It is Saturday afternoon．You and your friends are planning to go to the movies and then spend the night together． Just as you start to get ready, your dad reminds you it is your aunt's birthday and the whole family is going out to dinner to celebrate．How can this possibly end without a huge argument?
One of the greatest sources of tension（紧张情绪）between teenagers and their families is the struggle to balance personal desires with family expectations．As you are getting older，you are becoming more independent and more interested in being with your friends．
However，at the same time，your family is trying to figure out how to deal with these changes． While you once spent most of your free time with your family，you are now often absent from home．Parents may get their feelings hurt．Or they might feel that they are losing control of their family during this period．You might feel angry that so many family demands are placed on you．
There are a few things you can try to make it a little easier to ease（缓解）the tension．
* Make your plans in advance．Ask your parents if there is anything else planned at that time．
* When something with your friends interferes（干扰；冲突）with a family event，try to figure out if there is any way you can do both．
* Suggest something you would really like to do with your family．Sometimes parents feel better just knowing their teenager wants to spend time with them．
Some of the time you won’t be happy with the outcome（结果）．You might either have to disappoint your parents or have to miss out being with your friends．However，if you show consideration（体谅）for the feelings of both your family and your friends，you can solve the problem in a tender way．
The purpose of the first paragraph is to _________．
| A．show a disagreement of views |
| B．serve as a description of teenager trouble |
| C．serve as an introduction to the discussion |
| D．show the popularity of teenager problem |
The tension between teenagers and their families is caused by the fact that____________．
| A．teenagers don’t like to take family demands |
| B．parents want to keep their family under control |
| C．parents feel unhappy that their children make so many friends |
| D．both parents and teenagers don’t pay attention to each other’s feeling much |
Which of the following is NOT the advice given in the passage?
| A．Don’t feel angry if your parents ask you to do something． |
| B．Try to think of ways to balance family event with friend event． |
| C．Tell your parents before you decide to spend time with your friends． |
| D．Advise your parents to do something that you are interested in with you． |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To inform us of parent and teenager tension． |
| B．To tell us about a common teenager problem． |
| C．To persuade parents to show consideration for teenagers． |
| D．To advise teenagers how to deal with their tension with their family． |
Americans gave nearly $300 billion away last year. Do you know the reason? Beyond the noble goals of helping others, it is that giving will make them happier.
It is a fact that givers are happier people than non-givers. According to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, a survey of 30,000 American households, people who give money to charity are 43% more likely than non-givers to say they are “very happy” about their lives. Similarly, volunteers are 42% more likely to be very happy then non-volunteers.
The happiness difference between givers and non-givers is not due to differences in their personal characteristics, such as income or religion. Imagine two people who are identical in terms of income and faith, as well as age, education, politics, sex, and family circumstances, but one donates money and volunteers, while the other does not. The giver will be, on average, over 40 percentage points more likely to be very happy than the non-givers.
A number of studies have researched exactly why charity leads to happiness. The surprising conclusion is that giving affects our brain chemistry. For example, people who give often report feelings of euphoria, which psychologists have referred to as the “Helper’s High”. They believe that charitable activity produces a very mild version of the sensations people get from drugs like morphine and heroin.
Of course, not only does giving increase our happiness, but also our happiness increases the possibility that we will give. Everyone prefers to give more when they are happy. Researchers have investigated this by conducting experiments in which people are asked about their happiness before and after they participate in a charitable activity, such as volunteering to help children or serving meals to the poor. The result is clear that giving has a strong, positive causal impact on our happiness, so does happiness on givingAccording to Paragraph 2. We can learn that .
| A．only those people who gave money to charity will be happy |
| B．more givers say they feel having happy lives than non-givers |
| C．those who donate money are happier than those who volunteer |
| D．42% of the volunteers say they are as happy as the non-volunteers |
What causes the happiness difference?
| A．Income. | B．Faith. | C．Education. | D．Donation. |
The underlined word “euphoria” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to .
| A．relaxation | B．uncertainty |
| C．nervousness | D．pleasure |
If a person feels happy, he may .
| A．ask for more donations | B．stop charitable activity |
| C．be likely to give more | D．cook food for the poor |
Which of the following is the main theme of this passage?
| A．Giving brings happiness. | B．Americans love donating. |
| C．The happiness difference. | D．Feelings of volunteers. |
Finding a friend doesn’t seem like a difficult job. However, bad friends are easier to find than good friends these days. If you’re sitting there and wondering if you have a bad friend, let me define it for you.
A bad friend is someone whose jealousies and insecurities outweigh their love for someone. They night want to be a good friend but they’re too messed up in their own head to ever actually do it. They wonder if their friends are going out without them or if they’re being forgotten and left behind. People who are violently insecure don’t have what it takes to be the quality of a friend.
Bad friends are narcissistic(自恋的). They look for any opportunity to bring the conversation back to them. Worse, they might not even be aware that they’re doing it. In their mind, they might think they are the best friend ever, which is truly frightening.
Bad friends are quick-change. They’re by your side when you’re fun and you have something to give them but as soon as you’re going through a difficult time, they will become indifferent quickly. They won’t bring you cold medicine. They won’t give you a ride to the doctor, everything they do is self-serving.
If you find a friend who has these same characteristics, send them to your bad friend list immediately. Your friends are supposed to be the solution to your problems, not the source.
I believe your twenties are a time when you need positive and helpful friends. In such a time, friendships aren’t easy to maintain like they once were in school. Now we actually have to put work into it, we have to make a conscious effort to keep the friendship going. You need to ask yourself, “Is this person worth it? Do they treat me like a fool or what?” if your have doubts, try to make them clear by considering the past experiences. Toxic(有毒的) friendships do nothing but drag you down. My point is that you have to take care of yourself and stop getting in touch with your bad friends. Only surround yourself with people who bring out the best qualities in you. It may sound cruel but it’s true,.The author believes that we can easily find a .
| A．close friend | B．poor friend | C．good friend | D．bad friend |
Bad friends give the author the following impressions EXCEPT being .
| A．outgoing | B．insecure |
| C．narcissistic | D．self-centred |
We can infer from the passage that a bad friend will when you have trouble.
| A．feel worried as you do | B．try hard to help you out |
| C．do nothing but leave you | D．pay more attention to you |
In the last paragraph, you are advised .
| A．not to treat your friends like fools | B．not to keep a terrible friendship |
| C．not to be a bad friend of others | D．not to doubt but ask yourself |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To tell us finding a friend is not an easy job for everyone. |
| B．To help us know about bad friends and get rid of them. |
| C．To encourage us to make more friends in school. |
| D．To advise us not to treat our close friends badly. |
The deadliest Ebola(埃博拉病毒) outbreak in recorded history is happening right now. The outbreak is unprecedented(空前的) both in the number of people who have gotten sick and in the geographic scope. And so far it’s been a long battle that doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Ebola is both rare and very deadly. Since the first outbreak in 1976, Ebola viruses have infected thousands of people and killed roughly killed 60 percent of them. Symptoms can come on quickly and kill fast.
The current outbreak started in Guinea sometime in late 2013 or early 2014. It has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, including some capital cities. And one infected patient traveled on a plane to Nigeria, where he spread the disease to several others and then died. Cases have also popped up in various other countries throughout the world, including in Dallas and New York City in the United States.
The Ebola virus has now hit many countries, including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and the United States. The virus, which starts off with flu-like symptoms and sometimes ends with bleeding, has infected about 6,500 people and killed more than 3,000 since this winter, according to the World Health Organization on September 30, 2014.
There are some social and political factors contributing to the current disaster. Because this is the first major Ebola outbreak in West Africa, many of the region’s health workers didn’t have experience or training in how to protect themselves or care for patients with this disease.
Journalist David Quammen put it well in a recent New York Times article, “Ebola is more dangerous to humans than perhaps any known virus on Earth, except rabies(狂犬病) and HIV. And it does its damage much faster than either.”
Hopefully, researchers are working to find drugs, including a recent $50 million push at the National Institutes of Health. And scientists are working on vaccines(疫苗), including looking into ones that might be able to help wild chimpanzees, which are also susceptible to the disease. The first human Ebola vaccine trial is scheduled to start in the spring of 2015.According to the passage, which of the following about Ebola is true?
| A．The Ebola outbreak now is the biggest one in history. |
| B．Ebola breaks out quickly but it is under control now. |
| C．Ebola is deadly and common so it kills a lot of people. |
| D．Ebola killed about 60 thousand people quickly in 1976. |
The Ebola virus was brought to Nigeria by .
| A．a flying bird |
| B．an infected passenger |
| C．hot African weather |
| D．a health organization |
The symptoms of Ebola at the beginning are more like those of .
| A．flu | B．rabies |
| C．HIV/AIDS | D．internal bleeding |
The last paragraph mainly tells us that .
| A．it will be a huge waste when researchers spend lots of money finding a cure |
| B．the vaccines can be effective to wild chimpanzees but not to the humans |
| C．there will be an optimistic future in which we can defeat the disease |
| D．we can use the vaccine to cure the patients completely in 2015’s spring |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Ebola ---- The African Local Disaster |
| B．Ebola ---- The Newly-Found Disease |
| C．Ebola ---- A More Effective Vaccine |
| D．Ebola ---- The Deadly Virus Outbreak |
Liz had been bleeding for a long time! She was my closest professional colleague and good friend at the time when we worked in an IT company. It was her first day back at work after an operation and I thought she should have taken a few more days to recover.
Realizing that we couldn’t stop the bleeding, we headed to the emergency room and spent hours there waiting to be seen. After the treatment, I drove her to my apartment. I had to leave her in my apartment while I dashed off to take a final exam for a very important course I was taking. Upon my return, we decided Liz was in a good enough condition to sustain a trip back from my Northern Virginia apartment to her home in Maryland.
Although it was nearly midnight and we were both exhausted, we still decided to set off. Unfortunately, in a not particularly safe part of town, we heard my car make a strange noise, and then ti was shaking violently as we drove along. Quickly, I stopped the car in the road and found a tire had blown out. Not knowing how to change a tire and feeling scared, I was trying out to figure out what to do next. Liz, weak from losing all that blood all day and weighing only about eighty pounds to begin with, came out and tried to help me. I had to scream at her to get back in the car and relax.
Within seconds, a taxi pulled up behind us. A huge man appeared and began walking toward us. I felt that the blood drained out of my face and I nearly fainted in fear.
“Got a flat tire, girls?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered in a trembling voice.
In no time at all, the man changed the tire for us and rushed off back to his taxi. He refused any payment and did not even tell me his name. He would never know how badly we needed his services that particular evening. And I, with a grateful heart, will never forget his kindness.The author thought that Liz was bleeding because .
| A．she worked too hard in an IT company |
| B．she had an operation but didn’t rest enough |
| C．she hurt herself in the workplace carelessly |
| D．she had a long trip from her house to the company |
What was the author doing when Liz was in her apartment?
| A．She was seeing a doctor. | B．She was waiting for help. |
| C．She was taking an exam. | D．She was travelling in Maryland. |
According to the paragraph 3, which of the following is true?
| A．The author decided to send Liz back because they rested well. |
| B．The car’s tire blew out when they reached a safe place in the town. |
| C．The author felt puzzled as she didn’t know how to change tire. |
| D．Liz came out to help because she was strong enough. |
Seeing the man coming out of the taxi, the author felt .
| A．frightened | B．delighted | C．annoyed | D．Excited |
The passage is intended to .
| A．report a medical emergency |
| B．show us how to change a car tire |
| C．warn us of the danger in the town |
| D．tell us about a midnight assistance |
Poet William Stafford once said that we are defined more by the detours(绕行路) in life than by the narrow road toward goals. I like this image. But it was quite by accident that I discovered the deep meaning of his words.
For years we made the long drive from our home in Seattle to my parents' home in Boise in nine hours. We traveled the way most people do: the fastest, shortest, easiest road, especially when I was alone with four noisy, restless kids who hate confinement(限制) and have strong opinions about everything.
Road trips felt risky，so I would drive fast, stopping only when I had to. We would stick to the freeways and arrive tired.
But then Banner, our lamb was born. He was rejected by his mama days before our planned trip to Boise. I had two choices: leave Banner with my husband, or take him with me. My husband made the decision for me.
That is how I found myself on the road with four kids, a baby lamb and nothing but my everlasting optimism to see me through. We took the country roads out of necessity. We had to stop every hour, let Banner shake out his legs and feed him. The kids chased him and one another. They'd get back in the car breathless and energized, smelling fresh from the cold air.
We explored side roads, catching grasshoppers in waist－high grass. Even if we simply looked out of the car windows at baby pigs following their mother, or fish leaping out of the water, it was better than the best ride down the freeway. Here was life. And new horizons(见识)．
We eventually arrived at my parents' doorstep astonishingly fresh and full of stories.
I grew brave with the trip back home and creative with my disciplining technique. On an empty section of road, everyone started quarreling. I stopped the car, ordered all kids out and told them to meet me up ahead. I parked my car half a mile away and read my book in sweet silence.
Some road trips are by necessity fast and straight. But that trip with Banner opened our eyes to a world available to anyone adventurous enough to wander around and made me realize that a detour may uncover the best part of journey—and the best part of yourself.Why did the author use to take freeways to her parents' home?
| A．It was less tiring. |
| B．It would be faster and safer. |
| C．Her kids would feel less confined. |
| D．She felt better with other drivers nearby. |
The author stopped regularly on the country roads to ________．
| A．relax in the fresh air |
| B．take a deep breath |
| C．take care of the lamb |
| D．let the kids play with Banner |
Why did the author ask the kids to get out of the car on their way back home?
| A．To give herself some time to read. |
| B．To order some food for them. |
| C．To play a game with them. |
| D．To let them cool down. |
What could be the best title for the passage?
| A．Charm of the Detour |
| B．The Road to Bravery |
| C．Creativity out of Necessity |
| D．Road Trip and Country Life |