Years ago, the answer certainly would be “Peking or Tsinghua 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 of those HK universities themselves.
How can HK universities shake the steady foundations of Peking and Tsinghua 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 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.
Further more, university students in Hong Kong have a better chance to study abroad as exchange students.
Can mainland top universities like Peking or Tsinghua University 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? 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 thought brought by the enrollment of HK universities. |
| B．Higher education in Hong Kong. |
| C．The competition between HK University and Peking University. |
| D．The fall of mainland universities. |
| A．many students now would love to study aboard 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．Peking university has lost its worldwide reputation. |
| 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 both sides in the end. |
| 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 1 out of 48 students can get the chance to study there |
| D．are proud of their teaching staff and facilities |
| A．Mainland universities should take measures as soon as possible to attract students. |
| B．The opportunities come for top students to study abroad. |
| C．Mainland universities should make full preparations to challenge mainland universities. |
| D．Top students should be offered further education free of charge. |
Recent studies show that a large percentage of teens today are getting their cigarettes from stores, mostly gas stations or convenience stores. As teens continue to be able to buy their own cigarettes, more and more communities begin to punish those who sell cigarettes to the teens.
One community has experienced success in their attempts to stop the sale of tobacco products to children. Woodridge, Illinois, started a program seven years ago which forbade and strictly punished the sale of tobacco products to children. The entire program includes local licensing of vendors (小贩), repeated undercover inspections to see if the sale to children has stopped, and education programs in schools. Woodridge has become a model community as other communities are moving to stop teen tobacco use.
A recent national study showed that 36.5% of females, and 40.8% of males buy their cigarettes from stores, whether it is a gas station or a supermarket. Hopefully, as more and more sellers see the trouble they face if caught selling to children, they will stop selling.
True, tightening down on stores that sell tobacco to children isn’t going to completely stop the problem of teen tobacco use. Teens continue to get them from other sources. But it definitely does prevent their efforts. With more education in schools, and perhaps stronger punishments for teens caught with tobacco, more and more teens will see the problems with the tobacco usage, and will stop the habit.
1. To stop teens from smoking, more and more communities are ________.
| A．punishing those who sell cigarettes to teens more severely |
| B．punishing teens caught with tobacco more severely |
| C．educating those who sell cigarettes about the danger of teen smoking |
| D．stopping the sale of tobacco products in stores |
| A．Local licensing to tobacco sale. | B．Repeated undercover inspections. |
| C．Education programs in schools. | D．Stronger punishment of teens caught smoking. |
| A．teens can only buy cigarettes from gas stations and convenience stores |
| B．more communities have succeeded in stopping teen tobacco use |
| C．More males than females have the habit of smoking in America |
| D．Punishment alone cannot solve the problem of teen tobacco use |
| A．Negative | B．Optimistic | C．Uncertain | D．Uncaring |
3 . Chinese are very generous(慷慨的) when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the U.S. or Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a head start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter.
However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap.
Parents can see that their children’s skills vary, skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today’s children lack self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever.
Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework.
Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and a lot of confidence.
Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.
Title: What Chinese Parents Do in
| Attitude towards Children’s education | ●Chinese are very |
| Measures | ●Never ●Send them to the best schools or abroad. ●Want their children to take |
| Belief | ●The more investment in education, the |
| What they can see in their children | ●Their children skill in some fields with |
| What they can’t see in their children | ●Lack of self-respect and |
| ●Only teach them how to take multi-choice tests and ●Never teach them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever. | |
| How to | ●Only by teaching practical skills, can they succeed in education. |
Literature (文学) is a term used to describe written as well as spoken material. Generally speaking, it is often used to describe anything from creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama and fiction.
Then why read literature, since it is often imaginary and seems unconnected with real life?
A lot of us read literature for pleasure and relaxation. It’s always pleasant to read some interesting books, such as comedies and novels, in our spare time. In a modern life full of pressure, it is our common desire to read some imaginary works and seek relaxation from the stress in life.
Reading literature is more than fun; it also enables us to get knowledge. As a general rule, literature stands for a language or a people, and it often gives us an insight (洞察力) into the traditions, customs, beliefs, attitudes and values of the age in which it was written.
Sometimes literature can even offer us new, creative ways to have a better understanding of the world. It helps us make sense of the world around us. It introduces us to new worlds of experiences. We enjoy the comedy and the tragedy of poems, stories and plays; and we may even grow through our literary journey with books. Finally, we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he/she says it. In a sense, we explore the human condition and analyze (分析) how and why people think the way they think and feel the way they feel. Literature enables us to think analytically and promotes (促进) open minds. We see the world through the eyes of different cultures and in turn learn the ways to deal with things that happen around.
So we can definitely say literature is of great importance to us. Why not get going with one poem, drama or fiction at once?
| Topic | |
| Definition | It describes anything, whether written or spoken, by using |
| Types | |
· To get pleasure and relaxation to get rid of pressure in · To get · To offer people ways to understand · To help us think analytically and make us | |
| Suggestion | Reading literature. |
5 . In the college-admissions wars, we parents are the true fighters. We’re pushing our kids to get good grades, take SAT preparatory courses and build resumes so they can get into the college of our first choice. I’ve twice been to the wars, and as I survey the battlefield, something different is happening. We see our kids’ college background as a prize demonstrating how well we’ve raised them. But we can’t acknowledge that our obsession (痴迷) is more about us than them. So we’ve created various justifications (辩解) that turn out to be half-truths, prejudices or myths. It actually doesn’t matter much whether Aaron and Nicole go to Stanford.
We have a full-developed panic; we worry that there won’t be enough prizes to go around. Fearful parents urge their children to apply to more schools than ever. What causes the hysteria (歇斯底里) is the belief that scarce elite (精英) degrees must be highly valuable. Their graduates must enjoy more success because they get a better education and develop better contacts. All seems right but mostly wrong. We haven’t found any convincing evidence that selectivity or prestige matters. Selective schools don’t systematically employ better instructional approaches than less selective schools. On two measures—professors’ feedback and the number of essay exams selective schools do slightly worse.
By some studies, selective schools do enhance (提高) their graduates’ lifetime earnings. The gain is reckoned at 2-4% for every 100-point increase in a school’s average SAT scores. But even this advantage is probably a statistical fluke (偶然). A well-known study examined students who got into highly selective schools and then went elsewhere. They earned just as much as graduates from higher-status schools.
Kids count more than their colleges. Getting into Yale may signify intelligence, talent and ambition. But it’s not the only indicator and, surprisingly, its significance is declining. The reason: so many similar people go elsewhere. Getting into college is not life’s only competition. In the next competition—the job market and graduate school—the results may change. Princeton economist Alan Krueger studied admissions to one top Ph.D. program. High scores on the GRE helped explain who got in; degrees of famous universities didn’t.
So, parents, take it easy(lighten up). The stakes (利害关系) have been vastly exaggerated. Up to a point, we can rationalize our pushiness. America is a competitive society; our kids need to adjust to that. But too much pushiness can be destructive. The very ambition we impose on our children may get some into Harvard but may also set them up for disappointment. One study found that, other things being equal, graduates of highly selective schools experienced more job dissatisfaction. They may have been so conditioned to being on top that anything less disappoints.
1. Why does the author say that parents are the true fighters in the college-admissions wars?| A．They have the final say in which university their children are to attend. |
| B．They know best which universities are most suitable for their children. |
| C．They have to carry out intensive surveys of colleges before children make an application. |
| D．They care more about which college their children go to than the children themselves. |
| A．They want to increase their children’s chances of entering a prestigious college. |
| B．They hope their children can enter a university that offers attractive scholarships. |
| C．Their children will have a wider choice of which college to go to. |
| D．Elite universities now enroll fewer student than they used to. |
| A．Continuing education is more important to a person’s success. |
| B．A person’s happiness should be valued more than their education. |
| C．Kids’ actual abilities are more important than their college background. |
| D．What kids learn at college cannot keep up with job market requirements. |
| A．Getting into Ph.D. programs may be more competitive than getting into college. |
| B．Degrees of prestigious universities do not guarantee entry to graduate programs. |
| C．Graduates from prestigious universities do not care much about their GRE scores. |
| D．Connections built in prestigious universities may be kept long after graduation. |
| A．they earn less than their peers from other institutions |
| B．they turn out to be less competitive in the job market |
| C．they experience more job dissatisfaction after graduation |
| D．they overemphasize their qualifications in job application |
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 Peking or Tsinghua 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 for students in China is.
Years ago, the answer certainly would be “Peking or Tsinghua 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 of those HK universities themselves.
How can HK universities shake the steady foundations of Peking and Tsinghua 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 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 Peking or Tsinghua University 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? 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 thought brought by the enrollment of HK universities. |
| B．Higher education in Hong Kong. |
| C．The competition between HK University and Peking University. |
| D．The fall of mainland universities. |
| 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．Peking university has lost its worldwide reputation |
| 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 1 out of 48 students can get the chance to study there |
| D．are proud of their teaching staff and facilities |
| A．Mainland universities should take measures as soon as possible to attract students. |
| B．The opportunities come for top students to study abroad. |
| C．Mainland universities should make full preparations to challenge HK universities. |
| D．Top students should be offered further education free of charge. |
Because they follow the actions of their role models so closely, children adopt the personality and attitude of their role models. Children learn to like or dislike certain things by mimicking the personality and attitude of the people they admire.
One reason why children keep changing their answers to “what would you like to be when you grow up” is that they are influenced by individuals in a certain field.
Children view the social relationships (family or public) mainly in the light of the importance these relationships hold in the life of their role models. Their expression of their feelings is many times a reflection of their role model’s outlook.
According to a study, around 56% of teenagers identified with the role models. Out of these, those having personal or direct contact with their role models had higher self-esteem and were better at academics compared to those who didn’t. As such, children who have positive role models, have more self-confidence and are more optimistic about their future. They learn to handle themselves well in social settings and positively interact with those around them.
Of course, children who have their parents as positive role models have a well-rounded outlook towards life. They find it easier to deal with the highs and lows of life because they have seen their parents do it before. They find a sense of stability and security knowing that they will overcome failures just like their parents before them. Besides, it becomes easier for parents to discipline and guide children. So it is no wonder why children who have parents as their role models have fewer behavioral issues.
1. This article is mainly about______.
| A．the importance of role models to children |
| B．how to be a good role model for children |
| C．the relation between role models and children |
| D．how to change children’s personality and attitude |
| A．studying | B．accepting |
| C．changing | D．imitating |
| A．there is a decrease in children’s self-esteem |
| B．there are fewer children better at academics |
| C．children may have a strong desire to succeed |
| D．children may feel more optimistic about their future |
| A．children’s behavioral issues are serious |
| B．people should learn the latest studies on role models |
| C．parents should set a good example for children |
| D．teaching children strategies for security is important |
Some students will have planned their year out for months, but, for others, slipped grades may force a gap year（间隔年）, either to retake exams or to apply to different universities. Others might just need time to think. Thankfully, for U.K. students, taking a gap year remains a good option and it can be one of the most productive and fulfilling years of their life.
Whether you’ve planned and budgeted for a year abroad, or have made a last-minute decision to delay your first year, the options are endless. Traveling, volunteering and so on are all there for the talking. With so many things on offer, it’s important to remember that 12 months won’t be enough time to do all of them, so decide early and work towards making whatever you want to do a reality.
Researching a gap year is exciting, and often the place to start is at home. Family and friends can be a great source of inspiration. Your school or college might be fully equipped to advise you on what to do when further education is on hold. Don’t underestimate（低估）the power of the Internet, either. Typing a “gap year” into a search engine might seem too obvious, but planning to travel around the world for months on your own is not appropriate.
To stay at home or go abroad is likely to be the first question you consider, but in this era of budget flights, doing both is practicable. A European inter-rail ticket（火车票）can be as little as £ 159. For those loving traveling, they must be on the special watchfulness for tricks in the process. Agencies can organize your year abroad for you, and often, it is more effective to make the bookings through the agencies. But flights and other forms of transport within Asia and America are much cheaper when bought in the countries rather than bought in advance.
1. According to Paragraph 2, why do some students have to take a gap year?
| A．Because they are faced with financial problems. |
| B．Because they dislike what they are learning . |
| C．Because they haven’t got satisfying grades. |
| D．Because they intend to hang out for a year. |
| A．taken in | B．put off |
| C．given up | D．turned out |
| A．Few students can afford to go abroad. |
| B．Traveling around Europe costs nothing. |
| C．It’s better to go to Asia and south America. |
| D．Travellers should make sure they aren’t cheated. |
| A．supportive | B．negative |
| C．defensive | D．sensitive |
In her new book, “The Smartest Kids in the World,” Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Warsaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students’ test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored(超过……分数) American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Warsaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind.
That American high schools waste more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities. This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment(PISA) results are announced, it’s safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers.
Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader—a mother with three children in the school—was asked about the school’s flaws(瑕疵). When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned. “Really?” one of them asked worriedly, “What do you mean?”
One of the ironies(讽刺) of the situation is that sports reveal what is possible. American kids’ performance on the field shows just how well they can do when expectations are high. It’s too bad that their test scores show the same thing.
1. According to Paragraph 2, we know that _______.| A．too much importance is placed on sports in America |
| B．little time is spent on sports in Japanese schools |
| C．American high schools complain about sports time |
| D．PISA plays a very important role in America |
| A．American students’ academic performance worries their parents a lot |
| B．high expectations push up American students’ academic performance |
| C．low expectations result in American students’ poor PISA performance |
| D．lacking practice contributes to American students’ average performance |
| A．draw public attention to a weakness in American school tradition |
| B．call on American schools to learn from the Polish model |
| C．compare Polish schools with those in America |
| D．explain what is wrong with American schools and provide solutions |
10 . In America, parents tend to encourage their children to develop their potential (潜能) to the fullest extent. Fathers and mothers frequently teach their children both ambition and the confidence necessary to work toward their goals. American parents are always active in concentrating on what their kids can do, not what they can’t. As a result, millions of American boys and girls grow up hoping to become actors and athletes, diplomats and doctors. Many of them even want to become president.
American parents often encourage their children to become involved in extra activities of all types at school, such as student government, sports and music. They believe that only through taking part in these activities can their children become mature young adults.
As we all know, school work is important. But parents should realize that the social skills their children learn from natural conversations with each other are as important as schoolwork and the skills they will need in the future work. What’s more important in their work is that their children should have a sound knowledge of physics or the ability to communicate effectively.
As a rule, Chinese parents don’t educate their children about the same kind of ambition and confidence as Americans do, nor do they encourage the same level of participation in extra activities. Children are typically advised to study hard and pass exams. They have to spend a lot of time in doing much schoolwork every day. It is a great waste of time to do so.
Now more and more Chinese parents have recognized that they should pay attention to developing the potential of their children. I hope that leaders in Chinese educational circles should take some measures to develop the potential of their children. I am very confident about it.
1. From the passage, we know the American parents pay much more attention to .| A．the social skills than Chinese parents |
| B．their children’s studying hard and well |
| C．what their children want but they can’t |
| D．extra activities than schoolwork |
| A．know more than American parents to educate their children |
| B．owning ambition and confidence is necessary and important |
| C．pay much more attention to their children’s fine future |
| D．don’t encourage their children to participate in extra activities |
| A．American children are brave and adventurous |
| B．American children are more active in their studies |
| C．Chinese children have the ability to communicate effectively |
| D．something should be done to develop the potential of the children in China |
| A．Neutral. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
