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 ease, 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. 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: stay calm. Once the student feels calmer, he or she should choose words that will calm the other person down as well Rude words, namecalling, 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 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 cooperation; 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.This article is mainly about ________.
| A．the lives of school children |
| B．the cause of arguments in schools |
| C．how to analyze youth violence |
| D．how to deal with school conflicts |
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．advocate teaching conflict management in schools |
| D．inform teachers of the latest studies on school violence |
Have you ever thought of taking a train and having an adventure？Riding the train can be a real adventure. That is how I feel every time I take Amtrak. I often take a four-hour trip to visit my children. Every time I take this trip I never know what will happen.
Last week when I was on the train, there was a man sitting by himself in the back of the train carrying on a mobile phone conversation—in another language. It was loud and disturbed most of the people on the train. I think it was annoying.
Fortunately I sat next to a wonderful old lady who was taking a two-day trip by train. She said her two daughters were worried at the thought of driving for three days to reach her home, although she had no trouble driving. The train ride was the only choice for her. She loved to look out of the window and watch the world go by on the train.
She was fun to talk to and asked me when my children started being parents. That is a very good question. Both of us are old and have children. She asked that same question from time to time.
There are always many people on the train from all walks of life, different countries, and many languages. Riding the train is a great way to increase your knowledge and learn all kinds of cultures. If you get hungry, you can buy food in the food car at any time. If you need to use the restroom, there is always one for you.
It surely beats driving the car, which has to stop for food and restrooms. And it is better than taking the bus.According to the passage, the purpose of the author’s train ride was ______.
| A．to do business | B．to see her children |
| C．to visit places of interest | D．to see her old friends |
In the author’s opinion, on the train Amtrak ______.
| A．the services are quite good | B．the food is terribly expensive |
| C．all the passengers are polite | D．all the passengers are American |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．A painful experience on the train | B．A wonderful lady |
| C．Train ride—a cultural experience | D．The history of Amtrak |
Because of the change in the American public school system over the last several years, now many parents choose to home-school their children. There are many reasons behind this. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
For some parents, they have religious (宗教的) reasons for home-schooling. The public school system does not have religious teachings, so these parents want to put religion into the children’s daily school activities. This might include teaching religion-based courses rather than coursework that is taught in public schools.
For some parents, they do not feel that their local school system offers their children the best learning opportunities. So they want to take matters into their own hands. This may be because the local school has low educational standards (标准) or for some other reason the parents think it necessary to take their children out of the system. Sometimes the parents just feel the children will get a better education at home.
Some parents may not be rich enough to send their children to a private school, so the next best thing in their eyes is home-schooling. Thus they can teach their children what they like.
One should remember that the laws about home-schooling vary from state to state. In some states, the parents are required to hand in monthly attendance records (出席记录) to their local school system. What’s more, most states require state testing at certain periods such as the CRCT.The writer wrote this passage mainly to _______.
| A．advise parents to home-school their children |
| B．explain why some parents choose to home-school their children |
| C．tell us the advantages and disadvantages of home-schooling |
| D．praise home-schooling and private schools |
Paragraph 3 tells us that some parents choose home-schooling because ______.
| A．school teachers are not strict with their children |
| B．their children don’t do well in their studies at school |
| C．their children don’t like going to school |
| D．they are not satisfied with the school education |
What does the underlined word “vary” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Increase | B．Change | C．Spread | D．Keep |
How many reasons for home-schooling are mentioned in the passage?
| A．2 | B．4 | C．3 | D．5 |
Monday: Here I am, in the middle of nowhere. This camping trip idea is not getting off to a very good start. It’s raining and the tent leaks. The hiking seemed to take forever, and I still can’t understand how it could all have been up hill! How did I ever let my brother talk me into this? When we get home—if we ever get home—he’s going to have to do something great to get back on my good side. Maybe he should sponsor a shopping spree（狂购）at the mall!
Tuesday: Things are looking up. The sun came out today, so we were able to leave the tents and dry out. We’re camped at the edge of a small lake that I couldn’t see before because of the rain and fog. The mountains are all around us, and the forest is absolutely beautiful. We spent most of the day dragging out everything out of our backpacks or tents and putting it where the sun could dry it out. Later in the afternoon we tried to catch the fish for dinner, but the fish were smarter than we were. At night we built a fire and sang songs happily.
Wednesday: We hiked to the far side of the lake and climbed to the top of a small peak. From there we could see how high the other mountains were and how far the forest spread around us. On the way up we passed through a snowfield!
Thursday: I caught my first fish! We followed the stream that fed the lake. After about two miles, we came to a section that Carol said looked “fishy”. She had a pack rod(竿), which can be carried in a backpack. I asked to cast it, and I caught a fish on my first try. Carol caught a few more. But they were just too pretty to eat for lunch so we put them back in the stream.
Friday: I can’t believe we are going home already. It will be nice to get a hot shower, sleep in a real bed, and eat junk food, but the trip has been wonderful. We’re already talking about another camping adventure next year where we canoe down a river. It’s hard to believe, but I think this city girl has a little country blood in her veins.The writer went on this camping trip because________.
| A．she enjoyed camping |
| B．she wanted to go fishing |
| C．she was influenced by her brother |
| D．she was tired of staying at home |
The whole morning of Tuesday, the writer ________.
| A．hiked along the lake | B．dried out her belongings |
| C．climbed the mountain | D．caught the fish for dinner |
It can be inferred that Carol had a pack rod with her because ________.
| A．she could not afford to buy a regular fishing pole |
| B．she needed it to get their main source of food |
| C．she thought the writer of the journal might need it |
| D．she expected to go fishing while they were hiking |
It is likely that the writer will ________.
| A．go on another camping trip |
| B．invite Carol to go fishing together |
| C．make her brother buy her something |
| D．convince her brother to go camping |
Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.
First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.
Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable”.
Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time. Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.
Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in “Special English from the V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook”.This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to ________.
| A．improve their listening ability |
| B．read fast |
| C．write better English and read faster |
| D．speak correctly |
If you want to understand the English news program on the radio, you should ________.
| A．read the Chinese-language newspaper step by step |
| B．read again and again the Chinese-language newspaper |
| C．go through the Chinese-language newspaper first |
| D．be able to recite the Chinese-language newspaper |
The author advised that once you have taken up a course, you ________.
| A．should stick to it |
| B．should begin with the last book |
| C．should take up other courses if they are more fashionable |
| D．shouldn’t do anything else |
In this passage, V.O.A. stands for ________.
A.a book B. a magazine C. a text-book D. a radio station
If I raised the question, “What would be the last thing you would expect to happen while watching your son’s flag football game?” you probably still couldn’t come up with what happened to me and my family.
As we were sitting on the sidelines enjoying the game, a low-flying bird came swooping in attempting to land on my daughter’s head! It honestly came out of nowhere. We were seated by ourselves on the tree lined side of the field. I was able to calm my daughter’s shock and fear once I showed her that the bird was not some wild animal, it was in fact, somebody’s pet!
Now, we’re sitting at the outdoor fields of the Pontiac Silverdome, far from any populated area, wondering where this very social cockatiel, an Australian parrot (澳洲鹦鹉) could have come from. I walked up to the bird and put out my hand. Immediately, it hopped on and chirped in a friendly way. We looked around us and knew that we could not just leave and suppose that the bird would return to where it came from. This was a very domesticated bird that needed help or it would not survive.
The flag football game had ended so we walked the bird over to other groups of adults and asked if they knew of anyone who had lost a bird. All the kids were excited about the bird and fed it with some post game snacks. The bird’s nails were getting long and he was looking pretty dirty, so we knew it had been out here for a long time and was hungry. Since its wings were clipped, it could fly a little but probably not more than 100 yards or so at a try. We all just scratched our heads as a group wondering what to do with the lost bird.
We explained to the kids that this bird needed our help since it was someone’s pet and would not know how to get its own food, and it could not fly well since its wings were clipped. The kids understood, and all of them wanted to take the bird home! The parents however, knew this was not a good choice as one had a large dog, another two cats, etc. We explained to the kids that one of us could take the bird home for the night and then bring it to the Humane Society in the morning in hopes to connect it to its owners. We couldn’t keep the bird. It wasn’t ours. This was tough for the kids to understand at first. We couldn’t just leave the bird either. There was no way it could attend itself. The group of us sat around the Silverdome practice fields for quite a while trying to determine the best course of choice for the lost bird. It was getting dark out but no one was willing to leave that parking lot until we had a game plan for how to help the bird.
The owner of the football league, Chris Novak, offered to take the bird. It was extremely nice of him and he really stepped in to help while all the rest of us who had kids tugging on our shirts and begging to take it home. We took a box and put a bunch of holes in it and he brought it home for the night. Another mom went online and found a family that had lost a bird that looked just like the one we’d found. She emailed the info to Chris who got in touch with the family and the next day, reunited the bird with the family that lost it almost 3 weeks earlier! When Chris emailed us to let us know, we could not believe that this bird had traveled from The Rochester Tienken area all the way to the Silverdome!
We were so happy to be able to save this bird and get it back to its family. I showed my kids the email about how the other family got their pet back. The family has 3 kids who were so happy to see their bird. My kids realized what a nice ending this story had. Not only had we been able to save this bird’s life, but we were able to bring it back to the family that loves and misses him.
The life lesson in the missing bird story seemed to miss its mark with my kids at first. They were a little bummed out that they couldn’t keep the lost bird. I explained to them that when an animal or someone needs help, you just can’t turn a blind eye and hope everything works out OK. The “lost bird incident” was also a reminder to them that teamwork and the kindness of strangers can make a world of difference and that a group of well-meaning strangers can work together to help someone. It wasn’t a heroic act, but one that I knew had sunk in with my kids when they realized that trying to help was the best and only real course of action. What happened when the author watched his son’s football games?
| A．A parrot tried to eat their food. |
| B．His daughter was hurt by a parrot. |
| C．A parrot flew towards his daughter. |
| D．A parrot landed on his daughter’s head. |
The underlined word “domesticated” in the second paragraph probably means_______.
| A．having been abandoned | B．having been used to home life |
| C．having been used to life in the wild | D．having been week and hungry |
Who was the first one to find the bird’s owner?
| A．The author | B．Chris Novak |
| C．The Humane Society | D．A participant’s mother |
What can be learned from the “lost bird incident”?
| A．Strangers can also work well together. |
| B．Humane Society helps children in teamwork. |
| C．Children can keep lost injured pet birds home. |
| D．Helping others is always regarded as a heroic act. |
What did the author want to tell in the text?
| A．How to help a lost parrot to find home. |
| B．The experience of watching a football games. |
| C．The importance of teamwork and helping others. |
| D．How a parrot can fly a long distance from home. |
The best title of the text should be________.
| A．What Animals Can Teach Us |
| B．Complete Care for a Lost Bird |
| C．Life Lessons When You Least Expect It |
| D．Love First, Teamwork and Kindness Second |