Reading Oliver James'Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears."I have so take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it," she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following dry I ask her how the test went and the just says "OK,I got a nine".
"Wow. well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"
According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."
I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system（体制）of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.
For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.
This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon. Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.
As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(灵感）is needed in geometry(几何学）just as much as in poetry ",and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them .
【小题1】What does the writer probably think of his/her daughter?

One's attitude is always important. If you are lazy and weak, you will never taste any success. But if you are  16  , success and happiness will be more likely to come to you.

I love eating persimmons(柿子). But you can't get them until autumn. If you try them before the right time, they probably  17  bad.

In Grade Six, because of my poor grades, my parents were  18  that I wouldn't be able to get into an excellent middle school. They  19  me to study harder, but I didn't really understand why they were so anxious.

Summer came, and I studied hard. The hot weather made me   20   and I couldn't focus on my textbooks. But every time I wanted to stop  21  , Mom would shout, "Hey, you! Think about your  22  . If you don't work hard, you'll regret (后悔) it!" I had to sit back down again and return to my textbooks. But all I  23  was playing with my friends and eating persimmons.

My mom would say to me, with a serious look on  24  face, "If a persimmon tree doesn't grow in summer, it can't bear( 结出 ) fruit in autumn ! Only by hard work,   25  you get the good result of your work. "

Although I didn't understand it at that time, I  26  came to see the truth of her words. A few months later, I succeeded in getting into the key middle school. It was  27  . Walking in my new school, I could see quite a few persimmon trees. The fruit was so red that it looked as if it was on fire. Suddenly, I  28   that working hard may be bitter but its fruit is sweet.

My mom was right: If a persimmon tree doesn't grow  29  summer, it can't bear fruit in autumn. I smiled.

I had grown through the summer  30  now it was autumn.

I tasted my success and enjoyed the fruits of my labors!

(     )16. A. busy                     B. clever                       C. hard-working

(     )17. A. look                        B. taste                   C. turn

(     )18. A. embarrassed.               B. worried                     C. excited

(     )19. A. afforded                    B. allowed                     C. pushed

(     )20. A. sleepy                         B. slept                         C. asleep

(     )21. A. thinking                   B. working                 C. playing

(     )22. A. future                     B. hobby                C. health

(     )23. A. talked about                 B. heard about             C. thought about

(     )24. A. her                       B. your                      C. my

(     )25. A. have to                  B. can                    C. need

(     )26. A. probably                  B. particularly              C. gradually

(     )27. A. spring                      B. summer                C. autumn

(     )28. A. realized                    B. considered              C. noticed

(     )29. A. before                       B. during                     C. after

(     )30. A. and                        B. but                      C. or