Eight-year-old Bethany and seven-year-old Eliza are having a great time jumping around in the orchard of their home in a village near Penrith. They can play any time they like because they don't go to school. Instead, they are educated at home by their parents, Paul and Veronika Robinson. But they don't have lessons, have never used a timetable and learn only what and when they want to learn. .www..com

“I want my kids to have freedom in their childhood, not spend it in an institution," says 37-year-old Veronika, "School is all about control and following the rules." Veronika and her 56-year-old husband Paul have never experienced the daily rush to get dressed and out of the door that is common in most households with school-aged children. "We get up at our leisure - usually around 8:30," says Veronika. "We might visit a friend, or go to the library, and on Tuesdays we shop at the market. In summer, we spend most of our time outside and the girls entertain themselves a lot.” .www..com

New research due to be published this spring reveals a very different picture of Britain's home educators. "Out of 297 families, 184 said that they never use a timetable,” says Mike Fortune-Wood of Home Education UK. "Ninety per cent never or rarely use textbooks, and nearly all said that happiness, contentment and self-fulfillment were more important than academic achievement. Only 15% felt that planning what to learn was very important.” .www..com

So far, so good. But what, you might ask, are the children actually learning?

"It wasn't important to me that the girls could read by a certain age, but they both picked it up for themselves at around seven," says Robinson. "Weighing cooking ingredients uses maths, and making a shopping list teaches them to write. Observing five hens has taught the girls about survival of the fittest. "

But what about when the children grow up? Can they go to university? The home educators' answer is they can if they want to. There are a variety of routes into higher education, but probably the most common is to join a local college. This is what Gus Harris-Reid has done. "I was educated at home all my life. I'd never had a lesson or been inside a classroom until I started GCSEs," says the 18-year-old. "I'm now studying for 4 A-levels at Exeter Colle ge. I've had no problem with the work or with fitting in." When asked to reflect on his experience of home education, his considered response is, "Like a permanent holiday, really!" Not a bad start for someone who plans to take a mechanical engineering degree next year. .www..com

What is the topic of this article?

  A. New ways of learning to read and write   B. Problems with UK schools

  C. Home education in the UK                    D. Wild, undisciplined children

According to the article, in homes with school-going children, ______.

  A. mornings are rushed and stressful.

  B. the children hardly ever go outside.

  C. the family wakes up around 8:30am.

  D. the children must ask permission to go to the toilet.

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

  A. Most home educators believe that happiness is more important than good grades.

  B. Most home educators believe that planning is important.

  C. Most home educators do not follow a timetable or use textbooks.

  D. Most home educators are not worried about when their children learn to read and write.

What does the article say about home-educated children getting into university?

  A. They learn so many useful skills at home that universities are happy to accept them.

  B. They can get into university if they have 4 A-levels.

  C. They can go to school later and get the qualifications they need in order to enter university.

D. Home education is so relaxed that they are likely to experience problems when faced with the pressures of a degree course.

At the age of 11, Peter Lynch started caddying(当球童) at Brae Burn Country Club in Newton, Mass. “It was better than a newspaper carrier, and much more profitable,” the Fidelity vice chairman recalls. He kept it up during the summers for almost a decade. “You get to know the course and can give the golf players advice about how to approach various holes,” he says. “Where else, at age 15 or 16, can you serve as a trusted adviser to high-powered people?”

One of those people was George Sullivan, then president of Fidelity’s funds, who was so impressed with Lynch’s smarts that he hired him in 1966. “There were about 75 applicants for 3 job openings,” Lynch says now. “But I was the only one who had caddied for the president for 10 years.”

In between caddying and managing money, Lynch went to Boston College on a scholarship from a program called the Francis Ouimet Fund. Named after the 1913 winner of the U.S. Open, the fund launched in 1949 which is open to Massachusetts kids only. Ouimet executive director Robert Donovan says, “Help with college is a logical extension of friendly relation between golfers and their favorite caddies, because there is a close tie to train up them to be excellent that happens between the players and the kids who carry their golf poles. And for the teens, caddying is all about being around successful role models.”

It is obvious that caddies who are finally successful include all kinds of outstanding personnel, from actor Bill Murray, to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, to former GE chairman and CEO Jack Welch.

Of course, the great number of financial giants who caddied in their youth might be coincidence, but Dick Connolly thinks not. “Caddying life teaches you a lot about business, and about life,” he says. “You learn to show up early and look people in the eye when you shake their hand, and you learn how to read people -- including who’s likely to cheat and who isn’t.” Connolly is a longtime investment advisor at Morgan Stanley’s Boston office, a former Ouimet scholarship student and, along with Peter Lynch and Roger Altman, one of the program’s biggest supporters. He wants to share the most important lesson he learned on the links, so he says: “One golfer I caddied for told me that if you want to succeed in any field -- golf or business -- you have to spend a lot of lonely hours, either practicing or working, when you’d rather be partying with your friends. That’s true, and it stuck with me.”

 1.Which of the following may Peter Lynch agree about caddying?

A. He could have a relaxing job as a caddie.

B. He could make more money from the golf players.  

C. His duty was to advise the players how to play golf.

D. His caddying experiences contributed to his later career.

2.Why was the Francis Ouimet Fund set up to support Massachusetts kids only?

A. Because of the advice from the rich golf players.

B. Because of those giants with caddying experiences.

C. Because of the great success the caddies have achieved.

D. Because of the friendly relation between golfers and their caddies.

3.According to Dick Connolly, caddying experience in your youth_____.

A. helps you learn to live with loneliness

B. teaches you a lot about business and life

C. makes it possible to meet with great people

D. offers you chances to communicate with others

4.Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?

A. Legend of Peter Lynch.

B. An introduction of Golf Caddying.

C. Golf Caddying into Future Success.

D. Five Giants with Caddying Experiences.

 

The Growing Credit Crisis Forces Many Companies to Seek Government Help
On September fifteenth, Lehman Brothers, a one hundred fifty-eight year-old investment bank, sought legal protection from its creditors. It had failed to find a buyer after months of searching. With over six hundred billion dollars in debt, Lehman’s failure was the largest bankruptcv in United States history At the same time,the nation’s biggest insurance company,American International Group, had gotten into trouble selling credit default swaps These are contracts Similar to insurance that protect the holder against credit risk.
Credit rating agencies downgraded A.I.G because of concerns it could not honor its contracts. Unable to get new loans, A.I.G asked for government help The Federal Reserve agreed to loan A .I.G. eighty-five billion dollars in return for eighty percent of the company but it was not enough. By November, the government had extended a total of about one hundred fiftv billion doliars in aid to A .I.G—the most to any single company during the crisis.
As banks refused to lend, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed a plan to loosen credit markets by buylng risky assets. Congress approved the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of Two. Thousand eight on October third The bill provided seven hundred billion dollars to buy hard to-value securltles from banks. But within weeks, the government changed plans. The Treasury moved to invest two handred fifty billion dollars directly in banks to help them lend money again.
Lack of credit not only hurt banks but manufacturers, too. Falling car sales threatened America’s carmakers The big three automakers—General Motors, Ford and Chrysler—told Congress that they needed loans or they faced bankmptcy. In December, President Bush offered G.M and Chrysler over seventeen billion dollars in loans.
As the year ended, the Federal Reserve tried to support economic growth by lowering its main interest rate to nearly zero for the first time. But there was one more bad surprise New York money manager Bernard Madoff admitted he had cheated investors out of fifty billion dollars. The news only added to the sense that two thousand eight was the worst economic year since the nineteen thirties

  1. 1.

    Which of the following is NOT the problem in the passage Lehman Brothers was faced with?

    1. A.
      lt is an Investment bank with more than one and a half centuries history
    2. B.
      It didn’t find a buyer after months of searching
    3. C.
      It has over six hundred billion dollars in debt
    4. D.
      Its failure was the largest bankruptcy in United States history
  2. 2.

    The reason why

    1. A.
      I.G turned to the U.S government for help was that           .
      A. A.I.G would give eighty percent of the company in return for the loan
    2. B.
      A.I.G couldn’t get new loans from credit rating agencies
    3. C.
      the government extended a total of about one hundred fifty billion dollars in aid to A
    4. D.
      G
    5. E.
      the Federal Reserve agreed to loan A.I G eighty-five billion dollars
  3. 3.

    According to the passage, which of the following is probably NOT suffering from the lack of_______

    1. A.
      Banks.
    2. B.
      Manufacturers
    3. C.
      Carmakers
    4. D.
      Barbers
  4. 4.

    The last sentence of this passage indicates that the author’s attitude towards the U.S economy in 2008 is

    1. A.
      pessimistic
    2. B.
      optimistic
    3. C.
      objective
    4. D.
      subjective

You Are What You Eat

      Genetic engineering is the scientific change of the genetic material in a living organism. It allows scientists to identify specific genes, to remove them from an organism's chromosomes (染色体), improve them, analyze them, and possibly clone them, and to then reinsert the changed gene into the original organism, or a completely different organism.Unlike traditional breeding, where a desired quality would be bred within the same species, genetic engineering can insert desired ones into organisms of different species. Wow…Did you catch that?

     Genetic engineering creates many positive contributions to agriculture. For example, by genetically engineered(GE)foods, anti-cancer agents, minerals and vitamins can be increased. Improved taste, shelf life, and better transport are all possible. Also, GE plants can increase pest and bacterial resistance, therefore, making the food safe for consumers.

    But some argue that the possible negative effects outweigh the positives, and critics are starting to voice their concerns. Unlike Europe, in the United States labeling is not required on genetically engineered foods or on foods that contain genetically engineered products. Most Americans do not realize that they are, in fact, eating GE foods.

    The public is also concerned about the unknown health risks. With limited understanding of genes, scientists cannot predict possible effects. Because most genes introduced into GE plants come from sources not introduced into the human body, it is impossible to know if they will cause reactions. Moreover, due to the lack of labeling if allergies develop, it will be extremely difficult to find the origin of them.

    There is also a major moral question in many minds. For many, the conflict is not if it is safe or not, but it disturbs them because it is unnatural and unnecessary. We are currently producing one and a half times the amount of food needed to feed the world, yet one in seven people are starving. GE food is unnecessary, and fails to address the root of hunger. Many believe that the only people who will benefit are the corporations that produce it.

    Scientists cannot foresee the possible effects of GE foods, but we eat them every day without even knowing it. We already have enough food, so why create more that could be potentially harmful to us, to the Earth and to all wildlife? I think that the benefits are amazing, but until we know for sure how these foods will affect us, they are not worth the risk.

63. According to the passage, traditional breeding is different from genetic engineering in that_____.

A. traditional breeding changes the genes in the same species

B. traditional breeding changes the genes in different species

C. traditional breeding takes place within the same species

D. traditional breeding is more scientific

64. “The lack of labeling” in Paragraph 4 indicates_________.

A. information concerning gene sources is unavailable to customers

B. it is currently possible to find the origins of some allergies

C. scientists try to hide potential dangers from customers

D. the US government is responsible for GE food

65. According to Paragraph 5, GE food is unnecessary because________.

A. it won't help solve the problem of hunger in the world

B. there are potential dangers in producing GE food

C. we're now producing more food than before

D. customers will benefit from GE food

66. What is the author's attitude towards genetic engineering?

      A. Welcoming             B. Disapproving          C. Unconcerned          D. Optimistic

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