Me More Than You
“It hurts me more than you.” and “This is for your own good.” These are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework.
That was before we entered the permissive period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school.
The schools and the educators made it easy on us. They taught that it was all right to be parents who took a let-alone policy. We stopped making our children do homework. We gave them calculators(计算器), turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation.
Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we’ve made a terrible mistake. One such teacher is Sharon Klompus who says of her students—“so passive”—and wonders what happened. Nothing was demanded of them, she believes. “Television”, says Klompus, “contributes to children’s passivity;” “We’re not training kids to work any more.” says Klompus. “We’re talking about a generation of kids who’ve never been hurt or hungry. They have learned somebody will always do it for them. Instead of saying ‘go look it up’, you tell them the answer. It takes greater energy to say ‘no’ to a kid.”
Yes, it does. It takes energy and it takes work. It’s time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work. It’s time to take the car away, to turn the TV off, and to tell them it hurts you more than them but it’s for their own good. It’s time to start telling them ‘no’ again.We learn from the passage that the author’s mother used to place importance on _____.
| A．discipline | B．creativity | C．school education | D．homework |
To today’s kids as described in this passage, _____.
| A．it is easier to give a negative reply than to give a positive reply |
| B．it is easier to give a positive reply than to give a negative reply |
| C．neither is easy — to say yes or to say no |
| D．neither is hard — to say yes or to say no |
The main idea of this passage is that _____.
| A．parents should set a good example for their kids |
| B．kids should have more activities outside campus |
| C．educators should not be so kind to our children |
| D．it is time to be strict with our children |
Each year on February 2nd, there is special festival called Groundhog Day (土拨鼠日 )' forecasting event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. When it comes, people from around the world, including 5,000 in the small town today, watch this tongue-twisting(发音饶舌的) small town for a sign from one groundhog that supposedly predicts when that years' spring will arrive.
If it's a cloudy day outside when the groundhog pops from its cave, then spring will arrive early that year. However, if it is sunny outside, the groundhog will supposedly be scared by its own shadow, hiding underground for six more weeks of cold weather.
Of course, Punxsutawney Phil's prediction is no more able to guarantee the extended forecast than your local weatherman. ABC News reports that an analysis by the National Climate Data Center found that Phil's predictions are more often wrong than right.
Philis is also found to have made some unpleasant predictions. Ever since 1887, he has predicted 99 extended winters and just 16 early springs .Nine of the years' predictions were unavailable, according to ABC.
The holiday began as a German tradition in 18th century and became even more of a cultural phenomenon after the 1993 film Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.
Punxsutawney Phil has become a celebrity in his own right. Each year, the fatter animal with long teeth is watched by millions as he emerges from a cave in the town he is named after. Phil has become so beloved by the town that he actually lives in the local library with his “wife" Phyllis.
Taking inspiration from the hard state of Bill Murray’s character in the classic film, Yahoo contributor Owen Rust says Groundhog Day is a good time to reflect on one’s routines. The underlined word “pops” means “ ”.
| A．escapes | B．appears | C．increases | D．hides |
The reason why Phil's predictions aren't pleasing is that_____________.
| A．some of the predictions were unavailable |
| B．Phil wants to do that for fun |
| C．Phil likes to make unpleasant predictions |
| D．he has predicted more late springs |
How does Punxsutawney Phil become a celebration?
| A．By an accident. |
| B．From people's life improving. |
| C．By his own attractive force |
| D．From much money raised by the town. |
Which does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．The National Climate Data Center |
| B．A German tradition |
| C．A tongue-twisting small town |
| D．Groundhog Day weather forecasting |
Many years ago, I pulled a family out of a burning car somewhere in Wyoming. Last week I received a telephone call from a woman who could not stop crying as she told me that one of my stories had saved her son from committing suicide. In closing she called me a hero.
That got me thinking about what a hero is. Was I a hero because I pulled a family from a burning car? If so, how could I be a hero just because I wrote a story that saved someone’s life?
Today I looked up the word “hero” in the dictionary to see exactly what it meant. It read “a person who does something brave” and also “a person who is good and noble”.
That statement impressed me more than the part about being brave. So I thought about something very important. And I remembered what happened to me years ago.
After my marriage of twenty years ended, I was in such a condition. I was within hours trying to get enough courage to end the pain and misery. When I returned home, someone had sent me a card in the mail which told me how much they would appreciate me as a friend. That wonderful card probably saved my life. That person, without even knowing it, saved a life and became a hero.
The many stories I kept writing in the following years saved the life of a teenage boy. In turn that makes the person who sent me the card a double hero. I suppose that is why I fight so hard to help the children now living in orphanages (孤儿院). Most children come out of these institutions with a very hard and bitter attitude against the world. The gifts we send them let them know that they have not been forgotten. Hopefully, most of them will never hurt anyone because of the kindness shown to them by those of us who cared. If it works, we will also become "heroes".The main idea of the passage is _______________.
| A．why the writer should be a hero | B．what a hero exactly is |
| C．whether the writer is a hero | D．that everyone is a hero |
Why did the woman call the writer a hero at the end of the call?
| A．Because he asked her son not to kill himself. |
| B．Because he saved a family from a burning car. |
| C．Because his story saved her son’s life. |
| D．Because he was cute and kind to everybody. |
What does the underlined word “it” in the last sentence of Paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．The wonderful card the writer received. |
| B．The action of sending the card. |
| C．The fact that the sender helped the writer. |
| D．The fact that the sender was a friend of the writer. |
What’s the writer’s attitude to “brave people”?
| A．neutral | B．supportive | C．objective | D．irony |
We can begin our discussion of “population as a global issue” with what most person mean when they discuss “ the population problem”: too many people on earth and a too rapid increase in the number added each year. The facts are not in dispute. It was quite right to employ a similar matter that linked demographic(人口统计学）growth to “ a long, thin power fuse that burns steadily from time to time until it finally reaches the limit, and explodes”.
To understand the current situation, which is characterized by rapid increases in population, it is necessary to understand the history of population trends. Rapid growth is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Looking back at the 8,000 years of demographic history. We find that population have been really stable or growing very slightly for most of human history. For most of our ancestors, life was hard, often nasty, and very short. For most of human history, it was seldom the case that one in ten persons would live past forty, where infancy and childhood were especially risky periods. Often, societies were in clear danger of extinction because death rates could exceed their birth rates. Thus, the population problem throughout most of history was how to prevent extinction of the human race.
This pattern is important to know. Not only does it put the current problems of demographic growth into a historical perspective, but it suggests that the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years is not a sudden enthusiasm for more children, but an improvement in the conditions that traditionally have caused high rate of death.
Demographic history can be divided into two major periods: a time of long, slow growth which extended from about 8000B.C. till approximately 1650 A.D. And a period of rapid growth since 1650. In the first period of some 9,600 years, the population increased form some 8 million to 500 million in 1650. Between 1650 and the present, the population has increased from 500 million to more than 4 billion. And it is estimated that by the year 2020 there will be 8 billion people throughout the world. One way to appreciate this dramatic difference in such abstract numbers is to reduce the time frame to something that is more manageable. Between 8000B.C. and 1650, an average of only 50,000 persons was being added annually to the world’s population each year. At present, this number is added very six hours. The increase is about 80,000,000 persons annually.According to the passage, “population as a global issue” ____.
| A．is quite unlike the population problem and thus doesn’t need our concern |
| B．focuses on tracking down the reason of rapid population growth |
| C．deals with the same problem aroused by the population problem |
| D．will manage the population growth problem from global perspectives |
It can be inferred from the example of a power fuse that _____.
| A．too much population will one day lead to the doom of human beings |
| B．the trend of population growth will keep unsteady until the destruction of Earth |
| C．demographic growth will follow a certain pattern of ups and downs |
| D．it is likely in the near future that population will reduce gradually |
What leads to a stable growth of population for most of human history?
| A．Species competition | B．Low fertility | C．Tribal fights | D．High rate of death |
The reason for a rapid growth of population lies in the fact that ______.
| A．people are permitted to have more children |
| B．people can live better than before |
| C．newborn babies die less than before |
| D．we have found the secret of longevity |
How many people are born every six hours at present, according to the author?
| A．Eighty million. | B．Eight thousand |
| C．Fifty thousand | D．Five million |
On the high-speed train Avignon to Paris, my husband and I landed in the only remaining seats on the train, in the middle of a car, directly opposite a Frenchwoman of middle years. It was an extremely uncomfortable arrangement to be looking straight into the eyes of a stranger. My husband and I pulled out books. The woman produced a large makeup case and made up her face. Except for a lunch break, she continued this activity for the entire three-hour trip. Every once in a while she surveyed the car with a bright-eyed glance, but never once did she catch my eye. My husband and I could have been a blanket wall.
I was amused, but some people would have felt uncomfortable , even repulsed(厌恶的）.there is something about making up in public that calls up strong emotional reactions. Partly it’s a question of hygiene. And it’s a matter of degree. Making up --- a private act--- has a way of neglecting the presence of others. I was once seated at a party with a model-actress who immediately waved a silly brush and began dusting her face at the table, demonstrating that while she was next to me, she was not with me.
In fact, I am generally prohibited from making up in public, except when I am in the company of cosmetics moment. In a gathering more professional than social, I would do so.
Kathy Peiss, a history professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst says that nose-powdering in the office was an occasion for outrage in 1920’s and 30’s. Deploring the practice as a waste of company time, trade journals advises managers to discourage it among workers. Peiss theorizes that it was female’s making up in what has been an all-male field that disturb some gentlemen.
Peiss tells me that after the 30’s , pulling out a make-up case was no longer an issue. It became an accepted practice. I asked if she feels free to apply lipstick at a professional lunch herself. Sounding mildly shocked, she says she would save that for the privacy of her car afterward. Why? Because it would be “a gesture of inappropriate feminity(女性化）.” One guess is that most professional women feel this way. There is evidence of the popularity of the new lipsticks that remain in place all day without retouching.According to the author, “My husband and I could have been a blanket wall.” (Line 6, Para.1) most probably means “________”.
| A．We were treated with an expressionless face. |
| B．We looked at the French woman expressionlessly |
| C．We used books as a wall to avoid the woman’s eyes |
| D．We were of no existence in the French woman’s eyes |
In the author’s opinion, she _______.
| A．allows public making up on certain occasions |
| B．feels comfortable when making up in public |
| C．only makes up on social occasions |
| D．makes up before any professional gatherings |
According to Peiss, nose powdering in an office was criticized mainly for the reason that ____.
| A．normal office work was disturbed |
| B．it discouraged women’s interest in career |
| C．make dominance was emphasized there |
| D．it distracted make workers’ focus on work |
Why do most professional women give up using lipsticks in public?
| A．Because they are worried about being looked down upon |
| B．Because it emphasizes their female features in wrong situations |
| C．Because it implies women’s disadvantages in academic fields |
| D．Because they are ashamed to be seen making up in front of males/ |
It can be inferred that in a highly open society, the differences between men and women ______.
| A．have attracted little attention |
| B．hinder the social development |
| C．are attractive topics in talk shows |
| D．still call for great concern |
How can we measure animals’ emotions? A new study of animal’s emotions suggests that, as in humans, emotions can tell animals about how dangerous their world is, and guide the choices that they make. The article of the study by Bristol University’s professor Mike Mendl was published online.
An animal living in an environment where it is often threatened by predators(捕食者）will develop a negative emotion or “mood”, such as anxiety. However, one in an environment with plenty of opportunities to get resources for survival will be in a more positive mood state.
The researchers say that these emotional states not only show the animal’s experiences, but also help it decide how to make choices, especially in unclear situations. This could have good or bad results. An animal in a negative mood state will make a safety-first with a “pessimistic” response to an unclear event. For example, it considers a noise in the grass as a signal of the predator. At the same time, an animal in a positive mood state will benefit from a more “optimistic” response. It considers the noise as a signal of prey(猎物）.
Professor Mike Mendl, head of the Animal Welfare and Behavior Research Group at Bristol University’s School of Clinical Veterinary Science said, “ We can use “optimistic” or “pessimistic”decision-making as a symbol of an animal’s emotional state. Recent studies by our group and others suggest that this is a meritorious new approach to studying a variety of animal species.”
“Public interest in animal welfare remains high, with widespread concern about the way in which animals are treated, used and included in society. To understand how animals should be treated, we need to better understand their emotional lives,” Mike Mendl said. The researchers believe Mike Mendl’s study can help them to better understand and assess an animal’s emotions.When an animal is in a negative mood state, _______.
| A．its response to an unclear event is pessimistic |
| B．it will pay little attention to an unclear event |
| C．it is easy for it to make right decisions |
| D．it has more opportunities to get food |
The underlined word “meritorious” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by “_______”.
| A．valuable | B．useless | C．fashionable | D．hopeless |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．the animals with positive emotions live longer |
| B．there is no way to assess an animal’s emotions |
| C．few people care about animal welfare nowadays |
| D．the environment can influence animal’s emotions |
Mike Mendl advised people to better understand animal’s emotions in order to _____.
| A．tell people to build more protected areas for animals |
| B．explain animals should be regarded as people’s friends |
| C．raise people’s interest in studying animals |
| D．make people know how to treat animals properly |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Different kinds of Animals’ Emotions |
| B．Emotions Helps Animals to Make Choice |
| C．The Living Environment of Wild Animals |
| D．The Best Way to Measure Animals’ Emotions |