Zinedine Zidane, who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month, has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words.
Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany’s Leverkusen 2－1.
He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy’s Juventus for US $ 66 million. And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3－0 defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.
But despite his success, Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground. He leads a quiet family life, there is hardly any gossip① about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight②.
“Just because I’m a public figure it doesn’t mean I have to express myself on everything. I don’t like to discuss some personal matters publicly.” he said.
Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille, France, where he was raised by his Algerian parents, Zidane was shy.
He loved football even as a little kid. “I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,”he said.
Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread, Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich.
Before he was 10 years old, it was obvious that he could become a great footballer. He was offered his first professional contract③when he was just 20. Now, at the age of 29, he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards.
This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup. But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he’ll do this time.
Notes:
① gossip n. 流言蜚语
② spotlight n. 聚光灯
③ contract n. 合同
What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that _______.
| A．he could become a great footballer |
| B．he could become rich if he became a footballer |
| C．football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking |
| D．football is a favorite sport in the future |
According to the article, what are Zidane’s main characteristics?
| A．He is a shy but successful man. |
| B．He loves his wife and children. |
| C．He doesn’t like to speak in public. |
| D．He is a quiet, down-to-earth person of few words. |
When the writer says “Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”, he means that _______.
| A．Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days |
| B．Zidane is a down-to-earth person |
| C．Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch |
| D．Zidane likes standing when he succeeds |
The sentence “Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich” means ________.
| A．football made Zidane’s poor family wealthy when he was a child |
| B．Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child |
| C．football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family |
| D．Zidane knew that if he wanted 10 be rich he must play football from childhood |
There is no doubt that music plays a powerful role in our lives. It can calm our tired nerves after a busy day of work. Music even has the power to move us to tears when it stirs(激起) an emotional reaction. How then, does music play a role in special education?
If music has the ability to touch those hidden places we all carry inside, it proves an important tool for the special education teacher. For students with emotional problems, music can help soothe(抚慰) sadness. Consider the child that arrives in class depressed and upset. If music can indeed relax and calm him, he is more likely to focus and participate in class.
Dr. R. Joseph, author of Behavioral Neurology, writes, “It is well recorded that patients with left hemisphere(大脑半球) damage, who may be unable to speak or recognize words, can sing a melody(曲调).”
For this reason, some special education teachers have found it helpful to set their lessons to music. When students cannot understand or remember certain things, singing them helps make it easier.
Nature magazine reported “Music training helps underachievers. In Rhode Island, researchers studied eight public school first grade classes. Half of the classes became ‘text-arts’groups, receiving ongoing music training. After seven months, the students were given a test. The tested group had caught up with their fellow students in reading and surpassed(超过) their classmates in math by 22 percent. In the second year of the project, the tested students widened this even further. Students were also tested on attitude and behavior. Classroom teachers also noted improvement in these areas.”
It seems music does, indeed, play an important role in education. For the special education teacher, this is especially encouraging.The first paragraph is mainly about _______.
| A．the role of music in education |
| B．the importance of music in life |
| C．the relationship between music and work results |
| D．the relationship between music and behavior |
For students with emotional problems, music might be _______.
| A．a toy | B．a punishment | C．a medicine | D．a puzzle |
According to Dr. R. Joseph, people with left hemisphere damage _______.
| A．are unable to recognize people |
| B．can produce some musical sounds |
| C．can become special education teachers |
| D．might suffer right hemisphere damage too |
The tested students mentioned in the fifth paragraph _______.
| A．behaved badly after the study |
| B．Didn’t show any difference after the study |
| C．had done well in their reading and math before |
| D．received certain music education during the study |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The meaning of special education. |
| B．The history of music education. |
| C．The problem in music education. |
| D．The role of music in special education |
I was packed and ready to leave for my two days’ trip. My mind had been filled with work and with so many small things to deal with. As I got into the car to leave, my thoughts turned to my children. I’d been preparing for the trip for the last few days, and now I’d be away for a few days.
How to keep in touch with you
r kids during busy time is often a father’s problem. Men tend to focus on one thing extremely well for long periods, but this can lead to trouble. Shifting(移开) from work to your family life isn't always the easiest thing to do. And if you don’t show your kids that you’re thinking about them, they may think that you are not.
As I started down the road, I suddenly stopped the car and turned around. I drove back to my house, found a couple of cards, and wrote a short message to each of my children. I put each in a “secret” place where I knew they’d find it.
When I called the next night, it was clear that they’d received the cards. “Daddy, I got your card,” they both said excitedly. “When did you do that?”
My heart was warmed when I heard this. It was such a small thing. But it had a big impact(影响) on my kids. It was their “proof” that I was thinking about them. And it was encouragement for me to continue to do the small things that have a big impact. From the passage we can infer that the author thinks a father should _____
_.
| A．care for his kids, no matter how busy he is |
| B．have a big impact on his kids |
| C．spend some time playing with his kids |
| D．stay at home as long as possible |
Before leaving for the trip the author considered ________.
| A．preparing some food for the trip |
| B．buying some nice gifts for his children |
| C．doing something to show his concern for his kids |
| D．telling his children to be careful at home |
The author’s kids were excited when they answered the phone because _______.
| A．their father had thought highly of them |
| B．they had found the cards from their father |
C．they had done  something good at home |
| D．their father told them he would be back soon |
What does the underlined word “that” in the fourth paragraph refer to?
| A．Packing luggage. |
| B．Reaching the hotel. |
| C．Writing short messages. |
| D．Going back home. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．All for the children |
| B．Play with your children |
| C．A father and his kids |
| D．Show love to your kids |
American is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side
feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while—then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their
holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time.Sometimes , we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine (常规). They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome w
ill be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!The writer of this passage must be ____.
| A．an American | B． a Chinese | C．a professor | D．a student |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their family. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last t
wo paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friends, we will probably be ___.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport | B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home | D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
From the underlined sentence, we can know the Chinese people ____.
| A．are strict with time | B．don’t take time seriously |
| C．don’t know how to use time | D．are willing to spend time for friends |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “____”
| A．Friendships between Chinese | B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’ hospitality | D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendship |
After moving to the United States, immigrant group
s trying to fit in tend to choose high calorie fatty foods in an attempt to appear more American，a new study finds．That's one reason why immigrants approach US levels of obesity within 15 years of moving to America．
The researchers also did an experiment that measured whether or not the threat of appearing un-American influenced respond
ents' food choices．After being questioned about their ability to speak English，75 perce
nt of Asian-Americans identified a typical American food as their favorite. Only 25 percent of Asian-Americans who had not been asked if they spoke English did the same.
When their American identity was called into question during a follow-up study, Asian-American participants also tended to choose typical American dishes，such as hamburgers and cheese sandwiches．In that experiment, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to choose a meal from a local Asian or American restaurant. Some participants were told that only Americans could participate in the study. Those who chose the more typical American fare ended up consuming an extra 182 calories，including 12 grams of fat and 7 grams of saturated fat（饱和脂肪）.
"People who feel like they need to prove they belong to a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in，"said Sauna Cheryan，an author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington." If immigrants and their children choose unhealthy American foods over healthier traditional foods across their lives，this process of fitting in could lead to poorer health." Cheryan added．
Social pressures，the study concluded, are at the heart of the problem．"In American society today, being American is associated with being white．Americans，who don't fit this image even if they were born here and speak English，feel that pressure to prove that they're American," said Cheryan．The author wants to show that __________.
| A．more and more Asians enjoy high-calorie snacks |
| B．immigrants tend to eat American junk food to fit in |
| C．most Americans are at the risk of heart disease |
| D．all the American people have a bad eating habit |
According to the survey, __________.
| A．Asian-Americans care less about their health |
| B．25 percent of Americans like junk food |
| C．choosing food is related to Asian-Americans' situation |
| D．immigrants are forced to eat junk food |
The underlined word "fare" in Paragraph 4 most probably means" __________".
| A．food offered as a meal | B．a person taking a taxi |
| C．money spent on food | D．an arranged thing to do |
According to Sauna Cheryan, __________.
| A．what immigrants have done is ridiculous |
| B．American traditional foods are healthier |
| C．immigrants risk their health in order to fit in |
| D．American culture affects immigrants deeply |
Which of the following should take the blame for the bad eating habit?
| A．The situation of employment. | B．The traditional culture. |
| C．The American government. | D．The pressures from society. |
I am a strong believer that if a child is raised with approval, he learns to love himself and will be successful in his own way.
Several weeks ago，I was doing homework with my son in the third grade and he kept standing up from his chair to go over the math lines．I kept asking him to sit down, telling him that he would concentrate better. He sat but seconds later, as if he didn’t even notice he was doing it, he got up again．I was getting frustrated, but then it hit me．I started noticing his answers were much quicker and accurate when he stood up．Could he be more intent while standing up？
This made me start questioning myself and what I had been raised to believe. I was raised to believe that a quiet, calm child was a sure way to success．This child would have the discipline to study hard, get good grades and become someone important in life．
Now those same people perhaps come to realize that their kids are born with their own sets of DNA and personality traits，and all you can do is loving and accepting them．As parents，throughout their growing years and beyond that, we need to be our kids' best cheerleaders，guiding them and helping them find their way.
I have stopped asking my son to sit down and concentrate．Obviously, he is concentrating just in his own way and not mine．We need to learn to accept our kids' ways of doing things．Some way may have worked for me but doesn't mean we need to carry it through generations．There is nothing sweeter than being individual and unique．It makes us free and happy and that's just the way I want my kids to live their own life． At the beginning, the author tried to keep his son seated in order to make him________.
| A．pay more attention to his study | B．keep silent in the room |
C．finish his hom ework on time |
D．get right answers |
Inspired by the case of his son，the a
uthor began to doubt________.
| A．the importance of parents | B．the old form of education |
| C．the relationship between kids and their parents | D．the good grades of some kids |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?
A. We should help kids correct their wrong ways.
B. Parents should study their kids’ DNA.
C. Kids should be taught to behave themselves.
D. Parents should love and accept their kids. The author has stopped asking his son to sit down because __________.
| A．he has changed his traditional ideas | B．his son wants to be unique |
| C．his son doesn’t follow his advice | D．his son’s DNAis different |
Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Study hard and you'll be successful | B．Be friendly to your children |
| C．Children's success in their own style | D．Parents' help with their children's study |