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 |
After the terrible car accident, the whole world had been completely dark and quiet for Robert Edwards for almost ten years, for he became both blind and deaf after the doctor had saved him. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such a sorrow that he tried
a few times to put an end to his life. His family especially his wife did their best to tend and comfort him. By and by he finally regained the courage to live on.
On a hot summer afternoon he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree in order not to get himself wet. Unfortunately he was st
ruck down to the ground by a lightning. The witnesses thought him dead but he woke up some 20 minutes later lying face down in muddy water below the tree. He felt that he was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes ,he didn’t dare to believe that he saw a plough (梨子) lying near the wall. When Mrs Edwards came running up to him, she shouted their neighbours for help. And he saw her and heard her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.
The news of Robert’s regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread in his area. And many doctors came to prove the truth of the news. Most of them said that he gained sight and hearing again obviously from the knock of lightning; none of them could give convincing reasons, 
How did Edwards get his sight and hearing once more according to the doctor?
| A．He regained them from head injury when he fell from a tree. |
B．His wife’s first visit after almost ten years made him so ha ppy that he regained them. |
| C．The lightning took the feeling from his legs and gave the senses of sight and hearing to his head. |
| D．The blow that caused him blind and deaf was very severe, so it took another severe blow to regain them. |
Thanks to the huge success of Harry Potter, many teen
agers dream about living in an ancient castle. These dreams may include beautiful silk dresses, delicious food, servants and of course, magic. However, real life in an English castle was not easy. With thick stonewalls and high towers, castles were built for defence(防御). So they were not good places to live in. In medieval times, castles must have been noisy and smelly places. Horses, cattle, chickens and sheep walked free, blacksmiths did ironwork, soldiers practised sword (剑) fights, and children of all ages played around them. Castles did not have central heating; the only heat came from the fireplace. Even in summer the castle was cool. People living 
in the castles had to use blankets to keep warm while at work.
Life during the Middle Ages began at sunrise. Servants lit the fire, swept the floor and cooked the morning meal. The mid-morning meal was the main meal of the day and often included three or four courses (一道菜). After dinner, everyone continued his or her work. The owner of the castle, the lord, sometimes took his guests hunting or shooting. His wife, the lady, spent much of the day watching the maids (女仆) work, as well as people working in the kitchen. She also kept an eye on the weavers and embroiderers who made clothes for the family. Supper was simple and eaten late, just before bedtime.
You may find some old magic books in a castle as Harry Potter once did. Read them before you go to bed, because when you fall asleep the magic of castle life may appear before your eyes. For what purpose were the castles built in England?
| A．To defend the city or country against enemies. |
| B．To provide a working place for blacksmiths. |
| C．To raise poultry (家禽) and livestock (家畜). |
| D．To provide a place for teenagers to learn magic. |
Why were the ancient castles noisy?
| A．Because soldiers practiced sword fights there. |
| B．Because blacksmiths did ironwork there. |
| C．Because children of all ages played around them. |
| D．All of the above. |
Which of the following about family life in castles is true according to the passage?
| A．The servants in castles lived an easy life. |
| B．The wife spent much of the day at home. |
| C．Supper was eaten before sunset. |
| D．Dinner was eaten in the middle of the day. |
The main idea of this passage is ______.
| A．castles were not good places to live in |
| B．castles in novels are different from those in history |
| C．Harry Potter's story in a castle affected people |
| D．what real life was like in an ancient castle |
A man in a very splendid restaurant started to take off his jacket. Seeing this, the head waiter dashed to his table and said, “I’m afraid I must ask you to keep your jacket on, sir, for it is not good manners to do it in such a smart restaurant.”
“Now listen”, said the man, “I’ll let you know that the Queen of England gave me permission to remove my jacket here.”
“The Queen of England?” said the waiter in great surprise.
“Sure,” replied the man, “When I was in England last month, a friend of mine who had a very important position in high society took me to see the Queen. It was rather hot, so I started taking my coat off. The Queen looked over and said, “You may do that in the United States, but you may not do it here.” So I got the Queen’s permission, right?”
D. the English and the Americans enjoyed different ways of life From the story, you can see the man was _______.
| A．humorous and careless |
| B．such a man as used to make trouble |
| C．always ready to do what the Queen told him to |
| D．one who didn’t have good understanding |
阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题(请注意问题
后的词数要求，并将答案写在二卷答题纸上)。
［1］ What does a successful language learner do? Language learning research shows that successful language learners are similar in many ways.
［2］ First of all, successful language learners are independent learners. They do not depend on the book or the teacher. Instead of waiting for teachers to explain, they try to find the patterns and the rules for themselves. They are good guessers who look for clues and form their own conclusions.
［3］ Secondly, successful language learning is active learning. Therefore, successful learners do not wait for a chance to use the language but . They find people who speak the language and they ask these people to correct them when they make a mistake. They will try anything to communicate. They are not afraid to repeat what they hear or to say strange things. They are willing to make mistakes and try again. When communication is difficult, they can accept information that is inexact or incomplete. It is more important for them to learn to think in the language than to know the meaning of every word.
［4］ Finally, successful language learners are learners with a purpose. They want to learn the language because they are interested in the language.
［5］ What kind of language learners are you? If you are a successful language learner, you have probably been learning independently, actively and purposefully. On the other hand, if your language learning has been less than successful, you might do well to try some of the techniques above. What is the main idea of the text？ (Please answer within 10 words.)
________________________________________________________________________ Which sentence in the text can be replaced by the following one?
They make efforts to seek their own ways of learning rather than wait for explanations from
their teachers.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________ Please fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 8 words)
_________________________________________________________________________ If you want to be a successful language learner, what should you do? (Please answer within 20 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________ Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 into Chinese.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
The researchers, led by Hwang Woo-suk, insist they cloned an Afghan hound, only to help investigate (研究) human disease, including the possibility of cloning stem cells (干细胞) for treatment purposes.
But others immediately renewed calls for a global ban on human reproductive cloning before the technology moves any farther.
“Successful cloning of an increasing number of species confirms the general impression that it would be possible to clone any species of mammals, including humans,” said Ian Wilmut, a reproductive biologist at the University of Edinburgh who produced the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, from an adult cell nearly a decade ago.
Researchers have since cloned cats, goats, cows, mice, pigs, rabbits, horses, deer, mules and gaur, a large wild ox of Southeast Asia. So far, efforts to clone a monkey or another primate with the same techniques have failed.
Uncertainties about the health and life span (寿命) of cloned animals continue to exsist; Dolly died at a young age in 2003 after developing cancer and arthritis.
Wilmut and others complimented Hwang’s achievement, reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. But they said politicians and scientists must face the larger issue — how to go on with the research without crossing the moral boundary of copying human life in the lab.
“The ability to use the technology is hopeful,” said Robert Schenken, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. “However, the paper also points out that in dogs as in most species, cloning for reproductive purposes is unsafe.”
The cloned puppy was the lone success from more than 100 dogs implanted (嵌入)with more than 1,000 c
loned embryos.
In a news conference in Seoul, the cloning team also condemnedthe reproductive cloning of humans as “unsafe and inefficient.” Human reproductive cloning already is banned in South Ko
rea. Other nations, including the United States, are divided on whether to ban just human cloning or cloning of all kinds, including the production of stem cells. An Afghan hound is a kind of ______.
| A．cat | B．dog | C．cow | D．goat |
A ______ is a large wild ox of Southeast Asia.
| A．horse | B．deer | C．mules | D．gaur |
Accrding to the passage, scientists haven’t been able to clone a ______ so far.
| A．deer | B．mule | C．monkey | D．mouse |
The underlined word complimented is probably similar in meaning to ______.
| A．praised | B．doubted | C．refused | D．gave up |
The cloning of human beings is banned in ______.
| A．South Korea |
| B．the United States |
| C．both South Korea and the United States |
| D．neither South Korea nor the United States |
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