C
Holidays are really important. Many of us have childhood memories of summer holidays when we were taken away from home to experience new environments and learn in different ways.
But holidays are expensive and，for those on low wages or living on benefits, they are often unobtainable. Even the cheapest holidays require travel and other additional costs that are difficult for many families to meet.
For working parents，the long summer break can be a very difficult problem for childcare. When an annual leave allowance amounts to only five weeks，there is a need to spread this across the year. Couples can find themselves taking leave in turn in order to care for children who are on holiday.
The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff committed(承诺) to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment. The number of children receiving free school meals is quite large in Nottingham and many schools have breakfast clubs to make sure that children get a healthy start to the day.
Most schools undertake programs of group or individual educational support. Schools also have an important role in safeguarding children's welfare through the ongoing touch and support with their pupils. During the long summer holidays，much of this is missed.
In setting out its plans for a fiveterm year，Nottingham City Council is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down to four and a half weeks, with a more balanced five terms of roughly eight weeks, each followed by a twoweek break.We believe this will give real “down time” for school staff and pupils alike but will be short enough not to cause a real break in learning.
We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff，particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities. However, this must be weighed against the benefits for city children for whom we all have the greatest duty of care.
28. What does the text mainly talk about?
A. The importance of the holiday.
B. The holiday reduction plan.
C. The balance of holidays and school days.
D. The necessity of cutting down the long holiday.
29. The underlined word "they" in the second paragraph refers to
A. holidays B. families C. salaries D. benefits
30. The plans for a shorter summer holiday will help students
A. obtain the cheapest holidays without additional costs
B. get a chance to spend 8 weeks a term with teachers in school
C. benefit more from the caring and inspiring learning environment
D. have more than 5 weeks of school days to receive free school meals
31. It can be inferred from the text that
A. working parents can enjoy a five-week break to care for their children
B, some school staff may say " No" to the plans for a shorter summer holiday
C. the long summer holiday gives teachers and students real "down time"
D. the suggested plans for a five-term school year can hardly be carried out
D
The deadliest Ebola outbreak in history that has so far killed almost 1000 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in West Africa has caused fear around the world.
The outbreak is unprecedented(空前的)both in infection numbers and in geographic scope. Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier this month the outbreak “is moving faster than our efforts to control it”, reported CNN. So far, the battle against the virus doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
The Ebola virus is terrifying no matter where it strikes: It’s a disease with no cure that causes headaches and fever, severe diarrhea(腹泻), vomiting and bleeding and has been known to kill up to 90 percent of its victims.
It is understandable for people to be panicked, but those living outside Africa shouldn’t be particularly concerned about contracting the virus, says a Washington Post article.
This is because transmission of Ebola requires direct contact with an infected person’s blood, vomit or other bodily fluids during the period that he or she is contagious(接触传染的). It is something that is extremely unlikely for anyone but healthcare workers. The virus is not spread by coughing or sneezing.
Media outlets in the US and the UK are using terrifying headlines, wrongly claiming that people infected with the virus have traveled to their countries.
James Ball at The Guardian says the Ebola outbreak in Africa is tragic, but it is important to keep a sense of proportion. Other infectious diseases, including common influenza, are far, far deadlier.
32. What does the author say about the Ebola outbreak in
A. It has caused thousands of African deaths.
B. The fight against it is slowing down .
C. Its spreading speed is beyond people's imagination.
D. It has already traveled to the Us and the Uk.
33. The Ebola virus is terrifying because___________.
A it is easily infected
B, it cannot be cured at the moment
C.it spreads faster than any other infectuous disease
D.it has caused more deaths than other infectous diseases
34. The underlined phrase in the last paragraph means
A. stay calm B. keep a secret
C. keep silent D stay away from it
35. What is the author's attitude towards people's panic?
A. Objective. B. Supportive.
C. Understandable. D. Doubtful.
