1 . During my freshman year at Brooklyn College, credit card companies were eager to earn the business of students.
Poor credit
To make the class as
We, educators, can help young people
Financial literacy shouldn’t be optional because it puts those without it at a significant
| A．Attracted | B．Sponsored | C．Required | D．Dominated |
| A．conditions | B．benefits | C．consequences | D．processes |
| A．Displaying | B．Maintaining | C．Abandoning | D．Lacking |
| A．However | B．Therefore | C．Otherwise | D．Instead |
| A．secure | B．guarantee | C．request | D．settle |
| A．turned | B．guided | C．followed | D．tricked |
| A．independence | B．responsibility | C．achievement | D．identity |
| A．touching | B．surprising | C．engaging | D．inspiring |
| A．words | B．titles | C．courses | D．topics |
| A．posing | B．considering | C．examining | D．tackling |
| A．search for | B．pay for | C．prepare for | D．care for |
| A．questions | B．paths | C．examples | D．resources |
| A．easier | B．cheaper | C．safer | D．stricter |
| A．distance | B．disadvantage | C．point | D．corner |
| A．duties | B．abilities | C．ambitions | D．experiences |
2 . We believe that there is more to education than preparation for a job. Children must be prepared for all aspects(方面) of their future work, personal relationships, creative activities, dealing with money matters, independence, and parenthood.
But it would be unrealistic(不现实的) to provide an education which took no consideration of the needs of employers.
What type of training does the business world regard as important?
Many young people applying for jobs were, in the employers’ opinions, very weak in the basic skills of handwriting, grammar and spelling. “Though additional education at university level improved the students’ general ability,” a report states, “in basic skills the standards remained stubbornly low.”
There are different opinions about whether standards have gone down in recent years. What is certain is that employers do not believe the standards are now high enough. Do technological changes make greater demands upon the students’ abilities?
We should also remember that the job expectations of young people have increased. Girls who would have once become shop assistants or hairdressers now want to be secretaries. Boys who sought an apprenticeship (学徒工作) 20 years ago now desire to have an engineering degree. But it is still the same girls and boys with the same degree of ability. No wonder there are problems in reaching the “necessary standards” of the business world.
Many employers believe that it is important for teachers to have experience outside the world of college and school. They should work for a while at some other kinds of job “to see how the world of business is different from their own”. The teaching occupation and society in general need a greater understanding of manpower needs and therefore of “the desired” direction of the education system.
1. The article mainly talks about _________.| A．no education among young people |
| B．meeting the educational requirements of employment |
| C．the problem of unemployment |
| D．the weaker standards of education |
| A．pay more attention to students’ academic ability |
| B．only meet the needs of employment |
| C．be suitable to all aspects of being an adult, including employment |
| D．center on grammar |
| A．those who are likely to be unemployed |
| B．those who have just left middle school |
| C．those who are looking for jobs far beyond their abilities |
| D．those who might have become shop assistants, hairdressers and apprentices in the past |
| A．never change their jobs | B．improve their teaching methods |
| C．spend more time on their school work | D．get some work experience outside school |
3 . As countless unmade beds and unfinished homework assignments prove, kids need rules. Yet how parents make demands can powerfully influence a child’s social skills, psychologists at the University of Virginia recently found after the conclusion on a study investigating the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Initially 184 13-year-olds filled out multiple surveys, including one to assess how often their parents employed psychologically controlling strategies, such as threatening to withdraw affection. The kids rated, for example how typical it would be for Dad to suggest that “if I really cared for him, I would not do things that caused him to worry” or for Mom to become “less friendly when I did not see things her way.”
The researchers followed up with the subjects at ages 18 and 21, asking the young adults to bring along a close friend. These pairs were asked to answer questions that were purposefully written to cause a difference of opinion. “We wanted to see whether they could handle a disagreement in a healthy way,” says study leader Barbara Oudekerk, now at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Statistics.
In the October issue of Child Development, Oudekerk and her colleagues report that the 13-year-olds who had highly controlling parents floundered in friendly disagreements at age 18. They had difficulty stating their opinions in a confident, reasoned manner in comparison to the kids without controlling parents. And when they did speak up, they often failed to express themselves in warm and productive ways.
The researchers suspect that controlling parents affect their child’s ability to learn how to argue his or her own viewpoint in other relationships. Although parents do need to set boundaries， dominating strategies imply that any disagreement will damage the bond itself. Separate findings suggest that parents who explain the reasons behind their rules and turn disagreements into conversations leave youngsters better prepared for future disagreements.
The consequences of tense or dominating relationships appear to worsen with time. This study also found that social difficulties at 18 predicted even poorer communication abilities at age 21. Psychologist Shmuel Shulman of Bar-llan University in Israel, who did not participate in the work, thinks these conclusions convincingly reveal how relationship patterns “carry forward” into new friendships.
1. What did the researchers from the University of Virginia do in their research?| A．They asked kids about how they got along with their parents. |
| B．They surveyed some parents about what rules kids needed. |
| C．They inquired into what the kids’ friends thought of them. |
| D．They traced their subjects for nearly eight years. |
| A．struggled with | B．dealt with | C．looked over | D．took over |
| A．Shmuel Shulman thinks more evidence is needed for the new research. |
| B．Controlling parents’ influence on their kids gets stronger as time goes by. |
| C．21-year-olds are more eager to be free of parents’ control than 18-year-olds. |
| D．Kids can handle disagreement better if their parents get along well with each other. |
| A．Pushy parents could harm their kids’ social skills. |
| B．Kids should learn what friendly disagreements are. |
| C．Parents; affection matters in terms of kids; personality. |
| D．Few parents explain the reasons why they set boundaries. |
4 . It is true that people with better education are usually able to get better paying jobs. In other words, they have more chances to choose a good job while people with little or no education don’t. It seems that the purpose of education is to make people get jobs. But this isn’t accepted by all people.
Some people may think that a person should spend the best years of his life to get education only for a way of living. This was probably one of the earliest reasons of education. In fact, if education is just a way of making a living, people don’t need to spend so much time in school. People can get education for a living in a short time. Subjects like history and geography need not be taught to everyone. Even languages and mathematics need not be taught in detail, either. Here it is clear that education is much more than teaching a man to get a way of living.
Education is well-rounded and it is mainly for improving a man. It is not only to teach him to speak, read and write, but also to develop his creative thinking and other abilities. After that, it is to make him a wise man and thankfully enjoy the achievements of humans. Education is to make a man lead a better life. Educated people are expected to be able to listen to good music, read good books, watch plays, and most of all, take an interest in the world.
I would agree that making a good living is an important reason for education, but certainly not the most important or the main reason.
1. People with little education usually ________ .| A．spend a long time in school |
| B．have a good chance to get a job |
| C．spend the best years to choose jobs |
| D．have fewer chances to get a good job |
| A．make a man lead a better life |
| B．teach a man to write and think |
| C．make people get a way of living |
| D．teach people to read good books |
| A．accept education as a way of living |
| B．take an interest in the whole world |
| C．develop their abilities to make plays |
| D．learn subjects like languages and maths |
| A．education should make a man improve |
| B．people can get education in a short time |
| C．people should be able to get better paying jobs |
| D．all subjects are so important for a way of living |
5 . In the United States and other countries, schoolchildren have long learned from one kind of world map. It is called the Mercator projection. This version of map is more than 450 years old. Gerardus Mercator, a European mapmaker, designed it for the purpose of helping sailors and ships on the high seas.
But map experts say the Mercator projection should not be used in schools. They say it does not correctly show the sizes of countries and continents. For example, Mercator maps make Greenland appear bigger than China. In fact, China is about four times larger than Greenland.
Now, school officials in Massachusetts are replacing the Mercator map with the Peters projection. German historian Arno Peters worked on the projection in the 1970s. Peters’ aim was to fix Mercator’s problems with sizes.
Seeing a Peters map for the first time can be a strange experience. Land masses may look stretched (拉伸的) compared to how they look on the Mercator s and some other world maps.
Every map has its purpose. At first, the main purpose of Gerardus Mercator’s map was to help sailors get across the open seas without getting lost. When the Mercator map is used for other purposes than navigating (航行), such as on classroom walls as a representation of the real world, that’s like using a telephone to brush your teeth. The aim of the Peters projection was to show all countries, all regions, all continents, at their own actual sizes.
The Mercator and Peters projections are just two of many kinds of world maps that may hang in school classrooms. Many public schools in China, for example, use a map that shows East Asia near the center. It is human nature to view one’s own place near the center of the world. Mercator himself put Germany—his adopted homeland—near the middle of his map.
Maps are powerful tools. And the map from which students learn about the world can make a big difference in their understanding of others.
1. Why is the Mercator projection said to be unfit for school use?| A．It was designed too long ago. | B．It can’t provide exact information. |
| C．It doesn’t suit the changing world. | D．It only shows the position of the seas. |
| A．To correct the mistakes in the Mercator map. | B．To help students learn about geography. |
| C．To take the place of the Mercator map. | D．To compete with the Mercator map. |
| A．Different characters of their makers. | B．Different realization of the world. |
| C．Their different purposes. | D．Their different times. |
| A．They should put one’s country in the center. | B．They should be the most advanced ones. |
| C．They are the most important materials. | D．They have a great effect on students. |
6 . It’s a joyful and stressful time of year in the United States for students and their families as they make decisions about where to attend college. Families often turn to rankings systems to help make a decision.
When I talk to families as a scholar of higher education, they’re often surprised that teaching excellence is not counted in rankings.
Emerging research suggests that courses in lower-ranked universities, on average, scored higher on teaching than courses in higher-ranked universities.
Rankings, however, are only one reason why a low value is placed on teaching in higher education. Administrators often don’t view teaching excellence as a way to increase enrolment (注册) or funding.
What should students and their families do? They should give strong consideration to universities where high-quality teaching is valued, even though the schools may be ranked lower.
| A．Higher education has achieved its true potential. |
| B．Therefore, it’s not highly valued in hiring or promotion. |
| C．Quality teaching has been an important reputation-building factor. |
| D．However, the rankings ignore a critical factor: the quality of teaching. |
| E．Efforts to improve teaching at the university level have recently emerged. |
| F．They’re even more surprised at how teaching is undervalued by universities. |
| G．In fact, universities often shift emphasis from teaching to other ranking factors. |
7 . Gifted students in the Wichita Falls Independent School District in Texas had the opportunity to travel to STEM facilities and learn coding and other technical skills, but the transportation is not convenient. “We just started talking about, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we were able to design a mobile STEM lab? ’ ”says Dr. Peter E. Griffiths, the district’s associate superintendent. Educators soon realized that they could retrofit an old bus into a mobile STEM lab, which would provide increased access to career and technical education (CTE) experiences for students.
Districts sold off buses when the vehicles became too old. Griffiths and his colleagues decided to retrofit one of those old vehicles. “Give me your ‘best worst’ bus,” Griffiths said to the transportation department. Soon the process of transforming began. Griffiths reached out to Reuben Rodriguez, the owner of a local car company, and explained what they wanted to do. Rodriguez agreed to work with the district on the price on condition that they could send CTE students to lend a hand with some of the building work. And bringing the bus from the dream stage to fruition has taken a lot of joint efforts of educators and the community.
Called STEAM Machine, the bus looks like a device from a video game or a real-life Lego truck, and rides as a mobile maker space. “It has two touch screen TVs outside. It comes complete with drones and drone obstacle courses that will help students learn about coding in an enjoyable way,” Griffiths says. “Those are things that a lot of these kids have never experienced before.”
To drive the bus, the district has hired a retiring teacher who will take the bus to various schools and engage in different lessons with students and educators. “We were so concerned about kids losing out on experiences before, and this is a solution. We aren’t going to let this go. The STEAM Machine will be equipped with all the necessary materials and resources, and it may change the way students learn and engage with their education,” Griffiths said.
1. What is the main purpose of the mobile STEM lab?| A．To develop students’ interest in STEM research. |
| B．To replace traditional school buses with electric ones. |
| C．To provide fun activities for students during long trips |
| D．To enable students to get more learning chances. |
| A．Educators needed to pay him in advance. |
| B．Some students could help with the building work. |
| C．The old bus should be equipped with high technology. |
| D．The district must provide him with necessary materials. |
| A．It brings students fun learning experiences. |
| B．It awakens students’ curiosity about bus driving. |
| C．It protects students’ health with its special design. |
| D．It saves students’ time by reducing traffic on the road. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Worried. | C．Hopeful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Safe and long-lasting. | B．Fashionable and comfortable. |
| C．Creative and educational. | D．Cheap and eco-friendly. |
1. 简述图画内容;
2. 介绍你对图画主题的理解;
3. 结合生活实际谈谈你的感想。
要求：1. 100字左右;
2. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
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9 . Working out exactly what students and taxpayers get for the money they spend on universities is a tricky business. Now the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), a Paris-based think-tank for rich countries, is planning to make the task a bit easier, by producing the first international comparison of how successfully universities teach.
“Rather than assuming that because a university spends more it must be better, or using other proxy measures for quality, we will look at learning outcomes,” explains Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s head of education research. Just as the OECD assesses primary and secondary education by testing randomly chosen groups of youngsters from each country in reading and mathematics, it will sample university students to see what they have learned. Once enough universities are taking part, it may publish league tables showing where each country stands, just as it now does for compulsory education. That may produce a fairer assessment than the two established rankings, though the British one does try to broaden its inquiry by taking opinions from academics and employers.
There is much to be said for the OECD’s approach. Of course a Nobel laureate’s view on where to study may be worth hearing, but those professors may be so busy writing and researching that they spend little or no time teaching—a big weakness at America’s famous universities. And changes in methodology can bring surprising shifts. The high-flying London School of Economics, for example, tumbled(暴跌)from 17th to 59th in the British rankings published last week, primarily because it got less credit than in previous years for the impressive number of foreign students it had managed to attract.
The OECD plan awaits approval from an education ministers’ meeting in January. The first rankings are planned by 2021. They will be of interest not just as a guide for shoppers in the global market, but also as indicators of performance in domestic markets. They will help academics wondering whether to stay put or switch jobs, students choosing where to spend their time and money, and ambitious university bosses who want a sharper competitive edge for their institution.
The task the OECD has set itself is formidable. In many subjects, such as literature and history, the syllabus varies hugely from one country, and even one campus, to another. But OECD researchers think that problem can be overcome by concentrating on the transferable skills that employers value, such as critical thinking and analysis, and testing subject knowledge only in fields like economics and engineering, with a big common core.
Moreover, says Mr Schleicher, it is a job worth doing. Today’s rankings, he believes, do not help governments assess whether they get a return on the money they give universities to teach their undergraduates. Students overlook second-rank institutions in favour of big names, even though the less grand may be better at teaching. Worst of all, ranking by reputation allows famous places to coast along, while making life hard for feisty upstarts. “We will not be reflecting a university’s history,” says Mr Schleicher, “but asking: what is a global employer looking for?” A fair question, even if not every single student’s destiny is to work for a multinational firm.
1. The project by OECD is aimed to__________.| A．assess primary and secondary education of each school that subscribe to the service |
| B．appraise the learning outcomes of university students as part of their academic performance |
| C．establish a new evaluation system for universities |
| D．set up a new ranking for compulsory education |
| A．that its inquiry is broader as to include all the students and staff |
| B．that its samples are chosen randomly based on statistical analysis of method |
| C．that it attaches more importance to the learning efficiency |
| D．that it takes opinions from the students to see what they have learnt |
| A．the OECD’s approach is very fair |
| B．the Nobel laureate’s opinion is not worth hearing |
| C．the British rankings pay more attention to the foreign students |
| D．different assessment methods may lead to different ranking results |
| A．parents who pay for the children’s secondary education |
| B．the famous colleges |
| C．those ambitious second-rank institutions |
| D．shoppers in the global market |
10 . Turning soil, pulling weeds, and harvesting cabbage sound like tough work for middle and high school kids. And at first it is, says Abby Jaramillo, who with another teacher started Urban Sprouts, a school garden program at four low-income schools. The program aims to help students develop science skills, environmental awareness, and healthy lifestyles.
Jaramillo’s students live in neighborhoods where fresh food and green space are not easy to find and fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores. “The kids literally come to school with bags of snacks and large bottles of soft drinks,” she says. “They come to us thinking vegetables are awful, dirt is awful, insects are awful.” Though some are initially scared of the insects and turned off by the dirt, most are eager to try something new.
Urban Sprouts’ classes, at two middle schools and two high schools, include hands-on experiments such as soil testing, flower-and-seed dissection, tastings of fresh or dried produce, and work in the garden. Several times a year, students cook the vegetables they grow, and they occasionally make salads for their entire schools.
Program evaluations show that kids eat more vegetables as a result of the classes. “We have students who say they went home and talked to their parents and now they’re eating differently,” Jaramillo says.
She adds that the program’s benefits go beyond nutrition. Some students get so interested in gardening that they bring home seeds to start their own vegetable gardens. Besides, working in the garden seems to have a calming effect on Jaramillo’s special education students, many of whom have emotional control issues. “They get outside,” she says, “and they feel successful.”
1. What do we know about Abby Jaramillo?| A．She used to be a health worker. | B．She grew up in a low-income family. |
| C．She owns a fast food restaurant. | D．She is an initiator of Urban Sprouts. |
| A．The kids’ parents distrusted her. | B．Students had little time for her classes. |
| C．Some kids disliked garden work. | D．There was no space for school gardens. |
| A．Far-reaching. | B．Predictable. |
| C．Short-lived. | D．Unidentifiable. |
| A．Rescuing School Gardens | B．Experiencing Country Life |
| C．Growing Vegetable Lovers | D．Changing Local Landscape |
