If parents bring up a child with the aim of turning the child into a genius（天才）, they will cause great damage to him. According to several leading educational experts, this is one of the biggest mistakes that some parents make. Generally, the child will understand very well what the parents expect, and will fall. Unrealistic expectations of the parents can cause great damage to children.
However, if parents are realistic about what they expect their children to do, and are hopeful in a sensible（明智的） way, the child may succeed －especially if the parents are very supportive to their children.
Michael Li is very lucky. He is very fond of music and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and let him attend piano and violin lessons. Although his father is a good musician, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling to.
Michael’s friend, Winston Chen, however, is not so lucky. Both his parents are successful musicians, and they set too high a goal for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him for every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. “When I was your age, I used to win every competition I entered.” Winston’s father tells him. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint his parents and now he is always quiet and unhappy.This passage is mainly about_______.
| A．how parents should bring up their children |
| B．what aim can be easier for a child to achieve |
| C．how parents should make a child a musician |
| D．what differences there are between parents |
Michael is fortunate because_______.
| A．his parents help him in a practical way |
| B．he was born in a rich family |
| C．his father is a successful musician |
| D．he can do anything he likes |
Winston’s parents set so high a goal for him that_______.
| A．he has to do his best to do everything |
| B．he has made greater progress in music |
| C．he is afraid he may disappoint them |
| D．he wants to be a great musician someday |
It was Saturday when the entire summer world was bright and fresh. Tom looked at the fence, which was long and high, feeling all enthusiasm leaving him. He dipped his brush into the whitewash before moving it along the top board of the fence. He knew other boys would arrive soon with all minds of interesting plans for this day. As walking past him, they would tease him for having to work on a beautiful Saturday—which burnt him like fire.
He, putting his hands into his pockets and taking out all he owned with the expectation of letting someone paint, found nothing that could buy half an hour of freedom. At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea occurred to him, pouring a great bright light into his mind. He took up his brush and continued to work pleasantly with calm and quietness.
Presently, Ben Rogers came in sight—munching an apple and making joyful noises like the sound of a riverboat as he walked along. Tom went on whitewashing, paying no attention to the steamboat. “Hello!” Ben said, “I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”
No answer. Tom moved his brush gently along the fence and surveyed the result. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for Ben’s apple while he kept painting the fence.
Ben said, “That’s a lot of work, isn’t it?”
Tom turned suddenly saying “Here you are! Ben! I didn’t notice you.”
“I’m going swimming,” Ben said. “Don’t you wish you could go? Or would you rather work?” Tom said, “Work? What do you mean ‘work’?”
“Isn’t that work?” Tom continued painting and answered carelessly, “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Do you mean that you enjoy it?”
“I don’t see why I oughtn’t to enjoy it.”
“Does a boy have a chance to paint a fence frequently” said Tom.
Ben stopped munching his apple.
Tom moved his brush back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a little paint here and there. Ben watched every move, getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. After a short time, he said, “Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom seemed to be thinking for a moment before he said, “No, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. If it was the back fence, maybe you could do it. But this fence beside the street is where everybody can see it. It has to be done right.”
“Oh, come on, let me try. I’ll be careful. Listen, Tom. I’ll give you part of my apple if you let me paint.” “No, Ben, I’m afraid—” “I’ll give you all the apple!”
Tom handed the brush to Ben with unwillingness on his face but alacrity in his heart. While the riverboat worked and sweated in the hot sun, Tom, an artist sat in the shade close by, munching his apple, and planning how he could trick more of the boys.
Before long there were enough boys each of whom came along the street; stopped to laugh but soon begged to be allowed to paint. By the middle of the afternoon, Tom had got many treasures while the fence had had three layers of whitewash on it. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have owned everything belonging to the boys in the village.
Tom said to himself that the world was not so depressing after all. He had discovered a great law of human action: in order to make a man cover a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.By using “Tom continued painting and answered carelessly”, the author shows Tom ______ when he was talking to Ben.
| A．made mistakes | B．damaged things |
| C．was natural | D．wasn’t concentrating |
The underlined word “alacrity” in the last but two paragraph most probable means “______”.
| A．kindness | B．discouragement |
| C．sympathy | D．eagerness |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? ________
| A．Tom did not want to go swimming at all |
| B．Tom was asked to help Aunt Polly paint the fence |
| C．Tom did not get along well with his friends |
| D．Tom was very busy that Saturday afternoon. |
We can draw a conclusion from the last paragraph that _______.
| A．forbidden fruit is sweet. |
| B．a friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| C．all good things must come to an end. |
| D．a bad excuse is better than none. |
One day my 13-year-old daughter told me that she was going to spend the afternoon at her friend Jesse’s house. I didn’t doubt it until I called Jesse’s number to remind Liz that it was her turn to walk the dog, and Jesse’s mom picked up the phone and said, “I thought she and Jesse were planning to be at your house.” It turned out that the two of them had decided to hang out at a coffee shop instead. When I questioned my daughter, she replied coldly, “What’s the big deal? You’re such a psycho(精神变态者).”
Can you say it is right or wrong for them to behave like that? Their changeable personalities leave you feeling angry and guilty at the same time. In fact, if your kids don’t annoy you from time to time, you’re not doing your job.
“There’s nothing wrong about being angry with your child,” Says Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D., author of The 10 Basic Principles of Good Parenting. “Conflict is natural when your innocent, lovely child turns into an adolescent who can hardly tolerate (忍受) you. It’s part of the process of separation.” Kids insisted on their individuality with behavior to purposely drive you crazy. It’s their way of saying, “I am my own person” -- but doing it in a context that’s safe and that has clear limits.
So when your little darling changes into a silent person who still expects meals, clothing, and transportation, don’t panic. Here’s how to handle some common problems without losing your temper or your self-respect.It can be learned from the first paragraph that ________.
| A．Jesse’s mother told a lie |
| B．the writer was too sensitive |
| C．Liz told a lie to her mother |
| D．the writer’s daughter stayed at Jesse’s house |
By saying “In fact, if your kids don’t annoy you from time to time, you’re not doing your job”, the writer probably means that _________.
| A．when you are doing a job, your kids shouldn’t annoy you |
| B．parents should be responsible for children’s bad behavior |
| C．parents shouldn’t tolerate their children’s bad behavior |
| D．it’s understandable for kids to annoy their parents |
What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?
| A．It’s right for parents to be angry with their children. |
| B．It’s allowed for children to do anything as they like. |
| C．It’s bad behavior for children to drive their parents angry. |
| D．It’s normal for adolescents to go against the wishes of their parents sometimes. |
What would the writer state in the following paragraphs?
| A．How to be good parents. |
| B．How to be good children. |
| C．Rules for children to follow. |
| D．How to deal with adolescents’ common problems properly. |
China’s government has been trying all measures to reduce pollution in the past few years. Now people can enjoy a fresh environment everywhere. The following two graphs are adopted from the column of “City Information” on the webpage of Beijing Review.
Graph 1: Olympic Cities Air Quality Report
| City |
Date |
API |
Major Pollutant |
Air Quality Degree |
Quality Condition |
| Beijing |
Sep. 8 |
37 |
N/A |
Ⅰ |
Very good |
| Qinhuangdao |
Sep. 8 |
52 |
PM10 |
Ⅱ |
Good |
| Qingdao |
Sep. 8 |
68 |
PM10 |
Ⅱ |
Good |
| Shanghai |
Sep. 8 |
67 |
PM10 |
Ⅱ |
Good |
| Shenyang |
Sep. 8 |
88 |
PM10 |
Ⅱ |
Good |
| Tianjin |
Sep. 8 |
54 |
PM10 |
Ⅱ |
Good |
Graph 2: Chinese National Standard
| API Values |
Levels of health concern |
Colors |
| When the API is in this range: |
...air quality conditions are: |
...as symbolized by this color: |
| 0 to 50 |
Very good |
Blue |
| 51 to 100 |
Good |
Green |
| 101 to 150 |
Slight pollution |
Yellow |
| 151 to 200 |
Moderate pollution |
Orange |
| 201 to 250 |
Medium pollution |
Red |
| 251 to 300 |
High pollution |
Purple |
| 301 to 500 |
Hazardous |
Brown |
Notes:
**API stands for Air Pollution Index(指数).
**Particulate matter (PM10) is a major component of air pollution that threatens both our health and our environment. It consists of very small liquid and solid particles floating in the air.
**Sulfur dioxide(SO2) acts as an acid．Inhalation(吸入) results in labored breathing, coughing, or a sore throat and may cause permanent lung damage.According to Graph 1, which of the following cities has the worst air pollution?
| A．Qinhuangdao. | B．Tianjin. |
| C．Qingdao | D．Shenyang. |
If your city is symbolized by either red or purple, the pollution in your city is.
| A．Moderate or high. | B．Moderate or slight. |
| C．Medium or high. | D．Medium or slight. |
Which of the following statements is TURE?
| A．With API value below 150 the air is free from being polluted. |
| B．The colors from purple to Yellow indicate the air quality is becoming much worse. |
| C．When there are floating solid particles and dust in the air, it is dangerous pollution. |
| D．On September 8th the color-symbol of Beijing City’s air quality is ‘Blue’. |
When more citizens are beginning to have labored breathing soon after they are in the open air, it suggests that.
| A．there is a large amount of sulfur dioxide in the air |
| B．it is so cold that they may have caught a cold |
| C．they are starting to cough or have a fever |
| D．they must be infected with permanent lung disease |
How do people traditionally manufacture (制造) things? They usually start with a sheet of metal, wood or other material and cut, drill (钻) and shave it to create a desired shape. Sometimes, they use a mold (模具) made of metal or sand, pour liquid plastic or metal into it and let it cool to create a solid part.
Now, a completely different method is gaining popularity.
On Oct. 9, 2013, London Science Museum kicked off its new exhibition, 3-D: Printing the Future, with over 600 3-D printed objects on display, including space probes (探测器), toy dolls and even human organs – basically any product you can think of, reported Live Science.
You might find it hard to believe that an object can actually be “printed out” like a picture. But it is not that hard to understand how it works. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷洒) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂) and certain metals. The thinner each layer is – from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair – the smoother and finer the object will be. And objects always come out in one piece, sparing you the trouble of putting different parts together afterward.
For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost ￡20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now it costs only about ￡1,000, according to the BBC. In fact, 3-D printers have been around for some time, but until recently they hadn’t been very popular since few people could afford them. Last year, though, saw a big decrease in the price of 3-D printers.
However, as 3-D printing technology becomes more commonplace, it may trigger certain problems. One of them is piracy (盗版). “Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?” an expert on 3-D printing told Forbes News.
Even more frightening, the world’s first 3-D printed gun was successfully fired in the US in May of this year, which means that 3-D printing could potentially give more people access to weapons.According to the article, in the future, 3-D printing technology will probably ______.
| A．change the way people make products |
| B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers |
| C．forbid many countries to make purchases of weapons |
| D．take the place of normal printers and save lots of energy |
What was the big event that happened in the 3-D printing industry last year?
| A．Over 600 3-D printed objects were on display in an exhibition. |
| B．3-D printing technology came to be used in various fields. |
| C．The world’s first 3-D printed gun was successfully made. |
| D．The 3-D printer became more affordable for consumers. |
What is the author’s attitude toward 3-D printing technology?
| A．Amused. | B．Objective. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Negative. |
As prices and building costs keep rising, the ‘do-it-yourself’ (DIY) trend (趋势) in the U.S. continues to grow.
‘We needed furniture (家具) for our living room,’ says John Ross, ‘and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.’ John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. ‘I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car by myself.’
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a ‘do-it-yourselfer’, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.We can learn from the text that many newly married people ________.
| A．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| B．have to learn to make their own furniture |
| C．take DIY courses run by the government |
| D．seldom go to a department store to buy things |
John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to ________.
| A．run a DIY shop |
| B．make or repair things |
| C．save time and money |
| D．improve the quality (质量) of life |
When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ________.
| A．keeps house and looks after his children |
| B．does his own car and home repairs |
| C．does extra work at night |
| D．makes shoes in his home |
Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when ________.
| A．he had to raise the children all by himself |
| B．the car repair class was not helpful |
| C．he could not possibly do two jobs |
| D．his car repairs cost too much |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．the Joy of DIY |
| B．You Can Do It Too! |
| C．Welcome to Our DIY Course! |
| D．Ross and Hatfield: Believers in DIY |