题目内容

When the United Nations and world leaders made universal primary education one of their eight millennium development goals, more than 100 million children were not in school. They aimed to bring that number down to zero by 2015. This week, marking the halfway point, ministers, donors, and others are meeting in Dakar to assess their progress. Ronald Siebes is co-president of the US-based Fast Track Initiative, an organization aimed at channeling extra funding from partners including the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union to the poorest countries to help them achieve the education goals. "We are really making progress," he said. "There are huge challenges, but progress is being made to achieve this important goal." After a slow start in the 32 countries funded by the Fast Track Initiative, their annual report says by 2010 most will have 100 percent of kids starting first grade. An official with the same organization, Desmond Bermingham, says countries in West Africa, whether funded by the Fast Track Initiative or not, are making progress. "I would say the most critical issue is that the governments are making education a priority," he said. "It is a political will issue and they are really making very rapid progress. They have got a lot of catching up to do. They are moving faster than any region has ever moved before." But he says part of the reason is that West Africa had the farthest to go. In some countries in the region, more than three-quarters of school-age children do not attend school. Bermingham says several countries are putting measures in place to block corruption in the education sector, rampant in many African countries. "Where it is working really well is where there is a very short accountability line between the school and the parents," he noted. "They have a really strong interest in making sure the money is used properly. Several countries are now introducing systems of publishing the school budget in the newspapers or even on the door of the school. Uganda is one of them, Kenya is one of them, and Niger has introduced a similar system." But Lucia Fry, of the South Africa-based Global Campaign for Education, says if progress continues at the current pace, it will be impossible to meet the development goals by 2015. She says aid fails far short of what is needed. "Overall, we need another $6 billion US per year just to get every child to complete a primary cycle of education," she explained. And she says too much emphasis is being put on enrolling kids in school without ensuring that they stay long enough to finish. "Although primary enrollment has risen we have also got in 50 countries worldwide, less than half of all children worldwide complete primary school," she added. And she says there is still a long way to go to address the needs of children on the margins, including those with handicaps, who live in conflict zones, or who work to support their families. Which of the following is INCORRECT according to the passage

A. Government plays an important role on the issue of children education.
B. The education condition of West Africa is the worst in the world.
Countries funded by the Fast Track Initiative have much greater improvement on the issue of children education than those without funding.
D. Corruption blocks the development of education.

查看答案
更多问题

With the breakneck speed at which today’s businesses move, there’s one mantra we’d all do well to remember: Change is constant. Even so, few businesses equip their employees with strategies for dealing with change. It’s often up to savvy employees to negotiate changes on their own. Few companies can guarantee they won’t need to redeploy workers or have them work a different shift. In fact, a quick search of the jobs on Yahoo! HotJobs found that 977 contained the words "subject to change. " When approached with changing roles and responsibilities, resist the urge to protest by pointing to your original job description. Employers expect their employees—unless they are under an employment contract—to be flexible, tackling whatever task they’re given with zeal. It’s OK to be concerned that you may lack some of the key skills and experiences required for the new position. If so, consider asking for additional training at a local college or other professional development organization. If classes are not in the budget, ask if you can expense instructional books related to the new job or visit your local library. Part of the fun of writing this newsletter is hearing all your stories. One came across my desk recently that I think gets to the heart of today’s tip. An employee was told that her company was adding a new managerial position that she would report into. Initially undaunted, she decided to interview for the managerial job (good for her), but when notified that she didn’t get the job, she shut down (bad for her). When I say "shut down", I’m being literal. She no longer speaks to co-workers. She does what her job description says—but nothing else. Having been a manager for more than a decade, I can tell you that this employee has forced herself into a dead end. It’s not enough to do your job while sending the message that you’d rather be "anywhere but here". Companies don’t stop and tend to bruised egos. The only way to win in this employee’s situation is to come to terms with the circumstances and adopt a professional demeanor, or move on. In fact, change can happen because you’re the best. Companies often redeploy star performers in an attempt to turn around problem areas. Management may also hope that a star employee’s good habits will rub off on others. Companies sometimes impose change on a strong performer expressly for that employee’s benefit. Smart executives move star employers to give them broader experience of operations and departments and to help groom them for senior management roles. Try not to focus on why you were tapped to change, but how you will turn it to your advantage. Don’t dwell too long on the topic or complain. The key is to be curious without appearing to be resistant. Convey that you’re eager to learn new skills and take on new challenges—and that more information will help you be more effective. Embrace your new role with enthusiasm and optimism. Remember that change is ultimately what you make of it. What is the main idea of the last paragraph of the passage

A. Change is unavoidable.
B. The correct attitude of facing change is to turn it to your advantage.
Changing your attitude to the change is important.
D. To discuss it with your colleagues may release you from the pressure.

With the breakneck speed at which today’s businesses move, there’s one mantra we’d all do well to remember: Change is constant. Even so, few businesses equip their employees with strategies for dealing with change. It’s often up to savvy employees to negotiate changes on their own. Few companies can guarantee they won’t need to redeploy workers or have them work a different shift. In fact, a quick search of the jobs on Yahoo! HotJobs found that 977 contained the words "subject to change. " When approached with changing roles and responsibilities, resist the urge to protest by pointing to your original job description. Employers expect their employees—unless they are under an employment contract—to be flexible, tackling whatever task they’re given with zeal. It’s OK to be concerned that you may lack some of the key skills and experiences required for the new position. If so, consider asking for additional training at a local college or other professional development organization. If classes are not in the budget, ask if you can expense instructional books related to the new job or visit your local library. Part of the fun of writing this newsletter is hearing all your stories. One came across my desk recently that I think gets to the heart of today’s tip. An employee was told that her company was adding a new managerial position that she would report into. Initially undaunted, she decided to interview for the managerial job (good for her), but when notified that she didn’t get the job, she shut down (bad for her). When I say "shut down", I’m being literal. She no longer speaks to co-workers. She does what her job description says—but nothing else. Having been a manager for more than a decade, I can tell you that this employee has forced herself into a dead end. It’s not enough to do your job while sending the message that you’d rather be "anywhere but here". Companies don’t stop and tend to bruised egos. The only way to win in this employee’s situation is to come to terms with the circumstances and adopt a professional demeanor, or move on. In fact, change can happen because you’re the best. Companies often redeploy star performers in an attempt to turn around problem areas. Management may also hope that a star employee’s good habits will rub off on others. Companies sometimes impose change on a strong performer expressly for that employee’s benefit. Smart executives move star employers to give them broader experience of operations and departments and to help groom them for senior management roles. Try not to focus on why you were tapped to change, but how you will turn it to your advantage. Don’t dwell too long on the topic or complain. The key is to be curious without appearing to be resistant. Convey that you’re eager to learn new skills and take on new challenges—and that more information will help you be more effective. Embrace your new role with enthusiasm and optimism. Remember that change is ultimately what you make of it. Why did the woman employee force herself into a dead end

A. Companies don’t stop and tend to bruised egos.
B. She didn’t come to terms with the circumstances.
C. She is not eager to learn new skills and take on new challenges.
D. She no longer speaks to co-workers.

Despite what you might think from its name, the Museum of Afghan Civilization will be the very model of a modern major museum when it opens in January. It will be housed in an angular, postmodern building, designed by France’s Yona Friedman. It will display the art of Afghanistan from prehistory to today, with works collected from all over the world. And it will have a nifty website, complete with high-definition reproductions and interactive information guides. What the museum won’t have is a front door, a parking lot, or a cafeteria. That’s because the museum is the first designed as a virtual building only. Why put the objects in an imaginary building, instead of just creating a website full of pictures Pascale Bastide, President of the Paris-based association Afghanculture, says she hopes that hiring an architect will imbue her project (afghanculturemuseum.org) with the gravitas of a traditional museum, as well as make viewers feel as though they are actively traveling to a museum rather than passively seeing reproductions of its artwork. Bastide is quick to admit that "nothing replaces real contact with an objet d’art (小艺术品,古玩), but the site’s interactive approach comes close. Visitors will encounter a digital image of Friedman’s design, set against its imagined location: the Bamiyan caves, where two monumental Buddha statues had stood since the fourth century A. D. before being destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Viewers can spin the building to view it from all sides, then click to enter multimedia " pavilions," which can be organized chronologically, geographically, or thematically. Friedman’s design will serve as the shell. The interior will change just like in a real-world museum, where curators (馆长) erect temporary walls according to an exhibition’s needs. Bricks and mortar (传统实体企业) aside, the Museum of Afghan Civilization will operate like a typical art institution. The website will have a director (Bastide) and a team of curators (a Princeton professor, a French museum conservator, an Afghan archeologist, and an Afghan linguist). Oh, and there’s also a designer with a background in videogames. Afghanculturemuseum.org obviously isn’t the only museum with a website, but its purely virtual form could affect the traditional museum world. For one thing, it all but eliminates the debate over whether a museum’s priority should be to display artworks or preserve them. Today’s digital reproduction technologies are generally harmless to the art (unlike the light and air in a museum), so they allow the public to see works otherwise accessible only to those with white gloves and doctorates. Virtual museums still take money to launch; Bastide is looking for $10 million in private and government funding. They won’t make the traditional museums obsolete, either. But their lower maintenance costs and sustainable approach to exhibitions might mean fewer traditional museums created in the future. That said, Bastide hopes that one day, in a stable, democratic Afghanistan, a physical Museum of Afghan Civilization might be built. But for now, the virtual approach will allow the museum to live—without having to exist. Pascale Bastide expects that ______.

A. viewers can see and touch the real artworks in a museum
B. the Museum of Afghan Civilization will operate like an enterprise
C. fewer and fewer traditional museums will be built in the future
D. a physical Museum of Afghan Civilization might be built in Afghanistan

My grandmother cut a recipe sometime in the 1940s or 1950s for "Mrs. Orr’s Chocolate Cake" from the Monitor. When my dad tasted this cake, he was so enchanted with it that he requested this cake every year, both for Father’s Day and for his birthday in September. Dad was a creature of habit. He didn’t always greet new experiments in cooking with glee. When I graduated from college and got my first apartment, I began to learn to cook, with guidance and suggestions from my morn and the help of a few good cookbooks. I also began to experiment. Often when I invited Morn and Dad over for dinner, I tried a new recipe. Dad would look at his plate suspiciously and ask, "Am I the ’guinea pig’ for this meal" Dad especially didn’t encourage experimentation where his birthday cake was concerned. It had to be Mrs. Orr’s cake, made in a metal 9-by-13-inch pan, rather than in layers, and it had to have white butter cream icing, not the traditional chocolate icing that many people enjoy on chocolate cake. Once we asked if he would like chocolate icing for a change. Silly question. So we enjoyed Mrs. Orr’s cake with white icing twice a year. Nothing fancy, nothing pretentious—just like Dad. No nuts, coconut, sprinkles, or other decorations. No pretty cake plate or beautiful presentation. Just plain cake with icing in a plain metal pan. Somehow, it seemed to fit Dad, a plain, no-nonsense kind of man with Midwestern down-home friendliness. Dad was very generous in sharing his special cake with family and friends. When my sister and I were no longer living at home, we’d still get together for Father’s Day and Dad’s birthday. He always cut generous pieces for us to take home. When a neighbor came over for morning coffee, Dad always offered him a piece of cake, commenting with awe that either his wife or daughters had made him this cake, and how much they must love him for going to "all that work"—a comment not so meaningful as it would have been if we’d made him a layer cake and decorated it. Of course, we asked repeatedly if he’d rather have a different cake, maybe decorated. Again, silly question. For some reason that no one understands, this cake always rises higher in the middle than a normal cake, sometimes looking rather lopsided. It doesn’t seem to matter which kind of pan we use, or which type of chocolate. That means the comers and sides of the cake get more icing than the center. Personally, I always like a corner piece. So did Dad. Years ago, my cousin told me she makes Mrs. Orr’s cake as a layer cake and uses chocolate icing. I tried it when I was having company (not Dad), using raspberry jam between two layers and a chocolate butter cream icing on the top and sides. The sides looked too messy for company, so I pressed chopped nuts into them, piped the chocolate icing around the bottom and top, and everyone thought I bought it at a bakery. It was amazingly rich and wonderful, hence the name I gave it, Majestic Chocolate Cake. The funny thing, though, is that I missed the white icing! Dad isn’t with us anymore, but whenever I see this recipe in my file, I’m filled with sweet memories of the man who loved his special cake, appreciated those who’d baked it, and shared it so freely. What can NOT be inferred from the last but one paragraph

A. The author forgot to add the white icing.
B. The author was a considerate person.
C. The author missed his father so much.
D. The author might be qualified for a professional cook.

答案查题题库