2011TopEducationNewsTigerMothe-优题课

People think what I do is so wonderful because I interview stars. And I have to admit that when I first started working at Sassy in 1987 I was excited about that part of my job for the first couple of months, anyway. Then I noticed how stars would fool me around for months. I could never get enough time with a star to find out anything interesting, and some acted just simply rudely. I started hating the way I was treated, and I was really disappointed to see that these people I had worshipped (崇拜）before were pretty ordinary. So I decided I would just tell the truth instead of keeping up their myths (神秘）.If the star was a bad guy, I would say so. If I thought anyone was stupid, I did not hold back that information.
I thought readers would appreciate that kind of honesty. Surprisingly, many of them hated me for it. I have gotten so many attacks on my character. In their eyes, being famous is everything, even more desirable than being truly creative and talented
Why do we need stars? In fact, the media created stars to satisfy our basic need for gossip (闲话）.Over time, talking about people we have never met and we are never likely to meet has become what we are crazy about. Thus, some people are more interested in the personal lives of the stars than in the lives of their own family and their own friends. That is why it is so ridiculous when a star wants to discuss only his or her work in an interview as we care. We want the dirt on their personal lives.
There is another reason we worship stars. As a whole, our society is not as religious as it once was. It seems that people need something to fulfill them the way religion once did. Star worship exists as an unfulfilling desire for true heroes.
We make them stars, but then their reputation makes us feel unimportant, and we truly feel better about ourselves when they die. I am part of this whole process. No wonder I feel soiled at the end of workday.
What are the stars like according to the author?

A．They always treat others rudely.

B．They always talk about something dull.

C．They are actually ordinary people.

D．They are usually honest and polite.

We worship stars because ______.

A．we need true mental heroes to support us

B．we can learn something useful from famous stars

C．we concern about the stars’family and friends

D．we like talking about the stars’dressing styles

When the author is writing this article, his tone sounds ______.

A．excited

B．angry

C．worried

D．calm

What is the main purpose of the author writing the passage?

A．To show the disadvantages of working with stars.

B．To remind us not to worship famous stars blindly.

C．To laugh at the failures of stars he has interviewed.

D．To talk about the reasons why we worship stars.

For the last couple of weeks, I had been stuck in front of my computer working on a project that was very important to me. My every waking hour was consumed by the project and although I imagined that I would feel happy after completing parts of the project, I was confused to find that instead, I was feeling rather depressed. I tried a range of methods to help cheer myself up. I had a relaxing bath, cooked a delicious meal to enjoy with my family and even watched a lighthearted movie, but to no avail. It was only when I turned to meditation(沉思)for a solution that the answer came to me: turn to nature!
The very next day, I grabbed my camera and a bottle of water and set off to spend a few hours walking in a nature reserve, even though it was pouring with rain. Within a couple of minutes I felt alive again. To be honest, I felt like a young school girl again and had to stop myself from hopping along the path singing, "I'm singing in the rain", a song I used to sing when I was a child. I think as adults we often try too hard to control our inner children and as a result we restrain(限制) our own spirits, which only leads to depression and stress.
Interestingly, it has been shown that people who spend 40 minutes walking in a nature reserve have a drop in their blood pressure levels, but this does not happen when they spend a similar amount of time walking in a busy city centre.
If you feel a little low in spirit and know that you have spent too much time indoors, relax completely, remove your shoes and let your inner child come out and play.
The author felt depressed because she __________.

A．couldn't consume her waking hour

B．had not seen a film for a long time.

C．had not finished her work on time

D．had worked on a hard job for too long

The author walked in a nature reserve in the rain in order to__________.

A．take photos

B．find a solution to the project

C．hop along the path

D．cheer herself up

The underlined part "to no avail" in Paragraph 1 probably means " __________.".

A．unsuccessful	B．unrelated
C．uninteresting	D．unexpected

In the author's opinion, __________.

A．a bath can make people relaxed

B．depression is usually caused by hard work

C．walking in a busy city centre harms people's health

D．adults should express their inner feelings freely

The last paragraph mainly serves as a(n) __________.

A．explanation	B．suggestion
C．introduction	D．reminder

Wherever she goes, Molly leaves her mark. Without saying a word, she speaks to people with her kind eyes. Even when she walks away, she leaves an impression．Molly's mark is a smile, stamped into the ground by the horseshoe at the bottom of her false leg．
A few years ago, Molly was badly attacked by a dog．The dog bit all four or Molly’s legs and left large cuts in her face. Molly's owner, Kate Harris, took her to an animal hospital．Doctors there were able to save Molly’s life, but soon one of her legs became very infected(感染).
At first, doctors thought Molly would have to be put to sleep．But Molly changed their minds. This pony, doctors noticed, shifted her weight, and rested her good leg from time to time. Doctors knew t hat Molly had amazing intelligence, and that she wanted to live.
Several doctors operated on Molly, and removed her infected leg. A false leg was made for her. The leg was a hollow cast with a pole at the bottom for balance. Doctors gave Molly a special horseshoe at the bottom of the leg. This horseshoe she had had a stamp of a smile face in it!
After the operation, Molly walked around on all four legs, as if nothing had ever happened to her! Now, with every step she takes, she stamps a smile in the dirt．But she leaves her m ark in other ways, too.
Kaye Harris took Molly to the false leg center. There were children there who, like Molly, had artificial arms or legs. They were amazed to see a pony with a false leg. Molly made them smile and gave them hope. Soon, Molly began to visit schools, nursing homes, army bases and hospitals. A book was even written about Molly!
Molly is the name of a__________.

A．dog

B．horse

C．parent

D．child

Which of the following is true according to the text?

A．Molly can speak to people in kind words.

B．Kay Harris took Molly to a children’s hospital after the attack.

C．In the beginning, doctors had planned to end Molly’s life.

D．Molly sometimes leaves smiling marks on people’s faces.

What is unique about Molly?

A．Molly has a false leg with a horseshoe shaped like a smiling face.

B．Molly ran a race and won the first prize.

C．Molly often visits places such as schools and parks.

D．Molly has become a symbol of hope for people of all ages.

The Spanish poet Juan Ram said, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” Turning the paper sideways is like looking at situations from different angles.
Henry L. Mencken said it first: “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong.” And how often I am determined to keep pounding on that simple and neat solution until I make it work, or else I finally give up altogether. But success will surprisingly come when I decide to look at the thing from a wholly different perspective (视角).
Several all night convenience stores in New York City had a problem with teenagers hanging out in their parking lots late into the night. Not that they didn’t like kids; but customers complained (抱怨) that they were afraid to approach them in the dark and push through them to enter the store. Neighbors complained that they couldn’t sleep with the noise.
Managers tried various methods to solve the problem. They asked the kids to move away from the doors so customers didn’t have to push through them. They asked them to throw their cigarette butts and trash (垃圾) in outdoor dustbins and not litter the parking lot. Each solution was simple, neat and completely ineffective. It seemed that any of them should have worked. But none of them did.
Finally, one man came up with an unusual idea. Finding that asking the teens to change their behavior didn’t work, he tried something different. He just piped easy-listening music into the parking lot especially suited for mature listeners.
No more loitering (闲逛).
What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To give advice.	B．To make us laugh.
C．To analyze a problem.	D．To tell us an interesting story.

The managers failed to solve the problem because _____.

A．the kids didn’t like them

B．their solutions were too complex

C．they were not polite enough to the kids

D．they asked the kids to change their behavior

Why did the kids leave the parking lots?

A．They didn’t like the music.

B．They got bored of playing there.

C．They came to know it was unsafe.

D．They were moved by the manager.

By telling the story, the author intends to tell us _____.

A．kids today are tough to deal with

B．a simple solution is usually better

C．it’s better to calm down teenagers

D．we should look at a problem in different perspectives

Hurricane Irene caused a frightening landscape in West Hartford, Vermont. The White River jumped its banks and shipping containers, gas bottles, and even entire trucks were spotted being washed down the river near Patriots’ Bridge.
Patti and Scott Holmes had a special connection to the flood zone. Their son, Jeffery Holmes, was one of three soldiers honored on a monument in a memorial garden next to the bridge. Jeffery died on Thanksgiving Day 2004 during a war. Patti took some comfort knowing that her son had died instantly, serving the military (军队) he wanted to join since he was nine years old.
The August hurricane spared Patti and Scott’s home. Patti didn’t realize how bad the situation had been at the monument site until one of Jeff’s friends sent a photo the next day. “When I opened it, I just started crying,” she said. All the flowers that volunteers lovingly tended were gone. The monument had toppled (倒塌) off its concrete base and was likely ruined. Alone at her desk, Patti wept for the fun-loving blue-eyed son who didn’t live to see his 21st birthday, the boy she still wrote on Christmas and birthdays. Now another piece of him had slipped away.
Scott drove to the bridge that night to see exactly what had happened but was forced to turn back because the flooding had destroyed roads and the bridge. Who knows how the angry waters had damaged the monument?
But when Patti and Scott were finally able to get there later in the week, they were greeted with an extraordinary sight. Local residents had returned the monument to its proper place, unharmed. “I didn’t see a scratch, not even on top of it,” Patti said in joy and relief.
The monument was set up ______.

A．to honor three dead soldiers

B．to respect the local residents

C．to protect the bridge

D．to decorate the garden

Why did Patti cry when she opened the photo?

A．Her home was ruined in the flood.

B．The memorial garden was destroyed.

C．She couldn’t visit the monument anymore.

D．She couldn’t celebrate her son’s birthday.

What does the part “another piece” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The photo.	B．The birthday.
C．The base.	D．The monument.

From the last paragraph, we can learn that the couple felt ______.

A．moved	B．ashamed
C．encouraged	D．embarrassed

"Tiger Mother" became well known both in the US and China after the publication of the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, a professor of Yale University and a Chinese immigrant mother. In the book, Chua describes how she educates her two daughters in a strict "typical Chinese" way.	The South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC), became "China's first independent university"-the only university to recruit students through its independent exam rather than the National College Entrance Exam adopted by almost all public universities in China.
Wuhan schoolboy Huang Yibo, 13,known as the deputy chief of all Wuhan's young pioneers, became an overnight sensation after blogging about watching prime time news on China's Central Television since he was two years old and reading People's Daily since the age of seven because his father asked him to do so.	The First Experimental Elementary School of Weiyang district in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, hit the headlines for requiring students with a poor performance to wear a green scarf, distinguishing them from the good performance of the red scarf, a symbol for the Young Pioneer organization.
Dong Fan, a professor from Beijing Normal University, the director of the university’s real estate research center, refused to see any of his students who do not possess 40 million yuan by the time they are 40. Dong said people who had received high-level education should be ashamed if they do not live a wealthy life.	The No 4 classroom building on the campus of Tsinghua University, one of China's elite colleges, took on the name of a popular clothing company, the Hong Kong-based Jeanswest Clothing in May. A golden-colored plate bearing the name of the company was affixed on to the wall of the teaching building.