There are many fun, free activities that you can do as a family. All that is required is a bit of imagination and some time set aside for fun. And the best part is that these are the kind of memories a child will remember for a lifetime.
Family game night
Find out any of the games that are already around the house. Kids often get computer games for Christmas or birthdays, and would love to have a chance to play with their family. Or, make up some games of your own. “Charades” is a fun game to play that will challenge a child to use his/her imagination. Divide the family into teams and let each team come up with words that the other has to act out.
________________________
Pick some time for the family to sit down and come up with their own masterpiece. It doesn’t need to be just a drawing -- take some old magazines sitting around the house, let the kids cut out pictures and paste them into their own montage. Or, use items from nature. Let them use leaves, pine cones, twigs and whatever else they can find to create something from their imaginations.
Family Picnic
Taking the family for a picnic is a great way for some fun that doesn’t cost any money. If the weather is nice, take them to a park or playground and let the kids have a day of playing. Or, if it is the middle of winter and a foot of snow is on the ground, set up a picnic in the living room.
Family Field Trip
A family field trip doesn’t have to cost a dime. Ask a nearby farm if it would be alright to bring your kids out for a tour and to see some of the animals. Or take them to a park and make a scavenger hunt where they need to find certain items from nature. Ask a local business if you could bring the family for a tour to see how things work -- you might be surprised at the number of people who would be thrilled to share what they do with others, and it could be an interesting lesson for the kids.We can learn from the passage that “charades” ________.
| A．is a computer game | B．is too difficult for children |
| C．involves acting out words | D．should be played by more than four people |
What is the best title to be put in the blank of part two? ____________.
| A．Family art time | B．Family gardening time |
| C．Family music time | D．Family cleaning time |
According to the passage, the family picnic____________.
| A．should be held in the middle of winter |
| B．can be held inside your house |
| C．will be very meaningful if held in offices |
| D．will cost much money if held on a farm |
Who might be most interested in this passage? _________.
| A．Parents | B．Teachers | C．Farmers | D．Employers |
The writer wrote this passage mainly to _____________.
| A．encourage children to use imagination. |
| B．share precious family memories |
| C．discuss young children’s interests |
| D．suggest fun activities to families |
Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy—five, he gave £ 12,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment (设备) for a children’s playground.
As a result of his kindness, many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk, Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy—five. Johnson had a sense of humour (幽默). He liked whisky (威士忌酒) and drank some each day. “I have an injection (注射) in my neck each evening.”he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy—five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.Johnson became a rich man through
| A．doing business. | B．making whisky. | C．cheating. | D．buying and selling land. |
The gift of money to the school suggests that Johnson
| A．had no children. | B．was a strange man. |
| C．was very fond of children. | D．wanted people to know how rich he was. |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out
| A．why he gave so much money to the school. | B．how to live longer. |
| C．how to become wealthy. | D．in which part of the neck to have an injection. |
The newspaperman
| A．should have reported what Johnson had told him. |
| B．shouldn’t have asked Johnson what injection he had. |
| C．was eager to live a long life. |
| D．should have found out what Johnson really meant. |
For many people today, reading is no longer relaxation. To keep up with their work they must read letters, reports, trade publications, interoffice communications: a never-ending flood of words. In getting a job or advancing in one, the ability to read and comprehend quickly can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is that most of us are poor readers.
Most reading faults can be traced to early school training. According to Dr. Betts, two persons out of five in school were forced to read material too difficult for them to understand at the time, a frustration experience which left them with bad reading habits.
Fortunately, almost anyone can learn to read faster and with more comprehension. Age makes little difference. According to a recent study of 138 students at The Reading Laboratory, Inc. , all age groups showed a marked increase in reading rate after training from 93 percent for the 50-90 age group to 142 percent for the 20-29.Dr. Mila Banton Smith, director of New York University’s Reading Institute, says that the average adult student, in 28 training hours, nearly triples (三倍的) his reading speed and boosts(增长) his comprehension by about 30 percent.
The best way to improve your reading, of course, is to enroll(登记) in a reading clinic. If there’s no clinic handy, you can improve your reading ability yourself--- provided you have no eyes troubles. (if reading tires you easily or makes your eyes or head ache, you should consult a doctor.)To many people today, _______.
| A．reading quickly is easy |
| B．reading quickly and comprehending quickly can ensure their success |
| C．reading is only for fun |
| D．reading can ensure their success |
Most reading faults are_______
| A．due to early school training |
| B．a frustrating experience |
| C．made by reading difficult materials |
| D．made by reading carelessly |
Who can learn to read fast and with comprehension?
| A．teachers only | B．students only |
| C．a few people | D．almost everybody |
According to the passage, what is the best way to improve one’s reading？
| A．go to a doctor |
| B．review what has been learnt at school |
| C．go to reading remedial class for special training |
| D．consult a dictionary |
While income worry is a rather common problem of the aged, loneliness is another problem that aged parents may face. Of all the reasons that explain their loneliness, a large geographical distance between parents and their children is the major one. This phenomenon is commonly known as “ Empty Nest Syndrome”(空巢综合症). In order to seek better chances outside their countries, many young people have gone abroad, leaving their parents behind with no clear idea of when they will return home. Their parents spend countless lonely days and nights, taking care of themselves, in the hope that someday their children will come back to stay with them. The fact that most of these young people have gone to Europeanized or Americanized societies makes it unlikely that they will hold as tightly to the value of duty as they would have if they had not left their countries. Whatever the case, it has been noted that the values they hold do not necessarily match what they actually do. This geographical and cultural distance also prevents the grown-up children from providing response in time for their aged parents living by themselves.
The situation in which grown-up children live far away from their aged parents has been described as “ distant parent phenomenon”, which is common both in developed countries and in developing countries. Our society has not yet been well prepared for “ Empty Nest Syndrome”.According to the passage, the loneliness of aged parents is mainly caused by ________.
| A．their earlier experience of feeling lonely |
| B．the unfavorable living conditions in their native countries |
| C．the common worry about their income |
| D．the geographical distance between parents and children |
Many young people have gone abroad, leaving
their aged parents behind, to _______.
| A．live in the countries with more money |
| B．seek a better place for their aged parents |
| C．continue their studies abroad |
| D．realize their dreams in foreign countries |
If young people go abroad, ________.
| A．they do not hold to the value of duty at all |
| B．they can give some help to their parents back home |
| C．they cannot do what they should for their parents |
| D．they believe what they actually do is right |
From the last paragraph, we can infer that______
| A．the situation in the developed and developing countries are different |
| B．“Empty Nest Syndrome” has arrived unexpectedly in our society |
| C．children will become independent as soon as they go abroad |
| D．the aged parents are not fully prepared for “Empty Nest Syndrome” |
BRITAIN is apopular tourist place. But tours
of the country have pros and cons.
Good News
Free museums. No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities.
Pop music. Britain is the only country to rival(与---匹敌) the US on this score.
Black cabs. London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never enough of them at weekends or night.
Choice of food. Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurant.
Fashion. Not only do fashion junkies love deeply and respect highly brand names such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, street styles are justly loved, too.
Bad News
Poor service. “ It’s part of the image of the place. People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says professor Tony Seaton, of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.
Poor public transport. Trains and buses are promised to defeat the keenest tourists, although the overcrowded London tube is inexplicably(无法解释的) popular.
Lack of languages. Speaking slowly and clearly may not get many foreign visitors very far, even in the tourist traps(圈套).
Rain. Still in the number one complaint(抱怨).
An air-conditioning. So that even splendidly hot summers become as unbearable as the down- pours.
Overpriced hotels. The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.
Licensing hours. Alcohol(酒精) is in short supply after 11p. m. even in “ 24-hour cities”What do tourists complain most?
| A．poor service | B．poor public transport |
| C．rain | D．overpriced hotels |
What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?
| A．pop music in Britain is better than that in the US. |
| B．pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US. |
| C．pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US |
| D．pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US |
When is alcohol not able to get?
| A．at 9:00 p. m. | B．at 10:00 p. m. |
| C．at 11:00 p. m. | D．at 12:00 p. m. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．you have to pay to visit the museum |
| B．it’s very cheap to travel by taxi there |
| C．you cannot find Chinese food there |
| D．the public transport is poor there |
1970 was World Conservation Year. The United Nations wanted everyone to know that the world is in danger. They hoped that governments would act quickly in order to conserve nature. Here is one example of the problem. At one time there were 1,300 different plants, trees and flowers in Holland but now only 866 remain. The others have been destroyed by modern man and his technology. We are changing the earth, the air and water, and everything that grows and lives. We can’t live without these things. If we continue like this, we shall destroy ourselves.
What will happen in the future? Perhaps it is more important to ask “what must we do now?” the people who will believe in the world of tomorrow are the young of today. A lot of them know that conversation is necessary. Many are helping to save our world. They plant trees, build bridges across rivers in forests, and so on. In a small town in the United States a large group of girls cleaned the banks of 11kilometers of their river. Young people may hear about conservation through a record called “no one’s going to change our world.” It was made by the Beatles, Cliff Richard, and other singers. The money from it help to conserve wild animals.There are fewer plants, trees and flowers in Holland now because________
| A．There has been a lot of conservation in Holland |
| B．Holland does not need so many plants, trees and flowers |
| C．many plants, trees and flowers do not grow there any more |
| D．some plants, trees and flowers are dangerous |
We shall destroy ourselves if we don
’t change_______
| A．The United Nations |
| B．modern technology |
| C．our rivers and forests |
| D．the government of Holland |
“No one’s going to change our world” was________
| A．an important book published in 1970 |
| B．an idea that nobody would accept |
| C．a record calling all people to conserve nature |
| D．a rule worked out by the United Nations |
What is the most important thing for us to do to save our world?
| A．we should plant more trees and flowers |
| B．we should clean the banks of our rivers |
| C．we should know what will happen in the future |
| D．we should know what we must do and begin to do now |