I'm not so sure I like my friends any more. I used to like them-to be honest. We'd have lunch, talk on the phone or exchange e-mails, and they all seemed normal enough. But then came Facebook and I was introduced to a sad fact: many of my friends have dark sides that they had kept from me.
Today my friends show off the unpleasant aspects of their personalities via Facebook. No longer hidden, they're thrown in my face like TV commercials—unavoidable and endless advertisements for the worst of their personalities.
Take Fred. If you were to have lunch with him, you'd find him warm, and down-to-earth. Read his Facebook and you realize he's an unbearable, food-obsessed bore. He'd pause to have a cup of coffee on his way to save a drowning man—and then write about it.
Take Andy. You won't find a smarter CEO anywhere, but now he's a CEO without a company to run. So he plays “Mafia Wars” on Facebook. He's doing well-level 731.Thanks to Facebook, I know he's playing about 18 hours a day. Andy, you've run four companies—and this is how you spend your downtime? What happened to golf? What happened to getting another job?
Take Liz. She is positive that the H1N1 vaccine will kill us all and that we should avoid it. And then comes Chris who likes to post at least 20 times a day on every website he can find, so I get to read his thoughts twice, once on Facebook and once on Twitter.
In real life, I don't see these sides of people. Face to face, my friends show me their best. They're nice, smart people. But facing Facebook, my friends are like a blind date which goes horribly wrong.
I'm left with a dilemma. Who is my real friend? Is it the Liz I have lunch with or the anti-vaccine lunatic(狂人) on Facebook? Is it the Fred I can grab a sandwich with or the Fred who weeps if he's at a party and the wine isn't up to his standards?Who is opposed to the H1N1 vaccine in the text?
| A．Fred. | B．Andy. | C．Liz. | D．Chris. |
According to the text, Facebook tends to ________.
| A．present another side of people |
| B．offer some food for free |
| C．show endless advertisements |
| D．get you to attend more parties |
The text is developed mainly by ________.
| A．giving examples | B．following the time order |
| C．listing figures | D．raising questions |
The author focuses on the question of “________”.
| A．what is Facebook? | B．what happened to golf? |
| C．who is my real friend? | D．who can help me? |
Many parents have learned the hard way that what sounds like open communication is often the very thing that closes a youngster’s ears and mouth. One common mistake is the Lecture, the long monologue that often starts with “When I was your age….” Eighteen-year-old Kelly calls lectures “long, one-side discussions in which I don’t say much.”
Kids reflexively（条件反射地） shut down in the face of a lecture. Their eyes glaze over, and they don’t register any incoming information. Listen to 13-year-old Sarah describe her least favorite times with her mom and dad. “First, they scream. Then comes the ‘We’re so disappointed’ speech. Then the ‘I never did that to my parents’ lecture begins. After that, even if they realize how ridiculous they sound, they never take it back.”
Lines like “When you have children of your own, you’ll understand” have been seriously said by parents since time immemorial. But many of our expert parents, like Bobby, a registered nurse and mother of three, feel that by falling back on clichés（陈词滥调）to justify our actions, we weaken our position.
Since kids are creatures of here and now, the far-off future has no relevance to them. Therefore, good communicators like Bobby suggest, “Give specific reasons for your actions in present language: ‘I’m not letting you go to the party because I don’t think there will be enough adult supervisions（监护）.’”
Betty, who lives in Missiouri, uses an indirect approach. “I find that warnings are accepted more readily if I discuss a news article on a subject I am concerned about. My husband and I talk about it while our children absorb the information. Then they never think I’m preaching(布道).”
This really helped when Betty’s kids began driving. Instead of constantly repeating “Don’t drink; don’t speed,” she would talk about articles in the paper and express sympathy for the victims of a car crash. Betty made no special effort to draw her kids into the conversation. She depended on a teenager’s strong desire to put in his opinions---especially if he thinks he isn’t being asked for them.The purpose of the passage is to _________.
| A．compare two ways of parents` communicating with their kids |
| B．explain why kids won’t listen to their parents |
| C．give parents advice on how to communicate with their kids |
| D．introduce kids` reaction to the communication between them and their parents |
Which of the following statements is NOT right?
| A．Kids won’t listen to their parents because they think what their parents say is boring. |
| B．Kids don’t like any discussion at all. |
| C．Some kids think their parents should apologize when they are wrong. |
| D．Many kids think they have no right to express their own opinions. |
What does the underlined word in the first paragraph mean?
| A．讨论 | B．对话 | C．插话 | D．独白 |
Which of the following topic may appeal to kids?
| A．Something related to kids’ present life |
| B．Kids possible life in the future |
| C．Parents` own experience |
| D．What parents have done to their own parents. |
In order to make kids follow their advice, parents should______.
| A．tell their kids to listen carefully |
| B．arouse kids’ desire to express themselves. |
| C．list out as many examples as possible |
| D．set out their warnings directly |
Education is not an end , but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life.
In many modern countries it has for some time been fashionable（流行的）to think that by free education for all whether rich or poor, clever or stupid --- one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough: we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degrees（学位）they refuse to do what they think "low" work; and in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor: we can live without education, but we die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns…
In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability, and secondly, that we can realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that it is very bad to be unwilling to do one's work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society.In the writer’s opinion,_________
| A．free education for all probably leads to a perfect world |
| B．all the social problems can’t be solved by education |
| C．education can solve most of the world’s problems |
| D．free education will help to solve all the problems of society |
The writer wants to prove that _______
| A．a farmer is more important than a professor |
| B．our society needs free education for all |
| C．our society needs all kinds of jobs |
| D．work with hands is the most important |
The purpose of education is to ________
| A．build a perfect world | B．let everyone receive education |
| C．choose officials for the country | D．prepare children mainly for their future work |
What is mainly discussed in the text?
| A．The type of education | B．The value of education |
| C．The means of education | D．The system of education |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Work with hands is thought to be shameful in some modern countries. |
| B．In all modern countries, free education has been fashionable. |
| C．A perfect nation can solve all the problems of society. |
| D．A professor is far more important than a farmer. |
While income worry is a rather common problem of the aged, loneliness is another problem that aged parents may face. Of all the reasons that explain their loneliness, a large geographical distance between parents and their children is the major one. This phenomenon(现象) is commonly known as "Empty Nest Syndrome”（空巢综合症）．
In order to find better chances outside their countries, many young people have gone abroad, leaving their parents behind with no clear idea of when they will return home. Their parents spend countless lonely days and nights, taking care of themselves, in the hope that someday their children will come back to stay with them. The fact that most of these young people have gone to Europeanized or Americanized societies makes it unlikely that they will hold as tightly to the value of duty as they would have if they had not left their countries. Whatever the case, it has been noted that the values they hold do not necessarily match what they actually do. This geographical and cultural distance also prevents the grown-up children from providing response in time for their aged parents living by themselves.
The situation in which grown-up children live far away from their aged parents has been described as "distant parent phenomenon", which is common both in developed countries and in developing countries. Our society has not yet been well prepared for "Empty Nest Syndrome".According to the passage, the loneliness of aged parents is mainly caused by ________.
| A．their earlier experience of living alone |
| B．the poor living conditions in their native countries |
| C．the common worry that they have not saved much money |
| D．the distance between where parents live and where their children live |
Many young people have gone abroad, leaving their aged parents behind, to ______.
| A．realize their dreams in foreign countries |
| B．seek a better place for their aged parents |
| C．live in the countries with more money |
| D．continue their studies abroad |
If young people go abroad, __________.
| A．they do not hold to the value of duty at all |
| B．they can give some help to their parents back home |
| C．they cannot do what they should for their parents |
| D．they believe what they actually do is right |
From the last paragraph, we can infer that __________.
| A．the situations in the developed and developing countries are different |
| B．"Empty Nest Syndrome" has arrived unexpectedly in our society |
| C．children will become independent as soon as they go abroad |
| D．the aged parents are not fully prepared for "Empty Nest Syndrome" |
The society discussed in the passage is most probably __________.
| A．France | B．America | C．China | D．Britain |
Ten years ago I used to be very fit (健康的). I rode a bike to work and I got a lot of exercise at weekends. I used to play tennis a lot and go for long walks. In those days I didn’t earn very much. I had a job in an office. It wasn’t a very good job but I had a lot of time to do the things I enjoyed doing.
Then, about eight years ago, I got a much better job. The pay was better, but the hours were a lot longer. I bought a car and drove to work every day. I began to take people out to lunch. And I began to put on weight, too. I stopped playing tennis and going for long walks at weekends because I just didn’t have any time for things like that any more.
There’s a lot of stress in my job. Perhaps that’s why I started drinking more than I used to. For example, I used to have only half a glass of whisky when I got home, but then I started filling my glass to the top, and instead of having one glass, I would have several. I started smoking a lot, too. I never used to smoke at all.
Two months ago I had a heart attack. At first I just couldn’t believe it. Luckily it wasn’t very serious. The doctor advised me to stop smoking and to eat less. He also advised me to work less and get more exercise. But I just haven’t any time! My job takes everything out of me!
Sometimes I wonder if I should get another job. Perhaps I could do something like I used to do. But if I do that, I won’t earn as much. I have a family to support. I have to think of them, too. I just don’t know what I should do. What do you think? The author used to go to work ________
| A．on foot | B．by bike | C．by car | D．by train |
Compared with ten years ago, what is worse for the author now? d
| A．His job. | B．His pay. | C．His means of transport. | D．His health. |
According to the passage, when the author got the better job, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．He got higher pay. | B．His working hours weren’t long. |
| C．He found it very stressful. | D．He had little free time at weekends. |
After the author had a heart attack, the doctor advised him _____.
| A．not to work any longer | B．to take a long vacation abroad |
| C．to work less and take exercise | D．not to eat out any more |
What can we learn about the author?
| A．The author is not sure what he should do now. |
| B．The author has taken the doctor’s advice. |
| C．The author has got another new job. |
| D．The author feels much better now. |
Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York., in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.
Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people’s interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends (小商品 ) for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.
Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly form the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.
By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always run his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was: “ THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”Frank took a short business course in order to ____________.
| A．earn more money for his family |
| B．learn something from a salesman |
| C．get away from the farm |
| D．get enough to eat. |
Frank sold the odds and ends quickly because _____________.
| A．he knew how to get people to buy his goods. |
| B．he cut down the price by half |
| C．he had put the goods on a table in a very nice way. |
| D．the sign he put on the table was well designed. |
The price of the knives was cut down by half because ______________.
| A．the factory workers worked 24 hours a day. |
| B．knives were ordered in large quantities directly from the factory. |
| C．the knives were made in Germany, where labour (劳动力) was cheap. |
| D．the knives were produced in one factory. |
_____________ make Woolworth a world-famous man.
| A．His business skills and his wealth. |
| B．The low price of the goods he sold. |
| C．His trip to Germany and his huge order of knives. |
| D．His natural skill for showing things. |
The belief that: “The customer is always right” suggests that _______________.
| A．whenever there is a quarrel between the customer and shop assistant, the customers are always right. |
| B．If you want to succeed, the rule is the only way. |
| C．stores must always follow the customer’s orders if they want to make more money. |
| D．stores should do their best to meet the customer’s needs if they want to be successful. |