Should parents ever hit their children?
Research suggests many of us are likely to respond “no”, and public support for spanking (打屁股) has been falling over the years. But surveys also show that 75 percent to nearly 90 percent of parents admit spanking their child at least once.
I was raised in a zero-tolerance( 零容忍) home for disrespect, and my parents often turned to physical punishment. And, no, I don’t feel I was damaged by it.
Nothing is more annoying than watching ill-mannered behavior from children.
But there is data to suggest that a return to old-school spanking isn’t the answer.
Two years ago , Newsweek reported that it had found data suggesting that teens whose parents used physical punishment were more likely to become aggressive(好斗的).
Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire in America, has studied the topic of children and spanking for decades. He said that children who were physically punished have lower IQs than their peers. It may be that children with lower IQs were more likely to get spanked, but the punishment may have been counterproductive (反作用) to their mental development, as well.
Some researchers make the argument that occasional open-handed smacks (用巴掌打) on the bottom are not only harmless but can have some benefit.
Last year, Marjorie Gunnoe, a psychologist at Calvin College, studied teens who have never been spanked. There are a greater number of children growing up without ever having been physically punished. Gunnoe’s research suggests they don’t turn out any better than those who were sometimes spanked.
There are some parents who simply cannot control their tempers. But I still believe that the best parents are the ones who are able to offer fair and firm discipline (管教) without ever turning to physical punishment.
【小題1】 What can we know from the research in the second paragraph?

Will Nanfang University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen announce a new beginning for China’s higher education reform? It’s too early to answer. But its presence is challenging the Ministry of Education. Even without the approval of the ministry it seems that the school is determined to move forward and enroll(招收)50 students, so-called child prodigies(奇才), to begin classes on March l, 2011.On graduating in 2015, these students will receive a diploma unauthorized by the Ministry of Education-unlike the students of their age from the state-run universities.
The school is committed to modeling itself on Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, but if the government will not approve the school, the situation could cause a lot of trouble for those 50 students if they want to do graduate studies at other higher learning institutions. Other schools could turn their applications down for their unauthorized diplomas.
The difficulties, however, have not frightened students and their parents away. On Dec.18, 2010 more than 1,000 students and their parents visited Nanfang University of Science and Technology for interviews.
Private investment marks the school out from other higher learning institutions in the nation. Not a penny comes from the government. So the government will have no voice in how the school will be run.
The Ministry of Education has published a comprehensive plan for education reform and development between 2011 and 2020.The goal is to make China’s higher education internationally competitive. To accomplish this goal, the government should have the courage to let the educators who have big ideas try them out. The ministry should have applauded the independence the school in Shenzhen has shown and encouraged more to do likewise.
Education reform in China has reached a new and crucial stage. Nanfang University of Science and Technology has a long way to go to prove itself competitive rather than a diploma mill.
【小題1】 What will makes those 50 students different from others?

Perhaps a parent’s most important contribution toward raising a trustful child is to develop a relationship founded on trust. A child of any age will feel proud and grown-up if parents frequently show their trust. In court a defendant(被告) is innocent until proved guilty. But in the family, a teenager “defendant” is too often assumed guilty.
Even when the child is caught in a complete lie, this should not be the end of trust. A parent can tell a child that a single lie is forgivable. Yet it should be clear that if lies continue, the child, like the boy who cried wolf, will suffer loss of trust.
When my wife and I discovered that our son Tom, then 13, had lied about throwing a party while we were away, we grounded him for a month. We also told Tom that we could no longer trust him, and we could not allow him to stay alone overnight again. This loss of freedom was an important lesson; he learned how hard it is to live with people when they don’t trust him. As a result, now more than three years later we can again trust Tom to stay alone overnight.
Parents must always remember there is no easy answer to this universal problem of lying. We can set a good example, allow for privacy, monitor friendship, develop trust and punish wrong doing, but still we discover our child has lied to us. Finally that’s why there is a need for trust on both sides of a parent-child relationship. Lying destroys closeness and friendship. For that reason, parents should always try to give a child the feeling that they can be trusted with the truth. Parents may start with a child’s trust, but as the child grows older, parents must earn it.
【小題1】When the writer and his wife discovered that their son had lied, they _________.

A．took all his freedom from him

B．decided never to trust him again

C．forbade him to stay alone overnight

D．a(chǎn)rranged him to stay at home.

Public schools in Washington, D.C. provide students with musical instruments for free. When something goes wrong with an instrument, Charles West and Larry Jernigan do the repairs. Both men approach their work with a passion(激情). For them, it’s important that students have a joyful experience with music.
The two have worked together for almost 20 years. This year alone, they’ve fixed about 450 instruments. Both men are musicians and music lovers, so learning to do repairs came naturally.
“I have been a musician all my life.” says West. “I played in an orchestra here in the city. I majored in music in college. I played in an army band.”
Jernigan’s musical interests are varied. “I was formerly trained in the piano and guitar. The alto sax, and the flute, I picked up while working here.”
In addition to fixing instruments, the two also go to schools to instruct teachers and students on how to make minor repairs on their own.
West believes if children start early and stay involved with music, it enriches other areas of their lives. “I see that in other kids. I see it in myself. I have seen it hundreds of times and it works,” he says. “They learn teamwork. They learn patience and respect.
But West has concerns about the future of music in the electronic age.
“This instant age has taken away from the sit-down, the patience. And to learn to play an instrument, it takes patience, it takes diligence, it takes time.”
Being able to enjoy music on the job is one of the benefits of the job. Both men agree their best rewards are the students’ performances.
【小題1】 What’s the job of West and Jernigan at school?

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? Excellent teacher training programs.
If you are young with a university degree and are willing to experience different cultures, apply (申請(qǐng)) now. Experience in teaching is an advantage but not specially required. Knowledge of the Japanese language is not necessary but good English skills and practical computer knowledge are basic requirements.
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The manager expects to meet and talk with successful applicants in Paris in June and July.
【小題1】What is the purpose of the text?

The King's School, Canterbury is an independent, co-educational secondary school. There are currently 791 pupils on the school roll(名單). The School has a long and distinguished history, and it is also one of the oldest charities in the country, providing scholarships to pupils and organizing a Charity of the Term.
The curriculum(課程)at King’s is based on strong academic roots. It emphasizes and relies upon what is best in traditional independent school education: scholarly excellence supported by a caring and tutorial system, and a wide-ranging co-curricular programme. However, it is continually adapting and reacting to the changing demands of modern education: new subjects are added, new teaching techniques adopted, and there is an increasing awareness of the need to provide programmes of study that match individual needs and skills.
The curriculum is divided into three units: the Lower School (Year 9), an introductory year; the Middle School (Years 10 and 11), working to GCSEs; and the Sixth Form ( Years 12 and 13), taking AS and A levels.  
Full details can be found in:  Shell Guide and Handbook; Middle School Academic Guide 2009-11; Middle School Academic Guide 2010-12;  Sixth Form Guide 2009-11 and Sixth Form Guide 2010-12.
Formal and structured educational support, for those who need it, is available at all levels. The well-stocked Library is open 7 days and 6 evenings per week. ICT facilities (including the Internet) are available for all and the whole school (studies within the Houses as well as classrooms) is extensively networked.   
Pupils are offered extensive careers advice throughout their time at King’s. Almost all go to university, either immediately or following a GAP year.  The most popular university destinations are Cambridge, Bristol, Nottingham, Durham, Leeds, Oxford, Edinburgh, Manchester, and University College, London.
Director of Studies: Geoff Cocksworth: grc@kings-school.co.uk
Examinations Officer: Elaine McDowell: eam@kings-school.co.uk  
【小題1】The passage serves as a brief introduction to __________.

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該選項(xiàng)的標(biāo)號(hào)涂黑。
One of the speaking rules you need to know might sound strange to most ESL(English as a second language) students, but it is one of the most important rules. If you want to pass examinations, then study grammar. However, if you want to become fluent in English, then you should try to learn English without studying the grammar.
Studying grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the rules when creating sentences instead of naturally saying a sentence like a native. Remember that only a small fraction(部分) of English speakers know more than 20% of all the grammar rules. Many ESL students know more grammar than native speakers. I can confidently say this with experience. I am a native English speaker, majored in English Literature, and have been teaching English for more than 10 years. However, many of my students know more details about English grammar than I do. When they sometimes ask me about grammar, I can easily look up the definition(定義) and apply it, but I can’t tell them the answer off the top of my head.
I often ask my native English friends some grammar questions, and only a few of them know the correct answer. However, they are fluent in English and can read, speak, listen, and communicate effectively.
Do you want to be able to recite the definition of a causative verb(使役動(dòng)詞), or do you want to be able to speak English fluently?
【小題1】According to the author, what opinion do most ESL students hold?

A recent report on online education, made by SRI International for the Department of Education, has a serious academic (學(xué)術(shù)的) title, but a most interesting conclusion: “ Students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”
The report examined the research on online and traditional classroom teaching from 1996 to 2008. Some of it was in K-12 settings, but most of the studies were in colleges and adult continuing education programs.
Over the 12 years, the report found 99 studies in which there were comparisons of online and classroom performance for the same courses. The result of the Department of Education’ s research showed that usually, students doing some or all of the course online would rank a little higher than the classroom students with little but meaningful difference.
“The importance of the study lies in showing that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually tends to be better than traditional instruction.” said Barbara Means, the study’ s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI International.
This hardly means that we’ll be saying goodbye to classrooms. But the report does suggest that online education could be set to develop sharply over the next few years.
Until fairly recently, online education totaled to little. That has really changed with the arrival of webbased video, instant (即時(shí)的) messaging and teamwork tools.
The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more suitable for individual (個(gè)體的) students than is possible in classrooms. That allows more “l(fā)earning by doing,” which many students find more attractive and useful.
“We are at a turning point in online education,” said Philip R. Regier, the leader of Arizona State University’ s Online and Extended Campus program.
The biggest near-term growth, Mr. Regier predicts, will be in continuing education programs.
【小題1】What do we know from the passage?
Most of the studies were done in high schools.
The report was based on more than 100 studies.
The studies were carried out for more than 20 years.
The difference between online and traditional teaching is not big.
【小題2】We can learn from the passage that __________.
traditional education will come to an end
traditional education is not popular any longer
online education didn’ t develop rapidly until recently
middle schools are facing the choice between online and traditional teaching
【小題3】Which is NOT the reason why many students prefer online learning?
Online teaching is more suitable for individuals.
Classroom teaching is not practical and useful.
Students can learn by doing in online courses.
Online teaching is more interesting.
【小題4】Which do you think is the best title for the passage?
Study finds that online education beats the classroom
Why is online education on the rise?
A report on online education
Classroom teaching is out

There are several ways to break the technology code that teenagers have written among themselves. The following are ideas to help parents understand the sometimes confusing world of the teens.
Social Networking (人際關(guān)系網(wǎng)) Sites: Sites like MySpace and Facebook appeal to all generations and are a good way for a parent to understand what social standards your teen is living with. There are many ways to help you take part in your child's online activities. You also can be from an onlooker (旁觀者) who keeps a bird' s-eye view of his cyber world to an active member of his social group.
MMORPG: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game comes in the form of games. A child can easily become addicted to (沉溺于) them if no limits are set. To fully understand the attraction behind MMORPG, you can make your own account and character to explore the digital (數(shù)碼的) world. Playing the online games may seem strange at first to your teen, but experience has led me to only positive feedback (反應(yīng)) from young people who can communicate with adults about their gaming experiences.
Text and Instant Messenger: The ways of teenage communication have produced a whole new language, such as "LOLZ" (laughing out loud) and "PSOS" (parent standing over shoulder). Learning the basic shorthand (速記法) of teens can open up a whole new world of communication, not only talking to your teens, but being able to listen on their terms as well. You may just find yourself texting faster and ending your correspondence (聯(lián)系) with TTYL (talk to you later). To teens, texting anyone looks cool, even Mom and Dad.
Email: Emailing your child is easy. This, of course, cannot take the place of face-to-face communication, but it provides another way for your child to reach you. Another benefit is that your child cannot act like he didn't hear you.
【小題1】What does the underlined part "appeal to" in the second paragraph mean?

There are new and exciting ways to use the Internet to learn English while you are on - line. The Internet uses a lot of multimedia elements (多媒體原理），like words, sounds, pictures, animations and video. This is perfect for studying a language because you've got to see, hear, and repeat things as much as you like. Learning over the Internet is also funny because you can be a part of conversa­tions happening all around the globe ！ Special Internet sites are designed for people learning English， just like yourself. These sites use multimedia to help you learn and are a great way to meet other peo­ple around the world. This is Cyber English.
On the Internet, English is the major language. As a result, it is now more important than ever to  be able to understand English when you serve the web. It is not always easy，though. The English can be difficult or have a lot of cultural information that you have never seen ！
One site for students studying English and their teachers is Englishtown. At http://www. english- town. com, you will find a community ( group) of people interested in learning English. There are several buildings in the virtual (虛擬的）town where you can play games, chat with friends, ask and get answers about cultural questions, and find an international penfriend who shares your interests. There are extra resources to help you learn，such as multimedia CD - ROM and books for language learning and translation. You can also have daily and monthly English lessons delivered to your own  e - mail address. There is even an on - line school where you can take English classes over Lhe Inter­net. Englishtown is the perfect place to prefect for a trip to England or the United States ！ Would you like to become part of a virtual community(虛擬社區(qū)）of English sfH-aktrs ： Surfing the web is not only funny but can also help improve your English ！ Try out >ome of tlv, web sites listed below and see how students all over the world are learning English on line.
【小題1】Cyber English probably means"  ".