1 . For many years the school system in Finland has been very successful. In the PISA survey, which compares reading, math and science knowledge of 15-year-olds around the world, Finland is not only the top European country but also competes with Asian giants like Shanghai, Singapore and South Korea. But what makes the educational system in this small country so different from others in the western world?

Until the 1960s Finland’s school system had been influenced largely by its neighbor, the Soviet Union. Most students left school after six years; some went on to private schools. Only the wealthy ones got a better education. In the middle of the 1960s the Finnish government saw the need to change and modernize their education system if they wanted to be internationally competitive. Lawmakers made a simple decision: a basic school for all the 7- to 16-year-olds. Compulsory education begins at 7. The government makes it possible for all children to attend preschool as well.

Most of Finland’s schools get their money from the government. The people who are in charge of the education system, from teachers to officials are trained teachers, not politicians like in other countries.

Teachers work with their pupils in school as much as possible. When teachers are not with the pupils, they spend a lot of time in schools working on the curriculum and new projects. Schools in Finland are small, at least for international standards. So teachers know every pupil in their school and try everything to succeed with their pupils. That is why dropout rates are low compared to other countries. In contrast to other nations, teachers in Finland are highly respected. Finland selects its teachers very carefully: only talented students go on to a university and receive a master’s degree in education. Finland only takes the best to educate its youth.

All Finnish children, whether they come from the city or the country, whether from a rich or poor family, have the same chances in education. There are not so many differences between the wealthy and poor, as in America or other western European countries. Education experts say that there is very little difference between very good and the worst students. Two thirds of Finnish pupils move on to higher education, the highest rate in the European Union.

1. What did the Finland government do in the middle of the 1960s?

A．They changed the school system.

B．They lengthened preschool education.

C．They encouraged students to go to private school.

D．They learned modern education from neighboring countries.

2. We can learn from the text that ______________.

A．the children in Finland are educated equally

B．the children in Finland attend preschool at the age of six

C．the school system in Finland is better than that in Singapore

D．the school equipment in Finland doesn’t meet international standards

3. The author mentions Shanghai, Singapore and South Korea to show________.

A．Asian countries are successful in school education

B．the school system in Finland has been very successful

C．students in these places are better than those in European countries

D．theeducational system in Asia is different from that in the western world

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．What Differences European Schools Have

B．What Good Schools Provide Students with

C．Why Finland’s School System Is Successful

D．Why Finland’s School System Has Changed

2 . 完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Experts agree that there is no easy solution to the problem of education. Education is very important, of course. A child’s early education is especially important. This is _______ the British government would like to increase the availability(实用性) of nursery education and to improve teaching _______ in nursery schools. Education _______ the age of 16 is also important. When young people leave school at 16 without _______, it is very hard for them to find interesting and well-paid work.
One _______ to improve education is to pay good teachers more money. But this idea is not popular _______ teachers because they do not like the idea that people who do the same job should get different_______ of pay. Another suggestion is to improve careers _______ to young people in school. In this way, they will _______ understand the opportunities that exist and the qualifications that are needed.
Family ________ remains important in influencing a young person’s ________ of improvement. Families that ________ learning and help their children at school give their children a better chance of success. But the ________ is that too many families do not ________ the importance of education. Children in these families miss big opportunities to develop and grow as ________
It is not easy to find ways of helping families encourage their children to learn and to have ________ for success. Some people have suggested that parents should ________ lessons on how to be good parents. But a lot of people don’t agree with this idea. They say that the government should not ________ in private family life.
Certainly, it is good to live in a society that allows people to________ their position, but it is not so easy to put ________ practice.1.

A．because

B．why

C．that

D．what

2.

A．requirements

B．standards

C．expectations

D．concepts

3.

A．before

B．at

C．after

D．in

4.

A．qualifications

B．abilities

C．certificates

D．degrees

5.

A．proportion

B．position

C．approval

D．suggestion

6.

A．to

B．with

C．of

D．from

7.

A．rates

B．systems

C．access

D．standards

8.

A．opinion

B．advice

C．recommendation

D．idea

9.

A．closely

B．more

C．better

D．fully

10.

A．background

B．condition

C．education

D．economy

11.

A．success

B．process

C．chances

D．importance

12.

A．encourage

B．improve

C．facilitate

D．stimulate

13.

A．question

B．fact

C．problem

D．issue

14.

A．indicate

B．interpret

C．understand

D．overlook

15.

A．individuals

B．adults

C．people

D．adolescents

16.

A．dreams

B．ideals

C．ambitions

D．hopes

17.

A．learn

B．teach

C．give

D．attend

18.

A．trouble

B．interfere

C．interrupt

D．disturb

19.

A．improve

B．enhance

C．develop

D．raise

20.

A．into

B．in

C．out

D．off

3 . Forty years ago, Finland was a small, homogeneous (同种的) country with mediocre (平庸的) public schools. Today, Finland is still small but no one calls Finland’s public schools mediocre any more.
In 2000, the Finns surprised the world when their 15-year-olds scored at the top of a closely watched international exam called the PISA. Finland has stayed near the top ever since, while the U.S. scores around the middle.
Pasi Sahlberg, an official with Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, is in Seattle this week to share the story of Finland’s success, and what states like Washington can learn from it.
Sahlberg’s message, although he is too polite to put it so bluntly: Stop testing so much, trust teachers more; give less homework; shorten the school day.
On Tuesday, in a room filled with teachers, principals, professors, school-board members and policy makers, Sahlberg joked about the Finns’ reputation for being a quiet, humble people. “When Finland hit the top of the PISA,” he said, “the biggest disbelievers were Finns.”
More seriously, Finland never set out to create the world’s top school system. Instead, he said, the country decided in the 1970s that it wanted to ensure that a student’s success didn’t depend on family background.
“Finland relied on cooperation among teachers and schools, rather than on competition. Rather than judging teachers and schools based on test scores,” he said, “Finland puts trust in its teachers and principals. Teachers develop the curriculum in Finland, and design their own tests. There are no national tests, except one at the end of high school.”
That’s just the start. Along with a shorter school day, Finnish students don’t even start school until they are 7 years old. Many primary schools have a policy against giving homework.
“But Finland,” he said, “succeeded in part by adopting ideas from the U.S. and other countries. And those countries, he said, “can learn from Finland, too.”
1. What might be the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A．To introduce a Finnish official.

B．To compare the education systems of Finland and the US.

C．To share the story of Finland’s success in education.

D．To ask the US to improve its education.

2. People first learned Finland’s success in education from ________.

A．its students’ performance in an international exam

B．its international exchange programs

C．lectures given by Pasi Sahlberg

D．its small-sized public schools

3. Which of the following can contribute to Finland’s success in education?
a. Giving students fewer tests.
b. Giving teachers more trust.
c. Evaluating students’ family backgrounds.
d. Creating the world’s top school system.
e. Starting school late.

A．a,b,c

B．c,d,e

C．a,b,e

D．b,c,d

4. What Pasi Sahlerg said in Paragraph 7 suggested that ________.

A．children should start school as early as possible

B．competition among teachers might be harmful to education

C．the US education system is still the most advanced

D．it’s necessary to set up a national curriculum

4 . Parents feel that it is difficult to live with teenagers. Then again, teenagers have_______feelings about their parents, saying that it is not easy living with them. According to a recent research, the most common _______between parents and teenagers is that regarding untidiness and daily routine tasks. On the one hand, parents go mad over _______rooms, clothes thrown on the floor and their children’s refusal to help with the _______. On the other hand, teenagers lose their patience continually when parents blame them for _______the towel in the bathroom, not cleaning up their room or refusing to do the shopping at the supermarket.

The research, conducted by St. George University, shows that different parents have different _______to these problems. However, some approaches are more _______than others. For example, those parents who yell at their children for their untidiness, but _______clean the room for them, have fewer chances of changing their children’s _______. On the contrary, those who let teenagers experience the ________of their actions can do better. For example, when teenagers who don’t help their parents with the shopping don’t find their favorite drink in the refrigerator, they are forced to ________their actions.

Psychologists say that ________is the most important thing in parent-child relationships. Parents should ________to their children but at the same time they should lend an ear to what they have to say. Parents may ________their children when they are untidy but they should also understand that their room is their own private space. Communication is a two-way process. It is only by listening to and ________each other that problems between parents and children can be settled.

1.

A．natural

B．strong

C．guilty

D．similar

2.

A．interest

B．argument

C．link

D．knowledge

3.

A．noisy

B．crowded

C．messy

D．locked

4.

A．homework

B．housework

C．problem

D．research

5.

A．washing

B．using

C．dropping

D．replacing

6.

A．approaches

B．contributions

C．introductions

D．attitudes

7.

A．complex

B．popular

C．scientific

D．successful

8.

A．later

B．deliberately

C．seldom

D．thoroughly

9.

A．behavior

B．taste

C．future

D．nature

10.

A．failures

B．changes

C．consequences

D．thrills

11.

A．defend

B．delay

C．repeat

D．reconsider

12.

A．communication

B．bond

C．friendship

D．trust

13.

A．reply

B．attend

C．attach

D．talk

14.

A．hate

B．scold

C．frighten

D．stop

15.

A．loving

B．observing

C．understanding

D．praising

5 . When the six very best students from different cities in Guangdong Province all together chose universities in Hong Kong; when the very best students of Beijing picked up HK University while giving up the nearby Beijing or Qinghua University; when the highest enrollment(录取) rate of Hong Kong Science and Industry University reached 48:1, it’s the high time to ask where the real education heaven (天堂) for students in China is.
Years ago, the answer certainly would be “Beijing or Qinghua University”. But now no one could give the exact reaction without hesitation. The only sure thing is that HK universities have gradually showed an unusual attraction to a great many mainland students.
It’s no doubt to call this HK craze (狂热), which is even out of the expectation (预料) of those HK universities themselves.
How can HK universities shake the steady foundations of Beijing and Qinghua and attract so many mainland students?
First, Hong Kong universities offer large-amount scholarship, especially for the top students who can receive the sum scholarship as much as 400,000 HK dollars. Since higher education has become a kind of heavy burden (负担) of many families, it’s easy to understand why the reaction to the generous offering of HK universities is great.
Second, most HK universities receive professors and students from all over the world and carry out bilingual (双语) education. This kind of excellent language atmosphere is another attraction for mainland students.
Furthermore, university students in Hong Kong have a better chance to study abroad as exchange students.
Can mainland top universities like Beijing or Qinghua University be calm as before when facing the unexpected competition from HK? Will they take relevant measures to win back the top students who once help them set the worldwide reputation (名誉)? Time will explain it.
The fierce competition brought by HK universities can be a good thing for an entire improvement of education in China. After the awakening and action-taking of mainland universities, they can perform better together with HK universities.
At least, it reminded the mainland universities the tuition fees (学费) are among students’ top concern when they are choosing universities. It’s time to move.
1. What is the passage mainly talking about?

A．Some thoughts brought by the enrollment of HK universities.

B．Higher education in Hong Kong.

C．The competition between HK University and Beijing University.

D．The fall of mainland universities.

2. Top students from mainland apply for HK universities because________.

A．many students now would love to study abroad to get a better experience

B．they concern only about the tuition fees when choosing universities

C．HK Universities offer higher scholarship, better environment and more opportunities for their further study

D．Beijing University has lost its worldwide reputation

3. What is the author’s attitude toward the competition brought by HK universities?

A．The government should take relevant measures to stop this unfair competition.

B．Mainland universities had better lower their tuition fees and win back the top students.

C．Universities both in mainland and in HK would get an entire improvement during the competition.

D．It may probably cause a complete loss to both sides in the end.

4. From the passage we can see HK universities________.

A．didn’t mean to enroll top students from mainland

B．didn’t expect their enrollment of mainland students would be so popular

C．have strict enrollment rules and only 1out of 48 students can get the chance to study there

D．are proud of their teaching staff and facilities

6 . I think I’m one of the luckiest people in the world because of the time I’m able to spend with young people who are not afraid to show their excitement and zest for life. _______ , I would prefer a person with passion and enthusiasm to a person with _______ and talent any day of the week. You can teach and develop skills, _______ you cannot develop a love of life and an optimistic attitude. These are _______ of a person and appear at all times during work or play. Furthermore, they are traits that one is born with and they will never _______ them.

As a _______ and an Independent Education and Career Planning Advisor, I _______ too many children and young adults who are on a road to despair unless someone can find a way to change their attitude towards _______ and indeed life itself!

_______ , society has turned out too many children and young that are unwilling to put much __________ or thought into their work. Whenever I come across such people— __________ or old, I’m reminded of a boy who went with his mother on a blueberry picking hike into the __________ . The boy filled his __________ mostly with moss(苔藓) and then covered the moss with a thin layer of blueberries so that it looked __________ . But the next morning, he found the blueberry pie which his mother __________ for him was moss.

So __________, whether you are in school or __________, if you have enthusiasm and if you are__________ to put in consistent effort along with passion, you will receive the __________ . If, on the other hand, you are __________ and prefer to take short-cuts, you should not expect to achieve the same results.

1.

A．Obviously

B．Personally

C．Luckily

D．Quickly

2.

A．skills

B．ideas

C．kindness

D．courage

3.

A．or

B．for

C．but

D．if

4.

A．choices

B．requests

C．appearances

D．characters

5.

A．use

B．deserve

C．lose

D．cherish

6.

A．journalist

B．doctor

C．colleague

D．teacher

7.

A．search for

B．come across

C．care about

D．depend on

8.

A．learning

B．donating

C．speaking

D．greeting

9.

A．Eventually

B．Unfortunately

C．Hopefully

D．Perfectly

10.

A．equipment

B．information

C．effort

D．possession

11.

A．innocent

B．young

C．poor

D．stupid

12.

A．woods

B．corner

C．park

D．market

13.

A．mouth

B．pan

C．basket

D．hand

14.

A．delicious

B．beautiful

C．clean

D．full

15.

A．collected

B．baked

C．kept

D．bought

16.

A．promise

B．guess

C．remember

D．look

17.

A．in danger

B．in distance

C．in hospital

D．at work

18.

A．willing

B．confident

C．proud

D．careful

19.

A．crop

B．trust

C．votes

D．rewards

20.

A．lazy

B．busy

C．curious

D．stubborn

7 . China is now sending more college students to study in the United States than any other country. A new report shows a 23 percent increase in the number of Chinese students coming to the U.S.
The latest edition of the annual Institute of International Education (IIE) and another US institute found a 5 percent rise in the number of international university students in the US compared to one year ago. There are now over 157, 000 Chinese students at U.S. colleges and universities.
Asia accounted for four of the top five countries and regions to take advantage of the US higher education system. “Increased numbers of students from China, particularly at the undergraduate level, largely accounts for the growth this past year,” the report stated. “They really enroll in a full range of US higher education,” said Peggy Blumenthal, senior counselor to the president of IIE, the group that made the report. “20 years ago, students from China only knew of a handful of US institutions, but now, they are enrolling in our community colleges, in our small liberal arts institutions, in the research universities. Really spread across the country,” she said.
Chinese mainland was in the number one spot, while India was the number two country of origin. South Korea was the third and Canada was number four. China’s Taiwan held the number five spot. Saudi Arabia was in sixth with a 44-percent increase, while Japan was seventh, down 14 percent.
Blumenthal associates the increase in the number of Chinese students heading to US colleges to limited university places in China, as well as a feeling from students and their parents than they want a “unique” educational experience. China’s family planning policy, says Blumenthal, has also meant that families can concentrate resources on a single child.
The University of California at Los Angeles has one of the largest Asian student populations of any college in the United States.
1. Which ranked the third place sharing US higher education?

A．Saudi Arabia	B．South Korea
C．Canada	D．India

2. Why is the number of Chinese students going to the US increasing?

A．The US colleges are better than those in China.

B．Each family in China has only one child.

C．China lacks enough educational resources.

D．Chinese students can enter varieties of US colleges.

3. Which of the following is right according to Peggy Blumenthal?

A．The number of Chinese students going to the US has increased by 23%.

B．The University of California has contributed to Asian education greatly.

C．Chinese student populations in the US mainly consist of undergraduates.

D．Chinese students know more about US higher education than before.

4. The best title for the passage can be ________.

A．Chinese College Students Rush to US Schools

B．The Large Number of Chinese Students in the US

C．Chinese Students Make Up Largely Foreign Students in the US

D．Asian Middle School Students in the US Universities

8 . In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition which she won last year.
As a writer, I know about winning contests – and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection letter from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and destroyed hopes can resurface in our children.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
1. What do we learn from the first paragraph?

A．A lot of amusements compete for children’s time nowadays.

B．Children have lots of fun doing mindless activities.

C．Rebecca is much too busy to enjoy her leisure time.

D．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A．She was constantly under pressure to write more.

B．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D．Her road to success was full of pain and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A．She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

B．She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

C．She wanted to share her stories with readers.

D．She had won a prize in the previous contest.

4. The underlined sentence probably means that the author was _______.

A．trying not to let her daughter enjoy her own life

B．trying to get her daughter to do the thing as the author wished

C．making sure that her daughter would win the contest

D．helping her daughter develop real skills for writing

9 . Four Habits to Help You Succeed

We will want to succeed, whether it’s in losing weight or learning the guitar. For those who have tried and failed, success seems difficult to understand. Why does one person succeed where another person fails?     1    

1. Identify your core (核心) values.

Finding your core values is in line with creating inner motivation.     2     Pick a handful of things and actually write them down. Remind yourself of your values every day, and reflect on whether you are honoring those values through your work.

2. Pick a goal and focus on it.

Choose one goal to start something large enough that will give you a sense of achievement, while adjusting well to your core values. Focus is key here.     3     If you perform many tasks at a time, you might never complete your projects because they will take far too long.

3. Set a deadline for success.

Set a date for success. Identify when you hope to achieve your goal.     4     By setting a time limit, you are making the process more real.

4.     5    

Failure can’t be avoided when you take risks. Many people give up far too early. Use failure. Treat it as a good thing, and march on!

A．The more focused you are on one goal, the higher chance you have of success.

B．Make the right decision.

C．I’ve made a list of four habits to help you set goals and achieve them.

D．Stick to your goal.

E．Keep it realistic, while not giving you too much time.

F．Sit and reflect on what you value most.

G．Push yourself to be courageous, and take that next step.

10 . Children start out as natural scientists, eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there’s no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children’s curiosity (好奇). Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about schooling, salary (薪水) and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another in silence. Finally I said, “Now that we’re finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?”

After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper (蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?”

This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, adults typically wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children give more logical (符合逻辑的), complete and creative answers.

Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right” or “Very good”. These words work well when it comes to encouraging good behavior (行为). But in talking about science, quick praise can signal that discussion is over. Instead, keep things going by saying “That’s interesting” or “I’d never thought of it that way before”, or coming up with more questions or ideas.

Never push a child to “Think”. It doesn’t make sense, children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What’s more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target (目标) for your disagreement.

Lastly, show; don’t tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lesson children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass (放大镜), and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water vaporates (蒸发), set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.

1. According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is _______.

A．let them see the world around

B．share the children’s curiosity

C．explain difficult phrases about science

D．supply the children with lab equipment

2. In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the word “lists” could best be replaced by ______.

A．any questions

B．any problems

C．questions from textbooks

D．any number of questions

3. According to the passage, children can answer questions in a more logical, complete and creative way if adults ________.

A．ask them to answer quickly

B．wait for one or two seconds after a question

C．tell them to answer the next day

D．wait at least for three seconds after a question

4. In which of the following paragraph(s) does the author tell us what to say to encourage children in a science discussion?

A．The second and third.

B．The fourth and fifth.

C．The fifth.

D．The seventh.

5. The author mentions all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children’s curiosity except that adults should ________.

A．tell their children stories instead of reciting facts

B．offer their children chances to see things for themselves

C．be patient enough when their children answer questions

D．encourage their children to ask questions of their own