Our lives were supposed to be more flexible and family-friendly thanks to the technology at our fingertips. But in this age of BlackBerrys, recession pressures, working at home after hours and on weekends, family time may not be working out the way we thought.
Busy parents who expected more time with the kids are Finding that more work hours at home don't necessarily translate into quality time with them.
A new generation of parents needs to discover the meaning of "quality time," researchers say. “Personally, just given the life I lead, I think there is something to this idea of quality time- spending productive time with children vs. just being around,” says Peter Brandon, a professor at Carleton College. He says engaging or interacting with a child in activities such as reading or playing counts as quality time rather than "passive monitoring," such as washing the dishes while the child is watching TV.
“This time with children pays off,” Brandon says. He notes that good parent-child relationships result in children being happier and more successful, including at school.
As parents struggle to be more available to their kids, new research on work and family schedules to be presented Friday at the meeting in Dallas includes a study that shows parents' availability is on the decline because more parents are in the workforce. Although parents today may be spending more time on child care, they are less available overall.
Working parents who spend less time with their children should try to make sure the time they do spend is communicating with them, vs. doing the dishes or spending more time on themselves, Brandon says “The trade-off is not necessarily taking away time from your kid,” he says "You're taking away time from other things”The first paragraph mainly intends to tell us that .
| A．technology lets parents work at home |
| B．parents are satisfied with their work |
| C．technology makes our lives much easier |
| D．the family time is not always satisfying |
We can learn from the third paragraph that .
| A．some families are not experiencing quality time |
| B．it's enough for parents to stay with their children |
| C．parents enjoy engaging in work-at-home activities |
| D．working hours at home can transform into quality time |
According to Brandon, the quality time means
| A．just, being around with children |
| B．work time is separate from family time |
| C．spending instructive time with children |
| D．letting the children do whatever they want to do |
The underlined sentence “This time with children pays” off means .
| A．the time with children is of little value |
| B．the time with children costs quite a lot |
| C．the time with children leads to good result |
| D．the time with children has a bad effect on them |
What will the author most probably talk about in next part of the passage?
| A．How to spend more time at home |
| B．How to do the dishes in a proper way. |
| C．How to spend more time on working at home. |
| D．How to take away time in a much proper way. |
C
On December 22, 1775, two of Washington’s soldiers brought a prisoner to his headquarters (司令部). Washington thanked the soliders, then gave an order that the prisoner was to be left alone and that the soldiers were to shoot if the man tried to escape. But when the door was closed, Washington smiled.
The man standing in front of him was John Honeyman, one of the general’s most trusted men. In early November, Washington had given Honeyman orders to travel with the British army as a servant and to stay with it until he had something to tell. Honeyman now had important information. He described the situation in Trenton, giving the exact number and position of the troops there.Trenton was held by several companies (连队) of Hessians(雇佣军). The Hessians were not English soldiers.They were Germans who had been hired by the British to fight in America. According to Honeyman, the Hessians fought only for money. They had done nothing to build up their defences in Trenton. Now they were busy planning a big Christmas celebration.
Washington immediately made a daring plan. He chose Christmas Day for an attack on Trenton. At ten o’clock next morning, the attack was over. The Americans won a great victory.
64. Why did Washington smile when the door was closed?
A .Because he was glad to catch the prisoner.
B. Because the man was one of his most trusted men.
C. Because he had caught the most dangerous spy.
D. Because he knew the man very well.
65. For what did Washington send Honeyman to stay with the British army?
A. Honeyman could make peace with the Brilhish soldiers .
B. He could let Honeyman have a pleasant trip.
C. He could catch more prisoners from the British army.
D. Honeyman could get important information for American .
66 .Which countries did the war break out between?
A. America and Britain.
B. America and Germany
C.Britain and Gennany
D.Arnerica, Britain and Germany
67. What’s the reason that Washington chose Christmas Day for an attack on Trenton?
A. It could be that it was a lucky day.
B. It might be that it was the best Christmas gift for Britain.
C. It must be that after the day the enemy was to escape.
D. It could be that the enemy would enjoy their holiday but not prepare to fight.
B
In China, if you are not married by the time you are 30, you are in for trouble: social blame and pressure from family and friends can get you down. And if you are a woman it’s even worse.
Many young people get married simply to get other people off their backs(免受别人的指责) . This is a serious compromise (妥协) with their ideals (理想). One ends up not marrying the ideal partner.
There are, however, a few young people who refuse to compromise: if they can’t find a good marriage partner,they say, they would rather not many at all.
34-year-old Kate is university lecture in English.She said she would not describe herself as backelorette(独身主义者) but simply a woman who hasn't come across the right man yet. She has sharp comments for the way in which the old generation looks at marriage.
“Many people think marriage is a duty —— to your parents, family and society. Nobody cares if your marriage is happy or not. she said, I think this is very wrong and I intend to live and act according to my own will.”
Happily for her, her parents are open-minded and not put pressure on her. But the same does not apply to her friends. They are .constantly trying to get her together with some young man or another. She always refuses politely.
59. The main idea of this passage is that ____ .
A. marriage is duty to society
B. people should get married before 30 years old
C. late marriage should be respected
D. women should get married earlier than men
60. Miss Kate refuses to get together with some young man or another because____.
A. she doesn’t think he is the right man she wants
B. he is either too old or too young
C. he is either important or little learned
D. he doesn’t have good manners
61. In the first paragraph the underlined words “in for” refer to ____.
A. interested in B. satisfied with C. worried about D. possible to suffer
62. Which is not true according to this passage
A. In China, one mil face social blame and family pressure if one hasn’t got married at he age of 30.
B. Miss Kate’s parents are always worried about her marriage.
C. Miss Kate won’t compromise with her ideal marriage.
D. Miss Kate wants to many a worthy young man.
63. If marriage is regarded as a duty to society,_______.
A. everybody will be happy and satisfied
B. nobody will pay attention to whether you are happy or not in your family life
C. you can easily find an ideal partner
D. young people will have nothing to worry about in marriage
第三部分阅读理解(共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分)
A
Our first winter in Canada was the happiest we have ever experienced. We were living in the countryside then and had just arrived from Hong Kong that autumn. One evening in mid December snow began to fall. When we looked out of the window and saw that it was snowing, we all cheered. It was the first snow we had ever seen and we were excited. We could hardly wait for the snow to stop so that we could go out lo play. Next morning when we woke up,it was still snowing. We switched on the radio and learned that more than ten inches of snow had fallen during the night and that since the roads were blocked, there would he no school that day. We jumped up and down for joy and beg mother to let us go outside to play in the snow, She said we could go out after breakfast if we dressed warmly and promised to come back as soon as we felt cold. When we went out, the snow had almost stopped. The roads, paths, gardens, and playgrounds were all hidden under a white blanket of soft snow. It was the most beautiful sight we had ever seen. Just then we saw some neighbours, children coming out to play. We ran over to join them. Together we built a snowman and a snow house. After that, we took turns sliding down a hill on a large piece of carboard. We were having so much fun when supper time came. Mother almost had to force us to go in and eat.
56. The children in the story had come from Hong Kong______ before the event described in the story happened
A. a year B. the summer C. a few weeks D. the winter
57. The children were jumping with joy when they saw the snow because .
A. they would go to school the following day
B. it was the first time they had seen snow
C. their mother would buy them warm clothes
D. they liked cold winter
58. When the children asked their mother lo let them go out to play, she ____.
A. asked them to go to school B. refused to let them go outside
C. told them to switch on the radio . D. told them to wait until after breakfast
E
An old sea captain was often seen opening a small locked box, and looking inside. The crew’s curiosity grew and, on the day he retired, they rushed to cut the lock. There they found a sheet of paper that read, “Left—port(左舷). Right--- starboard(右舷).”
Are you afraid to make a mistake? If you made mistakes recently, maybe you need to hear about Roy Riegels.
The story is told about Roy and the 1929 Rose Bowl championship football game between Georgia Tech and the university of California. Shortly before halftime, Roy Riegels made a huge mistake. He got the ball for California and somehow became confused and started running in the wrong direction! One of his teammates tackled(抢断) him after he had run 656 yards, just before he would have scored for the opposing team. Of course, Georgia Tech gained a distinct(明显的) advantage through the error.
After the first half was over, Riegels sat in a corner, put his face in his hands and wept.
Coach Nibbs Price struggled with what to do with Roy. He finally looked at the team and said simply, “Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second.”
All the players except Roy went to the field. Though the coach looked back and called to him again, he remained seated in the corner. Coach Price went to him and said, “Roy, didn’t you hear me?”
“Coach,” he said, “I can’t do it. I’ve ruined you; I’ve ruined the school; I’ve ruined myself.”
But the coach Price put his hand on Riegels’ shoulder and said,” Roy, get up and go on back; the game is only half over.”
Roy Riegels went back and those Tech men will tell you that they have never seen a man play football as well as Roy Riegels played that second half.
The next time you make a mistake, it might be good to remember the ABC method.
A—Acknowledge(admit) your error and accept responsibility for it. Don’t try to fix the blame on other people or circumstances(客观环境). When you fix the blame, you never fix the problem.
B—Be gentle with yourself. The game is only half over. This is not the first mistake you ever made, nor will it be the last. You are still a good and caring person. Besides, later you may laugh at the mistake, so try to lighten up a bit now.
C—Correct it and move on. Correcting mistakes may also mean to amends(弥补过错），if necessary.
Now, go make your mistakes. And if you practice the ABC method, you’ll live to laugh about many of them.
67. The old captain kept a sheet of paper to_____.
A. give his men a lesson
B. arouse his crew’s curiosity
C. prove he was a good captain
D. tell “port” and “starboard” apart
68. From the passage we learn Coach Price______.
A. insisted on replacing Roy
B. decided to punish Roy after the match
C. criticized Roy for his serious mistake
D. encouraged Roy to finish the match
69. How was Riegels’ performance in the second half?
A. Very disappointing B. Rather excellent C. Fairly ordinary D. Quite bad
70. The ABC method_____.
A. advised you to try to forget mistakes
B. helps you deal with mistakes
C. helps find out the causes of mistakes
D. advised you to be strict with yourself.
D
A proverb(谚语) is a short , well-known saying that expresses a common truth or belief. Proverbs are popular around the world. Many proverbs give advice on how to live. Some proverbs are hundreds of years old, but they are still used today.
For example, my son is just like his father in many ways. We often say the two of them prove the proverb that the apple does not far from the tree.
My daughter is very short. She would like to be taller. But I tell her that good things come in small packages. Some valuable things are very small, like diamonds and other jewels. But I also tell my children that all that glitters is not gold. Something may look valuable, but may not really be valuable. Also, I tell them do not judge a book by its cover. You should not judge something only by its appearance.
Sometimes I tell my children to cooperate to solve a problem. After all, two heads are better than one. But another proverb says too many cooks spoil the soup. If too many people try to do something, then the job will not be done well.
I also tell my children that two wrongs do not make a right. You should not do something bad just because someone did the same to you.
Some people are pessimists while other people are optimists. Pessimists always think about how bad things are or will be; optimists might say that every cloud has a silver lining and they always look on the bright side. Other people are both pessimists and optimists. They hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Some people often worry about what they will do in a situation that might happen in the future. We could tell them do not cross that bridge until you come to it.
It is usually much better to prevent a problem from happening than it is to find ways to solve it. So we say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
63. The author often comforts her daughter with the proverb that ____.
A. the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
B. good things come in small packages
C. too many cooks spoil the soup
D. two heads are better than one
64. If someone says “two heads are better than one”, he means____.
A. jobs will be done better if two work together
B. a problem will be solved easily by many people
C. jobs won’t be done well if there are too many people
D. you can’t do something bad even if someone else does it
65.The underlined word “pessimists” in the sixth paragraph refers to those people_____.
A. who always look on the bright side
B. who always expect bad things to happen
C. who are always full of hope for the future
D. who always make preparations for the worst
66. Which of the following are optimists likely to say?
A. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
B. We hope for the best and prepare for the worst
C. Don’t cross the bridge until you come to it.
D. Every cloud has a silver lining