Teaching Is "One of the Least Popular Jobs in the UK"

　　(1) The UK government has just published a report on the future of secondary-school teaching (pupils aged 11-16), and the conclusion of the report is that many secondary schools now face great difficulties in finding people who want to be teachers, Since the 1980s, the number of graduates who say they would "seriously consider" teaching as a career has fallen sharply,from 64% in 1982 to just 17% today. The report suggests that urgent action needs to be taken in order to encourage more intelligent young graduates into teaching.

　　(2) The main drawback of secondary teaching according to the report, is the low salary. Earnings in teaching are much lower than in many other jobs, and this means that fewer and fewer young people decide to be teachers. Joanne Manners,24, is a good example: "I graduated in maths last year, and I was thinking of doing a teacher-training course to become a maths teacher -- but when I looked into the details, it became clear that teaching isn't very lucrative(賺錢的) job these days. I saw I could earn twice as much if I worked in marketing or advertising, and so I decided not to become a teacher."

　　(3) It's not just about the money, however. The survey concluded that another reason why people don't want to be teachers is that some teenagers behave very badly in school. A lot of schools have problems with discipline, and it seems clear that children do not have the same respect for teachers as in the past. Here's the view of Dave Hallam, an account from London, "I think parents are to blame. They should have stricter rules with their children at home and also teach their children to have more respect for teachers,"

　　(4)"I love teaching; it's my passion. I've been a secondary-school teacher of Spanish for ten years now, and although it's a very demanding job, it's very satisfying. When I see my students passing their Spanish exams, or singing along to Spanish pop songs, it makes me feel so proud," says Brian Jones, who works in a secondary school in London. So what does he think the government should reduce the burden of work on teachers, "I find that I always have too much work to do."

　　(5) The report is clear that the problem of teacher shortage is a very serious one. It says that the government should raise teachers' pay significantly, to catch up with workers in other professions. It also suggests that the government could launch a nationwide publicity campaign, with some advertisements on TV and in the newspapers, to show the positive sides of teaching to young people. Another solution could be set a maximum number hours per week that teachers can work, in order to reduce stress on teachers. "Hopefully," the report concludes, "these solutions can improve the poor image of secondary teaching, and increase the number of young people who want to become teachers in the future."

　　23. Paragraph 1 __________

　　24. Paragraph 2__________

　　25. Paragraph 3 __________

　　26. Paragraph 4 __________

　　A. Students' bad behavior and lack of discipline

　　B. Improvement of children behavior

　　C. Heavy workload on teachers

　　D. The problem of low salary

　　E. A report on teacher shortage

　　F. A nationwide publicity campaign

　　27. More and more young people are held back from teaching __________.

　　28. Parents are encouraged to back the teacher up when there are ___________.

　　29. The government should reduce the workload on teachers to ease__________.

　　30. The government should promote teaching as a career by advertising __________.

　　A. its benefits

　　B. their childhood memories

　　C. their stress

　　D. more training

　　E. discipline problems

　　F. because oflow pay

　　2014年真題

　　The Storyteller

　　(1) Steven Spielberg has always had one goal: to tell as many great stories to as many people as will listen. And that's what he has always been about. The son of a computer scientist and a pianist, Spielberg spent his early childhood in New Jersey and, later, Arizona. From the very beginning, his fertile imagination filled his young mind with images that would later inspire his filmmaking.

　　(2) Even decades later, Spielberg says he has clear memories of his earliest years, which are the origins of some of his biggest hits. He believes that E.T. is the result of the difficult years leading up to his parent's 1966 divorce, "It is really about a young boy who was in search of some stability in his life." "He was scared of just about everything," recalls his mother, Leah Adler. "When trees brushed against the house, he would head into my bed. And that's just the kind of scary stuff he would put in films like Poltergeist."

　　(3)Spielberg was 11 when he first got his hands on his dad's movie camera and began shooting short flicks about flying saucers and World War II battles. Spielberg's talent for scary storytelling enabled him to make friends. On Boy Scout camping trips, when night fell, Spielberg became the center of attention. "Steven would start telling his ghost stories," says Richard Y. Hoffman Jr.,leader of Troop 294, "and everyone would suddenly get quiet so that they could all hear it."

　　(4) Spielberg moved to California with his father and went to high school there, but his grades were so bad that he barely graduated. Both UCLA and USC film schools rejected him, so he entered California State University at Long Beach because it was close to Hollywood.

　　Spielberg was determined to make movies, and he managed to get an unpaid, non-credit internship (實習) in Hollywood. Soon he was given a contract, and he dropped out of college. He never looked back.

　　(5) Now, many years later, Spielberg is still telling stories with as much passion as the kid in the tent. Ask him where he gets his ideas, Spielberg shrugs. "The process for me is mostly intuitive(憑直覺的 ) ," he says. "There are films that I feel I need to make, for a variety of reasons, for personal reasons, for reasons that I want to have fun, that the subject matter is cool, that I think my kids will like it. And sometimes I just think that it will make a lot of money, like the sequel (續(xù)集) to Jurassic Park."

　　23. Paragraph 1 __________

　　24. Paragraph 2 __________

　　25. Paragraph 3 __________

　　26. Paragraph 4 __________

　　A. Inspirations for his movies

　　B. The trouble of making movies

　　C. A funny man

　　D. Getting into the movie business

　　E. Telling stories to make friends

　　F. An aim of life

　　27. Some of Spielberg's most successful movies came from__________.

　　28. When Spielberg was a boy, he used to be scared of__________.

　　29. Spielberg is very good at __________.

　　30. Spielberg says he makes movies for __________.

　　A. almost everything

　　B. telling scary stories

　　C. a number of reasons

　　D. making children laugh

　　E. his childhood memories

　　F. a lot of money

　　2013年真題

　　Traffic Jams--No End in Sight

　　(1) Traffic congestion (擁堵) affects people throughout the world. Traffic jams cause smog in dozens of cities across both the developed and developing world. In the U. S., commuters (通勤人員 ) spend an average of a full working week each year sitting in traffic jams, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. While alternative ways of getting around are available, most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience, comfort and privacy.

　　(2) The most promising technique for reducing city traffic is called congestion pricing, whereby cities charge a toll to enter certain parts of town at certain times of day. In theory, if the toll is high enough, some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or train. And in practice it seems to work: Singapore, London and Stockholm have reduced traffic and pollution in city centres thanks to congestion pricing.

　　(3) Another way to reduce rush-hour traffic is for employers to implement flextime, which lets employees travel to and from work at off-peak traffic times to avoid the rush hour. Those who have to travel during busy times can do their part by sharing cars. Employers can also allow more staff to telecommute (work from home) so as to keep more cars off the road altogether.

　　(4) Some urban planners still believe that the best way to ease traffic congestion is to build more roads, especially roads that can take drivers around or over crowded city streets. But such techniques do not really keep cars off the road; they only accommodate more of them.

　　(5) Other, more forward-thinking, planners know that more and more drivers and cars are taking to the roads every day, and they are unwilling to encourage more private automobiles when public transport is so much better both for people and the environment. For this reason, the American government has decided to spend some $7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public-transportsystemsandupgradethemwithmoreefficienttechnologies.But

　　environmentalists complain that such funding is tiny compared with the $50 billion being spent on roads and bridges.

　　23. Paragraph 1 __________

　　24. Paragraph 2 __________

　　25. Paragraph 3 __________

　　26. Paragraph 4 __________

　　A. Paying to get in

　　B. Changing work practice

　　C. Not doing enough

　　D. A solution which is no solution

　　E. Closing city centres to traffic

　　F. A global problem

　　27. Most American drivers think it convenient to__________.

　　28. If charged high enough, some drivers may enter certain parts of town __________.

　　29. Building more roads is not an effective way to __________.

　　30. The U. S. government has planned to __________ updating public-transport systems.

　　A. reduce traffic jams

　　B. drive around

　　C. go by bus

　　D. spend more money

　　E. travel regularly

　　F. encourage more private cars

　　答案與解析

　　2015年真題

　　23．E。題干：第一段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。第一段的主題句是第一句，大意是說英國政府的一項報告指出許多中學面臨著師資困難，故E(有關師資短缺的報告)是正確答案。

　　24．D。題干：第二段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。第二段首句是主題句，大意為“根據(jù)報告，中學教學的主要問題是工資低”，故D(低工資的問題)是正確答案。

　　25．A。題干：第三段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。第三段的主題句為第二句，“yet”之前討論的是師資不足不僅僅是錢的問題，“yet”之后討論人們不愿做老師的另外一個原因就是有些學生行為惡劣，因而A(學生的不良行為和缺乏管束)是正確答案。

　　26．c。題干：第四段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。四段沒有主題句，以Brian Jones的例子來說明教師在看到學生通過考試時的滿足感，后半部分則是他希望政府能夠給老師減負，故C(教師工作負擔重)是正確答案。(如果段落之中沒有明顯的主題句，則需要根據(jù)大意或者高頻詞匯進行判斷。)

　　27．F。題干：越來越多的年輕人不愿意從事教師的職業(yè)__________。利用題干關鍵詞young people可以定位到第二段第二句，教師工資比很多其他職業(yè)的工資低得多，這意味著越來越少的年輕人決定做教師，所以答案為F(因為低工資)

　　28．E。題干：家長被鼓勵要支持教師，當有__________的時候。利用題干關鍵詞parents和back the teacher可以定位到第三段最后兩句，Dave Hallam認為家長要為孩子在學校的不良行為負責，應該在家嚴格要求孩子，同時也要教會孩子尊重老師，對比幾個選項，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)選項E(紀律問題)比較符合語境。

　　29．C。題干：政府應該給教師減負來減輕__________。利用題干關鍵詞reduce the workload可以定位到第三段最后一句，可知Brian認為政府應該給教師減負，因為他發(fā)現(xiàn)他的工作量太多了，所答案為C(他們的壓力)o

　　30．A。題干：政府應該通過宣傳__________來提升教師職業(yè)。利用題目順序和段落順序一致的原則以及題干關鍵詞government，promotin9和advertisin9等可以定位到第五段的第三句，即政府也應發(fā)動全國性的宣傳運動，例如在電視和報紙做廣告等，來展示教授年輕人的積極意義。因此，該題答案選A(它的好處)。

　　2014年真題

　　23．F。題干：第一段的段落大意為__________。第一段的主題句為首句，即Steven Spielberg有一個目標，那就是給很多愿意傾聽的人講很多好的故事，所以選項F“人生的目標”為正確答案。

　　24．A。題干：第二段的段落大意為__________。第二段的主題句為第一句：Even decades later,Spielberg says he has clear memories of his earliest years，which are the origins of some of his biggest hits．即Spielber9認為他對兒時有著清晰的記憶，而這些就是他一些成功作品的來源，所以選項A“電影的靈感”為正確答案。

　　25．E。題干：第三段的段落大意為__________。第三段無明顯的主題句，該段主要講Spielberg很擅長講恐怖的故事，讓他交到了很多朋友，所以選項E“講故事來交朋友”為正確答案。

　　26．D。題干：第四段的段落大意為__________。第四段無明顯的主題句，該段主要講述Spielberg被電影學院所拒，然后到離好萊塢比較近的大學上學，并努力獲得在好萊塢實習的機會，獲得電影合同后就退學了，所以選項D“進入電影行業(yè)”為正確答案。

　　27．E。題干：Spielberg非常成功的電影都來自于__________。利用題干關鍵詞和第24題的分析，可知Spielberg認為他對兒時有著清晰的記憶，而這些就是他一些成功作品的來源，所以選項E“他兒時的記憶”為正確答案。

　　28．A。題干：Spielberg是個孩子的時候，他害怕__________。利用題干關鍵詞be scared of可以定位到第二段“He was scared ofjust about everything”，意為“他害怕幾乎所有的一切”，所以選項A“幾乎所有的一切”為正確答案。

　　29．B。題干：Spielberg很擅長__________。利用題干關鍵詞is good at和題目順序與題干順序一致的原則，可以定位第三段“Spielberg’s talent for scary storytelling enabled him to make friends”，意為“Spielberg講恐怖故事的天賦讓他交到了朋友”，所以選項B“講恐怖故事”為正確答案。

　　30．C。題干：Spielber9說他制作電影是因為__________。利用題干關鍵詞make movie可以定位到第五段“There are films that I feel I need to make，for a variety of reasons，for personal reasons．for reasons that l want to have fun…”，意為“我覺得我需要制作電影，因為各種各樣的原因，比如因為個人的原因，因為我想找到樂趣的原因”，所以選項C“很多原因”為正確答案。

　　2013年真題

　　23．F。第一段首句是主題句，交通擁擠影響到了全世界的人，故F(全球問題)是正確

　　答案。

　　24．A。第二段首旬是主題句，最有希望減少城市擁擠的技術被稱為擁堵收費，即車輛在一天的特定時段進入城里的特定區(qū)域是要收費的。故A(付費進入)是正確答案。

　　25．B。第三段首句是主題句，另一種緩解高峰期交通擁堵的方法是雇主實行彈性工作時間，這可以讓員工在非高峰期往返工作，以避開上下班的高峰，因而B(改變上下班慣例)是正確答案。

　　26．D。第四段沒有主題句，通過本段可知很多人認為緩解交通壓力的辦法是多修路，但作者認為這種辦法并不能真正解決問題。故D(一個不能解決問題的解決方案)是正確答案。

　　27．B。句意：大部分美國人認為很方便。利用關鍵詞convenient可以定位，根據(jù)第一段最后一句“most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience．Comfort and privacy”可知，很多人選擇開車是為了舒適、方便和隱私。因而答案為B。

　　28．C。題干：如果收費足夠高，許多司機可能進入城鎮(zhèn)的特定區(qū)域。利用題干關鍵詞charge可以定位，根據(jù)第二段“In theory，if the toll is high enough．some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or train．”可知，“理論上，如果收費足夠高，有些司機將會取消行程或者乘坐公交或火車”，所以C(坐公交)為正確答案。

　　29．A。題干：建設更多的路不是的有效方法。利用題干關鍵詞building roads等可以定位，根據(jù)第四段可知，有些城市規(guī)劃者認為緩解交通擁擠的辦法是建更多的路，但是并不能真的讓車遠離道路，而只會容納更多的車。因而修路并不是緩解擁堵的好辦法，所以A(緩解交通擁擠)為正確答案。

　　30．D。題干：美國政府計劃通過升級公共交通系統(tǒng)來。利用題干關鍵詞government和public—transport system等可以定位，根據(jù)第五段倒數(shù)第二句可知，美國政府決定花費70億美元來提高公用交通系統(tǒng)的通行量，并使用更有效的技術對其進行升級，所以D(花費更多錢)為正確答案。