Because of the change in the American public school system over the last several years, now many parents choose to home-school their children. There are many reasons behind this. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
For some parents, they have religious (宗教的) reasons for home-schooling. The public school system does not have religious teachings, so these parents want to put religion into the children’s daily school activities. This might include teaching religion-based courses rather than coursework that is taught in public schools.
For some parents, they do not feel that their local school system offers their children the best learning opportunities. So they want to take matters into their own hands. This may be because the local school has low educational standards (标准) or for some other reason the parents think it necessary to take their children out of the system. Sometimes the parents just feel the children will get a better education at home.
Some parents may not be rich enough to send their children to a private school, so the next best thing in their eyes is home-schooling. Thus they can teach their children what they like.
One should remember that the laws about home-schooling vary from state to state. In some states, the parents are required to hand in monthly attendance records (出席记录) to their local school system. What’s more, most states require state testing at certain periods such as the CRCT.The writer wrote this passage mainly to _______.
| A．advise parents to home-school their children |
| B．explain why some parents choose to home-school their children |
| C．tell us the advantages and disadvantages of home-schooling |
| D．praise home-schooling and private schools |
Paragraph 3 tells us that some parents choose home-schooling because ______.
| A．school teachers are not strict with their children |
| B．their children don’t do well in their studies at school |
| C．their children don’t like going to school |
| D．they are not satisfied with the school education |
What does the underlined word “vary” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Increase | B．Change | C．Spread | D．Keep |
How many reasons for home-schooling are mentioned in the passage?
| A．2 | B．4 | C．3 | D．5 |
One of the major problems in our economy（经济）is inflation（通货膨胀）, a situation in which prices are going up faster than salary（工资）. Thus, a person has to work more hours to pay for the same thing.
For example, let’s say that this year a loaf of bread costs $1.00 and average salary in the United Sates is $10.00 per hour. That means a person could earn enough money to buy a loaf of bread in one-tenth of an hour, or six minutes. Then, halfway through the year, the price of the bread goes up to $1.25, while salary stay the same. That means that a person now has to work one-eighth of an hour—seven and a half minutes to buy the same loaf of bread.
Now let’s say that at the end of the year, salary go up to $11.00 per hour, but the price of bread goes up to $1.50. Now a person has to work more than one-seventh of an hour—over eight minutes—to buy loaves of bread, employees will have less money left over to buy other things, Inflation means that the same money buys fewer things and everybody’s standard of living goes down, even if salaries are going up.
Some kinds of inflation are worse than others. Moderate inflation does not distort (祖曲)relative prices or incomes seriously. Galloping inflation happens rapidly, say at a rate of 100percent or more within a year. And then there’s hyperinflation—inflation so serious that people try to get rid of their currency（货币）before prices rise further and make the money worthless. Times of hyperinflation are usually characterized by social and political disorder. The passage mainly wants to .
| A．list major economic |
| B．discuss something about inflation |
| C．explain why bread prices increase |
| D．state the types of inflation |
Why is “ a loaf of bread” repeatedly mentioned?
| A．To express dissatisfaction with the price of bread |
| B．To show the effect of price changes |
| C．To compare bread with other foods |
| D．To explain social and political disorder |
What happens when prices go up but salaries remain the same?
| A．The government will do more about the economy |
| B．Workers might lose their jobs if they show dissatisfaction |
| C．People will save money rather than spend it. |
| D．People must work longer to buy the same things |
Which of the following belongs to the type of moderate inflation?
| A．People try to get rid of their currency |
| B．Inflation occurs at a rate of 100percent in a year |
| C．Incomes and relative prices rise slightly |
| D．There is social and political disorder |
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a longhandled brush. He stopped by the fence in front of the house where he lived with his aunt Polly. He looked at it, and all joy left him. The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.
He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day. They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.
He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find some way to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets—nothing that could buy even half an hour of freedom. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea.
At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.
While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. As he walked along it, he was making noises like the sound of a riverboat. First he shouted loudly, like a boat captain. Then he said “Ding---Dong---Dong”， “Ding---Dong---Dong” again and again, like the bell of a riverboat. And he made other strange noises. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.
Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hello! I'm going swimming, but you can't go, can you？”
No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom's mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.
Ben said, “Hello, old fellow, you've got to work, hey？”
Tom turned suddenly and said, “Why, it's you, Ben! I wasn't noticing.”
“Say --- I'm going swimming. Don't you wish you could? But of course you'd rather work --- wouldn't you? Of course you would.”
Tom looked at the boy a bit, and said “What do you call work？”
“Why, isn't that work？”
Tom went back to his whitewashing, and answered carelessly.
“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Oh come, now, you don't mean to say that you like it？”
The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well, I don't see why I shouldn't like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day？”
Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said，“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom thought for a moment, and was about to agree, but he changed his mind.
“No---no---it won't do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don't think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough.”
“No---is that so? Oh come, now —let me just try. Only just a little.”
“Ben, I'd like to, but if it isn't done right, I'm afraid Aunt Polly … ”
“Oh, I'll be careful. Now let me try. Say —I'll give you the core of my apple.”
“Well, here --- No, Ben, now don't. I'm afraid …”
“I'll give you all of it.”
Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom sold the next chance to Billy for a kite; and when Billy was tired, Johnny bought it for a dead rat —and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures.
And he had not worked. He had had a nice idle time all the time, with plenty of company, and the fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn't run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.
He had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get.How many characters are mentioned in this story?
| A．4. | B．5. |
| C．6. | D．7 |
Why did Tom take all his bits of toys out of his pockets?
| A．Because he was tired and wanted to play with his toys. |
| B．Because he wanted to throw his toys away. |
| C．Because he wanted to give his toys to his friends. |
| D．Because he wanted to know if he could buy help with his toys. |
Tom was about to agree to let Ben whitewash when he changed his mind because ________.
| A．Tom wanted to do the whitewashing by himself |
| B．Tom planned to make Ben give up his apple first |
| C．Tom was unwilling to let Ben do the whitewashing |
| D．Tom was afraid Ben would do the whitewashing better |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．Tom was interested in whitewashing the fence |
| B．Tom had a lot of friends who are ready to help others |
| C．Tom was unwilling to whitewash the fence, but he managed to let other boys do it for him |
| D．Tom was good at whitewashing the fence, so he looked at the result of his work with the eye of an artist |
What made Ben Rogers eagerly give up his apple and offer to brush the fence for Tom?
| A．His warm heart and kindness to friends. |
| B．Tom's threat. |
| C．His curiosity about Tom's brushing job. |
| D．Aunt Polly's idea. |
Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?
| A．The Happy Whitewasher |
| B．Tom And His Fellows |
| C．Whitewashing A Fence |
| D．Make The Things Difficult To Get |
Being young is great. Most of the parts of your body still work great, you have a full head of hair, you’re energetic, and you have a world of opportunity in front of you. However, there’s going to come a time when you start to get older. And as you get older, you’ll have new responsibilities, complete independence, and perhaps most importantly, less time to recover from mistakes.
You see, we all make mistakes in life. Maybe you spent more money than you should have on a car, you passed up on a great job opportunity, or you didn’t try as hard as you could have in school. It’s a part of life and we learn from it. But there are certain mistakes that are much better made while you’re still young and have plenty of time to recover.
I’m definitely not telling you that you should purposely go out and make these mistakes (because they’re a pain to recover from). But these are all mistakes that are much better made when you’re younger so that you can learn from them and not have them ruin your entire life.
Starting the wrong career
Wouldn’t you hate to be 45 years old and discover that you absolutely hate what you do for a living? It’s a reality that a lot of people face and it can be difficult to fix. You see, when you’re 23 and find out you don’t like the career path you’ve chosen, you can easily explore new career options.
We no longer live in an age when people are expected to stay with one company until they retire. You can bounce around a little bit and find out what you want to do. When you get older, just switching careers whenever you want isn’t as simple.
You have to consider your family, retirement, the difficulties you might run into with starting from the bottom in a new industry, and plenty of other issues that someone in their early 20’s just doesn’t have to deal with.
Dating the wrong person
The divorce rate in the U.S is extremely high. Other parts of the world aren’t doing too much better either. While everyone gets divorced for their own reasons, I think we can all agree that it’s better to find out that the person you’re with is wrong for you sooner rather than later.
Hopefully you find out whether or not the person you’re with is right for you before you tie the knot, because around 50% of first marriages end in divorce.
Messing up your credit
Ruining your credit is never a good idea. Even if you ruin it while you’re young, it could affect you in the future. The upside of having bad credit while you’re young instead of older is that you have time to build it back up.
It can take 7-10 years to rebuild your credit if you have a history of late payments, loan defaults, foreclosures, or bankruptcy. During those 7-10 years, you’ll have a hard time financing anything unless you have a cosigner or put down a substantial down payment.
Most people tend to make most of the bigger purchases in life when they get older such as a house or their dream car. If you have bad credit, you can kiss all of that goodbye.
Making bad investments
If you’re investing money for your retirement, making bad decisions can mean you’ll be working your entire life. Whether you choose to pay someone to do the investing for you or handle it all yourself, it’s a lot better to take risks when you’re younger.
If you invest in stock or even real estate while you’re young and the market takes a hit, you’re not ruined. Investing is a long-term venture, so the younger you start, the more fluctuation you can withstand and still come out with a positive return.
Blowing your money
What would you do if you went broke at 60 years old? You would be working your behind off when you really should be relaxing and getting ready to retire soon.
But if you’re 25 and broke, you still have plenty of time to earn more money. Also, nobody will judge you because it’s not unusual for people in their 20’s to not have money these days. You might have blown your money on a nice car or have an obsession with all the newest gadgets.
When you get older, you’ll be able to look back and realize how dumb you were for spending $20,000 on a brand new car when you were only 20 years old. But when you’re older and waste your money, you’ll REALLY have nothing to show for it.The following are all the advantages of being young EXCEPT ___________.
| A．you have more time to recover from mistakes |
| B．most of the parts of your body still work great |
| C．you have many responsibilities and complete independence |
| D．you have a world of opportunity in front of you |
You can bounce around a little bit and find out what you want to do. “Bounce” in this sentence is most similar in meaning to __________.
| A．My father would burst into the kitchen bouncing a football. |
| B．The wind was bouncing the branches of the big oak trees. |
| C．I was an army brat, I always bounced a lot when I was young |
| D．The ex-boxer's job is to bounce people who want to enter this private club. |
What does the author really mean by saying “it’s a lot better to take risks when you’re younger”?
| A．You should purposely go out and make these mistakes so that you can learn from them and not have them ruin your entire life. |
| B．There are certain mistakes that are much better made while you’re still young and have plenty of time to recover. |
| C．When you get older, you’ll have rich experiences to share with your friends and families however dumb you were |
| D．The younger you start, the fewer risks you can withstand and still come out with a positive return. |
We can infer from the passage that ___________.
| A．about 50% of first marriages end in divorce in the U.S, much higher than other parts of the world |
| B．never tie the knot before you make sure he or she will not divorce you |
| C．it usually takes 7-10 years to rebuild one’s credit if it is broken for any reason |
| D．it’s unusual for people in their 20’s to have money these days |
The author wrote this article mainly to tell the young ____________.
| A．if you are to take risks, the earlier, the better |
| B．it’s better for the young to take any risk than the older |
| C．that they should make big purchases such as a house when they get older |
| D．if you don’t take risks when young, your youth will be dumb |
Chinese International School
Application Form
Before an applicant can be invited to take part in an assessment, an application form should be returned to the Admissions Office, and the application fee of HK$1,000 cannot be returned. For overseas applicants wishing to pay in currencies other than HK dollars, the fee is US$145. Checks are also good for payment to “Chinese International School”.
The application should include:
※ Applicant’ academic report from the last school year.
※ A recent passport-sized photo (attached to the application form).
※ A copy of the applicant’s Hong Kong ID card or a passport showing a valid Hong Kong visa.
※ Only for applicants applying under a Corporate Nomination(提名) Right: A company letter confirming the nomination.
Please note that the application fee is non-refundable. Applicants who would like to re-apply for another academic year are asked to submit a new application and application fee.
Acceptance
Applicants will be informed of their acceptance status in writing by postal mail. Initial (最初的) offers for Reception will be sent out from late March once all assessments have been completed.
Some applicants who have been assessed may be held on a reserve list. Acceptances may also be made on a conditional basis among the applicants on the reserve list.
Applicants who have been assessed but who have not been admitted are welcome to reapply for the next academic year. Please note that such applicants will be asked to submit a new application and application fee.
Confirmation of Acceptance and Enrollment (录取)
Once an applicant has been admitted, the applicant family will be asked to confirm acceptance and hold the student’s place with immediate payment of the required fees for the Nomination Right (HK$ 500), plus the sum of HK$ 7,500 as the first tuition (学费) payment.
In addition, enrollment will not be considered complete until the following have been received, normally one month before the start of the new school year:
Physical examination results
Tuition (first month) According to the passage, if the applicants reapply for an academic year, ______.
| A．the application fee can be reduced to a half |
| B．applicants on a reserve list needn’t be assessed |
| C．the initial application form should be returned to the Admissions Office |
| D．a new application and application fee are to be required |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Once applicants are refused, they can’t apply for it again. |
| B．Applicants held on a reserve list will not be admitted. |
| C．The applicants should show either a Hong Kong visa or a Hong Kong ID card. |
| D．Applicants don’t have to get a company letter to confirm their application. |
How will the applicants possibly be informed of the acceptance status?
| A．By fax. | B．By e-mail. |
| C．By regular mail | D．By telephone. |
According to the Application Process, the first tuition payment is ______.
| A．HK$ 500 | B．HK$7, 500 |
| C．HK$1, 000 | D．US$ 145 |
If an applicant has been admitted, the applicant family ______.
| A．will be asked to submit a new application |
| B．will receive physical Examination results |
| C．will be asked to only pay the first month fee |
| D．will be asked to confirm acceptance and pay the fees |
More than a hundred reporters from around the world thronged and bustled in the Stock Exchange Building in Stockholm's Old Town for about an hour before the doors to the Swedish Academy swung open. Notably, there were many Japanese reporters present, hoping to break the news that Haruki Murakami had won the prize. Finally, the Swedish Academy's Permanent Secretary Peter Englund stepped out from the doors and said Canadian short story writer Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The following is a truncated Q&A with reporters and Englund. (The questions have been simplified and clarified.)
Why did Alice Munro win?
We gave her the Nobel Prize in Literature because she is a master of the contemporary short story.
Which book to begin with?
One of the amazing things about her is that she has no weak works in her writing. She has always worked to the best of her ability; she has always cultivated the short story to perfection. And she has never really written a weak or bad book. So you can take your pick. 'The Moons of Jupiter' was the first book I read by her and you can see both her different themes in that book and also her very special narrative mode, you can find it there. She tells her stories a bit like nobody else. She has a very economical language and sparse style. You can find that in 'The Moons of Jupiter.' You can take your pick. The latest one is obviously very interesting, 'Dear Life,' which contains a number of autobiographical sketches at the end that gives a key to the entire authorship of Alice Munro.
How was she informed?
Well, I left a message on her answering machine. I couldn't reach her and it was of course pretty early in the morning. But she will be notified by courier, by email to her both agents, by standard mail and so on.
What kind of message did you leave?
Basically, congratulations! You've won the Nobel Prize in literature.
What's the Importance of a woman winning?
Don't ask me. We picked her for excellence, nothing else. Of course it matters when you start doing the headcount. But she is no representative. She has received this prize just because of what she has done. Nothing else.
So the sexual balance doesn't count?
We don't have these kinds of quotas; thank god ... We don't have any quotas. We could, if we wanted to, award this prize four times in a row to a children's book writer working in the United States. If we wanted to. We can do as we please. We don't have to fill any quotes in any direction. We just give it to authors who show an extraordinary literary quality. One of these is Mrs. Alice Munro.Why were there so many Japanese reporters in the Stock Exchange Building in Stockholm's Old Town?
| A．They were waiting there to report who would win the 2013 Nobel Prize in 2013. |
| B．They had expected that Haruki Murakami would win the prize. |
| C．They just wanted to be the first to report the 2013 Noble Prize winner. |
| D．They were waiting in the stock market to give the world a big surprise. |
Alice Munro would most probably be informed of her winning by ________?
| A．picking up her answering machine | B．email from both of her agents |
| C．standard mail | D．The passage doesn’t clarify it. |
According to the passage, Alice Munro was awarded the 2013 Noble Prize in Literature mainly for ________.
| A．she has an obvious advantage over Haruki Murakami |
| B．it is rare for a woman to have written so many perfect stories |
| C．she is a master of the contemporary short story |
| D．she deserves a prize for her hard work for so many years |
Alice Munro is best known for her work ________.
| A．“Dear Life”, which contains a number of autobiographical sketches that gives a key to her entire authorship |
| B．“The Moons of Jupiter”, which represented both her different themes and also her very special narrative mode |
| C．“DanceoftheHappyShades”, which helped her win the first Governor General’s Award |
| D．no specific work, but the uniqueness and perfection reflected in all her works |
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