A very strict officer was talking to some new soldiers whom he had to train. He had never seen them before, so he began, “My name is Stone, and I’m even harder than stone, so do what I tell you or there’ll be trouble. Don’t try any tricks (诡计) with me, and then we’ll get on well together.”
Then he went to each soldier one after the other and asked him his name, “Speak loudly so that everyone can hear you clearly,” he said, “and don’t forget to call me ‘sir’.”
Each soldier told him name, until he came to the last one. This man remained silent, and so Captain Stone shouted at him, “When I ask you a question, answer it! I’ll ask you again： What’s your name, soldier?”
The soldier was very unhappy, but at last he replied, “My name’s Stonebreaker, sir,” he said nervously.The officer was strict______.
| A．because the soldiers were new. | B．with any of his soldiers, new or old. |
| C．because he was named Stone. | D．only when he was before soldiers. |
According to what the officer said,_______.
| A．obeying his orders would sometimes bring no trouble. |
| B．trouble would come if anybody made tricks. |
| C．he always got on well with his soldiers. |
| D．he often had trouble with his soldiers. |
The last soldier remained silent because_______
| A．he didn’t like the way the officer spoke to them. |
| B．he wanted to see what would happen if he disobeyed his order. |
| C．the question was difficult for him to answer. |
| D．he was afraid the officer would be angry when he heard his name. |
According to the officer, how to answer the question, “How old are you ?”
| A．(sadly)Twenty, sir. | B．(clearly)Twenty. |
| C．(loudly)Twenty, sir | D．(quickly)Ten years youn ger than you, sir |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Clever Answer | B．A Terrible Answer |
| C．A Sorry Answer | D．A Strange Answer |
Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as they can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top. But Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.
Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middleclass Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tough problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation.Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are ____.
| A．more interesting | B．more formal |
| C．more detailed | D．unusually popular |
Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?
| A．Family income planning. | B．Nation hatred. |
| C．A new type of robot. | D．Street accident. |
We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows_____.
| A．have become the only ones of its kind |
| B．attract different people |
| C．appear at different times of the day |
| D．exploit the weaknesses in human nature |
Which statement about the passage is Not true? ______
| A．Jerry Springer show is like poisonous waste, so nothing can be learnt from it. |
| B．The two kinds of talk shows are opposite in content. |
| C．Opera Winfrey show is helpful for those middleclass Americans |
| D．Jerry Springer show attracts those who are young and in trouble. |
Should parents ever hit their children?
Research suggests many of us are likely to respond “no”, and public support for spanking（打屁股） has been falling over the years．But surveys also show that 75 percent to nearly 90 percent of parents admit to spanking their child at least once．
I was raised in a zero-tolerance home for disrespect, and my parents often turned to physical punishment．And, no, I don' t feel I was damaged by it．
Nothing is more annoying than watching ill-mannered behavior from children．
But there is data to suggest that a return to old-school spanking isn't the answer．
Two years ago, Newsweek reported that it had found data suggesting that teens whose parents used physical punishment were more likely to become aggressive．
Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire in America, has studied the topic of children and spanking for decades．He said that children who were physically punished have lower IQs than their peers．It may be that children with lower IQs were more likely to get spanked, but the punishment may have been counterproductive （反作用的） to their mental development, as well．
Some researchers make the argument that occasional open-handed smacks （用巴掌打） on the bottom are not only harmless but can have some benefit．
Last year, Marjorie Gunnoe, a psychologist at Calvin College, studied teens who have never spanked．There are a greater number of children growing up without ever having been physically punished．Gunnoe’s research suggests they don' t turn out any better than those who were sometimes spanked．
There are some parents who simply cannot control their tempers （脾气）．But I still believe that the best parents are the ones who are able to offer fair and firm discipline without ever turning to physical punishment．According to the first three paragraphs, the author was probably hit by her parents when.
| A．they were dissatisfied with her grade |
| B．she showed no respect for the elder |
| C．they cannot control their temper |
| D．their discipline turns out to be not strict enough |
According to Murray Straus, children who are physically punished ______．
| A．are less aggressive toward others when they get older |
| B．have slower physical development |
| C．benefit from occasional spanking |
| D．may develop lower IQs than their peer |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?
| A．40 percent of children grow up without ever being spanked |
| B．Children who suffer less physical punishment are better students |
| C．Occasional open-handed spanking on the bottom are mentally harmful |
| D．Researchers disagree over whether smacking is mentally harmful to children |
“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident. (He thought the experience would make a nice book.)
After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled（挫败的）,” admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.
Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it.
Although Peters had consulted with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.
As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”
Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.The couple signed the contract because _______.
| A．Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself |
| B．Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest |
| C．they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks |
| D．Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book |
It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.
| A．pay a certain amount of money |
| B．admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood |
| C．say sorry to his wife Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. |
| D．do all the housework for years |
What can we learn about Pat Peters?
| A．She was hard-working and selfless. |
| B．She was pretty and kind-hearted. |
| C．She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks. |
| D．She did not love Bob any longer. |
Which of the following can best end the news story?
| A．“Wait till your mother gets home!” |
| B．“My experience of being a mother.” |
| C．“I’m proud of you all, my dear!” |
| D．“Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.” |
A new study from Harvard University revealed that the message parents mean to send to children about the value of sympathy (同情心）is being mistaken by the message they actually send. In fact they value achievement and happiness above all else.
The Making Caring Common Project at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education surveyed 10,000 middle and high school students about which is more important to them—achievement, happiness, or caring about others. Almost 80 percent of students placed achievement or happiness over caring about others. Only 20 percent of students considered caring about others as their top aim.
In the study “The Children We Mean to Raise: The Real Message Adults Are Sending about Values”, the authors refer to a reality gap, an incongruity (不一致) between what adults tell children they should value and the message we grown-ups actually send through our behavior.
Simply talking about sympathy is not enough. While 96 percent of parents say they want to raise caring children, and cite the development of moral character as “very important, if not essential”, 80 percent of the youths surveyed reported that their parents “are more concerned about achievement and happiness than caring about others”. Approximately the same percentage of the students reported that their teachers put their achievement over caring.
As the report shows, simply talking about sympathy is not enough. Children are sensitive creatures, fully capable of telling the true meanings in the blank spaces between well-organised words. If parents really want to let their kids know that they value care and sympathy, the authors suggest, they must make a real effort to help their children learn to care about other people—even when it’s hard, even when it does not make them happy, and yes, even when it is at odds with(与……不一致) their personal success.The first paragraph suggests that parents _____.
| A．don’t intend to valuesuccess |
| B．fail to make students realize the importance of sympathy |
| C．value achievement less |
| D．regard achievement and happiness as the same |
What can be concluded from the study?
| A．About 80% of the students are not caring. |
| B．Kids care more about achievement. |
| C．20% of the students are not ambitious. |
| D．A majority of the kids are kind students. |
What may be the cause for the reality gap?
| A．Children’s desire for getting individual achievement. |
| B．The generation gap between parents and children. |
| C．Children’s failure to understand parents’ well-organised words. |
| D．Parents’ lack of a real effort to guide children. |
Five Booming Careers in Health Care
Loving what you do is great，but knowing your career will be there tomorrow is even better. And when it comes to booming fields，the health care industry is one that's primed(准备好) for growth.
Want to prepare to take your place in the health care field？Check out these five indemand health care careers.
Career 1 Medical and Health Services Manager
If you want to take your leadership skills into the growing health care field，consider pursuing a career as a medical and health services manager.
As a medical and health services manager you might plan，direct，and organize health services in an entire health care facility，or a specific department or clinical area，says U．S. Department of Labor. Daily duties could include handling a facility's finances，creating work schedules，and making sure that health care services are delivered efficiently.
Career 2 Medical Assistant
If you are interested in working in a doctor's office，consider preparing for a career in the indemand field of medical assisting.
As a medical assistant，you could play a role in helping patients' visits go smoothly from when they first walk in the door. Your duties might include measuring vital signs，assisting the physician with examinations，recording health information，and scheduling appointments，according to the U．S. Department of Labor.
Career 3 Registered Nurse
Ready to put your helpful nature to use in the largest health care field？Look into prepping（准备） to pursue a career in registered nursing.
As a registered nurse，you could work closely with patients by providing care，education，and emotional support. You might give patients medicines and treatments，observe their conditions，or perform diagnostic(诊断的)tests，says the U．S. Department of Labor.
Career 4 Physical Therapist （理疗师）Assistant
Want to enter an indemand health care field where you could really play a handson role in helping patients restore their physical functionality？If so，a career as a physical therapist assistant could be a good fit.
Under the supervision of a physical therapist，you could help patients regain movement as they recover from injuries，illnesses, or surgery. Your role in the rehabilitation process could include assisting patients with techniques(massage[按摩]，stretching)and therapeutic methods like electrical stimulation and mechanical traction，says the U．S. Department of Labor.
Career 5 Pharmacy Technician(药剂师)
Prefer a health care career that is less handson？Consider pursuing a career in the growing pharmacy technician field.
Pharmacy technicians can be responsible for counting pills，filling prescriptions，providing customer service，and fulfilling administrative tasks under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist，according to the U．S. Department of Labor.As a medical assistant，your duties might NOT include ________.
| A．scheduling appointments |
| B．providing customer service |
| C．assisting the physician with examinations |
| D．recording health information |
Which of the following is TRUE about a physical therapist assistant?
| A．His/Her duty might include measuring vital signs and recording health information. |
| B．His/Her function includes assisting patients and providing customer service. |
| C．He/She could play a practical role in helping patients restore their physical functionality. |
| D．He/She can help patients gain movement as they are in the illness. |
What does the underlined word “rehabilitation” mean?
| A．The process of recording somebody's name on an official list. |
| B．The process of cutting a part of a person's body in order to remove or repair a damaged part. |
| C．The process of helping somebody to have a normal life again after they have been ill for a long time. |
| D．The process of improving or becoming stronger. |
The author writes the passage mainly to ________.
| A．advocate five booming careers in health care |
| B．persuade you to go into five booming careers in health care |
| C．introduce five booming careers in health care |
| D．classify health care into five careers |