Many people now think that teachers give pupils too much homework. They say that it is 　36　   for children to work at home in their free time.  　37　  ， they argue that most teachers do not   　38　   plan the homework tasks they give to pupils. The result is that pupils have to   　39　  tasks which they have already done at school.

Recently in Greece， many parents   　40　   about the difficult homework which teachers gave to their children. The parents said that most of the homework was a waste of time， and they wanted to   　41　   it. Spain and Turkey are two countries which stopped homework recently. In Denmark， Germany and several other countries in Europe， teachers cannot   　42　   homework at weekends. In Holland， teachers allow pupils to stay at school to do their homework. The children are   　43　   to help one another. Similar   　44　   also exists in some British schools.

Most people agree that homework is not   　45　  . A pupil who can do his homework in a quiet and   　46　   room is in a much better position than a pupil who does his homework in a small， noisy room with the television on. Some parents help their children with their homework. Other parents take no   　47　   at all in their children’s homework.

1.A.unnecessary        B.uninteresting C.unfortunate      D.unimportant

2.A.Nevertheless       B.However    C.Therefore            D.Moreover

3.A.considerably        B.favorably    C.properly               D.pleasantly

4.A.finish            B.repeat     C.attend                  D.accomplish

5.A.quarreled       B.puzzled       C.explored              D.complained

6.A.delay                B.stop             C.block                     D.prove

7.A.design                   B.draft            C.do                          D.set   

8.A.forbidden        B.free              C.desperate                     D.afraid

9.A.schedule          B.mistake      C.arrangement      D.behavior

10.A.fair                 B.average      C.balanced              D.comparative

11.A.furnished                B.expensive   C.comfortable        D.suitable

12.A.interest              B.curiosity     C.notice                   D.attention

 

 

Among the more colorful characters of Leadville’s golden age were H.A.W. Tabor and his

second wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as "Baby Doe". Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West. Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead in Kansas. Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was attracted by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines. At any rate, a few years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. "A large amount of lead is sure to be found here." he said.

　　As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadville’s fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. It was his custom to "grubstake" prospective（预期的） miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or"grub", while they looked for ore（矿石）, in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.

　　Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for "grub". Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way. These were persistent（坚持的）, however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. "Oh help yourself. One more time won’t make any difference," He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They picked a barren place on the mountainside and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the "Pittsburgh Mine," made $1,300, 000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.

　　Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117,000.This turned out to be even more abundant than the Pittsburgh, producing $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became the governor of the state.

1. The word "grubstake" in paragraph 2 means __________ .

　　A. to supply miners with food and supplies

　　B. to open a general store

　　C. to do one’s contribution to the development of the mine

　　D. to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine,  if one    

was discovered

2. The underlying（潜在的）reason for Tabor’s successful life career is __________.

　　A. purely accidental

B. based on the analysis of miner’s being very poor and their possibility of   discovering profitable mining site

C. through the help from his second wife

　　D. he planned well and accomplished targets step by step

3. If this passage is the first part of an article, who might be introduced in the following  part?

A. Tabor’s life.      　　                     B. Tabor’s second wife, Elizabeth McCourt.

　　C. Other colorful characters.　　         D. Tabor’s other careers.　　

 

Many people now think that teachers give pupils too much homework. They say that it is 　36　   for children to work at home in their free time.  　37　  ， they argue that most teachers do not   　38　   plan the homework tasks they give to pupils. The result is that pupils have to   　39　  tasks which they have already done at school.

Recently in Greece， many parents   　40　   about the difficult homework which teachers gave to their children. The parents said that most of the homework was a waste of time， and they wanted to   　41　   it. Spain and Turkey are two countries which stopped homework recently. In Denmark， Germany and several other countries in Europe， teachers cannot   　42　   homework at weekends. In Holland， teachers allow pupils to stay at school to do their homework. The children are   　43　   to help one another. Similar   　44　   also exists in some British schools.

Most people agree that homework is not   　45　  . A pupil who can do his homework in a quiet and   　46　   room is in a much better position than a pupil who does his homework in a small， noisy room with the television on. Some parents help their children with their homework. Other parents take no   　47　   at all in their children’s homework.

A.unnecessary       B.uninteresting C.unfortunate      D.unimportant

A.Nevertheless      B.However    C.Therefore          D.Moreover

A.considerably      B.favorably   C.properly           D.pleasantly

A.finish                B.repeat     C.attend               D.accomplish

A.quarreled       B.puzzled      C.explored           D.complained

A.delay              B.stop           C.block                D.prove

A.design               B.draft          C.do                    D.set  

A.forbidden       B.free           C.desperate          D.afraid

A.schedule         B.mistake      C.arrangement      D.behavior

A.fair                B.average      C.balanced           D.comparative

A.furnished        B.expensive   C.comfortable      D.suitable

A.interest              B.curiosity    C.notice               D.attention

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming（把…按能力分班）pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

　　Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual (智力的) abilities. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.

　　In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.

　　Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this effectively. And expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

1. Group work provides pupils with the opportunity_________.

　　A. to develop academic abilities                 　　 B. to learn to teach.

　　C. to do some experiments                        　　 D. to learn to be capable organizers.

2. By "held back" in the first paragraph the author means _________.

　　A. drawn to their studies                           　　     B. prevented from advancing

　　C. made to remain in the same classes         　　 D. forced to study in the lower classes

3. In the passage the author's attitude towards " mixed-ability teaching" is ________.

　　A.questioning               B. approving  　　     C. objective 　　 D. critical

4. The author's purpose of writing this passage is to _________.

　　A. offer advice on the proper use of the library

　　B. emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching

　　C. argue for teaching bright and not -so-bright pupils in the same class

　　D. recommend pair work and group-work for classroom activities

5. The author argues that a teacher's chief concern should be the development of the student's _____.

　　A. total personality              　　                   B. intellectual ability

　　C. learning ability and communicative skills        D. personal qualities and social skills

 

　 Kids will often ignore your requests for them to shut off the TV，start their chores(杂事)，or do their homework as a way to avoid following your directions.Before you know it，you’ve started to sound like a broken record as you repeatedly ask them to do their assignments，clean their rooms，or take out the trash.Rather than saying “Do your chores now.” you’ll be more effective if you set a target time for when the chores have to be completed.So instead of arguing about starting chores，just say，“If chores aren’t done by 4 pm，here are the consequences.”Then it’s up to your child to complete the chores.Put the ball back in their court.Don’t argue or fight with them，just say，“That’s the way it’s going to be.”It shouldn’t be punitive(惩罚性的)as much as it should be persuasive.“If your chores aren’t done by 4 pm，then no video game time until chores are done.And if finishing those chores runs into homework time，that’s going to be your loss.”On the other hand，when dealing with homework，keep it very simple.Have a time when homework starts，and at that time，all electronics go off and do not go back on until you see that their homework is done.If your kids say they have no homework，then they should use that time to study or read.Either way，there should be a time set aside when the electronics are off.

　 When a kid wears his iPod or headphones when you’re trying to talk to him，make no bones about it；he is not ignoring you，he is disrespecting you.At that point，everything else should stop until he takes the earplugs out of his ears.Don’t try to communicate with him when he’s wearing headphones—even if he tells you he can hear you.Wearing them while you’re talking to him is a sign of disrespect.Parents should be very tough about this kind of thing.Remember，mutual respect becomes more important as children mature.

1.According to the passage，it seldom happens that　　　　 .

　 A.kids turn a deaf ear to their parents’ requests

　 B.parents’ directions sound like a broken record

　 C.children are ready to follow their parents’ directions　

　 D.parents are unaware of what they are repeating to their kids

　

2.Parents will be able to deal with their children more effectively if they　　　　 .

　 A.avoid direct ways of punishment

　 B.make them do things at their request

　 C.argue and fight with their children

　 D.allow their children to behave in their own way

　

3.When the kid is doing his homework，parents　　　　 .

　 A.should provide him with a good learning environment

　 B.can do whatever they like

　 C.can stay aside watching TV

　 D.must switch off the power

　

4.It can be inferred from the passage that　　　　 .

　 A.parents should take off his headphones when trying to have a talk with their child

　 B.it will make no difference that a kid is wearing his earplugs while talking to his parents

　 C.parents shouldn’t give in to their kid when he shows no sign of respect

　 D.kids’ purposely talking to their parents with iPod gives them a sense of power and control

　

5.The main idea of the passage is　　　　 .

　 A.that respecting each other is more important than anything else

　 B.how kids behave to ignore and disrespect their parents

　 C.that children should make choices and decisions on their own

　 D.how parents can deal with their kids’ behavior effectively