An umbrella can be used to ________ us from rain.

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An umbrella can be used to ________ us from rain.

1. A.
   protect
2. B.
   stop
3. C.
   keep
4. D.
   prevent

On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.
“It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”
The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?
“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”
In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.
“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”
But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.
“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”
【小题1】What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?

The dog that gave us the most trouble was a beagle (猎兔犬) named Murphy．As far as I’m concerned, the first thing he did wrong was to turn into a beagle．I had seen him bounding around on the other side of a pet-shop window, and I went in and asked the man, “How much is that adorable fox terrier (小猎狗) in the window?” Did he say “That adorable fox terrier is a beagle”? No, he said, “Ten dollars, lady.” Now, I don’t mean to say one word against beagles．They have rights just like other people．But it is a bit of a shock when you bring home a small ball of fluff (绒毛) in a shoebox, and three weeks later it’s as long as the sofa．
Murphy was the first dog I ever trained personally, and I was delighted at the enthusiasm with which he took to the newspaper．It was some time later that we discovered, to our horror, that—like so many dogs—he had grasped the letter but not the spirit of the thing．Until the very end of his days he felt a real sense of duty whenever he saw a newspaper—any newspaper—and it didn’t matter where it was．I can’t bring myself to go into the details, except to mention that we were finally forced to keep all the papers in the bottom of the icebox．
He had another habit that used to leave us open to a certain amount of criticism from our friends．He never climbed up on beds or chairs or sofas．But he always sat on top of the piano．In the beginning we used to try to pull him off．But after a few noisy fights in which he knocked a picture off the wall, scratched the piano, and smashed a lamp, we just gave in—only to discover that he hopped up and down as skillfully as a ballet dancer．
Nowadays if I go anywhere, I just ask if they have a dog．If they do, I say, “Maybe I’d better keep away from it—I have bad allergy.” This sometimes annoys the host．But it works．It really works.
56．The writer uses a hyperbole (夸张) in Paragraph 1 to suggest that the dog grew  _____________.
A．surprisingly lovable B．comfortable in the house
C．too fierce to tolerate D．larger than expected
57．Which sentence shows the author’s inability to train Murphy?
A．I had seen him bounding around on the other side of a pet-shop window.
B．We were finally forced to keep all the papers in the bottom of the icebox.
C．He never climbed up on beds or chairs.
D．Nowadays if I go anywhere, I just ask if they have a dog．
58．What can you infer from the second paragraph?
A．The writer tried to train Murphy to fetch newspapers but in vain.
B．Like other dogs, Murphy hated newspapers.
C．Murphy learned to help the writer clean the papers.
D．Murphy liked fetching letters rather than newspapers.
59．Which can be the best title of the passage?
A．Murphy—My Favorite Dog    B．Murphy—An Adorable Dog
C．Murphy Gave Me Trouble      D．Murphy Turned Into A Beagle

I fell in love with music from a young age and often sat down making a few songs of my own．What would life be like, I wondered, without a beautiful song? In 1992, I made two love songs to my darling wife and watched tears run down her face as I sang．"Sam," she said earnestly, "Your songs should be heard by more people."
She got my ballads and started bothering various media people about me, her singing barber husband．Two radio stations took an interest and played the songs．After the programme was aired, I became known in our community as the Singing Barber．
The biggest surprise, however, was still to come．I received a call from a music promoter who offered me a long-term recording contract．He explained that he would be investing a lot of money to market my songs．I needed to be wholly focused on selling my records all over Australia．
But I hesitated．
My friends all told me to go for it．And Mary also thought I should do．"Go, Sam．I'll manage with the family．．．it'll be OK．"
I watched my daughter and son playing in the backyard．Soon they would both be in high school．．．and where would I be? I was so used to my family turning to me for love and support．If I were to start a singing career, I would not only miss them terribly, I'd also certainly miss out on watching them grow up．Signing this contract would put a huge gap between my family and me．．．and I couldn't bear it．My family was my life．So I refused the music promoter's offer．I'm still making music, I'm rich in love and I have no regrets．
【小题1】When the author was offered the contract, most of his friends _____．