Two friends have an argument that breaks up their friendship forever, even though neither one can remember how the whole thing got started. Such sad events happen over and over in high schools across the country. In fact, according to an official report on youth violence, "In our country today, the greatest threat to the lives of children and adolescents is not disease or starvation or abandonment, but the terrible reality of violence". Given that this is the case, why aren't students taught to manage conflict the way they are taught to solve math problems, drive ears, or stay physically fit?
First of all, students need to realize that conflict is unavoidable. A report on violence among middle school and high school students indicates that most violent incidents between students begin with a relatively minor insult (侮辱). For example, a fight could start over the fact that one student eats a peanut butter sandwich each lunchtime. Laughter over the sandwich can lead to insults, which in turn can lead to violence. The problem isn't in the sandwich, but in the way students deal with the conflict.
Once students recognize that conflict is unavoidable, they can practice the golden rule of conflict resolution (解决) : stay calm. Once the student feels calmer, he or she should choose words that will calm the other person down as well Rude words, name-calling, and accusations only add fuel to the emotional fire. On the other hand, soft words spoken at a normal sound level can put out the fire before it explodes out of control.
After both sides have calmed down, they can use another key strategy (策略) for conflict resolution : listening. Listening allows the two sides to understand each other. One person should describe his or her side, and the other person should listen without interrupting. Afterward, the listener can ask non-threatening questions to clarify the speaker's position. Then the two people should change roles.
Finally, students need to consider what they are hearing. This doesn't mean trying to figure out what's wrong with the other person. It means understanding what the real issue is and what both sides are trying to accomplish. For example, a shouting match over a peanut butter sandwich might happen because one person thinks the other person is unwilling to try new things. Students need to ask themselves questions such as these: How did this start? What do I really want? What am I afraid of? As the issue becomes clearer, the conflict often simply becomes smaller. Even if it doesn't, careful thought helps both sides figure out a mutual solution.
There will always be conflict in schools, but that doesn't mean there needs to be violence. After students in Atlanta started a conflict resolution program, according to Educators for Social Responsibility, "64 percent of the teachers reported less physical violence in the classroom; 75 percent of the teachers reported an increase in student co-operation; and 92 percent of the students felt better about themselves'. Learning to resolve conflicts can help students deal with friends, teachers, parents, bosses, and coworkers. In that way, conflict resolution is a basic life skill that should be taught in schools across the country.From Paragraph 2 we can learn that_______
| A．violence is more likely to occur at lunchtime |
| B．a small conflict can lead to violence |
| C．students tend to lose their temper easily |
| D．the eating habit of a student is often the cause of a fight |
Why do students need to ask themselves the questions stated in Paragraph 5?
| A．To find out who is to blame. |
| B．To get ready to try new things. |
| C．To make clear what the real issue is. |
| D．To figure out how to stop the shouting match. |
After the conflict resolution program was started in Atlanta, it was found that______
| A．there was a decrease in classroom violence |
| B．there was less student cooperation in the classroom |
| C．more teachers felt better about themselves in schools |
| D．the teacher-student relationship greatly improved |
The writer's purpose for writing this article is to_______
| A．complain about problems in school education |
| B．teach students different strategies for school life |
| C．favor teaching conflict management in schools |
| D．inform teachers of the latest studies on school violence |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Miss Gorgers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, “Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”
Tom at once answered, “Your brother. Because electricity travels faster than sound waves.” “That’s very good,” Miss Gorgers answered; but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gorgers said, “Yes? Kate.”
“I disagree. Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock here and it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.” Kate said.
1. Miss Gorgers was teaching her class ______.
A. how to telephone B. about electricity
C. about time zone D. about sound
2. Miss Gorgers raised this question because she wanted to know whether ______.
A. it was easy to phone to Los Angeles
B. her student could hear her from 75 feet away
C. her students had understood her lesson
D. sound waves were slower than electricity
3. Kate thought Tom was wrong because ______.
A. clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York
B. electricity was slower than sound waves
C. Tom was not good at physics at all
D. Tom’s answer had nothing to do with sound waves
4. Whose answer do you think is correct according to the law of physics?
A. Tom’s. B. Kate’s. C. Both A and B. D. Neither A nor B.
Foreign drivers will have to pay on-the-spot fines of up to ￡900 for breaking the traffic law to be carried our next month.
If they do not have enough cash or a working credit card, their vehicles will clamped（扣留）until they pay—and they will face an additional fee of &80 for getting back their vehicles .
The law will also apply to British citizens. The fines will be described officially as “deposits” when the traffic law take effect, because the money would be returned if the driver went to court and was found not guilty, In practice, very few foreign drives are likely to return to Britain to deal with their cases.
Foreign drivers are seldom charged because police cannot take action against them if they fail to appear in court. Instead, officers often only give warnings.
Three million foreign-registered(注册) vehicles enter Britain each year . Polish vehicles make up 36 percent, French vehicles 10 percent and German vehicles 9 percent.
Foreign vehicles are 30 percent more likely to be in a crash(相撞) than British-registered vehicles .The number of crashes caused by foreign vehicles rose by 47 percent between 2003 and 2008. There were almost 400 deaths and serious injuries and 3,000 slight injuries from accidents caused by foreign vehicles in 2008.
The new law is partly intended to settle the problem of foreign lorry drivers ignoring limits on weight and hours at the wheel. Foreign lorries are three times more likely to be in a crash than British lorries. Recent spot checks found that three quarters of Lorries that failed safety tests were registered overseas.
The standard deposit for a careless driving offence —such as driving too close to the vehicle in front or reading a map at the wheel—will be ￡300. Deposits for speeding offences and using mobile phones will be ￡60. Foreign drivers will not get points as punishment added to their licenses(执照), while British drivers will.
1. The first paragraph serves as a(n)_________.
A. explanation B. introduction C. comment D. background.
2. The foreign drivers who break the traffic law and do not pay on the spot are likely to be fined up to_________.
A. ￡60 B. ￡300 C. ￡900 D. ￡980
3. We can learn from the passage that_________.
A. many foreign drivers have been fined by Britain police
B. 300,000 German vehicles enter Britain every year
C. 25 percent of foreign vehicles entering Britain have failed safety tests
D. British drivers will be punished with points and fines for breaking the traffic law
4. The new traffic law mainly plans to_________.
A. limit the number of foreign vehicles entering Britain
B. increase the British movement’s additional income
C. lower the rate of traffic accidents and injuries
D. get foreign drives to appear in count
We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf.
It stood outside a furniture shop. “Buy it,” she said at once. “We’ll carry it home on the roof-rack(车顶架). I’ve always wanted one like that.”
What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied on to the roof rack. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy too.
As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.
After a time my wife said, “There’s a long line of cars behind. Why don’t they overtake(超车)?”
Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers(警官)inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me．
“Right, sir,” he said. “Do you need any more help now?”
I didn’t quite understand. “Thanks, officer,” I said. “You’ve been very kind. I live just down the road.”
He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. “Well, well,” he said and laughed. “It’s a bookshelf you’ve got there! We thought it was——er, something else.”
My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here. I smiled at the officer. “Yes, it’s a bookshelf, but thanks again.” I drove home as fast as I could.
1. From the story we know that_________.
A. the writer was poor and didn’t buy the bookshelf for his wife
B. the writer’s wife didn’t like the bookshelf at all
C. the writer was always glad to buy something for his wife
D. the writer was not very glad to buy the bookshelf for his wife
2. What made the writer think that carrying furniture was “a good idea”?
A. He could drive slowly and it was safe．
B. Other drivers would let him go first．
C. His wife could use a new bookshelf．
D. He could save a lot of money and time．
3. Why were the police and other drivers so kind to the writer?
A. Because they thought the writer liked studying very much and needed
a bookshelf．
B. Because they didn’t think it was polite to overtake a car with a
bookshelf on it．
C. Because they thought somebody in the writer’s family had died and he
needed help．
D. Because they thought it was dangerous to carry a bookshelf on a car．
4. Why did the writer’s wife begin to laugh?
A. Because now she knew what mistake the police had made．
B. Because at last her husband understood why the police had driven to
the church．
C. Because the officer was always looking at the flowers and the
bookshelf．
D. Because the police had helped them a lot．
Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique（古董）shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth—so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said. “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that. It’s nothing.”
Everything was going according to the plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me?’” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you. Shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.
1. We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer .
A. was rather impolite
B. was warmly received
C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair
D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair
2. The underlined word “approach” in the second paragraph means .
A. plan for dealing with things B. decision to sell tings
C. idea of repairing things D. way of doing things
3. The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper .
A. changed his mind B. accepted the offer
C. saw the writer’s purpose D. decided to help the write
4. How much did the writer want to pay for the repair at first?
A. ￡ 5. B. ￡ 7. C. ￡ 20. D. ￡ 27.
Rising above the names
I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice. “Mom, come here! There’s this lady here of my size!” The mother rushed to her son; then she turned to me to apologize. I smiled and told her, “It’s okay.” Then talked to the boy, “Hi, I’m Darry Kramer. How are you?” He studied me from head to toe, and asked, “Are you a little mommy?” “Yes, I have a son,” I answered. “Why are you so little?” he asked. “It’s the way I was born,” I said. “Some people are little. Some are tall. I’m just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions, I shook the boy’s hand and left.
My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.
It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall. I was born an achondroplasia dwarf (侏儒). Despite this, I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.
I didn’t realize how short I was until I started school. Some kids picked on me, calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.
But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height, I made up for in personality.
I’m 47 now, and the stares have not diminished as I’ve grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude, I remind myself, “Look what else I have – a great family, nice friends.”
It’s the children’s questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers (a person of the same age, class, position, etc.), whatever size and shape they come in, and treat them with respect.
1. Why did the mother apologize to the author?
A. Because the boy ran into the author.
B. Because the boy laughed at the author.
C. Because they boy said the author was fatter than him.
D. Because the mother thought the boy’s words had hurt the author.
2. When did the author realize that she was too short?
A. When she grew up.
B. When she was 47 years old.
C. When she began to go to school.
D. When she met the boy in the supermarket.
3. Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word “diminished”?
A. gained B. increased C. decreased D. accepted
4. How does the author feel about people’s stares?
A. Angry. B. Calm. C. Painful. D. Discouraged.