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If spending is a measure of what matters, then the people of the developing world place a high value on brains. While private spending on education has not changed much in the rich world in the past ten years, in China and India it has more than doubled. Since brainpower is the primary generator of progress, this burst of enthusiasm for investing in private education is excellent news for the world. But not everybody is delighted. Because private education increases inequality, some governments are trying to stop its advance. That’s wrong: they should welcome it, and spread its benefits more widely.
① Education used to be provided by religious institutions or entrepreneurs. But when governments, starting in Prussia in the 18th century, got into the business of nation-building, they realized they could use education to shape young minds. As state systems grew, private schooling was left to the elite and the pious(虔诚的). Now it is enjoying popularity again, for several reasons. Incomes are rising, especially among the better off, at the same time as birth rates are falling. In China the former one-child policy means that six people---two parents and four grandparents---can pour money into educating a single child.
② All over the developing world, people want more or better education than governments provide. Where cities are growing at unmanageable speed, the private education is taking up the slack. In India the private education now educates nearly half of all children, in Pakistan more than a third, and in both countries the state education is shrinking. Even where the state does pretty well, as in East Asia, richer people still want better schooling for their children than the masses get. Thus, Vietnam, which has an outstanding state-school system for a poor country, measured by its performance in the OECD’s PISA test, also has the fastest-growing private education.
③ In most ways, this is an excellent thing, because the world is getting more and better schooling.
In rich countries, once the background and ability of the children who attend private schools are taken into account, their exams results are about the same as those in the state education. But in developing countries private schools are better---and much more efficient. A study of eight Indian states found that, in terms of learning outcomes per rupee, private schools were between 1.5 times and 29 times more cost-effective than state schools.
④ They tend to sort children by income, herding richer ones towards better schools that will enhance their already superior life chances. That is one reason why many governments are troubled by their rise.
Governments are right to worry about private education’s contribution to inequality, but they are wrong to discourage its growth. Governments should instead focus on improving the public education by mimicking(模仿) the private education’s virtues. Freedom from independent management is at the root of its superior performance and greater efficiency. Governments should therefore do their best to give school principals more freedom to innovate and to fire underperforming teachers.
To spread the benefit of private schools more widely, governments should work with them, paying for education through vouchers(代金券) which children can spend in private schools. And vouchers should be limited to students in non-selective schools that do not charge top-up fees; otherwise governments will find themselves helping the better off and increasing inequality.
The world faces plenty of problems. Governments should stop behaving as though private education were one of them. It will, rather, increase the chances of finding solutions.
1.What do we know about private education?
A. More developed countries enjoy it.
B. It attracts more and more investment.
C. Public education will replace it in the future.
D. It has helped governments to remove inequality
2.What does the underlined phrase“taking up the slack” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. Filling the gap. B. Setting the place.
C. Breaking the balance. D. Avoiding the risk.
3.Why has private education been developing rapidly in Vietnam?
A. The population in Vietnam is shrinking dramatically.
B. Its state education is worse than other developing countries.
C. Some people want better education for their children than others.
D. The government intends private education to shape young minds.
4.The sentence “But private schools also increase inequality.” can be put in .
A. ① B. ② C. ③ D. ④
5.What does the author advise governments to do?
A. Train school principals. B. Sell vouchers to children.
C. learn from private education. D. Fire underperforming teachers.
6.What’s the author’s opinion about private education?
A. Private education should be based on state education.
B. Private education should be targeted at well-off families.
C. Governments should prevent the spread of private education.
D. Governments should celebrate the popularity of private education.
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About the Scottish Portrait Gallery
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is one of Edinburgh’s most extraordinary buildings—a great red sandstone neo-gothic palace which sits proudly on the city’s skyline. Following a dramatic three-year redecoration, completed in December 2011, the Gallery now offers 17 new displays. Each of these explores different aspects of the story of Scotland and her people.
The Building
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson as a holy palace for Scotland’s heroes and heroines. A detailed Arts and Crafts decorative scheme, both inside and outside, with its glittering friezes, evocative murals and extensive sculptural embellishment, makes it a very special visitor experience.
The Collection
The Portrait Gallery’s collection is an exceptional national resource of over 30,000 fascinating images containing a rich variety of media and including many internationally outstanding works of art. The portraits depict(刻画) the men and women whose lives and achievements helped shape Scotland and the wider world. The Gallery is also home to the NGS’s outstanding collection of photographs which includes around 6,000 works by the early Scottish pioneers of the medium, Robert Adamson and David Octavius Hill as well as new works by leading-edge contemporary photographers.
Visitor Facilities
The new Portrait Gallery cafe serves a delicious menu of fresh dishes and classic recipes, using the very best local ingredients and seasonal produce. Our new shop offers a fresh twist on design-led gifts and souvenirs. The gallery now has all the facilities which today’s visitors expect, including a fantastic new lift, an Education suite and disabled access throughout the building.
1.What do we learn about the Scottish National Portrait Gallery?
A.It is well-known for its building. B.Every display reflects Scotland.
C.There are about 6,000 works in it D.It has a comparatively short history.
2.Its visitor facilities can be described a ______.
A.rare and user-friendly B.modern and all-round
C.characteristic and attractive D.beneficial and conventional
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A tiny clue found in ancient deposits has unlocked big secrets about Greenland’s past and future climate. Just beyond the northwest edge of the vast Greenland Ice Sheet, researchers have discovered lake mud that have survived the last ice age. The mud, and remains of common flies in it, record two interglacial periods（间冰期）in northwest Greenland.
Although researchers have long known these two periods—the early Holocene and Last Interglacial—experienced warming in the Arctic, the mix of fly species shows that Greenland was even warmer than previously thought. “As far as we know, it has never been found in Greenland. We think this is the first time anyone has reported it in ancient deposits or modern lakes there,” Axford said. “We were really surprised to see how far north it migrated (迁徙).”
This new information could help researchers better measure Greenland’s sensitivity to warming, by testing and improving models of climate and ice sheet behaviour. Those models could then improve predictions of how Greenland’s ice sheet might respond to man-made global warming. After all, Greenland covers 80 per cent of the Arctic country and holds enough ice to equal 20 feet of global sea level. “Northwest Greenland might feel really remote, but what happens to that ice sheet is going to matter to everyone in every coastal city around the world,” said Yarrow Axford, an associate professor in the team. “One of the big uncertainties in climate science is how fast the Earth changes when it gets warmer. Geology gives us an opportunity to see what happened when the Earth was warmer than today,” said Axford.
People might be surprised to see how today’s Greenland looked during the last two interglacial periods. During the Last Interglacial, global sea levels increased by 15 to 30 feet, largely due to thinning of Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets. However, now researchers believe northern Greenland’s ice sheet experienced stronger warming than previously thought, which could mean that Greenland is more responsible for that sea-level rise.
Finding lake deposits older than about 10,000 years, however, has been historically very difficult in Greenland. To measure these ancient temperatures, researchers look to ice cores ( 冰 核 ) and lake deposits. Since ice and lake deposits form by a gradual buildup on annual layers of snow or mud, these cores contain history of the past. By looking through the layers, researchers can obtain climate clues from centuries ago.
1.Why are the remains of flies mentioned in the first two paragraphs?
A.They serve as evidence that there is still life in the Northwest Greenland.
B.They were one of the many ancient lives that were left in the Greenland mud.
C.They are indicators that Greenland was much warmer than previously thought.
D.They help the researchers realize that there was once a warm period in the Arctic.
2.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A.It is easier for today’s scientists to find ancient lake deposits.
B.People are surprised at the landscape feature of Greenland today.
C.Researchers measure the changing temperatures by directly examining mud.
D.Greenland holds enough ice that might one day threaten life in coastal cities.
3.Which do you think is the best title of the passage?
A.Greenland Used to Be Much Greener
B.Earth Once Experienced Warm Periods
C.Coastal Cities Warned of Coming Disasters
D.Northwest Greenland, A Perfect Destination
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While fossil fuels — coal, oil, gas — still produce roughly 85 percent of the world’s energy supply, it’s clearer than ever that the future belongs to renewable sources such as wind and solar. The move to renewables is picking up the development around the world: They now account for more than half of new power sources going in operation.
Some growth stems from a commitment by governments and farsighted businesses to fund cleaner energy sources. But increasingly the story is about the falling prices of renewables, especially wind and solar. The cost of solar panels has dropped by 80 percent and the cost of wind turbines（涡轮机）by close to one-third in the past eight years.
In many parts of the world renewable energy is already an important energy source. In Scotland, for example, wind turbines provide enough electricity to power 95 percent of homes. While the rest of the world takes the lead, especially China and Europe, the United States is also seeing an amazing shift. In March, for the first time, wind and solar power accounted for more than 10 percent of the power generated in the US, reported the US Energy Information Administration.
President Trump has underlined fossil fuels — especially coal — as the path to economic growth. In a recent speech in Iowa, he dismissed wind power as an unreliable energy source. But that message did not play well with many in Iowa, where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation — and where tech enterprise like Microsoft are being attracted by the availability of clean energy to power their data centers.
The question “what happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine?” has provided a quick remark for skeptics. But an increase in the storage capacity of batteries is making their ability to keep power flowing around the clock more likely.
The advance is driven in part by vehicle manufacturers, who are placing big bets on battery-powered electric vehicles. Although electric cars are still uncommon on roads now, this massive investment could change the picture rapidly in coming years.
While there’s a long way to go, the trend lines for renewables are zooming. The pace of change in energy sources appears to be speeding up — perhaps just in time to have a meaningful effect in slowing climate change. What Washington does — or doesn’t do — to promote alternative energy may mean less and less at a time of a global shift in thought.
1.According to Paragraph 3, the use of renewable energy in America ______.
A.has proved to be impractical B.is as common as in Europe
C.faces many challenges D.is progressing greatly
2.It can be learned that in Iowa ______.
A.wind is a widely used energy source
B.wind energy has replaced fossil fuels
C.there is a shortage of clean energy supply
D.tech enterprises are investing in clean energy
3.Which of the following is true about clean energy according to Paragraphs 5&6?
A.Its application has increased battery storage.
B.Its continuous supply is becoming a reality.
C.It is commonly used in car manufacturing.
D.Its sustainable exploitation will remain difficult.
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that renewable energy ______.
A.will bring the US closer to other countries
B.will accelerate global environmental change
C.is not really encouraged by the US government
D.is not competitive enough with regard to its cost
