Today，wearetold，childrendon’ts-优题课

Today we bring you an old tale. It’s the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf that blew down a house made of straw and one made of sticks. The only house left standing was the one made of bricks. Now there is new evidence to suggest that houses built with bales of straw can be very strong. They are also very environmental.
Pete Walker is a professor at the University of Bath in Britain. He and a team of researchers there have built a house made out of straw bales and hemp material. During the next twelve months the team will study the effectiveness of these materials in home building. Professor Walker says there are many good reasons for using straw.
Professor Walker: “One of the benefits is it’s a relatively inexpensive renewable material that’s readily available.” He also agrees that straw takes in carbon dioxide as it grows and helps the environment in other ways. So it can be seen as having no harmful effects on the environment.
Professor Walker: “The straw bale walls are relatively thick and so all that straw provides very good thermal insulation. So we make buildings that require very little heating in the winter or indeed very little cooling in the summer. So they require very little additional energy.”
Professor Walker says this reduces home operating expenses. It also reduces the effect on the environment. He says the current interest in straw bale houses is a direct response to the problem of climate change.
David Lanfear owns an eco-friendly home building service in the United States called Bale on Bale Construction. He says he laughed when some friends first told him about houses built of straw. But after doing his own research, he learned that building with straw bales made a lot of sense. He has now helped to build more than ten straw bale houses and says the building material is becoming more widely accepted.
To build the houses, he fills a wood frame with tightly packed bales of straw. Next he coats the walls inside and out with layers of clay plaster. He says the common ideas about straw houses continue, including stories about the threat of fire. Mr. Lanfear says straw bale houses have done well when tested for fire resistance. And he says his builders use the same building methods as traditional builders to keep out rain.
David Lanfear: “We use what we call good shoes and a good hat, and that would be a solid foundation and a really good roof.”
What’s David Lanfear’s attitude towards the straw houses at last?

A．Ridiculous.	B．Approving.
C．Defensive.	D．Unbelievable.

What can we infer from the passage?

A．Using straw to build houses is dearer than using bricks.

B．The houses built with bales of straw are stronger than those built with bricks.

C．Straw which is convenient to get is much cheaper than thick bricks.

D．Houses made of bricks are no better than those made of straw.

According to the passage, we know that ________________.

A．there is some experience in building the straw houses

B．the house made of straw bales is the same as the traditional one

C．the house made of straw bales is still under research

D．it’s uncertain that the straw house can be very strong

As We Speak
by Peter Meyers, Shann Nix
The world is full of brilliant people whose ideas are never heard. This book is designed to make sure that you’re not one of them. Whether you are speaking to a large audience or in a one-on-one conversation, the way in which you communicate ideas, as much as the ideas themselves, can determine success or failure. In this invaluable guide, you’ll learn to master principles that you can apply in a wide variety of situations.
Triple(使增至三倍)Your Reading Speed
by Wade E.Cutler
This fourth edition of the book does just that--with tests that make it fun and simple to acquire the skills that will give you an advantage in school and on the job. The method helps you to break old habits that may be slowing you down, and develop strategies for increased comprehension in less time.
The Memory Book
by Harry Lorayne, Jerry Lucas
Unlock the hidden power of your mind through Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas’s simple memory system, and you can become more effective and more powerful. Discover how easy it is to remember things; learn foreign words with ease; read with speed and greater understanding; shine in the classroom and shorten study hours.
How to Become a Straight-A student
by Cal Newport
Most college students believe that straight A’s can be achieved only through cramming(突击式学习) and painful all-nighters at the library. But Cal Newport knows that real straight-A students don’t study harder--they study smarter. A breakthrough approach to completing academic tasks very well, How to Become a Straight-A student reveals for the first time the proven study secrets of real straight-A students across the country and turns them into a simple, practical system that anyone can master.
According to the first advertisement, some brilliant people’s ideas are never heard
because_____.

A．they are not well-known enough

B．their ideas are not creative enough

C．they can’t exchange their ideas well.

D．their ideas are rather complex.

What do Triple Your Reading Speed and The Memory Book have in common?

A．They help to improve your memory.

B．They help you to read much faster.

C．They offer you the latest ideas.

D．They include many tests.

How to Become a Straight-A student mainly conveys the message that______.

A．hard work leads to success

B．cramming before exams work

C．there are techniques for learning

D．anyone can be a college student

Which of the following books focuses on discovering your unknown potential?

A．As We Speak

B．Triple Your Reading Speed

C．The Memory Book

D．How to Become a Straight-A student

The saying “a penny for your thoughts” is an English idiom simply asking people to volunteer their opinions on an issue being discussed. In modern usage, it is often stated as an indirect way of asking what someone is thinking about.
This phrase is basically a proposal (提议), and the speaker is offering to pay to hear the listener’s thoughts. It is an idiom, of course, and not meant literally (字面上的) so no real payment generally takes place.
When the saying originated, a penny was worth a lot more than it is in the 21st century. Therefore, “a penny for your thoughts” likely indicated the thoughts were more valuable to those asking the listener for them than they are by today’s standards. This loss of value can be used ironically(讽刺地), however, through tone(语气) of voice; it can be used to indicate that someone’s idea is bad or worth a penny in modern value.
The phrase is generally credited to a man by the name of John Heywood, who was born sometime just before the 16th century. During his life, he was a writer who penned many plays and a book in 1546, later known as The Proverbs of John Heywood. It is likely Heywood did not actually come up with the phrase “a penny for your thoughts”. Rather, he was simply the first person to have set the phrase down in written form. The actual origins of the term are unknown, and since his book was simply a collection of common idioms and expressions, it was probably familiar to people in the mid 1500s.
Another phrase similar to “a penny for your thoughts” is offering “your two cents” after making a statement. Someone might give his or her opinion and then say, “that’s my two cents,” to indicate the value of his or her idea. While, much like a penny, “two cents” is relatively low in value now, it would have been more valuable at one time and the expression is used in much the same way.
When someone says “a penny for your thoughts”, he or she ___________.

A．wants to ask you for advice

B．considers your thoughts unique

C．is curious about what’s on your mind

D．will pay for what you’re thinking about

The modern meaning of “a penny for your thoughts” ____________.

A．is more closely connected to the value of the penny

B．can differ greatly according to a speaker’s manner

C．can confuse the listener easily

D．is more popularly accepted

In what way is Heywood related to the phrase “a penny for your thoughts”?

A．He came up with it while he was writing.

B．He helps to explain the origins of it.

C．He contributed to the wide use of it.

D．He was the first person to use it.

What do we know about the phrase “your two cents”?

A．It is usually used at the end of a statement.

B．It comes from “a penny for your thoughts”.

C．It has witnessed some changes since the 16th century.

D．It is more familiar to people than “a penny for your thoughts”.

A cafe owner has defended her decision to pen a Facebook post (an Internet message to be discussed) stating “No, we are not child-friendly,” saying it breaks her heart when children damage her possessions.
On Monday, the Little French Cafe in Newcastle, Australia, posted an announcement on their Facebook page: “Are we child-friendly? If you are looking for a cafe with a children’ s menu, a play area, lounges for your children to jump on, vast space for your baby carriages, an area for your children to run around, and annoy other customers, while you are unaware of them—then the short answer is ‘No, we are not child-friendly.’ However, if you would like to bring your children here and they are happy to sit at a table with you and behave properly, please come in. Otherwise, there are plenty of places that are specifically designed to entertain your children.” The post has since been deleted.
Some Facebook users called the post “arrogant (傲慢的)” and an “attack on parents,” The Newcastle Herald reports. The cafe owner responded with this statement: “I built the cafe myself. It has my blood, sweat and plenty of tears in it.”
The post came about after the cafe owner was asked by a customer, who had left a one-star review on the cafe’s business page, about whether the cafe was child-friendly. Ms Kotz told news.com.au she wrote the bad review because she felt staff reacted negatively towards children at the cafe.
The cafe owner said it broke a piece of her heart every time when she was watching children emptying salt and pepper shakers into her fireplaces, parents changing nappies (尿布) on her lounges, or kids throwing their own food onto her carpet.
Although the cafe’s policy has attracted a lot of criticism, most people who commented on the Little French Cafe’s Facebook page stood by the owner. One woman named Lesley wrote, “I don’t think there was anything wrong with what you said by any means. If parents want to take their children to your cafe, they need to be responsible for their behavior.”
What is the text mainly about?

A．An Australian cafe’s policy on children.

B．A Facebook post about parents’ manners.

C．The protection of the customers’ basic rights

D．The relationship between staff and customers.

Which of the following is permitted according to the cafe owner’s post?

A．Parents demanding a children’s menu.

B．Children entertaining themselves in the cafe.

C．Children running around their own carriages.

D．Parents taking well-behaved kids to the cafe.

The cafe owner wrote the post _____.

A．after a kid damaged her possessions

B．in response to a customer’s question

C．in order to improve the efficiency of the cafe

D．after the cafe was criticized by some Facebook users

What did Lesley think of the cafe owner’s action?

A．It was slightly unfair.

B．It was very misleading.

C．It was highly controversial.

D．It was quite understandable.

Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an expensive French restaurant in Denver. The ice cream he was serving fell onto the white dress of a rich and important woman.
Thirty years have passed, but Odland can not get the memory out of his mind, nor the woman’s kind reaction. She was shocked, regained calmness and, in a kind voice, told the young Odland. “It is OK. It wasn’t your fault.” When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.
Odland isn’t the only CEO to have made this discovery. Instead, it seems to be one of those few laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up. It’s hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but most agree with the Waiter Rule. They say how others treat the CEO says nothing. But how others treat the waiter is like a window into the soul.
Watch out for anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like, “I could buy this place and fire you,” or “I know the owner and I could have you fired.” Those who say such things have shown more about their character than about their wealth and power.
The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson. He wrote a best-selling book called Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management. “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person,”Swanson says. “I will never offer a job to the person who is sweet to the boss but turns rude to someone cleaning the tables.”
What happened after Odland dropped the ice cream onto the woman’s dress?

A．He was fired.

B．He was blamed.

C．The woman comforted him.

D．The woman left the restaurant at once.

Odland learned one of his life lessons from _____.

A．his experience as a waiter

B．the advice given by the CEOs

C．an article in Fortune

D．an interesting best-selling book

According to the text, most CEOs have the same opinion about _____.

A．Fortune 500 companies

B．the Management Rules

C．Swanson’s book

D．the Waiter Rule

A．Wild time for children	B．Benefits of wild time
C．More space for children	D．Adventures of children

A．building dens	B．climbing trees
C．playing hide and seek	D．watching TV