It's interesting that the arrival of snow has effect on people in different countries. For some countries it is an important happening to celebrate each year, while for others a catastrophe(灾害) or even a wonder.
But there are countries between these two kinds that normally expect snow some time over-the winter months, but never receive snow regularly or in the same quantities every year. Britain is one of them, for which the arrival of snow quite simply causes problems. Within hours of the first snowfalls, however light, roads are blocked; trains and buses have to stop in the middle of the way. Normal communication is affected as well: telephone calls become difficult and the post immediately takes more time than usual. And almost within hours, there are also certain shortages—bread, vegetables and other things—not because all these things can no longer be produced or sent to shops, but mainly because people are frightened and go out and store up with food and so on just for fear that something bad should happen.
But why does snow have this effect? After all, the Swiss, the Austrians and the Canadians don't have such problems. It is simple because there is not enough planning and preparation. We need money to buy equipment to deal with snow and ice. To keep the roads clear, for example, requires snow-ploughs(扫雪机) and machines to spread salt. The reason why a country like Britain does not buy snow-ploughs is that they are used for a few days in any one year, and the money could be more useful in other things such as hospital, education, helping the old.According to the writer, Britain is a country _______.
| A．which has regular snow | B．which is not well prepared for snow |
| C．for which snow is a catastrophe | D．for which snow is a wonder |
After a few hours' snowing there are often some shortages of food because _______.
| A．shops have closed down | B．people buy as much as they can |
| C．farmers cannot produce any more | D．people eat more vegetables in winter |
The words “two kinds” in the passage mean the countries _______.
| A．which have weather as yearly happening to celebrate or as rare (少见) weather |
| B．which either have heavy snow or light snow |
| C．to which snow either causes problems or no problems |
| D．which either have snow-ploughs or no snow-ploughs |
During the school year many parents take on the role of driver as they drive their children from one lesson to 
another. It can be understood that many of us want our children to have a little taste of everything, from organized sports to music, dance and more. But we overdo it, leaving our children feeling a l
ittle tired, and according to parent educator Diane Loisie, it’s their school work that suffers the most. “After school, if they’re busy in a number of sporting events, besides they need to do their homework, then the time they’ll feel sleepy is in the classroom. Your child needs free time. So if you’re filling up that after school time, then it’s during the day they’re going to be taking a break. ”
Professor Claire McDermott agrees that there’s a lot to be gained from sometimes putting those planned lessons and activities away. “Relaxing time is important for children. It’s time just
to do the things they want to do. A child
can go up to their room, or they can play around. It doesn’t look like useful time; parents certainly wouldn’t be saying ‘Wow, are they ever learning things now?’ But this relaxing time gives both the body and the brain just a wonderful chance to relax after a day. It helps a child prepare for sleep, but it also helps to understand the learning that’s gone on that day. ”
It’s hard to prevent signing our kids up for some activities and lessons. After all, many of us want our children to have a head start in life and the chance to join in great activities in the arts or sports is a part of that. However, Loisie feels that in the long run most children feel better with just a few key activities because it gives them an opportunity to master them. “When we get our children in too many activities because we want our children to experience everything, then what we’re doing is setting them up not to be good at one thing or gaining a skill. ” So choose your children’s activities wisely. It may be one of the best things you’ve ever done for your kids… and for the family driver!What is the biggest disadvantage for children to attend too many lessons after school?
| A．They can get bored easily about everything. |
| B．They might have no time to do the homework. |
| C．They might not pay much attention to learning. |
| D．They cannot easily focus on learning during the day. |
What should we think of children’s playing around aimlessly?
| A．It is simple. |
| B．It is helpful. |
| C．It is a bad habit. |
| D．It is a waste of time. |
Why should parents limit the activities our children attend?
| A．Because children have no time. |
| B．Because children cannot learn many things. |
| C．Because children do not have enough sleep. |
| D．Because children cannot focus on too many activities. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Don’t be children’s drivers after school. |
| B．Choose activities for your children wisely. |
| C．Make your children learn as much as possible. |
| D．Let children learn something from various subjects. |
Pupils are ordered not to wade into ankle-deep water unless teachers first carry out a full risk assessment and put “proper measures in place”.
Staff are expected to check rivers, ponds and the sea for currents and rocks before allowing children to dip their feet.
Guidance issued to schools warns that any “impromptu (事先无准备的) water-based activities” could pose dangers to children.
The recommendations were outlined in a document-available to all 21,000 schools in England — to help teachers organize more school trips. Advice from the DepartmentforChildren, Schools and Families is intended to cut red tape (官样文章) and give staff practical tips.
But the guidance caused argument after teachers were presented with a series of orders surrounding swimming and the use of minibuses.
It said: “Swimming and padding or otherwise entering the waters of river, canal, sea or lake should never be allowed as an impromptu activity. The pleas of young people to bathe — because it is hot weather, for example, should be resisted where bathing has not been prepared for.”
“In-water activities should take place only when a proper risk assessment has been completed and proper measures put in place to control the risks.”
Teachers are urged to check the weather, currents, weeds, rip tides, river or sea beds and breakwaters before allowing children into the water. No child should be able to swim deeper than waist height, the guidance added.
Margaret Morrissey, from campaign group Parents Outloud, said: “Wading out into the ocean is one thing but there’s nothing wrong with padding where the waves break.”
“Part of children’s learning is to walk along the water’s edge and get your feet wet. There are dangerous currents further out and you stay at the edge.”
She added: “I want to see schools and youth groups taking advantage of opportunities that learning outside the classroom can provide.”
But the Department for Children, Schools and Families said teachers had to plan activities carefully.
“We are not banning padding,” said a spokeswoman. “We have seen cases in the past where things have not been planned and assessed for the risk. Unplanned activities around water can be dangerous.”Guidance issued to schools in England gives the information that _________.
| A．school trips to oceans are forbidden in the country |
| B．school swimming pools should be surrounded with fence |
| C．school staff must plan water-based activities carefully |
| D．school children shouldn’t have a walk along river banks |
Advice from the Department for Children, Schools and Families shows us that _________.
| A．they are strongly against the guidance |
| B．they are fond of the outline of the guidance |
| C．they don’t understand the aim of the guidance |
| D．they want the guidance to become more useful |
To the guidance, Margaret Morrissey holds the opinion that _________.
| A．oceans are dangerous place for children to visit |
| B．young people should be encouraged to learn outside |
| C．children should learn padding in rough ocean alone |
| D．schools should stop students from walking along beaches |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
| A．No padding on school trips, children told. |
| B．No walking along the rivers, teachers told. |
| C．No swimming after school, parents told. |
| D．No learning out of school, students told. |
Watching bison up close is fascinating, like watching a grass fire about to leap out of control. With their huge, wedge-shaped heads and silver-dollar-size brown eyes, the 2,000-pound animals are symbols of another place and time. More than 100 bison now roam the 30,000-acre American Prairie Reserve in eastern Montana — the first time they’ve inhabited that region in a century. Direct descendants of the tens of millions of bison that once populated the Western plains, they represent an epic effort: to restore a piece of America’s prairie to the national grandeur that Lewis and Clark extolled two centuries ago. During that famous expedition across the Western states to the Pacific, the two explorers encountered so many bison that they had to wait hours for one herd to pass.
In order to protect what’s here and reintroduce long-gone wildlife (something the World Wildlife Fund is helping with), the American Prairie Foundation began purchasing land from local ranchers in 2004. It now owns 30,000 acres and has grazing privileges on another 57,000. Its goal over the next 25 years is to assemble three million acres, the largest area of land devoted to wildlife management in the continental United States.
Already, herds of elk, deer, and pronghorn antelope roam the grasslands, where visitors can camp, hike, and bike. Cottonwoods and willows are thriving along streams, creating habitats for bobcats, beavers, and other animals.
Not everyone shares APF’s vision. Some residents of Phillips County (pop. 3,904) worry that the area could become a prairie Disneyland, overcrowded with tourists. But the biggest obstacle is the ranchers themselves, whose cattle compete with prairie dogs and bison for grass and space.
“People like me have no intention of selling their ranches,” says Dale Veseth, who heads the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance of 35 families in Phillips County and whose family has been ranching here since 1886. “They’ve been a labor of love through the generations.” Instead, he wants APF to pay or subsidize ranchers to raise bison. This would be far less costly for the foundation, he argues, than buying the land directly.If you go to the American Prairie Reserve in eastern Montana, you will see ________.
| A．the burning fire moving across the grassland |
| B．hundreds of bison travelling through the prairie |
| C．tens of millions of bison occupying the farmland |
| D．groups of experts examining the dead bison |
What measures have been taken to protect the wildlife by APF?
| A．They have borrowed much money and developed new habitat. |
| B．They have hired many farmers to raise bison on their farms. |
| C．They have turned grassland into Disneyland to attract tourists. |
| D．They have bought large land from farmers for bison to live on. |
The underlined word “subsidize” in this passage means ________.
| A．give money to | B．borrow money from |
| C．provide land to | D．exchange land with |
Which would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The exciting scenery in eastern Montana |
| B．Great changes in raising bison in America |
| C．The return of the American prairie |
| D．The challenge in protecting the grassland |
The days of the hunter are almost over in India. This is partly because there is practically nothing left to kill, and partly because some steps have been taken mainly by banning tiger-shooting to protect those animals which still survive.
Some people say that Man is naturally a hunter. I disagree with this view. Surely our earliest forefathers, who at first possessed no weapons, spent their time digging for roots, and were no doubt themselves often hunted by meat-eating animals.
I believe the main reason why the modern hunter kills is that he thinks people will admire his courage in overpowering dangerous animals. Of course, there are some who truly believe that the killing is not really the important thing, and that the chief pleasure lies in the joy of the hunt and the beauty of the wild countryside. There are also those for whom hunting in fact offers a chance to prove themselves and risk death by design; these men go out after dangerous animals like tigers, even if they say they only do it to rid the countryside of a threat. I can respect reasons like these, but they are clearly different from the need to strengthen your high opinion of yourself.
The greatest big-game hunters expressed in their writings something of these finer motives. One of them wrote:
“You must properly respect what you are after and shoot it clearly and on the animal’s own territory (领地).You must fix forever in your mind all the wonders of that particular day. This is better than letting him grow a few years older to be attacked and wounded by his own son and eventually eaten, half alive, by other animals. Hunting is not a cruel and senseless killing — not if you respect the thing you kill, not if you kill to enrich your memories, not if you kill to feed your people.”
I can understand such beliefs, and can compare these hunters with those who hunted lions with spears and bravely caught them by the tail. But this is very different from many tiger-shoots I have seen, in which modern weapons were used. The so-called hunters fired from tall trees or from the backs of trained elephants. Such methods made tigers seem no more dangerous than rabbits.There is no more hunting in India now partly because ________.
| A．it is dangerous to hunt there | B．hunting is already out of date |
| C．hunters want to protect animals | D．there are few animals left to hunt |
The author thinks modern hunters kill mainly ________.
| A．to make the countryside safe | B．to earn people’s admiration |
| C．to gain power and influence | D．to improve their health |
What do we learn about the big-game hunters?
| A．They hunt old animals. | B．They mistreat animals. |
| C．They hunt for food. | D．They hunt for money. |
What is the author’s view on the tiger-shoots he has seen?
| A．Modern hunters lack the courage to hunt face-to-face. |
| B．Modern hunters should use more advanced weapons. |
| C．Modern hunters like to hunt rabbits instead of tigers. |
| D．Modern hunters should put their safety first. |
Warning: reading too much Cinderella to your daughter may damage her emotional health in later life. A paper to be developed at the international congress of cognitive psychotherapy in Gothenburg suggests a link between the attitudes of women abused by their parents and early exposure to the wrong sort of fairy tales. It says girls who identified with Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast were more likely to say in destructive relationships as adults.
The theory was developed by Susan Darker Smith, a psychotherapist at the University of Derby. She interviewed 67 female abuse survivors and found that 61 put up with severe abuse because they believed they could change their partners with patience, composition and love. The same view was taken by male survivors who had been abused as children. Hardly any of the women in a control group, who had not experienced abuse, thought they could change their partners in this way.
These women and men said they would leave a relationship rather than put up with abuse from a partner. Ms Darker Smith found the abused women were much more likely to identify with Cinderella and other submissive female characters in fairytales, who were later rescued by a stranger prince or hero.
Although most girls heard the stories, damage appeared to be done to those who adopted the characters as role models. “They believe if their love is strong enough they can change their parents’ behaviors,” she said. “Overexposure in children to stories that emphasize the transformational qualities of love may make women believe they can change their partners.” For example, they might never have understood the obvious flaw in the story of Rapunzel, who remained locked in a high tower until rescued by a knight on a white horse, who broke the door down. “The question,” said Ms Darker Smith, “is why she did not break the door down herself.”The passage is especially intended for _________.
| A．parents with young daughters |
| B．girls who like reading fairy stories |
| C．girls who think they can change their partners |
| D．parents with grown-up daughters |
Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast are similar in that _________.
| A．they all married some princes | B．they all changed their partners with love |
| C．they were all abused by their partners | D．they all put up with abuse |
Which of the following statements is true of the women in a control group?
| A．They don’t believe in fairy tales. |
| B．They don’t believe in the transformational qualities of love. |
| C．They have also experienced abuse. |
| D．They survived abuse. |
What does the underlined word “submissive” in the 3rd paragraph probably mean?
| A．kind-hearted | B．passive | C．gentle | D．easy-going |