Holidays are really important. Many of us will have childhood memories of summer holidays where we were taken away from home to experience new environments and learn in different ways.
But holidays are expensive and, for those on low wages or living on benefits, they are often unobtainable. Even the cheapest holidays require travel and other additional costs that are difficult for many families to meet.
For working parents, the long summer break can be a very difficult problem for childcare. When an annual leave allowance amounts to only five weeks, there is a need to spread this across the year. Couples can find themselves taking leave in turn in order to care for children who are on holiday. For some ’ this makes even an affordable family holiday difficult.
The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff mitted to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment. The number of children receiving free school meals is quite large in Nottingham and many schools have breakfast clubs to make sure that children get a healthy start to the day. Most schools undertake programs of group or individual educational support. Schools also have an important role in sofeguaiding children's welfare through the ongoing touch and support with their pupils. During the long summer holidays, much of this is missed.
While teachers are holidaying in the UK, many of their pupils spend the whole six weeks on the street where they live. The lack of free school meals for six weeks can result in pressure on a family budget and an inability to afford the inspiring experiences that help children to continue their learning.
In setting out its plans for a five-term year, Nottingham City Council (委员会)is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down lo four and a half weeks, with a more balanced five terms of roughly eight weeks, each followed by a two-week break. We believe this will give real “down time for school staff and pupils alike but will be short enough not to cause a real break in learning.
We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff, particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities. However, this must be weighed against the benefits for city children for whom we all have the greatest duty of care.
【小题1】 The passage is probably written by .A．an experienced teacherB．a working parentC．an inspired studentD．a city council member【小题2】The underlined word they in the second paragraph refers to ’.A．environmentsB．holidaysC．wagesD．benefits【小题3】It is suggested in the passage that the summer break be reduced to.A．2 weeksB．4.5 weeksC．5 weeksD．6 weeks【小题4】The plans for a shorter summer holiday will help students .A．obtain the cheapest holidays without additional costsB．get a chance to spend six weeks a term with teachers in schoolC．benefit more from the caring and inspiring learning environmentD．have more school days to receive free school meals【小题5】It can be inferred from the passage that .A．working parents can enjoy a five-week break to care for their childrenB．the suggested plans for a five-term school year can hardly be carried outC．the long summer holiday gives teachers and students real down timeD．some school staff will say “ No to the plans for a shorter summer holidayD
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(答案→)D
解析：减少假期问题——一一议论文类
【文章大意】假期使我们放松并去一些地方去游玩，使我们释放压力，但是对于一些低收入家庭或靠救济而过活的家庭来说造成很多的经济负担，本文提倡在不影响学生学习的前提下减少假期的时间。
【小题1】推理判断题。根据倒数第二段第一句话的口气可知作者是City Council的一名成员，D项正确。
【小题2】词义猜测题。根据上文提到的holidays are expensive可知they指的是holidays，本句意为：假期是非常贵的，对于那些低收入或靠救济来过活的家庭的人来说，假期是获得不到的。
【小题3】细节理解题。
【小题4】细节理解题。根据倒数第二段第一句话Nottingham City Council (委员会)is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down lo four and a half weeks,可知答案。
【小题5】推理判断题。根据第二段第一句话We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff, particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities.可知答案为D项，对于减少假期的时间学校的一些教职工是不支持的。
【长难句解析】We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff, particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities.
我们承认这个改变对于一些教职工尤其是对于家里的孩子在其他机关接受教育的家庭来说是很难接受的，。
首先本句中that引导的是宾语从句，whose引导的定语从句，先行词为school staff。