Theaudiencestartstoscreamandyo-优题课

Normally when I pop in to see my parents, my mum bursts out of the house with a big smile. Not today. "Your brother," she says, "he's showered twice this afternoon. Does he know how much it costs to run this house?" Are we limiting water now? I didn't think the recession(萧条) had got that bad. My poor brother is a boomerang kid. Like 60 percent of guys immediately after university, he's back at home. Graduating ￡15,000 in debt and faced with unpaid internships(实习期) or low wages thanks to the flooding of the market with graduates, a lot of twenty some things simply don't have the necessary income or parental support to live independently.
Three years after getting their degree, most graduates are still not earning above the average salary. They have a near 50 percent tax burden, thanks to student loan repayments and council tax on top of income tax and national insurance. Unless you have parents who can afford to finance what is effectively a second home for them, returning to the parental nest is often the only affordable option.
The boomerang effect is becoming even more pronounced thanks to the recession. One in four of those losing their job during the downturn is under 25. Only 13 percent of final-year students have jobs. Home is the only place many are going: 111,000 16-29 year olds moved back home in 2008, five times the average of previous years.
Boomeranging is bad news. It poses serious problems for parents' finances. They've already supported their children through university, topping up loans with handouts, averaging ￡12,300 in total, to keep twenty somethings afloat. Now their retirement savings are being eaten away by continuously dependent children.
It’s bad for the returning kids too. Ambitious young people will be left frustrated, seeing their university peers from more wealthy backgrounds excel only because parents' money was there to support them through the initial period of poverty wages. Those living in rural areas are further disadvantaged by lack of access to cities where most new jobs are located. Half of all young people now feel they will not achieve their goals. Research by the Prince's Trust reveals that one-quarter of all 16-25 year olds are regularly down or depressed. And depression does not help self-motivation, the very trait needed to seek out job opportunities.
In paragraph 1, the mother’s criticizing her son for showering too often shows _________.

A．the price of water has increased

B．she thinks her son is selfish

C．her son is an economic burden

D．she wants to have a shower herself

What is the boomerang mentioned in the passage?

A．A person earning low income.

B．A person who has heavy tax burden.

C．A youth who cannot get parental support.

D．A youth returning to parents after graduation.

According to the passage, which of the following does NOT contribute to the tax bill of most young graduates?

A．National insurance.	B．Income tax.
C．Council income.	D．Student loans.

Who is comparatively most affected by the recession according to the passage?

A．Those who haven’t completed their university studies.

B．Those who are supported through by their parents.

C．Those who can have access to the urban facilities.

D．Those who were born into the well-off families.

Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Global Recession

B．Boomerang Kids

C．Unemployment Rate

D．Falling Incomes

Just as some people think that certain numbers are lucky or unlucky, others believe that we can use numbers to understand our personalities, or predict what will happen to us in the future.
Numerology is a way of using numbers to describe a person’s character, and to make predictions about future life events. Numerologists use the numbers 1-9, 11 and 22 — also known as the “master” numbers — to help a person understand his or her personality, life goals, and destiny.
Numerologists consider your Life Path number to be the most significant because this number describes your character. To find this number, add together all the numbers in your date of birth. For example, a person born on April 25, 1985 would add the month (4), to the numbers of the date (2+5), plus the numbers of the birth year (1+9+8+5). In this case the total is 34, so this person’s life path number is 7(3+4). Numerologists believe that people with this number are peaceful and affectionate but can also be very reserved.
Your Expression number describes your talents and predicts how you should use these to fulfill your destiny in life. Numerologists assign a number between 1 and 9 to each of the letters in your name. These numbers are then added together in the same way as before to find your Expression number. Numerologists can also do calculations to predict when the most challenging periods of your life will be.
Numerologists also believe that the day a person is born is important. Each day of the month has a character description. People born on the fourth are said to be responsible, honest, and stubborn. People born on the fifteenth have very strong attachments to family and home. Those who celebrate their birthday on the thirtieth are artistic, creative, and imaginative, and often make good writers.
If we calculate the numerical value of our name and birth date, numerologists believe that we can learn more about our personalities. They also believe that we can predict our destinies, how our lives will progress, and what challenges we may face along the way. To the numerologist, numbers can be used in many more ways than we think.
If a person was born on November 8, 1995, what is his Life Path number?

A．7

B．8

C．9

D．11

To understand your abilities and how to use them in your life, you should calculate your ______.

A．Life Path number	B．Expression number
C．birthday	D．name and birth date

According to the passage, a person born on the fifteenth tends to be _______.

A．stubborn

B．home-loving

C．artistic

D．imaginative

According to the passage, numerologists believe that _________.

A．Life Path number can be used to predict a person’s most challenging life periods

B．Expression number is the most meaningful for people to learn a person’s character

C．numbers can help people better understand themselves

D．numbers can be used to change a person’s future

The function of the passage is __________.

A．to raise doubts about the usefulness of numerology

B．to persuade readers about the benefits of the practices it describes

C．to describe some of the numerological practices and their purpose

D．to tease those who take such beliefs seriously

Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected, means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for patching up differences, apologizing, saying “no,” criticizing, getting the other fellow to do what you want without his losing face. For some jobs, it’s the only tool that can succeed. It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialogue may start a quarrel. For example, many believe that comedians on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance than people in any other forum.
Humor is often the best way to keep a small misunderstanding from escalating into a big deal. Recently a neighbor of mine had a squabble with his wife as she drove him to the airport. Airborne, he felt miserable, and he knew she did, too. Two hours after she returned home, she received a long-distance phone call. “Person-to-person for Mrs. I. A. Pologize,” intoned the operator. “That’s spelled ‘P’ as in…” In a twinkling, the whole day changed from grim to lovely at both ends of the wire.
An English hostess with a quick wit was giving a formal dinner for eight distinguished guests whom she hoped to enlist in a major charity drive. Austerity（节俭）was a fashion in England at the time, and she had asked her children to serve the meal. She knew that anything could happen—and it did, just as her son, with the studied concentration of a tightrope walker, brought in a large roast turkey. He successfully elbowed the swinging dining-room door, but the backswing threw the bird onto the dining-room floor.
The boy stood rooted: guests stared at their plates. Moving only her head the hostess smiled at her son,” No harm, Daniel,” she said. “Just pick him up and take him back to the kitchen”… she enunciated clearly so he would think about what she was saying… “and bring in the other one.”
A wink and a one-liner instantly changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a conspiracy of fun.
What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Humor is the key to success in our work and our lives.

B．Humor enables us to cope with difficult situation effectively.

C．Humor is the only best way to criticize someone without losing his face.

D．Humor makes fun of any difficult situations.

Which of the following is NOT stated in the passage?

A．Comedians on TV are believed to have done a lot in making people more tolerant of racial and religious differences.

B．To make up differences, humor is a most acceptable as well as a most effective means.

C．People often turn to humorous ways when meeting with difficult situations because of its effectiveness.

D．Only by adopting the means of humor can one succeed in some jobs.

By saying “and bring in the other one,” the hostess meant that_________.

A．the son had to cook another turkey for the guests

B．she already had made more than one turkey ready for the dinner

C．some other dish would be served instead of a turkey

D．the son could serve the same turkey after it was cleaned

Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself.
The expression to be in hot water is a very old expression. Hot water was used five hundred years ago to mean being in trouble. One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing extremely hot water down on enemies attacking a castle.
That no longer happens. But we still get in hot water. When we are in hot water, we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble—serious or not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A young boy can be in hot water with his mother, if he walks in the house with dirty shoes.
Beingin deep water is almost the same as being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position.
To keep your head above water is a colorful expression that means staying out of debt. A company seeks to keep its head above water during economic hard times. A man who loses his job tries to keep his head above water until he finds a new job.
Water over the dam is another expression about a past event. It is something that is finished. It cannot be changed. The expression comes from the idea that water that has flowed over a dam cannot be brought back again.
Another common expression to hold water, is about the strength or weakness of an idea or opinion that you may be arguing about. It probably comes from a way of testing the condition of a container.; If it can hold water, it is strong and has no holes in it. If your argument can hold water, it is strong and does not have any holes.
Throwing cold water also is an expression that deals with ideas or suggestions. It means to not like an idea. For example, you want to buy a new car because the old one has some problems. But your wife throws cold water on the idea, because she says a new car costs too much.
If Robert says he is in deep water, we may guess_________.

A．he is swimming under the water

B．he is tired of changing shoes

C．he nearly breaks a law

D．he faces a difficult choice

What can you say to your friend Jane, who is troubled by a mistake she has made?

A．Keep your head above water.

B．Throw cold water.

C．It is water over the dam.

D．It can hold water.

If your argument doesn’t hold water, then it is _________.

A．weak

B．convincing

C．logical

D．disappointing

The passage explains the origins of the following expressions EXCEPT_________.

A．to be in hot water

B．to keep your head above water

C．water over the dam

D．to hold water

Watching television makes it easier for toddlers（学走路的孩子）to kick and scream, according to a U.S. study. Children under two should not watch any TV. The longer they sit in front of the box, the worse their behavior becomes.
Just having the TV on in the background, even if the child wasn’t watching it, was also connected to troublemaking behavior although the relationship wasn’t as strong, said the researchers.
“Parents should be smart about TV use,” researcher Jennifer Manganello from the University at Albany, New York, said.
“They should limit the time that children use TV, pay attention to the content of TV programs, and consider how TV is used throughout the home.”
The study looked at 3,128 women from 20 U.S. cities who had a child between 2005 and 2008.
While there was some diversity（差异）of education among the women, one-third hadn’t graduated from high school.
Two-thirds of the mothers said their three-year-old watched more than two hours of TV a day, and the average（平均的）viewing time for children was around three hours. On average, the TV was on for about five additional hours on a common day.
After accounting for factors（因素）such as living in a violent neighborhood, scientists also found watching TV was strongly connected to behavior such as hitting others, having angry moods, being disobedient（不服从的）, and screaming a lot.
The researchers thought that children may see violence on TV, and spend less time on positive development tasks such as reading or playing.
The American Academy of Paediatrics suggests no TV at all for children at two and younger, and two hours a day or less for older kids.
what is the main idea of the passage?

A．Children should choose positive programs.

B．Children should keep away from TV.

C．Watching TV can make children violent.

D．Parents should watch less TV.

what do we know from Paragraph 2?

A．Children can watch good programs.

B．Children will be affected as long as the TV is on.

C．It’s OK that the TV is on if children don’t watch it.

D．Children’s troublemaking behavior is mainly caused by watching TV.

what can be learned about the study between 2005~2008 from the passage?

A．The TV was on for about three hours.

B．The women studied have different jobs.

C．The study included men and women.

D．Most women allowed their child to watch TV.

Children who spend much time watching TV will ________.

A．not be hit by others

B．be influenced by others

C．become angry easily

D．know more about the neighborhood