Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children．Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States or Australia．They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will learn a musical instrument or ballet or other classes which will give them a head start in life．The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is．So the parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education．Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter．

       However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap．

       Parents can see that their children’s skills vary, skilled in some areas while poor in others．What most parents fail to realize though, is that today’s children lack （缺乏） self-respect and self-confidence．

       The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents aren’t teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever．

Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing housework．

       Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life．Cooking demands patience and time．It’s an enjoyable but difficult experiment．A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually to finish his job successfully．His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and a lot of self-confidence．

       Some old machines , such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your children to play with will make him curious （好奇） and arouse his interest He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up．These activities aren’t merely teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind．And that is more important．

Parents in China, according to this passage, _________．

       A．are too strict with their children        

       B．are too rich to educate their children

       C．have some problems in educating their children correctly

       D．are too poor to educate their children

Generally speaking, children’s skills_______．

       A．come from their parents     

       B．have nothing to do with their education

       C．may be different             

       D．have something to do with their marks in the exams

The writer of this passage doesn’t seem to be satisfied with_______．

       A．the parents’ idea of educating their children 

       B．the education system

       C．children’s skills 

       D．children’s hobbies

Doing some cooking at home helps children_________．

       A．learn how to serve their parents        

       B．learn how to become strong and fat

       C．benefit from it and prepare themselves for the future 

       D．make their parents believe that they are clever

According to the last paragraph, we can conclude that_________．

       A．broken radios and television sets are useful  

       B．one’s curiosity may be useful for his later life

       C．an engineer must fix many broken radios

       D．a good student should spend much time repairing radios

______ the Venice Film Festival, we are to include high-quality films, ______ who makes them.

A. In defence of; regardless                   B. In the defence of; regardless

C. In defence of; regardless of                 D. In the defence of; regardless of

       There is an endless supply of stories about sleepwalkers (梦游者). People have been said to climb on roofs, solve mathematical problems, write music, walk through windows, and do murder in their sleep.

       In Revere, Massachusetts, a hundred policemen searched for a lost boy who left his home in his sleep and woke up five hours later on a strange sofa in a strange living room, with no idea how he had got there.

       At the University of Lowa, WWW.K**S*858$$U.COMa student was reported to have the habit of getting up in the middle of the night and walking three-quarters of a mile to the Lowa River. He would take a swim and then go back to his room to bed.

       An American expert on sleep claims (声称) that he has never seen a sleepwalker. He is said to know more about sleep than any other living man, and during the last thirty-five years he has lost a lot of sleep watching people sleep. He says, “Of course, I know that there are sleepwalkers because I have read about them in the newspapers. But none of my sleepers ever walked, and if I were to advertise for sleepwalkers for an experiment, I doubt whether I would get many takers (应征者).”

       Sleepwalking, however, is a scientific reality. It is one of those strange things that sometimes look quite fantastic (怪诞的). Doctors say that sleepwalking is much more common than is generally supposed. Many sleepwalkers do not try to find help and their sleepwalking is never recorded.

Generally speaking, sleepwalkers are people who ________.

      A. climb on roofs                                B. walk through windows

       C. do fantastic things during their sleep                      D. walk in a half-awake state

It was reported that a boy ________.

      A. was found on a strange sofa, telling how he had got there

       B. slept in his own room but woke up in a strange room

       C. lost his way five hours after he left home

       D. was searched for by policemen when he lost his way

There was a college student who got into the habit of ________.

      A. getting up in the middle of the night and walking down to the river

       B. walking three-quarters of a mile every day

       C. swimming in the Lowa River before going to bed

       D. walking about before he went to bed

Why do people think sleepwalking is nothing but a fantastic thing which doesn’t have any explanation?

      A. It is so common that it needn’t be recorded.

       B. Scientists take no interest in it.

       C. Most sleepwalkers do not seek help for their problem.

       D. No records about it have been made.

We don’t doubt ________ the boy can ________ the angry teacher.

       A. if; apologize for                                        B. whether; apologize to

       C. that; apologize to                                         D. what; apologize

Mary _____ be in London because I saw her in town just now.

A. mustn’t     B. isn’t able to     C. needn’t      D. can’t

Though ______ to see us，the professor gave us a warm welcome。

surprising  B was surprised  C.  surprised  D. being surprised

From his _____ voice, I have to say that you’re really ______.

A. disappointed; disappointed                          B.disappointing; disappointing

C. disappointed; disappointing                        D. disappointing; disappointed

Do not start a book unless you can see from the first few pages that it is ________ you can easily read and understand.

A. that               B. one                 C. the one         D. that one  

It is ten years since we ________ each other last time.  

   A. see             B. have seen             C. saw                 D. had seen  

I’m thinking about _____ the new movie this weekend. I’ve heard that it’s really good!

A. brushing up                                 B. stepping into            

C. milling about                     D. checking out