54. In the middle of these otherwise _____ plains is a striking range of mountains.

A. featureless B. pointless

Read the following passage carefully and complete the succeeding three items IV, V and VI.

Bright Sparks

(1) By the time Laszlo Polagar’s first baby was born in 1969 he already had firm views on child-rearing. An

eccentric citizen of communist Hungary, he had written a book called “Bring up Genius!” and one of his favorite sayings was “Geniuses are made, not born”.

(2) An expert on the theory of chess, he proceeded to teach little Zsuzsa at home, spending up to ten hours a day

on the game. Two more daughters were similarly hot-housed. All three obliged their father by becoming world-class players. The youngest, Judit, is currently ranked 13th in the world, and is by far the best female chess player of all time.

(3) Would the experiment have succeeded with a different trio of children? If any child can be turned into a star,

then a lot of time and money are being wasted worldwide on trying to pick winners.

(4) America has long held “talent searches”, using test results and teacher recommendations to select children for

advanced school courses, summer schools and other extra tuition. This provision is set to grow. In his state-of-the-union address in 2006, President George Bush announced the “American Competitiveness Initiative”, which, among much else, would train 70,000 high-school teachers to lead advanced courses for selected pupils in mathematics and science. Just as the super powers’ space race made Congress put money into science education, (5) The philosophy behind this talent search is that ability is innate; that it can be diagnosed with considerable

accuracy; and that it is worth cultivating.

(6) In America, bright children are ranked as “moderately”, “highly”, “exceptionally” and “profoundly” gifted.

The only chance to influence innate ability is thought to be in the womb or the first couple of years of life. Hence the craze for “teaching aids” such as videos and flashcards for newborns, and “whale sounds” on tape which a pregnant mother can strap to her belly.

(7) In Britain, there is a broadly similar belief in the existence of innate talent, but also an egalitarian (平等主义的) (8) Teachers are often opposed to separate provision for the best-performing children, saying any extra help

should go to stragglers. In 2002, in a bid to help the able while leaving intact the ban on most selection by runs summer schools and master classes for