Question

In many countries, schools have long summer holidays, with shorter holidays in between. However, a new report suggests shortening school holidays to stop children forgetting what they have learnt during the long summer break. Instead of three school terms, it says, there should be five eight-week terms. And there should be just four weeks off in the summer, with a two-week break between the other terms.

Sonia Montero has two children at primary school and works full-time. She supports the idea. “The kids,” she says, “have much longer holidays than me and I can’t afford to take several weeks off work, so I need someone to take care of them. But nobody wants the work in the summer months — they all have holidays of their own.”

Not surprisingly, some young people disagree. Student Jason Panos says “It’s a stupid idea. I would hate staying at school in the summer. It’s unfair, too. The people who suggest this had long school holidays when they were young, but now they want to stop us enjoying the summer. The kids in Spain and America have much longer holidays than here, but they don’t forget everything they’ve learnt in a few months.”

Nadia Salib agrees. “Sure,” she says, “the first week at school after the summer is never easy, but you soon get back into it. The real problem round here is that kids get bored after so many weeks out of school, and then some of them start causing trouble. But the answer is to give them something to do, not make everyone stay in school longer.”

1.Why is Sonia in support of shorter school holidays?

A. She doesn’t get any summer holidays in her job.

B. She is worried that her children will forget what they’ve learnt.

C. She can’t afford to pay someone to look after her children.

D. She can’t get anyone to look after her children in summer.

2.What does Jason say about long summer holidays?

A. They can help children forget about school.

B. Schools in other countries don’t have them.

C. These days many older people have them too.

D. They have little influence on children’s education.

3.What does Nadia say about young people on summer holidays?

A. They would like to spend more time at school.

B. Long holidays are very bad for their education.

C. They need something to do to enrich themselves.

D. Long holidays should be shortened to stop them causing trouble.

Answer

1.D

2.D

3.D

【解析】本文是议论文，建议缩短暑假延长学生在校学习时间，对此不同的人有不同的观点。

1.D

细节理解题。根据文章第二段she says, “have much longer holidays than me and I can’t afford to take several weeks off work, so I need someone to take care of them. But nobody wants the work in the summer months — they all have holidays of their own.”可知Sonia同意缩短学生暑假假期，主要是因为暑假没有人帮助她带孩子，根据句意可知选D。

2.D

推理判断题。根据第三段最后一句The kids in Spain and America have much longer holidays than here, but they don’t forget everything they’ve learnt in a few months.”可知Jason西班牙和美国的学生假期也很长，但是他们并没有忘记所学的内容。所以说长的署假对学生并没有太大的影响。故选D。

3.D

推理判断题。根据第四段中Nadia Salib agrees. “Sure,” she says, “the first week at school after the summer is never easy, but you soon get back into it. The real problem round here is that kids get bored after so many weeks out of school, and then some of them start causing trouble. Nadia认为长假应该缩短，以防他们惹麻烦。根据句意可知选D。

【名师点睛】

推理判断题所涉及的内容可能是文中的某一句话，也可能是某几句话，所以，推理题的答案只能是根据原文表面文字信息一步推出的答案：即对原文某一句话或某几句话所作的同义改写或综合。推理判断题的题干中通常含infer,suggest,imply,conclude indicate等标志性词语。 这种题型主要包括细节判断题、态度观点推断题、写作意图推断题、文章出处判断题和猜测想象推断题。本题第2小题是推理判断题。根据第三段最后一句The kids in Spain and America have much longer holidays than here, but they don’t forget everything they’ve learnt in a few months.”可知Jason西班牙和美国的学生假期也很长，但是他们并没有忘记所学的内容。所以说长的署假对学生并没有太大的影响。故选D。