Can you imagine learning by playing games. To be sure, only children experienced some things differently from those with sisters and brothers. Many feel more pressure to succeed. They also tend to look only to their parents as role models in the absence of brothers and sisters.
In India, 10-year-old Saviraj Sankpal founded a support group for the tiny minority of only children. Among other things, the group does volunteer work to counter (or be against) the myth that they are not responsible. "People think we're treated too kindly and ruined," says Sankpal, a computer engineering student. "But I'd like to remind them how lonely it can get."
Most only children, however, say they wish for sisters or brothers only when it comes to caring for aging, unhealthy parents. Britain's David Emerson, coauthor of the book The Only Child, says that such a person bears terrible burden in having to make all the decisions alone. Emerson knows from experience: After his father died, he chose to move his elderly mother from their family home, where she was vulnerable to (or easy to be attacked by) house breakers, to a new one with more security." The move was quite hard on her, and she might feel that I pushed her into it," he says,". After all, I am left with that responsibility."
In the future, more and more only children will likely face similar choices. With working mothers increasing, many families are finding they simply don't have the time, money or energy to have more than one child. As only children become common, perhaps the world will realize that the Charge made against them is unjust.
【小題1】It can be inferred from the passage that the author's attitude towards only children is _______.

A．ironic

B．objective

C．unfriendly

D．unjust

【小題2】It can be inferred from the passage that only children's parents should ___________.

A．found a support group for their only children

B．do volunteer work to help their only children

C．let their only children make all the decisions alone

D．set good examples for their only children

【小題3】Emerson decided to move his elderly mother to a new house because he ___________.

A．is the only one who cares about her

B．doesn't want to leave her alone

C．wants to share the responsibility with her

D．is worried about her safety

【小題4】It is quite usual now for a working mother to ____________.

A．spend all her time and money on her only child

B．be responsible for bringing up her only child

C．have and bring up only one child

D．devote all her energy to her job

【小題5】The main idea of the passage is that ________.

A．only children are ruined and irresponsible

B．only children have to face many challenges

C．most only children want to have brothers and sisters

D．most only children share their responsibility with their parents

My six-year-old came home from school this week with two envelopes. One was for a donation to help people in the Philippines. The other was to help hungry families have a Thanksgiving meal.
“I’ll put a check in each of these. Then you can add your own money from your piggy bank, okay?” I said, thinking he’d be so excited to put his own stamp on things.
“That’s okay, mom. You put money in. I don’t want to waste mine,” he sweetly sang as he colored. “I want to fill my bank all the way up.”
Ack! I guess I know what our dinnertime discussion will be about tonight, I thought.
I had figured that through watching his parents donate items, helping us take toys from time to time to needy kids and putting money in the basket at church, he would just understand why it was important to help people in need — and even want to do it himself.
But of course he doesn’t really understand yet. “There’s a big disconnect between the people ‘over there’ and my piggy bank,” said parenting educator Vicki Hoefle.
“There’s nothing wrong with the child. There’s just no connection.”
As for having that conversation immediately, or forcing my son to put money into the envelopes: “Try not to do it now,” Hoefle said. Teaching a child about donating their own money or toys or time to people in need “should be a gentle introduction into what we hope will be a way of life for our kids.”
She suggested these things to help children understand the importance of giving:
* Just talk about it. Then explore the issue from a perspective he can understand.
* Use the course of a year to introduce kids to opportunities. That way, they won’t be shocked when you ask them to stuff their own money into an envelope （like this writer just did）.
* Pick a family charity for the year and have a conversation about how you all can help throughout the year.
* Think of this not as something you must teach, but as something to expose them to.
At her house, Hoefle said, “When you got something new, you gave something up.” Each birthday, her children would pick what toys they had outgrown and give them away. “There was a comfort in it. It just became a natural part of the kids’ lives.”
So I will fill those envelopes alone this time. But I’ll make sure he understands why they should be filled—gradually.
【小題1】When the writer asked her son to give money to help the poor, he __________.

A．declined to donate

B．sang a sweet song

C．put all his money in a bank

D．seemed very surprised

【小題2】Hoefle’s attitude towards children’s unwillingness to donate money can be best described as “_______”.

A．critical

B．tolerant

C．positive

D．worried

【小題3】Which of the following is Hoefle’s approach to educating kids about charity?

A．Giving courses about charity.

B．Setting a rule for children to give.

C．Inviting a lot of poor people home.

D．Giving children enough real life chances.

【小題4】What can we learn about the writer from the passage?

A．She often makes donations for people in need.

B．She taught her son a lesson over dinner that evening.

C．She is at a loss as for what she should do next.

D．She invited a parenting educator home for advice.

【小題5】What is the best title of the passage?

A．Kids, please help those in need.

B．Why are kids unwilling to donate?

C．Kindness is lost in the young generation.

D．How can we help kids learn generosity?

Teaching is more than leadership. Some of the teacher’s time and effort is directed toward instruction, some toward evaluation. But it is the teacher as a group leader who creates an effective organizational structure (結(jié)構(gòu)) and good working environment so that instruction and evaluation activities can take place. A group that is totally disorganized, unclear about its goals, or constantly fighting among its members will not be a good learning group. The leadership pattern includes helping to form and maintain a positive learning environment so that instruction and evaluation activities can take place.
On the first day of class, the teacher faces a room filled with individuals (個體). Perhaps a few closely united groups and friendships already exist. But there is no sense of group unity, no set of rules for conduct in the group, no feeling of belonging. If teachers are successful leaders, they will help students develop a system of relationships that encourages working together.
Standards and rules must be set to keep order, make sure of justice and protect individual rights, but do not contradict school policy. What happens when one student hurts another’s individual rights? Without clear regulations agreeable to the students and teachers, the classroom can become chaotic. Students may break rules they did not know existed. If standards are set without participation from the class, students may spend a great deal of creative energy in destroying the class environment or finding ways to break rules.
No matter how skillful the teacher is in uniting students and creating a positive atmosphere, the task is never complete. Regular maintenance is necessary. Conflicts arise. The needs of individual members change. A new kind of learning task requires a new organizational structure. Sometimes outside pressures such as holidays, upcoming tests or sport competitions, or family troubles cause stress in the classroom. One task for the teacher is to recreate a positive environment by helping students deal with conflict, change, and stress.
【小題1】The underlined word “maintain” in Para.1 probably means_______.

A．conserve

B．build

C．recreate

D．evaluate

【小題2】According to the author, the teacher should _______.

A．free students from outside pressures

B．set the standards and rules on his own

C．be responsible for a well-organized class

D．focus more on instruction and evaluation

【小題3】From the passage we can learn that ______.

A．rules cannot be changed once they’re formed

B．outside pressures may not cause tension among students

C．if the teacher well unites his students, he then will finish his task

D．if rules are not acceptable both to students and teachers, the classroom can be a mess

【小題4】What is the author’s main purpose of writing the passage?

A．To provide information for teaching.

B．To show the importance of teaching a class.

C．To study the teacher’s behavior in the classroom.

D．To compare the teacher’s behavior with the students’ in class.

Visit any junior high or high school and you will experience the power of influence. Clothing, hairstyles, attitudes and even the language are all gained by some amount of influence, whether it is from commercials, fashion, trends, celebrities or music. Teens and preteen children are influenced by these various factors. However, a child’s friends are the No. 1 influence.
Before you think your children’s friends could never lead one another astray (誤入歧途的), think again. A child may experience an event that has caused overwhelming stress or may have problems at home or school, which causes negative behavior. Negative influences of a child’s friends can come without warning.
“Parents who ask their children where they are going, who they are going with and request a meeting with their children’s friends and the friends’ parents have already taken the first step,” says Mara Berkley, family therapist and professor at Bristol University in Rhode Island.
Lynn Rexroat of Chillicothe, Illinois, uses this method to keep tabs on her children. “My oldest son knows that in order for him to go anywhere with a friend, especially one I haven’t met before, I have to speak with that friend’s parent to make sure the arrangements are agreeable with us both,” she says. “I don’t interrogate (質(zhì)問) them by asking about their private life. I just want to know that the parents of the other child know what the boys are planning to do. I feel that by my wanting to know I am protecting my son.”
When a parent suspects that their child is hanging out with “the wrong crowd”, the last thing on their mind should be discipline. Instead, Berkley says a parent should be more interested in finding out the reasons behind the behaviors and the child’s choice to keep company with these types of friends.
【小題1】We can infer from the second paragraph that       .

A．two children usually go astray together

B．a(chǎn) child can be negatively influenced only when he meets problems

C．a(chǎn) child can easily go astray under the influence of a friend

D．parents know exactly when a child is negatively influenced

【小題2】Mara Berkley probably agrees that you        when your child is going out with his friends.

A．should track him secretly	B．should not ask him
C．can stop him going out	D．do something to interfere

【小題3】How does Lynn Rexroat protect her son according to the text?

A．She questions his son directly.

B．She meets his son’s friends herself.

C．She makes arrangements with the parents of his son’s friends.

D．She communicates with the parents of his son’s friends.

【小題4】The underlined part “keep tabs on” in the fourth paragraph probably means “       ”.

A．watch over

B．win over

C．bring back

D．take control of

Harvard student Julie Zauzmer turned 20 on January 22, and her birthday couldn’t have been better: She got to working the overnight shift at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter.
That might seem an extraordinary act of selflessness for someone turning 20. But there’s increasing evidence that commitment to community service is becoming much more ordinary to today’s young adults.
“Young adults are doing more volunteer service than in any point in history,’’ said Scott Seider, an assistant professor of education at Boston University who studies the civic development of young adults.
At Harvard, the Winthrop Street Homeless Shelter is one of 86 social service programs associated with the Phillips Brooks House Association, which is a student-run nonprofit organization. Students can work with deaf children, bring pets to nursing homes, and prepare Chinese students to become US citizens, and so on.
Volunteerism develops well outside of colleges, too. Applications to AmeriCorps have risen to a very high level, jumping from 91,399 in 2008 to 258,829 in 2010. City Year, which puts young people in high-poverty schools as tutors and mentors for at-risk students, has had a 140 percent increase in applications since its 2007-2008 service year. Citizen Schools, which uses volunteers to work with students in middle schools, has had a 28 percent jump in applicants between 2008 and 2009.
“Most of my friends know it’s their duty to give back before they settle down,’’ said Samantha Wolf, a 23-year-old Boston University graduate serving with City Year in a Mattapan school.
City Year corps member Antonio Gutierrez, 22, graduated last year from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and is applying for admission to law schools, but this year he is tutoring and mentoring students at the Blackstone Elementary School in the South End.
“I grew up in similar circumstances,’’ said Gutierrez, who said he was a weak student until enrichment programs changed his academic trajectory (軌跡). Raised by a single mother in low-income housing across the street from City Year’s South End Headquarters, he used to watch the red-jacketed corps members come and go, and decided to become one someday.
【小題1】We learn from what Scott Seider says in Paragraph 3 that young people today       .

A．study harder than before

B．do more volunteering than ever before

C．don’t care much about others

D．like to find jobs in their communities

【小題2】What’s the goal of the program of City Year?

A．It helps to find jobs for college students.

B．It offers shelters to the homeless people.

C．It helps to build schools for poor students.

D．It engages young people to teach at high-poverty schools.

【小題3】What do we know about Antonio Gutierrez?

A．He wants to give back as a volunteer.

B．He has always been an excellent student.

C．He never expected to become a volunteer.

D．He now works as a teacher.

【小題4】What would be the best title for the text?

A．Volunteering spirit has disappeared

B．How to become a college student

C．College students learn to give back

D．The real life of young adults today

Kids undergo a large amount of pressure and stress during their school exams, which can often become quite overwhelming (to much) for them. It may be the first experience of stress, at this level, they have ever experienced and therefore quite frightening. Yes, you may say that it's all a part of growing up and therefore good lessons for them to learn, and to an extent I agree with you. However, it’s important to learn how to prepare for life’s challenges so that they aren’t overwhelming or scary and so that we are able to manage them the best we can.
Here are some tips you can use during your kids exam time.
Break their revision plan down into small parts. Doing this will help transform what once seemed like a huge impossible task into a more manageable one.
Help them arrange properly so that the subjects they like the least (perhaps ones that require more time and effort) are worked on first; once they are out of the way, it will help reduce the worry.
Plan week on week to make sure they are on track. Ticking items of a list each week will help them to feel good about themselves and their progress.
Create rewards for all the ticks - a favourite TV programme, a delicious snack, an hour’s surfing the Internet, computer games or whatever it was that they enjoy the most. This will encourage them to carry on and make them feel good.
Think of strategies on how to deal with exams calmly so their anxieties don't get the better of them.
Talk about times in their lives when they had been successful at something and look at the qualities they used to get them there - determination, persistence, hard work, patience, positivity, dedication - discuss how they can apply these skills to their exams.
Acknowledge that if they do their best that is good enough.
Ensure they realize that this period in their lives will pass and that exams are only a temporary time in their lives; nothing can and does last forever.
Ensure they keep their eye on the prize: enjoying their long summer holiday when the exams are finished; giving them something to look forward to will help to motivate them and provide a positive end in sight.
【小題1】According to paragraph 1, it’s important to learn how to prepare for exams because___.

A．it is a part of growing up.

B．It is the first experience of stress

C．it helps kid release stress and do better.

D．it is important to get a good mark in exams.

【小題2】Which subjects should be worked on first?

A．Their best ones.	B．Their favourite ones.
C．the easiest ones	D．the most difficult ones

【小題3】According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A．Kid should become aware of the importance of exams.

B．Kids should learn to deal with exam pressure independently.

C．Parents should keep their kids away from entertainment.

D．Parents should care about the psychological development of children.

The English test will be removed from China’s college entrance exam by 2020, according to details of exam and admis­sion reform revealed by the Ministry of Education. The national college entrance exam, known as the “Gaokao” has been used to evaluate Chinese students for three decades. The Ministry of Education has worked out a plan for reforming exams and enrollment. The Ministry will solicit(征求) public opinions before its release. Instead, tests will be held several times a year to allow students to choose when and how often they sit the exam so as to alleviate study pressure and change China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system.
The plan and suggestions for its implementation will be announced in the first half of next year. It will be piloted in se­lected provinces and cities and promoted nationwide from 2017. A new exam and admission system will be established by 2020, according to the education ministry.
The decision has aroused a heated discussion among Shanghai educators and parents who doubted the reform would re­duce the burden of learning English or if the substitute test could reflect a student’s English skills and help students learn English better.
“The reform shows China is learning from the West to give students more test-taking chances. But more chances might become more of a burden since Chinese students are likely to repeat the test until they get the highest score,” said Cai Jigang, a professor at Fudan University’s College of Foreign Languages and Literature and chairman of the Shanghai Advisory Committee for College English Teaching at Tertiary Level.
Yu Lizhong, chancellor of New York University Shanghai, where classes are in English and students are required to have a high standard of English, said the most important aspect of the reform lay in what to test and how to test.
“ As far as I see, the reform doesn’t mean English is no longer important for Chinese students after it will be excluded from the unified college entrance exam,” Yu said. “In a way, English is even more important than before since the test would only serve as reference, while every college and university, even every major, can have different requirements of a student’s English skills under a diverse evaluation system. ”
Yu said some students will have their study pressure reduced if the major they choose doesn’t need excellent English while others still need to study hard if they want to be among the best students.
The education ministry said the reform would not affect students attending the college entrance exam over the next three years.
【小題1】What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．English will become less and less important in the stage of compulsory education.

B．It has been 30 years since English became one subject of national college entrance exam.

C．China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system is unacceptable at all.

D．The system that tests are held several times does more good than once-in-a-lifetime exam system.

【小題2】According to the passage, Shanghai educators and parents argue that _____.

A．the new exam and admission system will make no difference

B．English shouldn’t be removed from China’s college entrance exam

C．the reform may accomplish the very opposite

D．Western educational system does not apply to China

【小題3】What does the passage try to express in the underlined sentence?

A．Students needn’t lay a good foundation during the period of high school.

B．Whether students should study hard English may depend on their major.

C．Students can constantly strive for perfection only in their major.

D．English must be close to full mark.

【小題4】What’s the purpose of the passage?

A．To advise students not to devote themselves to English.

B．To call on Education Department to remove English from “Gaokao”.

C．To support the act of Ministry of Education.

D．To encourage students to do as they have planned.

The English test will be removed from China’s college entrance exam by 2020, according to details of exam and admission reform revealed by the Ministry of Education. The national college exam, known as the “Gaokao” has been used to evaluate Chinese students for three decades. The Ministry of Education has worked out a plan for reforming exams and enrollment. The Ministry will solicit(征求) public opinions before its release. Instead, tests will be held several times a year to allow students to choose when and how often they sit the exam so as to ease study pressure and change China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system.
The plan and suggestion for its implementation(實(shí)施) will be announced in the first half of next year. It will be piloted in selected provinces and cities and promoted nationwide from 2017. A new exam and admission system will be established by 2020, according to the education ministry.
The decision has aroused a heated discussion among Shanghai educators and parents who doubted the reform would reduce the burden of learning English or if the substitute test could reflect a student’s English skills and help students learn English better.
“The reform shows China is learning from the West to give students more test-taking chances. But more chances might become more of a burden since Chinese students are likely to repeat the test until they get the highest score,” said Cai Jigang, a professor at Fudan University’s College of Foreign Languages and Literature and chairman of the Shanghai Advisory Committee for College English Teaching at Tertiary level.
Yu Lizhong, chancellor of New York University Shanghai, where classes are in English and students are required to have a high standard of English, said the most important aspect of the reform lay in what to test and how to test.
“As far as I see, the reform doesn’t mean English is no longer important for Chinese students after it will be excluded from the college entrance exam,” Yu said. “In a way, English is even more important than before since the test would only serve as reference, while every college and university, even every major, can have different requirements of a student’s English skills under a diverse evaluation system.”
Yu said some students will have their study pressure reduced if the major they choose doesn’t need excellent English while others still need to study hard if they want to be among the best students.
The education ministry said the reform would not affect students attending the college entrance exam over the next three years.
【小題1】What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．English will become less and less important in the stage of compulsory education.

B．It has been 30 years since English became one subject of national college entrance exam.

C．China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system is unacceptable at all.

D．The system that tests are held several times does more good than once-in-a-lifetime exam system.

【小題2】According to the passage, Shanghai educators and parents argue that________.

A．the new exam and admission system will make no difference.

B．English shouldn’t be removed from China’s college entrance exam.

C．the reform may accomplish the very opposite.

D．Western educational system does not apply to China.

【小題3】What does the passage try to express in the underlined sentence?

A．Students needn’t lay a good foundation during the period of high school.

B．Whether students should study English hard may depend on their major.

C．Students can constantly struggle for perfection only in their major.

D．English must be close to full mark.

【小題4】What’s the purpose of the passage?

A．To advise students not to devote themselves to English.

B．To call on Education Department to remove English from “Gaokao”.

C．To support the act of Ministry of Education

D．To encourage students to do as they have planned.

While Jennifer was at home taking an online exam for her business law class, a monitor（監(jiān)控器）a few hundred miles away was watching her every move.
Using a web camera equipped in Jennifer’s Los Angeles apartment, the monitor in Phoenix tracked how frequently her eyes moved from the computer screen and listened for the secret sounds of a possible helper in the room. Her Internet access was locked -- remotely -- to prevent Internet searches , and her typing style was analyzed to make sure she was who she said she was: Did she enter her student number at the same speed as she had in the past? Or was she slowing down?
In the battle against cheating, this is the advanced technique and a key to encourage honesty in the booming field of online education. The technology gives trust to the entire system, to the institution and to online education in general. Only with solid measures against cheating, experts say, can Internet universities show that their exams and diplomas are valid(有效的) - that students haven’t just searched the Internet to get the right answers.
Although online classes have existed for more than a decade, the concern over cheating has become sharper in the last year with the growth of "open online courses." Private colleges, public universities and corporations are jumping into the online education field, spending millions of dollars to attract potential students, while also taking steps to help guarantee honesty at a distance.
Aside from the web cameras, a number of other high-tech methods are becoming increasingly popular. Among them are programs that check students’ identities using personal information, such as the telephone number they once used.
Other programs can produce unique exam by drawing on a large list of questions and can recognize possible cheaters by analyzing whether difficult test questions are answered at the same speed as easy ones. As in many university classes, term papers are scanned against some large Internet data banks for cheating.
【小題1】Why was Jennifer watched in an online exam?

A．To correct her typing mistakes.

B．To find her secrets in the room.

C．To prevent her from slowing down.

D．To keep her from dishonest behaviors.

【小題2】For Internet universities, exams and diplomas will be valid if _____.

A．they can attract potential students

B．they can defeat academic cheating

C．they offer students online help

D．they offer many online courses

【小題3】Some programs can find out possible cheaters by _____.

A．checking the question answering speed

B．producing a large number of question

C．scanning the Internet test question

D．giving difficult test question

【小題4】Which of the following is the best title of this passage?

A．The Advantages of Online Exams

B．The High-tech Methods in Online Courses

C．The Fight against Cheating in Online Education

D．The War against the Booming of Online Education