题目内容
If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computer games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive four months of individual daily half- hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less – often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.
Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?
A. Many children’s books have been adapted from films.
B. Many high-quality children’s books have been published.
C. The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.
D. The sales of presents for children have increased.
Statistics suggested that ___.
A. the number of top students increased with the use of computers.
B. a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading.
C. a minority of primary school children read properly.
D. a large percentage of children read regularly.
What do we know about Reading Recovery?
A. An education of it will be made sometime this year.
B. Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.
C. It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.
D. Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.
Reading for fun is important because book-loving children ____.
A. takes greater advantage of the project.
B. shows the potential to enjoy a long life.
C. is likely to succeed in their education.
D. would make excellent future researchers.
The aim of this text would probably be ____.
A. to overcome primary school pupils’ reading difficulty.
B. to encourage the publication of more children’s books.
C. to remind children of the importance of reading for fun.
D. to introduce a way to improve early childhood reading.
【小题1】B
【小题2】B
【小题3】D
【小题4】C
【小题5】D
解析:
略
No one was left in the museum now, and John was walking round to see if everything was all right. Suddenly he saw a beautiful painting lying on the floor. John picked it up and gave it to the director of the museum.
The director called several museums to check and see if it was a stolen painting, but no one claimed (认领) it. So the director decided to hang it in the museum. All the experts came to look at the painting. Each one said it was beautiful and had very deep meaning. The director was proud to have such a painting in his museum and congratulated John on his discovery.
Some weeks later a woman and her little son came to the museum. While they were looking at the new painting, the little boy began to cry. The director went over and asked him.
“Why are you crying?”
The child pointed to the painting and said, “That’s my painting on the wall and I want it back.”
“Yes,” said his mother, “he left it on the floor a few weeks ago. If you look carefully, you can see his name on the painting.”
【小题1】John was perhaps _______.
| A．a painter | B．an expert on painting |
| C．a visitor to the museum | D．a man working in the museum |
| A．before the museum opened |
| B．after the museum was closed |
| C．during his visit to the museum |
| D．while he was enjoying his walk |
| A．he was afraid of it |
| B．he thought it was his painting |
| C．he wanted to have the painting back |
| D．Both B and C |
| A．angry | B．afraid | C．surprised | D．proud |
| A．it was really very beautiful and had very deep meaning |
| B．the painting was drawn by a famous painter though he was a child |
| C．all of them did not look carefully enough |
| D．they examined it very carefully |
When I was seven, my father gave me a Timex, my first watch. I loved it, wore it for years, and haven’t had another one since it stopped ticking a decade ago. Why? Because I don’t need one. I have a mobile phone and I’m always near someone with an iPod or something like that. All these devices (装置) tell the time — which is why, if you look around, you’ll see lots of empty wrists (手腕); sales of watches to young adults have been going down since 2007.
But while these wise people have realized that they don’t need them, others — including some distinguished ones of our time — are spending total fortunes on them. Brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Breitling command shocking prices, up to £ 250.000 for a piece.
This is ridiculous. Expensive cars go faster than cheap cars. Expensive clothes hang better than cheap clothes. But these days, all watches tell the time as well as all other watches. Yes, you may say expensive watches will come with some extra functions — but who needs them? How often do you dive to 300 metres into the sea to test its function of waterproof, or need to find your direction in the area around the South Pole by using its compass? So why pay that much of five years’ school fees for watches that allow you to do these things?
If justice were done, the Swiss watch industry should have closed down when the Japanese discovered how to make accurate watches for a five-pound note. Instead, the Swiss re-invented the watch, with the aid of millions of pounds’ worth of advertising, as a message about the man —— usually a famous star, wearing it. Rolexes are for those who spend their weekends climbing icy mountains; a Patek Philippe is for one from a rich or noble family; a Breitling suggests you like to pilot planes across the world.
Watches are classified as “investment items” (投资项目) now. A 1994 Philippe recently sold for nearly £ 350, 000, while 1960s Rolexes have gone from 15, 000 to 30, 000 plus in a year. But, to some wealthy people, a watch is more than an investment. It’s a valuable toy for self-satisfaction, a matter of fashion. Prices may keep going up — they’ve been rising for fifteen years. But when fashion moves on, the owner of that £ 350, 000 treasured object will suddenly find his pride and joy is no more a good investment than my childhood Times.
1.The sales of watches to young people have fallen because ______.
|
A．they have other devices to tell the time |
|
B．they think watches are too expensive |
|
C．they have little sense of time now |
|
D．they prefer to wear an iPod on their wrists |
2.It seems ridiculous to the writer that ______.
|
A．some people often dive 300 metres deep into the sea |
|
B．expensive clothes sell much better than cheap ones |
|
C．cheap cars usually don’t run as fast as expensive ones |
|
D．expensive watches with unnecessary functions still sell |
3.What can be learnt about Swiss watch industry from the passage?
|
A．It targets rich people as its potential customers. |
|
B．It seems hard for the industry to beat its competitors. |
|
C．It wastes a huge amount of money in advertising. |
|
D．It is easy for the industry to re-invent cheap watches. |
4.Which would be the best title for the passage?
|
A．Timex Being better than Rolex |
|
B．My Expensive Childhood Timex |
|
C．Super-level Watches? Not for Me! |
|
D．Watches — a Valuable Collection |