Question

     Holidays are really important. Many of us will have childhood memories of summer holidays where we were taken away from home to experience new environments and learn in different ways.

    But holidays are expensive and,for those on low wages or living on benefits,they are often unobtainable. Even the cheapest holidays require travel and other additional costs that are difficult for many families to meet.

     For working parents,the long summer break can be a very difficult problem for childcare. When an annual leave allowance amounts to only five weeks,there is a need to spread this across the year. Couples can find themselves taking leave in turn in order to care for children who are on holiday. For some,this makes even an affordable family holiday difficult.

    The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff committed to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment. The number of children receiving free school meals is quite large in Nottingham and many schools have breakfast clubs to make sure that children get a healthy start to the day. Most schools undertake programmes of group or individual educational support. Schools also have an important role in safeguarding children's welfare through the ongoing touch and support with their pupils. During the long summer holidays,much of this is missed.

   While teachers are holidaying in the UK,many of their pupils spend the whole six weeks on the street where they live. The lack of free school meals for six weeks can result in pressure on a family budget and an inability to afford the inspiring experiences that help children to continue their learning.

In setting out its plans for a five-term year,Nottingham City Council ( seeking to reduce the sum- mer holiday down to four and a half weeks,with a more balanced five terms of roughly eight weeks,each followed by a two-week break. We believe this will give real down time” for school staff and pupils alike but will be short enough not to cause a real break in learning.

   We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff,particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities. However,this must be weighed against the benefits for city children for whom we all have the greatest duty of care.

46. The passage is probably written by .

   A. an experienced teacher

   B. a working parent

   C. an inspired student

   D. a city council member

47. The underlined word “they” in the second paragraph refers to “”

   A. environments   B. holidays

   C. wages   D. benefits

48. It is suggested in the passage that the summer break be reduced to.

   A. 2 weeks   B. 4. 5 weeks

   C. 5 weeks   D. 6 weeks 

49. The plans for a shorter summer holiday will help students .

   A. obtain the cheapest holidays without additional costs

   B. get a chance to spend six weeks a term with teachers in school

   C. benefit more from the caring and inspiring learning environment

   D. have more school days to receive free schcx>l meals

50. It can be inferred from the passage that .

   A. working parents can enjoy a five-week break to care for their children

   B. the suggested plans for a five-term school year can hardly be carried out

   C. the long summer holiday gives teachers and students real “down time”

   D. some school staff will say “No” to the plans for a shorter summer holiday

Answer 1

46. D 47. B 48. B 49. C 50. D

46. D解析：推理判断题。由文章倒数第二 段第一句话可知采取这一行动的是城市委 员会。再由最后一段中出现的“we”一词 可知本文的作者很可能就是委员会的一名 成员。

47. B解析：词义猜测题。根据画线词所在 句可知，they应该指代holidays。

48. B解析:细节理解题.由倒数第二段第一 句话 “Nottingham City Council is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down to four and a half weeks... ” 可知所建议的 是将假期时间减少到4周半。reduce to减 少到。

49. C解析：细节理解题。由第四段第一句 中的“giving our children a caring and inspiring ieaming environment” 可知 “我” 访 问这所学校的目的是想给孩子们一个充满 关怀和激励人心的学习环境。所以这个缩 短假期时间的计划将会使孩子们从充满关 怀和激励人心的学习环境中获益。选C.

50. D解析：推理判断题。由最后一段第一句话中的“this change may be difficult for some school staff”可知这项改变或许对有 些教职工很困难，所以他们很可能不同意 这项计划，因此D项的表述正确。