Reading Oliver James'Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears."I have so take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it," she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following dry I ask her how the test went and the just says "OK,I got a nine".
"Wow. well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"
According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."
I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system（体制）of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.
For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.
This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon. Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.
As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(灵感）is needed in geometry(几何学）just as much as in poetry ",and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them .What does the writer probably think of his/her daughter?
| A．She sets herself a goal too high to reach. |
| B．She should be more polite to her parents. |
| C．She is hard-working but not very bright. |
| D．She takes her grades much too seriously. |
What does the word "obsession"in paragraph 3 mean?
| A．A plain and unavoidable fact. |
| B．A satisfied and very proud state. |
| C．A practical and widely-used way. |
| D．A fixed and often unreasonable idea. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Social skills are as important as high grades. |
| B．Interest in grades can shake self-confidence. |
| C．The writer regrets not having studied hard at school. |
| D．Danish educational system is for very smart students. |
The writer wants to tell us that____.
| A．learning happily is the key to self-development. |
| B．top marks may be helpful to increase one's interest. |
| C．tests should be improved to give children inspiration. |
| D．education should meet one's needs for word and money. |
Speaking English is not only about using proper grammar, but also about understanding the culture. Here is some important advice to remember when speaking English in the United States.
◆Americans have difficulties understanding foreign accents. Many Americans are not used to foreign accents. This requires patience from both of you.
◆Talk about places: Americans love to talk about places. When speaking to a stranger, ask them where they come from and then say something about that place. For example: “Oh, I have a friend who worked in Los Angeles. He says it’s a beautiful place to live in.” Most Americans will then willingly talk about their experiences of living in or visiting that city or place.
◆Talk about work: It is common for Americans to ask “What do you do?” It’s not considered impolite as in some countries and is a popular topic of discussion between strangers.
◆Talk about sports: Americans love sports! However, they love American sports. When speaking about football, most Americans understand “American football”, not soccer.
◆Be careful when expressing ideas about race, religion or other sensitive（敏感的）topics:The United States is a society with different cultures. Americans are very sensitive to other cultures and ideas.For Americans, the question “what do you do?” is ________.
| A．common | B．impolite | C．boring | D．surprising |
What can we learn about Americans?
| A．They like to learn foreign accents. |
| B．They are willing to talk about places. |
| C．They prefer soccer to American football. |
| D．They accept other ideas and cultures easily. |
The writer gives some advice mainly on ________.
| A．talking with Americans |
| B．working with Americans |
| C．speaking American English |
| D．understanding American society |
INTERNATIONAL RADIO — WHAT’S ON?
| 18:00 |
World News Program The latest news from around the world. |
| 18:10 |
What Do You Think? Phone in with your opinion about today’s hot topics: Why is the world getting fatter? How can we look after our world better to save the planet? Should we all get free healthcare or should we pay ourselves? |
| 19:00 |
World Business Business news of the day, with up-to-date information about the world business in Europe, Asia and America. |
| 19:20 |
Teen Dreams Listen to 10 teenagers from different places in Asia talking about their dreams for the future. What is more important for them—money, education or love? |
| 20:00 |
World News Program The latest news from around the world. |
| 21:10 |
Aunt Vera－What should you do? Phone in to ask for Aunt Vera’s advice if you have a problem with your parents, friends, or love. She will tell you what she thinks. |
How many times will the World News Program be on?
| A．Once. | B．Twice. |
| C．Three times. | D．Four times. |
When can you phone in if you have a problem with your friend?
| A．At 18:10. | B．At 19:00. |
| C．At 19:20. | D．At 21:10. |
In which program can you hear people’s opinions about hot topics?
| A．Teen Dreams | B．What Do You Think? |
| C．World Business | D．What Should You Do? |
As space science develops, man has learned more and more about space. Space is not only amazing but also dangerous. While working in space, spacemen are facing danger as well as success.
Scientists have found out that the radiation（辐射）is the greatest danger to spacemen in space. When spacemen are working in space, they are in danger of the radiation from the sun and other stars, which is bad for their health. The harm of the radiation won’t be found until their children even grandchildren are born. Some special medicine may work a little, but no really effective medicine has been found so far.
Space rubbish is also thought to be a great danger to spacemen. It’s reported that there were 9,000 man-made things flying in space. About 30% of these are satellites, 10% are spaceships, and the rest are space rubbish. An explosion（爆炸）in space in 1999 made a cloud of 300,000 fragments, each at least 4mm in size. A small piece of these even knocked a spaceship window and caused some damage(损坏).
Scientists are watching and reporting any possible danger all the time. They are working to deal with space rubbish. Although space is really dangerous, it interests many people on the earth. In the near future, it may become possible for people to spend a few days in a space hotel. We may even choose to leave the earth and live in space in a few years. So we should do something to help improve the space environment.. The writer mainly wants to tell his readers that the space is full of _____.
| A．rubbish | B．danger |
| C．satellites | D．radiation |
. How much does space rubbish take up of all the man-made flying objects?
| A．30% | B．40% | C．50% | D．60% |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Some children have been born in space. |
| B．People are not supposed to live in space. |
| C．Some people are eager to have a space trip. |
| D．No one is dealing with space rubbish now. |
. The underlined word “fragments” in the third paragraph probably means _____.
| A．broken pieces | B．flying dust |
| C．dangerous gases | D．space radiation |
. What is the main purpose（目的）for writing the passage?
| A．To ask people not to pollute the space environment. |
| B．To develop people’s interests in space travel in the future. |
| C．To tell readers what scientists are doing about space rubbish. |
| D．To tell people that space is dangerous and what the dangers are. |
This is a true story in Guyuna. One day, a child took some silver（银的）paper from a cigarette box. He rolled it into a tiny（极小的）ball and pushed it up his nose. He couldn’t get it out again. He ran crying to his mother. His mother couldn’t get the paper out, either. A week later the paper was still in his nose. His nose began to have a bad smell.
So his mother took her child to the hospital. The doctor looked up his nose. She put a tiny steel rod（钢棒）into his nose and felt the paper. She said she would have to cut his nose to get the paper out.
The child’s mother came home looking sad. She didn’t want her child to have his nose cut. He was a handsome boy and the cut would make him ugly.
Next day, the child’s mother took him to her friend Sidney. Sidney lived in a house with an old woman called May. She asked to see the child, so the child let her look up his nose. He closed his eyes.
“Yes, I can see it,” May said, “It will be out soon!”
As she spoke, she shook black pepper（胡椒粉） on the child’s nose. He gave a mightly（有力的）sneeze and the paper flew out. His mother was surprised. May told her to take the boy to the sea for a swim. She said the salt water would go up his nose and stop the bad smell.
So the child didn’t have to go to the hospital and gave his nose out. How did the silver ball go into the boy’s nose?
| A．His mother put it into his nose. |
| B．The boy himself pushed the ball up his nose. |
| C．The silver ball rolled into his nose itself. |
| D．The passage didn’t tell us. |
. Why did the boy’s nose have a bad smell?
| A．The ball stayed in his nose for too long. |
| B．The boy didn’t like to wash his nose. |
| C．His nose is cut and gave a bad smell. |
| D．Because he had a running nose. |
. What can help to stop the bad smell?
| A．Some medicine | B．Some black pepper |
| C．Fresh air | D．The salt water |
. Who helped to take the silver ball out?
| A．The boy himself | B．The doctor |
| C．Sidney | D．May |
. What is the best title of the story?
| A．Old medicine | B．Some good doctors |
| C．A poor boy | D．A silver ball |
Wang Nan is a world-famous ping-pong player. She has won (已获得) many gold medals(金牌) in international(国际的) table tennis games. She was born in Liaoning Province in October 1978. She is 1.62 meters tall and weighs (重) 54 kilograms. In her spare (空余的) time, she likes making friends, surfing the Internet and chatting with her friends on line.
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