American public education has changed in recent years. One change is that increasing numbers of American parents and teachers are starting independent public schools called charter schools.

   In 1991, there were no charter schools in the Unite States. Today, more than 2300 charter schools operate in 34 states and the District of Columbia. 575000 students attend these schools. The students are from 5 years of age through 18 or older.

   A charter school is created by groups of parents, teachers and community members. It is similar in some ways to a traditional public school. It receives tax money to operate a number of students. The charter school must prove to local or state governments that its students are learning. These governments provide the school with the agreement, or charter that permits it to operate.

   Unlike a traditional public school, however, the charter school does not have to obey most laws governing public schools. Local, state or federal governments cannot tell it what to teach.

   Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach those goals. Class sizes are usually smaller than in many traditional public schools. Many students and parents say teachers in charter schools can be more creative.

   However, state education agencies, local education-governing committees and unions often oppose charter schools. They say these schools may receive money badly needed by traditional public schools. Experts say some charter schools are doing well while others are struggling.

   Congress provided 200 million dollars for establishing charter schools in the 2006 federal budget. But, often the schools say they lack enough money for programs. Many also lack needed space. District officials say they have provided 14 former school buildings for charter education. Yet charter school supporters say officials should try harder to find more space.

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A traveler was staying in an Egyptian village. One day, she held up her camera to take pictures of the children. Suddenly the young ones began to shout at her. The traveler's face turned red and she apologized to the head for what she was doing, and told him she had forgotten that people in some places believed a person would lose his soul(灵魂) if his picture was taken. She explained to him the operation of a camera for a long time. Several times the head tried to say something, but he couldn't. When she believed that the head didn't fear any longer, the traveler then let him speak. With a smile, he said, "The children were trying to tell you that you forgot to take off the lens(镜头) cap!"

The children shouted when the traveler was taking pictures of them because _______.

A. they didn't want to stop playing                  

B. the traveler forgot to take off the cap on her head

C. they didn't want to have their pictures taken 

D. the traveler was not doing well with her camera

The traveler explained how to use a camera to the head because _______.

A. the head was very interested in her camera  

B. the head wanted to learn to take pictures

C. she was afraid of the head   

D. she wanted the head not to worry about what she was doing

Which of the following is NOT right?

A. The traveler knew something about people in some countries.

B. The children wouldn't mind if the traveler took pictures of them.

C. The head was afraid that the traveler's camera would hurt the children.

D. The traveler didn't understand why the children shouted.

Anyone who doubts that children are born with a healthy amount of ambition need spend only a few minutes with a baby eagerly learning to walk. No matter how many times the little ones stumble in their first efforts, most keep on trying, determined to master their amazing new skill. It is only several years later, many psychologists and teachers agree, that a good number of kids seem to lose their natural drive to succeed. For the parents of such kids, whose own ambition is often tied to their children’s success, it can be a painful experience.

Figuring out why the fire went out is the first step. Assuming that a kid doesn’t suffer from a learning disability, or isn’t involved in some family crisis(危机) at home, many educators attribute a sudden lack of motivation to a fear of failure or classmate pressure. “Everything is within the kids’ control; their intelligence is changeable,” says Lisa Blackwell, a research scientist at Columbia University. More than any teacher or workshop, Blackwell says, “parents can play a key role in conveying this message to their children by praising their effort, and progress rather than emphasizing their ‘smartness’ or praising high performance alone. Most of all, parents should let their kids know that mistakes are a part of learning.”

Some experts say our education system, with its strong emphasis on testing and separation of students into different levels of ability, also bears blame for the disappearance of drive in some kids. “These programs shut down the motivation of all kids who aren’t considered gifted and talented. They destroy their confidence,” says Jeff Howard, a social psychologist. Howard and other educators say it’s important to expose kids to a world beyond homework and tests, through volunteer work, sports, hobbies and other extracurriculum activities.

“The problem of the issue is that many students experience education as irrelevant to their life goals and ambitions,” says Michael Nakkual, a Harvard education professor. The key to getting kids to aim higher at school is to free them of the idea that class work is irrelevant, to show them how doing well at school can actually help them fulfill their dreams beyond it. They need to understand that you have to learn to walk before you can run.

46.According to the passage, the parents of kids with no ambition        .

A.don’t do a very good job teaching them to walk

B.are to blame if the kids do poorly in school

C.feel pain because ambitions are connected to their success

D.should take part in extracurriculum activities with kids

47.The underlined part “the fire went out” probably means        .

A.the motivation was suddenly lost

B.the fear of failure was suddenly gone

C.the learning disability was suddenly lost

D.the fire was suddenly gone

48.All the following can contribute to a sudden lack of ambition except        .

A.learning disability                                       B.classmate pressure

C.emphasis on testing                                     D.extracurricular activities

49.What is the most important thing for parents in motivating their kids?

A.By punishing kids who don’t display ambition.

B.By emphasizing smartness and high performance.

C.By telling kids that mistakes are a part of learning.

D.By praising the effort and progress they have made.

50.We can infer from the passage that        .

A.children who have lost their ambition will never succeed in life

B.school performance has much to do with students’ later success

C.both the parents and the school are to blame for the lost ambition

D.younger kids learning to walk are more ambitious than older ones

Do you remember the game “Telephone”? A message gets passed from person to person, and everyone laughs at how distorted(曲解) it becomes. As a game, telephone can be fun. In real life, sending messages through third parties fouls things up. It is important for family members who have “business” with other family members to take it up directly.
When tension arises in a relationship between two people, a frequent way of dealing with this is to send messages through a third person. Family doctors refer to the process as ‘triangulation”. Following a quarrel, a mother may say to her son, “Tell your father to pass the salt”, which may be answered by, “Tell your mother to get her own salt.” In many long cases of triangulation, the middleman becomes severely disturbed.
Two years ago, Ruth and Ralph Gordon brought their 17-year-old daughter for treatment. Lucille was not doing well in school, using drugs heavily. When I began to work with her, she was uncommunicative and aggressive. After some time, however, she opened up and told me her parents rarely talked to each other, but both used her as a middleman. Mrs. Gordon was sexually unsatisfied and suggested to Lucille that she ask her father to go for marriage advice. Mr. Gordon told Lucille that he was seeing another woman, and he urged Lucille to speak to her mother about improving her behaviour. Caught in this confusing situation, Lucille became more and more troubled. It wasn’t until she refused to play middleman that she began to improve. When either parent began to send a message through her, she learned to say, “Tell him/her yourself!”
You’ll find that when family members learn to dial each other directly, there’s rarely a busy signal or wrong number. With direct dialing, a sense of freshness is created.
【小题1】The underlined words “foul things up” in the 1st paragraph means ________.

A.create thingsB.improve thingsC.remove thingsD.ruin things
【小题2】“Triangulation” in the 2nd paragraph refers to _________.
A.the process of sending messages through a 3rd person
B.the middleman who becomes severely disturbed
C.the tension in a relationship between 2 people
D.the argument between a mother and a father
【小题3】 Through the example of Lucille and her parents, the writer hopes to tell the readers that _______.
A.family members should learn to get their messages across directly
B.parents should send their children taking drugs for treatment
C.children can hardly get used to their parents’ troubles
D.children should refuse the requests of their parents

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