Chinese are very generous(慷慨) when it comes to educating their children . Not caring about the
money , parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England , the United
States or Australia . They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either
learn a musical instrument or ballet ,or other classes that will give them a head start in life . The Chinese
believe that the more expensive an education is , the better it is . So parents will spend an unreasonable
amount of money on education .Even poor families will buy a computer for their son or daughter .  
     However , what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children
is usually very cheap .  
     Parents can see that their children's skills vary (变化),skilled in some areas while poor in others.
What most parents fail to realize is that today's children lack (缺少) self-respect and self-confidence .  
     The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests
and how to study well , but parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be
confident ,happy and clever .  
     Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking , sewing and doing other housewk .  
     Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life . Cooking needs
patience and time . It is an enjoyable but difficult experience . A good cook always tries to improve his
cooking ,so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully .His result , a well-cooked
dinner , will give him much satisfaction (满意) and a lot of self-confidence .  
     Some old machines ,such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make
him curious (好奇的) and arouse (唤起) his interest . He will spend hours looking at them , trying to fix
them ; your child might become an engineer when he grows up . These activities are not only teaching a
child to read a book , but rather to think , to use his mind . And that is more important .

1.Parents in China ,according to this passage , _____.

A. are too strict with their children     
B. are too rich to educate their children     
C. have some problems in educating their children correctly     
D. are too poor to educate their children

2.Generally speaking ,children's skills _____.

A. come from their parents      
B. have nothing to do with their education
C. may be different            
D. have something to do with their marks in the exams

3. The writer of the passage does not seem to be satisfied with _____.

A. the parents' ideas of educating their children    
B. the education system
C. children's skills                            
D. children's hobbies

4. Doing some cooking at home helps children _____.

A. learn how to serve their parents
B. learn how to become strong and fat
C. improve many skills that they will need later in life
D. make their parents make that they are clever

5. According to the last paragraph we can conclude that _____.

A. broken radios and television sets are useful
B. one's curiosity may be useful for his later life
C. an engineer must fix many broken radios
D. a good student should spend much time repairing radios

     Catherine comes from Australia. She's very smart. She has studied in Sydney University for about  4
years. When vacations come, she usually returns to the town where she was born. She loves teaching,
and hopes she can be a teacher in her hometown.
      Ami then she found a job in a middle school soon after she graduated. She likes her work, and sings
and dances with her students, Now she has been making a lot of friends in the town and also a good
friend of her students. But after some time, she got interested in all kinds of parties, playing and dancing
with her friends, and did not work hard. At the same time, she was often late for school. Other teachers
were not happy with her and reported her to Mr. Smith, the headmaster. He got angry, because he was
very strict with the school teachers.
      The next morning, he has been waiting for Catherine at the school gate from 7:30 to 8:30. He didn't
see her. About nine, she hurried to school. When she saw the headmaster, she stopped and didn't know
what to say.
      " Sorry, Mr. Smith. My watch... "
      Mr. Smith shouted at her angrily, "Change your watch, or I'll change you. "

1. Catherine is         now.  

A. a university student    
B. a French teacher
C. a famous dancer        
D. a school teacher

2. Many people in the town know the girl because_______.    

A. she teaches well in the middle school
B. her students love her so much
C. she likes singing and dancing with them
D. she likes being late for school

3.________,so she's very busy after work.

A. Catherine is often asked to the parties
B. Catherine has a lot of work to do
C. Catherine spends much time on her work
D. Catherine loves teaching very much

4. Catherine often goes to work late because__________.  

A. she can't go to bed on time
B. she doesn't like her work at all
C. something is wrong with the school
D. she lives very far from the school

5. What does "Change your watch,or I'll change you. "mean?     

A. He told the girl to buy a better watch.
B. He told the girl to work harder.
C. He won't let the girl to be a teacher again.
D. She will be sent away if she's late again.