Generations of children who sat through endless lessons of “chalk and talk” in front of a bossy teacher can take some relief. But the “chalk and talk” method helped them achieve better exam results. Modern classroom techniques may make school days a good deal happier, but contentment(满足) is not the road to success in examinations, according to university researchers.?

Their three-year study, monitoring the progress of 2000 teenagers, tried to measure the influence of the “boredom factor” in 17 selected schools in the north of England. The researchers also found that the old-fashioned approach(方法) of teachers ordering pupils about is still alive and producing results. Their conclusions were welcomed yesterday by educationists who were worried by the shift to less formal lessons.

The pupils in the latest study were asked to award teachers marks to measure how frequently they followed or ignored today's fashion for “child-centred” education. A five-point scale was given to spot the teachers who always told them what they should know and what to write down. “It was significant and not anything you would get by chance or accident. Certainly, when you compare the pupil's interest and attitude to school, there is a quite definite and highly significant difference,” one of the researchers said. But the rankings were turned upside down when the team of four researchers looked at how the children did in examination. The sort of methods now frowned upon(不赞同) actually improve the final grades.?

The researchers said,“There is nothing wrong with old-fashioned, didactic(说教性的) teaching in the fight place, even if it isn't the flavor at the moment.” However, he insisted the best teachers had always mixed the two techniques to match the needs of pupils, although certain examinations forced some to concentrate more on dictation and learning by rote(死记硬背).?

University researchers have discovered that _______.

A. modern teaching methods provide students with entertainment?

B. students taught by modern techniques are happy and successful?

C. traditional teaching methods help students score higher?

D. students like old teaching better than modern teaching at school?

We can infer from Paragraph 3 that _______.?

A. child-centred education promotes friendship among children?

B. the research findings are not significant enough for a conclusion?

C. those who show greater interest in school did better in exams?

D. those who don't show much interest in school may turn out to score higher in tests

The researchers suggest that _______.

A. more old methods be used in teaching?

B. students be taught how to score high in exams?

C. dictation be used as one of the best teaching methods?

D. old and new methods be used together?

The best title for this text would be _______.

A. The Examination?based Teaching

B. Rote Learning Was the Winner

C. The Problem of Child-centred Education

D. The Problem of the Traditional Method

Generations of children who sat through endless lessons of “chalk and talk” in front of a bossy teacher can take some relief. But the “chalk and talk” method helped them achieve better exam results. Modern classroom techniques may make school days a good deal happier, but contentment(满足) is not the road to success in examinations, according to university researchers.?

Their three-year study, monitoring the progress of 2000 teenagers, tried to measure the influence of the “boredom factor” in 17 selected schools in the north of England. The researchers also found that the old-fashioned approach(方法) of teachers ordering pupils about is still alive and producing results. Their conclusions were welcomed yesterday by educationists who were worried by the shift to less formal lessons.

The pupils in the latest study were asked to award teachers marks to measure how frequently they followed or ignored today's fashion for “child-centred” education. A five-point scale was given to spot the teachers who always told them what they should know and what to write down. “It was significant and not anything you would get by chance or accident. Certainly, when you compare the pupil's interest and attitude to school, there is a quite definite and highly significant difference,” one of the researchers said. But the rankings were turned upside down when the team of four researchers looked at how the children did in examination. The sort of methods now frowned upon(不赞同) actually improve the final grades.?

The researchers said,“There is nothing wrong with old-fashioned, didactic(说教性的) teaching in the fight place, even if it isn't the flavor at the moment.” However, he insisted the best teachers had always mixed the two techniques to match the needs of pupils, although certain examinations forced some to concentrate more on dictation and learning by rote(死记硬背).?

University researchers have discovered that _______.

A. modern teaching methods provide students with entertainment?

B. students taught by modern techniques are happy and successful?

C. traditional teaching methods help students score higher?

D. students like old teaching better than modern teaching at school?

We can infer from Paragraph 3 that _______.?

A. child-centred education promotes friendship among children?

B. the research findings are not significant enough for a conclusion?

C. those who show greater interest in school did better in exams?

D. those who don't show much interest in school may turn out to score higher in tests

The researchers suggest that _______.

A. more old methods be used in teaching?

B. students be taught how to score high in exams?

C. dictation be used as one of the best teaching methods?

D. old and new methods be used together?

Generations of children who sat through endless lessons of “chalk and talk” in front of a bossy teacher can take some relief. But the “chalk and talk” method helped them achieve better exam results. Modern classroom techniques may make school days a good deal happier, but contentment(满足) is not the road to success in examinations, according to university researchers.?
Their three-year study, monitoring the progress of 2000 teenagers, tried to measure the influence of the “boredom factor” in 17 selected schools in the north of England. The researchers also found that the old-fashioned approach(方法) of teachers ordering pupils about is still alive and producing results. Their conclusions were welcomed yesterday by educationists who were worried by the shift to less formal lessons.
The pupils in the latest study were asked to award teachers marks to measure how frequently they followed or ignored today's fashion for “child-centred” education. A five-point scale was given to spot the teachers who always told them what they should know and what to write down. “It was significant and not anything you would get by chance or accident. Certainly, when you compare the pupil's interest and attitude to school, there is a quite definite and highly significant difference,” one of the researchers said. But the rankings were turned upside down when the team of four researchers looked at how the children did in examination. The sort of methods now frowned upon(不赞同) actually improve the final grades.?
The researchers said,“There is nothing wrong with old-fashioned, didactic(说教性的) teaching in the fight place, even if it isn't the flavor at the moment.” However, he insisted the best teachers had always mixed the two techniques to match the needs of pupils, although certain examinations forced some to concentrate more on dictation and learning by rote(死记硬背).?

1. 1.

   University researchers have discovered that _______.

   1. A.
      modern teaching methods provide students with entertainment?
   2. B.
      students taught by modern techniques are happy and successful?
   3. C.
      traditional teaching methods help students score higher?
   4. D.
      students like old teaching better than modern teaching at school?
2. 2.

   We can infer from Paragraph 3 that _______.?

   1. A.
      child-centred education promotes friendship among children?
   2. B.
      the research findings are not significant enough for a conclusion?
   3. C.
      those who show greater interest in school did better in exams?
   4. D.
      those who don't show much interest in school may turn out to score higher in tests
3. 3.

   The researchers suggest that _______.

   1. A.
      more old methods be used in teaching?
   2. B.
      students be taught how to score high in exams?
   3. C.
      dictation be used as one of the best teaching methods?
   4. D.
      old and new methods be used together?
4. 4.

   The best title for this text would be _______.

   1. A.
      The Examination?based Teaching
   2. B.
      Rote Learning Was the Winner
   3. C.
      The Problem of Child-centred Education
   4. D.
      The Problem of the Traditional Method

When Dan Shaw gets up from the sofa in his home, Cuddles is never far away. When he wants to go outside, he doesn’t take Cuddles out for a walk—Cuddles takes him for a walk. Cuddles is clearly no ordinary family pet. It is a two-foot-high miniature horse and serves as the guiding eyes of Shaw, who is blind.

When Shaw lost his sight, his wife suggested he apply for a guide dog. Shaw, an animal lover, said he couldn’t bear to part with a dog (which usually lives about eight to ten years) and get used to a new one, perhaps several times in his life.

Then Shaw heard of a program about the tiny guide horses. He learned that the horse possess many qualities that that make them an excellent choice for guiding people. They are clean, friendly, smart and have great memories. They can be trained to remain calm in noisy and crowded places. Best of all, they live for 25-25years, which would enable Shaw to have the same guide companion for most or all of his life.

Shaw immediately applied to be and was accepted as the first person to receive a guide horse. The instant he met Cuddles, he knew he was making the right choice. Then he began his training.

Through training, Shaw and Cuddles learned to find way on busy streets, step over curbs（便道沿儿）and find elevator buttons. Cuddles even demonstrated（显示）its ability to step in front of Shaw and block him, to prevent him from walking into a dangerous situation. The little horse also expertly led Shaw through busy shopping malls. They got along without any difficulty. Now Shaw is confident that Cuddles will change his life for the better.

1.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “miniature” in Paragraph 1? (No more than 2 words)

2.Why didn’t Shaw want to choose a dog as his guide? (No more than 15 words)

3.What does Paragraph 3 mainly tell us? (No more than 10 words)

4.How does Shaw feel about his future life with the help of Cuddles? (No more than 10 words)

5.In your opinion, what is the ideal relationship between man and animals? (No more than 20 words)

David’s Haircut
When David steps out of the front door he is blinded for a moment by the white, strong sunlight and reaches for his dad’s hand automatically. It’s the first really warm day of the year, an unexpected heat that bridges the gap between spring and summer. Father and son are on their way to the barbershop, something they have always done together.
Always, the routine is the same. “It’s about time we got that mop of yours cut,” David’s dad will say, pointing at him with two fingers, a cigarette caught between them. “Perhaps I should do it. Where are those scissors, Janet?” Sometimes his dad runs after him round the living room, pretending to cut off his ears. When he was young, David used to get too excited and start crying, scared that maybe he really would lose his ears, but he has long since grown out of that.
Mr Samuels’ barbershop is in a long room above the chip shop, reached by a steep and worn flight of stairs. David follows his father. He loves the barbershop — it’s like nowhere else he goes. It smells of cigarettes and men and hair oil. Sometimes the smell of chips will climb the stairs along with a customer and when the door opens the waiting men lift their noses together. Black and white photographs of men with various out-of-fashion hairstyles hang above a picture rail at the end of the room, where two barber’s chairs are fixed to the floor. They are heavy, old-fashioned chairs with foot pumps that screams as Mr Samuels adjusts the height of the seat. In front of the chairs are deep sinks with a showerhead and long metal pipe attached to the taps, not that anyone seems to use them. Behind the sinks are mirrors and on either side of these, shelves overflowing with all types of plastic combs, shaving mugs, scissors, cut throat razors, hair brushes and, 10 bright red bottles of Brylcreem(男士发油), piled neatly in a pyramid. At the back of the room sit the customers, silent for most of the time, except when Mr Samuels breaks off from cutting and smoke his cigarette, sending a stream of grey-blue smoke like the tail of kite twisting into the air.
When it is David’s turn for a cut, Mr Samuels places a wooden board covered with a piece of red leather across the arms of the chair, so that the barber doesn’t have to bend to cut the boy’s hair. David scrambles up onto the bench.
“Hey, young man, you’re shooting up, you won’t need this soon, you’ll be able to sit in the chair,” the barber says.
“Wow,” says David, turning round to look at his dad, forgetting that he can see him through the mirror. “Dad, Mr Samuels said I could be sitting in the chair soon, not just on the board!”
“So I hear,” his father replies, not looking up from the paper. “I expect Mr Samuels will start charging me more for your hair then.”
“At least double the price,” said Mr Samuels, winking at David.
Finally David’s dad looks up from his newspaper and glances into the mirror, seeing his son looking back at him. He smiles.
“Wasn’t so long ago when I had to lift you onto that board because you couldn’t climb up there yourself,” he says.
“They don’t stay young for long do they, kids”, Mr Samuels declares. All the men in the shop nod in agreement. David nods too.
In the mirror he sees a little head sticking out of a long nylon cape. Occasionally he steals glances at the barber as he works. He smells a mixture of smelly sweat and aftershave as the barber moves around him, combing and cutting, combing and cutting.
David feels like he is in another world, noiseless except for the sound of the barber’s shoes rubbing on the plastic carpet and the click of his scissors. In the reflection from the window he could see through the window, a few small clouds moved slowly through the frame, moving to the sound of the scissors’ click.
Sleepily, his eyes dropping to the front of the cape where his hair falls softly as snow and he imagines sitting in the chair just like the men and older boys, the special bench left leaning against the wall in the corner. He thinks about the picture book of Bible stories his aunt gave him for Christmas, the one of Samson having his hair cut by Delilah. David wonders if his strength will go like Samson’s.
When Mr Samuels has finished, David hops down from the seat, rubbing the itchy hair from his face. Looking down he sees his own thick, blonde hair mixed among the browns, greys and blacks of the men who have sat in the chair before him. For a moment he wants to reach down and gather up the broken blonde hair, to separate them from the others, but he does not have time.
They reach the pavement outside the shop. “I tell you what, boy, let’s get some fish and chips to take home, save your mum from cooking tea,” says David’s dad and turns up the street.
The youngster is excited and catches his dad’s hand. The thick-skinned fingers close gently around his and David is surprised to find, warming in his father’s palm, a handful of his own hair

1. 1.

   How old is David most probably age according to the context?

   1. A.
      2
   2. B.
      4
   3. C.
      10
   4. D.
      17
2. 2.

   Why does the author describe the barbershop detailedly in David’s eyes in Paragraph 3?

   1. A.
      Because David is not familiar with this place and tries to remember it
   2. B.
      Because David develops great friendfish with the shop owner
   3. C.
      Because the barbershop is a place that attracts him greatly
   4. D.
      Because the barbershop is very traditional and David can see one nowhere else
3. 3.

   Saying “I expect Mr Samuels will start charging me more for your hair then”, David’s dad is ________

   1. A.
      showing his proudness of his son’s growth
   2. B.
      complaining about the price of the haircut
   3. C.
      expressing his thanks to the shopowner’s kindness
   4. D.
      counting his expense on his son’s haircut
4. 4.

   The underlined sentence sugests that David ________

   1. A.
      looks down upon those old, grey-haired men
   2. B.
      feels extremely excited about becoming a bigger boy
   3. C.
      thinks blond hair is much more precious than other color
   4. D.
      is quite curious about his broken blonde hair
5. 5.

   Which detail from the story best shows the deep love that father gives son?

   1. A.
      Dad runs after his son round the living room
   2. B.
      Dad buys his son some fish and chips
   3. C.
      Dad sees his son through the mirror
   4. D.
      Dad holds some of his son’s hair in his palm
6. 6.

   What is the author’s tone of writing this passage?

   1. A.
      serious
   2. B.
      light-hearted
   3. C.
      critical
   4. D.
      persuasive