Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters rush to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers. But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.
Mothers have long known that their home workload was just as heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as £172,000 a year.
The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to determine the figure. This would make their yearly income £30,000 more than the Prime Minister earns.
By analyzing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week, 40 of which would usually be paid at a standard rate 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18, it found that, on most days, mums started their routine work at 7 am and finished at around 11 pm.
To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour, it suggested some of the roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time lawyer, at £48,98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jobs”, with psychologist(心理学家) a close second.
It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 per cent making emotional(情感的) demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.
Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.
The study shows mothers matter all year long and not just on Mother’s Day. The emotional, physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness. Investing(投入) in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent.
How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister?
A. £30,000. B. £142,000.
C. £172,000. C. £202,000.
The biggest challenge for most mothers is from .
| A．emotional demand |
| B．low pay for work |
| C．heavy workload |
| D．lack of training |
What is stressed in the last paragraph?
| A．mothers’ importance shows in family all year long. |
| B．The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile. |
| C．Mothers’ devotion to children can hardly be calculated. |
| D．Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return. |
What can we conclude from the study?
| A．Mothers’ working hours should be largely reduced. |
| B．Mothers should balance their time for work and rest. |
| C．Mothers’ labour is of a higher value than it is realized. |
| D．Mothers should be freed from housework for social life. |
One Sunday a few of us decided to take advantage of the first sunny day we’d have for ages to take a trip down to the coast to visit the penguins again. Last time I went down there was a couple of months ago and it was a dull cold day. Sunday couldn’t have been more different — clear skies and sunshine made it feel like summer, although it was still -25°C.
Six of us drove to the coast. It was the first time we’d been off the base on our own without our field assistant, so it had a slightly different feeling — more like a few friends going to the seaside than an Antarctic field trip! When we reached Windy Creek, we luckily caught sight of quite a few small flying seabirds, which are seldom seen there.
Once on the sea ice we found that some of the more curious penguins had wandered over from the main group to come and check us out. We’d been told that then they were nursing their chicks (刚孵出的幼雏) and they would be more careful and nervous than last time, but that didn’t seem to be the case. We walked across to the main group which were stretched for a couple of miles along the coast. We sat down for some sandwiches and soon found ourselves surrounded by many curious observers. Without any attackers on land, they were very brave and came within a meter of us to pose (摆姿势) for photos.
Before heading back, we spent a few hours on the sea ice watching the penguins and their chicks, which had grown dramatically (明显地) since our last visit. It was such a nice day.
When did the trip most probably happen?
| A．On a dull Sunday. | B．On a warm Sunday. |
| C．On a summer Sunday. | D．On a winter Sunday. |
It can be inferred from the second paragraph that the six people _____.
| A．felt a little nervous |
| B．felt a little excited |
| C．were left all by themselves on their Antarctic base |
| D．got bored with staying with their field assistant |
What does the writer mean by saying “but that didn’t seem to be the case”?
| A．They were told a lie. |
| B．A wrong decision was made. |
| C．The truth was the opposite. |
| D．They didn’t believe what they were told. |
The six people did the following during the trip EXCEPT _____.
| A．feed the penguins |
| B．take pictures of the penguins |
| C．enjoy watching flying seabirds |
| D．watch the young penguins |
From a very early age，some children exhibit better self-control than others. Now，a new study that began with about 1, 000 children in New Zealand has tracked how a child’s low self-control can predict poor health, money troubles and even a criminal record in their adult years. 
Researchers have been studying this group of children for decades now. They observed the level of self-control the youngsters displayed. Parents，teachers，even the kids themselves，scored the youngsters on measures like“ acting before thinking ”and “Persistence in reaching goals. ”
The study led by Moffitt of Duke University and colleagues followed 1,000 children from birth to age 32 in Dunedin, New Zealand.
“The children who had the lowest self-control when they were age three to ten，later on had the most health problems in their 30s，” Moffitt said，“and they had the worst financial situation. They were more likely to have a criminal record and to be raising a child as a single parent on a very low income. ”Moffitt explained that self-control problems were widely observed，and weren’t just a feature of a small group of misbehaving kids.
Moffitt said it’s still unclear why some children have better self-control than others，though she said other researchers have found that it’s mostly a learned behavior, with relatively little genetic influence. But good self-control can be set to run in families because children with good self-control are more likely to grow up to be healthy and prosperous parents. But the good news，Moffitt said，is that self-control can be taught by parents，and through school curricula that have been shown to be effective.
From the first two paragraphs we learn that .
| A．the research has been carried out for five years |
| B．self-control in kids tends to determine their future |
| C．self-control was assessed by children’s intelligence |
| D．children’s self-control is almost the same at early age |
Children with low self-control are more likely to .
| A．become wealthy in later life | B．get good school performance |
| C．have better financial planning | D．adopt negative behaviors |
According to Moffitt, .
| A．only good genetic factors can shape their lives in the future |
| B．scientists know well why some children have better self-control |
| C．self-control in childhood has nothing to do with criminal activity |
| D．willpower as a child really influences people’s chances of adulthood |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Self-control cannot be taught in schools. |
| B．The study is restricted within few participants. |
| C．It’s never too late to deal with self-control problems. |
| D．Good parenting can improve self-control and life success. |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage？
| A．Child’s self-control predicts future health, success |
| B．Kids are encouraged to take risks at an early age |
| C．Children’s development cannot be changed by teachers |
| D．How to teach the kids a bit of self-control in schools |
If you know exactly what you want, the best way to get a job is to get specialized training. A recent survey shows that companies like graduates in such fields as business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training.
That’s especially true of booming fields that are challenging for workers. At Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor’s degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement. Large companies, especially, like a background of formal education coupled with work experience. But in the long run, too much specialization doesn’t pay off. Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree an automatic stamp of approval. The MBA may open doors and command a higher salary initially, but the effect of a degree washes out after five years.
As further evidence of companies gradually losing faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State’s Scheetz mentions a pattern in hiring practices. Although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out generalists for middle and upper-level management. “They want someone who isn’t constrained（限制）by details to look at the big picture,” says Scheetz. This sounds like a formal statement that you approve of the liberal-arts （文科）graduates. Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have: writing and communication skills, organizational skills, open-mindedness and adaptability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems. David Birch, manager of the Boston Red Sox, claims he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree, “I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things,” says Birch.
For a liberal-arts degree, students focus on some basic courses that include literature, history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior—plus a computer course or two. With these useful and important courses, you can feel free to specialize, “A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the marketplace,” says Scheetz.
What kinds of people are in high demand on the job market?
| A．Students with a bachelor’s degree in humanities. |
| B．People with an MBA degree from top universities. |
| C．People with formal schooling plus work experience. |
| D．People with special training in engineering |
By saying “…but the effect of a degree washes out after five years”(Para 2), the author means .
| A．most MBA programs fail to provide students with a solid foundation |
| B．an MBA degree does not help in the future promotion |
| C．MBA programs will not be as popular in five years’ time as they are now |
| D．people will not forget about the degree the MBA graduates have got |
According to Scheetz’s statement ( Para. 3), companies prefer people who .
| A．have a strategic mind | B．are talented in fine arts |
| C．are ambitious and aggressive | D．have received training in mechanics |
David Birch claims that he only hires liberal-arts people because they .
| A．are more capable of handling changing situations |
| B．can stick to established ways of solving problems |
| C．are thoroughly trained in a variety of specialized fields |
| D．have attended special programs in management |
Which of the following statements does the author support?
| A．Specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists. |
| B．Formal schooling is less important than job training. |
| C．On-the-job training is, in the long run, less costly. |
| D．Generalists will do better than specialists in management. |
If cars had wings，they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2011.The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011.
“It’s the next ‘wow’ vehicle，”said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh .“Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car plane has wings that unfold for flying—a process the company says takes one minute—and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport—you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界)conditions.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000, But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option,” Gersh said.
So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits.“We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,” Brown said.
We can learn from the first paragraph that .
| A．car-planes will be popular in 2011 |
| B．people might drive a car-plane in 2011 |
| C．both Transition and Ferrari can take off and land |
| D．Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts |
lt takes the car-plane one minute to .
| A．fold and unfold its wings | B．unfold wings for flying |
| C．land in the airport | D．meet flying safety regulations |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.
B. To meet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.
C. The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.
D. People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home.
The underlined word “it” in the last but one paragraph refers to .
| A．the radio | B．the transponder | C．the GPS | D．the full-plane parachute |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Cars With Wings May Be Just Around The Corner |
| B．Which to Choose: A Ferrari or a Car Plane? |
| C．A more Convenient and Cheaper Way to Fly |
| D．Cars With Wings Can Fly as Fast as Planes |
For much of the world, vegetarianism (素食主义) is largely a matter of economics: Meat costs a lot more than beans or rice, so meat becomes a special-occasion dish. Even where meat is more plentiful, it’s still used in control, and it often provides a side note to a meal rather than taking center stage.
In countries like the United States where meat is not as expensive, though, people choose to be vegetarians for reasons other than cost. Parental preferences(父母亲的偏爱), religious or other beliefs, and health problems are among the most common reasons for choosing to be a vegetarian. Many people choose a vegetarian diet out of concern over animal rights or the environment. And lots of people have more than one reason for choosing vegetarianism.
Different people follow different forms of vegetarianism. A true vegetarian eats no meat at all, including chicken and fish. A lactoovo(乳制品) vegetarian eats dairy products and eggs, but keeps out meat, fish, and chicken. It follows, then, that a lacto(乳，乳汁) vegetarian eats dairy products but not eggs, and an ovo （蛋，鸡蛋） vegetarian eats eggs but not dairy products.
A stricter form of vegetarianism is veganism. Not only are eggs and dairy products excluded (排除) from a vegan diet, so are animal products like honey. Some macrobiotic (养生的) diets fall into the vegan category. Macrobiotic diets limit not only animal products but also refined（经过提炼的） and processed foods, foods with preservatives, and foods that contain caffeine or other stimulants (刺激物).
Following a macrobiotic or vegan diet could lead to nutritional deficiencies (营养不足) 
in some people. Teens need to be sure their diets include enough nutrients to fuel growth, particularly protein and calcium (钙). If you’re interested in following a vegan or macrobiotic diet it’s a good idea to talk to a registered dietitian（营养学家）. He or she can help you design meal plans that include enough nutrients. The underlined sentence in the first paragraph probably means ______.
| A．there is usually a note beside the meat in a meal |
| B．meat often attracts people’s attention in a meal |
| C．meat is served only a small amount in a meal |
| D．meat should play an important part in a meal |
Which of the following is NOT the reason for Americans being vegetarians?
| A．They are environmentally friendly. |
| B．They are concerned about the rights of animals. |
| C．They worry about their own health. |
| D．They can’t afford to buy meat. |
A vegan diet will include ______.
| A．neither animal products nor diary products |
| B．diary products but no eggs |
| C．animal products like honey |
| D．processed food |
According to the passage, the author would probably think that ______.
| A．all the people should become vegetarians |
| B．teens should be careful to be vegetarians |
| C．vegetarianism is not a good thing for the world |
D．vegetarianism can m ake a country develop faster |