Will Nanfang University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen announce a new beginning for China’s higher education reform? It’s too early to answer. But its presence is challenging the Ministry of Education. Even without the approval of the ministry it seems that the school is determined to move forward and enroll 50 students, so-called child prodigies(奇才), to begin classes on March l, 2011.On graduating in 2015, these students will receive a diploma unauthorized by the Ministry of Education----unlike the students of their age from the state-run universities.
The school is committed to modeling itself on Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, but if the government will not approve the school, the situation could cause a lot of trouble for those 50 students if they want to do graduate studies at other higher learning institutions. Other schools could turn their applications down for their unauthorized diplomas.
The difficulties, however, have not frightened students and their parents away. On Dec.18, 2010 more than 1,000 students and their parents visited Nanfang University of Science and Technology for interviews.
Private investment marks the school out from other higher learning institutions in the nation. Not a penny comes from the government. So the government will have no voice in how the school will be run.
The Ministry of Education has published a comprehensive plan for education reform and development between 2011 and 2020.The goal is to make China’s higher education internationally competitive. To accomplish this goal, the government should have the courage to let the educators who have big ideas try them out. The ministry should have applauded the independence. The school in Shenzhen has shown and encouraged more to do likewise.
Education reform in China has reached a new and crucial stage. Nanfang University of Science and Technology has a long way to go to prove itself competitive rather than a diploma mill.
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．University of New Style. |
| B．China’s Education Reform. |
| C．Modeling Hong Kong University. |
| D．Authorized or Not? |
If you really want to go green, here’s good news: eating green is good for you. The very foods with a high carbon cost---meat, pork, dairy products, processed snacks---also tend to be filled with fat and calories. A green diet would be mostly vegetables and fruits, whole grains, fish and lean meats like chicken---a diet that’s eco- and waistline-friendly. Eating green can be healthier and beneficial to the climate.
It may be hard to believe that a meal at McDonald’s produces more carbon than your trip to a far away place. More than 37% of the world’s land is used for agriculture, much of which was once forested. Deforestation (砍伐森林) is a major source of carbon. The fertilizer (化肥) and machinery needed on a modern farm also have a large carbon footprint, as does the network of ships and trucks that brings the food from the farm to your plate.
The most efficient way to reduce the carbon footprint of your menu is to eat less meat, especially beef. Raising cattle takes a lot more energy than growing the equivalent (相等的) amount of grains, fruits or vegetables. What’s more, the majority of cattle in the U.S. are fed on grain and loads of it---670 million tons in 2002---and the fertilizer used to feed that creates separate environmental problems.
Focus on eating lower on the food chain, with more plants and fruits and less meat and dairy. It’s simple. We can change today what goes into our bodies for the health of our planet and ourselves.According to the passage, eating green will_____.
| A．protect the animals from being killed |
| B．promote the development of agriculture |
| C．help us lose weight and keep self-confidence |
| D．be good for our health and make a change for the climate |
What will not lead to carbon in the agriculture?
| A．Deforestation | B．Fertilizer |
| C．Machinery | D．Grains |
In the author’s opinion, the most efficient way to reduce carbon is to_____.
| A．eat more vegetables than meat |
| B．stop raising the cattle |
| C．plant more grains |
| D．use less fertilizer |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The benefits of eating green. |
| B．How to reduce the carbon. |
| C．The change of our menu. |
| D．The ways of keeping healthy. |
Cultural events that take place in Edinburgh during August draw most people’s attention, but plenty of other festivals can also entertain you throughout the rest of the year.
Ceilidh Culture Festival
Where: various places
When: Date late Mar/early Apr
Tel & website: 228 1155, www.ceilidhculrure.co.uk
Backed by the local authorities, this is a community-focused celebration of traditional Scottish music, dance, song and storytelling. City-wide over a period of nearly four weeks, prices are different for different events.
Beltane Fire Festival
Where: Calton Hill, Calton Hill & Broughton
When: 30 Apr
Website: www. beltane.org
An ancient tradition marking the transition (转变) from winter to spring, the Beltane fire festival was revived (恢复) in the 1980s and has grown into quite a drama: fire, costume, body-paint, dancing and drumming. If the weather holds, it can attract up to 12,000 people. Tickets cost around ￡5 in advance from the Hub; a limited number are available for ￡7 on the night.
Doors Open Day
Where: various places
When: weekend, late Sept
Tel & Website: 557 8686, www.cockburnassociation.org.uk
Each year, heritage (遗产) body the Cockburn Association works with organizations and individuals (个人) to allow public access to buildings that few people usually get to see---everything from private homes to lighthouses. It’s all free.
Capital Christmas
Where: various places
When: late Nov till early Jan
Website: www.edinburghschristmas.com
What started out as a few accidental events has grown into a large, popular, city-wide festival. The main part is the Winter Wonderland in Princes Street Gardens, including fairground (露天市场) rides, crafts market, a skating rink (溜冰场) and the Edinburgh Wheel (a Ferris wheel next to the Scott Monument).If you want to find out more about the Ceilidh Cultural Festival, you can visit_____ .
| A．www. ceilidhculrure.co.uk |
| B．www.cockburnassociation.org.uk |
| C．www.edinburghschristmas.com |
| D．www. beltane.org |
Why do people celebrate the Beltane Fire Festival?
| A．To celebrate traditional Scottish music. |
| B．To exhibit ancient architecture. |
| C．To celebrate the transition from winter to spring |
| D．To celebrate the invention of fire. |
Doors Open Day may be on______ .
| A．a Monday in late September |
| B．a Saturday in late September |
| C．a Saturday in late November |
| D．a Monday in late November |
Once upon a time there were two smart boys. Their talents were obvious from an early age. They knew they were special, and they desired that, in the future, everyone would admit how great they were.
They developed in a different way. The first boy had a successful career. He took part in all kinds of competitions, visited the most important people and places. No one doubted that he would be the wisest and most important person in the land.
The second boy always felt a heavy responsibility. He would feel obliged to help others. This didn’t leave him enough time to follow his dreams of greatness. He was busy looking for ways to help others. As a result, he was a much-loved and well-known person in his small circle.
A disaster took place, spreading misery (痛苦) there. The first man had never come across anything like this, and he failed to improve the situation. The second man was used to solving all kinds of problems, and had such useful know-how in certain subjects. So the disaster hardly affected the people at all. His methods were adopted there, and the name of this man spread even wider. Indeed, he was elected the governor of the nation.
The first man understood the greatest wisdom is from the things we do in life, from the impact (影响) we have on others, and from the need to improve ourselves. He never again took part in competitions. Instead, he always took books with him to be ready to help others.The passage is mainly developed by ______.
| A．following the space order. | B．making comparisons |
| C．giving examples | D．explaining the reason |
The underlined word “obliged”, in the third paragraph, means “______”.
| A．responsible | B．necessary |
| C．worried | D．comfortable |
What can we learn about the two young men?
| A．Both of them tried hard to deal with the disaster. |
| B．The second man wanted to have a successful career. |
| C．The second man wanted to take part in competitions. |
| D．The first man was a much-loved and well-known person in the land. |
Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good.
Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we interact(交流) and build relationship. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, which should cause individuals and organizations to rethink the way they use email.
“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,” says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics(语言学) at an American university. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect(反映) a growing unconcern about the way we write.
Baron argues that we shouldn’t forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in email. “The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,” the professor says.
Others say that despite its poor writing, email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t: it has made writing fashionable again.
“Email is a critical new communication technology.” says Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at Toronto University. “It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech.”
Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of email’s close similarity to speech. “It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,” he says.
Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. Emails sent in a day almost exceed(超过) the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact.From what Baron says in the third paragraph we can see that ________.
| A．careless people use email more than careful people |
| B．email requires people to change their native language |
| C．professors in universities don’t need to use email |
| D．people communicate by email full of mistakes |
What does the underlined word “it”(in Paragraph 4) refer to?
| A．The poor writing. | B．Email. |
| C．The good writing. | D．A new communication technology. |
In Lancashire’s opinion, email is a wonderful technology because _______.
| A．it can be useful all over the world |
| B．it is the fastest way to communicate |
| C．we can express ourselves in a free way |
| D．we can save a lot of paper |
This passage mainly shows us that ______.
| A．people should stop using email to communicate |
| B．experts hold different opinions about email writing |
| C．Americans only use email to communicate |
| D．email makes people lose interest in English |
A great-grandfather has put up his Christmas tree for the 85th time after his father first bought it from a toy shop.
Douglas Hewitt, 85, has celebrated every Christmas with the artificial tree since he was born. His father bought the tree from a toy shop in Sheffield just months after Douglas was born. The four-foot tree remains the centre point of the Hewitt family household during every festive season.
Mr. Hewitt, of South Anston, South Yorkshire, said, “It reminds us of my childhood, our children’s childhood and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s after that. They all come and look at it and smile; it’s become part of the furniture. If we didn’t put that Christmas tree up, it wouldn’t feel like Christmas.”
The tree was passed down to Mr. Hewitt when he married Mavis. Mrs. Hewitt said, “Year after year we have just carried on using that one. You have to be a bit more careful with it now, as it’s fragile.”
Their daughter, June Murphy, also has fond memories of the Christmas tree. She said, “It was in my grandparents’ home and then it was given to us. It looks a little thin now, as each time you get it out something else falls off. It’s become a bit of a family joke. Each year someone has to comment ‘not again!’ But it’s a Christmas tradition of getting the tree out that we all love. We’d all be sad to see it go, as I think it would be hard to find such a loved replacement.”
Mr. Hewitt said, “There were a lot more branches on it, and it’s lost its feathers that were all along the edge. There were little candle holders（蜡烛架）on the ends and little legs on it, but unfortunately they’ve been lost over the years.”Where did Douglas Hewitt get the Christmas tree?
| A．He got it from his father. |
| B．He bought it from a toy shop. |
| C．He made it by himself. |
| D．He cut it down in a forest. |
What does Mr. Hewitt want to tell readers in the third paragraph?
| A．It may be the last year that the tree appears in this house. |
| B．His family decorate their house with this Christmas tree. |
| C．This Christmas tree reminds him that Christmas is on the way. |
| D．His family has a special feeling towards this Christmas tree. |
The underlined word “fragile” in the fourth paragraph probably means_______.
| A．a little strange | B．easily broken |
| C．quite small | D．not beautiful |
Why does her family put up the Christmas tree every year according to June Murphy?
| A．To honor her grandparents. |
| B．To save the family money. |
| C．To keep up the family tradition. |
| D．To create a friendly atmosphere. |
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