In her new book, "The Smartest Kids in the World," Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Warsaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students' test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored(......) American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Warsaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind. That American high schools lavish more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities. This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment(PISA) results are announced, it's safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers. Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader--a mother with three children in the school--was asked about the school's flaws . When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned. "Really?"... Tom decides to spend his senior year in Poland because _ . A) there are striking differences between the 2 countries B) Polish kids are better at learning C) sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg D) he intends to improve his scores
D
(Question)
A trip to London My family had dreamed of a trip to London for a long time.Luckily it was possible for us to realize our dream because all of us were free on the weekend. We planned to drive into Cambridge and caught the 7:34train to Liverpool Street Station.Then my wife and I would separate from Joan,my wife's sister,to do different things and finally meet again for lunch.And after lunch,we would go to the concert. But we were late because of a thick London fog.The train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30that it got there.In spite of our late arrival,Joan decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping.It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn't decided where we should meet for lunch.Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket,this was indeed a problem.We didn't have any mobile phones at that time.There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London,and try to find her there.Needless to say,we didn't find her. It was now one o'clock,and the concert began at 2:30."Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,"said my wife hopefully.By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop,and the only way to get there was by subway.Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be.An hour later we were still trying to find it.Just when I was about to become angry,we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog.With his help we found the subway station which was just fifty meters down the road. By now it was far too late to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30,so we decided to return to Cambridge.It took seven hours instead of the usual two to make that journey.Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train.We were tired and hungry. We finally reached home at ten.Opening the door we were amazed to find Joan at home; she had seen the... The writer and his wife separated from Joan because . A) they were late for the concert B) Joan didn't want to go to the concert C) there was a thick fog D) they planned to do different things until lunch time
(Answer)
D
The first outstanding deaf teacher in America was a Frenchman Laurent Clerc. He and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded America's first school for the deaf. When Laurent Clerc was one year old, he fell into a fire. As a result, he lost both his hearing and his sense of smell. At the age of 12, Laurent entered the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris. After he graduated, the school asked him to stay on as an assistant teacher. Meanwhile, in America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was studying to be a minister when he met a young deaf girl, Alice Cogswell. He was upset to learn that there were no schools for the deaf in America. Therefore, in 1815, Gallaudet sailed to London to seek ideas on how to teach deaf people. However, he was unable to get help. He met a French educator of the deaf who invited him to Paris to learn at the Royal Institution for the Deaf. Gallaudet went to the Royal Institution for the Deaf, where Clerc became his Sign Language teacher. The two worked and studied well together. When the time came for Gallaudet to return to America, he asked Clerc to come with him. The two men set sail on June 18, 1816. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean took 52 days; however, Clerc and Gallaudet put the time to good use. They discussed the school for the deaf which they planned to open. On the long trip, they had many conversations about education and deafness. The year after they arrived, they founded a school for the deaf in Harford, Connecticut. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet sailed to London because _ . A) he wanted to study the system of deaf education B) he needed to finish his studies to become a minister C) he wanted to get help from Clerc D) he wanted to find schools for the deaf
A