Since the 1990s, education has been required for all South Africans from age seven to fifteen. Last December, the government announced that 70% of students passed their final examination to finish high school. In 2008, the pass rate was about 63%. There have been increases each year since then.
Professor Shireen Motala says basic education is no longer a problem in South Africa. Most children stay in school until they are about sixteen. The problem is that large numbers of them leave without completing high school.
Students take an examination known as the “matric”(高考) in Grade Twelve. Professor Motala says, “Less than half of the children who started school in 2000 sat for the matric last year. Many dropped out of school, so only around 45% took the matric. And the worry is where those students actually go.” Those who drop out have to compete with better educated people for jobs.
Educational researchers also point to another problem. South African schools do not produce enough students with the skills for higher education in maths and science. Many schools are not well-equipped. Children do not see laboratories, and, as a result, their science marks are not very good. They do not have libraries at school. Also, many teachers do not have the skills or training to do their jobs.
In South Africa, a number of teachers were poorly trained before. Secondly, teachers have been confused by the many educational reform efforts in the last fifteen years. Finally, language differences in the classroom have not got as much attention as they should, which is a huge problem. Subjects such as maths and science are taught in English starting at about the age of ten. But South Africa has eleven official languages.
South Africa’s minister of basic education promises a number of improvements. Angie Motshega says teacher development efforts will focus on subject and content knowledge, making sure that the correct teachers are in the correct jobs.From the first paragraph we can learn that ______.
| A．South Africans are badly in need of education |
| B．South African teenagers do very well at school |
| C．the South African government takes education seriously |
| D．South African teenagers have become more clever |
What is the real concern of Shireen Motala?
| A．Something is wrong with the country’s basic education system. |
| B．Most children have to find a job at an early age. |
| C．The final exam is too difficult for most children. |
| D．Most children cannot complete high school until they are 16. |
South African students perform poorly in science for all of the following reasons, EXCEPT ______.
| A．they don’t work hard enough |
| B．their schools do not have laboratories |
| C．they cannot get help from libraries |
| D．there are not enough skilled teachers |
With which of the following would Shireen Motala most probably agree?
| A．Schools should focus more on maths and science than any other subject. |
| B．More educational reforms should be carried out in South African schools. |
| C．The more teachers teach maths and science, the better marks students may get. |
| D．More attention should be paid to language differences in maths and science classes. |
You’re in a department store and you see a couple of attractiv
e young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation：
“I can’t believe it—a Lorenzo Betrolla! 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 misleading, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative.“Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing”.
However，one might ask what exactly is “real” about the young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater. Advertising executives (主管) would say it’s no less real than flu ad. The difference is that y
ou know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don’ t know 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．be heard by people around |
| C．be admired by other shoppers | D．decide on buying the sweater |
Lorenzo Bertolla is _______.
| A．a very popular male singer | B．an advertising agency |
| C．a clothing company in Rome | D．the brand name of a sweater |
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage？
| A．The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company. |
| B．The MTV generation tends to be more easily influenced by ads. |
| C．Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it’s too direct. |
| D．Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text？
| A．Two Attractive Shoppers | B．Lorenzo Bertolla Sweatersk.&s~5*u |
| C．Ways of Advertising | D．Undercover Marketing |
My House
My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?
I suppose if you looked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass—I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的, 粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small tree house, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before Father’s death.
This house is special—maybe only to me—but special nevertheless. It’s the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight snack runs; the smell of my father’s pipe that still exists; the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window.
This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up. Why did the author’s mother decide to move?
| A．Because she hated the countryside. |
| B．Because Grandpa was on constant move. |
| C．Because Dad’s death made her lose her mind. |
| D．Because she thought a city flat more fit for them. |
What impressed the author when she first moved into the house?
| A．The tree house. | B．The big trees. | C．The cold floors. | D．The green grass. |
How did the author let us feel that the house was special to her?
| A．By arguing whether the house was standard. |
| B．By explaining why the house suited their needs. k.&s~5*u |
C．By describing the s mall things related to her house. |
| D．By comparing the differences between country and city life. |
My mother moved a lot when she was growing up because of ________.
| A．Grandpa being in the army. | B．their family’s liking moving |
| C．the life’s need | D．Mother’s work |
NOTICE
CLEAN AND GREEN WEEK
The Social Studies Society and Library Club are working together to organize Clean and Green Weekactivities to encourage recycling.
(A) BEST INVENTION COMPETITION
The competition is divided into two parts: Individual (个人) and Team. Each team should be made up of three members. The inventions must be made out of small or used materials.
PRIZES
| |
Individual |
Team |
| First prize Second prize Third prize |
$ 50 book voucher (代金券) $ 30 book voucher $ 20 book voucher |
$ 180 book voucher $ 120 book voucher $ 90 book voucher |
You can get the application forms (申请表) from the library during opening hours.
Deadline for the submission (提交) of inventions: 31 January 2005.
Please call us at 792-4868 for further information.
(B) 'RECYCLE TO SAVE OUR EARTH' EXHIBITION CUM VIDEO SCREENING
An exhibition on recycling is now on in the library.
Videos on the subject will also be screened.
Please refer to the library notice board for the timetable of the screening dates and time.
DO YOUR PART TO SAVE THE EARTH
START RECYCLING TODAY
Organizers:
Library Club & Social Studies Society
| 1． |
If you want to know the screening dates, you can _______.
|
| 2． |
What can we get from the notice?
|
| 3． |
What is the purpose of the activities?
|
| 4． |
If you want more information, you can_________.
|
Mary and Peter were having a picnic with some friends near a river when Mary noticed an object overhead. "Look!" she shouted to her friends. "That's a spaceship up there and it's going to land here."
Frightened by the strange silver-colored spaceship, most of the young peopl
e got in their cars and drove away quickly. Peter was fond of Mary and always stayed close to her. They, more curious than frightened, watched the spaceship land and saw a door open. When nobody 
came out, they went to the spaceship and entered inside. Peter followed Mary into the spaceship and did not hear the door closed behind him. The temperature fell rapidly and the two young people lost consciousness.
When they woke up, they were surprised to see that they were back by the river again. The spaceship had gone. Their car was nearby.
"What happened?" asked Mary.
Peter scratched (抓k.&s~5*u) his head, saying slowly, "Don't ask me. Perhaps we had a dream. Did you...Did you see a spaceship?"
"Yes," said Mary. "And we both went into it. Then..." she looked at her wrist. "That's funny. My watch has stopped. Oh, well, come on. It's time to go home."
Driving about fifty meters, they found their way blocked by a thick wall made of something like glass. They got out of the car and tried to find their way round the wall but discovered that they were inside a circular wall. It was like a mirror and prevented them from seeing through it.
On the other side of the wall, strange creatures walked past slowly. A few stopped to stare through the wall and read a new notice which, translated into English, said: "New arrivals at the zoo: a pair of Earthlings in their natural surroundings with their mobile house." When the spaceship arrived, why didn't Peter drive away?
| A．He did not like leaving Mary. k.&s~5*u |
| B．He knew that the spaceship was harmless. |
| C．He was too frightened to drive. |
| D．There was a wall blocking the road. |
Why did Peter enter the spaceship?
| A．He saw the food and was hungry. |
| B．Mary told him to enter it. |
| C．He just followed Mary. |
| D．He wanted to study it. |
Peter scratched his head so we know that _____.
| A．he had lost consciousness |
| B．he was puzzled and did not know what to say to Mary |
| C．he had lost his memory |
| D．he was still half asleep |
What do the words "strange creatures" mean to tell us?
| A．They were wild animals in a zoo. |
| B．They were robbers. |
| C．They had landed on Earth in a spaceship and lived there. |
| D．The young couple were on another planet. |
There are many American expressions about insects--- like bees, for example. Bees are known as very hard workers. They appear to be busy, moving around their homes, or hives (蜂窝). So you might say you were as busy as a bee if you spent your weekend cleaning your house. In fact, you might say your house was a beehive of activity if your whole family was helping you clean. You also might say you made a beeline for something if you went there right away. When we go to see a movie, my friend always makes a beeline for the place where they sell popcorn (爆米花) .
Here is an expression about bees that is not used much any more, but we like it anyway. We think it was first used in the 1920s. If something was the best of its kind, you might say it was the bee’s knees. Now, we admit that we do not know how this expression developed. In fact, we do not even know if bees have knees!
If your friend cannot sto
p talking about something because she thinks it is important, you might say she has a bee in her bonnet (女帽). If someone asks you a personal question, you might say “that is none of your beeswax”. This means none of your business.
Speaking of personal questions, there is an expression when their children ask, “Where do babies come from?” Parents who discuss sex and reproduction (生殖) say this is talking about the birds and bees.
Butterflies are beautiful insects, but you would not want to have butterflies in your stomach. That means to be nervous about having to do something, like speaking in front of a crowd. You would also not want to have ants in your trousers. That is, to be unable to sit still. If you make a beeline for something, you ______ .
| A．are as busy as a bee | B．go quickly and directly towards it |
| C．always go to the same place | D．buy something at a certain place |
The underlined expression “ it is the bee’s knees” _______ .
| A．is not used at all now | B．was first used in the 1820s |
| C．reminds us that bees have knees | D．means “it is very good” |
If you ask your American friend Jack “How old is your wife?” he may say “______.”
| A．It is none of your beeswax | B．You have a bee in your bonnet |
| C．It is the bee’s knees | D．You are talking about the birds and bees |
When you have butterflies in your stomach, you ______ .
| A．are too sick to sit still | B．have ants in your trousers |
| C．are nervous about something | D．have a stomachache |
The passage mainly tells us _______.
| A．some interesting and useful insects | B．some expressions about insects |
| C．the way of learning expressions | D．some newly-invented expressions |
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