Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Primary schools could be told to remove some traditional subject-based lessons and replace them with "personal development" classes to encourage children to improve their social and practical skill. Parents, teachers and pupils, who took part in the investigation carried out for the biggest ever official review of the primary curriculum, argued that the number of subjects taught to very young people should be reduced. The review, being conducted by the government's school's director Sir Jim Rose, will consider how to redesign the primary school day to handle concerns that too many pupils leave primary school unable to read, write and do maths at the level expected of them. It will also address criticisms that pupils are expected to study so many subjects there is little time for creative learning. The 60 focus groups brought together 1,500 parents, pupils and school staff and is expected to heavily influence the thinking of the Rose review, which the government is promising to back. Instead of a broad range of subjects, pupils should study in-depth literacy and maths lessons alongside a more creative curriculum that encourages pupils to develop personal, learning and thinking skills, they say. Such lessons might include "healthy lifestyles, sex and relationships education, drugs and alcohol education". "Child and personal development as priorities have been shamefully neglected in recent years in the rush to hit targets in the basics." John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said, "The worst thing would be to evaluate child development through the current high stakes testing system. That would weaken the capacity of teachers to meet children's unique needs." However, the shadow schools minister, Nick Gibb, said, "If lessons on lifestyle are given the same status as traditional subjects, it is the most disadvantaged children who will be worst affected." "Children are not able to personally develop and succeed in the future if they don't have a grasp of basic subjects such as maths and... Question: John Bangs's attitude towards the current high stakes testing system is _ . - negative - positive - uncertain - cautious
negative
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The energy crisis has made people aware of how the careless use of the earth's energy has brought the whole world to the edge of disaster. The over-development of motor transport, with its increase of more cars, more traveling, has contributed to the near-destruction of our cities and the pollution not only of local air but also of the earth's atmosphere. Our present situation is unlike natural disasters of the past. Worldwide energy use has brought us to a state where long-range planning is vital. What we need is not a continuation of our present serious state, which endangers the future of our country, our children, and our earth, but a movement forward in order to work rapidly and effectively on planetary problems. This country has been failing back under the continuing exposures of loss of morality and the revelation that lawbreaking has reached into the highest place in the land. There is a strong demand for morality to turn for the better and for some devotion that is vast enough and yet personal enough to enlist the devotion of all. In the past it has been only in a way in defense of their own country and their own benefits that people have been able to devote themselves wholeheartedly. This is the first time that we have been asked to defend ourselves and what we hold dear in cooperation with all the other people of this planet, who share with us the same endangered air and the same endangered oceans. There is a common need to reassess our present course, to change that course and to employ new methods through which the world can survive. This is a priceless opportunity. To grasp it, we need a widespread understanding of nature if the crisis we and the world are facing is no passing inconvenience, no byproduct of the ambitions of the oil-producing countries, no environmentalists' only fears, no byproduct of any present system of government. What we face is the result of the invention of the last four hundred years. What we need is a transformed life style. This new life style can flow directly from... Question: Which of the following has nearly destroyed our cities? - The loss of beliefs and ideas. - More of law-breaking. - Natural disasters in many areas. - The rapid growth of motors.
The rapid growth of motors.
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: We tried so hard to make things better for our kids but we made them worse. For my naughty boys, I'd know better. I'd really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made ice cream and leftover meatloaf. I really would. My cherished boys, I hope you learn humility by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest even when no one is looking. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you'll let him. And when you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I hope you take him. I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use computers, you also learn how to add and subtract in your head. May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole . I hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. I don't care if you try beer once, but I hope you won't like it. I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle. I hope your father punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor's window, and that your mother hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of pared mold of your hand. These things I wish for you--tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. Question: Why does the author write the letter? - To show the boys it's not easy growing up. - To teach the boys dos and don'ts on the way growing up. - To help the boys to avoid making mistakes on the way growing up. - To encourage the boys to fully experience life on the way growing up.
To encourage the boys to fully experience life on the way growing up.
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Tears came into this mother's eyes when she talked about waking up her son. Every morning, her ten-year-old boy puts up one finger with his eyes still closed, begging for one more minute to sleep. Why is he so sleepy? Because, like thousands of student "early birds" in China, he has to get up before 6 a.m. every morning. School students usually need eight to ten hours' sleep a night. But in Shanghai, it's reported that 90% of the students do not get enough sleep. And studies show that without a good night's sleep, students seem to be weaker than they should be. Many become near-sighted as a result. Li Ming, a student at Qinghua High School, said that he usually goes to bed after 11 p.m. But when he has exams coming up, he can stay up as late as midnight. This "night bird" lifestyle has made many students nod off in class. Li Ming said that it is during afternoon classes that he feel most sleepy. "My parents are usually happy to see me studying so late," he said. "They think I work very hard and they make me cups of coffee." However, not all parents are happy about this. "My daughter gets up so early. She looks tired and it really hurts me." said one of the parents. Why don't so many students get enough sleep? Now many members of society began to think about it. Question: Which one is True according to the passage? - All the parents hope their children stay up. - No students complain about their lack of sleep. - Most students watch TV or play computer games deep into night. - Some parents are worried about the fact that most of the students don't have enough sleep.
Some parents are worried about the fact that most of the students don't have enough sleep.
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