High childcare costs are putting British mothers off going out to work. It really is that simple. Eurostat figures show that 66 per cent of mothers in the UK work, less than France (72 per cent), Denmark (86 per cent), the Netherlands (78 per cent) or Germany (69 per cent). This not only damages Britain’s economic prosperity—it limits women’s careers and squeezes family incomes. It would be fine if this is the choice parents want to make, but it isn’t. Half of those surveyed want to go to work and the expense of childcare is one of the key reasons they couldn’t.
Despite claims made by Labour (工党) about childcare, a forthcoming (即将到来的) report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) confirms the true legacy of their time in government. They left behind a childcare system with high costs to parents, variable quality and patchy (不均匀的) coverage, despite soaring government spending. British parents now face the highest childcare bills in the world after Switzerland.
In the Eighties and Nineties under Mrs Thatcher and John Major, the picture was very different. Mothers in England were more likely to go out to work than their Dutch or German counterparts. But the position has reversed, despite a huge rise in public spending.
So why does the British Government spend more on childcare than France or Germany, even though the costs given to parents are sky-high? As always, under the previous government, money was frittered away (浪费) without adequate focus on improving quality. Instead of clear and transparent funding, four separate funding streams were created, skewing (偏离) the market and confusing parents and providers alike. The majority of the money was given away in cash benefits; so much of it did not get through to the front line.
The IPPR report points out that continental systems, in countries such as Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, manage to deliver better value for money. What all of these systems have in common is a focus on quality, with greater flexibility and autonomy given to local providers. They also see a much higher proportion of government money getting to the front line. Which of the following doesn’t belong to the disadvantages caused by the mothers prevented from going to work?
| A．Damaging Britain’s economic development. |
| B．Causing damage to women’s careers. |
| C．Decreasing the family incomes. |
| D．Causing childcare costs to go up. |
According to the second paragraph, we can infer that the former government of the Labour Party _______.
| A．was highly praised by British people |
| B．made British people face the highest childcare bills |
| C．left behind a childcare system full of problems |
| D．managed to decrease the government spending |
We can learn from the passage that _______.
| A．in the Eighties and Nineties, mothers in the UK were likely to work |
| B．there is a prejudice against mothers in the UK employment market |
| C．most of the mothers surveyed in the UK don’t want to work |
| D．the percentage of mothers who work in the UK is the lowest in the world |
October 15th is Global Handwashing Day．Activities are planned in more than twenty countries to get millions of people in the developing world to wash their hands with soap．
Experts say people around the world wash their hands but very few use soap at so-called critical moments．These include after using the toilet, after cleaning a baby and before touching food．
Global Handwashing Day is the idea of the Public-private Partnership for handwashing with soap．The goal, they say, is to create a culture of handwashing with soap．The organizers say all soaps are equally effective at removing disease-causing germs．They say the correct way to wash is to wet your hands with a small amount of water and cover them with soap．Rub it into all areas, including under the fingernails．Then, wash well under running water．Finally, dry your hands with a clean cloth．
The Partnership says soap is important because it increases the time that people spend washing．Soap also helps to break up the dirt that holds most of the germs．And it usually leaves a pleasant smell, which increases the chances that people will wash again．
It also says that washing hands with soap before eating and after using the toilet could save more lives than any medicine．It could help reduce cases of diarrhea, which is the second leading cause of child deaths, killing more than one and a half million children a year, by almost half．What does the author intend to tell us in the passage?
| A．To keep healthy by washing hands． | B．To wash hands with soap． |
| C．To take action to wash hands． | D．To wash hands often． |
Which of the following is the right way to wash hands?
a．Washing hands well． b．Covering hands with soap． c．Drying hands．
d．Rubbing hands with soap．e．Wetting hands．
| A．a--c--b--e--d | B．e--d--a--b—c |
| C．a--c--b--d--e | D．e--b--d--a--c |
．Which fact can NOT explain why soap is important?
| A．It gives people a longer handwashing time． |
| B．It helps to remove a lot of germs from hands． |
| C．It attracts people to do more handwashing． |
| D．It gets all people into the habit of washing hands． |
According to the last paragraph, diarrhea is a disease that ________．
| A．kills half of the kids in the developing countries a year |
| B．causes the greatest number of child deaths |
| C．can be prevented to some degree by washing hands with soap |
| D．can’t be cured without washing hands |
When middle-aged Alex quit his job and made up his mind to become a self-employed writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a used typewriter and settled down to work．
After a year or so, however, Alex began to doubt himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by selling what he wrote．But Alex determined to put his dream to the test—even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．This is the shadowland（虚幻世界）of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there．
One day Alex got a call, "We need an assistant, and we’re paying $ 6,000 a year．” $ 6,000 was real money in 1960．It would enable Alex to get a nice apartment, a used car and more．Besides, he could write in his spare time．As the dollars were dancing in Alex’s head, something cleared his senses．He had dreamed of being a writer? Full time．"Thanks, but no," Alex said firmly and swiftly, "I’m going to stick it out and write．"
After Alex got off the phone, he pulled out everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Alex put the cans and cents into a paper bag, saying to himself," There’s everything you’ve made of yourself so far．I’m not sure I ever felt so low．"
Finally his work was published in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experienced．The shadows had turned into focus of attention．
Then one day, Alex found a box filled with things he had owned years before．Inside was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he pictured himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Alex, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course in the shadowland．Why did Alex give up his job?
| A．Because he didn’t like the working conditions． |
| B．Because he couldn’t earn enough to make a living． |
| C．Because he wanted to be a full-time writer． |
| D．Because he felt he had no potential in his job． |
What did Alex express when he answered the call?
| A．He refused the job offer． |
| B．He was willing to give them a hand． |
| C．He expected them to pay him more money． |
| D．He would write in his spare time． |
What kind of person is Alex?
| A．Determined． | B．Modest | C．Shy． | D．Brave． |
Which of the following can summarize the passage best?
| A．Look before you leap． |
| B．Two heads are better, than one． |
| C．Hold on to your dream, and it will come true． |
| D．A bird in hand is worth two in the bush． |
“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?” The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.
The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people. But here’s the true answer:
The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8, 1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.
While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.
As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.
When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.
For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.
My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said, “Thanks for being here.”
For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.
It’s the most important thing I have ever done.
The experience taught me two lessons.
First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people Icared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that—just be there when someone needed me.
Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.
From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write—or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author __________.
A felt it was not an interesting question
B. thought for a while and spoke his mind
C. gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view
D. didn’t give the real answerWhen he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _________.
| A．he had to stay with his family | B．his friend did not need his help |
| C．he would not be of much help | D．the baby would be in the doctor’s care |
The purpose of the author’s description of the scene at the hospital is to inform us that ______.
| A．he found out that he was in the way |
| B．he would have felt guilty if he had not been there |
| C．he regretted that he went too later |
| D．his friend would have felt better if he had not been there |
Which of the following is conveyed in this story?
| A．Family and relatives can not take the place of friends. |
| B．More people are a great comfort when one is in trouble. |
| C．It is best to be here when someone needs you. |
| D．You can certainly help a friend if you want to. |
The author learned from his own experience that_______.
| A．what is taught in school is usually of no use |
| B．a lawyer cannot learn much in classrooms |
| C．a lawyer should know people’s feeling first |
| D．he needs to be able to feel as well as think logically |
NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been exploring the Red Planet since 2004. But a little more than a year ago, NASA lost contact with Spirit. The space agency has tried several ways to make contact with the rover, but Spirit has not sent back any signals.
Spirit landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. Three weeks later, Opportunity arrived. Soon after, the rovers went to the opposite side of Mars. Spirit’s original mission was only designed to last for three months, but Spirit has worked for more than five years doing additional missions. Both rovers have made important discoveries about ancient Mars. They have taken thousands of images and found evidence in the rocks of a water, warmer past in Mars’ history.
Spirit is solar-powered. It got stuck in a sand trap in April 2009, trapped deep into the soil and with its wheels turning around and around but not able to move forwards or backwards. Spirit had to agree that there is nothing that can be done to change the situation—it’s never going to move again. However, even if it is a not moving station, it can still study the planet’s atmosphere and deep interior.
NASA has been concentrating on trying to position its solar panels to get as much energy from the sun as
possible, or to get the rover leaning in a manner that will allow the most amount of sunlight falling on its solar panels, in order to keep it alive during the coming winter months. Engineers have planned to rock the vehicle back and forth to acquire a more favorable position. However, no matter how many efforts have been made, Spirit still could not get out of the soft soil and could not lean itself toward the sun as the Martian winter approached. Without enough
energy reaching its solar panels and with so little energy in its batteries, it went into hibernation, just like a polar bear, and has not communicated with Earth since March 22, 2010.
Whatever the future holds for Spirit, its mission has been an outstanding success. When it landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, no one was really sure how long it would continue working in the cold and dusty environment. As a matter of fact, three months was its original goal.
After so many fruitless efforts, NASA scientists are losing hope of ever reconnecting with Spirit, but they will give it one more try. Ground controllers are contacting Spirit over a range of frequencies and at different times during the day in case its internal clock stopped working and it lost track of time. They also are commanding the rover to turn on its backup radio transmitter in case the main one is dead.
If this final effort to connect isn’t successful, NASA will shift the focus to its twin robot, Opportunity, which is in a different part of Mars. Opportunity is still on the move and continues to travel freely to this day. It has traveled 16.6 miles so far, and is currently rolling towards another crater it has yet to explore.
NASA has spent more than $900 million on the project but shows no sign of giving up on these determined and hard-working robots. The rovers are, though, experiencing gradual wear and tear, the expected damage to something caused by using it repeatedly over a period of time. Even before Spirit got trapped, one of its wheels had failed. And NASA says it’s just a matter of time before both robots break down completely.According to the passage, what can we know about Spirit?
| A．It had explored Mars several times. |
B．Its original mission was to work for five years. |
| C．It landed on Mars three weeks later than Opportunity. |
| D． It discovered that Mars was once a warm and wetter place. |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT what NASA did?
| A．Try to lean Spirit to make it get as much sunlight as possible. |
| B．Rock Spirit back and forth to make it acquire a more favorable position. |
| C．Make efforts to help Spirit get out of the soft soil where it is stuck. |
| D．Contact and order Spirit to turn on its backup radio transmitter. |
The reason why Spirit failed to communicate with the Earth is that ________.
| A．it didn’t have enough energy | B．it had finished its task |
| C．something was wrong with its wheels | D．it met an unidentified creature |
By saying “NASA will shift the focus” in Paragraph 7, the author means that ______.
| A．NASA will move the center of Spirit out of the sand |
| B．NASA will depend on Opportunity to do the exploration |
| C．NASA will do nothing but wait for some opportunity |
| D．NASA will make opportunity help Spirit |
The last paragraph mainly informs us that _______.
| A．NASA has planned to spend more money on Spirit |
| B．Spirit will be brought back to Earth |
| C．Spirit will stop operating totally in the future |
| D．Spirit will cause damage to Mars |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A．NASA makes the last effort to contact Spirit. |
| B．Spirit has made many important discoveries on Mars. |
| C．How Spirit got stuck and couldn’t move on Mars. |
| D．Why NASA tried many ways to contact Spirit. |
The following are four books that will help you change your mind and change your life.
1) You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay: A groundbreaking book when it was released in 1982. It is still the book that I turn to when I have physical unrest that requires deeper understanding. Louise Hay is the pioneer in looking at the connection between the physical unrest that we have in our body and the emotional connection. At the time that she wrote the book many people scoffed at this idea, but it is now widely accepted and millions of people refer to it on a daily basis.
2) The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz: Maintaining a sense of reliability and faith is developed through understanding to The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz written in 1997. We are faced with rules and regulations; don’t do this, don’t do that, watch what you are doing, be kind, loyal, faithful etc. The four agreements represent a simple system of maintaining your own inner authority while practicing being a true person with other people.
3) Slowing Down to the Speed of Life, Richard Carlson and Joseph Bailey: This is a new one in my “bedside collection” and one that has made the biggest impact on me lately. Written in 1997, it is even more relevant today than it was when it was written. The idea of “slowing down” to get there faster was extremely hard for me to understand. As a human species we seem to enjoy moving fast and expecting quick results, especially from ourselves. I should be successful now, I should be slim now, get me to my destination now—in contrast to “in the fullness of time” when I am ready.
4) The Game of Life and How to Play It, Florence Scovel-Shinn: A classic book that was first published in 1925 and remains one of my favorite books of all time. Scovel-Shinn understood the power of our words to express either our deepest desires or our most horrible nightmares.
So where does this leave you? The way I see it is if you want to ‘Heal Your Life” then you had better learn how to play “The Game of Life” by learning how to “Slow Down to the Speed of Life” and keep the “Four Agreements”. The solution may not be easy to do but it is simple. In fact, most solutions are pretty simple, and it is us humans that want to complicate it.According to the author, people who are lacking in personal freedom should read______.
| A．You Can Heal Your Life |
| B．The Four Agreements |
| C．Slowing Down to the Speed of Life |
| D． The Game of Life and How to Play It |
Which of the following books did the author read most recently?
A．Slowing Down to the Speed of Life |
| B．The Four Agreements |
| C．You Can Heal Your Life |
| D．The Game of Life and How to Play It |
In which part of a magazine would you probably find this passage?
| A．Arts & Entertainment | B．Reference & Education |
| C．Book Reviews | D．Self Improvement |
In the author’s opinion, the four books _______.
| A．offer four ways to change our life and mind | B．represent four stages of life |
| C．represent four attitudes | D．tell us four interesting stories |
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