Urbancongestionwouldgreatlyberelievedifthe____chargedonpublictransportweremorereasonable.

PartIVTranslation

Yetthesecarcinogenicadditivesremaininourfood,anditbecomesmoredifficultallthetimetoknowwhichthingsonthepackaginglabelsofprocessedfoodarehelpfulorharmful.(PassageTwo)

Letchildrenlearntojudgetheirownwork.Achildlearningtotalkdoesnotlearnbybeingcorrectedallthetime;ifcorrectedtoomuch,hewillstoptalking.Henoticesathousandtimesadaythedifferencebetweenthelanguagesheusesandthelanguagethosearoundhimuse.Bitbybit,hemakesthenecessarychangestomakehislanguagelikeotherpeople.Inthesameway,whenchildrenlearntodoalltheotherthingstheylearntodowithoutbeingtaught-towalk,run,climb,whistle,rideabicycle-comparethoseperformanceswiththoseofmoreskilledpeople,andslowlymaketheneededchanges.Butinschoolwenevergiveachildachancetofindouthisownmistakesforhimself,letalonecorrectthem.Wedoitallforhim.Weactasifwethoughtthathewouldnevernoticeamistakeunlessitwaspointedouttohim,orcorrectitunlesshewasmadeto.Soonhebecomesdependentontheteacher.Lethimdoithimself.Lethimworkout,withthehelpofotherchildrenifhewantsit,whatthiswordsays,whatansweristothatproblem,whetherthisisagoodwayofsayingordoingthisornot.

Ifitisamatterofrightanswers,asitmaybeinmathematicsorscience,givehimtheanswerbook.Lethimcorrecthisownpapers.Whyshouldweteacherswastetimeonsuchroutinework?Ourjobshouldbetohelpthechildwhenhetellsusthathecan’tfindthewaytogettherightanswer.Let’sendthisnonsenseofgrades,exams,marks,Letusthrowthemallout,andletthechildrenlearnwhatalleducatedpersonsmustsomedaylearn,howtomeasuretheirownunderstanding,howtoknowwhattheyknowordonotknow.

Letthemgetonwiththisjobinthewaythatseemssensibletothem.Withourhelpasschoolteachersiftheyaskforit.Theideathatthereisabodyofknowledgetobelearntatschoolandusedfortherestofone’slifeisnonsenseinaworldascomplicatedandrapidlychangingasours.Anxiousparentsandteacherssay,“Butsupposetheyfailtolearnsomethingessentialtheywillneedtogetintheworld?”Don’tworry!Ifitisessential,theywillgooutintotheworldandlearnit.

1.Whatdoestheauthorthinkisthebestwayforchildrentolearnthings?

A.bycopyingwhatotherpeopledo.

B.bymakingmistakesandhavingthemcorrected.

C.bylisteningtoexplanationsfromskilledpeople.

D.byaskingagreatmanyquestions.

2.Whatdoestheauthorthinkteachersdowhichtheyshouldnotdo?

A.Theygivechildrencorrectanswers.

B.Theypointoutchildren’smistakestothem.

C.Theyallowchildrentomarktheirownwork.

D.Theyencouragechildrentomarktocopyfromoneanother.

3.Thepassagesuggeststhatlearningtospeakandlearningtorideabicycleare___.

A.notreallyimportantskills.

B.moreimportantthanotherskills.

C.basicallydifferentfromlearningadultskills.

D.basicallythesameaslearningotherskills.

4.Exams,grades,andmarksshouldbeabolishedbecausechildren’sprogressshouldonlybeestimatedby___.

A.educatedpersons.

B.thechildrenthemselves.

C.teachers.

D.parents.

5.Theauthorfearsthatchildrenwillgrowupintoadultswhilebeing___.

A.tooindependentofothers.

B.toocriticalofthemselves.

C.incapabletothinkforthemselves.

D.incapabletousebasicskills.

Whichissafer-stayingathome，travelingtoworkonpublictransport，orworkingintheoffice?Surprisingly，eachofthesecarriesthesamerisk，whichisverylow.However，whataboutflyingcomparedtoworkinginthechemicalindustry?Unfortunately，theformeris65timesriskierthanthelatter!Infact，theaccidentrateofworkersinthechemicalindustryislessthanthatofalmostanyofhumanactivity，andalmostassafeasstayingathome.

Thetroublewiththechemicalindustryisthatwhenthingsgowrongtheyoftencausedeathtothoselivingnearby.Itisthiswhichmakeschemicalaccidentssonewsworthy.Fortunately，theyareextremelyrare.ThemostfamousoneshappenedatTexasCity(1947)，Flixborough(1974)，Seveso(1976)，Pemex(1984)andBhopal(1984)。

Someofthesearealwaysinthemindsofthepeopleeventhoughthelossoflifewassmall.NoonediedatSeveso，andonly28workersatFlixborough.TheworstaccidentofallwasBhopal，whereupto3，000werekilled.TheTexasCityexplosionoffertilizerkilled552.ThePemexfireatastorageplantfornaturalgasinthesuburbsofMexicoCitytook542lives，justamonthbeforetheunfortunateeventatBhopal.

Someexpertshavediscussedtheseaccidentsandusedeachaccidenttoillustrateaparticulardanger.ThustheTexasCityexplosionwascausedbytonsofammoniumnitrate(硝酸铵)，whichissafeunlessstoredingreatquantity.TheFlixboroughfireballwasthefaultofmanagement，whichtookriskstokeepproductiongoingduringessentialrepairs.TheSevesoaccidentshowswhathappensifthelocalauthoritieslackknowledgeofthedangerontheirdoorstep.Whenthepoisonousgasdriftedoverthetown，localleaderswereincapableoftakingeffectiveaction.ThePemexfirewasmadeworsebyanoverloadedsiteinanovercrowdedsuburb.Thefiresetoffachainreactionosexplodingstoragetanks.Yet，byamiracle，thetwolargesttanksdidnotexplode.Hadthesecaughtfire，then3，000strongrescueteamandfirefighterswouldallhavedied.

1.Chemicalaccidentsareusuallyimportantenoughtobereportedasnewsbecause____.

A.theyareveryrare

B.theyoftencauselossoflife

C.theyalwaysoccurinbigcities

D.theyarousetheinterestofallthereaders

2.Whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?

A.Workingattheofficeissaferthanstayingathome.

B.Traverllingtoworkonpublictransportissaferthanworkingattheoffice.

C.Stayingathomeissaferthanworkinginthechemicalindustry.

D.Workinginthechemicalindustryissaferthantravelingbyair.

3.Accordingtopassage，thechemicalaccidentthatcausedbythefaultofmanagementhappenedat____.

A.TexascityB.FlixboroughC.SevesoD.MexicoCity

4.Fromthediscussionamongsomeexpertswemaycocludethat____.

A.toavoidanyaccidentsweshouldnotrepairthefacilitiesinchemicalindustry

B.thelocalauthoritiesshouldnotbeconcernedwiththeproductionofthechemicalindustry

C.alltheseaccidentscouldhavebeenavoidedorcontrolledifeffectivemeasurehadbeentaken

D.naturalgasstoredinverylargetanksisalwayssafe

5.Fromthepassageweknowthatammoniumnitrateisakindof____.

A.naturalgas，whichcaneasilycatchfire

B.fertilizer，whichcan'tbestoredinagreatquantity

C.poisonoussubstance，whichcan'tbeusedinovercrowdedareas

D.fuel，whichisstoredinlargetanks

翻译：

Asthesourceofaluminumisalmostinexhaustible,wecanexpectthatmoreandmoreuseswillbefoundforthisversatilemetal.(PassageTwo)