We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests’ coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.
The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.
Each of the guests liked Kelly more, the younger one, enjoying her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a unusual girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.
I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big “to do” over the younger one because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.
But we seldom think of how it might affect（影响） the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being paid no attention. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying. I said, “What are you doing here, my dear?”
She turned to me with a sad expression and said,” Mommy, why don’t people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I’m not pretty? Why don’t they say nice things about me as much?”
I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging（拥抱） her to make her feel better.
Now whenever I visit a friend’s home. I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.The underlined expression “make a big ‘to do’ over” (paragraph 4) means_______.
| A．show much concern about | B．have a special effect on |
| C．list jobs to be done for | D．do good things for |
We can conclude from the passage that_______.
| A．parents should pay more attention to the elder children |
| B．the younger children are usually more easily hurt |
| C．people usually like the younger children more |
| D．adults should treat children equally |
Kristen felt sad and cried because_______.
| A．the guests gave her more coats to carry |
| B．she didn't look as pretty as Kelly |
| C．the guests enjoyed her sister more than her |
| D．her mother didn’t introduce her the guests |
A shop worker nicknamed(绰号) Little Fatty told of his shock at becoming a Susan Boyle-like Internet star after a perfect Whitney Houston performance on a TV talent(才能)show. Lin Yuqun, 24, won over the judges and the audience of the Million Star show with perfect performances of Whitney Houston’s I will Always Love You , and has got 480,000 hits on video sharing website You Tube.
“I am shocked that I can draw so much attention. I'm really moved and happy that people like my performance of Whitney's song,” said Lin, who works part-time at a musical instrument shop. “I've loved singing since I was a little boy and I feel like I am living my dream now. I hope I can pursue(追求) a career in singing,” he told reporters.
Reporters called him “China’s Susan Boyle”, describing him as “plain-looking and short”, but Lin, who has the nickname “Little Fatty”, told reporters the comparison made him proud. “I am honoured to be compared to Susan Boyle. I am inspired and encouraged by her because she proved that even a person who's seen as an underdog(弱者) and who has ordinary looks can shine on the stage,” Lin said.
Since his performance was posted on Youtube late last week, he has been the subject of heated conversation in on-line chat rooms on American Yahoo! and other foreign websites. “Lin really is amazing. Whitney couldn’t do it any better today, ” a viewer wrote on YouTube.
Scottish single Susan Boyle got recognized around the world after she was discovered last year on the British’s Got Talent television show with her performance of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, which was the best-selling debut(首演)in British chart history and also topped the US charts.What do we know about Lin Yuqun?
| A．He has a great talent for singing. |
| B．He works quite hard as a shop owner. |
| C．He sings better than Susan Boyle. |
| D．He likes watching TV best. |
It seemed that Lin Yuqun _________.
| A．was not surprised that he could be famous. |
| B．felt lost after the talent show. |
| C．learnt to sing at a musical instrument shop. |
| D．wants to become a singer. |
Why does Lin Yuqun speak highly of Susan Boyle?
| A．Because she is as ordinary as him. |
| B．Because she is a famous singer now. |
| C．Because he gets confidence from her. |
| D．Because she brings good luck to him |
By saying “Whitney couldn’t do it any better today”, the viewer means __________.
| A．Whiteny doesn't sing well any longer. |
| B．Lin Yuqun sings as well as Whitney |
| C．Lin Yuqun has gone beyond Whitney |
| D．Lin Yuqun can develop his singing better |
On a website, you may read the article in the column of _________.
| A．education. | B．fashion | C．science | D．Art |
Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins (维生素). The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.The underlined word “cure” in Paragraph 1 probably means ______.
| A．a medical treatment | B．a kind of vitamin | C．a kind of germ | D．a kind of rice |
Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.
| A．spend his holiday |
| B．find ways to grow better crops |
| C．do some research about the island |
| D．help the Javanese with their illness |
Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?
| A．To eat them. |
| B．To carry out his experiments. |
| C．To give the Javanese a surprise. |
| D．To make money by selling them. |
If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.
| A．eat more rice | B．eat more meat | C．eat some chicken | D．eat vitamin pills |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．beri-beri was caused by chickens |
| B．the Javanese didn’t like vitamins |
| C．Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful |
| D．the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ |
Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona. He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his new place and meet his friends.
My earliest memories of my father are a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and his family, but uncomfortable with his children. As a child I loved him. He seemed unhappy with me if I didn’t got straight A’s and unhappy with my boyfriends if their fathers were not as “successful” as he was. Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to try hard to think out things to say, feeling on guard.
On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father’s friends for lunch at an outdoor cafe. We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate on the street table, and laughed over my son’s funny facial expressions. Gone was my father’s critical (挑剔的) air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?
The next day dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment. After so many years, I’m at last seeing another side of my father. And in so doing, I’m delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his new home in Arizona, is back to me from where he was.Why did the author feel bitter(痛苦) about her father as a young adult?
| A．He was silent most of the time. | B．He was too proud of himself. |
| C．He didn’t love his children. | D．He expected too much of her. |
When the author went out with her father on weekends, she would feel ________.
| A．nervous | B．sorry | C．tired | D．safe |
What does the author think of her father after her visit to Tucson?
| A．More critical. | B．More humorous. |
| C．Easy-going and friendly. | D．Strict and hard-working. |
The underlined words in the last paragraph refer to ________.
| A．the author’s son | B．the author’s father |
| C．the friend of the author’s father | D．the cafe owner |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．the writer's father used to be strict with her when he was a child |
| B．the writer's father worked hard but cared less for his family |
| C．it was possibly the first time that the writer had visited her father's new home |
| D．as a child, the writer loved her father |
Where Are We Going, Dad? presents a new generation of men, in a break from Chinese tradition, now take an active role in their children's lives.
Five star fathers and their children travel around China, riding camels through the western deserts, fishing off the east coast, and selling vegetables for their bus fare home in remote southwestern Yunnan province. One dad doesn’t know how to do his daughter’s hair, but give him a couple of days — he’ll figure it out. Another one must survive with his son for three days in the desert, where, because neither can cook, the two only eat instant noodles.
These story lines are part of Where Are We Going, Dad? which, since its first show in October, has become one of China’s most popular television shows, covering more than 600 million viewers each week. And searches for Where Are We Going, Dad? turn up over 40 million hits on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter.
“In traditional Chinese culture, the common conception of parenthood is that the father is strict and the mother is kind. But on the show, we see fathers who are much gentler on their kids and more concerned with their upbringing,” said Li Minyi, an associate professor of early childhood education at the leading Beijing Normal University. “An important question arises in this show for modern Chinese society — what is the role of fathers in today’s China?”
“As they raise their children, parents are growing up at the same time,” said Wang Renping, a popular education expert, in an interview with the Qianjiang Evening News. “They cannot use parenting styles from 20 years ago to guide the development of children born 20 years later.”
The attraction of Where Are We Going, Dad? lies in the chance to have a close look at the lives of popular Chinese stars and their children. Audiences fancy watching the failed attempts of star dads making dinner, braiding hair(编头发), and disciplining children — tasks often left to mothers in a society still influenced by the opinion that “men rule outside and women rule inside.”From the passage, we can draw a conclusion that Where Are We Going, Dad? is .
| A．a TV show | B．a novel | C．a match | D．a news report |
In Where Are We Going, Dad, we can probably learn about .
| A．how the fathers do housework at home |
| B．how the children study in their spare time |
| C．how the fathers look after and guide their children |
| D．how the children help their father with their travel around China |
Which of the following is RIGHT according to the passage?
| A．In modern society, men should not care too much about their kids. |
| B．Where Are We Going, Dad has the most number of viewers in China. |
| C．In Chinese tradition, fathers always play an active part in their children’s lives. |
| D．While they bring up their children, parents are improving their parenting styles. |
The reason why Where Are We Going, Dad is so popular in China may include the following EXCEPT that .
| A．audiences enjoy laughing at others’ failure in life |
| B．it can make people laugh and think at the same time |
| C．people love watching the stars and their children’s lives closely |
| D．it presents a new generation of men’s role in their children’s lives |
How many of us have heard that question, "Where was GOD when the World Trade Center(世贸中心) and the Pentagon(五角大楼) were attacked?" Well, I know where my GOD was the morning of September 11, 2001, and He was very busy!
He was trying to discourage anyone from taking these flights. Those four flights together held over 1000 passengers and there were only 266 aboard.
He was on 4 commercial flights giving frightened passengers the ability to stay calm. Not one of the family members who were called by a loved one on one of the hijacked(被劫持的) planes said that passengers were screaming in the background. On one of the flights he was giving strength to passengers to try to overtake the hijackers.
He was busy trying to create obstacles(阻碍) for employees at the World Trade Center. After all, only around 20,000 were at the towers when the first jet hit. Since the buildings held over 50,000 workers, this was a Miracle in itself. How many of the people who were employed at the World Trade Center told the media that they were late for work or they had traffic delays.
He was holding up 2-110 story buildings so that 2/3 of the workers could get out. I was so amazed that the top of the towers didn't fall when the jets crashed. And when they did fall, GOD made them fall inward, as many more lives would have been lost.
So when anyone asks, "Where was your GOD on September 11," you can say "everywhere"! And yes, although this is without a doubt the worst thing I have seen in my life, I see God's miracles in every bit of it. I can't imagine going through such a difficult time and not believing in GOD – life would be hopeless. So shines a good deed in a weary world!In what way the author tried to prove his point in the passage?
| A．By telling a story. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By answering questions. | D．By performing experiments. |
Which one of the following is TURE according to the passage?
| A．There were three planes together hijacked in the attack. |
| B．The passengers on the planes were not frightened at all. |
| C．Many people working at WTC were delayed by traffic jams on Set. 11. |
| D．Many more people were killed in the buildings than we could imagine. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “Miracle” in the context?
| A．something funny | B．something important |
| C．something reliable | D．something unbelievable |
Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage?
A. Everyone has a GOD.
B. Where was the GOD?
C. Never forget September 11.
D. September 11 – A Disaster To America.