In general, it’s hard to spend enough time in both concentrating on lessons and taking part in social activities. But I wanted to succeed in both. I knew this would be a challenge but I didn’t realize how difficult it was until my class in the high school began.
I got on well with other girls. After school, I often had ice cream with them first instead of finishing my homework before it was time to hand it in. I always finished it the next day between classes. I knew it wasn’t very good and the grades that I got showed I was not hard working enough. I realized that I needed to find some kind of balance.
So I created a timetable that would divide my time between studying and relaxing. It was a good idea but I was only able to follow it for a few days because it made me under too much pressure.
Later, I tried another plan. Each week I listed everything that I had to get done during the week and the time by which I had to get it done. The under the things I had to do, I made another list of things that I could do if I had time.
It worked really well. Ever since I have never missed any important things. At the same time, I enjoyed my spare time a lot.
Planning my time has been challenging, but I continue to do it. I’m glad that I’ve learned to balance things and it has helped prepare for what is coming after graduation.Why did the writer follow the first timetable only for a few days?
A．Because it had a specific list
B．Because it wasn’t a good idea
C．Because it brought her too much pressure.What wasn’t included in the writer’s second time plan?
A．The things she shouldn’t do
B．the things she had to get done
C．The things she could do if she had timeAccording to the passage, which of the following is true?
A．The writer had few friends because of bad grade
B．Learning to balance things is helpful to make plans for the future
C．The writer preferred to spend more time in relaxing than studyingWhich do you think is the best title of the passage?
A．Facing challenges
B．Concentrating on lessons
C．Balancing study and play
In the Night Garden
In a magical forest, colourful characters have adventures. A mysterious tide of water appears suddenly next to Igglepiggle. He discovers that he can control it by moving his feet. Excited, he takes it to Makka Pakka who finds it very useful indeed.
Children Under 5
Today on BBC2 from 11:05am to 11:35am
Last of the Summer Wine
To relax, Howard tries a simple trick to change his appearance enough to fool even Pearl. But he soon discovers that taking over someone else's identity can be equally dangerous.
Comedy Sitcoms
Today on G.O.L.D. from 12:40pm to 1: 20pm
The Secret Circle
Cassie is an orphaned teenager who discovers that not only is she a witch but that she is also the key that will unlock a centuries-old battle between good and evil. When Cassie accepts a cute boy's invitation to the school dance, Adam struggles to control his anger.
Today on Sky Living from 10:00pm to 11:00pm
The Kid's Speech
Eleven-year-olds, Reggie and William, and 14-year-old Bethan, are determined to improve their speech. Along with their parents, they start a unique course at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering children. Over two weeks, they open up about their fears and frustrations.
Documentary
Today on BBC1 London from 10:35pm to 11:25pm If Mary's little brother is free before noon, which play can he watch?
| A．In the Night Garden. |
| B．Last of the Summer Wine. |
| C．The Secret Circle. |
| D．The Kid's Speech. |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Igglepiggle finds something frightening. |
| B．Howard finds it funny to take over someone else's identity. |
| C．Adam is very angry when Cassie accepts a boy's invitation. |
| D．Reggie and William are afraid to improve their speech. |
Which play can be used to inspire children who are afraid to speak in public?
| A．In the Night Garden. |
| B．Last of the Summer Wine. |
| C．The Secret Circle. |
| D．The Kid's Speech. |
If you want to watch The Secret Circle you should choose channel ______.
A. BBC2 from 11:05am to 11:35am
B. G.O.L.D. From 12:40pm to 1: 20pm
C. Sky Living from 10:00pm to 11:00pm
D. BBC1 London from 10:35pm to 11:25pm
I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my students. If I were to deal with them, I’d be busy 24 hours a day.
The forged excuse notes made a large pile(堆), with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.”
Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard to put 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.
“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note—the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worth studying.”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’. ” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down, looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.”
When I stepped into his office, he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you.”What did the author do with the students found dishonest?
| A．He reported them to the headmaster. |
| B．He lectured them hard on honesty. |
| C．He had them take notes before lunch. |
| D．He helped improve their writing skills. |
The author had the students practice writing excuse notes so that the students could learn ______.
| A．the importance of being honest |
| B．how to write excuse notes skillfully |
| C．the pleasure of creative writing |
| D．how to be creative in writing |
The underlined word “forged” in the second paragraph means“______”.
| A．dull | B．copied | C．dishonest | D．parental |
What did the headmaster think of the author’s way of teaching?
| A．Excellent. | B．Difficult. | C．Incorrect. | D．Reasonable. |
Earlier this year I traveled to Turkana in Kenya. I was there to take pictures of the “broken food system”.
As a special visitor, I was greeted with songs and dances. The locals used to sing and dance all the time but now Turkana is silent and has been for some years. No one is singing or dancing any more because they have no food, nothing to celebrate. Many of them are surviving on a little corn a day and water, which they can get just every two days.
I met Tede Lokapelo, a local farmer who described the experience of a six-year drought(干旱). Tede used to have 200 goats, but now he has only seven left. He told me that this drought has taught him a hard lesson: It is too difficult to keep animals. He lives on animals. His traditional way of life has been completely destroyed now. Without the food aid(援助) they got, Tede is certain that they would starve because there are no other ways to feed themselves left.
Sadly, the same can be heard in almost any developing country around the world. Almost one billion people go to bed hungry each night. The food system is broken. In Turkana, not enough rain has fallen since 2005. They measure(测量) rainfall not in days or weeks but in minutes. More and more people are being forced to rely on food aid, but people like Tede don’t want food aid. They want to work and develop their country. It’s our responsibility(责任) to change the situation so that they can support themselves.
Drought is impossible to avoid but famine(饥荒) is manmade, and unless enough money is provided to develop a basic infrastructure(基础设施) for people in the area, thousands more lives are sure to be lost. Why do people in Turkana no longer sing or dance any more?
| A．Because they have no time. |
| B．Because they are tired of them. |
| C．Because they are always hungry. |
| D．Because they have other interesting things to do. |
During the drought Tede had experienced, ______of his goats were killed.
| A．200 | B．193 | C．7 | D．6 |
Which of the following is NOT true about Tede Lokapelo?
| A．He was a farmer in Kenya. |
| B．He has never received any food aid. |
| C．His traditional way of life ha s been changed. |
| D．He found it hard to raise animals after the drought. |
What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?
| A．To show drought is serious in the world. |
| B．To tell readers the serious situation of food shortage(短缺). |
| C．To ask more people to give food aid to people in Kenya. |
| D．To make it clear what is the right way to help people suffering from drought. |
When the lazy days of summer arrive and the schedule is filled with swimming，camp，and family vacations，it can be a challenge to find time for learning. But kids’ reading skills don’t have to grow cold once school’s out. Here are some ways to make reading a natural part of their summer fun：
Explore your library. Visit your local library to borrow books and magazines that your kids haven’t seen before. Many libraries have summer reading programs, book clubs, and reading contests(比赛) for even the youngest borrowers. With a new library card，a child will feel extra grownup by borrowing books.
Read on the road. Going on a long car trip？Make sure there are some books at the back seat. When you stop driving，read the books aloud. Get some audio books in libraries and listen to them together during driving time.
Make your own books. Pick one of your family’s favorite parts of summer—whether it’s baseball，ice cream, or the pool—and have your child draw pictures of it or cut out pictures from magazines. Stick(粘贴) the pictures onto paper to make a booklet(小册子)and write text for it. When you’re done，read the book together. Reread it whenever you like!
Keep in touch. Kids don’t have to go away to write about summer vacation. Even if your family stays home，they can send postcards to tell friends and relatives about their adventures(冒险经历). Ask a relative to be your child’s pen pal and encourage them to write each week.
Keep up the reading habits. Even if everything else changes during the summer，keep up the reading habits around your house. Read with your kids every day—whether it’s just before bedtime or under a shady tree on a lazy afternoon. And don’t forget to take a book to the beach！Just brush the sand off the pages — it’s no sweat! The purpose of the passage is to________.
| A．encourage parents to read |
| B．give advice on raising kids |
| C．raise a good summer reader |
| D．suggest places for vacations |
If you drive on a long trip in summer，you can________.
| A．visit the local library and join book clubs |
| B．borrow some audio books to listen to |
| C．keep in touch with friends by sending postcards |
| D．read your own picture books with your son |
By saying “Just brush the sand off the pages—it’s no sweat”，the author means________.
| A．taking away the sand on the book is very difficult |
| B．a special book is needed when you’re reading on the beach |
| C．one can remove the sand on the book with a brush easily |
| D．there’s no trouble reading even on the beach |
Who are the possible readers of the passage?
| A．Parents. | B．Students. | C．Teachers. | D．Editors. |
Which statement(阐述) is true according to the text?
| A．During summer vocation, kids’ reading skills must grow cold. |
| B．Kids have to go away to write about summer vacation. |
| C．With a library card，a child will feel extra grownup by borrowing books. |
| D．Because everything else changes during the summer，it is hard to keep up the reading habits. |
Friendships can be difficult — because often people aren't as honest and open as they should be. Sometimes, people finally get hurt.
Most problems with friendships come up because people are just too selfish to care about the things that their friends need. They care about their own needs much more, which makes it hard for friendships to work. However, being selfish is part of human nature. A person is put together in order to take care of themselves and their own needs, not necessarily those needs of other people. Even though being selfish is something that all humans are born with, it is something that everyone should be against.
The best thing to remember when you are a friend to anyone is that you need to treat your friends the same way that you'd like to be treated(对待). This is wonderful advice for a friendship, because it is really the only way to make sure that you are giving your friends everything you would want to be given in a friendship. Whenever you have a question about how you should treat a friend, it is easy to find an answer simply by asking yourself what you would like your friend to do for you, if he or she was in your shoes.
Even if you're always thinking about how you'd like to be treated, and your friends are too, there are problems that come up from time to time in each friendship, and it is important to understand how to deal with these problems so that you can build stronger and healthier friendships. Problems like friends getting boyfriends or girlfriends and not spending enough time with their friends, or even friends finding new friends and leaving old friends behind are problems that will probably come up with one or more of your friendships. It is important to know how to deal with these friend problems so that you can keep your friends and make new ones. No one wants to have a broken friendship. This passage mainly talks about ________.
| A．the importance of friendship |
| B．the advantages(益处) of friendship |
| C．the problems of friendship |
| D．the disadvantages(劣势) of friendship |
According to the writer, problems with friendship may appear when ________.
| A．one is honest | B．one is selfish | C．one is open | D．one is kind |
According to the passage, the first and most important thing to be other people's friend is ________.
| A．to treat your friend as you like to be |
| B．to give your friends whatever you have |
| C．not to hurt your friends' feelings |
| D．not to think of your own need any more |
What's the purpose of understanding how to deal with friendship problems?
| A．To have a comfortable life. |
| B．To build stronger and healthier friendships. |
| C．To be treated the way you want. |
| D．To get a boyfriend or girlfriend more quickly. |