填空题Choosethenextshapeorpatterngivenattheend.

填空题Answer the question below with only one word． What bird lifts heavy things?

填空题"Congratulations, you are still in the runningtowards become America's Next Top Model. " 【M1】______five points for guessing the name of the TV programmethis quote comes from but ten points for knowing the 【M2】______name of the person who says it. Well, the answer of the 【M3】______first question is America's Next Top Model and the quote 【M4】______comes from the show's host, supermodel Ms Tyra Banks.If you got them both right, you are part of a 【M5】______growing globe community because the Next Top Model 【M6】______concept is rapidly spreading around world. 【M7】______There's nothing particularly new about this programme.Reality TV shows had been with us since the late 1940s. 【M8】______However, Tyra Banks has brought some glamours to the 【M9】______genre by setting the ritual humiliation what is part of any 【M10】______reality show in the context of the fashion industry.

填空题Citizens appear to have responded to the call by politicians to become better qualified.

填空题Different foods are to be found on three shelves in a fridge. Butter is kept below the eggs while cheese is kept above the milk. The butter is also above the milk, but the eggs are on the same shelf as the yoghurt. The ice cream is above the cheese. What is on the bottom shelf?

填空题Certainbirdsare,moreoftenthannot,consideredbadluck,orevenfrightening,asignofimpendingdeath.Allovertheworld,bothcrowsandravens(乌鸦)havesomeconnectionwithwaranddeath.Inearlytimes,crowsandravenswerethoughttoaccompanythegodsofwar,orbesignsoftheirimminentarrivalinanarea.Later,thisbeliefbecamemoregeneral,andthesebirds,crowsmoreparticularly,werethoughttobeharbingers(预兆)ofillfortuneor,insomecases,guidestotheafterlife.Woebeittothepersonwhosawasinglecroworravenflyingoverhead,forthismostcertainlywasaportentofdeathinthenearfuture.Interestingly,thoughpotentiallybadluckforpeopleindividually,theravenisconsideredtobegoodluckforthecrownofEngland.Somuchso,infact,thata"ravenmaster"iseventodayanactualgovernmentpositionintheTowerofLondon.Hetakescareoftheravensthereandalsoclipstheirwings,ensuringthatthesebirdscanneverflyfarfromtheseatoftheBritishgovernment.Thisway,thekingdomwillneverfalltoillfortune.Anotherbirdwhichisalsostillconsideredtoplayapartinpeople'sfortunesistheswallow.Dependingonhowandwhenitisseen,theswallowcanbeaharbingerofeithergood-or-ill-fortune.Perhapsinspiredbytheswallow'sred-brownbreast,peopleinitiallyrelatedtheswallowwiththedeathofChrist.Thus,peoplewhosawaswallowflythroughtheirhouseconsidereditaportentofdeath.Later,however,farmersbegantoconsiderswallowssignsofgoodfortune,andbelievedthatanybarnthathasswallowlivinginitwassuretobeblessedinthefollowingyear.Farmersalsohavetobewareofkillingaswallow;thatwouldbecertaintoendanygoodlucktheymighthavehad.Thoughmanypeoplethinkthesesuperstitions(迷信)areoldwives'tales,thereisactuallysomeevidencetosupportthem.Forexample,crowsandravens,beingscavengers,frequenttheaftermathofbattlefields.Thus,largenumbersofcrowsandravenswereagoodindicationofwarinanarea.Aswell,swallowsfeedoninsectsthatcancauseinfectionincattle.Thus,afarmerwhohasmanyswallowsinhisbarnmayactuallyhavehealthieranimalsonhisfarm.So,thenexttimeyoufeelinclinedtolaughatanoldwives'tale,youhadbetterfindoutifthereisanytruthtoitfirst!Readthepassagecarefullyandthencompleteeachblankinthesummaryinamaximumofthreewordsfromthepassage.Somepeopleareinclinedtobelievecertainanimalscanbringgoodorbadluck.Themajorityofsuperstitionsaboutcrowsandravenssuggestthatthesebirdsbringbadluck.Peopleshould{{U}}{{U}}1{{/U}}{{/U}}whentheyseesuchbirds.Itmaybethatthesebirdshavebadreputationsbecausetheyarescavengers.Becausethesebirdsoften{{U}}{{U}}2{{/U}}{{/U}}terribleevents,likebattles,peopleconnectedthemwith{{U}}{{U}}3{{/U}}{{/U}}.Thereisevenanold{{U}}{{U}}4{{/U}}{{/U}}thatsayswhenasinglecrowfliesoveryourhead,{{U}}{{U}}5{{/U}}{{/U}}isinthenearfuture!

填空题If two typists can type two pages in two minutes, how many typists will it take to type 18 pages in six minutes?

填空题After I left Debrecen I walked for days and put up my tent at night. An old couple driving a horse and cart stopped and spoke to me. I tried out my broken Hungarian and they laughed. But it was obvious they were offering me a lift, so I got up on the cart, with my backpack and tent. They offered me some fiery apricot liqueur, home-made by the look of it. We drank it from the bottle. The land was fiat. You could see forever. You could see as far as the future. At first we could still see the Hortobagy River, brown in the weak sunshine, and carpets of sunflowers. But then, as we jolted along a track in the cart, there was just the puszta—the dry Great Plain of Hungary. It's where the Hungarians grow their wheat and catch their wild horses. A Hungarian poet once said that the earth and the sky are one in the puszta. I understand what he means. As far as you can see in every direction, the sky comes down and touches the land. This dry yellow land is not beautiful in the usual sense, but being in it, being part of it, I felt a great sense of peace. I have always hated mountains and skyscrapers because they are bigger than I am. But this... When I lay down and watched the puszta from the back of the cart, it was like being in a great safe fiat bed that had no sides but just went on forever. It was then, at that moment, that I felt I could do anything in the world that I wanted. I was eighteen years old. Then, in the distance, we saw the horses. At first there was just a cloud of dust. Then, suddenly, about ten small, wiry, brown Hungarian wild horses charged across the Great Plain. They got near enough for me to see them tossing their heads. Two csikos, Hungarian cowboys, were chasing them. The cowboys saw the cart and shouted something. The old man shouted something back and he and the old woman laughed. They said something to me in Hungarian, probably trying to explain what the cowboys had said. I fell asleep. When I woke up, the horses and the two csikos had gone but nothing about the scenery had changed. We were still moving forward but it was as if we had stopped. I didn't want us ever to arrive anywhere. I wanted to stay on that cart in the Great Plain forever. But at the same time I knew that when the journey was over, everything was going to be just fine. And it was.

填空题All these activities may have damaging environmental impacts. For example, land clearing for agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation; chemical fertilizers and pesticides may contaminate water supplies; more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow periods tend to exacerbate soil erosion; and the spread of monoculture and use of high-yielding varieties of crops have been accompanied by the disappearance of old varieties of food plants which might have provided some insurance against pests or diseases in future. {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}The United States, where the most careful measurements have been done, discovered in 1982 that about one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate likely to diminish the soil's productivity. The country subsequently embarked upon a program to convert 11 percent of its cropped land to meadow or forest. Topsoil in India and China is vanishing much faster than in America. {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}In the rich countries, subsidies for growing crops and price supports for farm output drive up the price of land. The annual value of these subsidies is immense: about ＄250 billion, or more than all World Bank lending in the 1980s. To increase the output of crops per acre, a farmer's easiest option is to use more of the most readily available inputs: fertilisers and pesticides. Fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period 1960-1985 and increased in the Netherlands by 150 percent. The quantity of pesticides applied has risen too: by 69 percent in 1975-1984 in Denmark, for example, with a rise of 115 percent in the frequency of application in the three years from 1981. {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}The most dramatic example was that of New Zealand, which scrapped most farm support in 1984. A study of the environmental effects, conducted in 1993, found that the end of fertiliser subsidies had been followed by a fall in fertiliser use (a fall compounded by the decline in world commodity prices, which cut farm incomes). The removal of subsidies also stopped land-clearing and over-stocking, which in the past had been the principal causes of erosion, Farms began to diversify. The one kind of subsidy whose removal appeared to have been bad for the environment was the subsidy to manage soil erosion. {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}Such countries also try and to introduce new payments to encourage farmers to treat their land in environmentally friendlier ways, or to leave it fallow. It may sound strange but such payments need to be higher than the existing incentives for farmers to grow food crops. Farmers, however, dislike being paid to do nothing. In several countries they have become interested in the possibility of using fuel produced from crop residues either as a replacement for petrol (as ethanol) or as fuel for power stations (as biomass). Such fuels produce far less carbon dioxide than coal or oil, and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}But they are rarely competitive with fossil fuels unless subsidized-and growing them does no less environmental harm than other crops. A. Soil erosion threatens the productivity of land in both rich and poor countries. B. To reduce environmental damages, government have to adopt various methods. C. They are therefore less likely to contribute to the greenhouse effect. D. Government policies have frequently compounded the environmental damage that farming can cause. E. In less enlightened countries, and in the European Union, the trend has been to reduce rather than eliminate subsidies. F. In the late 1980s and early 1990s some efforts were made to reduce farm subsidies. G. Although all of them can produce poisonous gas through burning.

填空题{{B}}Section C{{/B}} In this section, there is one passage followed by 5 questions. Read the passage carefully, and then answer the questions in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers on the Answer Sheet. Five Reasons to Skip College NEW YORK—College is expensive. Four years at an elite university like Princeton or Harvard will set you back around $160,000. That's a lot of money, but consider the benefits: the professors, the coursework, the people you'll meet and the invaluable experiences you'll have. And, of course, the bottom line: you'll earn more money afterward. In fact, on average, the holder of a four-year college degree will earn 62% more over their lifetime than a typical high-school graduate. And that's just on average. The return on investment for attending one of the nation's 25 or so most selective colleges is far more impressive. Money well spent, right? Well, not necessarily. Although there is clearly a correlation between earnings and a four-year degree, a correlation isn't the same thing as a cause. Economists like Robert Reischauer ruffled feathers several years ago by pointing out that talented, driven kids are more likely to go to college in the first place and they succeed, in other words, because of their innate abilities, not because of their formal education. Bill Gates, who dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft, certainly doesn't fit the stereotype of a low paid college dropout. In fact, more than a couple of billionaires never graduated from college. Lance Ellison, cofounder of database giant Oracle, dropped out of the University of Illinois and is now worth $ 16 billion. Fellow billionaire John Simplot, inventor of the frozen French fry, never even finished high school. Neither did Alan Gen'y, who built the first cable television network in upstate New York and then sold it to Time Warner Cable for $ 2.8 billion. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that what really matters is how smart you are, not where—or even if—you went to school. According to a number of studies, small differences in SAT scores, which you take before going to college, correlate with measurably higher incomes. And, according to a report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the lifetime income of high-school dropouts is directly associated with their scores on a battery of intelligence tests. By this logic, the real economic value in a Princeton degree is not the vaunted Princeton education, but in signaling potential employers that you are smart enough to get into Princeton. Actually, attending the classes is irrelevant. A few years back, we even went so far as to speculate that an entrepreneur could build a healthy businesses by charging, say $16,000, to certify qualified high-school graduates as Ivy League material. College-skippers could invest the $144,000 savings and have a nice nest-egg built up by the time they are in their mid-30s. And they could use their formative years between 18 and 22 to learn an actual trade. For, in truth, most professions, journalism, software engineering, sales, and trading stocks, to name but a few, depend far more on 'on-the-job' education than on-classroom learning. Until relatively recently, lawyers, architects and pharmacists learned their trade through apprenticeship, not through higher education. Certainly some jobs, like medical doctors and university professors, require formal education. But many do not, and between the Internet and an excellent public library system, most Americans can learn pretty much anything for a nominal fee. By all means, go to college if you want the 'university experience,' but don't spend all that cash just on the assumption that it will lead you to a higher paying job. QUESTIONS:

填空题Eachsymbol(triangle,square,diamondandcircle)inthistablehasavalue.Thetotalofthesevaluesineachrowandcolumniswrittenattheendofthecorrespondingroworcolumn.Nowwritedownthevalueofeachsymbol.

填空题The night passed rapidly: I was too tired even to dream; I only once awoke to hear the wind rave in furious gusts, and the rain fall in torrents, and to be (46) (sense) that Miss Miller had taken her place by my side. When I again unclosed my eyes, a loud bell was ringing; the girls were up and dressing; day had not yet begun (47) dawn, and a rushlight or two burnt in the room. I too rose reluctantly; it was bitter cold, and 1 dressed as well as I could for shivering, and washed when there was a basin at liberty, which did not occur soon, as there was but one basin to six girls, on the stands down the middle of the room. Again the bell rang: all formed (48) file, two and two, and in that order descended the stairs and entered the cold and dimly-lit schoolroom: here prayers were r (49) by Miss Miller; afterwards she called out—" Form classes!" A great tumult succeeded for some minutes, during which Miss Miller (50) (repeat) exclaimed, "Silence!" and "Order". When it subsided, I saw them all drawn up in four semicircles, before four chairs, placed at the four tables: all held books in their hands, and a great book, like a Bible, I (51) on each table, before the vacant seat. A pause of some seconds succeeded, (52) (fill) up by the low, vague hum of numbers; Miss Miller walked from class to class, hushing this indefinite sound. A distant bell tinkled: immediately three ladies entered the room, each walked to a table and took her seat; Miss Miller assumed the fourth va (53) chair, which was nearest the door, and around which the smallest of the children were assembled: to this inferior class I was called, and placed at the bottom of it. Business now began : the day's Collect was repeated, then certain texts of Scripture were said, and to these succeeded a protracted reading of chapters in the Bible, which lasted an hour. By the time that exercise was terminated, day had fully dawned. The (54) (fatigable) bell now sounded for the fourth time: the classes were marshaled and marched into another room to breakfast. How glad I was to behold a prospect of getting something to eat! I was now nearly sick from hunger, having taken so li (55) the day before.

填空题Being Watched We like to see murderers and thieves end up in prison. If they are c (46) as a consequence of being filmed by security cameras, having their phone calls l (47) to or their email messages read, m (48) just be the weapon we have long been looking for in our war against them. Recent s (49) breakthroughs have also made it possible to solve crimes that took place decades a (50) , so that just about any story can be worked out from it sending. This, too, is good news; if it is true it means that there really is no hiding place for the wrongdoer, (51) the police will always get their man, and that crime doesn't pay. The worrying thing is, of course, that it is not just the (52) (crime) who are being watched. All of us have now become the stars of films made in shops, car parks and the high street. Records are kept, and sometimes (53) (sell), of the numbers we most often phone, while the emails we like to think of as being private and (54) (person) are copied and stored by persons unknown. Some say this is the price of freedom f (55) crime, and that the innocent have nothing to fear.

填空题 Read the following passage and fill in each blank with one word. Choose the correct word in one of the following three ways: according to the context, by using the correct form of the given word, or by using the given letters of the word. Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet. Scientists believe they have solved one of the enduring mysteries of the sexes--why men can drink more alcohol than women. Many believe that women ty {{U}}(66) {{/U}} get drunk more quickly than men, even when their smaller size is taken into account, and they are more likely to suffer liver damage from alcohol ab{{U}} (67) {{/U}}. The researchers say the difference is all in the {{U}}(68) {{/U}}. They say that men make far {{U}}(69) {{/U}} (high) amounts of a protective stomach enzyme that break {{U}}(70) {{/U}} alcohol before it hits the blood stream. The result : they don't get as tipsy as women on the same number of drinks. "The {{U}}(71) {{/U}} (implicate) of this is that when it comes to social drinking, women should be more careful than men for a g {{U}}(72) {{/U}} amount of alcohol when driving or operating equ {{U}}(73) {{/U}} ", said Dr. Charles S. Lieber, a co-author of the study and director of the Alcohol Research and Treatment Center at the Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Among the study's {{U}}(74) {{/U}} (find) : Women absorb about one-third {{U}}(75) {{/U}} alcohol into their blood than men do, even when they are of the same size and drink the same amount. The enzyme, called alcohol dehydrogenase, works better when people have a f {{U}}(76) {{/U}} stomach. This explains why some folks handle their liquor better if they drink after eating. Alcoholics make less of the protective enzyme than social drinkers {{U}}(77) {{/U}}. If people drink on an {{U}}(78) {{/U}} stomach, the alcohol passes quickly through the stomach into the small intestine, where it is ab {{U}}(79) {{/U}} into the blood-stream. {{U}}(80) {{/U}}, when the stomach is full, alcohol stays in the stomach longer, so the enzyme has more time to work.

填空题The hunter-gatherer tribes that today live like our prehistoric human 1 ancestors consume primarily a vegetable diet supplementing with animal foods. 2 An analysis of 58 societies of modern hunter-gatherers, including the Kung of southern Africa, revealed that one-half emphasize gathering plant foods, one-third concentrate on fishing, and only one-sixth are primarily hunters. Overall, two-thirds and more of the hunter-gatherer"s calories come from 3 plants. Detailed studies of the Kung by the food scientists at the University of London, showed that gathering is a more productive source of food than is hunting. An hour of hunting yields in average about 100 edible 4 calories, as an hour of gathering produces 240 5 Plant foods provide for 60 percent to 80 percent of the Kung diet, and no 6 one goes hungry when the hunt fails. Interestingly, if they escape fatal infections or accidents, these contemporary aborigines live to old ages despite of the absence 7 of medical care. They experience no obesity, no middle-aged spread, little dental decay, no high blood pressure, no heart disease, and their blood cholesterol levels are very low (about half of the average American adult). 8 If no one is suggesting that we return to an aboriginal life style, we certainly 9 could use their eating habits as a model for healthier diet. 10

填空题StroMotion is an image enhancement technique. It created stunning video 【M1】______footage display the evolution of an athlete's movement, technique, 【M2】______execution, and tactics over space and time. Television sports viewers areable to see a athletic movement, such as the line of a skier, unfold 【M3】______before their eyes by compounding video images into a frame-by-framesequence. The StroMotion concept is basing on stroboscoping, a means 【M4】______to analyze rapid movement so that a moving object is perceived as a seriesstatic images along the object's trajectory. StroMotion's special effects 【M5】______add particular value to winter sports. For example, the StroMotion techniqueapplying to an ice skater during a jump allows us to clearly see the technique 【M6】______and quality of its execution by highlighting the maneuver—the preparationphase, the elevation progression, the incline and straightness of the body, 【M7】______and the quality and speed of execution. Applied to the haft-pipe eventsin gravity-extreme sports such like snowboarding, skateboarding, and skiing, 【M8】______StroMotion allows viewers to fully appreciate the technique and the quality ofaerial maneuvers(spontaneity, elevation, landing)and highlights the different 【M9】______phases and their transitions. Roger Mosey, BBC Sport Director, said, "Innovationis very important to us in BBC Sport, and our coverage of the Olympics willcontinue to showcase both new technology in the coverage and greater choiceof coverage for people with access for digital services. " 【M10】______

填空题Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage. Canadian authorities relayed that suspicion to the U. S. Coast Guard, which dispatched a cutter to intercept the vessel. After a two-week chase, the cutter's crew finally boarded the Cao Yu 6025, a stateless ship, south of Japan. In the hold, they found damning evidence: 110 tons of tuna and shark fins, and a drift gillnet almost 20 kilometers long--an indiscriminate killer of marine life banned on high seas under an international agreement. Out of sight, and mostly out of mind, the oceans are under siege. Scientists from around the world are reporting global disturbances in the seas that threaten to bring Richard Cashin's grim warning home to every Canadian household. From the polar seas to the tropics, fish populations have collapsed or teeter on the brink. In a third of the Pacific, plankton that form the foundation of the marine food chain are vanishing. In every corner of the planet, increasing temperatures are obliterating some species, while driving others into unfamiliar waters. As science scrambles to make sense of uneven data, evidence points to an alarming conclusion, the sea, the cradle of life, is dying. The killers are numerous. The most obvious, global over fishing, harvests 70 per cent of the world's species faster than they can reproduce themselves. But the scientific community is not even sure that is the worst menace to the seas. Other major threats: human pollution, including an estimated 700 million gallons of toxic chemicals dumped into the sea each year, and global warming, widely attributed to industrial production of so-called greenhouse gases, which appears to be affecting ocean temperatures. Sharply pricier seafood is only the mildest consequence; others are far more serious. In many parts of the world, fishing jobs have disappeared. On Canada's East Coast, 26,000 unemployed former fish workers drew income from the federal government's Atlantic Ground fish Strategy--15,000 from Newfoundland alone--until its $1.9 billion in funding ran out in August. Far worse, developing countries dependent on marine protein confront the risk of mass starvation. In many regions, rival national claims to the seas' diminishing harvest hold potential for armed conflict. More terrifying still is the specter of ecological Armageddon, as the oceans lose the capacity to generate the oxygen on which life itself depends. For too many species, extinction has already come. Half a century ago, 600,000 barn door skate swam North America's Atlantic seaboard. Never intentionally fished, they nonetheless frequently became ensnared in nets or on hooks. By the 1970s, scientists could find no more than 500 skate throughout its previous range. Now, they can't find any. "If bald eagles were as common as robins and then disappeared, someone would notice," says biologist Ransom Myers of Hallifax's Dalhousie University. "In the ocean, no one knows. No one cares. " Belatedly, a handful of governments and others have begun to notice, to care and to act, moving tentatively to rein in the worst abuses of the seas. The patrol that spotted the Cao Yu was one of six that Canada donates each year to enforce an international ban on drift nets, blamed for killing dolphins, sharks, turtles, and seabirds, in addition to their intended catch. On September 1, the federal government designated two protected marine habitats at Race Rocks and Gabriola Passage, British Columbia--the first in a promised chain of preserves in Canadian waters where fishing will be banned. On the same day, an international commission concluded three years of study by urging coastal nations to bury their differences and form a world authority to regulate fishing beyond the 200-mile (370-killometer) economic zones of individual states. Questions :

填空题All countries have laws saying which drugs people can and cannot use. In a typical country, most medicines are available only with a doctor's (21) and certain drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, are illegal under all circumstances. Such restrictions reflect the belief that increased drug use, even if it were legal, would lead to increases in crime, (22) , and other social ills. One nation that goes against this trend is the Netherlands, where the open use of "soft" drugs is tolerated. The Dutch have a strong tradition of personal liberty. The individual's freedom of choice is highly valued. Most people in the Netherlands believe the government should stay out of personal decisions, including the decision whether to use drugs. The Dutch government does not stay totally out of such decision, but it does take a much more (23) than almost any other state. Since 1976, the law in the Netherlands has (24) soft drugs and hard drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines. Laws permit soft drugs to be sold in coffee shops and used in hash bars, which can sell school as well as soft drugs. More than 200 coffee shops in Amsterdam alone (25) sell soft drugs. There are limits, however. No more than five grams of a controlled drug may be sold in a (26) and the buyer must be at least 18 years old. The coffee shop may not advertise the marijuana it sells. No person may grow more than five marijuana plants. All hard drugs are banned. Arguments in favour of legalised marijuana are many. (27) say marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol which is legal in most nations. They also point out the (28) medical reasons for drug use: to alleviate the discomfort of an eye disease called glaucoma or nausea resulting from chemotherapy used to treat some cancers. On a very practical level, legalisation activists say that hugely expensive anti-marijuana (29) have never worked. Instead of spending millions of dollars to keep people from using this mild drug, the government should collect taxes on it and (30) gain more control of how and where it is used.

填空题Which word is the odd one out? Euro, Dollar, France, Peso, Yen, Currency

填空题 There is one passage in this section with 10 questions. Read the passage quickly and answer the questions on the Answer Sheet. [1] For some people it is extreme education: 10-hour days, contracts with parents and very strict rules on behaviour in small, 200-pupil academies. The result in a new type of school in the US is 100% acceptance to college, test results as good as those in private schools, and teenagers from New York's South Bronx district who play the viola like their neighbours in Manhattan. [2] James Verrilh, principal of the North Star Academy in Newark, America's second poorest city, said: 'These kids know drugs. These kids know crime and violence. Their fathers are in jail. We have a school culture here which is very different from the attitude they have when they first walk through the door. It's a culture that tells them they can go to college.' [3] At the North Star Academy children like Charism and Queen-Area smile politely as they shake your hand and welcome you in. About 85% of pupils are African-American and 90% get free school meals. Last year 80% got 'proficient or advanced' grades in maths, compared with just 28% in the local neighbourhood school. This was above the state average. Pupils work in silence with a professionalism they have learned during a three-day process. From the beginning pupils are taught to speak clearly, answer questions in full sentences and look the teacher in the eye. [4] Parents have to sign a three-way contract with their child and the principal, and must promise to participate themselves. When a child's homework isn't handed in by 8 am, there is a phone call home. When the parent doesn't turn up for a meeting, their child is not allowed back into school until they turn up. There are signs saying 'No excuses' on the walls. 'I was working until 11 last night. I'm tired, but I know I've got to work,' says one 11-year-old, as she finishes up her homework over breakfast. 'Even my mother's gone back to school since I've been here.' Pupils are tested every six weeks and their results are examined carefully. [5] 'As a principal of a small school, I know how every child is progressing and how they are behaving,' says Mr. Verrilh. He also sits in on classes himself, observing the students and writing notes for the teachers. [6] North Star and other small schools like it have developed from the charter school move-ment in the US. The 3,500 charter schools are independent schools, funded by the state, and allowed more freedom to set policies, including their admissions procedures. North Star runs a lottery for admissions and has 1,800 children on the waiting list. Parents have to put their child's name into the lottery ; three times more girls apply than boys. [7] Mr. Verrilli strongly rejects the idea that his students might not be the ones most in need. 'It's quite wrong to say that parents from disadvantaged backgrounds don't care about their kids' education. Ninety five percent of parents just want a better education for their children. We're not taking the best kids. I'm defensive about that. It's something a lot of people say. How hard is it to put your child's name down on a piece of paper?' he said. [8] Every child who attends the Kipp (Knowledge is Power Programme) academy in south Bronx, New York, plays in its orchestra, the best school orchestra in New York. Every child can read music. Shirley Lee, a director of the Kipp academy in the Bronx, says the school works because there is a consistent structure throughout the school. 'The truth and reality is that kids like structure,' she said. 'It's about telling them what's appropriate and them learning when to use it. I wouldn't talk to you like I am now if I was out in some of these areas. But if we teach them to look in my eyes when I'm speaking to them, they will use that if they get stopped by the police and that will protect them.' [9] In the UK, there is a growing political debate about the differences in academic achieve-ment between rich and poor in schools in big cities. A recent report highlighted the growing gap in achievement and the government is trying to deal with this problem. Three London academies are experimenting with small school principles and last week a group of British teachers in training visited the US looking for methods they could use to deal with the problems of 'complex urban education'. [10] Ark, a UK educational charity, is taking key components of the small school model into London academies. Lucy Heller, managing director of Ark, says : 'It's small schools, strict rules on behaviour and a firm belief that inner city children can be just as successful.' The UK schools minister says small schools can teach disadvantaged children the skills that middle class children take for granted: 'High ambition, zero tolerance of failure, an expectation that children will go to u niversity and that schools will give them the education to go to university.' [11] Ark is also helping to fund the 30 'Future Leaders' group on the school leadership training scheme visiting the US. The trainees are expected to take some of the ideas they experience in the US back home to the UK. Many of them think it will be difficult to transfer the model to the UK, however. They talk about the fact that most of the US schools are middle schools, for 10-14 year-olds. The model has been tested less in the secondary school age group (11-18). They also ask where the money to fund smaller schools will come from, though others point out the fact that in the US facilities are basic. 'They don't even have interactive whiteboards,' says one of the group's mentors. 'They just teach. Small schools might not be practical in the UK, but what I really want these new school leaders to take back is the sense of culture in these schools. QUESTIONS 51-55: For answers 51-55, mark Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.