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To most of us, school means classes, teachers, schedules, grades and tests. But for the children at Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, school is very different.

Firstly, there are no lessons. All the children, aged between 4 and 19, do whatever they want. There are no teachers, only “staff members”. The idea behind this is that you do not need to make children learn, because children want to learn anyway. “You do not need to say to a three-year-old, ‘Go explore your environment.’ You can’t stop them!”says Daniel Greenberg, a founder of the school. “But if you make children do what you want all day… they will lose all taste of learning.” At Sudbury Valley School, you will find children talking, reading, painting, cooking, working on computers, studying French, playing the piano, climbing trees, or just running around. Two boys spent three years just fishing!

The other way that Sudbury Valley School is different is that the children can decide the rules. Every week, there is a school meeting where both children and staff have one vote (投票)each—even the four-year-olds. They decide the school rules, how to spend the school money, and even which staff they want and do not want anymore.

When the school first opened in 1968, people said it would never work. But today, the school has 200 students, and 80% of its students go on to college. Even the two boys who went fishing all the time have successful careers today. One of them is a musician and the other is a computer scientist.

1.What's special about the school?

A. There is nobody but students there.

B. All the students are of the same age.

C. There are no classes for the students.

D. There are no rules in the school.

2.What do the students do in the school?

A. They learn everything there from the staff members.

B. They grow up there without learning anything.

C. They spend all the time with their parents.

D. They do whatever they are interested in.

3.The school seems to believe that children________.

A. learn best when they are doing what they want

B. are too young to learn anything by themselves

C. can look after themselves without any help

D. can't go to college without any hard work

4.The last paragraph wants to tell us that_          .

A. the writer doesn't like the idea of the school

B. the school is quite successful in its work

C. most of the parents don't believe in the school

D. younger students learn better there than older ones

5.The underlined word career in the last paragraph most probably means_.

A. family   B. money    C. lifestyle    d. job

 

“What is success?” Mr Gruber asked his 6^th grade business class. It was his opening conversation for the first class of the term.

“Success is riding in a sweet car, watching an 80-inch TV, and living in a place with at least twelve rooms.” One student answered, earning laughs from all the students.

Mr Gruber smiled, but shook his head. “Tom, that is excess(过量). That is not success.”

“How about being able to provide for your family?” A blonde girl named Sandy in the front suggested as an answer.

“Now we’re getting closer,” Mr Gruber smiled, “but try thinking about what you need and what you want.”

“Getting everything you want.” Tom shouted out an answer again, trying for more laughs.

Mr Gruber sighed. “ I believe we’ve already talked about excess versus(与…比较) success.”

“Getting everything you need, but some of what you want?” James, sitting in the back wondered aloud.

“Quite right!” Mr Gruber clapped. “Success is getting everything you need and some of what you want. The more you get that you want, the more successful you are. You do reach a point where you are living in excess, though.”

“What does this have to do with business?” Tom asked. It seemed if it wasn’t funny, he wasn’t happy.

“Well, Tom, think of it this way: the point of business is to make a living to support your family. Once you have properly seen to (确保) their needs, you can then see to getting the extras that you want.”

“What if I don’t have a family?” he continued to be difficult.

“Then you have to provide for yourself, a family of one.”

“He has goldfish to think about!” Peter, Tom’s friend, shouted out.

“Then he needs to provide for a family of one with a fishbowl.” Mr. Gruber corrected himself.

Tom nodded, satisfied with that answer.

“So in the next nine weeks, we’re going to study basic business situations, like having a checking account and understanding credit cards.”

Tom rubbed his hands together excitedly. “When do we get to start spending?”

“You already are, Tom. You’re spending time with us!” Mr. Gruber laughed. “Now, let’s see what you guys know about credit cards…”

1.What class did Mr Gruber teach?

A．History           B．Science           C．Maths            D．Business

2.Which student didn’t seem to be taking the class seriously?

A．Tom              B．James            C．Peter             D．Sandy

3.How did Mr Gruber make his class lively and interesting?

A．He himself kept talking’

B．He just read from a textbook.

C．He showed a movie to his students.

D．He got his students to take part in a discussion.

4.What do you think of Mr Gruber according to the passage?

A．Strange           B．Patient            C．Shy              D．Proud

5.What can be the best title of this passage?

A．Get What You Want                      B．Needs and Wants

C．Try to Get More Money                   D．How to Live Well

 

. -- Did Kate do best in the final exam?.

  -- No, but of all the students she did __________.

A. most carefully                B. more careful

C. the most careful               D. more carefully

 

All the students are talking and laughing in the classroom and it’s _________.

A．noisy

B．lonely

C．quiet

D．strict

 

 短文填空（5%）【2012南通】

     If you think of after-school activities as a waste of time, you are wrong! After-school activities help us grow up in many 1.w  __   . Above all, they offer us chances to practise  what we learn in 2. c  __  . Through various activities, we can also learn more about today's society (社会) and a lot of3.n  __   things that we can't learn from our books. What's more, they help to develop our abilities that we need both for our studies now and for our work and life in the 4.f  __   .

        We are busy with our studies in school, so after school we all need to 5. r    _ ourselves. After-school activities just make it possible for us to breathe 6. f      air and remove tiredness. Then, we can pay7.a   _    to our studies and achieve good results.

        Some after-school activities will make us useful and helpful to 8.o   __  ; some can keep us strong and 9.h    __     ; some may even change our life. So, all the students, get out and take an 10.a   __    part in various after-school activities!