One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream and listen to the singing of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their original position after the wind had died down.
When I think about the bamboo trees’ ability to bounce back or return to its original position, the word “resilience” comes to my mind. When used in reference to a person, this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other negative situation that stretches the limits of a person’s emotions.
Have you ever felt like you are about to lose control of your emotions? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.
During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally tired, mentally exhausted and you most likely bored unpleasant physical symptoms.
Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend, but don’t break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.
A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant moments. Will hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant moment may be easier to deal with if the end result is worth having.
If the situation gets tough and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo trees, bend, but don’t break!What does the underlined word “resilience” mean in Paragraph 2?
| A．The ability to overcome any difficulty. |
| B．The quality of hoping for a better tomorrow. |
| C．The quality of being brave at the breaking point. |
| D．The ability to recover easily and quickly from unpleasant or damaging events. |
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Life is like a bamboo tree that never breaks. |
| B．Whatever difficulties we may meet with in our life, we can bend, but can never break. |
| C．Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. |
| D．If you get over your breaking point, you can survive to live longer and more happily than others. |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The author was an idle child when he was living near the river. |
| B．We should try our best not to let our bad times get the best of us. |
| C．Our being likely to lose control of our emotions is common in our life. |
| D．We should always believe things may not be as bad as they seem to be. |
Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Bend, but don’t break. |
| B．My wonderful childhood. |
| C．The bamboo trees. |
| D．Love the bamboo trees and your life. |
Last year more than 13 Korean TV series were introduced in China. Turn on the TV, and Korean beauties are appearing during peak viewing times(黄金时段). Some of the dramas are being repeated, but audiences continue to watch them. Why are the South Korean TV series loved by so many Chinese people? Cheng Yiting, a student from East China Normal University, gives us her reasons. She thinks that the good-looking actors with cool clothes and the beautiful sight in the dramas are the selling points for South Korean TV dramas. But what attracted the young audiences most is the pure and moving love stories.
And it seems that South Korean TV series has also won the hearts of middle-aged people. They are touched by the morals(道德)in the shows. These include the importance of respecting elders and social order. Though some people think South Korean TV series are too slow and too long, most of the Chinese audiences like them. Maybe we are really tired of Western TV series. Compared with that, South Korean TV series are not bad. What does the underlined word "repeated" in the third line mean?
| A．大长今 | B．流行 | C．重播 | D．垃圾时段 |
Which of the following is not mentioned（提及）about South Korean TV series in the passage?
| A．Love. | B．Morals. |
| C．Social order. | D．The youth self-respect. |
What is the main reason why South Korean TV series are popular?
| A．The series are slow and long. |
| B．The actors wear cool clothes. |
| C．The stories with morals in them are pure and moving. |
| D．The actors are cool. |
What do you know about South Korean TV series from the passage?
| A．Thirteen more South Korean TV series will be introduced to China. |
| B．Young audiences like South Korean TV series better than middle aged people. |
| C．All the South Korean TV series will be repeated this year. |
| D．Some Chinese think part of South Korean TV series are worth watching twice. |
After The Super Girl was shown on TV, it was loved by millions of people, especially the young people. It becomes a hot topic among people. Here are some of their opinions
China is a developing country and women now show their abilities as freely as men do. The modern world is a stage for them to show who they are and what they want.
—Nancy , 14 The Super Girls
One of the girls looks like Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) . In Singapore, a show of this kind is called Superstar. I think the competition like this is a good chance for the young girls with the dreams of stage. As for The
Super Girl, I hope I can see one international super star coming out from this year's competition .
—Linda , 16
I am worried about these super girls. They are educated in different ways. At their ages, they should be spending more time at school , not on the stage. What are they learning? And for what?
—John , 15 What do people think about The Super Girl ?
| A．It was loved by all the people | B．Different people have different ideas |
| C．All the young people enjoyed it very much | D．It is not popular among people |
Linda hopes to see from The Super Girl.
| A．a show called Superstar in Singapore | B．a girl with the name of Jolin Tsai |
| C．an international superstar coming out | D．some young girls with dreams of the stage |
John worries about the super girls because these girls .
| A．don't spend enough time studying at school | B．spend too much time studying at school | C．show their abilities in their free time | D．are educated in the same way |
Should parents ever hit their children?
Research suggests many of us are likely to respond “no”, and public support for spanking(打屁股) has been falling over the years. But surverys also show that 75 percent to nearly 90 percent of parents admit to spanking their child at least once.
I was raised in a zero-tolerance home for disrespect, and my p
arents often turned to physical punishment. And, no, I don’t feel I was damaged by it.
Nothing is more annoying than watching ill-mannered behavior from children.
But there is data to suggest that a return t
o old-school spanking isn’t the answer.
Two years ago, Newsweek reported that it had found data suggesting that teens whose parents used physical punishment were more likely to become aggressive.
Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire in America, has studied the topic of children and spanking for decades. He said that children who were physically punished have lower IQs than their peers(同等的人). It may be that children with lower IQqs were more likely to get spanked, but the punishment may have been counterpoductive(反作用的) to their mental development, as well.
Some researchers make the argument that occasional open-handed smacks(用巴掌打) on the bottom are not only harmless but can have some benefit.
Last year, Marjorie Gunnoe, a psychologist at Calvin College, studied teens who have never spanked. There are a greater number of children growing up without ever having been physi punished. Gunnoe’s research suggests they don’t turn out any better than those who were sometimes spank.
There are some parents who simply cannot control their tempers(脾气). But I still believe that the best parents are the ones who are able to offer fair and firm discipline without ever turning to physical puishment.According to the first three paragraphs, the author was probably hit by her parents when .
| A．they were dissatisfied with her grade |
| B．she showed no respect for the elder |
| C．they cannot control their temper |
| D．their discipline turns out to be not strict enough |
According to Murray Straus, children who are physically punished .
| A．are less aggreesive toward others when they get older |
| B．have slower physical development |
| C．benefit from occasional spanking |
| D．may develop lower IQs than their peer |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?
| A．40 percent of children grow up without ever being spanked |
| B．Children who suffer less physical punishment are better students |
| C．Occasional open-handed spanking on the bottom are mentally harmful |
| D．Researchers disagree over whether smacking is mentally harmful to children |
The author seems to agree that .
| A．parents should determine whether a child needs to be smacked or not |
| B．children who have been spanked tend to behave better than those who haven’t |
| C．good parents discipline their children in a fair and reasonable way |
| D．physical punishment should be the last resort of any parent |
“There is an out – of – date idea that children grow up and leave home when they’re 18,and the truth is far from that,” says Mr．Larry Bumpass of the University of Wisconsin．Today unexpected numbers of young adults are living with their parents．“There is a great change in the middle class,” declares Allan Schnaiberg of Northwestern University, whose son, 19, moved back in after an absence of eight months．
Scientists show a number of reasons for this return to the nest．The marriage age is rising, a condition that makes home and its pleasantness particularly attractive to young people．A high divorce （离婚） rate and a low remarriage rate make some differences．For some, the expense of an away - from - home college education has become so great that many students now attend local schools．Even after graduation, young people find their wings tied by terrible housing costs．
Living at home, says Knighton, a school teacher, continues to give security （安全保卫） and moral（道义的） support．Her mother agreed．“Its strange for the kids to pay all that money for rent．It makes sense for kids to stay at home．” But sharing the family home requires changes for all．There are the hassles over bathrooms, telephones and privacy．Some families, however, manage the careful balancing act．But for others, it proves too difficult．Michelle Del Turco, 24, has been home three times and left three times．“What I considered a social drink, my dad considered an alcohol （酒精） problem,” she explains．“He never liked anyone I dated, so I either had to hide away or meet them at friends' houses．”
Just how long should adult children live with their parents before moving on? Most scientists feel lengthy homecomings are a mistake．Children, can end up with a sense of defeat and failure．And aging parents,
who should be enjoying some freedom, find themselves stuck with too many things．Many agree that brief visits, however, can work well．According to the author, there w
as once a trend in the U．S．________．
| A．for young adults to leave their parents and live separately |
| B．for middle class young adults to stay with their parents |
| C．for married young adults to move back home after a lengthy absence |
| D．for young adults to get jobs nearby in order to live with their parents |
Which of the following does not lead to young adults returning to the nest?
| A．Young adults find housing costs too high． |
| B．Young adults are not old enough． |
| C．Young adults look for parental comfort and support． |
| D．Quite a number of young adults attend local schools． |
The underlined word “hassles” in the passage probably means _________．
| A．agreements | B．worries |
| C．disadvantages | D．quarrels |
According to the passage what is the best for both parents and children?
| A．They should share the family expenses． |
| B．Children should leave their parents when they are grown up． |
| C．Adult children should live away from their parents and visit their parents from time to time． |
| D．Parents should support their adult children when they are in trouble． |
．One of the disadvantages of young adults returning to slay with their parents is th
at ______．
| A．there will certainly be inconveniences in even-day life |
| B．most parents find it difficult to keep a bigger family going |
| C．the young adults try to be overprotected by their parents |
| D．public opinion is against young adults staying with their parents |
Parents whose children show a special interest in a sport feel very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers．Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men or women? For many children it means starting schoolwork very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place．It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing．
Another problem is of course money．In many countries money for training is available from government for the best young sportsmen and sportswomen．If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc．All can be expensive.
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age．Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed．Professional trainers, however, believe that it is only by training young when young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person．It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training．Where can we most probably find this passage?
| A．An advertisement. | B．A diary. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A notice board. |
What does the underlined phrase “to take a second place” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．To become less important. |
| B．To put it at another place. |
| C．To happen again. |
| D．They are the most important of all the things. |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．It’s easy to make a decision when your children want to take up sports. |
| B．Most of the students may become top sports men after a long period of training. |
| C．Early training may damage young muscles |
D．It’s not very expensive for parents to support t heir children’s development in sports. |