ThediscoveryoftheAntarcticnotonlyprovedoneofthemostinterestingofallgeographicaladventures,butcreatedwhatmightbecalled“theheroicageofAntarcticexploration”.Bytheirtremendousheroism,mensuchasShakleton,Scott,andAmundsencausedanewcontinenttoemergefromtheshadows,andyetthatheroicage,littlemorethanacenturyold,isalreadypassing.Modernscienceandinventionsarerevolutionizingtheendurance,futurejourneysintotheseicywasteswillprobablydependonmotorvehiclesequippedwithcaterpillartractionratherthanonthedogsthatearlierdiscoverersfoundsoinvaluableandhardlycomparable.

FewrealizethatthisAntarcticcontinentisalmostequalinsizetoSouthAmerica,andenormousfieldofworkawaitsgeographersandprospectors.Thecoastsofthiscontinentremaintobeaccuratelycharted,andthemapingofthewholeoftheinteriorpresentsaformidabletasktothecartographerswhoundertakethework.Oncetheirlaborsarecompleted,itwillbepossibletoprospectthevastnaturalresourceswhichscientistsbelievewillfurnishoneofthelargesttreasurehoardsofmetalsandmineralstheworldhasyetknown,andalmostinexhaustiblesourcesofcopper,coal,uranium,andmanyotheroreswillbecomeavailabletoman.SuchdiscoverieswillusherinaneraofpracticalexploitationoftheAntarcticwastes.

Thepolardarknesswhichhidesthiscontinentforthesixwintermonthswillbedefeatedbyhugebatteriesoflight,andmakepossibletheestablishingofair-fieldsforthefutureinter-continentalairservicesbymakingtheseareasaslightasday.Presentflyingrouteswillbecompletelychanged,fortheAntarcticrefuelingbaseswillmakeflightsfromAustraliatoSouthAmericacomparativelyeasyoverthe5,000milesjourney.

Theclimateisnotlikelytoofferaninsuperableproblem,fortheexplorerAdmiralByrdhasshownthattheclimateispossibleevenformencompletelyuntrainedforexpeditionsintothosefrozenwastes.Someofhispartiesweremenwhohadneverseensnowbefore,andyetherecordsthattheysurvivedtherigorsoftheAntarcticclimatecomfortably,sothat,providedthattheappropriateinstallationsaremade,wemayassumethathumanbeingsfromallcountriescouldlivetheresafely.Byrdevenaffirmsthatitisprobablythemosthealthyclimateintheworld,fortheintensecoldofthousandsofyearshassterilizethiscontinent,andrendereditabsolutelygermfree,withtheconsequencesthatordinaryandextraordinarysicknessanddiseasesfromwhichmansuffersinotherzoneswithdifferentclimatesarehereutterlyunknown.Thereexistnoproblemsofconservationandpreservationoffoodsupplies,forthelatterkeepindefinitelywithoutanysignsofdeterioration;itmayevenbethatlatergenerationswillcometoregardtheAntarcticasthenaturalstorehouseforthewholeworld.

Plansarealreadyonfoottosetuppermanentbasesontheshoresofthiscontinent,andwhatsofewyearsagowasregardedasa“deadcontinent”nowpromisestobeamostactivecenterofhumanlifeandendeavor.

1.WhendidmanbegintoexploretheAntarctic?

A.About100yearsago.

B.Inthiscentury.

C.Atthebeginningofthe19thcentury.

D.In1798.

2.Whatmusttheexplorersbe,eventhoughtheyhavemodernequipmentandtechniques?

A.Braveandtough

B.Stubbornandarrogant.

C.Well-likedandhumorous.

D.Stoutandsmart.

3.Themosthealthyclimateintheworldis___.

A.inSouthAmerica.

B.intheArcticRegion.

C.intheAntarcticContinent.

D.intheAtlanticOcean.

4.WhatkindofmetalsandmineralscanwefindintheAntarctic?

A.Magnetite,coalandores.

B.Copper,coalanduranium.

C.Silver,naturalgasanduranium.

D.Aluminum,copperandnaturalgas.

5.Whatisplannedforthecontinent?

A.Buildingdamsalongthecoasts.

B.Settingupseveralsummerresortsalongthecoasts.

C.Mappingthecoastandwholeterritory.

D.Settinguppermanentbasesonthecoasts.

Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the languages he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people. In the same way, when children learn to do all the other things they learn to do without being taught-to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle-compare those performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his own mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.

If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let’s end this nonsense of grades, exams, marks, Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.

Let them get on with this job in the way that seems sensible to them. With our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one’s life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential they will need to get in the world?” Don’t worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learn it.

1.What does the author think is the best way for children to learn things?

A.by copying what other people do.

B.by making mistakes and having them corrected.

C.by listening to explanations from skilled people.

D.by asking a great many questions.

2.What does the author think teachers do which they should not do?

A.They give children correct answers.

B.They point out children’s mistakes to them.

C.They allow children to mark their own work.

D.They encourage children to mark to copy from one another.

3.The passage suggests that learning to speak and learning to ride a bicycle are___.

A.not really important skills.

B.more important than other skills.

C.basically different from learning adult skills.

D.basically the same as learning other skills.

4.Exams, grades, and marks should be abolished because children’s progress should only be estimated by___.

A.educated persons.

B.the children themselves.

C.teachers.

D.parents.

5.The author fears that children will grow up into adults while being___.

A.too independent of others.

B.too critical of themselves.

C.incapable to think for themselves.

D.incapable to use basic skills.

翻译：

中华民族的传统文化博大精深、源远流长。早在2000多年前，就产生了儒家学说和道家学说，以及其他很多在中国思想史上有地位的学说流派，这就是有名的“诸子百家”。从孔夫子到孙中山，中华民族传统文化有它的很多珍贵品质。比如“天下兴亡，匹夫有责”的爱国情操，“民为邦本”、“民贵君轻”的民本思想和“己所不欲，勿施于人”的行为准则。

If the old maxim that the customer is always right still has meaning, then the airlines that ply the world’s busiest air route between London and Paris have a flight on their hands.

The Eurostar train service linking the UK and French capitals via the Channel Tunnel is winning customers in increasing numbers. In late May, it carried its one millionth passenger, having run only a limited service between London, Paris and Brussels since November 1994, starting with two trains a day in each direction to Paris and Brussels. By 1997, the company believes that it will be carrying ten million passengers a year, and continue to grow from there.

From July, Eurostar steps its service to nine trains each way between London and Paris, and five between London and Brussels. Each train carries almost 800 passengers, 210 of them in first class.

The airlines estimate that they will initially lose around 15%-20% of their London-Paris traffic to the railways once Eurostar starts a full service later this year (1995), with 15 trains a day each way. A similar service will start to Brussels. The damage will be limited, however, the airlines believe, with passenger numbers returning to previous levels within two to three years.

In the short term, the damage caused by the 1 million people-levels traveling between London and Paris and Brussels on Eurostar trains means that some air services are already suffering. Some of the major carriers say that their passenger numbers are down by less than 5% and point to their rivals-Particularly Air France-as having suffered the problems. On the Brussels route, the railway company had less success, and the airlines report anything from around a 5% drop to no visible decline in traffic.

The airlines’ optimism on returning traffic levels is based on historical precedent. British Midland, for example, points to its experience on Heathrow Leeds Bradford service which saw passenger numbers fold by 15% when British Rail electrified and modernized the railway line between London and Yorkshire. Two years later, travel had risen between the two destinations to the point where the airline was carrying record numbers of passengers.

1.British airlines confide in the fact that__.

A.they are more powerful than other European airlines.

B.their total loss won’t go beyond a drop of 5% passengers.

C.their traffic levels will return in 2-3 years.

D.traveling by rail can never catch up with traveling by air.

2.The author’s attitude towards the drop of passengers may be described as__.

A.worried.B.delightedC.puzzled.D.unrivaled.

3.In the passage, British Rail (Para 6) is mentioned to__.

A.provide a comparison with Eurostar.

B.support the airlines’ optimism.

C.prove the inevitable drop of air passengers.

D.call for electrification and modernization of the railway.

4.The railway’s Brussels route is brought forth to show that__.

A.the Eurostar train service is not doing good business.

B.the airlines can well compete with the railway.

C.the Eurostar train service only caused little damage.

D.only some airlines, such as Air France, are suffering.

5.The passage is taken from the first of an essay, from which we may well predict that in the following part the author is going to__.

A.praise the airlines’ clear-mindedness.

B.warn the airlines of high-speed rail services.

C.propose a reduction of London/Paris flights.

D.advise the airlines to follow British Midland as their model.

More attention was paid to the quality of production in France at the time of Rene Coty. Charles Deschanel was then the financial minister. He stressed that workmanship and quality were more important than quantity for industrial production. It would be necessary to produce quality goods for the international markets to compete with those produced in other countries. The French economy needed a larger share of international market to balance its import and export trade.

French industrial and agricultural production was still inadequate to meet the immediate needs of the people, let alone long-ranged developments. Essential imports had stretched the national credit to the breaking point. Rents were tightly controlled, but the extreme inflation affected general population most severely through the cost of food. Food costs took as much as 80 percent of the worker's income. Wages, it is true, had risen. Extensive family allowances and benefits were paid by the state, and there was fulltime and overtime employment. Taken together, these factors enabled the working class to exist but allowed them no sense of security. In this discouraging situation, workmen were willing to work overseas for higher wages.

The government was unwilling to let workers leave the country. It was feared that migration of workers would reduce the labor force. The lack of qualified workers might hinder the improvement in the quality of industrial products produced. Qualified workers employed abroad would only increase the quantity of quality goods produced in foreign countries. Also the quantity of quality goods produced in France would not be able to increase as part of its ualified labor force moved to other countries.

1. The purpose of the passage is to_______.

A. explain the French government's emphasis on quality products

B. discuss Charles Deschanel's contribution to the French industrial development

C. compare the quality of French goods with that of foreign goods

D. show French workmen's enthusiasm to seek well-paid jobs in foreign countries

2. It can be inferred from the passage that at the time of Rene Coty .

A. France was still at the first stage of industrial development

B. French workers were better paid than the workers in any other European countries

C. the unemployment rate in France was comparatively higher than that in other European countries

D. French workers were able to live better with the increase in their wages

3. It is implied in the passage that at that time_______.

A. France had a very large share of international market

B. the import and export trade in France was making a successful advance

C. demand and supply in France was barely balanced

D. France was experiencing economic depression

4. Which of the following is the best indicator of the extreme inflation in France?

A. Eighty percent increase in the prices of consumer goods. B. High cost of food.

C. High rents for houses. D. Lack of agricultural products.

5. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. Rents in France were tightly controlled.

B. France was flooding the international market with inferior product s.

C. French workers were prohibited from going abroad to find jobs.

D. The migration of French workers would hinder the improvement of quality in industrial production.