On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.

“It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”

The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?

“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”

In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.

“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”

But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.

“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”

1.What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?

A．It’s expensive but worthwhile because it works the best.

B．It confuses students because the knowledge taught in it is out of date.

C．It isn’t effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

D．It is effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

2. What do the underlined words “magic bullet” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Something that cannot help to solve problems at all.

B．Something that solves a difficult problem in an easy way.

C．Something that seems useful but has no use at all.

D．Something that encourages interest in study.

3.According to Elaine Tyrrell, private tutoring is _______.

A．effective in language learning but not for exams

B．effective for foreign students but not for local students

C．unnecessary in most cases and may harm the further study of students

D．unnecessary in secondary school but helpful to further study

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A．Fleet Tutors and the Rowans School are competitors.

B．Entrance exams to schools are too difficult for most students.

C．Further study isn’t as difficult as was first thought.

D．Private tuition is worth the financial investment.

5.What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?

A．Critical

B．Objective

C．Supportive

D．Uninterested

 

The Wife-carrying World Championship has been celebrated in a small town in central Finland since 1992. in 1992, the people of the town decided that it was time to restart some long-forgotten traditions. Back in the late 1800s, there was a robber called Rosvo-Ronkainen in that area. He was said to only accept men as members of his gang who proved their worth in challenges. At that time, it was also a common practice to steal women from neighboring villages.

The Wife-carrying World Championship is becoming increasingly popular. A large number of competitors, people, and journalists from Finland to Canada attend the Wife-carrying World championship every year.

The event is well-known for its warm and humorous atmosphere. The Wife-carrying World Championship is held on a 253.5 meters long official track. The track has two dry obstacles and a water obstacle, about a meter deep.

There are a few basic rules and the winning team is the couple who complete the course in the shortest time. The wife to be carried may be your own, or your neighbor’s. the minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49kg. if she is less than 49kg, the wife will be given a heavy bag to carry. Each time a competitor drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds.

Along with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there is also a team competition. The distance is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink the official “wife-carrying drink” before continuing the race. A special prize is awarded to the team with the best costumes.

Alongside with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there are bands playing music, a wife-carrying dance and other forms of entertainment.

1.According to the passage, the Wife-carrying World championship ___________.

A．was first celebrated in 1992.

B．was first held by Rosvo-Ronkainen

C．is celebrated in Finland or Canada every year

D．will award “wife-carrying drinks” to the winners

2. The Wife-carrying World championship is famous because ___________.

A．it is held on a 253.5 meters long track

B．many competitors take part in it

C．it has a pleasant atmosphere

D．the winner will be awarded a lot of money

3. If a husband drops his wife three time in the competition, he will be fined ________.

A．15 seconds

B．35 seconds

C．45 seconds

D．60 seconds

4. compared with the Wife-carrying World championship, the team competition _______.

A．is more exciting	B．has a special prize
C．has a different track	D．has three teams altogether

5.The passage is written mainly to ____________.

A．warn people that the competition is dangerous

B．attract more visitors to the Wife-carrying World championship

C．introduce how the Wife-carrying World championship has become popular

D．tell us something about the Wife-carrying World championship

 

Consumer electronics once again topped the list of the most wanted gifts this holiday season.
“Seventy-six percent of consumers who plan to buy holiday gifts say that they will spend money or buy at least one technology product; definitely a solid vote of confidence for technology.”
Steve Koenig is with the Consumer Electronics Association. He says the group’s latest research also shows that Americans this year are spending more on technology products. “Here in 2012, $252 on average——the technology spend for consumers this year.”
From tablet computers to smart phones, American shoppers have been lining up to get the newest and coolest electronic devices on the market. There are more choices today than ever before. "It's kind of hard to make a decision."
Tablet computers are one of the best-selling products this year. Brian Tong is Senior Editor of CNET.com. The website reports on tech news and examines the latest electronic products. He says the Apple iPad Mini is one of the most popular tablets. Its starting price is $329. One of Apple’s biggest competitors is the Google Nexus 7. It starts at $199.
“Its hardware is more powerful than what’s in the iPad Mini, but also it offers you a lot of things like maps that work better than Apple’s maps.
But Brian Tong says there is one reason why people may like the iPad Mini more than the Nexus 7. “If you just want to read books and surf the Internet, you don’t really need to get an iPad Mini, but if you want the largest robust group of apps (应用软件) that’s where the iPad and Apple’s ecosystem shines the most.”
Elman Chacon is with the electronics store Best Buy. He says another hot product this season is smart cameras. They connect to the Internet through WiFi. This makes it easy for users to email or upload photographs directly from the camera.
“You can literally take a picture and upload it into your Facebook in a matter of seconds. These things are pretty cool because they do a lot of things.”
Streaming media boxes also connect to the Internet. People are able to watch web content such as movies and YouTube videos on their televisions. Another popular item is wireless speaker systems. The newest ones work with any device that has Bluetooth technology, including smart phones, laptops and tablets.
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Every technology product costs an average of $252.

B．Consumers are spending $252 more on technology products than last year.

C．Consumers should spend $252 on their technology products.

D．It is estimated that $252 on average might be spent on electronics by consumers in 2012.

【小题2】According to Brian Tong, why may people prefer the iPad Mini to the Google Nexus 7?

A．Because it is cheaper.

B．Because it has more functions.

C．Because you can read books and surf the Internet with it.

D．Because it offers you a lot of things like maps that work better than Apple’s maps.

【小题3】What does “Its hardware” in Paragraph 6 refer to?

A．The hardware of tablet computers.

B．The hardware of the Apple iPad.

C．The hardware of the Google Nexus 7.

D．The hardware of the iPad Mini.

【小题4】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．People will spend most of their money on electronics.

B．Photos can be uploaded from the camera when connected to a computer.

C．A streaming media box is a box which can contain CDs.

D．Most people would like to buy electronics as gifts.

【小题5】Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

A．Electronics: People’s Most Favorite Gifts this year

B．Which is More Popular, the Apple iPad Mini or the Google Nexus 7?

C．Latest Technology Products

D．More Electronics to Choose from

The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are as closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market.

    In the international market, goods on sale coming from different countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting（报价）, what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc. Then, how can we obtain such information? There are many channels that we can make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor's offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot.

     Certainly, face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course, there are some other ways of making market investigations.

1.In making market investigations, one should ______.

   A. get enough information concerned             B. advertise his products

   C. produce high quality goods                   D. none of the above

2.The word "indispensable" in the first line means ______.

   A. impossible                                B. necessary

   C. advisable                                 D. available

3. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

   A. The relationship between market investigation and sales promotion is just as that of the lips and   

      teeth.

   B. It is impossible to succeed in selling a product without market investigation.

   C. There are various ways of making market investigation.

   D. Production goes before market investigation.

4.All the following are channels to get market information except ________.

  A. to have commercial counsellor' s office of our embassies stationed abroad

  B. to promote the quality of our own products

  C. to send trade groups abroad every now and then

  D. to have face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen

 

 

单词拼写(共10小题，每小题1.5分，满分15分)

1.Both of them studied law at college and became __________(律师) after graduation.

2. I would really __________(感激) it if you would turn the music down.

3. He said he _________(遗憾) for the choice he had made.

4. Direction means objectives. You can get __________(无处) without an objective in life.

5.Having defeated all the other competitors, he became the world __________（冠军）.

6.He could never have __________(预见) that one day he would live in such a big house.

7. Many stars __________(在头顶上) are invisible to the naked eye.

8. These books are for your __________(参考). I hope you’ll find them helpful.

9.There is still much to discuss. We shall, __________(因此), return to this item next time.

10.In my opinion, Tom was __________ (不适宜的) for the job that the company offered.