Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself (懒散地躺) on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don't know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She confessed (坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.This text is most probably written by ______.
| A．a doctor for mental health problems |
| B．a headmaster of a middle school |
| C．a parent with teenage children |
| D．a specialist in teenager studies |
The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.
| A．the advice that parents want their children to follow |
| B．the change from good to bad that’s seen in a child |
| C．the opinion that a child has of his parents |
| D．the way that parents often blame themselves |
From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ______.
| A．pay no attention to them |
| B．feel helpless to do much about them |
| C．have come to hate them |
| D．are too busy to look after them |
What is the author's opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?
| A．Parents should work more closely with school teachers. |
| B．Parents should pay still sore attention to the change. |
| C．Parents have no choice but to try to accept it. |
| D．Parents are at fault for the change in their children. |
Birds that are half-asleep—with one brain hemisphere (半球) alert and the other sleeping—control which side of the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping ducks.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Decades of studies of bird groups led researchers to predict extra alertness in the end-of-the-row sleepers which tend to be attacked more easily. Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots showed no preference for gaze direction.
Also, birds napping at the end of the line depend on single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did. Turning 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found that compared with 12 percent for birds in internal spots, outer birds half-asleep during some 32 percent of napping time.
“We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness at the same time in different regions of the brain,” the researchers say.
The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing assumption that single-hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures scanned for enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be widespread, he predicts. He’s seen it in a pair of birds napping side-by-side in the zoo and in a single pet bird sleeping by a mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open.
Useful as half-sleeping might be, it’s only been found in birds and such water animals as dolphins, whales, and seals. Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning.
Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome M. Siegel of the UCLA says he wonders if birds’ half-brain sleep “is just the tip of the iceberg.” He supposes that more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other species.
72. According to the passage, birds often half sleep because ______.
A. they have to watch out for possible attacks
B. their brain hemispheres take turns to rest
C. the two halves of their brain are differently structured
D. they have to constantly keep an eye on their companions
73. What is implied about the example of a bird’s sleeping in front of a mirror?
A. An imagined companion gives the bird a sense of security.
B. Birds prefer to sleep in pairs for the sake of their security.
C. The phenomenon of birds napping in pairs is widespread.
D. A single pet bird enjoys seeing its own reflection in the mirror.
74. While sleeping, some water animals tend to keep half awake in order to ______.
A. alert themselves to the approaching enemy
B. emerge from water now and then to breathe
C. be sensitive to the ever-changing environment
D. avoid being swept away by rapid currents
75. By saying “just the tip of the iceberg”, Siegel suggests that ______.
A. half-brain sleep has something to do with icy weather
B. the mystery of half-brain sleep is close to being solved
C. most birds living in cold regions tend to be half sleepers
D. half-brain sleep may exist among other species
Mike Maietta was eating lunch when he got a text message from his mom.
“Notre Dame,” it said. “Big envelope!”
Mike, a senior at a Californian high school, shouted with joy. The big envelope meant that the excellent university in Indiana had offered him a place in its Class of 2013. But the $51,300 annual fee is a big obstacle. So Mike and his parents are considering offers from several other colleges and are calculating the costs of tuition, housing and holiday trips home.
This year, money is the driving factor for a growing number of high school seniors, who have to decide what colleges to attend this fall. Less jobs and plunging house prices have changed family spending.
“We’re excited that Mike got into eight great schools,” said Mike’s father, an engineer at Microsoft. “But if you consider going to school out of state, you’ve got to think about all of the other costs: moving, flying back and forth for the holidays. You’re looking at about $3,000 a year, just for travel.”
As families weigh their choices, some are going back to financial aid offices hoping help packages can be increased.
Rachel Brown was happy to get a thick envelope from New York University (NYU). Although she has always wanted to live in Manhattan, she is seriously considering the University of California San Diego (UCSD), because of the high cost in New York.
“The tuition for NYU is twice as much as UCSD,” said Rachel, 17. “My mom doesn’t want me to have a big debt when I graduate, and I don’t want that either. I’d have to take out a loan of $15,000. I’ll check and see if there’s any way that NYU can offer me any financial aid.”
More than 7.6 million American students have filled out the Free Application for Students Aid, a 19.9 percent increase over last year.
This month the Federal Department of Education urged college financial aid officers to give more help to certain families. A record 30,428 students applied for 2,300 places at Stanford, partly because the university increased financial aid for families earning below $10,000.
68. Mike may give up Notre Dame because of ______.
A. travel fees B. financial concerns
C. poor exam results D. worries about living far away from home
69. The phrase “Big envelope” in paragraph 2 probably refers to “______”.
A. A text message B. A large gift package
C. An admission letter D. A scholarship letter
70. What can we learn from the passage?
A. The number of American senior students applying for financial aid is increasing.
B. Rachel Brown has given up NYU because of its high tuition and big debts.
C. It is inevitably hard for college students to borrow money to cover costs.
D. An interest-free loan for students helps more students apply for Stanford.
71. The passage mainly focuses on ______.
A. the calculation of different costs including tuition
B. the extremely hard financial situation in America
C. the excitement of students’ being able to enter ideal colleges
D. the financial crisis of families over college entrance
Dear Daughter, 
As we drove off from Columbia, I wanted to write a letter to you to tell you all that is on my mind.
First, I want to tell you how proud we are. Getting into Columbia is a real proof of what a great well-rounded student you are. You should be as proud of yourself as we are.
It is in college that you will discover what learning is about. This will be the period where you go from teacher-taught to master-inspired, after which you must become self-learner. So do take each subject seriously, and even if what you learn isn’t critical for your life, the learning skills you acquire will be something you will treasure forever.
Follow your passion in college. Take courses you think you will enjoy. Don’t be trapped by what others think or say, but make up your own mind.
Most importantly, make friends and be happy. Pick a few friends and become really close to them – pick the ones who are genuine to you. Don’t worry about their grades, looks, or even personalities.
Start planning early. I think your plan to study fashion is good, and you should decide where you want to be, and get onto the right courses.
Whether it is coursework planning or picking a major, you should take control of your life. I will always be there for you, but the time has come for you to be in the driver’s seat – this is your life, and you need to be in control. Being in control feels great.
So please treasure your college years – make the best of your free time, become an independent thinker in control of your destiny fate, learn and grow through your successes and challenges.
May your years at Columbia be the happiest of your life, and may you blossom into just what you dream to be.
Love,
Dad (& Mom)
65. According to the letter the author’s daughter is ______.
A. scared to be leaving home B. a well-rounded student
C. the pride of her university D. learning to drive a car
66. Which advice below is given to his daughter by the author?
A. Party with friends in her free time.
B. Ignore what others think or say.
C. choose friends with similar personalities.
D. Treasure and make the best of her college years.
67. From the passage, we can conclude the father is ______.
A. worried about his daughter B. strict with his daughter
C. positive about his daughter’s future D. sad about his daughter’s leaving home
When I stepped out the plane from Miami into Charlotte, North Carolina, airport for a connecting flight home, I immediately knew something was wrong. Lots of desperate people crowded the terminal. I quickly learned that flights headed to the Northeast were called off because of a storm. The earliest they could get us out of Charlotte was Tuesday. It was Friday. A gate agent stood on the counter and shouted, “Don’t ask us for help! We cannot help you!”
I joined a crowd that ran from terminal to terminal in search of a flight out. Eventually, I found six strangers willing to rent a van with me. We drove through the night to Washington, where I took a train the rest of the way to Providence.
The real problem, of course, is that incidents like this happen every day, to everyone who flies, more and more often. It really gets to me, though, because for eight years I was on the other side, as a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines(TWA).
I know the days are gone when attendants could be written up if we did not put the lines napkins with the TWA logo in the lower right-hand corner of the first-class diners’ trays. As are the days when there were three dinner options on flights from Boston to Los Angeles in economy class. When, once, stuck on
a tarmac (机场停机坪) in Newark for four hours, a planeload of passengers got McDonald’s hamburgers and fries by thoughtfulness of the airline.
I have experienced the decline of service along with the rest of the flying public. But I believe everything will change little by little, because I remember the days when to fly was to soar (翱翔). The airlines, and their employees, took pride in how their passengers were treated. And I think the days are sure to come back one day in the near future. Many people crowded the terminal because ________.
| A．they were ready to board on the planes |
| B．something was wrong with the terminal |
| C．the flights to the Northeast were canceled |
| D．the gate agent wouldn’t help the passengers |
The writer got to Providence ________ at last.
| A．by air | B．by van | C．by train | D．by underground |
Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．Incidents happened to those who fly quite often. |
| B．The writer used to be a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines. |
| C．Even a small mistake might cause complaints from passengers in the past. |
| D．McDonald’s hamburgers and fries were among regular dinner options. |
What can be implied from the passage?
A．The writer lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. |
| B．The writer thought the service was not as good as it used to be. |
| C．The writer with other passengers waited to be picked up patiently. |
| D．Passengers would feel proud of how they were treated on the plane. |
Putting Movies on Mobiles
Movies in the theater get their recognition at awards ceremonies such as the Oscars. But how about movies for phones? They are getting their turn at MoFilm — the first mobile film festival.
The first MoFilm competition received 250 entries from more than 100 countries. Entries were restricted to films that were five minutes or less in length — ideal for viewing and sharing on mobile phones. An independent jury then selected a shortlist of five film-makers. The winner was chosen from the shortlist by an audience voting using their phones.
lNew Platforms
The awards highlight the increasing impact that mobile phones are making in the entertainment industry. Many grassroots filmmakers start out with short films. They are thwarted by the lack of opportunities to screen their work. Therefore, mobile phones are increasingly being seen as a new platform for these short works.
It is a good place for anyone who wants to express themselves and find a way to have that expression be seen by a wide audience. Just think about how many people have mobile phones in the world!
lNew Technology Advances
MoFilm is pioneering content for mobile and online services that is a world away from Hollywood. The majority of films made for mobiles are now short in length, taking into account the screen size. However this could be overcome as technology advances.
In the near future, longer films will likely be seen on the mobile phone. And there are mobile companies creating phones where users can watch movies at higher quality.
Wherever you see movies, one thing is certain: the quality of work, the simple ability at story telling, and the thing that inspires someone to tell a story can really come from anywhere.At the first MoFilm, ________.
| A．movies in the theater got their recognition |
| B．more than 100 countries took part in the competition |
| C．ideal films were five minutes or less in length |
| D．the winner was chosen by experts’ voting |
They are thwarted by the lack of opportunities to screen their work. The underlined word means “________”.
| A．disappointed | B．surprised | C．frightened | D．encouraged |
Nowadays the majority of films made for mobiles are short in length because of _______.
| A．online services | B．the screen size |
| C．technology advances | D．the mobile phone |