High childcare costs are putting British mothers off going out to work. It really is that simple. Eurostat figures show that 66 per cent of mothers in the UK work, less than France (72 per cent), Denmark (86 per cent), the Netherlands (78 per cent) or Germany (69 per cent). This not only damages Britain’s economic prosperity—it limits women’s careers and squeezes family incomes. It would be fine if this is the choice parents want to make, but it isn’t. Half of those surveyed want to go to work and the expense of childcare is one of the key reasons they couldn’t.
Despite claims made by Labour (工黨) about childcare, a forthcoming (即將到來(lái)的) report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) confirms the true legacy of their time in government. They left behind a childcare system with high costs to parents, variable quality and patchy (不均勻的) coverage, despite soaring government spending. British parents now face the highest childcare bills in the world after Switzerland.
In the Eighties and Nineties under Mrs Thatcher and John Major, the picture was very different. Mothers in England were more likely to go out to work than their Dutch or German counterparts. But the position has reversed, despite a huge rise in public spending.
So why does the British Government spend more on childcare than France or Germany, even though the costs given to parents are sky-high? As always, under the previous government, money was frittered away (浪費(fèi)) without adequate focus on improving quality. Instead of clear and transparent funding, four separate funding streams were created, skewing (偏離) the market and confusing parents and providers alike. The majority of the money was given away in cash benefits; so much of it did not get through to the front line.
The IPPR report points out that continental systems, in countries such as Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, manage to deliver better value for money. What all of these systems have in common is a focus on quality, with greater flexibility and autonomy given to local providers. They also see a much higher proportion of government money getting to the front line.
小題1:Which of the following doesn’t belong to the disadvantages caused by the mothers prevented from going to work?
A．Damaging Britain’s economic development.
B．Causing damage to women’s careers.
C．Decreasing the family incomes.
D．Causing childcare costs to go up.
小題2:According to the second paragraph, we can infer that the former government of the Labour Party _______.
A．was highly praised by British people
B．made British people face the highest childcare bills
C．left behind a childcare system full of problems
D．managed to decrease the government spending
小題3:We can learn from the passage that _______.
A．in the Eighties and Nineties, mothers in the UK were likely to work
B．there is a prejudice against mothers in the UK employment market
C．most of the mothers surveyed in the UK don’t want to work
D．the percentage of mothers who work in the UK is the lowest in the world

小題1:D
小題2:C
小題3:B

試題分析：本文介紹了由于高昂的兒童保育成本，許多英國(guó)婦女不得不放棄工作在家?guī)Ш⒆�，這不僅影響經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展，也不利于女性職業(yè)發(fā)展和家庭增收。造成這種現(xiàn)象的原因在于政府資金沒(méi)有得到合理利用，造成浪費(fèi)。
小題1:細(xì)節(jié)題，根據(jù)第一段中“This not only damages Britain’s economic prosperity—it limits women’s careers and squeezes family incomes. ”這不僅損害了英國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮--它限制了女性的職業(yè)生涯和擠壓了家庭收入。A、B、C項(xiàng)均有提到，只有D項(xiàng)沒(méi)有提到。故選D。
小題2:細(xì)節(jié)題，根據(jù)第二段中“They left behind a childcare system with high costs to parents, variable quality and patchy (不均勻的) coverage, despite soaring government spending.”盡管政府開(kāi)支加大了，可他們留下了一個(gè)對(duì)父母來(lái)說(shuō)是高額撫養(yǎng)成本，具有不未定性和不完整性的兒童保育系統(tǒng)�？芍@套系統(tǒng)問(wèn)題很多。故選C。
小題3:推理題，根據(jù)第三段中“Mothers in England were more likely to go out to work than their Dutch or German counterparts.”英格蘭的媽媽比他們荷蘭、德國(guó)同行更有可能外出工作。此句中是“England”，而不是“UK”，故A項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤；根據(jù)第三段中“But the position has reversed, despite a huge rise in public spending.
e”景觀公共支出大幅上升，但這個(gè)職位已經(jīng)發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)變，由此可知給女性的就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)減少了，故B正確；根據(jù)第一段中“Half of those surveyed want to go to work ”一半的受訪者想去工作，可知C項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤；根據(jù)第一段中“Eurostat figures show that 66 per cent of mothers in the UK work, less than France (72 per cent), Denmark (86 per cent), the Netherlands (78 per cent) or Germany (69 per cent)”可知這些數(shù)據(jù)是歐盟在其成員國(guó)中統(tǒng)計(jì)出來(lái)的，不是全世界范圍內(nèi)統(tǒng)計(jì)出來(lái)的，因此D錯(cuò)誤。故選B。
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：完形填空

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D．To show the great fun that alcohol can bring to people’s life.
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As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But Venezuela, whose beauty queens have won Miss Universe and Miss World over six times, doesn’t leave it to chance. In Venezuela, girls as young as four can be found attending beauty schools, where they can learn a range of skills from how to walk to the correct way to hold a wine glass.
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B．Wearing high-heels at times.
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D．Fighting against cancer bravely.
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D．eat as much as one pleases
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A．Venezuela girls have won Miss Universe and Miss World over six times by chance
B．In Venezuela, people judge men and women in quite different ways
C．Eva Ekvall once competed for the country’s president
D．Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has spoken out against beauty contests
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Of the thousands of different kinds of animals that exist in the world man has learned to make friends with an enormous number. Some are pets, and offer him companionship, some give protection, and some do hard work which man can not do for himself. Dogs , which serve man in all three capacities(能力), are found in various species in all countries of the world. The    Husky can live in the cold polar regions,and the Saluki is at home in the hottest parts of Central Africa.The inhabitants (居民)of certain countries are dependent for their very lives on the camel. In the West Indies the little donkey, strong and sure-footed, carrying heavy loads even in mountainous, places, is a familiar sight.
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小題1:What main idea does the author want to convey in the first paragraph?
A．There exists thousands of species of animals in the world.
B．Man came to establish a close relationship with a number of animals.
C．In some regions a donkey seems to be a very useful beast.
D．An animal will be useless unless domesticated.
小題2:When an animal doesn’t get enough food, it will probably    
A．refuse to obey its masterB．immediately fall ill
C．require its master to offer some foodD．seek for food on its own
小題3:Which of the following is NOT true of dogs according to the passage?
A．They can act as friends, guards ,and servants to man.
B．They have great adaptation for the environment.
C．There live a great variety of species of dogs on the globe.
D．The Husky and the Saluki are the strongest species ever known in the world
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A．not to hesitate to spend enormous amount of money on it
B．to pay attention to its proper feeding
C．not to allow it to take excessive amounts of exercise
D．to join some sort of pet-keeping organizations
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A．Domesticated Animals-Man’s Best FriendsB．Proper Diet- the Road to Health
C．The Advantages of Raising Domestic AnimalsD．Some Tips on Pet- keeping

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Most friendships die a nature death: people move, change jobs, or start different stages of life. Other friendships, however, end unexpectedly.  When a friendship is over and you don’t understand why, it can be especially painful. Sometimes a friend ends your relationship without telling you why.
The loss of friendship might be worth reflecting on. Knowing when a friendship is over and why it ends may help you build stronger friendships in the future.
●See if you can find a problem.
When a friendship is over, examine your relationship. Perhaps you remember your friend complaining that you’re always late. Maybe you seldom return your friend’s phone calls. When a friend ends your relationship, try to find out the reasons why the friendship is over.
● Writer a letter to your friend .
Express you feelings about the friendship. Do you miss seeing them? Do you have any regrets? Would you act differently if you were still friends? Make it an honest communication.
● Express you feeling of being hurt or anger.
Write or talk about how you feel in a letter. When a friendship is over, it’s important to communicate exactly how hurt you feel, and why. Write until you have nothing left to say. When a friend ends your relationship, you do have the right to express yourself.
● Communicate that you are open to pick up the friendship .
When a friendship is over and you want to reconnect some day, send Christmas, or birthday cards. Say hi and send greetings through mutual(共有的) friends. When a friendship is over, don’t give up until you’re ready.
● Decide to make your present friendships better.
An adviser once told me that simply talking about your relationship strengthens your relationship. Talk to your present friends. Are they happy with your friendship? If a friend ends your relationship, learn something from it.
小題1:The underlined phrase “reflecting on” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to      .
A．keeping onB．giving up C．thinking aboutD．getting angry
小題2:What can we know from “See if you can find a problem.”?
A．You are always late when you and your friend plan to go out.
B．Perhaps your friendship is over because of your problem.
C．Your friend is fond of complaining all the time.
D．You often refuse to answer your friend’s phone calls.
小題3:When a friendship is over, you may do all the following EXCEPT      .
A．a(chǎn)sk your friends whose fault on earth it is
B．talk about how you feel about your friendship
C．write a letter to your friend to tell your regrets
D．send your greetings to your friend before giving up

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