to those of last year. Exceptions include Brighton and Hove, which introduced a lottery system to allocate oversubscribed places last year. This year, it has seen a 3.5 percent increase in the number of children obtaining their first choice, bringing the total to nearly 88 percent. However, more than 5 percent of children in this area have been allocated a place at a school that was not among any of their choices.
Lotteries are being used at the government’s suggestion by a small number of oversubscribed schools in around twenty-five local authorities. They were meant to prevent middle-class parents from abusing the system by buying or renting homes close to the best schools. According to the passage, more and more parents in Britain prefer to send their children to _______.
| A．a state school | B．a private school |
| C．a school in London | D．a school in Brighton |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．The lottery system is certainly a good way to allocate school places. |
| B．Over one in five children fail to get into their first-choice schools in parts of Britain. |
| C．The lottery system is welcomed by parents around twenty-five local authorities. |
| D．The number of applications for secondly school places is falling this year. |
In the following places, the highest preferred school admission rate is in _______.
| A．Richmond-upon-Thames | B．Brighton and Hove |
| C．Lincolnshire | D．Derby |
The purpose of using lottery system is to ________.
| A．keep middle-class parents buying or renting homes close to the best schools. |
| B．increase the number of children obtaining their first choice |
| C．decrease the number of applications for some good schools |
| D．create equality between children from different social classes |
The passage is most probably taken from _______.
| A．a survey on education | B．a textbook on science |
| C．a speech on radio | D．an essay on economy |
The life of an actor appears attractive and many young people dream about becoming one. But the truth is, it is very hard work. If you’re successful, there are deadlines to be met, appointments to keep and the press to deal with. If you’re not successful, then life is extremely tough.
I remember when I started out, I had to search the advertisement board at my drama school every day to look for acting jobs. Drama school was expensive and I needed extra cash to help pay the fees. I welcomed every small job. I played extras in many crowd scenes and became a confident participant in a lot of TV commercials for hair shampoo, soap and washing powder.
I had been working for about two years before I got my lucky break. One day, as I was passing the drama school, I decided to go in to check the notice board. There was nothing on it and I was just leaving when the secretary came along the corridor with a piece of paper. She asked me how I was and I told her life was hard and work was difficult to find. The next moment, she put the paper in my hand and walked away. My hands were shaking as I unfolded the paper, full of expectation. To my surprise, it was an audition (试演) for a clown（小丑）for the Canadian circus. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I had expected an audition with a famous director for a new film!
When I was at drama school, there had been a course in acrobatics and clown tricks. I had gained top marks in this course for originality and daring. Later I went to the audition feeling very strange. This was not what I’d had in mind when I enrolled in drama school. To my surprise, the job as a clown turned out to be exactly what I wanted. I loved every moment of getting dressed up and putting on the make-up. I had the opportunity to travel the world and I was more than an actor, I was an entertainer as well. I had visited over 32 different countries and entertained millions of people. The first paragraph is about how _______ it is to be an actor, whether you’re successful or not.
| A．easy | B．attractive | C．enjoyable | D．difficult |
According to paragraph 3, the writer went into the drama school __________.
| A．to look for a job |
| B．to see the secretary |
| C．to collect a piece of paper |
| D．to put a notice on the notice board |
Which of the following can best describe the author’s feeling when he unfolded the paper?
| A．Extremely frightened. | B．Feeling anxious and excited. |
| C．Very worried. | D．Trembling with fear. |
From the whole passage, we can tell that the writer is ___________.
| A．sad that he was not a famous actor |
| B．happy to travel the world |
| C．feeling very strange to be a clown |
| D．very content with his life |
Which of the following would be the best title?
| A．The Life of a TV Actor | B．Acrobatics and Clown Tricks |
| C．More than an Actor | D．Going to Drama School |
LONDON (Reuters) — Children are dying for lack of drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research into child medicine.
More than half of the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters.
The problem is even worse in developing countries where price remains a major barrier and 6 million children die each year from treatable conditions.
In the case of HIV/AIDS, the few existing pediatric therapies（儿科的疗法）developed for children generally cost three times more than adult ones.
As a result, clinicians lack clear guidelines on the best drug to use and often have to guess at the correct dose.
Fortunately, the WHO has drawn up the first international List of Essential Medicines for Children, containing 206 products considered safe for children.
“But a lot remains to be done. There are priority medicines that have not been adapted for children’s use or are not available when needed,” said Dr Hans, the U.N. agency’s director of medicines policy and standards.
Medicines that need to be adapted to children’s needs include many antibiotics, pain drugs as well as combination pills for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The agency is building an Internet entrance linking to clinical trials carried out in children and will launch a Web site with the information early next year.
Testing medicines on children has always been a controversial issue, since good ethical（伦理的）practice requires informed agreement from people participating in clinical trials, which is difficult to obtain in the case of children.
As a result, research-based drug companies have been wary of developing child-friendly medicines and general companies have been slow to produce them at lower cost.
In an attempt to deal with the issue, both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for drugs that have been tested on children. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．A Global Campaign to Promote Research into AIDS Medicine |
| B．WHO Says Children are Dying for Lack of Child-sized Drugs |
| C．Many People are Concerned about Children’s Drugs |
| D．Measures Taken to Develop Child-friendly Medicine Quickly |
Which of the following medicine is not needed to be adapted to children’s need according to the passage?
| A．Pain killers. | B．Tuberculosis. |
| C．AID pills. | D．Flu pills. |
Why has testing medicines on children always been a controversial issue?
| A．It is against good ethical practice |
| B．Children shouldn’t take part in clinical trials. |
| C．It is hard to get informed agreement from children tested. |
| D．Parents don’t allow their children to be tested on medicine. |
The underlined word “wary” in the last but one paragraph means _________.
| A．fast | B．fond | C．cautious | D．uninterested |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．There is still a long way to go on children’s medicine. |
| B．An Internet entrance is being built to link to clinical trials carried out in children. |
| C．Both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for children’s drugs. |
| D．Less than half of the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters |
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