About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked: "So, how have you been?" And the boy--who could not have been more than seven or eight years old--replied, "Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately." This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were "depressed", that is, in low sprits, until we were in high school. Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don't seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to. Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why? Human development is based not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders. In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation machine has been installed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures. Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practiced. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials. Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world _ . A) through connection with society B) gradually and under guidance C) naturally without being taught D) through watching television
B
(Question)
Do you enjoy seeing the stars twinkling at night ? Or do you love the ocean and sea, diving and racing with lovely dolphins? With heavy burdens on their shoulders, teenagers find it hard to pull out. Even if they are free, they prefer to occupy themselves with computer games or watching TV. How to get children away from screens is a great concern for parents. Now there is some good news for those concerned parents and teachers. A campaign is being launched to encourage children to surrender 30 minutes of screen time a day to head for the great outdoors. The newly formed Wild Network - a collaboration of nearly 400 organizations - is attempting to attract youngsters away from television and computer screen and into fields, woods and parks. Organizers say it is the UK's biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature and outdoor play, and claim it could help improve fitness, mental alertness and general well-being. A documentary film, Project Wild Thing, will herald the launch at more than 50 cinemas across the UK from Friday. It looks at the increasingly fragile link between children and nature. Members of the network include the National Trust, RSPB, Play England and the NHS sustainable development unit. Andy Simpson, chairman of the Wild Network, said: "The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation. Time spent outdoors is down, roaming ranges have fallen drastically, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost." Suggestions of how to get more time in nature include collecting conkers , camping or snail racing, and observing autumn colour on trees. From January, the network will aim to make suggestions to politicians on how government can do more _ This is not the first time the message of less screen, more play has been brought up. Children in the 1980s were entreated to do the same by the BBC TV series Why Don't You, which somewhat confusingly called on its viewers to "switch off your TV set, and go do... Which of the following could be the best title for the passage? A) A new campaign. B) Less screen, more play outdoors. C) A newly formed Wild Network. D) Children get to know wild things.
(Answer)
B
Ques: The National Outline for Medium and Long Term Education Reform and Development (2010 - 20) was released over the weekend. Here are some of the highlights: Four - percent effort The government says spending on education will be 4 percent of GDP by 2012. globally, average spending on education is about 4.5% of GDP. China spend 3,33% in 2008. according to Hu Angang, of Tsinghua University's Center for China Studies, even if China reaches that goal, it will only rank about 100 th out of 188 countries. Administrative rank Administrative rankings for school leaders are to be phased out to tackle the bureaucracy problem that limits educational development, according to Cheng Fangping, of the national Institute for Educational Research. Areas like teaching programs, scientific research, and technological development will be more independent. Vocational Education The system will be free of charge. According to Wu Yan, of Beijing Institute of Educational Sciences, this will be key to developing China's production capacity and will improve poor people's lives dramatically. Entering college Universities could eventually have the freedom to choose some of their own high school applicants. Normally, students are accepted based on the uniform national exam scores. Also, students who agree to go to a remote area could be admitted to university under special circumstances. The most likely change could come on the college entrance English test, which might be modeled on the IELTS or TOEFL. Students will be able to take it several times and pick their best score. 58.We can learn from the passage even though our country spends 4% of GDP on education in 2012,_. A) there will still be 188 countries ahead of China in this aspect B) China will certainly overtake the global average spending on education C) there might be nearly 100 countries ahead of China in this aspect D) China will be the 100 th country to spend over the global average on education
Ans: C
Question: Connecticut College senior Paul Dryden has known for years that he'd have lots of competition for an entry--level promotions job inprefix = st1 /New York's music industry. So in a bid to get an advantage last summer, he invented a job for himself. The job, as an intern in Universal MusiCs Buenos Aires office, had never existed before Dryden proposed it. Yet because he was willing to work without pay, he got his foot in the door and was soon translating interviews with American rock stars for his boss, who didn't speak English. "In theU.S., lye done a lot of internships where interns do all the busywork -- copying, stapling, the boring stuff," Dryden says. "But in this position (inArgentina), I felt very valuable to the company." International internships have been around since the 1950s, but they've become much more popular lately. Over the past three years, colleges have on average seen a 6% increase in the number of students doing international internships, according to a 39--college survey in March by the National Society for Experiential Education, an association of campus internship organizers. And the Institute for the International Education of Students says 25% of its 5, 000 annual study--abroad participants now do an internship component, up from 17% in the 1980s and 21% in the 1990s. National data aren't available on the total number of students doing internships overseas, but career--planning experts say such experience is an increasingly popular way to get" resume radiance ." Because 84 % of college students say they'll do at least one internship before graduating, many now aim to distinguish themselves with experience _ to a global economy. More and more students tend to choose International internships because _ A) they can be better--equipped for the future careers B) they are unwilling to study their lessons in colleges C) doing internships overseas is a part of their courses D) doing internships overseas helps to establish friendship
Answer:
A