Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don’t know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She confessed(坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
71. This text is most probably written by ______.
A. A specialist in teenager studies. B. a headmaster of a middle school
C. a parent with teenage children D. a doctor for mental health problems
72. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.
A. the change from good to bad that’s seen in a child
B. the way that parents often blame themselves
C. the opinion that a child has of his parents
D. the advice that parents want their children to follow
73. The boy on the sofa would most probably be described as ______.
A. lazy B. quiet C. unusual D. rude
74. From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ______.
A. pay no attention to them B. are too busy to look after them
C. have come to hate them D. feel helpless to do much about them
75. What is the author’s opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?
A. Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.
B. Parents should pay still more attention to the change.
C. Parents should work more closely with school teachers.
D. Parents are a fault for the change in their children.
Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable. People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.A good title for this reading passage is______.
A.Popeye the Sailor | B.The Truth About Spinach |
C.A Mistake with Numbers | D.Folic Acid Makes You Strong |
Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
A.They thought spinach made them strong. |
B.They thought Popeye was funny. |
C.Spinach had a lot of iron. |
D.People liked folic acid. |
A research group told people that spinach______.
A.made Popeye strong |
B.was a green vegetable |
C.had less iron than other green vegetables |
D.had more iron than other green vegetables |
The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
A.iron | B.folic acid | C.spinach | D.exercise |
Folic acid is ______.
A.something in food | B.a vegetable | C.dangerous | D.a certain kind of spinach |
阅读下面短文并回答问题(请注意问题后的词数要求)。
When your toothbrush is at the end of its days, don’t just throw it away, as a survey has revealed many other uses for an old toothbrush.
The survey was carried out by the Dental Health Foundation to promote National Smile Month and more than 1, 000 people participated in the survey. It found that more than four in every five people re-use their toothbrush for another purpose.
Four in ten people use an old toothbrush to brush bathroom tiles (瓷砖), and almost a third use it to clean kitchen appliances. More than a quarter of those questioned use old toothbrushes to clean jewellery, and roughly one in every five use them for shining shoes. Some other uses for toothbrushes include cleaning bikes, computer keyboards, toilet seats, fish tanks and finger nails.
The survey also found that the age of the owner can determine what happens to a toothbrush after it is not suitable to be used to brush teeth any more. People over 75 are three times more likely to re-use their toothbrush for a different purpose than those between the ages of 16 and 34 and twice more likely than those between 35 and 44.
Additionally, to reuse their toothbrush for chores (日常琐事) and other uses than their male counterparts. Some women admitted to using their toothbrush to apply hair dye (染料)while some men said they used an old toothbrush to clean their dog’s teeth.
Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter, said, “We all should get through around four toothbrushes every year if we are to keep our oral health in great condition. Generally people don’t change their toothbrushes often enough, but there are still plenty of toothbrushes
lying around the house. Our survey has shown that people have realized that a toothbrush is of great value and has a role to play beyond its normal use.”What would be the best title for the passage? (no more than 10 words)
What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to? (no more than 2 words)
What percentage of people use old toothbrushes to shine their shoes? (no more than 4 words)
Complete the following statement with proper words. (no more than 3 words)
The results of the survey also showed that whether a toothbrush is reused after it’s replaced can be determined by the owner is. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 5 with proper words. (no more than 5 words)
Everyone has got two personalities—the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real.You don't show your secret personality when you're awake because you can control your behaviour,but when you're asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you.In a normal night,of course,people frequently change their position.The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back,you're a very open person.You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas.You don't like to upset people,so you never express your real feelings.You're quite shy and you aren't very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach,you are a rather secretive(不坦率的)person.You worry a lot and you're always easily upset.You're very stubborn(顽固的),but you aren't very ambitious.You usually live for today not for tomorrow.This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up(卷曲),you are probably a very nervous person.You have a low opinion of yourself and so you're often defensive.You're shy and you don't normally like meeting people.You prefer to be on your own.You're easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side,you have usually got a well-balanced personality.You know your strengths and weaknesses.You're usually careful. You have a confident personality.You sometimes feel anxious,but you don't often get depressed.You always say what you think even if it annoys people. According to the writer,you naturally show your secret and real personality _____.
A.only in a normal night |
B.only when you go to sleep |
C.only when you refuse to show yourself to the world |
D.only when you change sleeping position |
Which is NOT mentioned in the second paragraph about a person's personality?
A.He or she is always open with others. |
B.He or she always likes new ideas earlier than others. |
C.He or she is always easily upset. |
D.He or she tends to believe in others. |
Point out which sentence is used to show the personality of a person who is used to sleeping on his or her stomach?
A.He or she is careful not to offend others. |
B.He or she doesn't want to stick to his or her opinion. |
C.He or she likes to bring others happiness. |
D.He or she can't be successful in any business. |
Maybe you don't want to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up.Why?
A.He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you. |
B.He or she is rarely ready to help you. |
C.He or she prefers staying at home to going out. |
D.He or she wouldn't like to get help from you. |
It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because ______ .
A.he or she always shows sympathy for people |
B.he or she has more strengths than weaknesses |
C.he or she is confident,but not stubborn |
D.he or she often considers annoying people |
People and the sources of air pollution are found in the same places. This means that cities with large populations have the biggest problem of dirty air. Air pollution is caused by many different things. A major source of air pollution is the gas fumes from cars. Statistics show that 93 percent of all auto trips are within cities. Another major source of dirty air is the burning of coal and oil for energy. This energy is needed to make electricity. Of course, much more electricity is used in the city than in the country.
On the average, we throw away more trash and garbage than the year before. The burning of garbage contributes to air pollution. Many major industries are also responsible for the dirty air in the around cities. The fumes from iron, steel, chemical, and petroleum production add particles to the air.
The effects of air pollution range from mild headaches to death. The levels of pollution found in heavy for traffic may cause headaches for loss of clear vision. Wherever coal and oil are used for fuel, fumes may kill trees and plants and cause metal to corrode. In some of the larger cities, these fumes endanger the live of human beings by contributing to lung diseases and causing early death.The key point of the passage is that _________.
A.the cause of air pollution is people |
B.the causes and the effects of air pollution are both found in cities |
C.the effects of air pollution range from headaches to death |
D.air pollution is caused by dirty air |
What is the purpose of this passage?
A.to persuade people to stop polluting the air |
B.to tell the causes of air pollution |
C.to tell why cities are bad places to live |
D.to describe why cities are bad places to live |
Why is air pollution more grave in the city than in the country?
A.Because there are larger populations in cities. |
B.Because the air in the city is dirty. |
C.Because there are more cars in the city. |
D.Because there are much more gas fumes from cars and burning of coal and oil for energy in the city than in the country. |
The fumes from coal and oil may cause metal ______.
A.to corrode | B.to twist |
C.to turn black | D.to become rusty |
In larger cities, the fumes from coal and oil may contribute to ___________.
A.heart disease | B.loss of clear vision |
C.lung diseases | D.serious headache |
Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia found.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.
“No matter how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. “Employees who devoted more of their bonus to prosocial spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself,” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor changes in spending allocations-as little as $5 may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,” Dunn said. What is the general idea of the passage?
A.The more you earn, the greater happiness you will get. |
B.Spending more money on yourself will make you happier. |
C.Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else. |
D.You can spend only $5 a day on someone else to get happiness. |
The underlined work “boost” in the first paragraph probably means .
A.help to find | B.help to increase | C.help to bring | D.help to get |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A.Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus. |
B.People usually think spending money on themselves will make them happier. |
C.Very small changes in spending your money may be enough to gain happiness. |
D.Researchers think that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn. |
Dunn is .
A.a reporter in a journal | B.a volunteer in the experiment |
C.an employee in a company | D.a psychologist at a university |
It can be inferred from the 6th paragraph that .
A.the volunteers not given $5 or $20 spent their own money on themselves |
B.those who spent the money on someone or something else felt happier about it |
C.the volunteers were given $5 or $20 as a reward for the experiment |
D.half of the volunteers could spend the money as they liked |