In New York, there is now a school with no daily lessons, no class teachers, not even a school building. The “school” is a project. It is called “City-as-School” and the name means just that, the city itself is the place where 350 students, between the age of 15 and 18, learn their lessons.

Students choose areas of work which interest them and then they help to do that work. For instance, one girl spends her week in the offices of a Congresswoman — an elected official — helping the public with problems such as pensions（养老金），housing, etc. Then she goes to help in a theatre for a day and she spends one day a week taking first-year courses at college.

City-as-School is 30 years old. The education system in New York accepts it now, as an alternative to final years at school. But can it replace ordinary lessons? Well, students have to pass maths and science exams before they enter the “school”. These subjects are not easy to provide for in “ City-as-School”. Teachers monitor the progress of the students. 80 to 85% of the students go to college (or university, as it is called in Britain) after their time at “City-as-School”. The success rate is high. And the students are enthusiastic about their “school”. They like the responsibility of their work, and the sense of purpose it gives them.

When the students leave “City-as-School”, they don’t have a normal academic education; but they do know a lot about different kinds of work in the city!

1. “City-as-School” is special because it is ________.

       A. in New York, one of the most famous cities in the world

       B. not a common school we usually see and know

       C. a school having special students

       D. free of charge for the citizens

2. What do the teachers at “City-as-School” do?

       A. To monitor the progress of the students.

       B. To give lessons to the students.

       C. To evaluate the students’ performance.

       D. To protect the students.

3. What is the author’s attitude to “City-as-School”?

       A. Agreeable.       B. Doubtful.    C. Neutral (中立的). D. Disagreeable.

E

In New York, there is now a school with no daily lessons, no class teachers, not even a school building. The “school” is a project. It is called “City-as-School” and the name means just that, the city itself is the place where 350 students, between the age of 15 and 18, learn their lessons.

Students choose areas of work which interest them and then they help to do that work. For instance, one girl spends her week in the offices of a Congresswoman — an elected official — helping the public with problems such as pensions（养老金），housing, etc. Then she goes to help in a theatre for a day and she spends one day a week taking first-year courses at college.

City-as-School is 30 years old. The education system in New York accepts it now, as an alternative to final years at school. But can it replace ordinary lessons? Well, students have to pass maths and science exams before they enter the “school”. These subjects are not easy to provide for in “ City-as-School”. Teachers monitor the progress of the students. 80 to 85% of the students go to college (or university, as it is called in Britain) after their time at “City-as-School”. The success rate is high. And the students are enthusiastic about their “school”. They like the responsibility of their work, and the sense of purpose it gives them.

When the students leave “City-as-School”, they don’t have a normal academic education; but they do know a lot about different kinds of work in the city!

53. “City-as-School” is special because it is ________.

       A. in New York, one of the most famous cities in the world

       B. not a common school we usually see and know

       C. a school having special students

       D. free of charge for the citizens

54. What do the teachers at “City-as-School” do?

       A. To monitor the progress of the students.

       B. To give lessons to the students.

       C. To evaluate the students’ performance.

       D. To protect the students.

55. What is the author’s attitude to “City-as-School”?

       A. Agreeable.       B. Doubtful.    C. Neutral (中立的). D. Disagreeable.

Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways. When people cheat, it’s not fair to other people, like the kids who studied for the test or who were the true winners of a game.
Many people like the action of cheating. It makes difficult things seem easy, like getting all the right answers on the test. But it doesn’t solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won’t help on the next test --- unless the person cheats again.
Some people lose respect for cheaters and think less of them. The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they are not really earning that good grade. And, if they get caught cheating, they will be in trouble at school, and maybe at home, too.
Some kids cheat because they’re busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without spending the time studying. Other kids might feel like they can’t pass the test without cheating. Even when there seems to be a “good reason” for cheating, cheating isn’t a good idea.
If you were sick or upset about something the night before and couldn’t study, it would be better to talk with the teacher about this. And if you don’t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice, you need to talk with your parents about how to balance swimming and school.
A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions(解决办法) together. Talking about these problems and working them out will feel better than cheating.
【小题1】The author thinks that when kids cheat in class, _______.

A．it is unfair to other people

B．it does harm to their heath

C．teachers should punish them

D．teachers shouldn’t stop them at once

【小题2】Some students like cheating mainly because_________.

A．the material in the test is very difficult

B．they want to do better than the others

C．cheating can make hard things seem very easy

D．they have little time to study their lessons

【小题3】We can learn from the passage______.

A．cheaters are often thought highly of

B．people show no respect for those who cheat

C．parents whose kids cheat are often in trouble

D．kids cheat in the test because of swim practice

【小题4】In the passage those cheaters are advised to_______.

A．spend more time on school than on sports

B．find good solutions instead of cheating

C．try hard to be intelligent rather than lazy

D．ask their classmates for good methods of study

Adults usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.

       It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:

       An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the sub-way. He would get onto the train right to Central Lon-don, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.

       His house was dirty, and a stench (恶臭) came out of the house and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.

       The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire (百万富翁). They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.

       But the old man said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.

       Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant (有意义的) for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing.

The underlined part in the first paragraph may mean ______.

A. I get tired of learning my subjects    B. I fail to listen to lessons attentively

C. I go in the wrong direction of life    D. I wouldn’t like to go to school

The neighbor called the police because ______.

A. the old man kept begging money from them every day

B. there was something dangerous in the old man’s house

C. the old man wouldn’t buy tickets for the train

D. they couldn’t bear the smell from the old man’s house

When the old man knew he was a millionaire, he ______.

A. remained calm        B. became excited   C. felt worried         D. became nervous

What lesson do we learn from the story?

A. Make great plans for your life.     B. Keep on doing what you like.

C. Do something that is good to society.  D. Depend on yourself rather than others.

Money Matters
Parents should help their children understand money. ____【小题1】   So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.
 The basic function of money
Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have.If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier(收银员).  【小题2】    When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more complex ways of using money.
 Money lessons
Approach money lessons with openness and honesty.    【小题3】  __ If you must say no to a child’s request to spend money, explain, “You have enough toy trucks for now.” Or, if the request is for many different things, say, “You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy.”
   【小题4】      
Begin at the grocery store. Pick out two similar brands of a product--- a name-brand butter and a generic (无商标产品)，for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money. __ 【小题5】____ If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to make another purchase with the money saved. Later, you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.

A．Wise decisions

B．The value of money

C．Permit the child to choose between them.

D．Tell your child why he can –or cannot --- have certain things.

E. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you.
F. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.
G. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.