An immigrant kid whose family rents an apartment in a city two-flat, he attended the North Shore school with full scholarship. All the aunts and uncles were so proud that they made their way from the old country or from various corners of this country to celebrate his graduation.
A debate is raging about whether immigrant children first should be taught English, then their other subjects; or whether they should be taught other subjects in their native tongue as they are more gradually introduced to English over two to three years.
California voters recently banished the gradual approach -- bilingual education -- in favor of immersion in the English language. The Chicago Public Schools in February put a three-year deadline on moving into all English classes in most cases. But that was never an issue for this graduate, and it never came up for discussion at his party. Relatives and friends laughed and reminisced in their native tongue, inside and outside, on sofas and lawn chairs. Before long, the instruments came out, old world music filled the air and the traditional dancing began.
Like many immigrant chicken, the graduate listens to his parents in the old language and responds to them in English. During a year after arriving here and enrolling in a Chicago Public School he was speaking fluent English with an American accent so strong that his parents would roll their eyes.
But fluency had not come easily; it required a year of total immersion in English, including a teacher who never could seem to learn how to pronounce his name correctly. "He'd come home crying," his mother said.
Now, you can't hear a trace of his original language in his voice. The switch, at least for him, has been complete; a matter of personal preference early on, he says, but now to the point where he has trouble remembering how to speak his first language at all.
But he still understands.
At the graduation party, his father asked for a beer in the native tongue, and the young man tossed him a can without missing a beat.
What does the phrase "from various comers of this country" probably mean?
A. From different parts of the country.
B. From across the country.
C. From many streets of the country.
D. From a lot of houses of the country.
听力原文:M: Oh, hello, Li Ping. Come on in, and how've you been keeping recently?
W: Quite all right, thanks, Dr. Francis. How's your project going?
M: Very smoothly, I should say. I'm playing a consultancy role, really. I've only been here a month, but I'm already on very good terms with my colleagues in the Department of Computer Science. Well, I'm happy that you could come. Please sit down.
W: Dr. Francis, do you know I've got a chance to go to Cambridge in August? I wonder if you could tell me something about Britain.
M: Certainly. Well, I was actually brought up in Scotland. Er, in fact, I've never been to Cambridge. But well.., yes, I'm sure I can give you some useful tips. Now, what do you want to know, Li Ping?
W: Things like weather. What's the usual temperature there?
M: Mmm, the temperature in Scotland is 22, or 23 degrees Centigrade, on average, I think. But Cambridge would be warmer, around 25, I would guess, because it's down south.
W: Oh, that's nice. Do you know it is 34 here? Last year it reached 39. By the way, where do you think I should stay?
M: Oh, that's important. You can, er... I suppose, stay in the college-owned flats, which are often near where you have your classes, and some are even on the campus. That would certainly be convenient.
W: Yes, it would.
M: But it can also be a disadvantage because you are, in a sense, separated from ordinary society. You're a language teacher, and I think learning from society is a valuable experience.
W: Yes, yes, exactly, so what's the alternative?
M: Maybe finding an English host family. I know of a student Ali from the Middle East. He told me that he had learnt a lot by staying with a British family.
W: Thank you. I think it's quite a good suggestion. By the way, Dr. Francis, do you think I could...
What is Dr. Francis?
A teacher of English in Cambridge.
B. A specialist in computer science.
C. A consultant to a Scottish company.
D. A British tourist to China.
PART C
Directions: You will hear three dialogues or monologues. Before listening to each one, you will have 5 seconds to read each of the questions which accompany it. While listening, answer each question by choosing A, B, C or D. After listening, you will have 10 seconds to check your answer to each question. You will hear each piece ONLY ONCE.
听力原文: Education is compulsory and free for every child in America. Most children start school by the age of six. They attend eight years of elementary school and four years of high school, The money for free public schools comes from taxes, and every state is responsible for its own educational system. State legislatures set the educational requirement but leave the management of the schools in the hands of the local communities. Most states require their children to go to school until a certain age. This age varies from 16 to 18 years, according to the laws of the individual states. The Federal government contributes funds to the states for additional schools and school services.
After graduation from high school, a student can start his higher education in a two-year college or university. The cost of a college education is expensive in private universities, but it is much cheaper in those supported by states and cities. Many students receive scholarships from the schools, the government or private foundations. More than 50 percent of college students work to help pay their college expenses.
Where does the money for public schools come from?
A. From the Federal Government.
B. From the state legislation.
C. From taxes.
D. From the parents of the school children.
The contentious reality is that the 【26】______ cheap and simple solution to trashdumping it in a landfill just beyond the edge of town 【27】______ no longer workable, particularly around major cities. Old dumps, which now get 8% of all garbage, are filling up, end new 【28】______ have become virtually 【29】______ to build with the result of skyrocketing land costs, 【30】______ stringent environmental regulations and shrill public opposition 【31】______ new landfills "in my backyard". "Five years from now," 【32】______ Bruce Waddle. director of the Environmental Protection Agency's municipal-solid-waste program, "we'll have only half the number of landfills operating."
With this grim prospect, new methods are required, all variations on the only four ways available to deal 【33】______ garbage: bury it, burn it, recycle it or don't make as 【34】______ in the first place. What's needed, experts say, is sophisticated 【35】______ fallout, called "integrated waste management" An 【36】______ valuable items are sorted out of the waste stream and turned 【37】______ new products, and the rest are burned cleanly in a furnace that also produces steam to 【38】______ electricity. Only the ash, 【39】______ of the original volume of trash, is then disposed 【40】______ in carefully engineered landfills.
【21】
A. whatever
B. even if
C. whenever
D. if