GCSEs not fit for purpose

GCSEs （General Certificate of Secondary Education，普通中等教育证书）encourage "teaching to the test" and may be past their sell-by date, according to Britain's leading business organization. The Confederation of British Industry（CBI） warns that the qualification is stopping teachers delivering an "inspirational classroom experience" and should be replaced.

John Cridland, the CBI director general, said industry faced a shortage of key skills, particularly in science and maths. The CBI（英国工业联合会）, which represents more than 240,000 companies, is also concerned about the 40% of young people who fail to achieve the benchmark of five good GCSE passes including English and maths. The percentage of pupils who reach this standard is the main measure of school success.

Speaking at the launch of a CBI inquiry into education, Cridland argued that abandoning GCSEs could help deliver a full education. "There's something about this GCSE limitation which produces a form of learning ------ teaching for the test.’’

"It frustrates teachers because it stops them delivering that inspirational classroom experience."

The CBI head suggested that raising the school leaving age to 18 – a change that comes into effect in 2015 – is an opportunity to reform the system. "It seems to me that we've raised the participation age to 18 and we're left with an education system that focuses on 16," said Cridland. More than 600,000 children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to take GCSEs this summer.

Many other countries do without a public exam at 16. Finland, the highest performing school system in Europe, has just one public exam, at 18, though children are regularly tested at younger ages.

1.What does the author intend to tell us in paragragh1？

A.“Teaching to the test” should be encouraged.

B. We should stop teachers delivering “inspirational experience”.

C. The current qualification is out of date and should be replaced.

D. The Confederation of British Industry should be replaced.

2.What’s the main idea of the passage？

A. The British GCSEs are no longer practical and should be reformed.

B. In the GCSEs system , teachers don’t have freedom.

C. Five good GCSEs is hard to achieve.

D. The British Education Department will reform education system.

3.The meaning of the underlined word “benchmark” in paragraph 2 may be ______.

A. success                       B. target               C. standard      D. excellent grades

4.Where can we find this article?

A．TV series                              B. radio news

C. newspaper education section        D. government report

 

It didn’t take long at all for me to decide to come and study in the UK. With the approach of globalization, more and more people realize that it is necessary to study in an English-speaking country. UK does not only offer the chance to study the original English, it also has so many first-class universities, whose qualifications are widely respected all over the world. Besides the academic, there are many fun elements too; its famous football environment is definitely one for me!  Since UK has such a diverse society, I feel there is less chance that there would be any racism(种族歧视) at boarding school. This is one reason why I did not take any summer courses before I started my school. It was just so easy to settle in and pick up the language as you go along, because everyone is so friendly and helpful. At the moment I am doing 5 A-levels and 1 AS, which are Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Government and Politics and Chinese. I am aiming to achieve A’s in all my exams, and I hope to go to Oxford University to study Engineering Science in the autumn.

I still remember my first day at Merchiston Castle School, and I was really nervous about it, because I have never visited the school before and didn’t take any summer courses. Despite my anxiety, I soon relaxed once I arrived; the staff members were so nice that I felt that my spoken English was better than it actually was!  As soon as I walked into the day room (日间休息室) of my boarding house, I was absolutely amazed by the friendly atmosphere: Everyone was so friendly that a boy as shy as I had no difficulty in setting in, and I made many new friends on my very first day, although I was struggling to remember all the names.

61. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The author’s impression on UK.

B. The author’s plan for his study.

C. The author’s comments on British schools.

D. The report of achievements.

62. Which is NOT a reason that the author decided to study in the UK?

A. It’s less likely that racism would be found at boarding school.

B. He wanted to learn pure English.

C. There are many worldwide famous universities.

D. It provides a good environment for living.

63. The author thinks the British are_______ .

A. funny                                                   B. hard-working

C. friendly                                                       D. respectable

64. We can learn from the passage that the author_______ .

A. plays football very well

B. has been admitted to Oxford University

C. is a shy boy

D. is good at remembering names

65. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “_______”.

A. my first day at Merchiston Castle school

B. my oral English

C. Merchiston Castle School

D. one of my summer courses

Dear Aunty,

I work at a supermarket, and another girl and I share tasks we must finish before leaving. But she takes half an hour to do something I can do in ten minutes. She always has a story to tell me and stops working when she does. My boss is angry at both of us, but It’s not my fault. I don’t want to rat on her, but what else can I do?

Flustered

Dear Flustered,

Let me propose a better way. Make a log of all the tasks you share, then suggest to your boss that for efficiency your duties could be divided into two separate checklists. If he’s reluctant, go to plan B: the next time this girl starts telling you a story, stop working to listen and call your boss over to hear what a great storyteller she is. I’m sure he’ll take it from here.

Aunty

Dear Aunty,

I’m a college student in the Philippines who wants to be wise with money. I’m not an economics or business major student and I don’t know anything about stocks. But I really want to buy assets and invest. I receive about 15,000 pesos（比索）every school term from my education plan. I don’t have any idea how I should spend it. I don’t want to just buy new clothes, or hang out with my friends because it would not be wise. I want my money to grow. Please enlighten me.

Fastbreakplay

Dear Fastbreakplay,

Being wise with money is the No. 1 thing to learn. Start with a disciplined and systematic savings plan. When your savings reach a sizeable amount, then you may start investing. In the meantime, invest in yourself by reading up on stock markets and capital markets. Follow the news. Before I started investing during my senior high school years, I had already studied stock market data of the past century as I believe markets tend to repeat themselves. If you master this skill, you will master your reading of the markets.

Aunty

1.When Flustered’s boss isn’t willing to separate their work, Flustered can _____.

A．follow the second advice                 B．invite the boss to listen to the girl

C．stop working or do other things             D．report to the boss on time

2.Fastbreakplay writes a letter to Aunty in order to _____.

A．buy some pesos                        B．become an expert on stocks

C．get ways to grow money                  D．study economics as his major

3.In Aunty’s opinion, one should _____ at the beginning to be wise with money.

A．start investing                          B．have a saving plan

C．study stock markets                      D．master market reading

4.From letters above, we know Aunty should be ________.

A．an elder kind woman                    B．a lady in the community

C．a famous singer                         D．a name of a columnist

 

There are many colors in nature. But do you know if a color has weight? I think you’ll say “no”. But I am afraid you are wrong. If you don’t believe, you may do a small experiment.

　　First, put two objects with the same weight into two boxes. Then cover the box. Third, wrap one box with a red piece of paper, the other with a white piece of paper. OK. Now hold the boxes with your hand one by one. It is certain that you will think the red one is a little heavier.

　　Why do you think so? A scientist found that different colors have different weight in a man’s mind. So he did man tests and at last he got the result. That is to say, every color has its own weight in our mind and their order is the same. The heaviest color is red, then blue, green, orange, yellow and white.

　　The scientist told us that colors also have smell. Can you smell the color? Of course not. Then why did the scientist say so? That is because every color stands for a kind of light with a certain wavelength. It reaches our brain through sense organs (感觉器官).

According to this discovery, scientists say that people accept the colors they like, and refuse the colors they hate. So your body and mind will be healthy by using the colors you like. Or you’ll be nervous or even get ill. For example, if you stay in a room with red windows, wallpapers and furniture for two hours, you’ll feel you have been there for four hours. But if the room is blue, you’ll feel you have been there for only an hour. Another example, if a person walks out of a red room and into a blue room, his temperature will fall. That means our body temperature will change with different colors.

 

1.The purpose of the second paragraph is to tell us ___________.

       A. a red box is heavier than a white one

       B. a color has weight in one’s mind

       C. white paper is lighter than red paper

       D. you can know the weight of a color by holding it

2. Why did the scientist say colors have smell?

       A. Because people can sense the light from colors.

       B. Because we can smell colors with our nose.

       C. Because every color has its own sweet smell.

       D. Because every color can give off light of the same length.

3. If a person walks from a blue room to a red room, his body temperature will ___________.

A. rise                B. fall                 C. stay the same               D. change now and then

4.It can be implied from the text that ___________.

A. colors have orders in weight

B. colors can change the weight of an object

C. people would stay longer in a room with red windows

D. colors can affect our mood and health

5.This passage is probably a ___________.

       A. book review                   B. fiction novel                   C. fairy tale                D. science report

 

When I come across a good article in reading newspapers, I often want to cut and keep it. But just as I am about to do so, I find the article on the   26    side is much interesting. It may be a discussion of the way to   27    in good health, or   28    about how to behave and conduct oneself in society. If I cut the front article, the opposite one is likely to   29    damage, leaving out half of it or keeping the text   30   the title. Therefore, the scissors would   31   before they start,   32    halfway done when I find out the   33    result.

Sometimes two things are to be done at the same time, both worth your   34   . You can only take up one of them; the other has to wait or be   35    up. But you know the future is unpredictable-the changed situation may not allow you to do what is left   36   . Thus you are   37    in a difficult position and feel sad. How   38    that nice chances and brilliant ideas should gather around all at once? It may happen that your life   39    greatly on your preference of one choice to the other.

In fact that is what   40    is like: we are often   41    with the two opposite sides of the thing which are both desirable like a newspaper cutting. It often occurs that our attention is drawn to one thing only   42    we get into another. The   43    may be more important than the latter and give rise to a divided mind. I   44    remember a philosopher’s remarks: “When one door shuts, another opens in life.” So a casual   45    may not be a had one.

26.  A. front           B. same         C. either           D. opposite

27.  A. get         B. keep         C. lead         D. bring

28.  A. advice      B. news         C. a theory     D. a report

29.  A. suffer          B. reduce           C. prevent      D. cause

30.  A. on          B. for          C. without      D. off

31.  A. use         B. handle           C. prepare      D. stay

32.  A. or          B. but          C. so           D. for

33.  A. satisfying      B. regretful        C. surprising       D. impossible

34.  A. courage     B. strength     C. attention        D. patience

35.  A. given           B. held         C. made         D. picked

36.  A. near            B. alone            C. about            D. behind

37.  A. filled          B. attracted        C. caught           D. struck[来源:学

38.  A. dares           B. comes            C. does         D. dare

39.  A. improves        B. changes      C. progresses       D. goes

40.  A. study           B. society          C. nature           D. life

41.  A. faced           B. supplied     C. connected        D. fixed

42.  A. before      B. after            C. until            D. as

43.  A. following       B. next         C. above            D. former

A. still            B. also         C. once         D. almost

45.  A. treatment       B. action           C. choice           D. remark