12．What might be the most suitable title for the news?

　　　 A．Education problems in England　　 B．People's opinion of education

　　　 C．British government took action　　　 D．Teenagers drop out of education

D

Little Chad was a shy, quiet young man. One day he came home and told his mother that he'd like to make a valentine for everyone in his class. Her heart sank. She thought, "I wish he wouldn't do that!" because she had watched the children when they walked home from school. Her Chad was always behind them. They laughed and hung on to each other and talked to each other. But Chad was never included. Nevertheless, she decided she would go along with her son. So she purchased the paper and glue and crayons. For three weeks, night after night, Chad painstakingly made 35 valentines.

Valentine's Day dawned, and Chad was beside himself with excitement. He carefully piled them up, put them in a bag, and closed the door behind him. His mother decided to bake him his favorite cookies and serve them nice and warm with a cool glass of milk when he came home from school. She just knew he would be disappointed and maybe that would ease the pain a little. It hurt her to think that he wouldn't get many valentines-maybe none at all.

That afternoon she had the cookies and milk on the table. When she heard the children outside, she looked out of the window. Sure enough, there they came, laughing and having the best time. And, as always, there was Chad in the rear. He walked a little faster than usual. She fully expected him to burst into tears as soon as he got inside. His arms were empty, she noticed, and when the door opened she held back the tears.

"Mommy has some cookies and milk for you," she said.

But he hardly heard her words. He just marched right on by, his face lit up, and all he could say was: "Not a one. Not a one."

Her heart sank.

And then he added, "I didn't forget a one, not a single one!"

11．The underlined word "staying-on" in the first paragraph probably means ___________.

　　　 A．improving　　　 B．keeping-on　　　 C．learning　　 D．continuing to study

10．What was Mr. Davey's suggestion to the problem ?

　　　 A．The arrangement of subjects in school should be improved.

　　　 B．The implement of a series of reforms carried out by the government.

　　　 C．The support of the curriculum reforms raised by the Tomlinson committee.

　　　 D．The introduction of a programme to encourage young people to stay in school.

9．According to the statistics, the highest drop-out rate of 17 year olds is in __________.

　　　 A．Thurrock　 B．Salford　　 C．Yorkshire　 D．Outer London

8．From the passage, we can draw a conclusion that____.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　 A．the most importance of advertisements is to lower the cost of many services

　　　 B．the twenty-seven Acts of Parliament made misleading advertisements unable to exist

　　　 C．advertising assists a rapid distribution of goods, thereby do good to the import at good

　　　 prices

　　　 D．advertising does a lot for the material benefit of the community

C

　England has a longstanding problem with youngsters dropping out of training. Almost half of 17 year olds in some parts of England have dropped out of full-time education or training, government figures reveal. The statistics show 49% in Thurrock and 44% in Salford have dropped out of school or vocational training. Across England, 31% of 17 year olds are not in education or training. The figures also reveal deep regional divides, with wealthier areas such as Richmond and Harrow recording 18% of 17 year olds out of official education. The statistics confirms England's poor international standing for staying-on rates in education.

　The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ranks England's drop-out rates as among the worst among industrialized countries. Regionally, the statistics show Yorkshire and the Humber has the highest rate of 17 year olds not in full-time education or work-based training at 35%. Outer London has the highest staying-on rate, with 27% of 17 year olds having dropped out of official learning. In the East of England this figure stands at 31% and at 29% in the South West.

　Edward Davey, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, said the government should be ashamed that so many youngsters were dropping out of school. Mr. Davey said lessons need to be made more relevant to young people and restated his party's backing for the curriculum reforms proposed by the Tomlinson committee. A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said the government had implemented a series of reforms, with a ￡2.5bn rise in funding for further education.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), which was introduced in September 2004, was also encouraging young people to stay in education, he added. The EMA is a weekly payment of ￡10, ￡20 or ￡30, paid directly to eligible young people who stay on in, or return to, further education after they reach the statutory(法定的) school leaving age.

7．According to the author, _____.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　 A．the consumers are often fooled by misleading advertising.

　　　 B．no advertiser dare promote a product that can't live up to the promise of his advertisement.

　　　 C．if an article is consistently advertised, it probably has good value.

　　　 D．with advertisements, you have to pay more for the goods or services you need.

6．In the passage, which of the following is not included in the advantage of advertising?　

　　　 A．Securing greater fame.　　 B．Providing more jobs.

　　　 C．Improving living standards.　 D．Reducing newspaper cost.

5．By the first sentence of the passage, the author means that______.　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　 A．he is fairly familiar with the cost of advertising

　　　 B．everybody knows well that advertising is money consuming

　　　 C．advertising costs money like everything else

　　　 D．it is worthwhile to spend money on advertising

4．Which of the following can be used as the title of the passage?　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　 A．A New Strange Bridge in New Jersey

B．Plastics, A New Kind of Building Material

　 C．Which Is Better, the Plastic Bridge or the Wooden Bridge

　 D. Bridge Puts Recycled Plastics to Unusual Use

B

Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labor, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television license would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more.

　　 And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a guarantee of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Apart from the fact that twenty-seven Acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for mercifully the public has the good sense not to buy the inferior article more than once. If you see an article consistently advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it represents good value.

3．It can be inferred that the plastic bridge mentioned in the passage ______.　　　　　　　　　

　　　 A．is not very busy　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　 B．is very popular in the United States now

　　　 C．is part of an interstate high way　　　　　　

　　　 D．can be used for more than one car or bus to run side by side