Over 60﹪of pupils in South African schools choose English for learning and teach

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Over 60﹪of pupils in South African schools choose English for learning and teaching, but only 7﹪of pupils speak English as their home language, a recent South Africa survey shows.
Out of the country’s 12.2 million pupils only 851,536 speak English at home, yet 7.6 million pupils choose English as their favorite language of learning and teaching. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language, spoken by over 3.1 million pupils. However, less than a third of them choose to be taught in Zulu. The same thing is true of Pedi-speaking pupils, only a third of such pupils choosing to be taught in their home language. Besides English,
Afrikaans is the only language that has more pupils choosing it as their language of instruction than it has pupils who speak it at home. In primary schools, most pupils will choose African languages. As early as grade four, many would choose English or Afrikaans in their lessons.
The rising number of English-learning pupils is mainly caused by social and cultural reasons. English is the most common spoken language in official and public life in South Africa, the survey reports. In April 2011, the leaders of higher education and training said that they would take some steps to improve the university teaching and prevent the continuing decline of African languages. They suggested that in future every South African university student could be required to learn at least one African language in order to complete their studies at school.
小题1: We can learn from the passage that most South African pupils__________.

A．speak English both at home and at school

B．are required to learn two languages at school

C．choose English as their primary school language

D．are expected to speak their native language at home.

小题2: It can be inferred from the passage that__________________.

A．Afrikaans is the most popular home language in South Africa

B．it’s easier for South African pupils to learn Afrikaans at school.

C．the number of South African pupils learning Afrikaans has increased

D．many South African pupils use Afrikaans at school instead of at home.

小题3: The underlined word “decline” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “_________”.

A．going downhill

B．spreading widely

C．growing upwards

D．developing further

小题4: What is the survey in the passage mainly about?

A．The use of native languages in South African families.

B．The language choice and use among South African pupils.

C．The progress in South Africa’s language teaching education

D．The spread of English at schools in South Africa.

答案

小题1:C
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:B

解析

试题分析：文章主要介绍了非洲一些国家更多孩子选择英语教学，致使母语教学的需求越来越低的现象。这些国家的相关部门正准备着手缓解这一状况。
小题1:主旨大意题。根据文章主要内容可知大多数的南非小学生都会选择英语作为自己在学校的教学语言，所以选择C
小题2:细节题。根据第三段的Afrikaans is the only language that has more pupils choosing it as their language of instruction than it has pupils who speak it at home可知Afrikkan这门语言有更多学生会在学校使用而不是在家里，所以选D
小题3:词义推断题。根据上下文，可知这句话的意思是“遏制非洲本土语音选择人数的下降”，decline意为下降，所以选A
小题4:推断题。根据文章大意可知这个调查主要是询问非洲小学生的教学语言和家庭用语的选择，所以选B较为合适。

举一反三

Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word “diet” everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.
Diet products weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing our brain to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie（卡）, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the counter instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word “diet” in food brands.
On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don’t have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.
The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients(营养成分). Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemical that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological harm that comes from using them.
小题1:The first paragraph mainly tells us _____.

A．diet products can bring out people’s potential

B．people have difficulty in choosing diet products

C．diet products are misleading people

D．people are fed up with diet products

小题2:One psychological effect of diet products is that people tend to ____.

A．resist a variety of diet foods

B．hesitate before they enjoy diet foods

C．pay attention to their own eating habits

D．watch their weight rather than their diet

小题3:The purpose of writing this passage is _________.

A．to warn people of the side effect of diet products

B．to tell people how to lose weight

C．to advise people to eat diet products

D．to introduce some diet products

小题4: Which of the following shows the structure（结构） of the passage?

CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub-point(次要点) C: Conclusion

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Everyone likes living in a clean and comfortable environment. If the envionment(环境) are bad, it will affect（影响）our body, and make us not feel well. Sometimes we may be terribly ill. At that time we don’t want to work, and we have to stay in bed and rest at home. So the envrionment is very important to us.
It’s germs that makes us ill. There are germs everywhere, They are very small and you can’t find them with your own eyes, but you can see them with a microscope（显微镜）They are very small and there may be hundreds of them on a very small thing, Germs can always be found in dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope, we shall see them in it. Germs can also be found in air and dust（灰尘）. If you cut your finger, some of the dust from the floor may go into it, and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs will go into all of your boby, and you will have pain everywhere.
To keep us healthy, we should try to our best to make our environment become cleaner and tidier. This needs us to act together.
小题1:The writer tell us that________.

A．we like working when we are ill

B．germs can’t live in the water.

C．we can’t feel ill if the environment is bad.

D．we feel well when the environment is good.

小题2:Germs are________.

A．very small things that you can’t see with your eyes.

B．the things that don’t effect people.

C．the things that you can find with your eyes.

D．the things that are very big.

小题3:Where can germs be found? They can be found_________.

A．on the small thing	B．in air and dust
C．only in dirty water	D．everywhere

小题4:How will you feel if germs go into the finger that is cut?

A．I will feel nothing.	B．I won’t mind.
C．I will feel tense.	D．I will feel painful.

小题5: From the passage we know that________.

A．environment doesn’t affect our life

B．we don’t need to improve our environment

C．germs may make us ill

D．if the environment is better, germs will be more.

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We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming(把……按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all，it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade！
Besides, it is rather unreal to grade pupils just according to their intellectual(智力的) ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.
In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to deal with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively in order to have the ability to become leaders. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.
Sometimes the pupils work in pairs；sometimes they work on individual tasks , and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is suitable. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can do advanced work：it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.
小题1:We can know from the passage that the author’ s attitude towards “mixed-ability teaching” is______.

A．approving

B．disapproving

C．questioning

D．inactive

小题2:The underlined words “held back” in Paragraph 1 probably means “______”.

A．drawn to their studies	B．forced to study in the lower classes
C．made to remain in the same classes	D．prevented from advancing

小题3:Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED in the third paragraph?

A．Pupils also learn to develop their reasoning abilities.

B．Pupils also learn how to participate in teaching activities

C．Group work gives pupils the chance to learn to work together with others.

D．Group work supply pupils with the chance to learn to be good organizers.

小题4:The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to ______.

A．offer advice on the proper use of the library

B．recommend pair work and group work for classroom activities

C．argue for teaching bright and not-so-bright pupils in the same class

D．tell us the importance of proper formal classroom teaching

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Discover Nature Schools programs
Becoming Bears (Kindergarten-2 grade)
By becoming baby bears, children learn from their “parent” to survive the seasons. Kids will find safety in the spring and learn kinds of food bears eat during the summer, and then create a cave for winter hibernation(冬眠). After learning the skills needed to survive, students will go out of the cave as an independent black bear able to care for themselves. (1.5-2 hours)
Whose Clues? (3-5 grade)
Kids will discover how plants and animals use their special structures to survive. Through outdoor study of plants and animals, kids will recognize their special structures and learn how they enable species to eat, avoid their enemies and survive. Using what they have learned, kids will choose one species and tell how they survive in their living places. (3-4 hours)
Winged Wonders (3-5 grade)
Birds add color and sound to our world and play an important ecological (生态的) role. Students will learn the basics of birds, understand the role birds play in food chains and go bird watching using field guides and telescopes. Students will do hands-on activities. Students will use tools to build bird feeders, allowing them to attract birds at home.(3-4 hours)
Exploring Your Watershed (6-8 grade)
We all depend on clean water. Examining how our actions shape the waterways around us. Go on a hike to see first-hand some of the challenging water quality problems in a city. Students will test the water quality to determine the health of an ecosystem.
● Each program is taught for a class with at least 10 students.
● All programs include plenty of time outdoors. So please prepare proper clothing, sunscreen and
insect killers for children.
● To take part in a program , please email dcprograms@mdc.mo.gov.
小题1:What can kids do at Becoming Bears?

A．Watch bears’ performances.

B．Take care of bears

C．Dress up as baby bears to learn about bears.

D．Learn how to survive a bear attack.

小题2:Kids who are interested in plants will choose______________.

A．Winged Wonders	B．Exploring your Watershed
C．Becoming Bears	D．Whose Clues?

小题3:According to the passage, all the four programs _____________.

A．have the same teaching hours

B．have outdoor activities

C．are offered during summer holidays

D．are designed for primary school students

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A study shows that nearly ninety percent of teens report that they have tried alcohol. That’s an increase of 23 percent in just four years!
Each year, 1.1 billion cans of beer are drunk by students aged 15-19 years old. Beer is the most common alcoholic drink among teens—81 percent of the drinkers had tried it. Beer is followed by wine with 63 percent, hard liquor(烈酒) with 53 percent and wine coolers with 35 percent.
When the young people are asked why they drank, the most common answer is that drinking is “something to do”. If a teen’s parents drink alcohol, the teenager is more likely to start drinking at an early age. Also, tens see all of their friends drinking alcohol so they think it is the must-to-do thing. Peer pressure is probably the hardest thing teens have to deal with. What’s more, teens often drink alcohol because it makes them feel older and cooler.
Researchers asked 56,000 students about their drinking habits and grades, to see how drinking might affect their grades in school. The results seem to be clear. Students who got a C level or lower tend to use three times as much alcohol as those who got B’s or A’s.
Alcohol use can be deadly. About 8,100 young people are killed per year in alcohol-related accidents. Eight young people die per day as a result of a drunk-driving accident. Between 50 and 65 percent of all teen suicides (自***) occur after the young people drink.
So you see, drinking the alcohol doesn’t always end up with a good time. The next time you try to push someone to drink or someone tries to push you to drink, please remember this. One drink can set the habit for life. Why not throw it away?
小题1:The reasons for teens’ drinking alcohol are mentioned EXCEPT that _______________.

A．they think it is cool to drink alcohol

B．their parents set a bad example to them

C．alcohol can make them happier

D．peer pressure plays an important role

小题2:What can we learn from paragraph 4?

A．Drinking alcohol makes students stupid.

B．Good students never try alcohol.

C．Drinking habits have something to do with IQ.

D．Students with poor grades tend to use more alcohol.

小题3:The passage was written mainly to ______________________.

A．show the bad effect of drinking alcohol

B．show how many teenagers drink alcohol

C．tell teenagers not to try alcohol

D．tell the reasons why teenagers drink alcohol.

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