Although growth rates across countries vary some, rankings of countries by income remain pretty much the same over time.

The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the country. Home school advocates put the number much higher at about a million.

Home school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.

Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home school population, and as home schoolers realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit.

Public schools and home schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases even cooperation. Says John Marshall, an education official," we are becoming relatively tolerant of home schoolers. The idea is, let's give the kids access to public school so they'll see it's not as terrible as they've been told, and they'll want to come back." Perhaps, but don't count on it, say home school advocates.

Home schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to education--whether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual child's interest and natural pace--is the best. "The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone.” Says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but religion plays a role 85 percent of the time.

Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also "strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective". Not incidentally, they also want their children to learn--both intellectually and emotionally--that the family is the most important institution in society." Other home schoolers contend "not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately." Van Galen writes. "These parents are highly independent and strive to take responsibility for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient.

Which of the following statements is true?

A．Home schoolers engage private teachers to provide additional education for their children.

B．Home schoolers don't go to school but are educated at home by their parents.

C．Home schoolers educate their children at home instead of sending them to school.

D．Home schoolers advocate combining public education with home schooling.

听力原文： In some countries certain kinds of insurance are compulsory. In others, most kinds are practically unknown. In addition, the cost of insurance and the type of coverage provided vary widely from country to country. But the basic principle of insurance remains the same, that is, to share the possible risk. Is it wise to spend money on insurance even though a claim may never be made? Is keeping a spare tire in the car a wasted investment, even if the tire is never needed? The sense of security to the car driver may make the expense of the extra tire worthwhile. While financial compensation cannot make up for certain losses, it may compensate for other losses. Much of the insurance bought by individuals falls into the categories of property, health, disability and life insurance. Property insurance is to insure against the loss of property — home, business, cars, or other possessions. It is the most common form. of risk management. Health insurance pays some medical expenses or may pay for only certain medical care. In many places workers may receive insurance as a condition of their employment. Disability insurance provides some income if a person is injured and cannot work. Life insurance provides financial assistance to a persons dependents in the case of his or her death. Such insurance has enabled many families to pay off outstanding debts and carry on their routine of life after the injury or the death of their main breadwinner. Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard. 16. What is the basic principle of insurance? 17. Why does the speaker mention the spare tire? 18. What kinds of insurance are mentioned in this talk?17．

A．To tell us that accidents may take place at any time.

B．To prove that it is wise to spend money on insurance.

C．To prove that buying insurance is a wasted investment.

D．To tell us that the sense of security is very important in driving.

【C14】

A．change

B．remain

C．vary

D．last

I have been reading a lot on my iPad recently, and I have some【46】______ (complain) —not about the iPad itself but about the state of digital reading generally. Reading is a subtle thing, and its subtleties are artifacts of a venerable medium; words printed in ink on paper. Glass and pixels aren't the same.

When I read a physical book, I don’t have to look anywhere else to find out how much I’ve read. The iPad e-reader, iBooks, tries to create the【47】illu______of a physical book. The pages seem to turn, and I can see the edges of those.that remain, but it’s fake. There are always exactly six unturned pages, no matter【48】______ I am in the book.

Also, there is a larger problem. Books in their digital format look vastly less "finished, ”or less genuine than real books. You can vary their font and type size, but this only makes them【49】______ (resemble) word-processed manuscripts all the more. Your poems—no matter how【50】______ (wretch) or wonderful they are—will never look as good as Robert Hass’s poems in the print edition of The Apple Trees at Olema. But your poems can look almost exactly as ugly—as “e-book-like”—as the Kindle version of that collection.

All the e-books I’ve read have been ugly—books by Chang-rae Lee, Alvin Kernan, and Stieg Larsson—though the texts have been wonderful. I didn’t grow up reading texts. I grew up reading books, and this【51】______ (differ) is important.

When it comes to digital editions, the【52】______ (assume) seems to be that all books【53】are______(create) equal. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In the mass migration from print to digital, we' re seeing a profusion of digital books—many of them out of copyright—that look new and even “HD, ”but which may well have been supplanted by more accurate editions and better translations. We need a digital readers' guide—a place where readers can find【54】______whether the book they're about to download is the best available edition.

【55】Fi______, two related problems. I already have a personal library, but most of the books I’ve read have come from【56】______(lend) libraries. Barnes & Noble has released an e-reader that allows short-term【57】______(borrow) of some books. The entire idea behind Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBooks assumes that you cannot read a book unless you own it first —and that only you can read it unless you want to give your reading device to someone else.

This goes against the social value of reading, the collective knowledge and【58】______ (collaborate) discourse that comes from access to【59】______ (share) libraries. This is not a good thing for readers, authors,【60】pub______or our culture in general.

(16)

【C9】

A．remain

B．increase

C．decrease

D．vary

【29】

A．remain

B．increase

C．decrease

D．vary

【C5】

A．remain

B．increase

C．decrease

D．vary

【B9】

A．remain

B．increase

C．decrease

D．vary