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 |
Mini Book Excerpts (节选)
Biography
When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land, the middle-aged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it… The townspeople never forgot the rescue and came to help their most famous neighbor.
J. D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski (Random House, $27)
Mystery (疑案小说)
"You're a smart boy. Benny's death was no accident, and you're the only who saw it happen. Do you think the murderer should get away with it?" The boy was staring stubbornly at his lap again.
A thought suddenly occurred to Annika, "Did you …You recognized the man in the car, didn't you?"
The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers, "Maybe," he said quietly.
Red Wolf by Liza Marklund (Atria Books, $25.99)
Short Stories
She wants to say to him what she has learned, none of it in class. Some women are born stupid, and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give, and some women only know how to take. Some women learn who they want to be from their mothers, some who they don't want to be. Some mothers suffer so their daughters won't. Some mothers love so their daughters won't.
You Are Free by Danzy Senna (Riverhead Books, $15)
Humor
Do your kids like to have fun? Come to Fun Times! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times!'s "amusement cycling" is the most fun you can have, legally, in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half of that within a day's drive of most cities?
Happy: And Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle (Ecco, $14.99)If the readers want to know about the life of Salinger, they should buy the book published by ________.
| A．Ecco | B．Atria Books | C．Riverhead Books | D．Random House |
The book Happy And Other Bad Thoughts is intended for ________.
| A．young children | B．Disney World workers |
| C．middle school teachers | D．parents with young children |
Which book describes women with characters of their own?
A. Happy And Other Bad Thoughts
B. J. D. Salinger: A Life
C. You Are Free
D. Red Wolf After finishing the book Red Wolf, the readers would learn that ________.
| A．the boy helped arrest the murderer |
| B．Benny died of an accident |
| C．the murderer got away with the crime |
| D．Annika carried out the crime |
You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight. They hit one another hard. At the start they only fight with their fists（拳头）.But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with chairs. And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below. He is dead!
Of course he isn’t really dead. With any luck he isn’t even hurt. Why ? Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast moving trains, who crash cars of even catching fire, are professionals（职业）.They do this for a living. These men are called stuntmen. That is to say, they perform tricks（骗局）.
There are two sides to their work. They actually do most of the things you see on the screen. For example, they fall from a high building. However, they do not fall on to hard ground but on to empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress（床垫）. Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows, the glass is made of sugar!
But although their work depend on trick of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and training. Often a stuntman’s success depends on careful timing（计时）.For example, when he is “blown up” in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of the explosion（爆炸）just at the right moment.
Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives. They often get seriously injured, and sometimes killed. A Norwegian stuntman, for example, skied over the edge of a cliff a thousand feet high. His parachute（降落伞）failed to open, and he was killed.
In spite of（尽管）all the risks, this is no longer a profession for men only. Men no longer dress up as women when actresses have to perform some dangerous action. For nowadays there are stuntgirls too!Stuntmen are those who____________
| A．Often dress up as actors |
| B．prefer to lead dangerous lives |
| C．often perform seemingly dangerous actions |
| D．often fight each other for their lives |
Stuntmen earn their living by___________
| A．playing their dirty tricks |
| B．selling their special skills |
| C．jumping out of high windows |
| D．jumping from fast moving trains |
When a stuntman falls from a high building,___________
| A．he needs little protection |
| B．he will be covered with a mattress |
| C．his life is endangered |
| D．his safety is generally all right |
Which of the following is the main factor(因素) of a successful performance?
| A．Strength | B．Exactness | C．Speed | D．Carefulness |
What can be inferred from the author’s example of the Norwegian stuntman?
| A．Sometimes an accident can occur to a stuntman. |
| B．The percentage of serious accidents is high. |
| C．Parachutes must be of good quality. |
| D．The cliff is too high. |
HOW TO BOOK
Booking opens for Beckett Shorts on 8 September.
BY TELEPHONE
For credit card(信用卡) bookings. Calls are answered.
BOX OFFICE
01789 295623 9am—8pm( Mon—Sat)
0541 541051 ( 24 hours, 7 days, no booking charge,<收费> )
BY FAX
For credit card bookings. Please allow at least 48 hours for reply, if required.
BOX OFFICE
01789 261974 or 01862 387765
BY POST
Please enclose（附上）a cheque or credit card details together with an SAE or add 50p to the total amount（总额）to cover postage. Please send to the Box Office, RST , Stratford—upon—Avon, CV376BB.
Booking opens for all other plays on 19 September.
IN PERSON
BOX OFFICE
RST hall, 9:30am—8pm ( Mon—Sat ) ( 6pm when theatres are closed )
OVERSEAS BOOKING
The easiest method of payment is by credit card. You can also pay by; Eurocheque (up to £500)with your card number written on the back.
PAYING FOR YOUR TICKETS CREDIT CARDS
We accept Visa, Master Card, American Express and Diners Club. Please give the card number, name and address of card holder.
CHEQUES
Cheques and postal orders should be payable to: Royal Shakespeare Theatre.In which of following ways of booking does one probably have pay extra money?
| A．In person. | B．By telephone. |
| C．By fax. | D．By post. |
One has to wait for 2 days or longer for a reply if he/she pays_____________
| A．in person. | B．by telephone. |
| C．by fax. | D．by post. |
What is a useful number to call at 11 am Sunday?
| A．01789 295623 | B．0541 541051 |
| C．01789 261174 | D．01862 387665 |
If you walk slowly through downtown Helsinki(赫尔辛基）during the day, taking in the splendid 19th century buildings, white boats and noise of passing trams（有轨电车）, you will start to understand why it is called a city of two colors: white and blue.
The sea is always present in Helsinki. When you take a walk over the great open space of the central square, you will hear seabirds screaming. When you take the tram ,suddenly and unexpectedly, you are faced with a calm, shining blue sea. You may notice that people in Helsinki do not rush about as in other cities. Instead ,they walk along the roads, politely letting other people by.
An usual way to see Helsinki for the first time is to start out by the boats. You will walk by the elderly women selling fish and vegetables in the market square and find yourself in front of a beautiful park. You may enjoy a pleasant walk in the park for a few hours and then take the tram. Trams are the perfect way to get around（四处走动）in Helsinki. Watching the old houses, parks, theatres, churches, shops, restaurants and people in the streets, you may have a slightly sad film feeling to it.
The pale summer nights are another wonder in the city. Following the waterfront（滨水区）of the city after sunset, you couldn’t help stopping and listening to the sweet silence, interrupted only by the screaming seabirds and leaving fishing boats.
However, in some way. Helsinki is also the most modern city in northern Europe. You will surely want to visit the white Glass Palace, the modern art museum, and all those extremely popular cafes and design stores.Helsinki is called a city of two colors mainly because of the colors of its ____________
| A．19th century buildings, boats and parks |
| B．19th century buildings, boats and seabirds |
| C．old houses, parks and trams |
| D．old buildings, boats and the sea |
The best way to see most of Helsinki is to go___________
| A．by boat | B．by bus | C．by tram | D．on foot |
The 19th century buildings, the white Glass Palace, popular cafes and design shops in Helsinki all show that Helsinki is __________
| A．both splendid and traditional | B．both quiet and noisy |
| C．both historical and modern | D．both old and new |
This passage is most likely to be found in___________
| A．a story-book | B．a geography textbook |
| C．a research report | D．a travel magazine |
My parents were in a huge argument, and I was really upset about it. I didn’t know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend’s house. Though I knew I wouldn’t tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I’d stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, “Great opportunity(机会)”
“ What is ?” I asked.
“ To talk, you and I,” he said. “To hold a private little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we’re going to do with ourselves now that we’re in the situation we are in.”
“But we can’t do anything about it, Grandpa,” I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same “boat” as I was.
And that’s how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feelings and fears of life—from how fast things change, to how they sometimes don’t change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be.
Suddenly, the lights all came back on. “Well,” he said, “ I guess that means you’ll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!” I wished to get out of the house because ______________
| A．I was angry about my parents’ quarrel（争吵） |
| B．I found nobody to share my feelings with |
| C．I wanted to escape from the dark house |
| D．I planned to tell my friend about my trouble |
Grandpa was happy to see me because _____________
| A．he could discuss the problem with me |
| B．he had not seen me for a long time |
| C．he was afraid of darkness |
| D．he felt quite lonely |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The grandchild was eager to leave. |
| B．They would have more chats. |
| C．The lights would go out again. |
| D．It would no longer be dark. |