I had the meanest（最刻薄的）mother in the world． While other kids ate candy for breakfast， I had to have cereal（谷类食物）and eggs． When others had Coke and candy for lunch， I had to eat a sandwich． But at least I wasn't alone． My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did．
My mother knew where we were at all times． She knew who our friends were．
We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath every day． The other kids got to wear the same clothes days．
We had to be in bed by 9：00 pm and up at 8：00 am．We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends．So while they slept， our mother gave us work to do．We had to wash dishes，make beds and learn to cook．I am sure she lay awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us．
Through the years， things didn't improve a bit． We could not lie in bed "sick" like our friends did in order to miss school．
My mother was the meanest mother．Out of four children，a couple of us went on to higher education．None of us have ever done bad things． She forced us to grow up into educated and honest people．I am trying to raise my children like this． I will feel proud when my children call me mean，because， you see， I am so glad I had the meanest mother in the whole world．
（1）What does the underlined sentence "But at least I wasn't alone" in paragraph I mean？
| A． |
The writer's mother was only mean to her． |
| B． |
The writer's sister and brothers were mean to her as well． |
| C． |
The writer's mother was also mean to her sister and brothers． |
（2）The writer was not allowed to as a child．
| A． |
eat as much candy as she wanted |
| B． |
go to bed and get up at fixed times |
| C． |
change clothes or take a shower every day |
（3）The writer's mother was hard on her children because she wanted them ．
| A． |
to receive a high education |
| B． |
to become mean people like her |
| C． |
to be educated and honest people |
（4）How does the writer feel about her mother now？
| A． |
Regretful． |
| B． |
Thankful． |
| C． |
Worried． |
（5）What's the best title for the text？
| A． |
Life with My Mean Mom |
| B． |
A Strict Mom and Her Family |
| C． |
How to Raise Good Children |
Young people and older people do not agree. But in one special programme in New York State, grown-ups and teenagers live together in a friendly way.
Each summer 2000 teenagers and 50 grown-ups live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and enjoyment in work. Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the villages. The grown-ups teach them these skills.
There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo-taking or painting. Others sit around and talk or sing.
When people live together, rules are necessary. In this program the teenagers make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, “What should we do about it?”
One of the teenagers has this to say about the experience. “You stop thinking only about yourself. You learn how to think about the group.”
| A. Why did it happen? B. Each teenager chooses his own way to spend his free time. C. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. D. Old people love young people. E. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and to build houses. |
Have you ever been stuck(困住) for hours on a hard math problem? If you sat there for some time you might eventually solve it, but scientists say that daydreaming might be a much better way to tackle(处理) difficult tasks.
In fact, daydreaming has long been misunderstood. It’s considered to be a bad thing and often associated with laziness. “We’re harsh(严厉的) on ourselves if we catch ourselves mind wandering,” says Professor Kalina Christoff from the University of British Columbia in Canada.
But the truth is that some of the most important scientific discoveries came about because scientists allowed their minds to wander. For example, Albert Einstein began his theory of relativity(相对论) when he daydreamed about riding a beam(束) of sunlight to the edge of the universe. And now, research has shown that normal people can also improve their problems solving ability in the same way, reported The Telegraph.
In a study, 145 people aged between 19 and 32 were asked to list as many unusual uses as possible for everyday objects. Some of them were given a 12-minute break while the others were not allowed any break from the task. People on the break did not simply relax—some of them were told to carry out a tiring memory task while others did an easier task.
Scientists found that people who did the easier task were daydreaming a lot. They thought about personal issues in the past or in the future because their mind was at ease.
After the break, all participants were asked to return once again to the task of listing unusual uses for everyday objects. It was found that daydreamers improved their performance by 40 percent, while all the other people, including those who didn’t have a break and who did tiring tasks during the break, performed the same as before.
“People think that when the mind wanders away, it just gets turned off—but we show the opposite,” explained Christoff.“A more playful attitude might allow you to call in more resources(解决办法).” So when you are struggling to solve complicated problems, it might be better off if you switch to a simpler task and let your mind wander for a while, she suggested.
According to Christoff, people typically spend one-third of their waking time daydreaming. “It’s a big part of our lives, but it’s been largely ignored(忽视) by science.”. It was believed that daydreaming __________.
| A．had something to do with imagination |
| B．had been misunderstood for a long time |
| C．was a waste of time when the mind was shut off |
| D．was a good way to relax and solve problems |
. What is the main purpose of Paragraph 3?
| A．To show that great scientists daydream a lot. |
| B．To inform us that daydreaming has its benefits. |
| C．To prove people can daydream whenever they like. |
| D．To introduce new experiments on daydreaming. |
. What did the scientists discover in the experiment?
| A．People’s minds turned off as they daydreamed. |
| B．The group that were given hard memory tasks performed best. |
| C．People who had a break showed improvement in the task. |
| D．Daydreaming could improve people’s problem-solving abilities. |
. How did the scientists get their conclusion?
| A．By studying brain scan results of the groups. |
| B．By comparing the performances of different groups. |
| C．By asking and observing people in different groups. |
| D．By analyzing the amount of tasks each participant did. |
Chinese are very generous(慷慨的) when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter. However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.
Parents can see that their children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today’s children are short of self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.
Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking requires patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and finish his job successfully step by step. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.
Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse(激发) his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.. Most Chinese parents don’t realize __________.
| A．how much the best education is worth |
| B．when children should be educated |
| C．what children really need in later life |
| D．why school tests don’t satisfy children |
. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Fixing old machines is very important. |
| B．Interest is necessary for everything. |
| C．Broken things are useful for children. |
| D．Using hands helps improve thinking ability. |
. The writer’s attitude(看法) to children’s education is that __________.
| A．the cheaper an education is, the better it is |
| B．children today should learn different skills |
| C．practical skills are useful to children's growth |
| D．school education can’t meet parents’ expectation |
My brother and I often fight with each other over small things. One day our father said to us, “Tomorrow we will take part in the Ray Home Sports Day. Both of you must go with me. Perhaps you can learn something from those children.” My brother laughed, “Dad, Ray is a home for physically disabled children. What can we learn from them?”
“You will see,” our father said.
Our father works as a volunteer at Ray. The children there have problems with their hands, speech, walking or hearing. Every day, he spends hours helping them to move or exercise their legs or arms.
The following day, he took us to Ray Home. When we got there, we found a nice place to sit down. Finally, the sports began. There was a 50-meter race to see who could run fastest. All the runners were physically disabled. As the race started, all the children moved as fast as they could. Just then, one of the girls fell over and hurt her leg. She began to cry at the top of her voice.
All the children stopped to help the poor girl. Then they all held hands and finished the race together. My brother and I were surprised to see this: the children weren’t interested in winning the race－they were more interested in helping each other to finish the race.. Why did the father take the writer and his brother to Ray Home?
| A．The father wanted them to do something at Ray. |
| B．The father asked them to help the children at Ray. |
| C．The father wanted them to take part in the Sports Day. |
| D．The father wanted them to learn something from the children. |
. Why did all the children stop in the 50-meter race stop?
| A．All the children were disabled. |
| B．A little girl fell over and got hurt. |
| C．They stopped to laugh at the girl. |
| D．They didn’t want to finish the race. |
. What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The children there can help each other. |
| B．All the runners there can not run fast. |
| C．All the children don’t want to be winners. |
| D．The disabled children there were not smart enough. |
Welcome to CanIHelpYou.We offer different kinds of services to people in our community. If you need any of the following services, please email us to zyyingyu@jks.net or telephone us.
Education
Information on primary and middle schools. Tel: 24325678
Housing
Information on buying or renting houses. Tel: 24325679
Outofschool Activities
Information on activities and services for children aged between 5 and 18. Tel: 24325348
Holiday Activities
Different activities for families in different seasons. Tel: 24325172
Health
Information on local health services, like hospitals and first aid. Tel: 24325533
Insurance
Information on car insurance, life insurance, etc. Tel: 24325666
Markets
Information on local supermarkets, farmers’ markets and farms. Tel: 24325338
Entertainment
Information on local places for fun, like cinemas and parks. Tel: 24325564
Before and After School Childcare
Information on school age childcare programs. Tel: 24325555. If you need their services, you can __________.
| A．send them a letter | B．go to their offices |
| C．email them | D．leave them a message |
. How many kinds of services do they offer?
| A．Six. | B．Seven. |
| C．Eight. | D．Nine. |
. If you need someone to look after your eightyearold child after school, you should call __________.
| A．24325679 | B．24325172 |
| C．24325555 | D．24325338 |