I have spent much of my time studying how children learn. Children come into the world beautifully designed to direct their own education. They are born by nature with powerful educative abilities, including curiosity, playfulness, sociability, attentiveness to the activities around them, desire to grow up and desire to do what older children and adults can do.
This amazing drive and ability to learn does not turn itself off when children turn 5 or 6. We turn it off with our compulsory system of schooling. The biggest, most lasting lesson of our system of schooling is that learning is work, to be avoided when possible.
The focus of my own research has been on learning in children who are of “school age”, but who aren't sent to school, or not to school as traditionally understood. I've examined how children learn in cultures that don't have schools, especially hunter gatherer cultures. I've also studied learning in our culture by children who are trusted to take charge of their own education and are provided with the chance and means to educate themselves. In these settings, children's natural curiosity and desire for learning continue firmly all the way through childhood and adolescence, and into adulthood.
In our culture today, there are many routes through which children can apply their natural drives and abilities to learn everything they need to know for a successful adulthood. More than 2 million children in the United States now base their education at home and in the larger community rather than at school, and an ever increasing proportion (比例) of their families have given up school-based approaches in favor of self- directed learning. These parents do not give lessons or tests, but provide a home environment that improves learning, and they help connect their children to community activities from which they learn. Some of these families began this approach long ago and have adult children who are now developing better in higher education and job- -hunting.
1.What is the author's attitude towards the system of schooling?
A.Disappointed. B.Indifferent. C.Serious. D.Optimistic.
2.What can be learned from the third paragraph?
A.Children of school age dislike educating themselves.
B.Hunter gatherer cultures are better than the current culture.
C.Children's self- directed learning abilities last for a long time.
D.The author put focus on students in the schools.
3.What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?
A.Add some background information. B.Provide some advice for the reader.
C.Summarize the previous paragraphs. D.Offer additional related information.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Staying away from school becomes popular. B.School- based learning damages our kids.
C.Children's learning abilities are amazing. D.Self-schooling children develop better.
Elizabeth Bishop is considered one of the best American poets of the 20th century. She was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1911. Her dad died when she was just a baby and her mom never recovered from the loss. She went to live with her grandparents in Nova Scotia, Canada when she was five. Eventually Bishop attended Vassar College, where she began to write poetry.
At Vassar she discovered Marianne Moore's poetry and met Ms Moore and began their life-long friendship. She later met poet Robert Lowell. She wrote tons and tons of letters to both of them, which is good for us because we would otherwise know very little of her personal life.
Bishop published her first book of poetry in 1946 and wrote until her death in 1979. She would spend years working on a single poem. Her poems are not the result of hasty scribbling (匆忙乱写) on paper while eating breakfast. She would look through drafts of poems again and again and improve them until they were as close to perfect as she could get them.
Reading Elizabeth Bishop is like being transported to the very place, the very moment she's writing about. She leads us to a microscope so we can see every smallest part of the scene. It seems that she's always asking us to notice more, and more until the poem is so clear in our minds that it's almost painful—like a light that's too bright.
1.What do we know about Bishop's early life?
A.She was mainly brought up by her grandparents. B.She spent her childhood mainly in Worcester.
C.She was always encouraged by her parents. D.She started to write poems at five.
2.Why are Bishop's letters to Moore and Lowell important?
A.They have a deep influence on other poets. B.They offer much information about her life.
C.They help us study Moore and Lowell's poetry. D.They prove she had friendships with famous poets.
3.What can we say about Bishop's poetic creation?
A.She liked to write in the morning. B.She could write poems at high speed.
C.She tried her best to achieve perfection. D.She published hundreds of books of poetry.
4.Which word can be used to best describe the style of Bishop’s poems?
A.Enthusiastic. B.Romantic. C.Humorous. D.Exact.
Before moving to Stokholm, I did my research on Sweden and was confident about my move. However, I quickly realized on my first day that so much of what I learned was so very wrong. There are many things that a Google search cannot show about Sweden.
The first is fika. A fika is taking a break from whatever you are doing to enjoy a coffee with friends. Swedes value community highly so it makes sense that they would like to set aside time each day to reconnect with others. Fika is a great time to meet new people as well as catch up with friends.
I grew up in the American South where everyone is very friendly. I found that little things like not being asked my life story at the coffee shop by the waiter upset me. However, Swedish people are not rude. Instead, they practice being logom, which means “just enough”.
The winters can be very dark and cold, so the Swedish people do not take any sunny day for granted. Since the weather has been fine, I have found myself walking a lot around Stockholm. Often it is easiest to get from place to place by walking, which allows you to see so much of the city and enjoy the fresh air. Though it has been very tiring to get used to, it also has made me feel better about all of the kardemummabullar that I have been eating!
I think it is important for students who want to study abroad to know that it is hard to move to countries no matter how “similar” you may think they may be. You have to jump in with both feet and be patient with yourself as well as others. As long as you keep an open mind and are willing to learn, you will have a great experience.
1.What do we know about fika?
A.It is a waste of time. B.It is a way to balance life and work.
C.It is all about drinking coffee. D.It is a Swedish social tradition.
2.What does the author think of Swedish people?
A.They are friendly. B.They seem a bit cold.
C.They appear really rude. D.They are interested in other's life.
3.Why does the author like walking?
A.It is fun and not very tiring. B.It is good exercise on cold days.
C.It allows her to enjoy sunny days. D.It gives her the chance to eat the local food.
4.What's the author's advice for students going abroad?
A.Be confident. B.Be careful.
C.Be open- minded. D.Be hard- working.
Lake Inari, Finland
High above the Arctic Circle and close to Finland's border with Russia, Lake Inari is a year- round Heaven. Dark, snowy winters make it wonderful for catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Its tree-lined banks produce a burnt orange during autumn and in summer, you can swim in its cold shallows.
Unst, Shetland Isles, Scotland
The most northerly occupied island of the British Isles, Unst is a wild, rough place where seas crash into the dramatic Muckle Flugga sea stacks(海栈). The latter are a harbor for gannets- a large bird during breeding season, with birdwatchers also treated to the sight of searching for great skuas(贼鸥).
Zagori, Greece
While Greece's islands are praised for their beauty, the mainland's charms are easily overlooked. But one of the most breathtaking mountain ranges in Europe lies here, in the region of Zagori, Epirus. The Vikos Gorge makes for a perfect day's hiking. While Mount Astrakas' snow-capped top is a sight to see as the days close in, showing that Greece is far more than just a summer destination. Keep an eye out for Zagori's stone bridges, especially the three- arched Kaligeriko, close to the village of Kipi.
Yorkshire Dales, England
The Yorkshire Dales are the England of the imagination. Its narrow lanes lined with dry stone walls draw cyclists’ attention to dizzying adventures, while its moody hills continually attract walkers, no matter the weather. Geological wonders such as the limestone(石灰石) sights of MalhamCove and Gordale Scar make it perhaps the most beautiful part of the British Isles.
1.Where would you like to go if you are a bird-lover?
A.Lake Inari. B.Unst, Shetland Isles. C.Zagori. D.Yorkshire Dales.
2.What can you do in the Vikos Gorge?
A.Go hiking. B.Seek adventures.
C.Swim in its cold shallows. D.Watch the Northern Lights.
3.What makes Yorkshire Dales attractive to walkers?
A.Dry stone. B.The weather. C.Moody hills. D.The limestone sights.
假定你是李华，你校计划在下周举办名为“中国文化周”的活动，就此请你用英语写封电子邮件给外教Steven，邀请他参加，内容包括：
1. 活动的时间和地点；
2. 活动的目的；
3. 活动的内容。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Steven,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有 10处语言错误,每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
My speaking English was not standard at first. My English teacher once asked me to read a text, but all my classmates laughed me. I didn’t understand why. Late, my friend told me that my pronunciation was really strange. It was the first time that I have read an English text in class, and failed. I felt very ashamed. Then, I didn’t want to speak English in the front of anyone.
When my English teacher knew it, she began to correct my pronunciation. With his encouragement, I put my heart into read words, phrases and texts. He told me that when there’s a will there’s a way. Thanks to him, I have made great progresses.
