In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied (依赖) on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development, of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while sonic seem to be lost in die desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only die winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken-belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve(缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Competition helps to set up self-respect. |
| B．Opinions about competition are different among people. |
| C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development. |
| D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition. |
The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means______.
| A．those who try their best to win |
| B．those who value competition most highly |
| C．those who are against competition most strongly |
| D．those who rely on others most for success |
Which point of view may the author agree to?
| A．Every effort should be paid back. |
| B．Competition should be encouraged. |
| C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter. |
| D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition. |
Children’s allowance. Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance(零用钱). The purpose is to let them learn from experience at an age when financial （财政的；财务的；金融的)mistakes are not very costly.
In any case, parents should make clear what the child is expected to pay for with the money. At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If so, they’ll learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget（预算）. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance. It is to show them that a budget demands choices between spending and saving.
Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life. Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.
Allowances give children a chance to experience what they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or give it to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it. Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: They have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer services to help children learn about personal finance.Giving children an allowance can mostly help them ______.
| A．cut their living costs |
| B．learn to plan for the future |
| C．earn a living when young |
| D．get some financial knowledge |
By receiving an allowance, children can learn ______.
| A．how to spend money from experience |
| B．when to avoid making mistakes |
| C．what they should do next at a young age |
| D．what they can do with money earned |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Allowance, a great way to educate children |
| B．Allowance, a costly burden for children |
| C．Give allowances to children at once |
| D．Develop children’s allowances |
The following is something about extreme sports: Dangerous as they are, extreme sports remain appealing among many Australian young people! Camp extreme sports is the perfect test of your heart.
Kite Surfing
It’s the exciting mixture of kite, board and waves. The idea of using a kite to accelerate speed seems like a new challenge, yet the art of kite flying dates back to the 13th-century Chinese when it was used as a simple means of transport.
Catch a wind and you’re moving — up, down and across the surf. “It’s always exciting. You’d jump 5 feet or 35 feet. You never know if you’re going to go up in the air, and your heart is just going boom, boom, boom.”
Coasteering
It is by far the best activity and the event that everyone is still talking about. This is exploring the coastline without worrying about a coastal path or finding a rocky bay blocking your route. You climb, dive and swim from one place to another. With Coasteering, you don’t have to be able to swim as the wet suit and buoyancy(浮力) aid will keep you floating when you are in the water.
Sky Diving
Traditional parachuting(跳伞) doesn’t sound risky enough. So now sky diving is the name for jumping from a plane and listening to your heart beating heavily as you move fast towards earth before you open your parachute at the last moment.
Mountain Biking
It’s been around so long that bikers are no longer satisfied with just going up and down a mountain. Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough land, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but include features designed to improve strength and performance in rough areas.
For details, please call us on 1300-792-668 or click here: www.xtremecamp.com.au.All the four extreme sports are intended to test one’s _____.
| A．potential strength | B．physical health |
| C．sports skills | D．courage |
The underlined word “it” refers to _____.
| A．kite flying | B．kite surfing |
| C．a kite | D．the art of kites |
Which of the following sports can be the most risky?
| A．Kite surfing. | B．Coasteering. |
| C． Mountain biking. | D．Sky diving. |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．kites were the main means of transport in China |
| B．swimming skills play a key role in Coasteering |
| C．mountain biking requires more than riding common bikes |
| D．parachuting is the least popular sports at present |
What’s your opinion about finding good friends? Speaking from my past experience, it is very difficult to find good friends that you can trust but once you have found them, they are worth keeping forever! Therefore, I think friendship is the most important relationship that anybody could have.
The qualities I look for in a friend are a good sense of humor and sensitivity. A friend would have to be strong-minded and highly spirited. I think that these qualities are the key qualities to look for in a good friend.
Even the best friends can still have arguments between themselves, though usually about more serious topics, rather than the usual childish arguments. Some matters can seriously affect friendship. If one of your friends started experimenting with harmful and dangerous drugs, what would you do? A good friend would try to help as much as possible, while a bad example of a friend would simply shrug and turn a blind eye.
Not only the bad things affect friendship ---good activities do too, such as bonding with one another, not just by going out on a night with them, but by spending quality time with them and talking to each other. This is a key aspect of a good friendship.
Good friends do not always have to be in the same age group as you. I have a good friend and she is 47 years old and I am 16.
Unfortunately, some people lose contact with their friends as they grow older, which is a sad way to lose a good friend.
I think friendship is one of the most important things in life because if you have no friends you will have no happiness.According to the author, true friendship _____.
| A．is easy to get | B．needs management |
| C．deepens with time | D．affects one’s happiness |
Paragraph 3 is mainly about _____.
| A．why drugs are bad for teenagers |
| B．whether a friend is reliable |
| C．ways that help avoid arguments |
| D．problems that will test friendship |
According to the author, which matters least in friendship?
| A．Confidence | B．Age |
| C．Sense of humor. | D．Communication. |
Which of the following sayings can match the author's view on friendship?
| A．Old friends and old wines are best. |
| B．A friend without faults will never be found. |
| C．A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody. |
| D．A life without a friend is a life without a sun. |
It was a cloudy day on November 11, 2015. We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn’t even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. While I watched, mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop (拖把). She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, “Very dirty floors.”
“Yes, I’m glad they’ve finally decided to clean them,” the nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, “But aren’t you working late?”
Mum just pushed harder, each swipe of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.
After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum nodded politely to the nurse and said, “Thank you.”
Outside, Mum told me, “Dagma is fine. No fever. ”
“You see her, Mum?”
“Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It’s a fine hospital. But the floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush. ”When the nurse talked to Mum, she thought Mum was a ________.
| A．nurse | B．cleaner | C．patient | D．visitor |
What can we infer about the hospital?
| A．It was a children’s hospital. |
| B．The nurses and doctors there don’t work hard. |
| C．It has strict rules about visiting hours. |
| D．A lot of patients come to this hospital every day. |
Mum went to see Dagma in the hospital to _____.
| A．give her some messages about Dad |
| B．make sure her room was clean |
| C．check that she was still there |
| D．find out how she was |
Which of the following words can best describe Mum?
| A．Hard –working | B．Clever |
| C．Warmly –hearted | D．Strange |
Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers conclude that the French tend (易于) to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favorite TV show is over.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed (挤出) between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers’ markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as high-quality meats for each meal.
After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.
In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity - or extreme overweight - among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject (拒绝) older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17% - and is growing.In what way are the French different from Americans according to Dr. Joseph Mercola?
| A．They go shopping at supermarkets more frequently. |
| B．They regard eating as a key part of their life style. |
| C．They squeeze eating between the other daily activities. |
| D．They usually eat too much canned and frozen food. |
This text is mainly about the relationship between ______.
| A．children and adults | B．Americans and the French |
| C．life style and obesity | D．fast food and overweight |
Where does this text probably come from?
| A．A health report | B．A book review |
| C．A TV interview | D．A food advertisement |