Whenyourpethasanemergency,firs-优题课

My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More importantly, I earned my pay, it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person could have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dream of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb (番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field--- except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick.
The writer’s first job was ___________.

A．to stand down the fairway at the golf course

B．to watch over the sugar-cane plantation

C．to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields

D．to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them

The underlined word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means ___________.

A．difficult

B．boring

C．interesting

D．unusual

The writer learned that ________ from his first job.

A．he should work for those who he liked most

B．he should work longer than what he was expected

C．he should never fail to say hello to his owner

D．he should show respect and faith to the people he worked for

________ gave the writer self-esteem.

A．Having a family of eight people

B．Owning his own golf course

C．Bringing money back home to help the family

D．Helping his father with the work on the plantation

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．He wanted to be a successful golfer.

B．He wanted to run a golf course near his house.

C．He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation.

D．He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick.

Rented Boyfriends
Taobao. com, China's largest online marketplace, is never short of bizarre offers.
And here is the latest one: boyfriends for rent.
A rented boyfriend can do the following: accompanying the girl to visit friends and families, go shopping, having meals and even getting a kiss out of courtesy. The charge is by the hour.
The services become hot with the approach of the Spring Festival, the most important festival for family reunions.
In China, parents especially worry about unmarried daughters.
Single women will have to face the same old question at the family dinner table: have you got a boyfriend?
And for those who haven't found their Mr. Rights, renting a boyfriend emerges as a solution.
So, which men are willing to offer that service?
“I offer such a service only because I'm bored and know fewer female friends at work," said Ding Hui, 27, a salesman in the plastic industry in Shanghai, with a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan.
He rented himself twice last year: during the Spring Festival and National Day. His customers were two 28-year-old women.
He charged 3,000 yuan each, and the customer had to cover his round-trip tickets, accommodations and bought him clothes to make him look smart.
More than 260 rent-a-boyfriend services can be found on the taobao.com, with the number climbing.
An anonymous female netizen, who claimed to have rented a boyfriend, said on the website, "My parents are very satisfied, so my pressure is greatly reduced."
Another comment read, "It's good that I've achieved the wish of my parents."
On which site can women rent boyfriends? (within 4 words )

How does a rented boyfriend get paid? (within 3 words)

What question may single women have to face at the family dinner table? (within 5 words)

What did Ding Hui’s customer have to pay besides his service?(within 18 words )

For what reasons do single women rent boyfriends? ( within 15 words)

Fish species are expected to shrink in size by up to 24% because of global warming, say scientists.
The scientists argue that failure to control greenhouse gas emissions will have a greater effect on marine ecosystems than previously thought. Previous research has suggested that changing ocean temperatures would affect both the distribution and the reproductive abilities of many species of fish. This new work suggests that fish size would also be heavily affected.
The researchers built a model to see how fish would react to lower levels of oxygen in the water. As ocean temperatures increase, so do the body temperatures of fish. But, according to lead author, Dr William Cheung, from the University of British Columbia, the lower level of oxygen in the water is key. Warmer waters could decrease ocean oxygen levels and greatly reduce fish body weight. On the other hand, rising temperatures directly increase the metabolic rate of the fish's body function. This leads to an increase in oxygen demand for normal body activities. So the fish will run out of oxygen for growth at a smaller body size.
The research team also used its model to predict fish movements as a result of warming waters. The group believes that most fish populations will move towards the Earth's poles at a rate of up to 35km per decade. "So in, say, the North Sea," says Dr Cheung," one would expect to see more smaller-body fish from tropical waters in the future."
Taking these factors into consideration, the research team concludes that fish body size will shrink between 14% and 24%, with the largest decreases in the Indian and Atlantic oceans.
When compared with actual observations of fish sizes, the model seems to underestimate what's actually happening in the seas. The researchers looked at two case studies involving North Atlantic cod and haddock. They found that recorded data on these fish showed greater decreases in body size than the models had predicted.
Dr Alan Baudron, from the University of Aberdeen, UK, believes smaller-sized fish could seriously affect the ability of fish to reproduce. "Smaller fish produce fewer and smaller eggs which could affect the reproductive potential of fish stocks," he said.
What's the main idea of the passage?

A．Global warming makes fish smaller.

B．Global warming makes fish decrease in numbers.

C．Global warming affects the fish distribution.

D．Global warming affects the ability of fish to reproduce.

What is the key factor making the fish smaller now?

A．The rising body temperatures.

B．The lower level of oxygen in the water.

C．The increasing metabolic rate.

D．The normal body activities.

We can infer that as ocean temperatures increase .

A．more big fish will be born in the sea

B．fish tend to swim towards the shore

C．fish tend to move towards the warm areas

D．fish tend to move towards the colder areas

What does the underlined word "underestimate" mean?

A．make an exact prediction of	B．make too low an estimate of
C．make too high an estimate of	D．make a careful study of

While reading a story on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy is ruining their life plans, I couldn't help but think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children who grow up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment –my husband and I probably won't be able to buy a house until we're in our forties, and we two are burdened by student loans. But why should it be different? Being young people in America, shouldn't they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won't be able to have children for at least a decade because they can't afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought what planet she is living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury, not a fertility requirement.
A 26-year-old man in the story is disappointed that he can't afford to get a Ph. D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it's sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people's expectations grow up when their wealth appears to be increasing. Their parents probably see their home values rise along with their investments. "So we have people who have grown up in an environment where people have great expectations of what living well means," says Kobliner.
This recession will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems much better for our mental health to focus on being grateful—for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day—than on longing for some kind of luxurious life.
What makes the author think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children?

A．They expect everything to be easy for them.

B．They complain that the economy is ruining their life plans.

C．They are unwilling to face all of the challenges.

D．They are burdened by student loans.

Which of the following is NOT one of the complaints of the 20-somethings?
A. They can't have children for at least a decade for they can't afford to buy a house.
B. They have only a one-bedroom apartment to live in.
C. They can't buy a house until 40 and are burdened by student loans.
D. They despair of not being able to afford to get a Ph. D. in literature.
What's Kobliner's attitude towards the 20-somethings with high expectations ?

A．Unbearable.

B．Opposing.

C．Doubtful.

D．Understanding.

What is the best title for this passage?

A．Young people afford to continue their education

B．Young people can't afford to buy a house

C．Young people's high expectations lead to despair

D．The 20-somethings' high expectations

There is a problem each of us faces in following advice on emotional healing: apologizing is difficult. We are trapped in what we think of ourselves by holding onto our pride. We can be selfish and not willing to admit our most obvious mistakes. Pride eats away at us as we argue or ignore the mistake.
It's happened to me. I have had too much pride and selfishness to apologize to a loved one I hurt. When I did want to apologize, I couldn't bring myself to face the other person. This is the pride I'm talking about. Maybe apologies come difficult for men because they're expected to be dominant. It's like the joke that a man never asks for directions when lost. Ladies are more emotionally open than guys and are willing to express it. Still, both genders wonder how to correctly apologize.
In shifting the focus on apologizing away from you, what does not apologizing do to other people? They feel hurt that you are not willing to communicate your mistake. They lose trust in you as you hide behind your mistake avoiding reality. They become angry with you, wondering why you do not tell them the truth. They may begin to counter your lack of apologies by not apologizing themselves and from this the relationship goes downhill as the two of you get caught in a power struggle.
You need to communicate your mistakes. A mistake you made is like a scratch and by not apologizing you are making the scratch a deeper wound and rubbing salt into it. You need to stop hurting the other person and yourself by learning to apologize. There is real power in apologizing and emotional healing.
Why are men more unwilling to make apologies?

A．They don't intend to hurt other people.

B．They expect others to forgive them.

C．They don't want to be considered weak.

D．They aren't good at expressing themselves.

What bad effect will there be if you refuse to apologize for your mistakes?

A．Other people won't pay attention to you.

B．You will lose confidence in yourself.

C．You won't be forgiven even if you tell the truth.

D．The friendship will get hurt and go worse.

From the last paragraph, it can be inferred that .

A．communication can stop you making mistakes

B．mistakes would turn into deeper scratches

C．apologizing is good for you and other people

D．apologizing is the most powerful in emotional healing

A．Cutting	B．Breathing Stops
C．Poisoning	D．Suffering Heart Problems