But now 400 organizations in the UK, from playgroups to the National Health Service, are encouraging children to have some “wild time”. They want kids to swap at least 30 minutes of watching TV or playing computer games for time playing outside. Activities such as building dens, climbing trees, rummaging for conkers and playing hide and seek are just some of the things kids can do. Even if they live in a city, they can go on adventures in the garden or the park.
Children often need a helping hand from mom and dad. They need to be shown what to do and where to go. Andy Simpson from National Health Service says, “We want parents to see what this magical wonder product does for their kids’ development, independence and creativity, by giving wild time a go”.
So despite the complicated world that young people grow up in now, it seems that going back to basics and experiencing “nature’s playground” is what modern children need. David Bond from Project Wild Thing says, “We need to make more space for wild time in children’s daily routine, freeing this generation of kids to have the sort of experiences that many of us took for granted”.
This might sound a bit old fashioned to you or maybe, like me, it’s made you think about sticking on your boots, getting outdoors and reliving your childhood. There is no age limit on enjoying yourself!
1. What is the best title of the text?
| A．Wild time for children |
| B．Benefits of wild time |
| C．More space for children |
| D．Adventures of children |
| A．building dens |
| B．climbing trees |
| C．playing hide and seek |
| D．watching TV |
| A．wild time is hard to design |
| B．wild time is beneficial to children |
| C．parents know the importance of wild time |
| D．parents like keeping their children indoors. |
2 . On June 17, 1774, the officials from Maryland and Virginia held a talk with the Indians of the Six Nations. The Indians were invited to send boys to William and Mary College. In a letter the next day they refused the offer as follows:
We know that you have a high opinion of the kind of learning taught in your colleges, and that the costs of living of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced that you mean to do us good by your proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you must know that different nations have different ways of looking at things, and you will therefore not be offended if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same as yours. We have had some experience of it. Several of our young people were formerly brought up at the college of the northern provinces: they were taught all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad manners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods — they were totally good for nothing.
We are, however, not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we refuse to accept it; and, to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take care of their education, teach them all we know, and make men of them.
1. The passage is about ____.| A．the talk between the Indians and the officials |
| B．the colleges of the northern provinces |
| C．the educational values of the Indians |
| D．the problems of the Americans in the mid-eighteen century |
| A．express their opinions on equal treatment |
| B．politely refuse a friendly offer |
| C．show their pride |
| D．describe Indian customs |
| A．it would be better for their boys to receive some schooling |
| B．they were being insulted by the offer |
| C．they knew more about science than the officials |
| D．they had better way of educating young men |
| A．young women should also be educated |
| B．they had different goals of education |
| C．they taught different branches of science |
| D．they should teach the sons of the officials first |
3 . Parents feel that it is difficult to live with teenagers. Then again, teenagers have
The research, conducted by St. George University, shows that different parents have different
Psychologists say that
| A．natural | B．strong | C．guilty | D．similar |
| A．interest | B．argument | C．link | D．knowledge |
| A．noisy | B．crowded | C．messy | D．locked |
| A．homework | B．housework | C．problem | D．research |
| A．washing | B．using | C．dropping | D．replacing |
| A．approaches | B．contributions | C．introductions | D．attitudes |
| A．complex | B．popular | C．scientific | D．successful |
| A．later | B．deliberately | C．seldom | D．thoroughly |
| A．behavior | B．taste | C．future | D．nature |
| A．failures | B．changes | C．consequences | D．thrills |
| A．defend | B．delay | C．repeat | D．reconsider |
| A．communication | B．bond | C．friendship | D．trust |
| A．reply | B．attend | C．attach | D．talk |
| A．hate | B．scold | C．frighten | D．stop |
| A．loving | B．observing | C．understanding | D．praising |
4 . In Canada and the United States, there is a new group of children called “satellite kids”, who live in one place but whose parents live in another place.
Asians are immigrating to Canada and the United States in larger numbers than ever before.Most Asians immigrate because they believe that they can give their children a better education in the West. In Asia, especially in China, Japan, and Korea, it is difficult to go to university.Students must first pass the strict national examination. However, in Canada and the United States, it is easy to go to university, and anyone who wants to go can go. As a result, Asian parents decide to leave their countries so that their children can go to university.
The problem is that when Asians arrive, they discover that finding a job and making money are more difficult in the West than in the East. Also, they find that they are very lonely, and that they miss their homes.Because of these two reasons, most Asian parents decide to go back to work while their children study in the West. Therefore, these children become “satellite kids”, and most of their parents do not know how sad it is to be a “satellite kid”.
Only until now are Canadians and Americans discovering the “satellite kid” problem. Because these children do not speak English and because their parents are not there to take care of them, they are often absent from school.To be a “satellite kid” means to grow up in a country where you know you are different and where you cannot make friends because you do not speak English well. Also, it means to grow up lonely, because your parents are elsewhere.What these “ satellite kids” will probably say to their parents is that it’s better to have parents around than to have a university education.
1. Some Asian parents send their kids abroad because ________________.| A．they hope their children may easily find a job there |
| B．the kids may not be accepted by universities in their own countries |
| C．all foreign universities are better than the ones in their own countries |
| D．the kids want to improve their English and make foreign friends |
| A．without parents |
| B．living abroad alone |
| C．with university education |
| D．not speaking English |
| A．want to leave their own country |
| B．want them to go to university |
| C．return to their countries to work |
| D．want them to be independent |
| A．Parents want a better education for their kids. |
| B．Parents feel lonely and miss their families. |
| C．Canadians and Americans begin to notice the “satellite kids” problem. |
| D．Kids in foreign countries alone are badly in need of care from families. |
5 . When it comes to President Obama, most of his personal business is already known by the public. Personal information about his children, Malia and Sasha, however, has been kept a little more under wraps.
The New York Times recently released a list of rules that Michelle Obama has mentioned over the years that Malia and Sasha must follow during their time in the White House, as well as in general. See how the first family educates their children:
The girls must write reports about what they’ve seen on their trips, even if it’s not required by their school.
Malia may use her cell phone only on the weekend, and she and her sister cannot watch television or use a computer for anything but homework during the week.
Malia and Sasha have to play two sports: one they choose and one selected by their mother.
Malia must learn to do laundry (洗衣服) before she leaves for college.
The girls have to eat their vegetables, and if they say they are not hungry, they cannot ask for cookies or chips later.
While these might be shocking to some, Michelle said, “They’re not little princesses. It’s just basic rules, boundaries, and expectations that we would have normally.”
Michelle also mentions another set of rules ：
The girls must do their chores (家务), though the White House has a large staff. Malia and Sasha have chores of their own.
They must play a team sport, because it’s about learning how to play on a team, how to lose and how to win gracefully.
…
It sounds like Michelle and Barack want the best for their kids and to make them as well rounded as possible. What are your thoughts on the Obama family rules?
1. What’s the passage mainly about?| A．The first family rules. |
| B．The first family daily life. |
| C．How to be good parents. |
| D．How to be good children. |
| A．Attractive. | B．Secret. |
| C．Calm | D．Public. |
| A．Emails. | B．Reports. |
| C．Homework. | D．Photos. |
| A．To learn to do laundry. |
| B．To play two sports. |
| C．To use cell phone freely. |
| D．To eat their vegetables. |
(注意：信的开头已给出，字数不计算在内。)
Dear editor,
I’m writing to tell you about my opinion on Chinese students going abroad for further studies at an early age.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The main reason for violence acts are the films and cartoons that fill the children’s time. They want to do everything they watch on TV and never think of the consequences, and they may hurt a classmate or a teacher.
On the other hand, parents are not fully satisfied with the children’s results obtained in classes and they consider private classes would have better results.
When a teacher has to watch 30 students in class he can’t probably see what each of them is doing, how he is writing, or if he understands the explanations. At home the teacher can explain in details everything the child doesn’t understand as many times as he considers proper.
And many times the child grows fond of the teacher at home, who becomes his best friend, and who helps him whenever he needs someone to talk to.
However, the best solution would be a mixture between the education received at school and that at home, because school makes children communicate and socialize. Keeping a child at home for fear there might happen something bad to him only makes the child’s character weak and prevents him from knowing what real life is. Staying in a crystal ball only does harm to the child.
All in all, schools have been created to help children, not to harm them, so it’s best to keep children in these special places, where they learn, laugh, have fun and make new friends.
1. The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to ________.
| A．teach parents the ways to keep their children safe |
| B．show solutions to developing children’s character |
| C．explain the main reason for violence acts in schools |
| D．analyze an education problem and give opinions |
| A．Advantages and Disadvantages of Private Classes |
| B．Who is to Blame, Parents or Schools? |
| C．Which Is Better, School Study or Home Study? |
| D．The Relationship between Teachers and Children |
| A．A toy that can be used for entertainment. |
| B．A safe and comfortable environment. |
| C．A round object that is made of crystal. |
| D．An obstacle that is hard to overcome. |
| A．violence TV programs have bad effects on children’s behavior |
| B．the teacher at home is more patient than the teacher at school |
| C．children today are weak from lack of sense of right and wrong |
| D．there are too many students in class for a teacher to teach |
We'd just finished John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. When we read the end together out loud in class, my toughest boy, a star basketball player, wept a little, and so did I. “Are you crying?” one girl asked, as she got out of her chair to take a closer look. “I am,” I told her, “and the funny thing is I've read it many times.”
But they understood. When George shoots Lennie, the tragedy is that we realize it was always going to happen. In my 14 years of teaching in a New York City public middle school, I've taught kids with imprisoned parents, abusive parents, irresponsible parents; kids who are parents themselves; kids who are homeless; kids who grew up in violent neighborhoods. They understand, more than I ever will, the novel's terrible logic-the giving way of dreams to fate.
For the last seven years, I have worked as a reading enrichment teacher, reading classic works of literature with small groups of students from grades six to eight. I originally proposed this idea to my headmaster after learning that a former excellent student of mine had transferred out of a selective high school-one that often attracts the literary-minded children of Manhattan's upper classes-into a less competitive setting. The daughter of immigrants, with a father in prison, she perhaps felt uncomfortable with her new classmates. I thought additional “cultural capital” could help students like her develop better in high school, where they would unavoidably meet, perhaps for the first time, students who came from homes lined with bookshelves, whose parents had earned Ph.D.'s.
Along with Of Mice and Men, my groups read: Sounder, The Red Pony, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The students didn't always read from the expected point of view.
About The Red Pony, one student said, “it's about being a man, it's about manliness.” I had never before seen the parallels between Scarface and Macbeth, nor had I heard Lady Macbeth's soliloquies read as raps, but both made sense; the interpretations were playful, but serious. Once introduced to Steinbeck's writing, one boy went on to read The Grapes of Wrath and told me repeatedly how amazing it was that “all these people hate each other, and they're all white.” His historical view was broadening, his sense of his own country deepening. Year after year, former students visited and told me how prepared they had felt in their first year in college as a result of the classes.
Year after year, however, we are increasing the number of practice tests. We are trying to teach students to read increasingly complex texts, not for emotional punch but for text complexity. Yet, we cannot enrich the minds of our students by testing them on texts that ignore their hearts. We are teaching them that words do not amaze but confuse. We may succeed in raising test scores, but we will fail to teach them that reading can be transformative and that it belongs to them.
1. The underlined words in Paragraph 1 probably mean that a book helps to __________.| A．realize our dreams | B．give support to our life |
| C．smooth away difficulties | D．awake our emotions |
| A．Because they spent much time reading it. | B．Because they had read the novel before. |
| C．Because they came from a public school. | D．Because they had similar life experiences. |
| A．she was a literary-minded girl | B．her parents were immigrants |
| C．she couldn't fit in with her class | D．her father was then in prison |
| A．creatively | B．passively | C．repeatedly | D．carelessly |
| A．introduce classic works of literature | B．advocate teaching literature to touch the heart |
| C．argue for equality among high school students | D．defend the current testing system |
9 . When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance，the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is viewed as entertainment, but certainly not an education priority（优先）. This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is beneficial and important for all students
Music tells us who we are. Because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it reflects their thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as does a Schubert song. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity as a society.
Music provides a kind of perception(视角) that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts explore the emotive（情感的）meaning of the same phenomenon. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason: No one way can get it all.
The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings “talk” to each other. They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears, our curiosities our hungers, our discoveries, our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses.
So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize.
1. According to paragraph 1, students ________.| A．regard music as a way of entertainment |
| B．disagree with their parents on education |
| C．view music as an overlooked subject |
| D．prefer the arts to science |
| A．compare it with rock music |
| B．show music identifies a society |
| C．introduce American musical traditions |
| D．prove music influences people’s lifestyles |
| A．approach the world from different angles |
| B．explore different phenomena of the world |
| C．express people’s feeling in different ways |
| D．explain what it means to be human differently |
| A．Music education deserves more attention. |
| B．Music should be of top education priority. |
| C．Music is an effective communication tool. |
| D．Music education makes students more imaginative. |
