“Well, we’re in our new house. Let’s get a new pet to go along with it,” Mrs. Brown said to her husband.
“That sounds like a very good idea,” he answered. “Do you want to see the ads in the newspaper?”
“Let’s go to the animal shelter. Many pets there need homes. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we can both go.” she said.
The next morning the Browns met Mr. Snow at the animal shelter. “We want to be sure that the pets here go to good homes,” Mr. Snow said, “So I need to ask you some questions.”
After they talked for a while, the Browns decided to get a small dog. It wouldn’t need a big house or a big yard. A small dog would bark and warn them if someone tried to break into their house. After Mr. Snow gave the Browns a book on pet care, they chose one and wanted to take her home right away. But the animal doctor hadn’t examined her yet. So Mr. Snow told them to return on Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon the Browns went to the animal shelter. The animal doctor said, “Shadow has had all of her shots（预防针）. She will be healthy.” The Browns thanked the doctor and took Shadow home.Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The Browns have never had a pet before |
| B．The Browns knew about Shadow from the newspaper |
| C．Shadow is a small and healthy dog |
| D．Mr. Brown didn’t quite agree with his wife |
The word “shelter” in the reading means _________.
| A．a place to sell small dogs |
| B．a place to keep homeless animals |
| C．a place to study animals |
| D．a place to sell books on pet care |
Mr. Snow asked the Browns some questions to _________.
| A．see if they had moved to a new house |
| B．find out how rich the Browns were |
| C．know where they’d keep their new pet |
| D．make sure they’d take good care of pets |
The Browns think that a small dog _________.
| A．doesn’t need any room to keep |
| B．can help them watch their house |
| C．eats less food than a bigger one |
| D．usually has a beautiful name |
Most recently, it’s very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews． Naturally, it’s easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us． We—as parents—are so eager to shelter our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them．As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself constantly that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me．So, I’ll let them fail．
I’ll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow．And failure — along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc．— will be part of growth for them．Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone, is my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today．From terrorism and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish．
My children now are becoming little masters of compromise, but they try to negotiate （协商） everything now．It’s a small price to help them learn a skill they’ll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don’t accompany them on job interviews．Why do parents accompany their kids on job interviews?
| A．Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties． |
| B．Because they think they can help them on the questions． |
| C．Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews． |
| D．Because their kids strongly request them to do so． |
According to the author, what is beneficial to kids’ development?
| A．Sheltering them． | B．Keeping them safe． |
| C．Leaving them alone． | D．Blaming them． |
Why does the author stress failure in kids’ life?
| A．To make them stronger than other kids． |
| B．To help them grow in this tough world． |
| C．To help them develop all social skills． |
| D．To make them learn to compromise． |
Which of the following might be the best title for die text?
| A．Never Shelter Your Kids | B．Let Your Kids Fail |
| C．Be Eager to Grow Up | D．Live Without Parents |
The Rockford police chief and some city officials want to install （安装） video cameras in all 100 police cars．They think this will reduce the number of lawsuits （法律诉讼）．In the last five years, Rockford has paid out more than five million dollars to settle about 40 lawsuits．
The chief said, "If cameras had been in those cars．we wouldn't have had to pay one cent． We're always pulling over drunks or drug users who try to fight the police or shoot them．Then they always claim （声称） that the police start beating them first or start shooting at them first．"
The cost of installing cameras will be about $500 each．The city council （委员会） will vote on the proposal （提议） next Monday．Ten of the 13 council members said that they like the idea． One member said that it makes good sense．
The police officers enthusiastically support camera use．One officer said that too many people think the police often lie; cameras would show citizens that police tell the truth．"The money that we've been spending on lawsuits will be better spent on more cameras," said one of
ficer．
Citizen opinions to the idea of police car cameras are mixed．One person, said that the police should have started doing this years ago when video cameras were invented．But an elderly man strongly objected．'These police are trying to stick their nose into everything," he said．He was going to attend the council meeting to condemn the proposal．He hoped that other citizens would join him.We can learn from what the chief said that with cameras on ___．
| A．the police will not be treated unjustly |
| B．the police will be free from any lawsuits |
| C．the police can beat the law-breakers first |
| D．the police can monitor everything around |
What's the purpose of installing video cameras in police cars?
| A．To pay less money on lawsuits． |
| B．To cut the number of lawsuits． |
| C．To prevent lawsuits from happening． |
| D．To stop being beaten by law-breakers． |
Which group of people support camera use most?
| A．Council members, | B．Police off icers． |
| C．Local people． | D．Drug users． |
What can be learned from the last paragraph?
| A．Most citizens support camera use in police cars, |
| B．The police are trying to take control of everything． |
| C．The man showed great disagreement on camera use in police cars． |
| D．Other citizens will join the man to object to camera use in police cars． |
A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle （/JC^C）between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet．He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn't possibly imagine how this had happened．It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out he would never hear the end of jt. When the girls found out, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived．
He prayed this prayer, "Dear God, I need help
now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat!" He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered．As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water．Susie tripped （绊倒） in front of the teacher and dumped （倒） the bowl of water in the boy's lap．The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, "Thank you．Lord!"
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy was the object of sympathy．The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out．All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk．The sympathy was wonderful．But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been transferred （转移） to someone else—Susie．She tried to help, but they told her to get out．
When school was over
, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispered back, "I wet my trousers once, too!"T
he underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 means ____ .
A．the boys would never play with him |
| B．the boys would treat him as usual |
| C．he would hardly hear any praise from the boys |
| D．he would be laughed at by the boys endlessly |
After Susie dumped water in his lap, the boy was in a state of ___
| A．excitement | B．relief | C．anxiety | D．anger |
What did the other kids do after the incident?
| A．They offered him dry clothes． |
| B．They laughed at the boy rudely, |
| C．They helped the boy do the cleaning． |
| D．They urged the boy to get out angrily, |
Why did Susie dump water in the boy's lap?
| A．The boy asked her to do so． |
| B．She just did it by accident． |
| C．The teacher tripped her on purpose． |
| D．She knew the boy's embarrassment． |
The drug store was closing for the night and Alfred Higgins was about to go home when his new boss approached him.
“Empty your pockets please, Alfred,” Sam Carr demanded in a firm voice.
Alfred pretended to be shocked but he knew he’d been caught. From his coat he withdrew a make-up kit, a lipstick and two tubes of toothpaste.
“I’m disappointed in you, Alfred!” said the little gray-haired man.
“Sorry, sir. Please forgive me. It’s the first time I’ve ever done such a thing,” Alfred lied, hoping to gain the old man’s sympathy.
Mr Carr’s brow furrowed as he reached for the phone, “Do you take me for a fool? Let’s see what the police have to say. But first I’ll call your mother and let her know her son is heading to jail.”
“Do whatever you want,” Alfred shot back, trying to sound big. But deep down he felt like a child. He imagined his mother rushing in, eyes burning with anger, maybe in tears. Yet he wanted her to come quickly before Mr. Carr called the police.
Mr. Carr was surprised when Mrs Higgins finally arrived. She was very calm, quiet and friendly. “Is Alfred in trouble?” she asked.
“He’s been stealing from the store,” the old man coolly replied.
Mrs. Higgins put out her hand and touched Mr. Carr’s arm with great gentleness as if she knew just how he felt. She spoke as if she did not want to cause him any more trouble. “What do you want to do, Mr. Carr?”
The woman’s calm and gentle manner disarmed the once-angry store-owner. “I was going to get a cop. But I don’t want to be cruel. Tell your son not to come back here again, and I’ll let it go.” Then he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins’s hand.
Mrs. Higgins thanked the old man for his kindness, then mother and son left. They walked along the street in silence. When they arrived home his mother simply said, “Go to bed, you fool.”
In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. He felt no shame, only pride in his mother’s actions. “She was smooth!” he thought. He went to the kitchen to tell her how great she was, but was shocked by what he saw.
His mother’s face looked frightened, broken. Not the cool, bright face he saw earlier. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. There were tears in her eyes.
This picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth ending. He saw all the troubles he brought her and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．It was the first time Alfred had stolen anything. |
| B．Alfred tried to sound big to hide his fear. |
| C．Mr. Carr set a trap to catch Alfred stealing. |
| D．Mr. Carr had planned to forgive Alfred from the beginning. |
What does the underlined word “disarmed” probably mean?
| A．annoyed | B．made less angry |
| C．convinced | D．got over |
What was the mother’s attitude toward Alfred?
| A．She felt disappointed with him. | B．She was very strict with him. |
| C．She was supportive of him. | D．She was afraid of him. |
What impressed Alfred most about his mother at the drugstore was ________.
| A．how angry she was | B．that she didn’t cry |
| C．that she was able to save him | D．how effectively she handled Mr. Carr |
From the last paragraph, we know that Alfred ________.
| A．was no longer a youth | B．felt proud of his mother |
| C．wanted his mother to be happy | D．felt guilty and regretful for his deed |
A different sort of generation gap is developing in the workplace. Someone --- specifically the father-daughter team of Larry and Meagan Johnson --- has figured out that on some American job sites, five generations are working side by side.
In their new book about generations in the workplace the pair argue that while such an age difference adds a lot of texture and a variety of life experiences, it can also bring tensions and conflicts.
The Johnsons are human-resource trainers and public speakers. Dad Larry is a former health-care executive; daughter Meagan is a onetime high-level sales manager.
Here are the oldest and youngest of the five generations they identify:
They call the oldest group Traditionals, born before 1945. They were heavily influenced by the lessons of the Great Depression and World War Two. They respect authority, set a high standard of workmanship, and communicate easily and confidently. But they’re also stubbornly independent. They want their opinions heard.
At the other extreme are what the Johnsons call Linksters, born after 1995 into today’s more complicated, multi-media world. They live and breathe technology and are often social activists.
You won’t find many 15-year olds in the offices of large companies, except as volunteers, of course, but quite old and quite young workers do come together in sales environments like bike shops and ice-cream stores.
The Johnsons, Larry and Meagan, represent a generation gap themselves in their work with jobsite issues. The Johnsons’ point is that as the average lifespan continues to rise and retirement dates get delayed because of the tight economy, people of different generations are working side by side, more often bringing with them very different ideas about company loyalty and work values.
The five generations are heavily influenced by quite different events, social trends, and the cultural phenomena of their times. Their experiences shape their behavior and make it difficult, sometimes, for managers to achieve a strong and efficient workplace.
Larry and Meagan Johnson discuss all this in greater detail in a new book, “Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters --- Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work,” published by Amacom Press, which is available in all good bookstore from this Friday.The type of generation gap in paragraph 1 refers to the difference in beliefs ________.
| A．between managers and workers | B．among family members |
| C．among employees | D．between older and newer companies |
Which of the following statements is NOT true about Traditionals?
| A．They’ve learned much from war and economic disaster. |
| B．They’re difficult to work with as they are stubborn. |
| C．They respect their boss and hope to be respected. |
| D．They’re independent workers with great confidence. |
According to the passage, the Linksters are usually ________.
| A．found working in the offices of large companies |
| B．influenced by media and technology |
| C．enthusiastic multi-media activists |
| D．ice-cream sellers |
According to the passage, modern workforces are more diverse because ________.
| A．people want to increase their average lifespan |
| B．many young people are entering the workforce |
| C．employees with different values can benefit their companies |
| D．retirement dates are being delayed for economic reasons |
What’s the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To promote a new book by Larry and Meagan Johnson. |
| B．To describe the five different workplace generations. |
| C．To introduce the Johnsons’ research about diverse workforces. |
| D．To identify a major problem in modern workforces. |