As the semester(学期) ended, students had a chance to turn the tables on their teachers.
They got to grade me anonymously(匿名地), assessing the ability of my thinking, my organizational skills and the depth of my knowledge. Such evaluations keep me alert to what works and what doesn’t. Students reflect my performance back to me, and I’m glad to learn what they think of my teaching so that I might try to improve.
This system reflects many aspects of my work. There is, of course, nothing wrong with it. But this system assumes that what students need is the same as what they want. Reading my evaluations every semester has taught me otherwise. Actually many students’ expectations for their courses have already changed, reflecting, in part, the business model many universities are following: classes are considered services, and parents are eager to get their money’s worth from their children’s education. Students feel pressure from their parents to get practical use from their courses.
This could make sense for an engineering course, but in my field, creative writing, which rarely trains up excellent 21-year-old writers, it is more difficult to provide the results that the career-minded students desire. Then I tried some teaching techniques to change the criticism of those unhappy students to the opposite and improve my student evaluations. My record would accurately reflect a smart, attentive, encouraging teacher. However, I would admit that they loved me simply because I agreed writing should be easy.
I know other teachers have done the same thing: teach your heart out to the teachable but be sure to please the unteachable; keep your ratings high, like a politician trying to improve his poll(民意调查) results. I believe in the struggle. But I still can’t help wincing(退缩) when I read, “The instructor is mean.” “Marcus is not committed to my work.” “This class sucks.” The business model has taught me that customers are always right. And maybe a few more dissatisfied customers would mean a better learning experience.
【小题1】What can we know from the underlined phrase “turn the tables on their teachers”？

A．Students get a chance to have dinner with their teachers.

B．Students begin to criticize and punish their teachers.

C．Students judge and grade their teachers.

D．Students take action to praise their teachers.

【小题2】Why have the students’ expectations for their courses changed?

A．Because students want to improve other abilities.

B．Because students feel great pressure from universities.

C．Because the business model has changed.

D．Because students have to satisfy their parents.

【小题3】What can we infer from the passage?

A．Parents don’t care about their money spent on their children’s education.

B．The writer adopted some teaching methods so that he improved his student evaluations.

C．Similar to other teachers, the writer struggled to work as politicians.

D．The students intended to punish their teachers by giving comments.

【小题4】What is the author’s attitude towards being graded by his students?

A．Satisfied.

B．Negative.

C．Positive.

D．Scared.

Has Tiger Mom gone soft? One year after the release of her book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua is back in the spotlight, reflecting on how overnight infamy (恶名) affected her life, her family and her parenting.
“I have changed a lot,” she told the Huffington Post. “In October, we had 30 kids at our house! We have hosted parties with lots of food and music.”
Last January, the Wall Street Journal published an excerpt (节选) from Chua’s book with the headline “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”. In the excerpt, Chua described how her daughters were never allowed to have sleepovers (在外过夜的儿童聚会), appear in school plays, or earn any grade lower than an A. Chua, an author and professor at Yale Law School, spent much of 2011 on the defensive. In fact, many of her interviews seemed to lend fuel to her critics’ fire.
Now, with the book out in paperback, she said, “I put passages in the book and used very harsh words that I regret. Everybody has those moments you wish you could take back.”
For those who still read Battle Hymn as an advice guide, Chua argues that so-called tiger parenting should be employed mainly during a child’s early years, ideally between the ages of 5 and 12. These “super-strict parenting tactics” are not meant for all ages. Remaining strict after middle school makes you a helicopter parent, according to Chua. And she is quick to point out how different that is from being a tiger mom.
“By the time kids get to high school, helicopter parents are hiring all these tutors, carrying their kids’ sports bags. I never checked older daughter Sophia’s papers because I knew she knew how to sit down and focus,” Chua said.
As for younger daughter Lulu, 15, the rebel for whom the book was written, Chua has really backed off. Instead of forcing Lulu to practise violin for hours a day—the source of their biggest fights, Chua “let her give that up”. “My compromise (妥协) is that I’m going to still be as strict academically, but in exchange she has a lot of social freedom. Lulu has had four sleepovers in the last two months!” Chua said. Chua predicts she’ll only get more easygoing with age.
【小题1】What does the passage mainly tell us?

A．How Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother came out.

B．Tiger Mom persuaded readers to follow her example.

C．Tiger Mom has changed and wants to be soft.

D．How Tiger Mom became the worldwide spotlight.

【小题2】From paragraph one we can know that after the publication of the book______________.

A．Tiger Mom became stricter with her children

B．Tiger Mom’s life and family were influenced

C．Tiger Mom was thought highly by the public

D．Tiger Mom became wealthy and easygoing

【小题3】Lulu quarreled with her mother mainly over______________.

A．whether she could do well at school

B．when she could have sleepovers

C．what should be written in the book

D．how long she practiced the violin

The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image(形象) of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. "We were surprised by just how positive today's young people seem to be about their families," said one member of the research team. "They're expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There's more negotiation(商议) and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don't want to rock the boat."
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. "My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me," says 17-years-old Daniel Lazall. " I always tell them when I'm going out clubbing. As long as they know what I'm doing, they're fine with it." Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. "Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I'd done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that."
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, "Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over."
【小题1】According to the author, teenage rebellion ________.

A．resulted from changes in families

B．may be a false belief

C．is common nowadays

D．existed only in the 1960s

【小题2】What is the passage mainly about?

A．Education in family

B．Negotiation in family

C．Teenage trouble in family

D．Harmony in family

【小题3】The study shows that teenagers don't want to ________.

A．go boating with their family

B．share family responsibility

C．make family decisions

D．cause trouble in their families

【小题4】What is the popular images of teenagers today?

A．They dislike living with their parents

B．They quarrel a lot with other family members

C．They worry about school

D．They have to be locked in to avoid troubles

【小题5】Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today's parents ________.

A．care less about their children's life

B．give their children more freedom

C．go to clubs more often with their children

D．are much stricter with their children

Reading is very important to help you learn English. To learn as much as you can from reading, you need to read different kinds of English. This book provides not only different kinds of English but also a good way to check your reading ability.
There are four parts in the book :
Part 1 is Messages : In this part somebody wants to send information in writing to somebody else. There is a test on timetables and a test on text messages .
Part 2 is People : In this part all the tests are about people . For example, there is an informal letter between friends . There is formal (正式的) English in biography (传记) . There is a job application as a model to help with your writing, as well as testing your reading .
Part 3 is Places : In this part , too many different kinds of English are shown , some informal and some formal . There is the informal English of a holiday postcard . There is also the formal English in a letter of complaint .
Part 4 is Things : You will find some descriptive writing in this part . There are descriptions of clothes and of a computer .
You can do these tests in any order you like , or you can do all the tests with a formal or informal text .
I enjoyed writing this book and I hope you enjoy using it .
【小题1】We can find the introduction to a product in        .

A．Part 1

B．Part 2

C．Part 3

D．Part 4

【小题2】Which of the following is most probably written in informal English ?

A．A letter of complaint .	B．A computer handbook .
C．A letter to a friend .	D．A story of a president .

【小题3】The passage is most probably written for        .

A．test designers	B．students
C．test-takers	D．teachers

【小题4】What is the best title of the book ?

A．Test Your Reading

B．Help with Your Writing

C．Learn Different Kinds of English

D．Practise English in Different Ways

With the popularity of Harry Potter novels, the number of children applying to boarding schools has risen, many of them hoping to find their own version of Hogwarts. However, others have interpreted this trend as a reaction to longer working hours and the break up of more marriages. The boarding schools of fiction are presented as one long midnight feast with pillow fights making firm friendships. However, some people say the reality is children having more homesickness and a lack of individual attention. Modern boarding schools have done much to get rid of the image of the mass dormitories with 40 or more beds in one room, some going as far as providing private rooms with bathrooms. Similarly, they make great announcements for their academic advantage, particularly in light of the increase in exams, homework and university entrance requirements facing children wishing to succeed in the modern world.
Alongside these more conventional schools, two types of boarding schools have also become more popular recently. Sports academies and stage schools seek to cater for children with particular interests and talents, while so-called troubled-teens have been able to turn to a range of religious or wilderness schools to solve their problematic behavior.
Boarding schools allow children a safe space in which to accomplish greater control and independence over their daily lives. Teachers and staff can look after and support but they are unlikely to be over-protective. This can be a great preparation for university or for working away from home in later life as it provides an intermediate step between childhood and full independence.
However, parents are a child’s most natural support and best role models to learn from. If they are separated from them for long periods of time, this may damage their relationship and leave the child feeling anxious or alone. Schools are unlikely to be able to copy the detailed knowledge of each individual child that a parent has and therefore cannot be as effective in supporting the child.
To sum up, boarding schools have both their advantages and disadvantages, so it is up to you to decide whether to send your children to boarding schools or not.
【小题1】What do we know from the passage? 

A．More and more children go and visit Hogwarts on their own.

B．Pillow fights in boarding schools make firm friendships in reality.

C．More children want to go to boarding schools because of Harry Potter novels.

D．There aren’t special schools for the particularly talented children.

【小题2】What kind of schools may be the most suitable for the so-called troubled-teens?

A．sports academies	B．Wilderness schools
C．Conventional schools	D．Stage schools

【小题3】We learn from Paragraph 4 that __________. 

A．teachers of boarding schools are the best examples for children to learn from

B．children can be more independent if they are separated from their parents

C．parents know their children better than teachers of boarding schools

D．schools are much more effective than parents in supporting children

【小题4】What is the author’s opinion of boarding schools?  

A．Neutral （中立的）

B．Negative

C．Positive

D．Critical

CONGRATULATIONS
We’ve organized the following information to help you prepare for your arrival at Boston College．Please feel free to contact our Admissions Office at any time over the coming months with any questions．
Your First Steps…
Please return the Acknowledgment Form sent with your acceptance letter to Dean Robert Howe, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, McGuinn Hall 221,140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467．
■For Ph．D．Acceptances and Master’s Acceptances with funding, we ask you to reply by April 25, 2008．
■For Master’s Acceptances without funding and Non-degree Acceptances, we ask you to reply by May 31, 2008．
■You should also contact your department to receive any department information．
Over the Coming Months…
Get informed about services around campus．We have provided links for you to the following offices．
■Student Services
After you return your Acknowledgment Form, you should receive a letter containing your BC Username and Eagle ID number．With this information you can reach email and Agora．In Agora, BC’s online community, you can update your student information, check your student account, and register （登记） for classes．
The Office of Student Services issues （发行） your BC Eagle One Card．This ID card acts as your campus library card and meal card．
Student Services’ website offers a complete listing of courses for the school year, as well as student forms and other important student information．The Office of Student Services also handles billing．
■Housing …
CLICK HERE for more information．
If we can be of any more help to you, just contact us．Congratulations again! We look forward to you joining our University!
【小题1】The above page can most probably be read _________．

A．on the Boston College website	B．in the Boston College newspaper
C．on BC Eagle One Card	D．at Student Services

【小题2】The information above is particularly useful for those ________．

A．who want to apply for Boston College

B．who want to know about Boston College

C．who’ve been admitted to Boston College

D．who’ve decided to pay a visit to Boston College

【小题3】If you want to study for your master’s degree with funding, you will have to _______．

A．return your Acknowledgment Form by May 31, 2008

B．send back your Acknowledgment Form by April 25, 2008

C．email your Acknowledgment Form to Admissions Office by May 31, 2008

D．return your Acknowledgment Form to Student Services by April 25, 2008

【小题4】If you want to decide what courses for the school year you’d better _________．

A．call up the Office of Student Services

B．get in touch with the Admissions Office

C．read your acceptance letter

D．visit Student Services’ website

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES.Wash your hands. Always say  “please” and “thank you”. We are full of advice for our children, but when it comes to money, we often have little to say. As a result, our children may grow up with clean hands and good manners, but without any idea how tomanage their money.
　　Here are some basics that will help guide them their entire lives:
　　Show them the future. If your 13-year-old girl were to save $1.000,invest(投资)it at 8% and add $100 every month, by the time she’s 65,she would have $980,983!
　　Be careful of credit(信用).Credit cards can help you buy necessary things and build a credit history, but they must be used responsibly, which means paying off your debt in time. Explain to your children that when you buy something using a credit card, you can easily end up paying two or three times what you would have paid if you used cash.
　　Teach patience. Suppose your child wants a new bicycle that costs $150.Rather than paying the cash, give him some regular pocket money and explain that by putting aside,say,$15 each week, he will be able to buy it for himself in only ten weeks.
　　Provide incentive. Tell your children the importance of saving. “For every dollar he or she agrees to save and invest rather than spend, you agree to add another dollar to the pot,” says Cathy Pareto, expert in money planning.
　　Explain your values. Values and money are deeply intertwined, says Eilleen Gallo,co-author of The Financially Intelligent Parent. When your child demands that you buy something, explain why you really don’t want to buy it.“You might say, ‘I’d rather save that money for your  education,’” advises Gallo. Every time you spend or don’t spend money, you have a chance to share your values.
【小题1】The writer gives some basics to help________ in a proper way.

A．parents teach their children how to deal with money

B．children follow their parents’ instructions

C．children manage their money

D．parents save their money

【小题2】The writer thinks that, if a child wants to buy something, his parents should________.      .

A．give him some regular pocket money

B．encourage him to put money away for it

C．explain to him the importance of investment

D．tell him to save some money by using a credit card

【小题3】The underlined word “incentive” in paragraph 6 means_________.       .

A．honor

B．praise

C．excitement

D．encouragement

【小题4】What leads the writer to write this article?_________

A．Parents want to know how to educate their children.

B．He wants to share his good ideas about money matters.

C．He thinks money management the most important for children.

D．Parents care Little about their children’s management of money.

“It hurts me more than you”, and “This is for your own good”—these are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework.
That was before we entered the permissive period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school. The schools and the educators made it easy for us. They taught that it was all right to be parents who take a let-alone policy. We stopped making our children do homework. We gave them calculators, turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation.
Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their own pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we’ve made a terrible mistake. One such teacher is Sharon Klompus who says of her students “so passive” and wonders what has happened. Nothing is demanded of them, she believes. Television, says Klompus, contributes to children’s passivity. “We’re talking about a generation of kids who’ve never been hurt or hungry. They have learned somebody will always do it for them, instead of saying ‘go and look it up’, you tell them the answer. It takes greater energy to say no to a kid.”
Yes, it does. It takes energy and it takes work. It’s time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work. It’s time to take the car away, to turn the TV off, to tell them it hurts you more than them but it’s for their own good. It’s time to start telling them no again.  
【小题1】We learn from the passage that the author’s mother used to lay emphasis on（强调）    .

A．his learning a foreign language

B．his ability to control behavior

C．his natural development

D．his school education

【小题2】According to the author, “the permissive period” in Paragraph 2 means a time   .

A．when children are allowed to do what they wish to

B．when everything can be taught at school

C．when every child can be educated

D．when children are permitted to receive education

【小题3】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Parents should leave their kids alone

B．Kids should have more activities at school.

C．It’s time to be stricter with our kids.

D．Parents should set a good example to their kids.

Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge(报复)of the Nerds. They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book. They are not good at social communication and look clumsy(笨拙的) while doing sports.
How, then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres?
Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School. She also sings in the choral group, serves on the student council and is a member of the mathematics society. For two years she has maintained A’s in every subject. Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque. He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair, and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station. Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony, he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes, plus bonus points for A’s in two college-level courses.
How do super-achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer. “Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students,” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super-achieving students. “Knowing how to make the most of your innate(天生的)abilities counts for more. Much more.”
In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ. For them, learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down.
Hard work isn’t the whole story, either. “It’s not how long you sit there with the books open,” said one of the many-A students we interviewed. “It’s what you do while you’re sitting.” Indeed, some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates.
The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn.
【小题1】The underlined word “nerds” can probably be________ .

A．dull bookworms lacking sports and social skills

B．successful top students popular with their peers

C．students with certain learning difficulties

D．born leaders crazy about social activities

【小题2】What can we conclude from the first paragraph?

A．Most TV programs and films are about straight-A students.

B．People have unfavorable impression on straight-A students.

C．Everyone knows about straight-A students from TV or films.

D．Straight-A students are well admired by people in the society.

【小题3】Some students become super-achievers mainly because_________ .

A．they are born cleverer than others

B．they work longer hours at study

C．they make full use of their abilities

D．they know the shortcut to success

【小题4】What will be talked about after the last paragraph?

A．The interviews with more students.

B．The role IQ plays in learning well.

C．The techniques to be better learners.

D．The achievements top students make.

【小题5】What can we infer from the passage?

A．IQ is more important than hard work in study.

B．The brightest students can never get low grades.

C．Top students certainly achieve all-around developments.

D．Students with average IQ can become super-achievers.

There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to grow as people, and to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible for their own education, as they are responsible for what they do in life.
Some students do badly in a traditional classroom. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. For students who worry about these things a lot, it is a good idea to be in an open classroom. But many students will not do well in an open classroom. For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their schools. You now know what open education is.
Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study some subjects if they did not have to.
【小题1】Open education allows the students to _________.

A．grow as the educated

B．be responsible for their future

C．develop their own interests

D．discover subjects outside class

【小题2】Some students will do little in an open classroom because____.

A．there are too few rules

B．they hate activities

C．open education is similar to the traditional education

D．they worry about the rules

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Some traditional teachers do not like it.

B．Many teachers do not believe in open education.

C．Teachers may have problems in open classrooms.

D．The teacher’s feelings and attitudes are important to the students.

【小题4】Which of the following best summarizes the passage?

A．Open education is a really complex idea.

B．Open education is better than traditional education.

C．Teachers dislike open education.

D．The writer thinks that open education is a good idea in practice.