There has been an outpouring of love for a 23-year-old disabled woman whose dog was killed in front of her while a groomer(美容师) tried to trim(修剪) its claws.
Calls and e-mails came from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and Arizona as well as Oakland and Macomb counties, offering Laurie Crouch, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis(硬化症), everything from dogs to money, such as that from Jason Daly of Roseville who said, “ I would like to buy her a new dog.”
A story about the death of Crouch’s pet, Gooch, was printed on the front page of Macomb Daily. Crouch said a man sat on the dog to trim its nails. Gooch died after one claw was trimmed.
Crouch yelled at the groomer to stop when she saw Gooch was struggling to breathe, but she said she was ignored. “If I could have walked, I would have put my hands on her and pulled her off my dog and physically stopped her, but I can’t do that.” Gooch was not a trained service animal, but naturally helped Crouch by picking up things for her.
“This case is absolute animal abuse(虐待),” Larry Obrecht, division manager of the Oakland County Animal Shelter in Auburn Hills, said.
People who read the story contacted Oakland Press to offer help. A message, from Rebecca Amett of Giggles N Wiggles Puppy Rescue, in Roseville, said, “We have puppies to donate … and want to help the young woman who lost her service dog.”
“When Gooch was with me, I was happy,” Crouch said, “I think I can be happy again but no animal can replace Gooch. There’s never going to be another Gooch out there but I think I will find a dog that can bring me joy again.”What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．A disabled woman’s service dog. |
| B．A cruel groomer killed a disabled woman’s dog. |
| C．People’s love for a disabled woman who lost her dog. |
| D．Disabled woman loves to have the dog as company. |
People called and emailed to .
| A．offer help and care to Laurie Crouch. |
| B．give their angry voice to the groomer. |
| C．offer a cure for Crouch’s disease. |
| D．tell Crouch how to punish the groomer. |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．Crouch refused to take another dog. |
| B．Crouch must be sad after losing her dog. |
| C．Crouch has accepted another dog from a stranger. |
| D．Crouch can live well without a dog’s company. |
Essay is optional and no penalties(处罚) for wrong answers．These changes will take place in SAT college exam．The changes include the use of some words more commonly used in school and on the job instead of the words such as “prevaricator” and “sagacious”.
College Board officials said the change is needed to make the exam better representative of what students study in high school and the skills they need to succeed in college and afterward．The new exam will be rolled out in 2016, so this year’s ninth graders will be the first to take it, in their junior year．The new SAT will continue to test reading, writing and math skills, with an emphasis on analysis．Scoring will return to a 1,600-point scale last used in 2004, with a separate score for the optional essay．For the first time, students will have the option of taking the test on computers.
They also said many students who are terrified they will be tested on lots of SAT words currently can ask for help: practicing with flashcards．They know flashcards are not the best way to build real word knowledge that lasts, but when the SAT rolls around they become the royal road．Students stop reading and start flipping.
The essay will be changed in other ways, too．It will measure students’ ability to analyze and explain how an author builds an argument and it will also be up to colleges whether the essay will be required．Each exam will include a passage drawn from “founding documents”: such as the Declaration of Independence or from discussions they’ve inspired．Instead of testing a wide range of math concepts, the new exam will focus on a few areas, like algebra, thought to be most needed for college and life afterward．A calculator will be allowed only on certain math questions, instead of on the entire math portion(部分).
Jim Rawlins, the director of admissions at the University of Oregon, said the changes will potentially help the students but it will take a few years to know its influence, after the students go on to college．He said some colleges are still dealing with questions about the changes made in 2005, such as how to consider the essay portion．The criticism of the SAT is that students from wealthier families do better on the exam because they can afford expensive test preparation classes.
The SAT was taken last year by 1.7 million students．It has historically been more popular on the coasts, while the other main standardized college entrance exam, the ACT, dominated the central U.S．The ACT took over the SAT in total use in 2012, partly because it is taken by almost every junior in 13 states as part of those states’ testing scheme(方案).
ACT president Jon Erickson said when hearing of the SAT changes, his reaction was that they could’ve been talking about the ACT now．“I didn’t hear anything new and different, so I was a little left wanting, at least at the end of this first announcement,” Erickson said .
Bob Schaeffer, education director at the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, or FairTest, said it is laudable(值得称道的) that the SAT will provide free test preparation, but it is unlikely to make a dent in the market for such preparation．He also said the new test is unlikely to be better than the current one．His organization has a database with institutions that don't require ACT or SAT scores to make admissions decisions.We can learn from the third paragraph that flashcards_________.
| A．will become the only way to test words |
| B．can help students get ready for SAT words |
| C．can help students memorize the words forever |
| D．are the best way for the students to get high scores |
SAT exams will be less required in 2016 with the purpose of _________.
| A．getting more students interested in the entrance exam |
| B．making it easier for students to be admitted into colleges |
| C．offering chances for the students to be tested on every subject |
| D．testing the students better on the knowledge and skills they’ve learnt |
The change in the 2016’s SAT college entrance exam include the following EXCEPT that _________.
| A．students will use calculators if they get stuck in certain math questions |
| B．some words that are uncommonly used won’t appear in the exam |
| C．students will be given the chance to take the test on computers |
| D．students will be tested on a wide range of math concepts |
According to Jim Rawlins, _________.
| A．the changes are mainly aimed at students from the rich family |
| B．the changes will force students to give up writing essay |
| C．the changes will probably have some bad influence |
| D．the changes will be of no benefit to students |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about the ACT ?
| A．It is more popular in the coastal cities. |
| B．More than 1.7 million students took it last year. |
| C．Jon Erickson felt worried about the SAT changes. |
| D．It has been the most popular college entrance exam so far. |
As children begin to head back to school, there are several things that you can do to make sure that your child stays healthy and performs at their peak potential during the school year.
1．Make sure your child is up to date on their immunizations(免疫)．The summer is a good time to schedule visits to the doctor’s as your child is not in school, and the visit won’t require that your child miss school days.
2．Encourage proper nutrition．America faces childhood obesity(肥胖)．This means that the percentage of overweight children is increasing each year, and this will place your child at risk of developing a variety of diseases when they are middle age or even young adults．You can start helping your child to become healthier by offering fruits and vegetables at home instead of calorie heavy potato chips and candy.
3．Get your child involved in sports activities．Activities in high school such as track and cross-country are important for socialization for your child, as well as helping to improve their health．You can get your child interested in wholesome activities by discussing with them how you enjoyed similar activities in high school.
4．Have the birds and the bees conversation with your child．Many children become sexually active in junior school and senior high school, and the sooner you discuss sex with your child the sooner they will be prepared．Tell your child that there is always the possibility of infecting a sexual disease when two people have sex; and discuss with your child the use of condoms．The sooner you start having this embarrassing situation the better.
5．Know your child’s friends．You can do this by inviting your child to bring their friends over to your house for a pizza night, or by chatting with them when they stop by your house．If you find your child’s friend has a bad reputation, then you could consider introducing your child to a different network of people, such as through the girl/boy scouts．Forbidding your child from seeing a certain person may only lead them to rebel and become closer to that person.
6．Discuss with your child the seriousness of drug use and abuse．Your child may not realize that using drugs can have serious consequences．Your child may get the false impression that drug use is his right．Explain to a child that saying no to drugs is their right, and that anybody offering them drugs is not their friend.
7．Help your child to avoid a life long smoking addiction by discussing with them the consequences of smoking．The sad fact is that most smokers became addicted when they were in their teenage years, and are unable to quit for long periods of time and often die many years earlier due to their smoking habit which increases the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, and a variety of medical conditions．Even if you are a smoker yourself, you can discuss with your child about how damaging smoking can be on a person’s health.
8．Impress upon your child the importance of traffic rules．Tell them that it is OK to wear a seat belt in anyone’s car, because it may save their life one day．If your child rides a bicycle or a skateboard, then discuss with them the importance of always wearing a helmet．As you child becomes qualified for driver’s permit, you should discuss with them the importance of prevention from drinking and driving.
9．Be cautious about signs of depression in childhood．A surprisingly large number of children may become depressed, and a small number of teenagers and children commit suicide(自杀) each year．Realize that any signs of unusual depressed mood, angry outbursts, suicidal comments, feelings of hopelessness, and loss of enjoyment of activities with friends may be signs of depression.What topic is NOT discussed in this passage?
| A．Traffic | B．Smoking |
| C．Depression | D．Study |
The first three tips focus on children’s .
| A．medical care | B．nutritious food |
| C．physical health | D．sports activities |
“Have the birds and the bees conversation with your child” means “ ” .
| A．have a humorous talk to children about sex |
| B．tell children stories about the animal world |
| C．give a formal expert education to children |
| D．deliver lectures to children on sex diseases |
This passage is meant for parents to .
| A．teach their children to behave well |
| B．prepare their children for a new term |
| C．educate their children after school |
| D．train their children for special ability |
Sometimes successful health campaigns can have quite unexpected reactions．The years of warnings about skin cancer mean that Britons are happy to cover themselves in sunscreen or stay out of the sun altogether, but it also means that most of us are not getting enough vitamin D.
Scientists announced yesterday that Britons need to increase to three times the amount of vitamin D they get per day．They called on food producers to fortify(强化)their products with more of the vitamin and suggested people should consider taking supplements(补充物) to keep levels up．They also suggested getting out in the sun for short periods more often, but they warned against “sun bingeing”.
The government does not publish official advice on the amount of vitamin D people should take due to a lack of research, says Dr Birgit Teucher of the Institute for Food Research．But in the US, the government recommends 5 micrograms a day．By that count, Dr Birgit Teucher said that around 90% of Britons between 19 and 64 would be lacking in the vitamin because they only took around 3 micrograms a day.
Vitamin D is important for absorption of calcium(钙)by the body, which is needed for healthy teeth and bones．A lack of it can lead to serious diseases in both children and adults．The vitamin can be found in some foods but it can also be obtained from chemicals in the skin reacting to sunlight．Dr Barbara Boucher said adults should get 5 to 25 micrograms a day．Shortage of vitamin D may be linked to diseases such as muscle weakness, high blood pressure and rickets(佝偻病).
Dr Birgit Teucher gave several reasons for the lack among Britons．Increasing numbers of office-based jobs mean a lack of exposure to the sun; and the rise of becoming overweight means that vitamin D—which is fat soluble(可溶解的)一is increasingly stored in body fat, where it cannot be accessed readily.
Professor Brian Wharton of the Institute of Child Health said that children in particular needed to have enough vitamin D to prevent rickets.
Professor Graham Bentham, an environmental scientist at the University of East Anglia, added that babies who were only breast-fed probably need to take supplements in case their mother was vitamin D lacking．Those drinking milk were likely to be OK, thanks to the fortification of the drink.
The scientists called on food producers to fortify milk, bread and breakfast nutrient to enable people to get their daily amount of the vitamin．Prof Graham Bentham added that 30 minutes of sun exposure to the face and forearms between April and October would be sufficient．Outside these months, the sun is not strong enough in Britain for the body to produce its own vitamin D.
But Prof Graham Bentham warned against spending too long in the sun．“Sun bingeing is well known to be dangerous,” he said．“In any case, vitamin D transformation in the skin switches off after a while so short frequent amounts are better for vitamin D formation.”From Paragraphs l&2 we can infer that_________.
| A．some health campaigns are very successful |
| B．people are lacking in various vitamins |
| C．Britons are advised not to get out in the sun |
| D．vitamin D can be obtained by staying in the sun |
The word “sufficient” (Paragraph 8) is the closest in meaning to _________.
| A．enough | B．proper |
| C．familiar | D．available |
From the passage, we can conclude_________.
| A．the babies who were only breast—fed certainly need to take vitamin D supplements |
| B．a large quantity of vitamin D stored in body fat is the primary reason for being overweight |
| C．the sunlight can produce adequate vitamin D that the body needs all year round |
| D．vitamin D is vital for the body to absorb calcium needed for healthy teeth and bones |
The government doesn’t give official advice on the amount of vitamin D because_________.
| A．they think it is harmful for health |
| B．they don’t want to be blamed |
| C．they aren’t confident of its function |
| D．they haven’t concrete proof |
Which best describes the writer’s tone in the passage?
| A．Humorous． | B．Objective. |
| C．Pessimistic． | D．One-sided. |
My parents have certainly had their troubles, and as their child I’ll never know how they made it to 38 years of marriage．They loved each other, but they didn’t seem to like each other very much．Dad was too fond of his beer, and he talked down to Mom a lot．When she tried to stand up to him, a fight would unavoidably follow.
It was my dad’s disease that began to change things．The year 1998 was the beginning of a remarkable transformation for my family．My father, Jim Dineen, the always healthy, weightlifting, never-missed-a-day-of-work kind of dad, discovered he had kidney (肾) disease.
The decision to go ahead with a transplant for my father was a long and tough one, mostly because he had liver damage too．One physician’s assistant told him, “According to your file, you’re supposed to be dead.” And for a while, doctors mistakenly thought that he would need not just a kidney transplant, but a liver transplant too．Dad’s future hung in midpoint.
When the donor testing process finally began in the spring of 2003, numerous people, including me, my uncle Tom, and my mom, came back as matches of varying degree．But Mom was the one who insisted on going further．She decided to donate a kidney to my father．She said she was not scared, and it was the right thing to do．We all stepped back in amazement.
At last a date was chosen – November 11, 2003．All of a sudden, the only thing that seemed to matter Dad was telling the world what a wonderful thing Mom was doing for him．A month before the surgery, he sent her birthday flowers with a note that read, “I love you and I love your kidney! Thank you!”
Financially, the disease was upsetting to them．So my sister and I were humbled and surprised when, shortly before his surgery day, Dad handed us a diamond jewelry that we were to give to Mom after the operation．He’d accumulated(积累) his spare dollars to buy it.
At the hospital on the day of the transplant, all our relatives and friends gathered in the waiting room and became involved in a mean euchre (尤克牌游戏) tournament．My family has always handled things with a lot of laughter, and even though we were all tense, everybody was taking bets on how long this “change of conduct” would last in my parents.
We would inform Dad that if he chose to act like a real pain on any particular day after the operation, he wasn’t allowed to blame it on PMS just because he’d now have a female kidney.
The surgeries went well, and not long afterward, my sister and I were allowed to go in to visit．Dad was in a great deal of pain but again, all he could talk about was Mom．Was she okay? How was she feeling? Then the nurses let us do something unconventional．As they were wheeling Mom out of recovery room, they rolled her into a separate position to visit Dad．It was strange to see both my parents hooked up to IVs and machines and trying to talk to each other through tears．The nurses allowed us to present the diamond jewelry to Mom so that Dad could watch her open it．Everyone was crying, even the nurses.
As I stood with digital camera in hand, I tried to keep the presence of mind to document the moment．My dad was having a hard time fighting back emotion, and suddenly my parents unexpectedly reached out to hold each other’s hands.
In my nearly 35 years of existence, I’d never seen my parents do that, and I was spellbound．I snapped a picture and later rushed home to make sure I’d captured that enormous, life-defining moment．After so many years of disagreement, it was apparent to me that they finally understood how much each loved the other.From the first paragraph we can learn that _________.
| A．Dad was fond of drinking |
| B．My parents got along well |
| C．Dad often beat Mom |
| D．Mom never obeyed Dad |
The underlined part “Dad’s future hung in midpoint” in Para.3 suggests that _________.
| A．Dad's life journey was on half way |
| B．Dad came to a critical moment in his life |
| C．Dad’s future was decided by doctors |
| D．Dad faced a tough decision in his life |
Before the surgery, which of the following words can best describe the feeling of the families?
| A．Worried and negative. |
| B．Anxious and helpless. |
| C．Nervous but optimistic. |
| D．Relaxed and positive. |
Which of the following is TRUE according the passage?
| A．Dad bought a diamond jewelry to Mom for their wedding anniversary. |
| B．Dad asked the nurse to visit Mom soon after the operation. |
| C．Despite a lot of pain, Dad was eager to know Mom’s condition soon after the operation. |
| D．On the day of the transplant, the families involved in a mean euchre tournament to relax themselves. |
What’s in the writer’s photo?
| A．Everyone was crying, even the nurses. |
| B．His parents were trying to talk to each other. |
| C．Dad watched Mom opening the gift. |
| D．His parents were holding each other’s hands. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Dad’s disease | B．Mom’s decision |
| C．The Gift of Life | D．The photo of hands |
The malls were filled with people seeking gifts for their loved ones. Some of the malls remained open around the clock, partly to satisfy our needs to buy gifts.
Behind the materialistic aspect of shopping for gifts lies the idea of caring, being attentive to the desires of special people in our lives. However, to use a well-worn play on words: it is our presence, not our presents, that truly counts. Many of us, unfortunately, can be so inattentive, even in the presence of our loved ones, that we might as well not be there at all.
Attention is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. Companies around the globe spend billions every year on advertising to catch our attention for just a short moment at a time. Whole industries — media, entertainment, education — rely on the precious gift of our attention for their continued existence. A baby lacking attention for a long time is likely to be psychologically unhealthy.
In earlier times, both diet and attention could be left unregulated (没人管的) without major cause for concern. There were natural checks and balances: limited availability of food meant few got fat, for example. Similarly, in bygone times we might have spent a few hours communicating with the village storyteller; today, watching an entire TV series, while speaking to nobody, is common. In traditional societies, with smaller population, everyone would get a fair deal of attention. On many issues we might go to see Grandma or Grandpa; now we have Google and Wikipedia.
“She just wants attention.” people tend to think little of those doing things simply for attention. But the truth is that human beings need attention, and giving attention to each other is, to a large extent, what human civilization is based upon. This perhaps explains the runaway success of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. While we use such sites for “micro Hogging”, “idea voicing” and “status updates” — the reality is that we are often doing no more or less than fulfilling our basic human drive for attention exchange.
I friend you, you friend me, I retweet you, you retweet me. The charming ease with which we can now get and give attention is why many people appear overly attached to their smartphones. It is also a vicious (恶性的) circle. As ever more people are busy exchanging attention online, there is increasingly less attention to be paid in the real world, which forces more people to seek their attention exchange online, or else risk attention-starvation.
The very nature of attention exchange is being rapidly transformed, and there is a danger that some of us will develop unhealthy practices. Just as eating red meat every day is a bad idea, so it is with too much attention exchange. The biological consequences of our technological advancement in food production are highly visible; heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The consequences of our transformed attention exchanges will be psychological and social, and so may take longer to identify, but they will be equally damaging.
Face-to-face attention is becoming rarer, and therefore more valuable. In a sense it is priceless. And it is a gift that can be given all-year-round.In the first two paragraphs the author __________.
| A．offers advice to attention givers |
| B．analyses the present problems |
| C．states the necessity of presents |
| D．puts forward his point of view |
What can we infer from Paragraphs 6-7?
| A．More people will risk attention-starvation in future. |
| B．The nature of attention exchange is rarely changed. |
| C．Technological advancement contributes to all diseases. |
| D．Transformed attention exchanges do harm to society. |
The writer’s purpose for writing the passage is to __________.
| A．advocate more focus on real life attention |
| B．analyze the necessity of attention giving |
| C．give practical tips on attention exchange |
| D．recommend some social networking sites |