For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner.Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict.In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it.From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness.And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely.Both feel trapped.
In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap.The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things.Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends.Second, blaming.The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong.Third, needing to be right.It doesn’t matter what the topic is — politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg — the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority — someone who actually knows something — and therefore to command respect.Unfortunately, as long as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.
Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?
A.both can continue for generations. | B.Both are about where to draw the line. |
C.Neither has any clear winner. | D.Neither can be put to an end. |
What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict. |
B.The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict. |
C.The teens accuse their parents of misleading them. |
D.The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents. |
Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ________.
A.give orders to the other | B.know more than the other |
C.gain respect from the other | D.get the other to behave properly |
What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A.causes for the parent–teen conflicts |
B.Examples of the parent–teen war. |
C.Solutions for the parent–teen problems |
D.Future of the parent–teen relationship |
CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.
“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.
“Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.
Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.
Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.
“It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.
56. Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.
A. will be more popular than TV B. will be popular again
C. started in Wales D. are in the hands of some old people
57. From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.
A. about their life as early as thousands of years ago
B. why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way
C. how cold it has been where the Inuit live
D. how difficult it is to understand the Inuit
58. According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Storytelling once stopped in Wales.
B. Storytelling has a long history in Wales.
C. Storytelling is always well received in Wales.
D. Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.
59. The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.
A. controlled by rich people B. grasped by good storytellers
C. taken good care of D. protected by kind people
When an ant dies, other ants move the dead insect out. Sometimes, the dead ant get moved away very soon—within an hour of dying. This behavior is interesting to scientists, who wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist. Choe found that Argentine ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead—take me away.”
But there’s a twist to Choe’s discovery. Choe says that the living ants—not just the dead ones —have this death chemical. In other words, while an ant crawls around, perhaps in a picnic or home, it’s telling other ants that it’s dead.
What keeps ants from dragging away the living ants? Choe found that Argentine ants have two additional chemicals on their bodies, and these tell nearby ants something like, “Wait—I’m not dead yet.” So Choe’s research turned up two sets of chemical signals in ants: one says, “I’m dead,” and the other set says, “I’m not dead yet.”
Other scientists have tried to figure out how ants know when another ant is dead. If an ant is knocked unconscious, for example, other ants leave it alone until it wakes up. That means ants know that unmoving ants can still be alive.
Choe suspects that when an Argentine ant dies, the chemical that says “Wait- I’m not dead yet” quickly goes away. Once that chemical is gone, only the one that says “I’m dead” is left. “It’s because the dead ant no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases new unique chemicals after death,” said Choe. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they drag away the body.Understanding this behavior may help scientists figure out how to stop Argentine ants from invading new places and causing problems. Choe would like to find a way to use the newly discovered chemicals to spread ant killer to Argentine ant nests.
The ants’ removal behavior is important to the overall health of the nest. “Being able to quickly remove dead individuals and other possible sources of disease is extremely important to all animals living in societies, including us,” says Choe. “Think about all the effort and money that we invest daily in waste management.”
51. The underlined word “twist” in Paragraph 3 means _____.
A. an unexpected change B. a clear mistake
C. an important key D. a shocking conclusion
52. Ants judge whether another one is dead or not depending on ______.
A. the sense of taste B. the sense of smell
C. the sense of touch D. the sense of sight
53. The result of the research can be used to ______.
A. kill troublesome pests
B. solve the problem of endangered species
C. prevent further expansion of the ants’ territory
D. keep the balance of nature
54. Why is it important to remove dead individuals?
A. Because it is easier to manage the living.
B. Because it can save money to deal with the waste.
C. Because it can provide more space for the living.
D. Because it can keep the living from suffering disease.
55. What might be the best title of the text?
A. Dead or living? It is easy to judge
B. Pulling away the dead ants is a difficult task
C. Ant nests have great undertaking capacity
D. Leaving it alone or taking it away? Ants feel puzzled
We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as much as "regular" coffee and it took several years to gain general acceptance (introduction stage). At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity and many brands were introduced (stage of rapid growth). After a while people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off (stage of maturity). Sales went into a slight decline when freeze-dried coffees were introduced (stage of decline).
The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Do you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military?
Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections.
Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users. American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture(夺回) world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year to keep demand from falling.
46. According to the passage, when people grow accustomed to one particular brand of a product, its sales will ______.
A. decrease gradually B. become unstable
C. improve enormously D. remain at the same level
47. The first paragraph tells us that a new product is _____ .
A. usually introduced to satisfy different tastes
B. often more expensive than old ones
C. often inferior to old ones at first
D. not easily accepted by the public
48. Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to _____ .
A. work out marketing policies B. promote its production
C. increase its popularity D. speed up its life cycle
49. The author mentions the example of "backpacks"(Line 4, Para.2 ) to show the importance of _______ .
A. increasing usage among students B. pleasing the young as well as the old
C. exploring new market sections D. serving both military and civil needs
50. In order to recover their share of the world market, U.S. auto makers are _______ .
A. improving product feature B. making their products better
C. modernizing product style D. increasing product quantity
A new study of 8,000 young people in the journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily, it is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love(早恋)may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression. The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all.
The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”. According to the study, even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic relationship”, this “loss of self” is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won’t tell that to their parents.
Dr. Marianm Kaufman, an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendship and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.Parents should watch for signs of depression—eating or mood changes—and if they see signs from their daughters or sons, they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age. Love will always make us feel young, but only maturity(成熟)gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.
41. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Puppy love may bring young people depression.
B. Parents should forbid their children’s love.
C. Romance is a two-edged sword for adults.
D. Romance is good for young people.
42. Which of the following are more likely to have depression?
A. Young people who have a strong sense of self.
B. Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior.
C. Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions.
D. Careless parents whose children are deep in love.
43. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Lacking love can lead young people to grow up more quickly.
B. Early love makes young people keep close to their friends and parents.
C. Parents should help their children to be aware of the signs of depression.
D. The older a woman is, the less likely she seems to lose herself in romance.
44. What’s the author’s attitude towards puppy love?
A. Confused. B. Disapproving.
C. Uninterested. D. Scared.
45. Dr. Marianm Kaufman does NOT suggest parents’ encouraging their kids to ______.
A. keep close to their friends
B. attend more interesting activities
C. chat more on line
D. spend more time with their family
If Barack Obama's wife and kids thought they'd be getting his undivided attention during their long-awaited summer holiday, perhaps they should think again.
The US President kicked off his vacation by revealing that, in addition to endless games of tennis and golf, he plans to spend the week ploughing through five books, weighing in at an astonishing 2,300 pages. His summer reading list, unveiled(透露) by the White House, contains two heavyweight works of non–fiction and three novels.
On top of the president’s table is Hot, Flat and Crowded, by New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman. Subtitled "why we need a green revolution", it makes a leftish(左倾的) call to arms regarding the future of the planet.
Mr Obama's second choice is historian David McCullough's biography of John Adams, the often under-rated second US president, who was the subject of an award-winning HBO docu-drama(纪实剧)last year.
The novels include two crime thrillers: Richard Price's Lush Life, and The Way Home, a novel by George Pelecanos set in Washington, DC – which, much like Obama's best-selling autobiography(自传), explores the relationship between a father and his son.
Completing the set is the novel Plainsong, by a little-known writer called Kent Haruf. Set in a small town on the Colorado plains, its existence on the reading list may reassure voters that Middle America has not been ignored by their commander-in-chief.
Publishers are keeping an eye on whether the famous "Obama bounce" – which has helped sales at the first family's favourite clothes stores, such as J Crew – will continue to apply to their troubled industry. The President's endorsement(认可) is said to have lifted sales of Joseph O'Neill's novel Netherland about cricket in Holland and New York last year.
Given that President Obama has already spent a portion of his week so far playing golf, beating Michelle at tennis, and visiting friends, questions will inevitably(不可避免地) be asked about his ability to put any dent(挫伤) at all in the ambitious reading list.
To finish all five books, he would have to manage more than 300 pages every day – quite an "ask" when a small portion of his time must also be spent running the country.
57. What’s the function of the first paragraph?
A. To give an example. |
B. To introduce a topic. |
C. To describe a hope. |
D. To offer an argument. |
58. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Some people doubted if the president could finish his books. |
B. The Way Home is a book which explores the relationship between a father and his son. |
C. Lush life, set in Washington, is a novel written by Richard Price. |
D. Thanks to Obama, sales of Netherland have been lifted. |
59. Which of the following was NOT a book the President planned to read?
A. John Adams. |
B. Netherland. |
C. Hot, Flat and Crowded. |
D. Lush Life. |
60. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. Obama’s Hobbies |
B. Obama’s Holiday Plan |
C. Obama’s Holiday Life |
D. Obama’s Holiday Book List |