COMMENT

It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr.Johnson’s famous comment that “When two English meet, their first talk is of weather.” Though Johnson’s observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather-speak. Bill Bryson, for ezample, concludes that,as the English weather is not at all exciting,the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that”To an outsider,the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles. Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says,because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena.”The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.” According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider. Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs ,which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings,conversation starters or the blank”fillers”, In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding. The author mentions Dr.Johnson’s comment to show that __________ .

A:most commentators agree with Dr.Johnson B:Dr.Johnson is famous for his weather observation C:the comment was accurate two hundred years ago D:English conversations usually start with the weather

Text 1
The study of law has been recognized for centuries as a basic intellectual discipline in European universities. However, only in recent years has it become a feature of undergraduate programs in English-Canadian universities. Traditionally, legal learning has been viewed in such institutions as the special preserve of lawyers, rather than a necessary part of the intellectual equipment of an educated person. Happily, the older and more continental view of legal education is establishing itself in a number of Canadian universities and some have even begun to offer undergraduate degrees in law.
If the study of law is beginning to establish itself as part and parcel of a general education, its aims and methods should appeal directly to journalism educators. Law is a discipline which encourages responsible judgment. On the one hand, it provides opportunities to analyze such ideas as justice, democracy and freedom. On the other, it links these concepts to everyday realities in a manner which is parallel to the links journalists forge on a daily basis as they cover and comment on the news. For example, notions of evidence and fact, of basic rights and public interest are at work in the process of journalistic judgment and production just as in courts of law. Sharpening judgment by absorbing and reflecting on law is a desirable component of a journalist’s intellectual preparation for his or her career.
But the idea that the journalist must understand the law more profoundly than an ordinary citizen turns on an understanding of the established conventions and special responsibilities of the news media. Politics or, more broadly, the functioning of the state, is a major subject for journalists. The better informed they are about the way the state works, the better their reporting will be. In fact, it is difficult to see how journalists who do not have a clear grasp of the basic features of the Canadian Constitution can do a competent job on political stories.
Furthermore, the legal system and the events which occur within it are primary subjects for journalists. While the quality of legal journalism varies greatly, there is an undue reliance amongst many journalists on interpretations supplied to them by lawyers. While comment and reaction from lawyers may enhance stories, it is preferable for journalists to rely on their own notions of significance and make their own judgments. These can only come from a well- grounded understanding of the legal system.

A:law education is intended primarily for journalists B:journalists will comment on the news from the perspective of justice C:journalists have more opportunities to reflect on democracy and freedom D:the study of law will encourage journalists to concentrate on the facts

The author's comment on the government can be interpreted as

A:slight contempt. B:enthusiastic support. C:strong disapproval. D:qualified consent.

White people tend to be nervous of raising the subject of race and education, but are often voluble on the issue if a black person brings it up. So when Trevor Phillips, chair man of Britain’ s Commission for Racial Equality, said that there was a particular problem with black boys’ performance at school, and that it might be a good idea to educate them apart from other pupils, there was a torrent of comment. Some of it commended his proposal, and some criticized it, but none of it questioned its premise. Everybody accepts that black boys are a problem.
On the face of it, it looks as though Mr Phillips is right. Only 27% of Afro-Caribbean boys get five A-C grades at GCSE, the exams taken by 16-year-olds, compared with 47% of boys as a Whole and 44% of Afro-Caribbean girls. Since, in some subjects, candidates who score less than 50% get Cs, those who don’ t reach this threshold have picked up pretty little at school.
Mr Phillips’ s suggestion that black boys should be taught separately implies that ethnicity and gender explain their underachievement. Certainly, maleness seems to be a disadvantage at school. That’ s true for all ethnic groups: 57% of girls as a whole get five A-Cs, compared with 47% of boys. But it’ s not so clear that blackness is at the root of the problem.
Among children as a whole, Afro-Caribbeans do indeed perform badly. But Afro Caribbeans tend to be poor. So to get a better idea of whether race, rather than poverty, is the problem, one must control for economic status. The only way to do that, given the limits of British educational statistics, is to separate out the exam results of children who get free school meals: only the poor get free grub.
Poor children’ s results tell a rather different story. Afro-Caribbeans still do remark ably badly, but whites are at the bottom of the pile. All ethnic minority groups do better than them. Even Bangladeshis, a pretty deprived lot, do twice as well as the natives in their exams; Indians do better still. And absolute numbers of underperforming whites dwarf those of underperforming Afro-Caribbeans: last year, 131,393 of white boys failed to hit the government’s benchmark, compared with 3,151 Afro-Caribbean boys.
These figures suggest that, at school at least, black people’ s problem is not so much race as poverty. And they undermine the idea of teaching black boys separately, for if poor whites are doing worse than poor blacks, there’ s not much argument for singling out blacks for special measures: whites need help just as badly.

A:a nervous impression B:a mixed reception C:a particular performance D:a critical comment

I (would rather) you (don't) (make any comment) (on) this problem.

A:would rather B:don't C:make any comment D:on

I (would rather) you (don't) (make any comment) (on) this problem.

A:would rather B:don't C:make any comment D:on

I (would rather) you (don't) (make any comment) (on) this problem.

A:would rather B:don't C:make any comment D:on