In Daniel Gilbert’s 2006 book "Stumbling(跌撞) on Happiness," the Harvard professor of psychology looks at several studies and concludes that marital(婚姻的) satisfaction decreases after the birth of the first child and increases only when the last child has left home. He also declares that parents are happier grocery shopping and even sleeping than spending time with their kids.
The most recent comprehensive study on the emotional state of those with kids shows us that the term "bundle of joy" may not be the most accurate way to describe our kids. "Parents experience lower levels of emotional well-being, less frequent positive emotions and more frequent negative emotions than their childless peers," says Florida State University’s Robin Simon, a sociology professor.
Simon received plenty of hate mail in response to her research，which isn’t surprising. Her findings shake the very foundation of what we’ve been raised to believe is true. In a recent NEWSWEEK Poll, 50 percent of Americans said that adding new children to the family tends to increase happiness levels. But which parent is willing to admit that the greatest gift life has to offer has in fact made his or her life less enjoyable?
Is it possible that American parents have always been this disillusioned(有幻觉的)? In pre-industrial America, parents certainly loved their children, but their kids also served a purpose—to work the farm, contribute to the household. Today, we have kids more for emotional reasons, but an increasingly complicated work and social environment has made finding satisfaction far more difficult. Raising children has not only become more complicated, it has become more expensive as well. The National Marriage Project’s 2006 report says that parents have significantly lower marital satisfaction than nonparents because they experienced more single and child-free years than previous generations.
As for those of us with kids, all the news isn’t bad. Parents still report feeling a greater sense of purpose and meaning in their lives than those who’ve never had kids. And there are other rewarding aspects of parenting that are impossible to quantify..
What’s the main idea of the book Stumbling on Happiness?
| A．Parents are happier shopping than looking after their children. |
| B．Once they have children, the couples can never be as happy as before. |
| C．Compared with their childless peers, parents are leading a sad life. |
| D．The adding of children at home brings down marital satisfaction. |
.
. What can we infer from Para.3?
| A．The Newsweek Poll shows that people think Prof. Simon’s finding is right. |
| B．Many people can’t accept the fact that they are not happy with their children. |
| C．It isn’t surprising that Professor Simon’s controversial research made her famous. |
| D．Simon’s findings are based on the belief passed down from generation to generation. |
.
What can we learn about American’s families in the past?
| A．People had very good parents-children relationship in the family. |
| B．Having children could be partly out of some practical purposes. |
| C．Parents loved their children but they still asked them to work a lot. |
| D．Children had to work very hard to make their parents love them. |
.
What’s the author’s opinion about having children?
| A．The author doesn’t think having children is a good thing to the family. |
| B．The author feels children make the life of a family happy. |
| C．The author thinks parenting can still be rewarding in a certain way. |
| D．The author believes that parents sacrifice a lot for having children. |
Two thieves came to a house to steal something.They dug a hole in the wall of the house.There lived many mice in the house.The woman in the moonlight saw a mouse crawl（爬行）int
o the house.“Look！In comes one，”she said to the man in the house.The thief was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled out of the house and said to the one waiting outside，“She found me when I was just in.” But the thief outside didn’t believe him，so he said，“Let us two try to crawl into the house together.”At that time two mice happened to crawl into the house，too.The woman saw the mice and shouted，“In come two，catch them！” The two thieves were terribly frightened.The man in the house said，“You saw them come in but where are they？ I will catch them tonight.”The two thieves started running away at once.
The two thieves wanted to make it clear whether they had been found or not the night before.The next day they acted as men selling sweet potatoes and came before the house.The man and the woman were ploughing in their fields.The rein（缰绳）broke and the woman came home for a rope.She saw two men selling sweet potatoes and wanted to buy some.She picked out two which looked like mice.At the time the man couldn’t wait for her any longer in the fields and he ran back from the fields to hurry her up.The woman showed the sweet potatoes to the man and said，“How they look like the two of last night.”The man said，“I asked you to fetch a rope，why don’t you hurry for it？”The two thieves ran away quickly without their sweet potatoes.
44.The two thieves failed to steal anything from the house because______.
A.they were found out
B.they were frightened by what they had heard in the house
C.they didn’t work toge
ther well with each other
D.mice stopped them from doing so
45.From the last paragraph，we know that ______.
A.the two thieves were famous selling sweet potatoes
B.the woman recognized the two thieves
C.the woman pretended to know nothing about the two thieves and made fun of them
D.the two thieves didn’t know that they were not found at all
46.“______”is the best title for this passage.
A.Two Clever Thieves B.Terrible Mice
C.Hit the Mark by a Fluke（歪打正着） D.A Clever Couple
47.Which of the following statements is WRONG？
A.The man let the woman go home for a rope，which would be used for catching the thieves.
B.Whenever they found mice，the people in the house would try to catch them.
C.The two thieves ran away at once，because they thought the woman had seen them.
D.The two thieves not only failed to steal things but also lost their sweet potatoes.
SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Captain Good Fellow
Do your children enjoy interesting stories, funny games, and exciting dances? Captain Good Fellow will be ready to teach all these things to children of all ages at the City Theatre on Saturday morning at 10:00, free.
Walking Tour of the Town
Forget your worries on Saturday morning. Take a beautiful walk and learn about local history. Meet at the front entrance of City Hall at 9:30. Wear comfortable shoes!
Films at the Museum
Two European films will be shown on Saturday afternoon at the Museum Theatre. See Broken Window at 1:30. The Workers will be at 3:45. For further information, call 4987879.
International Picnic
Are you tired of eating the same food every day? Come to Central Park on Saturday and enjoy food from all over the world. Delicious and not expensive. Noon to 5:00 pm.
Take me out to the Ball Game
It’s October, and tonight is your last chance to see the Redbirds this year. Get your tickets at the gate. It might be cold—don’t forget sweaters and jackets.
Do You Want to
Hear “The Zoo”?
“The Zoo”, a popular rock group from Australia, will give their first US concert tomorrow night at 8:00 at Rose Hall, City College.
40. You can probably eat Chinese, Italian, and Arab food ______.
A. at the front entrance of City Hall B. at the ball game
C. at 5:00 pm D. at Central Park on Saturday
41. You can see movies at ______.
A. the City College B. the Museum Theatre
C. the City Theatre D. the Central Park
42. If you are going on the Walking Tour, don’t forget ______.
A. your comfortable shoes B. your beautiful walk
C. your learning about local history D. your worries
43. The Redbirds ball games ______.
A. is in the afternoon B. is outside
C. is at the gate D. might be cold
Some people were eating and drinking in a coffee house. A young woman was sitting alone at a table. She was wearing a beautiful diamond necklace. There was an ugly man at a table not far from her. He was looking at her necklace all the time.
Suddenly the lights went out. The coffee house was in darkness. The woman started to shout. She was very frightened. A few minutes later the lights came on again. The woman was crying. Her necklace was missing.
The manager quickly closed all the doors. He telephoned the police. No one could get out of the coffee house. The policemen soon came. The police inspector told his men to search everyone. The necklace was not on anyone. They then searched the whole coffee house. The necklace couldn't be found.
The police inspector then looked at the faces of all the people in the coffee house. He saw the ugly man and looked at the man carefully. He went up to the man and picked up the bowl of soup that was on his table. He
then poured the soup into a glass. The necklace fell out. The policemen caught hold of the man and took him away. The young woman was happy to get back her necklace.
36. A young woman lost her necklace in ______________.
A. a hospital B. a shop C. a coffee house D. a restaurant
37. The manager closed all the doors and _______________.
A. searched everyone in the coffee house B. searched the whole coffee house
C. telephoned the police D. looked at all the people in the coffee house
38. The police inspector found the necklace in __________.
A. a bowl of soup B. a bowl of rice C. a glass of milk D. a cup of coffee
39. The necklace was stolen by ___________.
A. a beautiful girl B. an old woman C. a young student D. an ugly man
Everyday we go to school and listen to the teacher, and the teacher will ask us some questions. Sometimes, the classmates will ask your opinions of the work of the class. When you are telling others in the class what you have found out about these topics, remember that they must be able to hear what you are saying. You are not taking part in a family conversation or having a chat（闲谈）with friends—you are in a slightly unnatural situation where a large group of people will remain silent, waiting to hear what you have to say. You must speak so that they can hear you—loudly enough and clearly enough but without trying to shout of appearing to force yourself.
Remember, too, that it is the same if you are called to an interview whether it is with a professor of your school or a government official who might meet you. The person you are seeing will try to put you at your ease（轻松）but the situation is somewhat（一点儿）different from that of an ordinary conversation. You must take special care that you can be heard.
48. When you speak to the class, you should speak ________.
A．as loudly as possible B．in a low voice
C．loudly D．forcefully
49. Usually, when you speak to the class, the class is __________.
A.noisy B．quiet C．having a rest D．serious
50.The situation in the class is ________ that in your house.
A．not very different from B．sometimes the same as
C.．sometimes not the same asD．not the same as
Bollworms are a traditional threat to cotton crops．Young ones feed on the boll, the part of the
cotton plant that contains the seeds．
A bacterium known as Bt is able to kill bollworms and some other pests．Bt is short form for Bacillus thuringiensis．It was discovered in the early twentieth century．Farmers began using Bt as a natural pesticide（杀虫剂）．
Then，in the 1990s，researchers found a way to grow cotton plants that contain a Bt gene．The genetically modified cotton plant produces toxins that kill bollworms．Farmers around the world are now growing an estimated fourteen million hectares of Bt cotton．
Cotton bollworms also attack other crops．But scientists in China recently reported that Bt cotton may help suppress bollworm in other crops growing nearby．
The study involved crops grown in six provinces of northern China between 1992 and 2008.The study area contained three million hectares of cotton and twenty-two million hectares of corn，peanuts，soybeans and vegetables．
The researchers say the study suggested that Bt cotton not only controls bollworm on the transgenic cotton，but also may reduce its presence on other crops．And that reduction，they say，may decrease the need for insecticide use in general．
But the researchers also pointed out concerns．They say bollworms could develop resistance to the cotton plants designed to resist them．And they noted that insects called mirids have become “key pests” of cotton in China．They said this is because of a decrease in pesticide use made possible by Bt cotton．
The researchers say they do not believe that Bt cotton alone can solve all insect problems．Instead，they say farmers in China should consider it just one part of pest management systems．
44．What is Bt in this passage?
A．It's a kind of hi-tech invention． B．It's a natural bacterium．
C．It's a kind of pest． D．It's a man-made pesticide．
45．Bt cotton has all the advantages EXCEPT that ________．
A．it resists bollworms
B．it does good to other crops growing around
C．it reduces the use of insecticide
D．it helps to develop new insects
46．The underlined word “ones” in the first paragraph refers to ________．
A．bollworms B．cotton crops C．cotton seeds D．pests
47．From the passage，we can infer ________．
A．farmers around the world are now growing a large area of Bt cotton
B．researchers are probably now searching for new ways to solve other cotton problems
C．bollworms could not exist in Bt cotton any longer
D．Chinese scientists found the way to grow Bt cotton