In most developed countries the government provides free education for children because it realizes that educated citizens are useful to the country in their later life. Most countries also have private (私立的)education. This means that parents can pay to send their children to certain schools. People who agree with this system say that it gives parents a larger choice of schools. Other people think that private schools give the children who go to them an unfair advantage over other children.

At the age of three, many children go to nursery school. Two or three years later, they enter a primary school. At the age of 11 they go to a secondary school. Then they may have a chance .of continuing their studies at a university or college.

Universities and colleges are places where some young people go to continue their education after leaving school. Most university students study one main subject, though they may also study a number of others. Teaching is usually by lectures, or by discussions between a lecturer and students.

Most students stay at university for three or four years. At the end of that, they take an examination. If they pass, they receive their Bachelor’s degree, usually a BA, which is short for Bachelor of Arts, or a BS for Bachelor of Science. Some students study for several more years in order to get higher degree, such as a MA or a PhD

Most university courses don’t train students to do a certain job. Colleges, on the other hand, usually teach skills which enable students to follow a career（职业）, such as clothing design, or business studies.

1.The passage mainly tells us_______.

A Something about the private schools in developed countries

B. How developed countries pay attention to education

C. Some general information about education in developed countries

Why education is important

2. Why do most developed countries provide free education to children?

A．Because the children don’t have money to go to school.

B．Because the government want their citizens to be useful to the country.

C．Because education doesn’t cost the country too much money.

D．Because there are not enough private schools.

3.In the first paragraph the underlined word “citizen” refer to________.

A．the cities                              B．members of a country

C．the children                           D．people who lives in cities

4.Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?

All the university students study one subject.

After studying at the university for three or four years, all the students can get a Bachelor’s degree.

C. Students usually receive a master’s degree before receiving a Bachelor’s degree.

D. Unlike university, colleges usually teach students some useful skills for a career

Today, we talk to an up-and-coming (有前途的) erhu player, Lee Hang, from Hong Kong. He’ll play with the Hong Kong Orchestra (管弦乐队) next Sunday in a special concert by young Chinese musicians.

Interviewer: Thank you for talking to us, Lee. You must be very excited.

Lee: Yes, I am. This is the first time that I’ve played with such a famous orchestra and in front of so many people. They’re expecting about 4,000 people.

Interviewer: Does that scare you?

Lee: To be honest, yes. I haven’t slept much in the last few days. But my teacher told me I wouldn’t take it seriously enough if I wasn’t scared. That helped a lot.

Interviewer: Tell me about why you started playing the erhu.

Lee: My parents took me to piano and violin lessons. I quite liked them but they had to force me to go sometimes. One night, I saw a documentary about Yo Yo Ma, the famous Chinese American cello(大提琴) player. He talked about his love of Chinese instruments and we should follow our interests. I always enjoyed listening to Chinese instruments like the erhu and guzheng. That inspired me to learn the erhu. My parents were glad that I was playing something I actually liked.

Interviewer: What do your friends think of you playing a Chinese instrument?

Lee: Well, a lot of my classmates think playing things like the erhu isn’t cool. I don’t care. It makes me happy. I got a letter from Yo Yo, saying how much he admired me and that he’d like to meet me next time when he’s in Hong Kong. They thought that was pretty cool!

Interviewer: And what does the future hold for you?

Lee: I’d like to study music in a university in China then hopefully play in orchestras. My ambition is to bring the beautiful sound of the erhu to all the corners of the world.

Interviewer: Well, if anyone can, it’s you. Thanks for talking to me, Lee. Good luck.

Lee: Thanks.

What will Lee Hang do next Sunday?

A. He will have an interview. 

B. He will talk to a newspaper reporter.

C. He will play a Chinese musical instrument at a concert.

D. He will study in a university in China.

Lee _______ because of the concert.

A. hasn’t been sleeping well    B. hasn’t been sleeping 

C. will meet 4000 people       D. has been afraid of his teacher

Lee started playing the erhu ________ a film about Yo Yo Ma.

A. before seeing   B. while seeing   C. after seeing    D. to copy

Lee likes playing the erhu _______ the piano and violin.

A. less than   B. as much as   C. more than    D. because his parents like

Lee’s friends thought _______ was great.

A. getting a letter from a famous musician     B. writing a letter to a famous musician

C. playing Chinese musical instruments       D. seeing Yo Yo Ma in Hong Kong

Global financial big dogs are no match for China's "Da Ma", or housewives, who have crowded into gold stores across China, buying up 300 tons of gold over the past two weeks. No wonder gold prices have steadied after taking a dive.

During the May Day holiday, gold stores were crowded with mostly female customers. Most of them are middle-aged "Chinese housewives". This group of buyers has risen to fame recently. They are big spenders and are desperate to get their hands on a bargain. "I bought some gold jewellery and kept them as a gift for my son when he gets married," said a buyer from Shanghai.

The gold business is skyrocketing. "Our sales are growing by the day. Yesterday we sold more than ten million yuan of gold products," a gold store salesperson said. The gold rush in China started about two weeks ago thanks to a decline in global gold prices. Media reports suggest that Chinese housewives have spent about 100 billion yuan, or about 16 billion US dollars, purchasing 300 tons of gold since mid-April. That has helped support gold prices.

"Gold prices depressed since the middle of last month but have risen gradually. That is mainly due to the strong demand from Asian markets," said foreign trader Zhang Chen from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. "Some people even joked that Chinese housewives have beaten Wall Street analysts." For Chinese people, with limited investment options, the only thing better than buying gold is buying gold at discount prices.

1.What does the author indicate(表明;预示)in the first sentence of the first paragraph?

A. The global big dogs can’t match with Chinese housewives.

B. Chinese housewives spend a great deal of money on gold

C. China's "Da Ma" help a lot to support the global economic crisis

D. Chinese housewives have a better consumption idea than global financial big dogs .

2.We can infer from the passage that_______________

A. China’s "Da Ma" become the largest gold buyers due to a decline in global gold prices.

B. China's "Da Ma" crowded into stores to get gold as the best gifts for sons when they get married.

C. China's "Da Ma" are bigger spenders and cleverer than global financial big dogs.

D. Chinese housewives are most willing to spend money in buying gold .

3.In the writer’s view, Chinese housewives are desperate to get their hands on a bargain because_____.

A. it is worthy to buy gold.

B .they have a strong demand

C. it is at discount prices.

D they have unlimited investment options

4.The author’s description about the passage is ______.

A. doubtful   B. subjective    C. objective    D. Negative

As a human being you may have the choice of three basic attitudes towards life. You may treat life with the philosophy (哲学) of the vegetable, in which case your life will include being born, eating, drinking, sleeping, marrying, growing old and dying.

The second basic attitude is to look at life as if it were a business. A great many so-called successful men and women believe that life is a business. If you believe so, your first question of life, naturally, is " What do I get out of it? " " How much is this worth to me?" In a word, based on this attitude, happi??ness becomes a matter of successful competition. The great ma??jority of human beings today look at life as if it were a busi??ness.

The third attitude toward life is the way of the artist. Here the basic philosophy is "What can I put into it?". They value cooperation and contribution. This point of view has been proved by history; for history remembers best those who have contributed most richly to the interests of their fellow-men. The more we investigate(调查),the more we become certain that the artistic attitude is the only one which goes with human happiness.

5. From the passage we know people who take the second life attitude ________.

A. are mostly businessmen                 B. think of getting the interests (利益) first

C. find their happiness from hard work              D. take competition as their whole life

6. People who are best remembered by history are probably

A. those living on vegetables       B. successful men

C. artists                                    D. businessmen

7. We may infer from this passage that ________.

A. some people are living only on vegetables

B. the artistic attitude is accepted by most people

C. the writer prefers the third life attitude

D. artists do most for the society in order to be remembered longer than others