The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” said one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious （叛逆的） and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall, “I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.” What is the popularly- held image of teenagers?
| A．They worry about their school life. |
| B．They live in harmony with their parents. |
| C．They have to be locked in to avoid making troubles. |
| D．They quarrel a lot with their parents. |
The study shows that teenagers don’t want to ______.
| A．share family responsibility | B．cause trouble in their families |
| C．go boating with their family | D．make family decisions |
Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents______．
| A．go to clubs more often with their children |
| B．are much stricter with their children |
| C．care less about their children’s life |
| D．give their children more freedom |
According to the author, teenage rebellion _______．
| A．may be a false belief | B．is common nowadays |
| C．is based on real facts | D．resulted from changes in families |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Negotiation in family. | B．Education in family. |
| C．Harmony in family. | D．Teenage trouble in family. |
what it meant to serve a non–American: no tip. We would work just as hard as we always did,
but we might not get paid.
Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who
offers them a service of some kind. Americans tip their waiters, barbers and taxi drivers. An appropriate (合适的) tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service, but the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. The customer is expected to add it on himself/herself.
So if you order $100 worth of food, you are expected to pay your waiter at least $15, making your total payment $115. Tipping less than this sends a message to your waiter that you think they’ve done a bad job serving you. And to leave no tip at all is simply unacceptable.
It’s not that American waiters are greedy. In many countries, waiters are paid a salary for their work. They’ll earn money even if no one c
omes into the restaurant. This system offers much more safety for waiters than the American version. In the US, waiters know that a night without customers means a night without pay.
Some countries include a tip for waiters – a “service charge” – on the bill itself. Since the tip is included with the other charges, waiters don’t need to worry about people forgetting to tip. But in the US, waiters do not receive a salary, and service charges only appear on bills when there are six or more customers at the table.
Since almost all American customers are familiar with the system, they know to add a tip without being told. But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill. So as much as we waiters loved hearing stories about other places from our foreign customers, we were always nervous when they got ready to leave the restaurant. We were never sure what to expect. Why would the author and her coworkers groan when they had to serve a non-American?
| A．They would have difficulty understanding the customer. |
B．They had to work ha rder to get tips from the customer. |
| C．They might not get any payment from the customer. |
| D．They thought a non-American customer would be hard to please. |
If you order $550 worth of food, you are supposed to pay your waiter at least ______.
| A．$55 | B．$82.5 | C．$100 | D．$110 |
Why would it be thought unacceptable not to tip a waiter in the US?
A．They enjoy  getting tips from their customers. |
| B．They work harder than waiters in other countries. |
| C．They are greedier than waiters in other countries. |
| D．They earn most of their money from diners’ tips. |
Most likely, you aren’t the family breadwinner. But doing a small job or getting a weekly allowance (零花钱) would put some money in your pocket. For kids and grown-ups alike, money is easy to spend. If you aren’t careful, it can be gone in no time.
Being responsible with your money is an important skill to learn ----and the sooner you start the better. Whether you are tracking your spending or saving for something special, creating a budget can help you deal with your expenses and plan for the future. All you need are paper and a pencil --- and some self-control.
First, take a look at our sample monthly budget. Then, use a separate sheet of paper to plan your own. In the first two columns (栏), list your sources (来源) of income and how much you expect to earn from them. In the third and fourth columns, list what you expect to spend your money on and the amount.
The left-hand total should be more than or equal to the right-hand total. If it is, you have an effective budget.
Sample Monthly Budget
| Monthly Income |
Amount |
Monthly Expenses |
Amount |
| Allowance |
$20.00 |
Snacks |
$26.00 |
| Money earned selling drinks |
$25.00 |
Music downloads |
$12.00 |
| Money earned babysitting |
$12.50 |
Movies |
$18.00 |
| Money earned delivering newspapers |
$30.00 |
Video rentals |
$10.00 |
| Total: |
$87.50 |
Total |
$66.00 |
Budgets are not complex, but sticking to them can be tough. When planning your budget, be
realistic about your expenses. If you know that you drop $18 at a movie, don’t write $12 in
that space simply because you wish you were spending less
If you are eyeing a big purchase, such as a $150 skateboard, spend less and save more until you have the total amount. No matter how attractive it may be, avoid spending your savings. One day, you will thank yourself!Who is the passage written for?w
| A．Children. | B．Parents. | C．Breadwinners. | D．Bank managers. |
The purpose of making a budget is to help people _________.
| A．learn to be realistic | B．increase their saving |
| C．manage their money well | D．test their power-control |
What should people do when planning a budget?w
| A．Fill in the expenses as they really are. |
| B．Avoid spending money on expensive things. |
| C．Set aside a fixed amount of money as savings. |
| D．List income and expenses on two pieces of paper. |
Which of the fol
lowing budgets is effective?
| A． Monthly Income Amount Monthly Expenses Amount Allowance $20.00 Money earned walking dogs $20.00 Bus fares $40.00 Movies $28.00 Total: $60 Total $48.00 |
| B． Monthly Income Amount Monthly Expenses Amount Allowance $20.00 Movies $30.00 Money earned washing cars $10.00 Bus fares $10.00 Total: $30.00 Total: $40.00 |
| C． Monthly Income Amount Monthly Expenses Amount Allowance $27.50 Money earned selling drinks $22.00 Money earned babysitting $22.50 Birthday gifts $28.00 Total: $50.00 Total: $50.00 |
| D． Monthly Income Amount Monthly Expenses Amount Allowance $26.00 Video rentals $22.00 Money earned doing yard work $24.00 Birthday gifts $28.00 Total: $50.00 Total: $50.00 |
Teaching materials for learning Chinese are provided here. There are sites where you may find interesting instructions suitable for you. Here are some sites to begin your surfing.
You may start with these pages from this website — just to get a little taste of it without working too hard.
● A Is For Love
Flash cards for learning a few Chinese words
● Listening to the sound of Chinese
Play a few words of Chinese on your computer.
● A few Chinese words
Each word is enlarged for easy study.
If you are studying Chinese, these tools can help.
● Zhongwen site
More than a dictionary!
● Clavis Sinica
Excellent program by Professor David Porter. It displays a whole document in Chinese [GB] or [BIG5], and gives individual word’s definition, pronunciation as well as much more information when you click on that word. If you are studying Chinese, this is a very useful tool.
● Chinese Character Visual Dictionary
If you like to know more, go to the following sites on the Internet.
● The Chinese Outpost
Pronunciation, Character and Grammer By Mark Andrew Baker. The best. A must-visit site.
● Learn Cantonese / Mandarin Online
● Internet Based Chinese Teaching and Learning
● Rainland Kids discover Chinese — Site is in Germany
If you want to have a better understanding of China, go to this one.
● Wanfang Data
As an affiliate (分支) of Chinese Ministry of Science && Technology, Wanfang Data has been the leading information provider in China since 1950s. With a wide range of database resources and value-added services, Wanfang Data has become a gateway to understanding Chinese culture, medicine, business, science, etc.This passage is most probably from ______.
| A．a TV programme | B．a teacher’s lecture |
| C．a newspaper | D．the Internet |
If you want to know each Chinese character’s definition, pronunciation and much more information, you’d better surf ______.
| A．Zhongwen site | B．A Is For Love | C．Clavis Sinica | D．A few Chinese words |
If you want to know China about its culture, medicine, business, science, you’d better surf ______.
| A．Learn Mandarin online | B．Wanfang Data |
| C．Rainland kids discover Chinese | D．The Chinese Outpost |
The underlined word “gateway” in the last paragraph probably refers to ______.
A．an opening in a wall that can be closed b y a gate |
| B．a place through which you can go to another place |
| C．the space when a door is open |
| D．a means of getting or achieving something |
Everyone knows what a needle is. Of course there are needles and needles: Needles for sewing machines, needles for injection(注射), you name it. But few people think of the wonder : a needle works in the hands of those who practice acupuncture(针刺疗法).
During the past ten years or so, I have been suffering from terrible headache. It seems to be getting from bad to worse these days . Last night I got a sudden pain in my head. It was so terrible that I could hardly bear(忍受)it. Although I swallowed all kinds of pain-killers(止痛药), I didn’t feel any better, It seemed that there was nothing I could do but phone for a doctor.
One of our neighbours happened to be with us. He was not a doctor, but he timidly(胆怯地) offered his help, saying “Do you mind if I tried acupuncture on you? These needles may possibly do you some good.” I agreed. In a moment, he had taken out a few needles from his purse. Without a moment’s delay, he fixed a few needles into the skin on my head here and there, Before long, I felt thoroughly relieved(缓解疼痛).
Just then, the doctor sped through my house and said, “Where is our patient?”
“Sorry, Doctor, You are too late, It’s killed!” I answered in delight.
It’s miracle , isn’t it?The underlined phrase from bad to worse in the second paragraph refers to the man’s .
| A．character | B．life | C．headache | D．health |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．the neighbour fixed needles on his own head |
| B．The neighbour is a kind-hearted person. |
| C．The man’s pain was killed before the doctor arrived |
| D．Soon after the acupuncture, the man was completely recovered. |
The sentences” You are too late. It’s killed .” mean that .
A．t he pain was killed because the doctor came late |
| B．the man was killed because the doctor came too late |
| C．before the doctor came the man’s headache was already cured |
| D．it was too late and the man had gone away |
The passage tells us that .
| A．everyone knows that acupuncture is a miracle |
| B．the neighbour wanted to use acupuncture on every patient |
| C．the effect of acupuncture on the man was unbelievable |
| D．the patient did not believe in acupuncture |
When did you last see a polar bear(北极熊）? On a trip to a zoo,perhaps? If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago, you would have seen a whole polar bear club. These "Polar Bears" are people who meet frequ
ently in the winter to swim in freezing cold water. That day, the air temperature was 3℃, and the water temperature was a little higher. The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island, New York are usually about the age of 60. Members must satisfy two requirements. First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group; this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club. Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February.
Doctors don't agree about the medical effects of cold-winter swimming. Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body's temperature drops so low that finally the heart stops. Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and water temperature is much greater in summer than in winter.
The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits of cold-water swimming. They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system(循环系统）because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm. Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water. A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and should not try cold-water swimming.
The main benefits of cold-water swimming are probably mental.The Polar Bears love to swim all year round; they find it fun and relaxing. As one 70-year-old woman says,"When I go into water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away."The members of the Polar Bear Club must meet the following requirements except that_____.
| A．they must swim outdoors at least 8 times in the four cold months |
| B．they must reach the age of 60 |
C．they should  be easy to make friends with |
| D．they must agree to swim outdoors from November through February |
According to the passage, some doctors believe it is true that_____.
| A．Polar Bears are bears swimming in freezing water |
B．cold -water swimming can make the body temperature dangerously high |
| C．you are healthy if cold-water swimming turns your skin color blue |
| D．cold-water swimming causes more heart attacks in summer than in winter |
The Polar Bears like to swim year-round, for_____.
| A．it is an easy way to keep the body warm in winter | B．they can remain young |
| C．they find it enjoyable and interesting | D．they might meet fewer troubles in life |
The passage is mainly about_____.
| A．the requirements of the Polar Bear Club |
| B．a group of cold-water-swimming livers |
| C．the Polar Bears' life in New York |
| D．doctors' ideas about cold-water swimming |