Some say college is wasted on the young. So many of us look back at our own college years and realize what we could have done differently to make the most of them. While we can’t go back, we certainly can offer our sons and daughters our best advice to help them make the right choices in college. Hopefully, they will have fewer regrets than we do. Following are five guidelines parents can share with their college-bound kids to put the whole experience in perspective.
EDUCATION IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY
As soon as you arrive on campus, there will be competing interests. Feel free to check them out but always remember that you are there first and foremost for your education. Go to class prepared and on time. Be engaged during class. Make sure your professor knows you and realizes that you care.
BE RESPONSIBLE
There are many layers of responsibility. Do what you say you will do and, if you can’t, own up to it early and communicate clearly. But being responsible isn’t just about meeting your commitments; it is also about taking care of you, your body, and your friends. For example, more than 1800 college students die annually from alcohol-related injuries. Look out for yourself and other people. Make moderate, sensible decisions so you aren’t reeling from the consequences later.
TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY
Incredible opportunities will present themselves: studying abroad, interning at a unique place, trying new things. Don’t let fear prevent you from taking advantage of them. There may never be so much time or as many resources devoted to your betterment again in your life. Say yes to opportunities that will help you grow.
FIND AND BE A MENTOR
Some of the best lessons available to us can come outside of the classroom in the form of a mentor. One of the most powerful growth opportunities is being a mentor. Early on, find someone on campus who you feel can help you grow and develop a relationship with him or her. Also find someone for you to mentor. You will reinforce and enrich your own learning experience by teaching someone else.
GET THE JOB DONE
It is natural to occasionally feel you want to quit, when it makes more sense to you to go find a full-time job. Resist that urge. As Jocelyn Negron-Rios, a mother of two, who is currently completing her degree, advises, “No matter how difficult it seems, keep at it because however insurmountable it feels now multiply that by 10,000 and that is how it feels when you are in your thirties with a full-time job and a family and are trying to pursue a degree.”According to the passage, the most important thing for college students is ______.
| A．taking part in different activities |
| B．working hard to get a degree |
| C．seizing every chance to try new things |
| D．improving themselves by learning from the others |
Which of the following about college life is true?
| A．Passing on what you’ve learned in college can help you enrich your learning experience. |
| B．Make sure that you are responsible for yourself rather than others. |
| C．Professors will not assess your performances in class but the grades you get in exams. |
| D．You can make full use of the opportunity whenever you want. |
What can we infer from the words said by Jocelyn in the last paragraph?
| A．Persistence is the key to success when you meet with difficulties in your learning process. |
| B．It is better if you gain more working experience before you finish your education. |
| C．As long as you work hard, you can gain a degree even when you are in your thirties. |
| D．Youth is the best time to learn since you have less burden. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To give some rules for the college students. |
| B．To call on the students to make full use of college years. |
| C．To summarize some tips for parents to share with their children. |
| D．To analyze the benefits and difficulties of college life. |
Each high school has its own policy. One good example is that some high schools require all students to wear uniforms, while others do not. I have been to both types of schools, and if I have to decide which one is better, I will pick the former.
Perhaps every student has this experience: once you are in your school uniforms, you will care more about your own behavior. Uniforms give you an identity that always reminds that you belong to a group. What you do will not only represent yourself, but also the group you belong to, as well as the people with you. In other words, you carry the responsibility to maintain the honor of the group. When you are in your own clothes, it doesn’t matter for you to behave badly in public, but when in your uniform, it does. For high school students, who are not adults yet, this is a good way to shape their behavior.
Moreover, uniforms create an atmosphere of equality. While permitted to wear their won clothes, students may pay much attention to what they wear, in order to show how rich their families are. While in uniforms, all students, rich or poor, look the same, and will be treated equally.
Besides, free from the desires to gain what is new in the shopping mall, wearing uniforms helps students to concentrate on their study.
For all the reasons above, I believe that it is a better choice for high school students to wear uniforms. They can wear them after school or on weekends. According to the author, high schools that require students to wear uniforms______.
| A．are more attractive to students |
| B． are more strict with students |
| C． carry out a better policy |
| D． admit more excellent students. |
How many reasons does the author give to support his or her ideas?
| A．two | B．three | C．four | D．five |
According to Paragraph 2, wearing uniforms helps students_______.
| A．focus on their study |
| B．become responsible |
| C．build up their confidence |
| D．find the group they belong to |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A wise choice, to wear school uniform |
| B．An honor, to wear your school uniform |
| C．A difficult choice, in school uniform or not? |
| D．A difficult choice, which school should we pick? |
Foulsham House is a fine, large house of the 1790s．It stands high above the River Byer, in twenty—five hectares(公顷)of the best farmland in the southwest．
The house was built by Smithson, and the story that George, the son of King of Whales, who fell in love with the beautiful Lady Kitty, at one of the first Foulsham’s wild woods(野外)parties．Many years ago many great men rode on the hills about Foulsham.
House, and many fine girls took tea in the Green Room．
The house has eight bedrooms, three bathrooms(浴室), two living—rooms, and a dining—room with a real Adam fireplace．Its library has a good view over the park and the river．All rooms are light and airy, with good, high windows, and wood floors．
At the back of the house there is room for four cars．The third Foulsham once kept there．In many other ways, this house of the 1790s meets the needs of the 1990s．
If you wish to know more about Foulsham House, write to： Harvey．Platt, Longford ＆Son 6, Castle Green, Gilham, Byreside．Foulsham House_____
| A．is an old farmhouse |
| B．stands 25 hectares high above the River Byer |
| C．is an old, stone house, standing in very fine farmland |
| D．is twenty-five years old, and is of fine stone |
People say that _____
| A．Smithson built the house for Lord Foulsham's wild parties |
| B．Prince George fell in love with KItty Wake at Foulsham House |
| C．Prince George and KItty Wake fell in love with the Green House |
| D．Lord Foulsham fell in love with a lady wales |
Foulsham House_____
| A．is an old house that meets many new needs |
| B．though seventy-nine years old, meets new needs |
| C．is a new house that meets many old needs |
| D．is a house of the 1970s as good as new |
The flag, the most common symbol(象征) of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.
The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive(原始的)artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years' development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.
Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers .People's food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.
Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems(图腾) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.
These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked: The king of China around 1000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe ,where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag. The best title for the passage would be______.
| A．Power of the National Flag | B．Uses of Flag |
| C．Types of Flags | D．Development of the National Flag |
The underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 3 means_____
| A．impossible to make sure of | B．difficult to find |
| C．likely to be protected | D．easy to damage |
The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because______
| A．they were believed to stand for natural forces |
| B．they could bring good luck to fighters |
| C．they were handed down by the ancestors |
| D．they could tell wind direction |
What does the author know of the first national flag?
| A．He thinks it came from | B．He believes it was made in Egypt |
| C．He doubts where it started. | D．He knows when it was sent to Europe |
What was the author most probably talk about next?
| A．The role of China in the spread of the national flag. |
| B．The second ancestor of the national flag. |
| C．The use of modern flags in Europe |
| D．The importance of modern flags |
When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses. However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat.
Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built. In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock（家畜）.During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses. The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well. The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live. By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat.
People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock. However, home builders use the fact that heat rises. This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas. Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks. As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat. They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses. So these houses are energy saving.
House building becomes a great challenge（挑战）to building designers and energy engineers. They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology. And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy saving houses. What did people begin to consider as electricity was no longer cheap?
| A．The climate of their areas. |
| B．The energy for their houses. |
| C．The fashions for their houses. |
| D．The building materials for their houses. |
People in some areas gain a source of heat by _________.
| A．keeping their livestock downstairs |
| B．protecting their livestock from the cold |
| C．sharing their houses only with their cows |
| D．living on the second floor with their livestock |
The underlined words “natural law” in the third paragraph refer to the fact that ________.
| A．heat raises the temperature in the houses |
| B．heat goes in the upward direction |
| C．heat goes up if temperature is raised |
| D．heat increases the temperature of rocks |
From the passage, we can conclude that __________.
| A．people will no longer consider building materials in the future |
| B．energy saving buildings will become more popular in the future |
| C．almost all people will move into the houses heated by large rocks |
| D．energy engineers will devote themselves only to modern technology. |
You feel happiest when you create a healthy balance between giving and receiving. If you give and give without making time to fill your own needs, then it’s likely you will burn out, or feel upset. When you take and take without giving anything back, you never feel fulfilled, so you are always searching for ways to fill the void in your life.
The way to create a healthy balance between giving and receiving is to know and then live by your values. I break values up into two groups which I call being and having values. Your being values are the character traits of the ideal person you would like to be. I suggest to my clients that they choose three being values that they are willing to make a commitment to live by. An example of some being values are: kind, loving, generous, inspirational, peaceful, wise and even powerful. By acting on these values you give to others through your actions and you inspire others by being a positive role model. Mastering being these character traits becomes your life purpose.
Your having values are feelings you need to create in order to be happy. These could be companionship, achievement, support, being valued or financial security. This is what you receive. You take responsibility for filling your own needs by taking steps to create these feelings and conditions in your life.
When you make a commitment to live by being values, it becomes easier to make conscious choices rather than reactionary ones. If your usual pattern is to talk about your problems, you could choose to think and act like a calm person. A clam person might go for a walk, meditate(沉思), or set a time limit before responding. If your usual pattern is to worry, you could choose to act like a responsible or wise person. In other words, you would act like the person you choose to be-this is the key to personal power.
When you choose to act on your values, you not only feel good about yourself, you reinforce(加强)your chosen beliefs. Over time acting in this way changes how you see the world, and in turn the way other people think of you.The main purpose of this passage is to _____
A inform the readers how to be truly happy
B explain to the readers what personal values are
C persuade the readers to make a commitment
D instruct the readers how to make wise choicesAccording to the text, living by your being values, you would_____
A gain a lot of power B fill your own needs
C seek all human virtues D form positive personalityThe underline word “void” in Paragraph 1 means______
A a break of continuity B an absent of one’s mind
C a feeling of emptiness D a state of confusionWhat can be inferred from the text?
A Having values are better than being values
B A calm person does not choose to complain.
C The way other people think of you decides who you are.
D A responsible person does not care about financial security