Question

A recent documentary produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation has caused a stir in China and in the UK.

The documentary, titled Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School revolves (以……为主题) around five Chinese teachers who are sent to teach 50 UK teens at a school in Hampshire.

The teachers instruct the students for a month. The pupils are then tested, and the results are compared to the ones of those who have continued in the regular UK education system. The idea is to see if the Chinese method improves academic performance.

The Chinese teachers use their own teaching methods but receive strong resistance from the students. A clip from the documentary online shows some problems, with Chinese teachers calling their students lazy and lacking in discipline(纪律), while the students say the high pressure and harsh teachers are driving them crazy.

This has aroused a new debate in both China and the UK, with some arguing the teenagers need more regulation and discipline. Others say Chinese methods encourage note learning instead of independent thinking. For instance, Chinese language teachers should do more than pass on knowledge about words and characters. They should inspire students, helping them feel the sentiment from Chinese literature. This is a higher level of teaching.

Yang Dongping, dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, says, “The Chinese teaching methods are designed to strictly train the majority. Foreign teaching methods, however, are more natural and relaxing, and designed to inspire students' interest in learning. Education methods are based on culture. That is why a successful education method in one place may not work that well when simply 'transplanted' into another place.”

Yang Dongping says, “The documentary does reflect some problems rooted in traditional Chinese teaching methods. Nobel Prize winner, Yang Zhenning, gave a very fair comment on this issue. He said the Chinese-style education method works for most ordinary qualified students effectively, helping them reach high standards. However, it may compromise the training for high-potential outstanding students.”

1.What is the purpose of 50 UK teens' being instructed by five Chinese teachers?

A. To test the effectiveness of Chinese teaching method.

B. To help the school improve their teaching efficiency.

C. To do some practical research into the UK education system.

D. To test the intelligence of the UK teens.

2.What's the meaning of the underlined work "harsh" in the fourth paragraph?

A. Very attractive.    B. Quite friendly.

C. Rather cold.    D. Extremely strict.

3.According to the report, Chinese teaching methods should focus more on ________.

A. passing on knowledge    B. encouraging independent thinking

C. regulation and discipline    D. training the majority strictly

4.Yang Zhenning's comment implies that traditional Chinese teaching methods are ________.

A. good for Chinese students of all levels

B. helpful to students of high standards

C. good for most ordinary qualified students

D. helpful to high-potential outstanding students

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.C

【解析】本文主要讲了五名中国教师被派到汉普郡教50名英国青少年学生，由此引出中国和英国教育方式的差异的问题，许多学者就此给出了自己的看法，中国诺贝尔奖获得者杨振宁的评论暗示了中国式的教学方法对资质普通的学生来说是有效的，然而，却不太适用于高潜质的杰出学生。

1.根据第三段The teachers instruct the students for a month. The pupils are then tested, and the results are compared to the ones of those who have continued in the regular UK education system. The idea is to see if the Chinese method improves academic performance. 可知，5位中国老师教50个英国青少年目的是检测中国教学方法的有效性。故选A。

2.根据第四段The Chinese teachers use their own teaching methods but receive strong resistance from the students. A clip from the documentary online shows some problems, with Chinese teachers calling their students lazy and lacking in discipline(纪律)可知，这里意思是“然而学生说，高压力和严厉的老师使得他们都快发疯了”，故选D。

3.根据第五段Others say Chinese methods encourage note learning instead of independent thinking. For instance, Chinese language teachers should do more than pass on knowledge about words and characters. They should inspire students, helping them feel the sentiment from Chinese literature. This is a higher level of teaching. 可知，中国的教学方法应该致力于鼓励学生独立思考。故选B。

4.根据最后一段Nobel Prize winner, Yang Zhenning, gave a very fair comment on this issue. He said the Chinese-style education method works for most ordinary qualified students effectively, helping them reach high standards. However, it may compromise the training for high-potential outstanding students.可知，诺贝尔奖获得者杨振宁的评论暗示了中国式的教学方法对资质普通的学生来说是有效的，然而，却不太适用于高潜质的杰出学生。故选C。

【名师点睛】解答词义猜测题，首先要认真阅读文章，对文章的内容有一个大体的了解，把握好文章的整体脉络。第二，对题目中出现的要求考生猜测的短语、单词或句子的部分进行反复的阅读，力求从上下句或一些定义性的语句中找到有用的信息。第三，将猜出的单词、短语或句子的意思带入文中进行检验，看是否符合上下句的意思，文章上下是否斜街、连贯。比如本篇第2小题，要求猜测harsh的意思。本文的内容是讲中英的教育方式的差异，再看harsh所在句子及其上文内容The Chinese teachers use their own teaching methods but receive strong resistance from the students. A clip from the documentary online shows some problems, with Chinese teachers calling their students lazy and lacking in discipline(纪律) , while the students say the high pressure and harsh teachers are driving them crazy.（中国教师采用自己的教学方法，但受到学生的强烈抵制。从纪录片在线剪辑说明一些问题，中国老师说学生懒惰和缺乏纪律，而学生说高压力和__________老师令他们疯狂。），再根据几个选项，A. Very attractive非常有吸引力的；B. Quite friendly很友好；C. Rather cold很冷；D. Extremely strict极其严格的，只有D项符合上下文意思，指高压力和严厉的老师令他们疯狂，故选D。