It's interesting that the arrival of snow has effect on people in different countries. For some countries it is an important happening to celebrate each year, while for others a catastrophe(灾害) or even a wonder.?

But there are countries between these two kinds that normally expect snow some time over-the winter months, but never receive snow regularly or in the same quantities every year. Britain is one of them, for which the arrival of snow quite simply causes problems. Within hours of the first snowfalls, however light, roads are blocked; trains and buses have to stop in the middle of the way. Normal communication is affected as well: telephone calls become difficult and the post immediately takes more time than usual. And almost within hours, there are also certain shortages—bread, vegetables and other things—not because all these things can no longer be produced or sent to shops, but mainly because people are frightened and go out and store up with food and so on just for fear that something bad should happen.?

But why does snow have this effect? After all, the Swiss, the Austrians and the Canadians don't have such problems. It is simple because there is not enough planning and preparation. We need money to buy equipment to deal with snow and ice. To keep the roads clear, for example, requires snow-ploughs(扫雪机) and machines to spread salt. The reason why a country like Britain does not buy snow-ploughs is that they are used for a few days in any one year, and the money could be more useful in other things such as hospital, education, helping the old.?

According to the writer, Britain is a country _______.?

A. which has regular snow    B. which is not well prepared for snow?

C. for which snow is a catastrophe       D. for which snow is a wonder?

After a few hours' snowing there are often some shortages of food because _______.?

A. shops have closed down    B. people buy as much as they can?

C. farmers cannot produce any more    D. people eat more vegetables in winter?

The words “two kinds” in the passage mean the countries _______.?

A. which have weather as yearly happening to celebrate or as rare (少见) weather?

B. which either have heavy snow or light snow?

C. to which snow either causes problems or no problems?

D. which either have snow-ploughs or no snow-ploughs

Creativity(创造性)is the key to a brighter future, say education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children.

　     If Dick Drew had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as very important: a new type of tape. Drew worked for the Minnesota Mining Company. At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to think more about the idea. Finally, using his own time, Drew improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake. Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking and developing new ideas.

　     Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily an indicator of high intelligence. Just that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something.

　     Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity. With strong attention paid to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can't recognize ways to use it in new situations. They may know the rules correctly, but they are unable to use them to work out practical problems.

　     It is important to give children choices. From an early age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it's choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money, but not help them too much if they make the wrong decision. The child may have a hard time, but that is all right. This is because the most important characteristic of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.

1.What did the company where Dick Drew worked learn from its mistake?

A．They encouraged people to work longer.

B．They discouraged people to think freely.

C．They asked people to spend all their work time developing new ideas.

D．They encouraged people to spend some of their work time considering and

improving new ideas.

2.Creativity is something ______.

A．that people are born with

B．that depends on intelligence

C．that is a way of using what one has learnt to work out new problems

D．that is not important

3.Why don’t schools try to encourage creativity?

A．They don’t understand the importance of education.

B．They don’t want their students to make mistakes.

C．They pay too much attention to examination marks and language skills.

D．They think it more important to remember information.

4.What should the parents do when their children decide how to spend their money?

A．Try to help them as much as possible.

B．Take no notice of whatever they do.

C．Help them if their decision is wrong, but not too much.

D．Leave them as they are.

 

However important we may regard school life to be, we can’t ignore the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom. Therefore the great influence of parents can’t be ignored or discounted by the teacher. They can become strong supports of the school or they can consciously or unconsciously prevent the school from accomplishing its aims.

Administrators have been aware of the need to keep parents apprised of the newer methods used in schools. Many principals have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness program and developmental math.

Moreover, the classroom teacher can also play an important role in explaining to parents what they should do. The informal tea and the many interviews carried on during the year, as well as new ways of reporting pupils’ progress, can significantly aid the interchanged of ideas between school and home.

Suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent change his method. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing he family budget, buying the food, using a measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.

If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to assume that he will soon realize his son is making satisfactory progress in math and at the same time, enjoying the work.

Too often, however, teachers’ conferences with parents are devoted to unimportant accounts of children’s wrongdoing, complaints about laziness and poor work habits, and suggestions for punishments and rewards at home.

What is needed is a more creative approach in which the teacher, as a professional advisor, plants ideas in parents’ minds for the best use of the many hours that the child spends out of the classroom. In this way, the school and the home join forces in fostering the fullest development of youngsters’ competence.

The underlined phrase “keep parents apprised of” (Line 1, Para. 2) probably means to let parents         .

A．judge       B．know C．design      D．develop

What is the purpose of the schools’ informal tea and interviews?

A．To improve the relationship between teacher and parents.

B．To explain to parents the change of the school curriculum.

C．To report students’ misdoings and suggestions for punishments.

D．To help develop good communication between school and home.

Why does the author provide all example in Paragraph 4？

A．To help parents to know the importance of home activities.

B．To show how the teacher can guide in home training.

C．To prove parents all non professional advisors.

D．To advice parents to teach kids math at home.

From the passage we learn that the author       .

A．thinks teachers should do better as professionals

B．is worried about children’s performance at home

C．is satisfied with the present state of school education

D．believes time spent out of the classroom has been wastedw.^w.k.s.5*u.c.#o@m

A 33-year-old financial analyst in California recently quit his job to devote himself to an unpaid job teaching math on the Internet, and his lessons are reaching almost 100,000 people a month. Salman Khan’s voice is heard every day on the net --- by tens of thousands of students around the world who are hungry for help learning math. He has posted 1,200 lessons on YouTube ... lessons that appear on an electronic blackboard, which range from basic addition to advanced mathematics for science and finance. And they are free.

Khan lives in Silicon Valley, with his wife, a doctor, and their new baby. He got the idea for his “Khan Academy” four years ago, when he taught a young cousin how to convert kilograms to grams. With Khan’s help, the cousin got good at math, and Khan began a new career.

Now, Khan records his lessons himself, but he never goes on camera. “It feels like my voice in their head. You’re looking at it and it feels like someone’s over your shoulder talking in your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard, which is distant from you,” he said.

When Springfield High School in Palo Alto, California invited Khan to speak in person --- he immediately connected to the students there.

The idea of short lessons that can be played over and over again attracted high school senior Bridget Meaney. She says she had trouble with math in the seventh grade. “I think the teachers are good, but they can’t teach at a speed that’s perfect for everyone,” she said. “I like the idea of learning something in class but then going back and pressing pause or rewind and actually getting a deeper understanding of it.”

Originally, Khan kept his lessons short because of YouTube restrictions. Now, he thinks short is better. “Education researchers now tell me that 10 minutes is how long someone can have a high level of concentration. And anything beyond that and your brain switches off,” he said.

For Khan, teaching math, science, and finance is just the beginning. He says he’s ready to expand his YouTube site to include other subjects as well.

What gave Khan the idea of teaching math online?

A. His success in helping his cousin learn math.

B. His discovery that many students found learning math difficult.

C. A suggestion made to him at a local high school.

D. His interest in Internet teaching.

Why does Khan never go on camera?

A. He’s too shy to show his face on camera.

B. It’s restricted by YouTube for education videos.

C. He wants to keep distance from the viewers.

D. He wants to create a more relaxed learning atmosphere.

From the passage, we know that ________.

A. Khan travels to many schools to promote his lessons

B. Khan plans to include more subjects in the future

C. Khan gives live math lessons every day for free

D. Khan set up the Khan Academy with his wife

Why does Bridget Meaney like Khan’s lessons?

   A. Khan teaches seventh grade math better than her teacher.

   B. The lessons can be watched repeatedly until fully understood.

   C. She can perfectly follow the pace of Khan’s teaching.

   D. She cannot concentrate when learning in class.

What does Khan mean by “short is better” in the 6^th paragraph?

   A. Keeping the lessons short can ensure better concentration.

   B. YouTube recommends short lessons for its site.

   C. Short lessons encourage students to return to the website.

   D. Students enjoy short mathematics lessons more.