Testing has replaced teaching in most public schools. My own children's school week is framed by pretests, drills, tests, and retests. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then skim the text for the answers. I believe that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to state proudly and openly that they teach to the mandated (国家指定的) state test.
Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon. Instead of deciding what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some reasonable methods of assessment to discover whether students have mastered the skills, teachers are encouraged to reverse the process. First, one looks at a commercially available test. Then, one distills (提取) the skills needed not to master reading, say, or math, but to do well on the test. Finally, the test skills are taught.
The ability to read or write or calculate might infer the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparation for a test of a skill with the acquisition of that skill. Too many discussions of the basics of skills make this fundamental confusion because people are test-centered rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught.
Recently, many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read. These students are capable of taking tests and filling in workbooks. However, they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but can't see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grade that they have' no time or ease of mind to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary.
【小题1】As is indicated in the second paragraph, the author finds it strange that __.

Ideal for anyone who wants a good time, the Gold Coast is packed with enough fun for everyone in Australia．It's impossible to be bored on the Gold Coast．Below are the attractions;
Dream World
This is a fun place for everyone, whether you are a family with young kids, older kids, or out with your mates．This theme park is actually a series of parks, made up of such places as preschooler heaven Wiggles World and such attractions as Big Brother for inner reality TV fans．Dream World also owns the theme park White Water World．It is possible to buy tickets from Dream World that covers several different parks．
Sea World
Get up close and personal with dolphins, sharks and polar bears．This theme park also offers the right mixture of shows, exhibits, animal fights and thrill rides such as roller coaster．This is a must-see for your Gold Coast adventure．
Warner Bros Movie World
This theme park has the best combination of fast-paced entertainment．Visitors can have fun living as though they're in the movies．Kids will see all their cartoon favourites on parade and in shows．Bigger kids and grown-ups can pretend they're on real movie sets with their favourite action heroes, and then put themselves into some serious action．
How to get there梇ou can easily travel to the Gold Coast by plane．Fly straight into Gold Coast International Airport, or to Brisbane and then catch the '"airtrain" service to the Gold Coast．All of the major airlines have daily flights, some with several per day depending on your departure city．If you want to save money, you can get there by train．
Accommodation—Want something truly unusual? Consider staying in the world's largest residential tower （塔式住宅） and enjoy beautiful views．The accommodation choices on the Gold Coast are just as varied and interesting as the activities, so whether you are a single, couple, family, friends, a large or small group, you will find options perfect for you at TakeABreak．corn．an．
【小题1】From the passage, we know _____．

A．visitors can go t．o the Gold Goast only by air

B．the Gold Coast is famous for its golden beach

C．it is difficult for a family to find a right place to stay

D．the theme park "Sea World" will attract animal lovers

A．to describe the theme parks in Australia

B．to draw more visitors to go to the Gold Goast

C．to tell some exciting shows, adventures, etc．

D．to introduce how to get to the Gold Coast

D
We can offer you a place at one of the best universities in Britain. We’ll provide you with a choice of 150 first class courses developed especially to enable you to study in your own time, backed by the Open University’s own special study method-OU supported open learning.
We’ll give you the support of a personal teacher, and the chance to meet your fellow students. You can take one-off courses, diplomas (毕业证), a degree or a postgraduate degree(文凭). Subjects available include: computing, business management, technology, modern languages, social sciences, English law, arts, science, mathematics, education and health﹠social welfare.
Did you know?
The OU is in the top 15% of all UK universities for teaching quality
25% of all British MBAs* come from the OU
Over 30,000 employers have offered chances to their staff on OU courses
40,000 OU students are on line from home
There are 9 month courses and new diplomas as well as degrees
AMBA Accredited
Whether you want to study to improve your jobs or for your own personal interest, there’s almost certainly a course for you. If you haven’t studied for a while, we’ll help you get started. No previous training or degrees are required, you just need a lively power of learning and a willingness to learn. It’s real value for money and you can pay by monthly payments.
Open University course materials are of the highest quality and come in a variety of forms, including video and audio tapes as well as texts. The OU leads the world in its use of new technology for learning. A number of courses provide source material on CD Rom. What else can the Open University offer you? The best way to find out is to use the coupon below or phone us today.

Eleven top universities are joining the Open University to launch free Internet courses. King’s College London, along with the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Anglia, Exeter, Lancaster, Leeds, Southampton, St Andrews and Warwick, has partnered with FutureLearn, a company set up by the Open University that will offer free and non-credit bearing courses to Internet-users around the world.
The courses are modeled on the US phenomenon “Massive open online courses” ( Moocs ), which have attracted millions of users around the world and are especially popular in emerging economies.
FutureLearn will improve UK institutions for international students, said Prof Martin Bean, voice-chancellor of the Open University. “At the moment, foreign students’ perception of UK Universities is: wonderful history, great tradition, really good teaching, but a bit boring.”
Leeds University says the partnership will benefit students studying on campus. “Students will have access to a rich set of resources from both Leeds and our partners. They can also broaden their education beyond their main subject areas.”
The UK higher education industry stands among the top five export earners for Britain Moocs have grown rapidly in the US over the past year, with two providers leading the field. Coursera offers courses from 33 Universities, including Princeton, Brown, Columbia and Duke, and has reached more than 1.7 million users, EdX, a nonprofit start-up from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology courses this autumn.
Simon Nelson, one of the key architects of BBC Online, will head FutureLearn as launch CEO. “It’s really meaningful for these universities to come together –we’ll punch much harder collectively than any other university will individually,” he said.
Partner Institutions will be responsible for their own content while the OU, which has been providing distance-learning courses since 1971, will assist with course delivery and infrastructure. Details of further universities will be revealed next year, as will the courses on offer.
【小题1】 What does the underlined word “perception” in paragrah3 mean?

The faces of the elderly, happily-married people sometimes look like each other. Dr. Aiken studied a number of couples who had been married for at least twenty-five years. Each couple provided four photographs—one photo of each partner at the time of their marriage and another photo to remove any clues. The photos were then displayed in groups: a random（随意的）grouping of the persons at the time of their marriage and another random grouping of the same persons who took photographs later. Some judges were asked to pick out the partners. They failed totally with the first group. Their judgments were no better than chance. But with the photos taken twenty-five or more years after the marriage, the judges were quite successful at deciding who was married to whom. They were particularly successful with the most happily-married couples.
Dr. Aiken believes there are several reasons why couples grow alike. One reason has something to do with imitation. One person tends to copy or do the same as someone else without knowing it. He says human beings copy the expressions of the faces of their loved ones. Another possible reason, he says, is the common experience of the couples. There is a tendency for people who have the same life experience to change their faces in similar ways. For example, if a couple suffered a lot of sad experiences, their faces are likely to change in a similar way.
56. The main purpose of the passage is to         .
tell how couples look like each other
show the life experience of husband and wife
explain why couples grow alike
describe the study on a number of married people
57. The judges failed to           .
tell couples by looking at their photos taken when they got married
tell happily-married couples from sadly-married couples
discover the difference of each partner
understand Dr. Aiken’s study
58. The underlined sentence “Their judgments were         .