Question

LONDON, Feb. 18，2014（Xinhua News agency）—Britain will send experts to East China's Shanghai to learn from the city's experience in maths teaching in an attempt to raise the teaching standards.

British Education Minister Elizabeth Truss is to lead a delegation of experts on a fact-finding mission to Shanghai's schools next week to see how children there have become the best in the world at maths, to get a first-hand look at maths classes and teaching methods there, and particularly to investigate why the performance of almost all children in Shanghai is high, regardless of gender or income.

Britain was last year placed 50th out of 148 countries and regions in the World Economic Forum's competitiveness ranking in quality of maths and science education. Two years ago, Shanghai topped the 2012 international PISA tables for maths, while England was ranked in 26th place. The top five were all in Southeast Asia, with 15-year-olds in Shanghai judged to be three years ahead of their peers in maths.

The education department said: "England's performance in maths has lagged behind while other countries have improved and overtaken us, including Poland and Germany." Actually, it is the latest step in the government's drive to raise standards in maths, looking at what has made schools in the far East the most successful in the world in teaching the subject.

"Shanghai is the top-performing part of the world for maths—their children are streets ahead. Shanghai and Singapore have teaching practices and a positive mind that make the difference. They have a belief that diligence makes up for lack of ability," Truss said. "Our new curriculum has borrowed from theirs because we know it works—early learning of key arithmetic, and a focus on times tables and long division（长除法）, for instance."

She was determined to change the situation as performance in maths is weakening the country's skills base and threatening the productivity and growth. The government is emphasizing maths because of the importance of good grades in the subject to young people competing for good jobs in a global labor market and to the economy more generally.

An education and skills survey released by the Confederation of British Industry last year showed that 30 percent of employers reported dissatisfaction with the standard of school and college leavers' numeracy. More than two-thirds of employers said they wanted both maths and science promoted more in schools.

1.Why does the British government send a delegation of experts to Shanghai?

A. To see how children from rich families have become the best at maths.

B. To investigate why the performance of almost all children in China is high.

C. To get a first-hand look at science classes and teaching methods there.

D. To raise the teaching standards in maths in Britain.

2.Which of the following statements is true according to the two international competition results?

A. British students performed better in 2013 than in 2012.

B. British students did better than the students from Poland in 2013.

C. The students from Singapore did better than the students from Germany.

D. The students from Germany did better than the students from Poland.

3.What has made schools in Shanghai the most successful in teaching maths in the eye of Truss?

A. Curriculum and teaching methods.

B. Teaching practices and a positive mind.

C. Early learning of key arithmetic and times tables.

D. A focus on times tables and long division.

4.How will students’ poor performance in maths affect the country?

A. By threatening the country's competitiveness of economy.

B. By weakening the country's political system.

C. By losing international competitions in education.

D. By failing to find jobs in a global labor market.

5.What can we infer from the news?

A. The students in Britain don’t work hard at Maths.

B. The students in shanghai are the smartest in the world.

C. The education of science in Britain is no better than that of maths.

D. Most British citizens are dissatisfied with teachers’ work.

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：文章大意：这是一篇新闻报道，报道了英国政府派专家代表团来到上海学习先进的数学教学方法，是为了提高英国的数学教学水平。因为在两次国际比赛中都是亚洲国家的学生表现比欧洲的学生要好，英国政府和人们已经意识到数学差会对国家的经济竞争力造成威胁。

1.细节理解题。从第一段的句子：Britain will send experts to East China's Shanghai to learn from the city's experience in maths teaching in an attempt to raise the teaching standards. 可知英国政府派代表团来到上海是为了提高英国的数学教学水平。选D。

2.细节理解题。从第二段的句子："Shanghai is the top-performing part of the world for maths—their children are streets ahead. Shanghai and Singapore have teaching practices and a positive mind that make the difference. 可知从两次的国籍比赛中新加坡的孩子比德国的孩子表现的好，选C。

3.细节理解题。从文章第五段的句子："Shanghai is the top-performing part of the world for maths—their children are streets ahead. Shanghai and Singapore have teaching practices and a positive mind that make the difference.可知在Truss的眼中，让上海在数学教学中最成功的是他们的教学方法和积极的思维，选 B

4.推理判断题。从倒数第二段的句子：The government is emphasizing maths because of the importance of good grades in the subject to young people competing for good jobs in a global labor market and to the economy more generally.可知学生的数学成绩差会威胁到这个国家的经济的竞争力，选A。

5.推理判断题。从文章最后一段的句子:More than two-thirds of employers said they wanted both maths and science promoted more in schools.可知英国的科学教育和数学一样差。注意这里的no better than是“一样差”的意思，选C。

考点：考查新闻报道类短文阅读