阅读理解AFestivalByChinaDailyMay5t-优题课

If parents’ aim(目标) is only to make a child be a genius(天才), they will cause a disaster. Several leading educational psychologists(心理学家) say this is one of the biggest mistakes that can cause great problems to children.
However, if parents are a little gentler, the child may act successfully—especially if the parents can support him. Michael Li is very lucky. He is very fond of music, and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and inviting a teacher to give him personal piano lessons. They even drive him 59 kilometers twice a week for violin lessons. Although Michael’s mother knows very little about music, Michael’s father plays the piano very well. However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling.
Michael’s friend, Winston Chen, however, is not so lucky. Although both his parents are successful musicians(音乐家), they set too high a standard for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are, so they enter him in every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. “When I was your age, I used to win every competition I entered,” Winston’s father tells him. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint(使…失望) his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy.
One of the worst mistakes any parent can make is to __________.

A．pay much attention to their child’s education

B．push the child into trying to achieve too much

C．make their child become a musician

D．help their child to succeed in the future

Michael Li is lucky because __________.

A．his father knows music and teaches him much

B．his parents are rich enough to support him

C．his mother doesn’t know much about music

D．his parents help him in a wise way

The two examples show that __________.

A．it is important to let children develop in their own way

B．it is successful to let children develop without others’ help

C．successful parents often have unsuccessful children

D．the more you help your children, the less they can achieve

Unlike Chinese people, the ones in the West believe in star signs. Western world has a complete system(系统) of star signs, and they explain them and use them to tell a person’s characteristics and the things they like or dislike. There are a cycle of 12 of them in all. All of them are decided by the date instead of the year of your birth and each of them has its own characteristics.
Sagittarius (射手座) is one of them. Now, let’s take it as an example:
Sagittarius (November 23—December 21)
Sagittarius in short
Sagittarius are fun, loving, generous and very friendly. They seldom tell lies; in fact they’re so open about everything, They have surprising intuitions(直觉) that they should pay attention to. They are pretty clever because they are so interested in everything. They can be a bit rude, that’s only because they’re very honest and will say exactly what they think. They love travelling, fast cars and horse riding. They also love spending money.
More about Sagittarius
Sagittarius are great friends because they are interested in everything and everyone. They are attracted by even the strangest people. With their humour, they are often in a good mood. They can be hurtful to others because they cannot stop speaking what they see as the truth, but they don’t mean to. Money is not their God. Their values are spiritual(精神的) rather than material.
They are hard-working. They are very open-minded about new ideas and love to try ideas out. Usually it does end up working because they have an excellent intuition and can usually tell straight away if an idea is a good one or a bad one. One of their weaknesses is not asking enough money for all the hard work they do, because they love doing it.
Whose star sign is Sagittarius?

A．Miss Yao who was born on Mar 18, 1978.

B．Peter, a boy who was born on Nov 22, 1998.

C．Mr Zhou who was born on Dec 23, 1976.

D．Lucy, a girl who was born on Nov 30, 1991.

Which is WRONG about Sagittariaus?

A．Sagittarians often tell lies.

B．Sagittarians can be rude.

C．Sagittarians show great interest in strange things and people.

D．Sagittarians can end up working by using their good intuition.

What can we know from the underlined sentence “Money is not their God”?

A．Sagittarians care too much about money.

B．Sagittarians believe that money is from the God.

C．Sagittarians hate God.

D．Sagittarians pay no attention to money.

Here is a sign in front of the ticket office of the Snoopy World.

Snoopy World
Adults:$200 Children:$100
(0ver 10 persons — 20% off)
Parking: Car $50 Motorcycle: $20
Opening Hours: 9:00 a.m.— 6:00 p.m.
(Closed on Tuesday)

Rules:
1. Watch your children during your visit.
2. Don’t touch anything in the Snoopy World.
3. No photos!
4. Don’t throw your rubbish anywhere.

How long are the business hours for the Snoopy World?

A．Six hours.	B．Seven hours.
C．Nine hours.	D．Ten hours.

Mr Wang is a teacher in a primary school. He will take 10 of his students to the Snoopy World.
How much should he pay?

A．$ 1,200.	B．$ 960.
C．$ 800.	D．$ 240.

What can you do in the Snoopy World?

A．Park cars in the Snoopy World.

B．Touch the sculptures in the Snoopy World.

C．Take some pictures during the visit.

D．Take a child under six into the park for free.

Cause and effect is one way to explain things that happen around us. Many things happen because something caused or influenced them to happen. Sometimes it is hard to look at a cause and find out what caused or influenced them to happen. Sometimes it is hard to look at a cause and find out what causes the effect. It may help you to start with the effect and use your reasoning(推理的) skills. Think about all the things you know that could be reasons for the effect you can see.
For example, you may see someone putting on a heavy jacket. This is the effect. To look for a cause, think to yourself, “What would take someone put on a heavy jacket?” Maybe the person is going outside into very cold weather. Maybe the person works in the penguin pen(企鹅圈养地) at Sea World. Maybe the person is going to visit an ice skating rink where the air is kept very cold. All of these things could be a cause for putting on a heavy jacket.
Now, think about a second example. The effect is that a boy named Abi has to go to the head teacher’s office. What are the possible causes? Maybe he bullied(欺负) another student. Maybe he is just being picked up early. Maybe he is being given a prize!
Here is another example for you to think about its cause and effect. Cait, 13, was trying to fall asleep when her 8-year-old brother, Doug, came into her room. He looked around a bit, but seemed really out of it. Then Doug went back into the hallway and stood there looking straight up at the hall light for quite a while. Little brothers can be very strange, but this was really much too strange. Cait’s father appeared and explained that Doug was sleepwalking(梦游). What’s the cause and effect, could you tell?
According to the second paragraph, which of the following is an effect?

A．Someone works in the penguin pen.

B．Someone puts on a heavy jacket.

C．Someone will go outside into cold weather.

D．Someone will go to visit an ice skating rink.

Abi has to go to the head teacher’s office. Which of the following isn’t the possible cause?

A．He is going shopping.	B．He bullied another student.
C．His is being picking up early.	D．He is being given a prize.

What was Doug doing when his sister Cait tried to fall asleep?

A．He was going outside.	B．He was sleepwalking.
C．He was reading a story.	D．He was looking for his dad.

Which of the following is cause and effect?

A．Tony got up and had a glass of water.

B．We came home and found him sleeping.

C．Tim was late again and his teacher got angry.

D．The ball was lost and a window was broken.

What is the best title for the next?

A．Truth and lies	B．Work and sleep
C．Life and dreams	D．Cause and effect

In England, some food companies across the whole country have been told to carry out urgent (紧急的) tests on all beef products. Do you know why? That’s because some food companies used horsemeat to make beef products.
There are some examples about the horsemeat matter. In January, 2013, in a number of UK supermarkets, frozen hamburgers were found to have traces of horsemeat in them. Some frozen beef products made by food company FINDUS were found to contain horsemeat. All of the beef products made by this company have been removed(撤回) from sale.
The government said that there’s nothing to suggest any health risk from the products. Food minister David Heath said people should not throw away frozen meat products and carry on eating meat. The government will tell people not to eat meat if the meat is not safe.
Food safety has been an important matter all over the world. More and more countries plan to take some useful measures to ensure the safety of food.
In England, some food companies have been told to ________urgently.

A．test all their beef products

B．stop making beef products

C．test all their products

D．remove all their products from sale

What else did some food companies use to make beef products in England according to the passage?

A． Chicken.

B．Beef.

C．Fish.

D．Horsemeat.

What does “traces” mean in the second paragraph?

A．描绘

B．少量

C．追踪

D．探索

What should people do with meat products according to David Heath’s suggestions?

A． Throw them away

B．Go on eating them.

C．Never eat them.

D．Send them back to the food companies.

More and more countries plan to take some useful measures to ensure __________.

A．horsemeat out of products	B．the test food
C．the food safety	D．the food sale

Festival　　　　By China Daily May 5th
Symbol(象征)
Name	Chinese New Year	Thanksgiving Day	Boy’s Day	Halloween	Christmas Day
Date	January or February	The fourth Thursday in November	May 5th	October 31st	December 25th
Country	China	the USA	Japan	the USA	Western countries