GCSEs not fit for purpose

GCSEs （General Certificate of Secondary Education，普通中等教育证书）encourage "teaching to the test" and may be past their sell-by date, according to Britain's leading business organization. The Confederation of British Industry（CBI） warns that the qualification is stopping teachers delivering an "inspirational classroom experience" and should be replaced.

John Cridland, the CBI director general, said industry faced a shortage of key skills, particularly in science and maths. The CBI（英国工业联合会）, which represents more than 240,000 companies, is also concerned about the 40% of young people who fail to achieve the benchmark of five good GCSE passes including English and maths. The percentage of pupils who reach this standard is the main measure of school success.

Speaking at the launch of a CBI inquiry into education, Cridland argued that abandoning GCSEs could help deliver a full education. "There's something about this GCSE limitation which produces a form of learning ------ teaching for the test.’’

"It frustrates teachers because it stops them delivering that inspirational classroom experience."

The CBI head suggested that raising the school leaving age to 18 – a change that comes into effect in 2015 – is an opportunity to reform the system. "It seems to me that we've raised the participation age to 18 and we're left with an education system that focuses on 16," said Cridland. More than 600,000 children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to take GCSEs this summer.

Many other countries do without a public exam at 16. Finland, the highest performing school system in Europe, has just one public exam, at 18, though children are regularly tested at younger ages.

1.What does the author intend to tell us in paragragh1？

A.“Teaching to the test” should be encouraged.

B. We should stop teachers delivering “inspirational experience”.

C. The current qualification is out of date and should be replaced.

D. The Confederation of British Industry should be replaced.

2.What’s the main idea of the passage？

A. The British GCSEs are no longer practical and should be reformed.

B. In the GCSEs system , teachers don’t have freedom.

C. Five good GCSEs is hard to achieve.

D. The British Education Department will reform education system.

3.The meaning of the underlined word “benchmark” in paragraph 2 may be ______.

A. success                       B. target               C. standard      D. excellent grades

4.Where can we find this article?

A．TV series                              B. radio news

C. newspaper education section        D. government report

A long time ago, there was an emperor. One day he told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and 1  as much land area as he liked, he would give him the area of land he had covered.  2 enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and 3  as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He 4  riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. Even when he was 5  and tired, he did not stop 6  he wanted to cover as much area as possible. When he at last covered a large amount of land, he was exhausted and was  7 . Then he asked himself, “Why did I 8  myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only 9  a very small area to 10  myself.”

The above story is 11  to the journey of our 12 . We push ourselves very hard every day to make more  13 , to gain power or recognition. We neglect our 14 , time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding 15  and the things we love to do. One day 16  we look back, we will 17  that we don’t really need that much, 18  then we cannot turn back time for what we have 19 .

Life is not about making money. Life is definitely not about work! Work is only 20  to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life.

1.                A．use            B．cover          C．work D．get

2.                A．Good          B．Strange         C．Sure D．Interesting

3.                A．rode           B．ran            C．expanded D．struggled

4.                A．kept on         B．asked for        C．gave up   D．succeeded in

5.                A．sad            B．excited         C．confused D．hungry

6.                A．but            B．so             C．because  D．if

7.                A．sleeping        B．arguing         C．dying D．smiling

8.                A．push           B．make           C．destroy   D．prove

9.                A．need           B．have           C．find  D．show

10.               A．live            B．bury           C．support   D．sleep

11.               A．useful          B．certain         C．similar D．special

12.               A．future         B．past           C．history    D．life

13.               A．friends         B．progress        C．discoveries D．money

14.               A．health         B．career         C．honor D．freedom

15.               A．things          B．condition       C．people    D．beauty

16.               A．before         B．when          C．unless D．since

17.               A．realize         B．regret          C．apologize  D．explain

18.               A．or             B．until           C．however  D．but

19.               A．saved          B．missed         C．reduced   D．won

20.               A．possible        B．probable       C．necessary  D．suitable

完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
I had a friend who visited me from out of town and I wanted to show him the CN Tower. It was one of the tallest structures on the earth. So I thought it would offer a(n)   36  sight.
We were standing in line for 45minutes to enjoy the    37   up to the watch point. When we got there, we went around the   38     of the tower and saw the hard wire fence  39     to the structure serving as a barrier. We went back inside to look for the glass floor that provided a direct view   40     . As soon as both of us  41     , we stopped before walking onto it. We found that our legs began to   42  . I stopped for a minute considering the step, taking several seconds to   43     the edge before moving.
And then I had a thought in my mind：“It is far   44     compared to any other floor in this building. There is no real danger to me — it’s    45   an illusion. Look at all the people standing on it, and think about those who have stood on it before.”I began to  46     that step onto the glass floor. I didn’t look down —  47    not for a few minutes.
I walked on the    48   and looked around and thought about how  49   the experience was. I even found myself jumping up and down. There was no  50   , and it was certainly an illusion.
I considered how many things in our lives we  51    and exactly how many of them are actually illusions. I thought about all the things we   52    ourselves from doing because we have  53   ourselves into thinking there’s risk. I thought about all the things that I still have yet to do that appeared  54   . I was glad to discover that although fear isn’t a stranger to me, my desire to live a life without    55   has a much stronger pull.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When I was in medical college, I went   36  with some of my friends. The   37  was summer; therefore, we   38  to go to the seaside. After arriving there, we rented a room and left our   39  there. We finished lunch and then decided to rent a boat   40  the sea and the weather were beautiful.
We started to   41 , but about one mile out, the weather suddenly changed.   42  the weather was not good, we didn’t want to   43 , but finally my friends and I   44  that we should go back. We tried to change the boat’s   45 , but as soon as we changed it, the oarlock (橹, 桨) broke. Therefore, we were   46  to turn back. We had to wait for help because we couldn’t do anything.
After seeing the change of the weather, we   47  to row, but it was too late. We   48  it. The sea changed a lot, the waves got very high, and the boat began to   49  like a cradle (摇篮). One of my friends started to cry;   50  started to feel sick. Three hours passed, and nobody came to help us. We were just praying.   51 , after five long hours of waiting, two big boats came to   52  us and we   53 . If they   54  come to get us, we would have crossed the border between Turkey and Greece because the border was very close.
This story is the most exciting story of my life because we could have   55 , but luck was with us and we escaped.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

When I was in medical college, I went   36   with some of my friends. The   37   was summer; therefore, we   38   to go to the seaside. After arriving there, we rented a room and left our   39   there. We finished lunch and then decided to rent a boat   40   the sea and the weather were beautiful.

We started to   41  , but about one mile out, the weather suddenly changed.   42   the weather was not good, we didn’t want to   43  , but finally my friends and I   44   that we should go back. We tried to change the boat’s   45  , but as soon as we changed it, the oarlock (橹, 桨) broke. Therefore, we were   46   to turn back. We had to wait for help because we couldn’t do anything.

After seeing the change of the weather, we   47   to row, but it was too late. We   48   it. The sea changed a lot, the waves got very high, and the boat began to   49   like a cradle (摇篮). One of my friends started to cry;   50   started to feel sick. Three hours passed, and nobody came to help us. We were just praying.   51  , after five long hours of waiting, two big boats came to   52   us and we   53  . If they   54   come to get us, we would have crossed the border between Turkey and Greece because the border was very close.

This story is the most exciting story of my life because we could have   55  , but luck was with us and we escaped.

1.A. to camp            B. and camped       C. camping             D. on camp

2.A. climate            B. month            C. reason              D. season

3.A. chose                                   B. selected            C. managed        D. would rather

4.A. things             B. luggage           C. package       D. bags

5.A. if                 B. even if                                 C. because         D. for

6.A. go                 B. row               C. sail                D. surf

7.A. As                 B. If                C. Although       D. Even if

8.A. give in            B. give up           C. go forward    D. row

9.A. agreed             B. hoped             C. suggested      D. promised

10. A. head            B. direction         C. line            D. way

11.A. unable           B. able              C. delighted      D. sad

12.A. shouldn’t continue                                           B. couldn’t continue

    C. shouldn’t have continued                                    D. couldn’t have continued

13.A. forgot           B. regretted        C. didn’t mind        D. disliked

14. A. move             B. tremble           C. shake            D. swing

15.A. other             B. the other        C. another           D. others

16.A. Fortunately                            B. Unfortunately       C. Fortunate         D. Unluckily

17.A. carry             B. bring                                   C. search         D. rescue

18.A. didn’t drown                          B. didn’t die        C. escaped           D. ran away

19.A. didn’t                                B. wouldn’t          C. shouldn’t    D. hadn’t

20.A. died              B. survived                                C. floated     D. returned