Is there a magic cutoff period when children become responsible for their own actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become spectators in the lives of their children and shrug, “It’s their life,” and feel nothing?
When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital passage waiting for doctors to put a few stitches(缝线) in my son’s head. I asked, “When do you stop worry?” The nurse said, “When they get out of the accident stage.” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing
When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked continually and disrupted the class. As if to read my mind, a teacher said. “Don’t worry, they all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open. A friend said, “ They’re trying to find themselves, Don’t worry, in a few years, you can stop worrying. They’ll be adults.” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being weak. I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle, there was nothing I could do about it. My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
I continued to suffer from their failures, and be absorbed in their disappointments. My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life. I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted(萦绕心头) by my mother’s warm smile and her occasional “You look pale. Are you all right?” Call me minute you get home. Are you depressed about something ?” Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry?
One of my children became quite anxious about me recently, saying, “ Where were you ? I’ve been calling for three days, and no one answered . I was worried.”
I smiled a warm smileThe author intends to tell us in the passage that_______.
A parents long for a period when they no longer worry about their children.
B there is no time when parents have no worry about their children.
C it’s parents’ duty to worry about their children
D there should be a period when parents don’t have to worry their childrenWe can infer from the underlined sentence “My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing” that ______.
A her mother shared the same idea as the nurse
B her mother didn’t agree with the nurse
C her mother thought the nurse was lying
D her mother wouldn’t express her opinion upon the matter The author mentioned her ages of twenties, thirties, forties and fifty in order to show_______.
A the hard times she experiences in her life
B the different stages of her children
C the support she received from her mother
D she had been worrying her children in her life What can we infer from the last sentence?
A The mother was happy that her child began to worry about her, too
B Finally the mother didn’t have to worry about her children.
C At last the mother could live her own life without worry.
D The mother succeeded in turning her children into adults.Which of the following should be the best title?
A Life B Parents C Worry D Children
If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate(价钱). From then on, they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly(相应地).
With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.
In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?While taking a taxi in Finland, ________.
A.a passenger can go anywhere without having to pay the driver |
B.a passenger pays two US dollars for a taxi ride |
C.a passenger can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go |
D.a passenger needs to provide good faith demonstration(证明) before leaving without paying |
We know from the passage that big hotels in Finland ________.
A.are mostly poorly managed |
B.provide meals for any diners |
C.provide free wine and charge for food |
D.provide meal for only those who live in the hotels |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.The workers in Finland are paid by the hour. |
B.The workers are always honest with their working hours. |
C.The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay. |
D.The bosses in Finland are too busy to check the working hours of their employees. |
The word “those” in the last but one paragraph probably refers to _______.
A.people who are dishonest |
B.people who often have meals in big hotels |
C.people who often take taxis |
D.people who are worthy of trust |
Nowadays, with the busy working hours, parents have no time left to spend with their children. However, spending time with children is of extreme importance. Giving some time for children will play an important role in their development. Therefore, it is a must for parents to spend time with children. Here are some tips for parents which will help them spend time with their little suns.
Having Dinner with Children
Even if you are not there at home for a whole day, you should make sure that you have dinner with your children. Moreover, you should make it a point that you are having dinner with your entire family. Also, you should avoid watching TV when you are having dinner with your family.
Helping Child Complete Homework
Helping your child complete homework will help you know how he/she is at studies. It is not that you have to spend hours regularly helping your child with homework. But, sometimes you can help your child solve some questions. In this way, you will get to spend time with your child as well as get to know about his or her studies.
Fun Activities
During weekends you can indulge your child in fun activities like gardening, painting etc. However, do not force your child to do so. You can also spend some time in teaching your child finger painting, vegetable painting and craft work. You may even help your child complete his or her art and craft assignments. These activities will help you improve creativity of your child as well as the interaction between you and your child.The passage is mainly about_________.
A.the importance of spending time with children |
B.the ways to spend time with children |
C.the reasons to spend time with children |
D.the activities children like to take part in |
In the second paragraph, the author suggests that parents should________.
A.watch TV with their children |
B.stay at home a whole day |
C.spend time with the whole family |
D.avoid listening to some music |
The underlined word “indulge” in the last paragraph means_______.
A.push | B.put | C.ask | D.allow |
What can we learn from the passage?
A.Spending time with children for parents is a must. |
B.Parents should spend time regularly with children’s homework. |
C.Helping children with homework will help improve their creativity. |
D.Parents should pick up their children regularly. |
The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”
I noticed every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I looked down on the computer and asked her, “What do all you people do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down? I wanted to know.”
“I have no idea. Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There’s no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’s down it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no backup computer, I said. “Let’s forget the computer—What about your planes? They are still flying, aren’t they?”
“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could, just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he is flying to Washington,” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ‘IT’ knows. It can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The words soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.Where do you often hear the frightening words “Our computer is down”?
A.at the airport. | B.At the gate. |
C.On business | D.In the ticket office |
What could the girl in the ticket office do without asking the computer?
A.She could do nothing. |
B.She could write out a ticket. |
C.She could still sell a ticket. |
D.She could answer passengers’ questions. |
What does the underlined word “down” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A.White | B.Broken |
C.Black | D.Dark |
We can learn from the last paragraph that .
A.a modern computer won’t be down |
B.computers can take the place of human |
C.there will be great changes in computers |
D.sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people |
After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first train that came along.
After a few minutes I asked in English of course a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters. He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.
In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.
All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.
This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into bad luck.The author decided to take the subway because ________.
A.he lived near the city center |
B.the network covered most of the stops |
C.he believed in his ability to deal with the trip |
D.he had a good impression of its cleanliness |
Having been shown the room card, the young man_________.
A.understood the author well |
B.still remained puzzled |
C.answered the author directly |
D.pointed at the subway map |
Which of the following can’t be used to describe the young man?
A.helpful | B.rude |
C.warmhearted | D.caring |
The author’s purpose of writing this passage is mainly to ________.
A.prove the importance of being careful |
B.appreciate the kindness of the young man |
C.complain some cultural misunderstanding |
D.describe one of his adventurous experiences |
You may have noticed something different when you ate at your favorite restaurant. Or perhaps you picked up on it while looking through your social media apps (社交媒体软件) . You guessed it ---we’re becoming a foodie (吃货) culture.
For some, that means photographing every dish, but others are taking it one step further. Sophia Hampton, a senior at Staples High School in US, chooses to make her own food. She has been published in Future Chefs, a cookbook of recipes (食谱) by teens.
Hampton’s best advice for those who want to be foodies is to get in the kitchen.
“Start cooking,” she said. “There are so many resources online, like recipes and articles about food. Go to your local farmers’ market and start cooking with them.
Besides blogs and online resources, there are also hands-on cooking classes for students. The Chopping Block, a Chicago cooking school, offers many different classes for teens, including courses on chocolate and French food.
By attending cooking classes, surfing online and going to restaurants, you can find endless recipes. But sometimes becoming a real foodie means being behind a camera. As our food-loving culture becomes more popular and teen-friendly, social media apps like Facebook, have become major players in food culture.
“Getting involved in foodie culture is as easy as having a camera and a social media app,” one foodie said. “I always go to streets and farmers’ markets to take beautiful pictures of food. Wherever food prices are expensive, the photos are free.”What does Hampton advise those who want to be foodies to do?
A.Post their recipes online. |
B.Cook food by themselves. |
C.Eat at their favorite restaurant. |
D.Take photos of every dish they eat. |
Where can students find new recipes, according to the article?
①cooking classes ②online resources
③new restaurant ④public libraries
A.①②③ | B.①③④ |
C.②③④ | D.①②④ |
What has made foodie culture more popular, according to the article?
A.People’s growing interest in traditional culture. |
B.The convenience of getting different food. |
C.The use of cameras and social media. |
D.The drop in food prices. |