Question

【题目】Holidays are really important. Many of us will have childhood memories of summer holidays where we were taken away from home to experience new environments and learn in different ways.

But holidays are expensive and，for those on low wages or living on benefits, they are often unobtainable. Even the cheapest holidays require travel and other additional costs that are difficult for many families to meet.

For working parents，the long summer break can be a very difficult problem for childcare. When an annual leave allowance amounts to only five weeks，there is a need to spread this across the year.Couples can find themselves taking leave in turn in order to care for children who are on holiday. For some，this makes even an affordable family holiday difficult.

The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff committed to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment.The number of children receiving free school meals is quite large in Nottingham and many schools have breakfast clubs to make sure that children get a healthy start to the day. Most schools undertake programs of group or individual educational support. Schools also have an important role in safeguarding children's welfare through the ongoing touch and support with their pupils. During the long summer holidays，much of this is missed.

While teachers are holidaying in the UK，many of their pupils spend the whole six weeks on the street where they live. The lack of free school meals for six weeks can result in pressure/span> on a family budget and an inability to afford the inspiring experiences that help children to continue their learning.

In setting out its plans for a fiveterm year，Nottingham City Council(委员会)is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down to four and a half weeks, with a more balanced five terms of roughly eight weeks, each followed by a twoweek break.We believe this will give real “down time” for school staff and pupils alike but will be short enough not to cause a real break in learning.

We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff，particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities. However, this must be weighed against the benefits for city children for whom we all have the greatest duty of care.

【1】The passage is probably written by ________.

A. an experienced teacher

B．a working parent

C．an inspired student

D．a city council member

【2】The underlined word “they” in the second paragraph refers to “________”．

A．environments

B．holidays

C．wages

D．benefits

【3】It is suggested in the passage that the summer break be reduced to ________.

A．2 weeks

B．4.5 weeks

C．5 weeks

D．6 weeks

【4】The plans for a shorter summer holiday will help students ________.

A．obtain the cheapest holidays without additional costs

B．get a chance to spend six weeks a term with teachers in school

C．benefit more from the caring and inspiring learning environment

D．have more school days to receive free school meals

【5】It can be inferredspan> from the passage that ________.

A．working parents can enjoy a fiveweek break to care for their children

B．the suggested plans for a fiveterm school year can hardly be carried out

C．the long summer holiday gives teachers and students real “down time”

D．some school staff will say “No” to the plans for a shorter summer holiday

Answer 1

【答案】【1】 D

【2】 B

【3】 B

【4】 C

【5】 D

【解析】【要点综述】本文介绍了英国诺丁汉城市委员会把学生假期缩短至4.5周的计划。

【1】推理判断题。从文章倒数第二段“Nottingham City Council is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down to four and a half weeks”和最后一段“We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff”可知答案。

【2】代词指代题。根据第二段，度假是昂贵的，并且对于那些低工资和靠救济为生的人，度假是不可能的。

【3】细节理解题。根据倒数第二段第一句可知答案。

【4】推理判断题。根据第四段第一句话“The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff committed to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment.”可知如果假期缩短，学生就可以更多地享受学校提供的照顾和鼓舞人心的学习环境。

【5】推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句话“We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff”可推知一些学校员工会反对这个计划。