Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development．Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for Kindergarten．

There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school, less likely to end up in Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail．

There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．

Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．

The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．

A．to develop the children’s communication

B．to give orphaned children good care and education

C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten

D．to train the children formally and regularly

According to the studies, which of the following is True?

A．Children with good early education may have a rich life．

B．The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life．

C．Children without early education can do well at school．

D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children．

“the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” suggests that _________．

A．the early childhood education is helpless to the child’s grade

B．it is good for the young children to receive early education

C．the early education can help the children follow the grade

D．the younger the children are, the cleverer they will be

The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．

A．puzzling             B．objective   C．indifferent      D．approving

The main idea of the last passage is that __________．

A．the early childhood education is very necessary

B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot

C．environment is the most important to life’s success

D．better ways should be found to help the poor children

Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development． Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for Kindergarten．

There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school, less likely to end up in Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail．

There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．

Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．

1.The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．

A．to develop the children’s communication

A．to give orphaned children good care and education

C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten

D．to train the children formally and regularly

2.According to the studies, which of the following is True?

3.The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．

4.The main idea of the last passage is that __________．

“A child in the street is a child that has been exposed（暴露）to a lot of bad things. And this child has no love at all. This child has no respect（尊重）for himself or herself. He sees everybody as an enemy, and he can’t trust anyone.”

Who is Moses Zulu talking about? Are there even people who live like that? Sadly, in truth, there are. They happen to be the Zambian children that Moses Zulu helps to improve their lives. Zulu does his best to give many children the hope to live even though they might have AIDS. Without his continuous work through his organization called Children’s Town, many Zambian children would have been forced to survive（生存）in an African city by getting a job as a street vendor（街头小贩）, or hurting other people.

In 1990, Moses Zulu founded Children’s Town in Zambia, where one million children have no parents, largely because of AIDS. Children’s Town teaches children the basic life skills needed for their future. Each child goes through a five-year training program where they’re taught responsibility（责任）, values, and self-care. Zulu’s Children’s Town provides hope for less fortunate children.

As we all know, a hero is any person who is respected for their qualities and achievements. There are not many people who are willing to help others in need. Zulu’s contribution to today’s modern society teaches us to lend a helping hand to others who are not as lucky as we are. He teaches us to make a difference in the world by helping others.

And from now on, if ever you throw away your banana just because it looks bad, well, remember that a group of people suffering from AIDS, homelessness, or other causes, would fight each other just to get their hands on a single bad banana.

68. Which of the following CANNOT describe Moses Zulu according to the passage?

A. Devoted                   B. Easy-going

C. Determined                D. Kind-hearted

69. In Children’s Town, children will learn ______.

A. how to fight against AIDS

B. how to get a job as a street vendor

C. how to survive by themselves

D. how to avoid fighting in the street

70. In the opinion of the author, he considers Moses Zulu ______.

   A. a teacher        B. a doctor        C. a hero     D. a fighter

71. In the last paragraph, the author advises us to ______.

A. plant more bananas                      B. make use of bad food

C. invent medicine for AIDS                 D. help poor people

Zinedine Zidane, who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month, has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words.

    Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany’s Leverkusen 2－1.

He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy’s Juventus for US $ 66 million. And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3－0 defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.

    But despite his success, Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground. He leads a quiet family life, there is hardly any gossip^① about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight^②.

“Just because I’m a public figure it doesn’t mean I have to express myself on everything. I don’t like to discuss some personal matters publicly.” he said.

    Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille, France, where he was raised by his Algerian parents, Zidane was shy.

    He loved football even as a little kid. “I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,”he said.

    Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread, Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich.

    Before he was 10 years old, it was obvious that he could become a great footballer. He was offered his first professional contract^③ when he was just 20. Now, at the age of 29, he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards.

This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup. But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he’ll do this time.

Notes:

gossip  n. 流言蜚语

spotlight  n. 聚光灯

contract  n. 合同

What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that _______.

A. he could become a great footballer

B. he could become rich if he became a footballer

C. football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking

D. football is a favorite sport in the future

According to the article, what are Zidane’s main characteristics?

A. He is a shy but successful man.

B. He loves his wife and children.

C. He doesn’t like to speak in public.

D. He is a quiet, down-to-earth person of few words.

When the writer says “Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”, he means that _______.

A. Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days

B. Zidane is a down-to-earth person

C. Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch

D. Zidane likes standing when he succeeds

The sentence “Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich” means ________.

A. football made Zidane’s poor family wealthy when he was a child

B. Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child

C. football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family

D. Zidane knew that if he wanted 10 be rich he must play football from childhood

第二节：完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分）

Most parents, I suppose, have had the experience of reading a bedtime story to their children. And they must have   36   how difficult it is to write a   37   children's book.  Either the author has aimed too   38. , so that the children can't follow what is in his (or more often, her) story,   39   the story seems to be talking to the readers.

The best children's books are  40   very difficult nor very simple, and satisfy both the 41  who hears the story and the adult who   42    it. Unfortunately, there are in fact  43   books like this,  44   the problem of finding the right bedtime story is not   45   to solve.

This may be why many of books regarded as  46   of children's literature were in fact written for   47 . “Alice's Adventure in Wonderland” is perhaps the most   48   of this.

Children, left for themselves, often 49  the worst possible interest in literature. Just  leave a child in bookshop or  50 and he will more  willingly choose the books 51 in an imaginative way, or have a look at most children's comics (连环画), full of the stories and jokes to which both teachers and right-thinking parents  52  .

Perhaps we parents should stop trying to persuade children into   53   our taste in literature. After all children and adults are so   54  that we parents should not expect that they will enjoy the  55  books. So I suppose we'll just have to compromise（妥协） over that bedtime story.

36.A.hoped     B. realized      C. told    D. said

37.A.short      B. long    C. bad     D. good

38.A. easy      B. short   C. high    D. difficult

39.A. and       B   . but          C. or          D. so

40.A. both      B. neither       C. either                D. very

41.A. child     B. father  C. mother              D. teacher

42.A. hears     B. buys   C. understands              D. reads

43.A. few       B. many  C. little         D. much

44.A. but B. however     C. so                          D. because

45.A.hard       B. easy    C. enough              D. fast

46.A.articles   B. work        C. arts              D. works

47.A. adults    B. girls    C. boys          D. children

48.A. difficult B. hidden       C. obvious             D. easy

49.A. are B. show   C. find           D. add

50.A. library   B. school       C. home         D. office

51.A. read      B. designed     C. printed              D. written

52.A. favor    B. interest       C. object        D. read

53.A.receiving       B. accepting    C. having              D. refusing

54.A.same      B. friendly      C. different            D. common

55.A.common B. average      C. different            D. same