A

Chinese are very generous (慷慨的) when it comes to educating their children. Not  1 the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad. They also want their children to take extra-course  2  through which they will learn either an instrument or ballet (芭蕾舞), or other classes which will give them a head start in life.

Chinese believe that the  3  an education is, the better it is. So parents would like to spend a large amount of money on education. Even  4  couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter. However, what most parents  5  to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children’s skills vary, skilled in some areas while poor in others.   6  most parents fail to realize is that today’s children lack self-respect and self-confidence.

The problem is that parents are only  7  their children by teaching them how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be  8  , happy and clever. Parents can achieve this by teaching  9  skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework.  10  a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life.

请先通读上面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题后所给的四个选项中选择最佳的一项填空，使短文意思完整通顺。

(  ) 1. A. offering         B. spending            C. caring about             D. paying

(  ) 2. A. parties           B. sports               C. clubs                       D. activities

(  ) 3. A. more expensive                          B. more serious

C. farther                                       D. cheaper

(  ) 4. A. rich               B. old                    C. poor                        D. young

(  ) 5. A. fail             B. try                    C. want                        D. manage

(  ) 6. A. Why           B. That                  C. What                       D. Which

(  ) 7. A. advising         B. educating           C. persuading                D. suggesting

(  ) 8. A. outgoing        B. quiet                 C. serious                            D. confident

(  ) 9. A. actual            B. practical            C. real                          D. true

(  ) 10. A. Teaching      B. Asking        C. Advising                   D. Telling

B

People often say, “Children can’t do math exercises, because their parents can’t do them.” Here’s an example to show what I mean.

The other day my daughter brought home her math homework. “I have to subtract(减) 179 from 202,” she said.

“It’s quite easy,” I said. “You put the 202 over the 179.”

“But we need a 10 here. Where is the 10?”

“I don’t know where the 10 is. Let’s just subtract 179 from 202. Nine from two is three. You carry one and add it to seven. Eight from zero is two. The answer is 23.”

“We can’t do it that way. We have to use the 10.”

“Well, I’m going to call your teacher to see how she subtracts 179 from 202.”