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 US or Australia．They also want their children to take extra-courses activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a head start in life．The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is．So parents will spend 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 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 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 are not 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 other 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 is an enjoyable but difficult experience．A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully．His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and a lot of confidence．

Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious 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 are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind．And that is more important．

Our Earth Out Control

Accidents happen, but when they destroy the delicate balance of nature and cause the whole world to suffer, they become disasters, and we should do all we can to prevent them from happening again．

Bhopal chemical leak, December 1984, Bhopal, India

An explosion in the Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, India, released a deadly gas called methyl isocyanate, which is used to make pesticides．The gas formed a cloud that killed 2,500 people; another 50,100,000 people became ill．Trees and plants and plants in the area became yellow and brittle．The explosion was caused by a mechanical failure that was not noticed in time to stop it．

Exxon Valdez oil spill, March 1989, Alaska, U．S．

On March 24,1989,11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into prince William Sound from the tanker Exxon Valldez when its hull hit a reef and tore open．The oil, which is not yet cleaned up after billions of dollars have been spent and the millions of birds, fish, and other wildlife have died, was caused by human error and could have been avoided．

Chernobyl, April 1986, USSR

At 1∶23 A．Mon－Saturday, April 26,1986m the reactor blew at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, ripping open the core, blowing the roof off the building, starting more than 30 fires, and allowing radioactive material to leak into the air．Some 31 people were killed and 200 people were treated for radiation poisoning．Still at risk are 135,000 people from the 179 villages with in 20 miles of the plant who were exposed to the radiation before being evacuated．Glaring violations of safety rules were at the bottom of this tragic event．

Love Canal, 1953, New York, U．S．

Love Canal, a small town in upstate New York near Niagara Falls, was destroyed by waste from chemical plants．Beginning in 1947, Chemical companies could legally dump their waste products into the canal．The area developed a foul smell, trees lost their bark, and leaves fell throughout the year．A health survey found that the drinking water contained excessive levels of 82 industrial chemicals, 7 of which were thought to cause cancer．The people of Love Canal had an unusually high rate of cancer and birth defects．Eventually, many of the houses had to be abandoned．Today, the town has be partly cleaned up and some families have moved back to area．

阅读短文，根据所读内容在表中的空格处填上适当的单词或短语，每空不超过3个单词。

Students from areas hit by Hurricane Katrina have received offers of help from education officials across the United States．The storm caused severe damage in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama when it smashed into the Gulf Coast last week．

In the city of New Orleans, two major universities are closed for the fall semester．Tulane University says it expects to re-open in the spring of two thousand six．Until then, the Tulane sports teams will play at five universities in Texas and Louisiana．Loyola University New Orleans says it will reopen in January．Its twenty-seven Jesuit sister schools have agreed to accept its students for the fall semester．

Many colleges and universities across the country have offered to accept students from areas hit by Katrina．Harvard, in Massachusetts, says it will admit twenty-five college students．Up to twenty-five law students from Tulane and Loyola-New Orleans could also attend Harvard Law School．

Duke University in North Carolina has offered to accept up to seventy-five students into its continuing education division．They must be from North or South Carolina, or related to someone at the university．

Katrina also displaced a great number of schoolchildren．Schools around the country quickly began to accept young refugees from the storm．At the same time, other children around the country have launched their own efforts to help．

Title：Schools offer help for Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

信息填空

阅读下面短文，根据短文所提供的信息在表格的空白处填写适当的单词或短语。

In American high schools, most students take English, science, math and history．These are basic courses and each course is as useful as the others．In English class, the students study grammar and read famous literature．In science class, they study biology, chemistry or physics．History is more interesting to some students because they learn about important events and places in the United States．Others are music, home economics, and computer science．Students don’t have to take all of these courses．Some study music because they feel it is more enjoyable．Some study computer science because they think it is more practical．In each class teachers give students exams．Some exams are more difficult than others, but a good student can do easily．

　　下面是一篇杂志文章，请将标有A－G的段落插入文章中标号为1－5的合适位置，使这篇文章意义完整，结构连贯；其中有两个段落是多余的。将答案填在相应空格中。

　　The oldest stone buildings in the world are the pyramids． 　　1　　 ．There are over eighty of them scattered along the banks of the Nile, some of which are different in shape from the true pyramids．The most famous of these are the “step” pyramid and “ Bent ”pyramid．

　　Some of the pyramids still look much the same as they must have done when they were built thousands of years ago．Most of the damage suffered by the others has been at the hands of men who were looking for treasure or, more often, for stone to use in modern buildings． 　　2　　 ．These are good reasons why they can still be seen today, but perhaps the most important is that they were planned to last．

　　Forever， 　　3　　 ．However, there are no writings or pictures to show us how the Egyptians planned or built the pyramids themselves． 　　4　　 ．Nevertheless, by examining the actual pyramids and various tools which have been found, archaeologists have formed a fairly clear picture of them．

　　One thing is certain：there must have been months of careful planning before they could begin to build． 　　5　　 ．You may think this would have been easy with miles and miles of empty desert around, but a pyramid could not be built just anywhere．Certain rules had to be followed, and certain problems had to be overcome．

A．T he dry climate of Egypt has helped to preserve the pyramids, and their very shape have made them less likely to fall into ruin．

B．It is practically certain that plans were made for the building of the pyramids because the plans of other large works have fortunately been preserved．

C．The first thing they had to do was to choose a suitable place．

D．Consequently, we are only able to guess at the methods used．

E．Many people were killed while building the pyramids．

F．They have stood for nearly 5,000 years, and it seems likely that they will continue to stand for thousands of years yet．

G．It takes workers twenty years to build the Pyramids．

　　Soccer is an extremely popular sport through most of the world．However ,as with anything that people feel over interested in, strong feelings sometimes get out of hand．English fans have been known 　　1　　 quarreling endlessly and even fighting in the stands．Several violent actions in a game between Argentina and Chile in 1964 　　2　　 (动词词组) the death of 309 people．But up 　　3　　 now at least ,there has been only one soccer war．

　　That war took place between E1 Salvador and Honduras，two Central American countries．The year was 1969，and for many years the Salvador economy had been in a frightening condition：too many people with too little land and too 　　4　　 (little) jobs, created a situation of terrible poverty．As a result，many poor Salvadorans had been 　　5　　 (secret) crossing into Honduras looking for work，and later they formed a strong sense 　　6　　 (引导词) they were mistreated there．So unfriendly feelings were already very strong at the beginning of a World Cup match between the two countries．

　　The first game of the three－game play off 　　7　　 (hold) in Honduras，and the home team got 　　8　　 1－0 win in the last minute of play．Fighting broke out afterward in the streets，and the stadium was set on fire．The second game was played in E1 Salvador，and the E1 Salvador team won．More violence and fires followed． 　　9　　．By the time the third game was played in Mexico City, an actual War appeared certainly by all means(改正句中错误)．And that is exactly 　　10　　 (引导词) happened．Immediately after E1 Salvador’s close victory，armies began marching along the border of the two countries．Then E1 Salvador attacked Honduras and bombed its airport．The war was over in less than a week，but ill feelings between the two countries lasted for years and years．

I must say ________ ________ ________（为她辩护） that she works very hard

I am not sick．________ ________ ________ （相反）I am very well．

while the army takes both men and women ,women are ________ ________ ________（占少数）．