One year ago, when Fiona turned four, Sam and I decided to home-school her instead of sending her to pre-school．I have always felt that the 0-5 years are an irreplaceable dreamtime．As Fiona is an inventive, observant child, sensitive and funny and great company, it would be a tragedy to find school rubbing away her uniqueness and restricting the building of her personality．
I tried not to reproduce school at home．I never had the urge to get a chalk, or a blackboard．I didn’t go and search out a curriculum(课程表)．I felt that my children would learn best if I stayed accessible (易接近的)and stayed out of their way．
Every day we worked some, relaxed some, read some and played some, but Fiona did not seem particularly happy here．She lost her temper once in a while．
How strange it was that my child who was free from school didn’t want to be free at all．Her friends all went to pre-school．She felt left out of a major part of her friends’ shared lives and experiences．I thought she was not in school for very strong, clear reasons, one of which was that the quality of learning my child did at home would be good, even better than expected．
Well, here was a situation I hadn’t expected．When we first decided to do this, Sam and I agreed that we would reassess(再评价)the situation for each child as she turned seven．Meanwhile we would offer her non-school-based opportunities to give her plenty of time with other kids-ballet lessons and swimming classes．She seemed to be enjoying all．But at times she kept asking when she was going to school．Whenever she asked this question, we told her that there would be a family meeting about it when she turned seven．She nearly always responded, “That’s when I’m going to go, then．” A fair amount of her curiosity was about school and I was afraid she was dreaming of going to school before she turned seven．
Although the advantages of home-schooling, I think, far outweigh its disadvantages, it is important for me to respect my daughter’s feelings and allow her to direct her own education．If her curiosity leads her to school, isn’t that where she should go?
Next week I’ll drive Fiona to her school．I hope that Fiona will learn to read and discover something wonderful to pursue in the world that opens up for her．I hope she will find the school activities provide her with satisfactory kid-time．
1．The writer decided to home-school her daughter, Fiona, because she thought________．
A．children aged 0-5 were too young to go to pre-school
B．Fiona may not be accepted by schools for her bad temper
C．home-schooling was much better than school education
D．children at Fiona’s age were too young to have their characters formed by school
2．In home schooling her daughter the writer tried to_______．
A．make her home just like a school
B．teach with a pointer, a piece of chalk, and a blackboard
C．be there when her child wanted her but tried not to stand in her way
D．teach according to a curriculum, which was suitable for Fiona
3．What was the writer’s biggest problem in home schooling her daughter?
A．She couldn’t decide what to teach and how to teach her daughter
B．She was not sure whether her teaching was suitable for Fiona．
C．She could not make Fiona give up the thought of going to school．
D．She didn’t know how to control Fiona’s temper
4．We can learn from the text that_______．
A．Fiona always acted against her mother’s instructions
B．it was against Fiona’s wish that she was educated at home
C．home-schooling was popular some years ago
D．Fiona’s parents would ask her opinions about school education
Ellis Island is located in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is open daily year-round from 9:30am to 5:00pm, with extended hours during summer. It is closed on December 25. There is no admission charge to Ellis Island; donations are gratefully accepted.
At Your Fingertips
Park information (212) 363- 7620
Emergencies (212 ) 363- 3260
Ferryboat information (212) 269- 5755
Lost and found (212) 344- 7620
Dining, gifts, & audio tour (212) 344- 0996
Transportation
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferry: Boats leave from Battery Park, Manhattan, and from Liberty State Park, New Jersey. They run about every
30 to 45 minutes beginning at 9: 15 am. (ferry schedule subject to change).
Hou
rs: May vary; call the number below
Closed: December 25
Ferry fees (Includes Liberty and Ellis Islands): adults, $ 7; senior citizens, $6; children (age 3 to 17), $ 3. (lower group rates are available for 25 or more adults)
Ticket & schedule information: (212) 269- 
5755In summer, visitors will have ___________ to visit Ellis Island.
| A．no enough money | B．a longer time | C．a shorter time | D．a wonderful time |
Which number would you call if your friends were suddenly ill?
| A．(212) 344- 0996 | B．(212) 363- 7620 | C．(212 ) 363- 3260 | D．(212) 269- 5755 |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People can visit Ellis Island free of charge. |
| B．The boats departure time from Battery Park is at 9:15 a.m. all the year round. |
| C．Ferry fees for children are cheaper than for adults. |
| D．Ferry fees for group visitors can be reduced. |
We may infer from the passage that _____________.
| A．visitors prefer to go to Ellis Island by boat | B．there are more visitors in winter |
| C． Ellis Island is open every day | D．Boat is the only transportation to Ellis Island[ |
The bus is a usable form of transportat
ion all over the world because we can easily take it to go everywhere. Also, we do not need to worry about danger on a long-distance trip. Now, we have comfortable buses in London. I would like to describe how comfortable they are. First, the number of seats on a bus has been reduced from 44 to 19. The reason why the number of seats is now 19 is that the seats have been changed to big and comfortable sofas.
Originally, they chang
ed the normal seats to airplane seats and took out ten seats from the buses. However, every customer wanted to have a more comfortable seat on the bus when they went on long-distance trips, so they changed them to sofas. Also, the owners of the bus companies wanted to make more money, so they tr
ied to meet the passengers’ needs. They changed the airplane seats to sofas, so the number of seats is now 19.
As the new buses appear, the prices go up, too. The owners have many ideas, which you have probably never thought about before. Now they have bus attendants who serve water, snacks, newspapers, and towels.
Also, you can change the direction and the height of the sofa to make yourself more comfortable, and there is a service bell on each sofa. Moreover, some companies show movies on the buses. In addition, when you go on a long-distance trip, they have luxurious(豪华的) buses that have an LCD screen on each seat. That is not the only surprising thing on the bus. They also have different TV channels, movie channels, and seventy TV games for killing time while you are on the bus.How many airplane seats did they put in a bus originally?
| A．10 seats. | B．19 seats. | C．34 seats. | D．44 seats. |
The direction and height of the sofas can be changed so that ______.
A. they can take up less space B. they can hold more people
C. passengers can feel more comfortable D
. passengers can watch a movie If you are thirsty and want to have a drink while sitting in the bus, you’d better _____.
A．go to the fro nt of the bus to get it |
B．get off the bus to buy some by yourself |
| C．change the direction of the seat | D．ring the bell on your sofa |
Though there are fewer seats on the buses, _____.
| A．the bus can pick up as many passengers as before |
| B．the owners get more money by offering better service |
| C．the bus fare remains the same as before |
| D．the bus is as crowded as it was before |
In our life, we face situations where we are either asked to choose between trust and disbelief. Many of us would say we have to choose trust over disbelief. Actually we are given intellectual(智力的) power to choose what we want, and what we choose certainly need not be the one that sounds p
leasing. That is, we can choose both trust and disbelief, but we have to know when to choose between these two
We should all realize that we are living in a world which is unfortunately mixed with people of various types. We have been given the power of judging who we are working with and who we are partnering with. We cannot give an excuse for believing a scheming(诡计多端的)person, just because he looked or sounded nice, unless we consider ourselves mentally unskillful.
This world was there before us and it does not owe us a single thing. We are asked to take care of ourselves and our belongings. Trust, too, has to be saved for the deserving(值得的) people. When we give trust universally to all, we end up troubled by the undeserving common cheat. People say trust is life. True! But only wisely exercised trust is life.
When we start a conversation with someone, the first things that we usually notice would be their dress, behavior, style and their language. What sometimes we all forget to look at is the person’s intention. Now how to look at a person’s intention is a lesson everybody has to learn for themselves in their own way -- there is no single standard for it. But it is certainly possible to discover the purpose if we seek a little bit more.
Certainly a false offer of friendship or guidance cannot stand undiscovered for long; we are therefore called to exercise disbelief over trust at least momentarily till we find out that we certainly are in agreement with a mutual(相互的)good-willed person.
The world teaches you lots of lessons and if we are willing, we can learn all that we want. In the first paragraph, the author ________.
| A．concentrates on the reason why we make different choices |
| B．focuses on how to choose between trust and disbelief |
| C．suggests that trust should be wisely exercised |
| D．implies that people are forced to make the choice |
The underlined sentence means __________
| A．trust and disbelief go hand in hand with each other. |
| B．disbelief is necessary if you aren’t wise |
| C．trust is established if two people know each other |
| D．doubt may serve as the precondition for trust |
We c
an infer from the passage that _________.
| A．people who we are working with are in fact those who we are partnering with |
| B．the first thing we notice tends to mislead our judgment |
| C．the mentally healthy people will not judge a person by his looks |
| D．the standards of looking at a person’s intention are various |
Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?
| A．Trust or Disbelief? | B．Trust Is Life. |
| C．Trust over Disbelief? | D．When to Choose between Trust and Disbelief? |
We often hear the phrase:“You’ve a greater chance of being struck by lightning.” It is used to describe something that hasn’t got much chance of happening. However, the common saying undermines(掩盖) the very real dangers of lightning. Last Friday, at least 5 people were killed by lightning in Nepal. Lightning strikes are the second most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the US. The first is floods. Around 400 people nationwide are struck by lightning each year, and of those73 people die. That means more people are killed by lightning than by tornadoes and hurricanes. Because lightning kills only one or two people at a time, its danger does not receive as much attention as other disasters.
So to raise awareness, the US has made June 22 to 28 National Lightning Safety Week. It aims to warn the public of the dangers of lightning and provide safety tips during thunderstorms. “If you hear thunder , you are in danger from lightning,” said Rocky Lopes, a disaster educator at the American Red Cross.“Thunder means that lightning is close enough to hit you at any minute, so you should move indoors immediately and stay there until after the storm has ended. The single most important thing to remember is to seek hiding place,”Lopes said.
Summer is the high time for lightning storms, so when lightning strikes across the sky, remember these safety tips:
Stop working, fishing, swimming or playing in open fields.
If you can count less than ten seconds between a thunder and a lightning flash, take cover inside the nearest building.
Do not stand under a tree.
Get off bicycles or motorcycles.
Crouch down(蹲下)if there is no hiding place.
Avoid open spaces, wire fences, metal objects and electrical objects such as hair driers.The popular opinion about being struck by lightening is that .
| A．there is a greater chance for being killed by lightening than any other natural disaster |
| B．it is the most dangerous among all the natural disasters |
| C．the chance for a person to be struck by lightening is very small |
| D．it is impossible for people to be killed by lightening |
The average death rate of being struck by lightening in US is about .
| A．18% | B．50% | C．30% | D．73% |
Among all the safety tips, the most important one is that when you hear thunder in the open air， .
| A．just stand by your bicycles and motorcycles |
| B．quickly find a place to go inside |
| C．count ten seconds between a thunder and a lightening |
| D．don’t have a hair drier in your hand |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．There are more people killed by tornadoes and hurricanes than by lightening in US each year. |
| B．There are on average 5 persons killed by lightening in Nepal each day. |
| C．The death rate of being stuck by lightening is much higher than by other natural disasters. |
| D．The National Lightening Safety Week is made to warn the public against lightening. |
Even before my father left us, my mother had to go back to work to support our family．Once I came out of the kitchen, complaining, “Mom, I can't peel potatoes．I have only one hand.”
Mom never looked up from sewing．"You get yourself into that kitchen and peel those potatoes," she told me. “And don't ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”
In the second grade, our tea
cher lined up my class on the playground and had each of us race across the monkey bars, swinging from one high steel bar to the next．When it was my turn, I shook my head．Some kids behind me laughed, and I went home crying．
That night I told Mom about it．She hugged me, and I saw her "we'll see about that" look． The next afternoon, she took me back to school．At the deserted playground, Mom looked carefully at the bars．
"Now, pull up with your right arm," she advised．She stood by as I struggled to lift myself with my right hand until I could hook the bar with my other arm．Day after day we practiced, and she praised me for every rung （横档） I reached．I'd never forget the next time, crossing the rungs．I looked down at the kid
s who were standing with their mouths open．
One night, after a dance at my new junior high, I lay in bed sobbing．I could hear Mom come into my room．"Mom," I said, weeping, "none of the girls would dance with me．"
For a long time, I didn't hear anything．Then she said, "Oh, honey, someday you'll be beating those boys off with a bat．" Her voice was soft and weak．I glanced at her to see tears running down her cheeks．Then I knew how much she suffered on my behalf．She had never let me see her tears．Which of the following expressions can be used most suitably to describe Mom's attitude when she made the child peel potatoes?
A．Cruel． B．Serious． C Strict． D．Cold．From the passage, we know monkey bars can help a child train ____．
| A．the skill to circle round a bar |
| B．the skill to throw and catch things |
| C．the speed of one's hand movement |
| D．the strength and skill to hang and swing |
What does the sentence "I saw her 'we'll see about that' look" imply?
| A．Mom believed every aim could be achieved if you stuck to it． |
| B．What the child had said brought Mom great attraction and curiosity． |
| C．Mom was determined to prove she herself was better than the teacher． |
| D．The race across monkey bars was not difficult enough for a child to give up． |
The most probable conclusion we can draw after reading the passage is ____．
| A．the last incident was sad enough to make Mom weep |
| B．the child's experience reminded Mom of that of her own |
| C．Mom could solve any problem except the one in the last paragraph |
| D．in fact Mom suffered more in the process of the child's growth |
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