Once there was a man who liked to eat mangoes. One day he decided to get the sweetest mango from the very top of the tree. Mangoes which are exposed to the sun the most are the sweetest.
So he climbed up to the top, where the branches were thin. He managed to pick up a few sweet reddish fruits, but, in an attempt to climb down, he slipped and started falling towards the ground. Fortunately, he caught the branch as he was falling and remained helplessly hanging on the tree. Then he started to call nearby villagers for help. They immediately came with a ladder and sticks, but could do little to help him.
Then after some time one calm and thoughtful person arrived – a well-known sage who lived in a simple hut nearby. People were very curious to see what he would do, as he was famous in solving many people’s problems in the area and sometimes very complicated ones.
He was silent for a minute and then picked up a stone and threw it at the hanging man.
Everybody was surprised. The hanging mango lover started to shout, “What are you doing?! Are you crazy? Do you want me to break my neck?” The sage was silent. Then he took another stone and threw it at the man. The man was very angry, “If I could just come down, I would show you!”
That’s what everybody wanted – that he came down. But how? Now everybody was tense, as to what would happen next! Some wanted to chastise the sage, but they didn’t. The sage picked another stone and threw it again at the man, even more forcefully. Now the man on the tree was enraged and developed a great determination to come down and take revenge（复仇）.
He then used all his skill and strength and somehow reached the branches which were safe to start going down. And he made it! Everybody was amazed.
However, the rescued man found the sage gone. He stood there, realizing that the man really saved him because he induced（引诱）him to try his best and save himself.
“I should be thankful and not angry.”
| A．on the very top of the tree |
| B．hidden in the middle of a tree |
| C．on the tree for the longest time |
| D．exposed to sunlight less often |
| A．He slipped and fell to the ground suddenly. |
| B．He was climbing down quickly but carefully. |
| C．He remained hanging helplessly on the tree. |
| D．He shouted loudly for help but no one helped. |
| A．He was nervous. | B．He kept silent. |
| C．He felt surprised. | D．He was angry. |
| A．Courage. | B．Revenge. |
| C．Carefulness. | D．Assistance. |
| A．Anger saves one’s life. |
| B．Wisdom does count. |
| C．Skill and strength count. |
| D．Anger is the biggest enemy. |
How can you help kids cope with stress? Proper rest and good nutrition can improve coping skills, so can good parenting. Make time for your kids each day. Whether they need to talk with you or just be in the same room with you, make yourself available.
Even as kids get older, quality time is important. It’s really hard for some people to come home after a tiring day of work, get down on the floor, and play with their kids or just talk to them about their day -- especially if they’ve had a stressful day themselves. But expressing interest in your kids shows that they’ re important to you.
Help your child deal with stress by talking about what may be causing it. Together, you can come up with a few solutions. For example, he should cut back on after-school activities, spending more time talking with his parents or teachers, developing an exercise plan or keeping a journal.
You can also help by predicting potentially stressful situations and preparing kids for them. For example, let a child know ahead of time, but not too far ahead of time, that a doctor’s appointment is coming up and talk about what will happen there. Keep in mind, though, that younger kids probably won’t need too much advance preparation. Too much information can cause more stress.
Remember that some level of stress is normal. Let kids know that it’s OK to feel angry, scared, lonely, or anxious and that other people share those feelings, too.
When kids can’t or won’t discuss these problems, try talking about your own concerns. This shows that you’re willing to handle tough topics and are available to talk with when they’re ready. If a child shows symptoms that concern you and is unwilling to talk, consult a counselor or other mental health experts.
Most parents have the skills to cope with their children’s stress. The time to seek professional attention is when any change in behavior continues to exist, when stress is causing serious anxiety, or when the behavior is causing significant problems in functioning at school or at home.What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To share the author’s ideas on proper parenting. |
| B．To persuade parents to spend more time with their kids. |
| C．To advise parents how to help their kids deal with stress. |
| D．To seek different ways to help solve kids’ problems. |
Why do some parents feel it difficult to spare quality time for their kids?
| A．Their kids are growing so fast. |
| B．They have too much housework. |
| C．Their kids are losing interest in them. |
| D．They are tired out after work. |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Normal people share the same feelings. |
| B．It is normal for kids to have some stress. |
| C．Kids should get rid of the negative feelings. |
| D．Everybody feels angry, scared, lonely or anxious. |
John Milton, the most learned poet, is the greatest writer of the seventeenth century and one of the giants of English literature as a whole. He was greatly influenced by two historical movements of Renaissance and Reformation. Like Spenser and Shakespeare, he was also one of the Renaissance giants not only in England but also in the whole world. Almost all later poets in English literature respected Milton highly. Milton towers over his age as Shakespeare towers over the Elizabethan age, and as Chaucer towers over the medieval period.
John Milton was born in London in 1608. His education began at St. Paul’s School, where he was very hard-working, where he showed wonderful gifts as a student of languages mastering Greek, Latin, Hebrew and many modem European languages. He also received very good home education under the influence of his father who was a Puritan (清教徒) and a lover of music and literature. He attended Christ’s College, Cambridge University, where he was very popular because of his handsomeness and talent, where he explained the true aim of knowledge as making the spirit of man “reach out far and wide, until it fills the whole world and the space far beyond with the expansion of its greatness”, where he graduated with B.A. in 1962 and M. A. in 1963. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．John Milton was a most learned poet. |
| B．John Milton was one of the giants of English literature. |
| C．Spenser and Shakespeare were the Renaissance giants in England. |
| D．Spenser, Shakespeare and John Milton had the friendly relationship between them. |
The underlined word “towers” in the first paragraph most probably means “_________”.
| A．likes to visit towers |
| B．looks like a tall building |
| C．builds a tall building like a tower |
| D．is better than others in ability and quality |
What was Milton’s opinion to the true aim of knowledge?
| A．To think about what we don’t know. |
| B．To research the whole world and space. |
| C．To make the spirit of man reach out far and wide with the expansion of the greatness of knowledge. |
| D．To make the character of man strong and great. |
Every New Year brings renewed(更新的) expectation for a change, for a better life and for a better you. That’s a wonderful thing, because this fresh start gives us a chance to reinvent our lives and ourselves. Here’s how.
Let go
Many times we are held back by our previous failures,emotions and barriers(障碍). This is all old baggage. Let everything unhappy from the past go. Let go of failures. Let go of fears you’ve built up. Let go of your ideas about what your life has to be like. Let go of long-held beliefs and habits which seem to be burdens(负担) to you.
Clear away distractions(分心)
Clear away email, your favourite blogs and news websites. Clearaway the iPhone or Blackberry, and clear away all the chores that pull at your attention. In fact, if you can, shut off the Internet for a while. You can come back to it after you take a break.
Decide what matters most today
Forget about your goals for all of this year. Instead, decide what you want to do today. What matters most to you and your life? What are you most passionate(热情的) about right now? What excites you? What gives you the most fulfillment(满足感)? Often the answer would be in creating something, making something new, helping others, becoming a better person, and working on a project that you will be proud of. But whatever your answer, have it clear in your mind at the beginning of the day.
Reinvent yourself every day
Every day, you are reborn.Reinvent yourself and your life. Do what matters most to you. It might be the same thing that mattered most yesterday, or it might not be. That isn’t important. What’s important is today---right now! Be passionate, and be happy!
You’ll have a fresh start every single day---not just on January 1 of a new year.Writing this passage, the author seems to be ________.
| A．strict | B．peaceful | C．nervous | D．confident |
The underlined word “chores” refers to ______.
| A．modern technology | B．unimportant things |
| C．online information | D．fashinable devices |
Which of the following is the writer’s suggestion according to the passage?
| A．Stopping using hi-tech devices to avoid troubles in your life. |
| B．Seizing the moment, but not to make a plan for the far future. |
| C．Forgetting everything about and from the past |
| D．Making yourself a person reborn every day. |
The most suitable title for the passage is “ ________”.
| A．Work Effectively in a New Year |
| B．Reduce Stress in a New Year |
| C．Freshen the Start of Every New Day |
| D．Live a Better Life in Every New Day |
Since the Internet came into homes, the daily life has never been the same again. But the thing that worries most of us is that we can get viruses from the Internet. But can we catch viruses on our cell phones? A new study in the journal Science says yes, but the spread of such mobile software that can bring harm to our cell phones won’t reach dangerous levels until more cell phones are on the same operating system.
Computers are easily attacked by viruses because they share data, especially over the Internet. Of course, nowadays, more people are using their cell phones more and more frequently. They use them for emailing, text messaging and downloading troublesome ring tones, etc.,so it is obvious that cell phone viruses are a threat as well.
Scientists used nameless call data from more than six million cell phone users to help model a possible outbreak. And they concluded that viruses that spread from phone to phone by Bluetooth are not much concerned, because users have to be in close physical relation for their phones to “see” one another. However, viruses that spread through multimedia messaging services can move much faster, because they can come in disguise（伪装）, such as a cool tune sent by a friend. The good news is that to be effective, these viruses need their victims(受害人) to all use the same operating system, which not enough of us do. Because there is no Microsoft operating system for mobile phones, yet. Thank goodness.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The operating system of cell phones. |
| B．The threat of cell phone viruses. |
| C．The wide use of cell phones. |
| D．Computer viruses. |
When ______, cell phone viruses can be dangerous.
| A．all the cell phones work on the same operating system |
| B．Microsoft operating system for cell phones is created |
| C．users can see each other on the phones |
| D．Bluetooth is widely used |
What can we infer about Bluetooth according to the scientists?
| A．It can increase the chances of cell phone viruses greatly. |
| B．It can help us to stop the spreading of cell phone viruses. |
| C．It won’t possibly cause the outbreak of cell phone viruses. |
| D．It can make users have close physical relation with one another. |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．it is impossible to catch viruses on our cell phones |
| B．cell phones are not well connected with the Internet |
| C．it is dangerous for people to download ring tones to cell phones |
| D．more than one operating system is used for cell phones now |
As a school teacher, Inderjit Khurana used to take the train to work. And one day, at the station, she saw dozens of children who spent their days begging from train passengers rather than going to school. She learned that it was not a rare problem and that millions of children in India lived on the streets.
Realizing that these children would never be able to escape poor life and homelessness without education, and that it would be impossible to send these children to school, Inderjit decided to create a model program---taking the school to the most out- of-school children.
Khurana’s train platform schools aim to provide a creative school form and give children the basic levels of education. Her last goals reach far beyond the 20 platform schools she and her colleagues have created in India’s Bhubaneswar region. She is determined that her program will become a model for changing the lives of the poorest children throughout India and the world.
Khurana founded the Ruchika Social Service Organization(RSSO) in 1985. The teachers gather the children together between the stops of the train for reading, writing, maths and history taught through songs and other teaching tools.
Khurana recently comes to realize that the education of these children is impossible when the most basic needs of their families are not being met. So she also provides food and medicine for their families.
Khurana insists that every child have the right to an education and that if a child cannot come to the school, then the school must come to him or her.Khurana’s final aim is to.
| A．make the poorest children’s lives better |
| B．put an end to the problem of children’s dropout(辍学) |
| C．attract more students to her platform schools |
| D．set up 20 platform schools throughout India |
What can we learn about the RSSO?
| A．It has a history of more than 30 years. |
| B．It provides jobs for the poorest children. |
| C．It gives money to the out-of-school children. |
| D．Its work doesn’t only include free education for the street children. |
Khurana also offers free food and medicine to the children because_____.
| A．the basic family needs are included in her model program |
| B．she hopes to draw more people’s attention to the RSSO |
| C．they are the necessities for the out-of-school children |
| D．she wishes to improve local people’s living standard |