III. Reading Comprehension
本试卷共10页 第4页
Section A
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B,
C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
The term home schooling means educating children at home or in places other than a normal setting such as a public or private school. These days, homeschooling in America is 51 . Teaching methods at homeschooling 52 . Some parents follow a strict timetable and 53 a traditional school environment. Other parents follow an extreme form of homeschooling in which they do not give grades or tests and allow their children to study wherever they want. More parents, however, follow the middle 54 to provide a balance between freedom and discipline.
Why do parents choose homeschooling? Some believe that children in public schools experience too much “peer pressure”, or social pressure from friends. They say it may have a 55 effect on the child?s studies. Other parents are dissatisfied with the quality of education in the public school. About half the parents who teach at home are 56 motivated and use lessons by mail or Internet from church schools. Whatever the 57 may be, it is evident that more and more children are being taken out of normal schools every year. 58 , many questions have emerged, encouraging the debate over home schooling against public schooling.
What then is the future of education? Although children often learn well at home, weak regulations in most states mean that officials rarely challenge or 59 parents who say they are home-schooling. As the 60 continues, so do the questions about what home schoolers are studying at home. How can parents ensure that their children are prepared academically for college? How are home schoolers 61 to make sure they are getting the same educational standards that school students must have? Recent studies in the United States have shown that homeschooled children tend to be slightly better in subjects like English and art, but they are obviously less 62 math and science. Finally, there are questions regarding the children?s emotional development. Are they too 63 their fellow students? Are they 64 the opportunity to get the social benefits of being in a large classroom of students? As with any debatable issue, the answers to these questions are never 65 . 51. A. disappearing 52. A. vary 53. A. imitate 54. A. instructions 55. A. positive 56. A. economically 57. A. effects 58. A. As a result 59. A. encourage 60. A. appreciation 61. A. assessed 62. A. satisfied with 63. A. ignorant of 64. A. creating 65. A. acceptable
B. reducing
B. last B. alter B. path B.practical B. religiously B. suggestions B. On the whole B. interrupt B. opposition B. chosen B. involved in B. isolated from B. grasping B. informative
C. contributing C. exist C. promote C. technique C. negative C. physically C. reasons C. By the way C. contact C. expectation C. compared C. skilled at C. connected with C. awaiting C. one-sided
D. rising
D. work D. neglect D. standard D. remarkable D. psychologically D. pressures D. In addition D. monitor D. debate D. classified D. sure of
D. worried about D. losing D. practical
本试卷共10页 第5页
Section B
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or
unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
(A)
“It seems likely that a caged elephant would miss the wilderness it was born into.” a six-year study revealed.
British and Canadian scientists studied 4,500 elephants in European zoos and compared them with elephants living in the wild. They found that wild elephants are healthier, live longer and reproduce more than those elephants in zoos.
When it comes to living in a zoo, “many species do well but elephants don?t,” said Georgia Mason, one of the researchers of the study. Many animals live longer in zoos than they do in the wild. This isn?t surprising when you consider that zoo animals are not threatened by predators (掠食者), always have plenty to eat, and have professionals on hand to care for them.
When it comes to elephants, however, the situation is different. The world?s largest land animals live much longer in the wild than they do in zoos.
Female African elephants born in zoos live on average for 17 years, while those in the wild make it to 56. “So far,” says Mason, “We?ve got 300 African elephants in zoos in Europe, and not one?s yet reached 50.”
Asian elephants are the more endangered of the two elephant species. They live for about 19 years in captivity (圈养) compared to 42 years in the wild. A few wild Asian elephants have even made it into their 70s. In Kenya, 30 to 50 percent of wild elephants reach 50 years of age.