and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage One
Questions 41 to 45 are based on the following passage:
One of the strongest reasons for the raising of the school leaving age has been that it will bring us nearer to the ideal of “equal opportunity”.
Many people like to think of our present system of schooling as providing plenty of steps up the ladder of success for clever children. It would be good to think that no one who is really bright can fail to become successful when the state system is apparently so thorough. It is obvious, for instance, that many children from less rich homes reach university or do well in other ways.
Unfortunately, we now have plenty of evidence that many children of every level of ability do much less well than they could. For instance, during the years of national military service it was possible to test the intelligence of all males aged between 18 and 20. Half of those soldiers who were placed in the two highest ability groups had left schools at 15.
It has also been shown that the percentage of working class children going to university is almost the same now as it was in 1939. One study of 5, 000 children from birth to 21 years old indicated that up to half the bright pupils from working class homes left school when they reached 16 years old. Moreover, there is no difference in intelligence between the sexes, but far more boys than girls stay in education after 16.
It is clear from this and much other evidence that many children are still leaving school too early to benefit from the prizes----money, social respectability, and interesting jobs, which higher education gives. It is clear too that the reasons why such children leave have much to do with their social circumstances. Their parents often need the extra money another wage-earner can bring in; they do not value education for itself because their own was probably dull and unhappy. It is not so much that they force their sons and daughters to leave school, rather that they tend to say, “It?s up to you.”
41. What?s the purpose of raising the school leaving age? A) To provide steps up the ladder of success.
B) To provide children with the same chances in society C) To give children the right to a better school D) To give children a more thorough state system
42. In people?s eyes, the education system_____. A) Provides enough chances to success for children B) Misses no children who are really clever
C) Only provides chances for children from rich families D) Does not give equal chances to all bright children
43. Working class children are felt to be at a disadvantage because_____. A) Many of the clever ones leave school early B) Fewer go to university than ever before C) More than half leave school when they are 16 D) Fewer boys than girls stay at school after 16
44. Many children leave school early because_____. A) Their social circumstances make them unhappy B) They have to work to help support their family C) Their school is a dull and unhappy place
D) Their parents don?t allow them to make their own decisions
45. This article shows that equal opportunity in education_____. A) is a thing of the past B) has not yet been achieved C) is there for those who merit it D) has greatly improved our society
Passage Two
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage:
Noise, commonly defined as unpleasant sound, is a kind of environmental pollution. Particularly in crowded urban areas, the noise produced as a by-product of our advancing technology causes physical and psychological harm, and seriously affects the quality of life for those who are suffering from it.
Unlike the eye, the ear has no lid; therefore noise penetrates it easily. Loud noises signal a big danger to human beings. In response, the heart would beat faster, the skin would become pale, and the muscles would get tense. As a matter of fact, some of these responses persist even longer than the noise, occasionally as long as thirty minutes after the sound has ceased.
Because noise is unavoidable in a complex, industrial society, we are constantly responding in the same ways that we would respond to danger. Recently, researchers have concluded that noise and our response may be much more than an annoyance. It may be a serious threat to physical and psychological health and well-being, causing damage not only to the ear and brain but also to the heart and stomach. We have long known that hearing loss is a number one nonfatal health problem, but now we are learning that some of us with heart disease and cancers may be affected by noise pollution as well.
46. What is the author?s main point? A) Loud noises signal a big danger.
B) Noise may be a serious threat to our health.
C) Hearing loss is a number one nonfatal health problem. D) Noise is unavoidable in daily life.
47. What does the word “noise” mean in this passage? A) A by-product of technology. B) Unpleasant sound.
C) Physical and psychological harm. D) A danger to people?s life.
48. Which of the following is true according to the passage? A) Noise is our number one problem.
B) Our response might last longer than the noise itself. C) Our body could resist the noise quite effectively. D) Noise is limited to urban areas.
49. According to the passage, the human being?s immediate response to noise may be the following EXCEPT that_______________.
A) the heart would beat faster B) the skin would become pale C) the muscles would get tense D) the hands would cover up the ears
50. The word “it”(Line 3, Paragraph 3) refers to______________. A) harm B) life C) technology D) noise
Passage Three
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage:
Highly gifted children solve the most varied thought problems faster and more thoroughly than those with more average aptitudes do. Because these children speed through the regular curriculum for their grade, they need additional intellectual stimulation while they wait for the rest of the kids to learn the basics. Two central approaches are used to satisfy the educational needs of such children: acceleration and enrichment. Acceleration means studying material that is part of the standard curriculum for older students. Enrichment involves learning information that falls outside the usual curriculum—say, investigating a topic in greater depth or finding out about new topics.
One way to accelerate children is through early schooling, a term that refers to expanding educational opportunities to children younger than five years. Such schooling may be very beneficial: one extraordinarily talented little boy I met had learned to read fluently even before entering school.
A child might also skip one or more grades as a way of accelerating in school. But being with older children for the entire school day—and perhaps for grade-based extracurricular activities such as sports—can make a child feel inferior in every realm outside of academics. One very bright fourth-grader who had skipped two grades remained far ahead of his classmates intellectually, but as his classmates reached puberty, his social and other shortcomings became painfully apparent. To compensate, he began to brag about how smart he was, and his classmates responded by calling him “crazy” and “show-off” and by totally excluding him from their social life.
When acceleration is not an option, or not a good one, enrichment can be. After all, school is not a race but an adventure in learning. As such, the goal is not finishing first but absorbing as much knowledge as possible in the time allotted. Thus, providing opportunities for a child to study topics outside the regular curriculum can be at least as valuable as pushing him or her through the required material faster. Gifted kids might get the stimulation they require by, say, joining a chess club, a math or debate team, or another enrichment activity that engages their intellect. Another common technique is to enable a child to embark on an independent project or experiment under the guidance of a mentor.
The independent project approach has met with success in varied educational settings. In the “revolving door” model developed by educational psychologists Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis of the University of Connecticut, a broad swath of above-average elementary school students—those who score in the top 15 to 25 percent on standardized tests—leave their regular classrooms for several hours to work individually on projects of their own choosing.
The programs and suggestions described here demonstrate that what highly gifted students need most are good mentors to serve as guides as they navigate complex subject matter. This specialized learning process benefits not only the gifted children but others as well: when the participating students share the fruits of their labors, the rest of their class also reaps the reward of learning something new. 51. As for gifted children, all of the following are true EXCEPT _________. A) they have the unusual learning requirements needing teachers to satisfy B) they may work out various complex thought problems thoroughly C) they thrive in academics due to their high IQ in most cases
D) they are capable of mastering the regular knowledge for their grade faster than
average students
52. The author seems not to be in favour of _________.
A) early schooling B) skipping grades
C) providing extracurricular activities D) independent project or experiment
53. The sentence “After all, school is not a race but an adventure in learning” (Para. 4) means _________.