The Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Some parents send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the US or Australia, regardless of how much this costs. Many also want their children to take extra-curriculum activities (课外活动) where they either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a better start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is, so parents often spend a large amount of money on education. Even poor parents manage to buy a computer for their son or daughter.

In fact, most parents fail to see that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children’s skills are different; they will usually be skilled in some areas while poor in others. However, they fail to realize that today's children are lack (缺乏) of self-respect and self-confidence.

The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take exams and how to study effectively. They are not teaching them the most important skills they need. They do not teach them to be confident, happy and clever.

Parents can help achieve this by teaching their children practical skills like cooking, sewing and 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 finish his job step by step. The result, a well--cooked dinner, will give a child a lot of satisfaction and confidence. All these will help the children step to success in the future.

An old machine such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child as a toy may make him curious and arouse(唤醒) his interest. If he will spend hours looking at it, and try to mend it; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. Such activities do more than teaching a child to read a book. They teach them to think and to use their minds. This is much more important than learning by reading a book.

1. Is the writer satisfied with the Chinese parents’ ideas of educating their children?

2. Put the underlined sentence “the more expensive an education is, the better it is” into Chinese.

3.What are the children lack of today?

4. How is the experience of cooking according to the fifth paragraph?

5.What does the underlined word “They” refer to(所指的是) in the last paragraph?

词汇运用 (共l0小题；每小题l分，计l0分)
【小题1】Tsim Sha Tsui is regarded as the _______ center of Hongkong (文化).
【小题2】He has ______the book with many pictures in it since two weeks ago. (借)
【小题3】I’m afraid you should pay more _______ to your study of English grammar. (关注)
【小题4】Are you sure this is a task well _______(在……范围内)your ability?
【小题5】Would you please list all the _______ names on the paper?.(邮递员)
【小题6】One of the secrets of our success is to believe in ________ (we).
【小题7】For ________ information, you can contact Amy on 55560678 (far).
【小题8】You have changed a lot and I can feel your _________ (improve).
【小题9】It’s ________ for us to finish the work in such a short time. (hope)
【小题10】The children all screamed _______ when they saw their favourite Disney characters(excite).

What’s your idea about success? Some people say that beginners have all the luck, while others believe that success    46    only with practice. In fact, I feel both of these statements (陈述) are not true all the time. Each is true in some ways    47    not in others.

For example, I went to a drawing competition many years ago and    48    surprisingly. As a prize, I got a film ticket to see “Titanic”. I was really    49    because it was the first time I had taken part in any competition. Thinking that I might be lucky again, I    50    joining in other art competitions. But the result was that I    51    won again. I accepted the fact that the other people had a    52    artistic ability than I did. Art was not something I was especially interested in and I had never practiced the different art skills. So, the    53    I produced were not of a very high standard.

These experiences taught me a lot. Though I might have been lucky    54   , I also need to put in hard work. As we know,    55    makes perfect. So I believe success builds on less luck and chance.

1.A. moves       B. comes         C. returns         D. leaves

2.A. or          B. so             C. and            D. but

3.A. won        B. began          C. failed           D. ended

4.A. sorry        B. active          C. lucky           D. nervous

5.A. tried        B. forgot            C. stopped       D. remembered

6.A. often        B. ever             C. seldom        D. never

7.A. greater        B. more natural       C. lower       D. more common

8.A. results        B. film           C. prizes          D. drawings

9.A. at last        B. at most          C. at first         D. at least

10.A. chance        B. practice         C. difference       D. experience

_______ some of my students don’t pass the exam, _______ I will continue encouraging them to make success next time.