My six-year-old came home from school this week with two envelopes. One was for a donation to help people in the Philippines. The other was to help hungry families have a Thanksgiving meal.
“I’ll put a check in each of these. Then you can add your own money from your piggy bank, okay?” I said, thinking he’d be so excited to put his own stamp on things.
“That’s okay, mom. You put money in. I don’t want to waste mine,” he sweetly sang as he colored. “I want to fill my bank all the way up.”
Ack! I guess I know what our dinnertime discussion will be about tonight, I thought.
I had figured that through watching his parents donate items, helping us take toys from time to time to needy kids and putting money in the basket at church, he would just understand why it was important to help people in need — and even want to do it himself.
But of course he doesn’t really understand yet. “There’s a big disconnect between the people ‘over there’ and my piggy bank,” said parenting educator Vicki Hoefle.
“There’s nothing wrong with the child. There’s just no connection.”
As for having that conversation immediately, or forcing my son to put money into the envelopes: “Try not to do it now,” Hoefle said. Teaching a child about donating their own money or toys or time to people in need “should be a gentle introduction into what we hope will be a way of life for our kids.”
She suggested these things to help children understand the importance of giving:
* Just talk about it. Then explore the issue from a perspective he can understand.
* Use the course of a year to introduce kids to opportunities. That way, they won’t be shocked when you ask them to stuff their own money into an envelope (like this writer just did).
* Pick a family charity for the year and have a conversation about how you all can help throughout the year.
* Think of this not as something you must teach, but as something to expose them to.
At her house, Hoefle said, “When you got something new, you gave something up.” Each birthday, her children would pick what toys they had outgrown and give them away. “There was a comfort in it. It just became a natural part of the kids’ lives.”
So I will fill those envelopes alone this time. But I’ll make sure he understands why they should be filled—gradually.When the writer asked her son to give money to help the poor, he __________.
A.declined to donate |
B.sang a sweet song |
C.put all his money in a bank |
D.seemed very surprised |
Hoefle’s attitude towards children’s unwillingness to donate money can be best described as “_______”.
A.critical | B.tolerant | C.positive | D.worried |
Which of the following is Hoefle’s approach to educating kids about charity?
A.Giving courses about charity. |
B.Setting a rule for children to give. |
C.Inviting a lot of poor people home. |
D.Giving children enough real life chances. |
What can we learn about the writer from the passage?
A.She often makes donations for people in need. |
B.She taught her son a lesson over dinner that evening. |
C.She is at a loss as for what she should do next. |
D.She invited a parenting educator home for advice. |
What is the best title of the passage?
A.Kids, please help those in need. |
B.Why are kids unwilling to donate? |
C.Kindness is lost in the young generation. |
D.How can we help kids learn generosity? |
When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said “the phone”. Personally, I couldn’t do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual, Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.
Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been with at school all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?
Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone. “The mobile saved my life,” says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue.
Point 3 The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went.
Point 4 The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near——but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”
Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously (同时地) on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.
1.How do you understand ‘Point 1 —The telephone creates the need to communicate,…’?
A.People don’t communicate without telephone.
B.People communicate because of the creating of the telephone.
C.People communicate more since telephone has been created.
D.People communicate more because of more traffic.
2.Which points do you think support the idea that phones improve people’s life?
a.Point 1. b.Point2. c.Point3. d.Point 4. e.Point 5.
A.c, d B.a, e C.a, c D.b, e
3.It is possible to talk to several complete strangers simultaneously through .
A.the TV screen B.a fax machine
C.the phone line hooked up to the computer D.a microphone
4.The best heading for the passage is .
A.Phone Power B.Kinds of Phone
C. How to Use Phones D.Advantage of Phones
第二部分阅读理解(共25小题,第一节每小题2分,第二节每小题1分;满分45分)
第一节,阅读下面短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Bollworms are a traditional threat to cotton crops.Young ones feed on the boll,the part of the cotton plant that contains the seeds.
A bacterium known as Bt is able to kill bollworms and some other pests.Bt is the short form for Bacillus thuringiensis.It was discovered in the early twentieth century.Farmers began using Bt as a natural pesticide(杀虫剂).
Then,in the 1990s,researchers found a way to grow cotton plants that contain a Bt gene.The genetically improved cotton plant produces liquid that kills bollworms.Farmers around the world are now growing an estimated fourteen million hectares of Bt cotton.
Cotton bollworms also attack other crops.But scientists in China recently reported that Bt cotton may help prevent bollworm in other crops growing nearby.
The study involved crops grown in six provinces of northern China between 1992 and 2008.The study area contained three million hectares of cotton and twenty-two million hectares of corn,peanuts,soybeans and vegetables.
The researchers say the study suggested that Bt cotton not only controls bollworm on the transgenic cotton,but also may reduce its existence on other crops.And that reduction,they say,may decrease the need for insecticide use in general.
But the researchers also pointed out concerns.They say bollworms could develop resistance to the cotton plants designed to resist them.And they noted that insects called mirids have become “key pests” of cotton in China.They said this is because of a decrease in pesticide use made possible by Bt cotton.
The researchers say they do not believe that Bt cotton alone can solve all insect problems.Instead,they say farmers in China should consider it just one part of pest management systems.
1.What is Bt in this passage?
A.It's a kind of hi-tech invention. B.It's a natural bacterium.
C.It's a kind of pest. D.It's a man-made pesticide.
2.Bt cotton has all the advantages EXCEPT that ________.
A.it resists bollworms
B.it does good to other crops growing around
C.it reduces the use of insecticide
D.it helps to develop new insects
3.The underlined word “ones” in the first paragraph refers to ________.
A.bollworms B.cotton crops C.cotton seeds D.pests
4.From the passage,we can infer ________.
A.farmers around the world are now growing a large area of Bt cotton
B.researchers are probably now searching for new ways to solve other cotton problems C.bollworms could not exist in Bt cotton any longer
D.Chinese scientists found the way to grow Bt cotton
Recently there was a major discovery in the scientific research—the mapping of all DNA in a human gene(基因)is complete.Couple of years ago,this seems an impossible task for scientist to accomplish.All this progress in science leads us to believe that the day,when the human being will be cloned,is not far away.Human cloning has always been a topic of argument,in terms of morality or religion.
Taking a look at why cloning might be beneficial,among many cases,it is arguable that parents who are known to be at risk of passing a genetic limitation to a child could make use of cloning.If the clonc was free of genetic limitations。Then the other clone would be as well.The latter could foe inserted in the woman and allowed to ripen to term.Moreover,cloning would enable women,who can’t get pregnant,to have children of their own.
Cloning humans would also mean that organs could be cloned,so it would be a source of perfect transfer organs.This,surely would be greatly beneficial to millions of unfortunate peoplearound the world that are expected to lose their lives due to failure of single(or more) organ
(s).It is also arguable that a ban on cloning may be unlawful and would reb pepole of the right to reproduce and limit the freedom of scientists.
Arguments against cloning are also on a perfectly practical side.Primarily,I believe that cloning would step in the normal “cycle”of life.There would be a large number of same genes.,which reduce the chances of improvement,and,in turn,development-the fundamental reason how living things naturally adapt to the ever-changing environment. Life processes failing to do so might result in untimely disappearance.Futhermore,cloning would make the uniqueness that each one of us possesses disapparance.Thus,leading to creation of genetically engineered groups of people for specific purposes and,chances are,that those individuals would be regarded as “objects”rather than people in the society.
Scientists haven’t 100 percent. guaranteed that the first cloned will be normal.Thus this could result in introduction of additional limitations in the human “gene-pool”.
Regarding such arguable topics in “black or white” approach seems very innocent to me personally.We should rather try to look at all “shades:of it.I believe that cloning is only legal if its purpose is for cloning organs,not humans.Then we could regard this as for “saving life”instead of “creating life”.I believe cloning humans is morally and socially unacceptable.
67.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Genetic limitation will be beneficial for some women
B.A large number of genes will prevent us from developing
C.Prohibition of cloning might limit the freedom of scientists
D.First cloned humans might be normal according to scientists
68.What’s the author’s oponion on cloning?
A.Cloning should be entirely banned
B. Cloning should be used in creating life
C. Cloning will take away the right to reproduce
D. Cloning is acceptable if it is used for cloning organs
69.Where can you read this article?
A.In a story book
B.In a magazine
C.In a science fiction
D.In a brochure
70.Which of the following shows the structure of the passage
With alarming regularity,we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people,nature,and the environment.
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals,beaches,and land spoiled by the oil.Unfortunately,when many of these chemicals are used,,more damage is caused to the environment,especially to lives in the sea.
Of all of today’s environmental disasters ,an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious.Although oil is poisonous,it is a natual material.In the end,it breaks down naturally.There are,of course,long-term effects,but it is usually more serious in the short term.
Nature by itself woks better than chemical materials,but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible.In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean,If you go there today,you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental
damage.Interestingly the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run I
We shoule be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil,Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies,such as cars run by solar power(太阳能),electricity,
hydrogen,and so on.Much of this research has ,in the past been held back by the oil,gas,and coal.
If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient(高效的)—and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient?we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year.If this happened,the risks of oil spills would be reduced,and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher ,too.
63.What is the passage mainly talking about?
A.Oil spills pollution B.What oil pollution is
C.Oil tanker accidents D.How to reduce oil pollution
64.How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?
A.By giving a description B.By making an argument
C.By giving an example D.By drawing a diagram
65.What does the underlined word “risk”in paragraph 5 refer to?
A.Tansportation depending more on oil
B.Poisonous oil breaking down naturally
C.Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea
D.More environmental damage being caused
66.Which suggestion,is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?
A.We should build safer tankers in the near future
B.We shoule develop new technologies to cut oil use
C.Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines
D.Countries should bulid more oil pipelines under the sea
FOR Chinese students the end of their senior year is filled with studying and stress as they prepare for the college entrance exams in June.But for American high school seniors the experience couldn’t be more different. The end of senior year is a celebration of their time in high school and involves parties,games and fun.
Senioritis is a commonly used expression.It means seniors have a disease which makes them unable to do work.This starts in April when seniors find out whether they have been accepted to university.
Unwilling to do school work,seniors have plenty of other activities to focus on.
Many schools have a “Senior Show”,in which only seniors are allowed to perform.Some seniors sing or dance but many of them perform skits(滑稽短剧),where they make fun of their favorite teachers or their friends.For example,a group of boys may dress up and imitate a group of their friends.It is all light-hearted.
The“Senior Show”is usually a part of Senior Week,which is a week specifically dedicated(专用的) to seniors.During this week,seniors usually get academic or athletic awards they have won over their high school careers.The seniors also vote for one of their male and female classmates who they believe is the best-looking or funniest or most involved,etc.These are then published in the yearbook.
The yearbook is an important part of high school for seniors.It is usually dedicated to them and has all their pictures and some words from them in it.Then seniors go around and get it signed by their friends so they can always remember their time together.
Of course during all of this time,seniors are preparing for the Senior Prom,which is an important moment in American culture.It is the most important dance in a young American’s life.
The end of senior year is a truly special and wonderful time for American students.It’s something they will remember for the rest of their lives.
60.Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence in paragraph1?
A.For American high school seniors,things are quite different.
B.It doesn’t make difference at the end of the senior year.
C.For American high school seniors,it is the best time of the year.
D.It is the period filled with stress and workload.
61.What activities that seniors would like to do according to the passage?
A.School work B.Voting for the film star
C.Singing or dance contests D.Senior Show and Senior Prom
62.What will most probably be talked about in the next paragraph of the passage?
A.Activities on the sports field
B.The graduation ceremony where they receive their high school diploma
C.Their favorite film stars
D.The health of seniors