Rarely have I experienced a reaction like that which came about following the idea of banning private education. One of those who contacted me to disagree with the idea was 17 year old Anirudh Mandagere. He got 10 A*s at GCSE and is currently studying English, French, Math and History at a private school in Manchester. Here is his response:
For me, the idea that all private schools should be banned is not only ridiculous and unrealistic, but goes against the idea of liberty. We must have the freedom to choose between state-funded and privately educated schools. If parents pay taxes, surely they should be able to choose whether they send their children to a state-funded or a privately-funded school.
The economic impacts of abolishing private education are vast. Banning private schools would obviously contribute to a great transfer to state schools. Many state schools are already overburdened; do they really need more pupils? Abolishing private education would lead to higher taxes for taxpayers since more money would be needed to educate the 7% who were previously private educated. In the times of economic crisis, should the taxpayer need to fork out more money to pay for their education? There would also be a great rise in unemployment of the staff who works at private schools.
It is noted that, in general, private schools have better grades at GCSE and A level than state schools. Yet, why do people view this as a bad thing? The higher private school grades eventually force the government to endlessly improve state education so that the middle-classes do not totally abandon state education for private education. This competition creates reform and progress within state schools and eventually promote them! If the private schools did not exist, where would be the impetus for state school improvement?
Government should not simply ban a system which produces results. It should learn from it and use the private education model as a basis for the state education model. Abolishing a successful system will not help anybody, learning from a successful system will.
1.In the eye of Anirudh Mandagere, parents have the right to ______.
A. criticize state-funded schools
B. pay taxes for the promotion of private schools
C. choose the way their children receive education
D. advocate the competition between state schools and private ones
2.According to the passage, banning private education will ______.
A. obviously contribute to lower taxes
B. not cause the state schools to be overburdened
C. force the government to boost state education
D. lead to many people losing their jobs
3.The underlined word “impetus” in the fourth paragraph probably means ______.
A. motivation B. prevention C. participation D. assessment
4.Compared with state schools, private ones ______.
A. educate a little fewer students B. conduct better than all state ones
C. are better received by the public D. are more competitive on the whole
5.Which of the following statements will Anirudh Mandagere agree with?
A. His wonderful performance results from the education his private school offers.
B. Without the existence of private schools, state ones wouldn’t get improved much.
C. Private education is a good system to make students successful in life.
D. Private schools are supposed to be sponsored more than state ones.
Sleeping in on Saturday after a few weeks of too little shuteye may feel refreshing, but it can give a false sense of security.
New research shows long-term sleep loss cannot be cured that easily. Scientists researched the effects of short- and long-term sleep loss and found that those who suffer long-term sleep loss may function normally soon after waking up, but experience steadily slower reaction times as the day goes by, even if they had tried to catch up the previous night.
The research has important safety significances in an increasingly busy society, not just for shift-workers but for the roughly one in six Americans who regularly get six hours or less of sleep a night.
“We know that staying awake 24 hours without sleep will affect your performance to do all sorts of things, and this effect equals to drinking too much when driving,” said lead researcher Dr. Daniel Cohen of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. But when those who suffer long-term sleep loss become all-nighters, “the harm is increased ten times,” Cohen said.
The National Institutes of Health says adults need seven hours to nine hours of sleep for good health. Regularly getting too little sleep increases the risk of health problems, including memory impairment and a weakened immune system. More immediately, too little sleep affects reaction times; sleepiness is to blame for car crashes and other accidents.
It has critically important complicated and unexpected results for anyone who works “crazy hours” and thinks they are performing fine with a few hours of weeknight sleep, said Harris, director at New York’s Montefiore Medical Center. “Don’t think you can just bank up your sleep on the weekend, because it doesn’t work that way,” he warned.
1.The text mainly advises people ______.
A. to sleep more time B. to sleep in on Saturday
C. to sleep scientifically D. to sleep little on weekend
2.People with long-term sleep loss ______.
A. are quicker in thinking B. may feel refreshed soon after waking up
C. are surely energetic D. can have a strong sense of security
3.What can we learn from the text?
A. Most of the Americans get six hours or less of sleep a night.
B. Staying up is worse for those who suffer long-term sleep loss.
C. Traffic accidents have little to do with sleepiness.
D. One in six Americans are all-nighters.
4.Which of the following is the immediate effect of long-term sleep loss?
A. Health problems B. Immune system
C. Reaction times D. Memory impairment
5.The underlined phrase “bank up” in the last paragraph most probably means ____.
A. pile up B. pick up C. add up D. build up
I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “ I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
1.In the first paragraph, “No ifs, ands or buts” probably means ______.
A. Unintentionally B. Independently
C. Impressively D. Unconditionally
2.From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.
A. with his family B. with Evelyn
C. alone D. with his children
3.During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.
A. he was determined to be a good husband
B. he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm
C. she looked lovely in her new clothes
D. the doctor said his wife was seriously ill
4.The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?
A. He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.
B. She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.
C. He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.
D. He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.
5.By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that ______.
A. he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life
B. he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband
C. he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change
D. he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before
阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意, 然后从36—55 各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes 36 the skies like beautiful birds dancing. As the strong winds blew against the kites, a string kept them under 37 .
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great 38 . They __39 and pulled, but the restraining string and the clumsy tail kept them in tow (拖着), facing upward and against the 40 . As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be 41 !” They flew beautifully even 42 they fought the restraint of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in getting 43 . “Free at last,” it seemed to say. “Free to fly 44 the wind.”
Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the 45 of an unsympathetic wind. It flew up and down to the ground and 46 in a mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. “Free at last”, free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown 47 along the ground.
How much like 48 we sometimes are. The heaven gives us adversity (逆境) and restrictions, 49 to follow from which we can grow and 50 strength. Some of us resist the rules so hard that we never fly to reach the heights we might have 51 . We keep part of the rules and never 52 high enough to get our tails off the ground.
Let us each rise to the great heights, 53 that some of the restraints that we may be annoyed at are 54 the powerful force that helps us climb and 55 our goal.
36. A. surrounded B. covered C. emptied D. filled
37. A. construction B. discussion C. control D. pressure
38. A. heights B. lengths C. widths D. weights
39. A. crashed B. shook C. floated D. landed
40. A. rain B. sun C. wind D. storm
41. A. energetic B. lonely C. safe D. free
42. A. before B. as C. since D. after
43. A. crazy B. upset C. loose D. happy
44. A. with B. against C. beneath D. over
45. A. edge B. expense C. mercy D. bottom
46. A. fled B. hid C. existed D. landed
47. A. deliberately B. helplessly C. actively D. hopefully
48. A. strings B. kites C. bushes D. weeds
49.A. rules B. customs C. wishes D. instructions
50. A. convey B. consume C. lose D. gain
51. A. contained B. lowered C. indicated D. obtained
52. A. rise B. rank C. kick D. jump
53. A. hoping B. supposing C. recognizing D. dreaming
54. A. strictly B. actually C. hardly D. consequently
55. A. achieve B. score C. miss D. set
_____ man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by ______ company he keeps.
A. The; a B. A; a C. The; the D. A; the
Once made out, the plan must be carried out ______ any difficulty.
A. regardless of B. instead of C. because of D. in need of
