Dear David,
I’m glad you would like to share your feelings with me．It’s hardly surprising that your feelings of not being “grown up” have come on strongly at this point in your life, just before you’re about to become a father．You are asking: Will I make a good father? How will I cope? I think nearly every man must have the occasional feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy before the birth．
It’s difficult, honestly, to feel grown-up unless you have something less grown-up to relate to．The boss with a hen-pecking wife may feel like a seven-year-old when he’s at home．But as he walks through the office door, and knows he’s going to be surrounded by staff for advice, he grows into a fully mature man．And I think it’s a mistake to imagine that we all feel, as we age, a kind of progress of states, from the baby to the adult．Most people feel, on Tuesday, about three years old, and on a Wednesday, around 80．
There’s a common remark that“all men are little boys”, but it’s not true．It’s more true that men often behave like little boys．But nearly all people, at some moments in their lives, are able to be greatly mature．．Once your baby arrives, you’ll soon feel less childlike．When your child tries to put its fingers into the electric plug, the adult in you will rise up to prevent it．
Comfort yourself, David, with two truths．One is that your friends laugh when they talk about this subject because they, like you, feel frightened．And remember that people who haven’t grown up don’t go around talking about the fact．
Good luck to you and your little one．
Sincerely Yours,
Miss Advice According to the passage, Miss Advice thinks David’s self-doubt ________．
| A．valuable | B．unusual | C．natural | D．bearable |
From Paragraph 2, we can learn that people’s sense of maturity ________．
| A．will increase with age |
| B．is obviously seen at home |
| C．changes with different situations |
| D．becomes stronger with familiar people |
Miss Advice holds that ________．
| A．all men behave like little boys |
| B．people tend to laugh at the subject |
| C．men with a baby feel more grown-up |
| D．people enjoy talking about their immaturity |
Miss Advice wrote the letter to ________．
| A．offer suggestions to a future father |
| B．teach people how to grow up |
| C．encourage people to be responsible |
| D．solve problems of the less grown-up D |
Mother stayed at home cooking and cleaning while Father left for work. Two or more children took the bus to school. In the evening, all the family members got together at home again. This is what a traditional family was like twenty years ago. But now great changes have happened in British families.
As many as 2 out of 3 marriages now end in divorce(离婚), and many children have to live with one parent and only see the other at weekends or during holidays.
There has been a great increase in the number of working women with children. Many women have to work to support themselves and their children. Even in the family where there is no divorce, both parents have to work in order to survive.
Also women are no longer happy to stay at home taking care of children. Many of them have jobs and some of them can even make more money than men, the traditional breadwinners.
What’s more, the increasing number of single-parent families have caused an increase in the crime rate (犯罪率) among children in a way. It is thought that if a child doesn’t have a father, he or she will be harmed.
However the changes may be good for some people. For women it’s now much easier to have well-paid jobs. Although it is difficult to be a working mother, it is no longer seen as a bad thing for children.
As for some children, they learn how to solve problems by themselves at an early age.Which of the following statements is TRUE about a traditional family in Britain twenty years ago?
| A．Both the mother and the father had to work to support the family. |
| B．The father stayed at home taking care of the children. |
| C．The mother didn’t need to work. |
| D．A family had only one child. |
Which of the following things is NOT mentioned in the passage ?
| A．The increasing number of divorces. |
| B．The increasing number of fathers who stay at home. |
| C．The increasing number of working mothers. |
| D．The increasing crime rate among children. |
According to the passage, a “breadwinner” refers to a person who ________.
| A．has got some bread |
| B．is good at making bread |
| C．stays at home raising children |
| D．works to support the family |
From the passage we can learn that ________.
| A．In a family where the parents are not divorced in Britain，the mother doesn’t have to work. |
| B．Children whose parents are divorced have to start working early. |
| C．The father is very important to a child’s growth. |
| D．The changes in British families do no goo |
Read the advertisements carefully. Then answer the questions that follow.
| FLORLST WANTED! Are you a creative and trained florist with at least two years of experience? Then this may be just what you are hunting. The city’s leading Florist Artist Studio needs another part-time member on their wedding team. Please phone 6098 7888 now! |
| WE NEED OFFICE CLRANERS! Three people are required for professional cleaning in the CBD area. Working hours from 5:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Approximately five hours per shift. A good record is necessary. Experience preferred. Phone 6345 7843 now. |
| WANT TO WORK AS A DENTAL NURSE? This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified dental nurse with a confident and cheerful personality to work in the School Dental Health Schema. You must be able to get along well with children because work involves talking to group about dental health practices. For further information, visit our website at schooledntalservices@gov.sg. And fax your resume to 6234 4567. |
| INTERESTED IN CHILDCARE? Qualified person or preschool teacher needed for busy childcare center, south of the river. Full-time work guaranteed. Immediate start necessary. The candidate must be able to work as a co-operative team member. Phone 6345 2345 for an interview and fax resume to 6345 2345. |
You may find the advertisements above.
| A．in a store window | B．in a school magazine |
| C．in a newspaper | D．on a company notice-board |
The position of a(n)is a part-time job.
| A．florist | B．artist |
| C．preschool teacher | D．dental nurse |
Which of the following is the most important for the childcare job?
| A．Child food cooking skills. |
| B．Childcare experience and outgoing. |
| C．The ability to start work in 2 weeks. |
| D．The ability to work well with other people. |
The office cleaners will be required to work abouthours a week.
| A．5 | B．10 | C．15 | D．20 |
You wake up in the morning，the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time．Then the telephone rings，you say hello, and the drama starts．The person on the other end has a depressing(令人沮丧的) tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to．You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness．It may not change what you think，but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time．
Life brings ups and downs，but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer．They only feel glad when they make others feel bad．No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect．
When you communicate with positive people，your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted．When the dagger(匕首)of a negative person is put in you．you feel the heavy feeling that all in all，brings you down．
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people．This could be a co-worker，or relative．In this case，say what needs to be said as little as possible． Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to a negative person，but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that．
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized．The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to(附着)you throughout the rest of your day，which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness．Life is too short to feel negative．Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible．The purpose of the first paragraph is to __________ ．
| A．make a comparison | B．offer an evidence |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe a daily scene |
How can negative people have effect on us?
| A．By influencing our emotion． |
| B．By telling US the nature of life． |
| C．By changing our way of thinking． |
| D．By comparing their attitude to life with ours． |
Some negative people base their happiness on _________ ．
| A．other people’s pity for them |
| B．making other people unhappy |
| C．building up a positive attitude |
| D．other people’s respect for them |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people's influence on us，
we are advised _______ ．
| A．to change negative people’s attitude to life |
| B．to show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| C．to make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
| D．to communicate with negative people as little as possible |
Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office. "The railway owes me $12, " she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office. "You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me $12. “
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "Come into the office, Madam, "he said politely. "I'll check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd."
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. "You look sunburnt, "he said to her. "Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?"
"Yes", she answered, shyly. "The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!"
"That's fine, "said Harry. "My little girl can't swim a bit yet. Of course, she's only three”
"I'm four, "the child said proudly. "I'll be four and a half. "
Harry turned to the mother." I remember your ticket, Madam, "he said. "But you didn't get one for your daughter, did you?"
"Er, well", "the woman looked at the child." I mean … she hasn't started school yet. She's only four. "
"A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child's return ticket to Jersey costs' "let me see … $ 13. 5. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe $1. 5. The law is law, but since the fault (过错) was mine…".
The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.The woman was angry because .
| A．she returned home one day later than she thought |
| B．she spent more money than she had planned |
| C．there was no ship when she arrived at the station in Jersey |
| D．the young man didn't sell her the ticket for a round trip |
Harry felt worried because .
| A．he didn't change the timetable in time |
| B．the woman was too angry with him |
| C．the woman didn't buy a ticket for her daughter |
| D．he didn't do his work carefully enough |
Harry started talking to the little girl because .
| A．he had a little girl about the same age as this girl |
| B．he wanted to find a way out from the little girl |
| C．he was in difficulty and did not know what to do |
| D．he wanted to show his friendliness to the little girl |
The underlined sentence means that.
| A．she should pay $1. 5, but as he had made a mistake, she could go without paying |
| B．the woman had to pay him $1. 5, and the railway would pay for the hotel |
| C．they have to follow it without other choice, even though the fault was his |
| D．he must be strict with the woman because of the laws, though he didn't want to |
To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains, But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain, Its first use was as a shade against the sun! Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the first to use it were the Chinese in the eleventh century BC.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor. In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in high office.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in commonly used in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans.
During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared. Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again it was considered as a symbol of power. By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France and later in England.
By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe. Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that women’s umbrellas began to be made, in a whole variety of colors.Which of the following statements is not true about the umbrella?
| A．No one exactly knows who the inventor of the umbrella was |
| B．The umbrella was first invented to be used as protection against the sun. |
| C．The umbrella changed much in style in the eighteenth century |
| D．In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. |
A strange feature of the umbrella’s use is that it was used as__________.
| A．protection against rain |
| B．a shade against the sun |
| C．a symbol of honor and power |
| D．women’s decoration (装饰) |
In Europe, the umbrella was first used against the rain_____________.
| A．during the Middle Ages |
| B．by the eighteenth |
| C．in Rome |
| D．in Greece |
This passage talks mainly about_______________.
| A．when and how the umbrella was invented |
| B．why the umbrella was so popular in Europe |
| C．the development of the umbrella |
| D．The history and use of the umbrella |