Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask. But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history. Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history.
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past. I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures. However, as the unfortunately true statement goes "the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to learn from history." Perhaps at least in teaching history to my children I can do a small part in changing this.
A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context. We cannot even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less (更不必说) try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be.
I teach my children history, for one more reason. I purchased a set of historical audio (录音机) tapes for our children. My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over. It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself. I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr. if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished. I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for. What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?
| A．Many people aren't clever enough to learn well from the past. |
| B．Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes. |
| C．Many people feel it hard to understand history. |
| D．Many people have no interest in studying history. |
In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because ___________.
| A．it makes the current political situation go smoothly |
| B．it helps us realize the importance of historical events |
| C．it helps us understand why things are the way they are |
| D．it helps people accept the present situation where they live |
What would be talked about in the following paragraph?
| A．How to teach history effectively. | B．Some negative reasons for studying history. |
| C．How to get more people to study history. | D．Some bad historical figures. |
The main purpose of this passage is to ____________.
| A．inspire the parents to teach their children history |
| B．show the importance of history in politics |
| C．explain the reasons why children study history |
| D．introduce the writer’s own way of teaching history |
When you enter a supermarket, you see shelves full of food. You walk between the shelves. You carry a shopping basket and your food is in it.
You probably hear soft, slow music as you walk between the shelves. If you hear fast music, you walk quickly. The supermarket plays slow music. You walk slowly and have more time to buy things.
Maybe you go to the meat department first. There is some meat on sale, and you want to find it. The manager of the supermarket knows where customers enter the meat department. The cheaper meat is at the other end of the meat department, away from where the customers enter. You have to walk by all the expensive meat before you find the cheaper meat. Maybe you will buy some of the expensive meat instead of the meat on sale.
The department selling milk and milk products such as butter and milk powder is called the dairy department. Many customers like milk that has only a little butterfat in it. One store has three different jars of low fat milk. One says“1 percent fat”on the jar. The second says “99 percent fat free”. The third says “LOW FAT” in big letters and“1%”in small letters. As you can see, all the milk has the same amount of fat. The milk is all the same. However，in this store the three jars of milk cost three different amounts of money. Maybe the customers will buy the milk that costs the most.
Most of the food in supermarkets is very pleasing. It all says “Buy me！” to the customers. The expensive meat says “Buy me！”as you walk by. The expensive milk jar says “Buy me! I have less fat.”There are three different jars of low fat milk, and ________.
| A．one has more fat than the other two |
| B．they all cost the same amount of money |
| C．one has less fat than the others |
| D．they all have the same amount of fat |
Supermarket managers make the food pleasing so that ________.
| A．there will be more buyers | B．buyers will be proud |
| C．it is good and expensive | D．they can raise the prices |
Low fat milk is in the ________.
| A．meat department | B．fruit and vegetable department |
| C．sweets department | D．dairy department |
The best title of this passage may be ________.
| A．Cheap Food | B．Buy Me |
| C．Low Fat Milk | D．Supermarket Management |
Have you wondered about the amount of time we spend talking about food and been surprised? We are always asking questions such as “Have you ever eaten？” and “What did you have for lunch？”Yet, if you travel from one country to another, you might find that other nations think differently about food. People plan to think that what they eat is normal and what everyone else eats is strange. In most parts of Asia, for example, no meal is complete without rice but in England, rice is the exception and people prefer to eat potatoes, in the Middle East, bread accompanies every meal.
Eating, like so many things we do, becomes a habit that is difficult to change. The Americans seem to like drinking lots of orange juice and coffee; the English prefer to drink tea four or five times a day; the Australians prefer to drink a lot of beer; the French, like wine every day.
People in different countries also like eating different kinds of meat and even within countries, different regions will have different likes and dislikes, especially in large countries like China and the former Soviet Union. In Hong Kong and the south of China, some people enjoy eating snakes but in the north of China, most people refuse to eat them. The French think that horse meat is delicious but most English people are terrified at the thought of eating it. The New Zealanders eat a lot of lamb and mutton, but never goat. The Japanese say that they do not like eating lamb and mutton because of their smell, but that they really enjoy eating raw fish more than anything else.
So it seems that there is often very little common sense about what is nicest to eat or drink in different parts of the world although we may talk on the subject of food for hours. However, as people everywhere enjoy eating what they have always eaten, there seems very little point in trying to change traditional eating habits.The topic people spend a lot of time talking about is ________.
| A．lunch | B．breakfast | C．dinner | D．food |
Bread is necessary in every meal in ________.
| A．the Middle East | B．America | C．England | D．Asia |
In England, people prefer to eat ________.
| A．rice | B．potatoes | C．corn | D．bread |
An American woman Anna Jarvis was the first person to decide the mothers should have a holiday in their honor each year. Miss Jarvis started her campaign in 1906 in her home city Philadelphia. She wrote thousands of letters to congressmen(国会议员), city officials, teachers and newspaper publishers, proposing an official holiday for mothers. She traveled all over America, trying to get support for the idea. Her battle went on for years.
In 1914, the Congress declared the second Sunday in May each year as Mother's Day. Anna Jarvis wanted Mother's Day to be a simple event. She thought children could honor their mothers by spending some time with them as an act of love and respect. However, the holiday turned out to be a major event for department stores, flower shops and greetingcard industry, which Miss Jarvis didn't like.
Americans spend millions of dollars on gifts for their mothers on this day. Younger children often try to prepare and serve breakfast for their mothers. Fathers may offer to take care of children so that mothers can enjoy themselves. The holiday becomes an important time for family gathering.What can be inferred from the text is that ________.
| A．the Congress didn't accept Anna's suggestion until the whole country supported her |
| B．the battle lasted 8 years |
| C．Jarvis didn't enjoy the usual way Americans spend Mother's Day |
| D．Mother's Day is an important day for Americans |
Miss Jarvis proposed Mother's Day in order that people could show their love and respect to their mothers ________.
| A．by spending some time with them |
| B．by offering them precious gifts |
| C．by eating in restaurants together |
| D．by taking children for them |
On Mother's Day ________.
| A．all women, young and old, receive gifts |
| B．families gather together |
| C．all people stay at home |
| D．no one goes to work |
Miss Jarvis proposed Mother's Day, but she didn't like ________.
| A．flower shops selling flowers |
| B．department stores earning money from greetingcards |
| C．greetingcard industry |
| D．the way people spend Mother's Day |
Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take，for example，the story of one 10－year－old boy who decided to study judo(柔道) despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well，so he couldn't understand why，after three months of training，the master had taught him only one move.
“Sensei，” the boy finally said，“shouldn't I be learning more moves？” “This is the only move you know，but this is the only move you'll ever need to know，” the sensei replied.
Not quite understanding，but believing in his teacher，the boy kept training. Several months later，the sensei took the boy to his first tournament(锦标赛，联赛)．Surprising himself，the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult，but after some time，his opponent became impatient and charged；the boy deftly(熟练地) used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success，the boy was now in the finals.
This time，his opponent was bigger，stronger，and more experienced. For a while，the boy appeared to be defeated. Concerned that the boy might get hurt，the referee called a time out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. “No，” the sensei insisted，“let him continue.” Soon after the match resumed，his opponent made a big mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly，the boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.
On the way home，the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy gathered the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sensei，how did I win the tournament with only one move? ”“You won for two reasons，” the sensei answered. “First，you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second，the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm. ”The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
What's the best title of the passage?
| A．No pains no gains. |
| B．Weakness can become strength. |
| C．Where there is a will there is a way. |
| D．A great judo master. |
According to the second paragraph the boy was ______ with his teacher.
| A．satisfied | B．pleased |
| C．unsatisfied | D．careful |
Why did the referee call a timeout in the finals?
| A．Because he thought the boy would be the loser definitely. |
| B．Because he thought the boy would give up. |
| C．Because he dropped his guard. |
| D．Because he was experienced. |
In the last paragraph the author wanted to tell us ______．
| A．who was the champion |
| B．the reason why the boy won every match |
| C．the sensei was very excellent |
| D．the boy was very courageous |
Anger and other strong emotions (情感) can probably cause deadly heart beats in certain weak people，the US researchers said on Monday.
Earlier studies have shown that earthquake，war or even the loss of a World Cup Soccer game can increase chances of death from sudden cardiac arrest，in which the heart stops passing blood.
“It’s certainly been shown in all different ways that when you put people under pressure，sudden death will increase，” said Dr.Rachel Lampert of Yale University in New Haven，Connecticut.
“Our study starts to look at how this really has an effect on the electrical system of the heart，” Lampert said.
She and her assistants studied 62 patients with heart disease and ICDs that can discover dangerous heart beats and send an electrical shock to bring a normal heart beat back.
Patients in the study took part in an exercise in which they told a recent angry period while Lampert’s team did a test called TWave Alternant that measures electrical instability(不稳定性) in the heart.
Lampert said the team on purpose asked questions to get people to experience the angry period again.“We found in the lab that yes，anger did increase this electrical instability in these patients，” she said.
Next，they followed patients for three years to see which patients later had a cardiac arrest and needed a shock from their ICDs.“The people who had the highest anger were 10 times more likely than everyone else to have cardiac arrest，” she said.
Lampert said the study suggests that anger can be deadly，at least for people who are already weak to this type of electrical disorder in the heart.From the passage we know cardiac arrest refers to ________.
| A．someone who will be caught if he does something wrong |
| B．some place where you can show all your feelings |
| C．some disease that can kill people instantly |
| D．something used by patients in hospital |
The underlined word “this” in Paragraph 4 refers to “________”．
| A．feelings of anger and pressure |
| B．games |
| C．feelings of happiness |
| D．hunger |
What did Lampert use to measure electrical instability of patients’ heart?
| A．ICD and TWave Alternant test. |
| B．ICD and Cardic arrest. |
| C．Cardiac arrest. |
| D．The passage doesn’t tell us. |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．new findings for heart disease |
| B．that anger really can kill a person |
| C．a new test of measuring heart blood |
| D．a study showing danger of heart beats |