There is much more to growing up in a bilingual(双语的) family than learning two languages, and the cultural influences from both cultures are just as important.
In July we had a curious incident that shows the slight differences between cultures. My son has already changed a few of his baby teeth and since we lived in Italy we decided to go with the Italian version(版本) of the Tooth Fairy, which is not a fairy(仙女) but a little mo
use. So last year when he lost his first tooth we had a visit from the little mouse who took the tooth away and left a rather good amount of coins --- when he lost the second tooth a few days later, however, the amount was significantly less! That in itself caused quite a few questions, but the real questions started when in July during a visit to the UK another tooth left my son’s mouth in Tooth Fairy land! The grandparents made a real problem out of it --- it was their first grandson’s tooth they got to say Goodbye to, so it was Tooth Fairy and rather generous, too!
The Qs & As
Son: Mum, how is the little mouse going to smell my tooth all this way? (as the story goes the little mouse smells a milk tooth and comes to collect it)
Me: No dear, it won’t! We are in England now so the Tooth Fairy will come.
Son: Oh, is she stronger than the little mouse? (I knew where this was going)
Me: She is very strong, and she is magic.
Son: What does the Tooth Fairy bring? (straight to the point)
Me: I am not sure. We’ll find out maybe a nice message.
Son: So is the little mouse coming too?
Me: No, it won’t make it all the way from Italy.
Son: But why don’t they have little mice in England?
Me: Because here the Tooth Fairy collects all baby teeth and she’s too fast, so the little mouse would always get there late.
Son: Oh!?Italian kids are supposed to believe ________ will come and collect the milk teeth.
| A．a little mouse |
| B．Tooth Fairy |
| C．their parents |
| D．the grandparents |
The author thought Tooth Fairy would be rather generous because ________.
| A．Italian parents often give much money for their kids’ lost baby teeth[ |
| B．she knew Tooth Fairy was more generous than the little mouse |
| C．she knew the grandparents would give her son a big gift |
| D．English people are usually more generous than Italians |
Hearing “Oh, is she stronger than the little mouse?”, the author knew her son was actually worried about ________.
| A．the tooth fairy’s health |
| B．the little mouse’s coming |
| C．the amount of coins he could get |
| D．the story his grandparents know |
By telling this story, the author intends to say it’s important to _________ in a bilingual family.
| A．make kids know the folk stories |
| B．help kids choose one of the cultures |
| C．teach kids two languages |
| D．keep the balance of both cultures |
Hoffman，40，a former senior vice president of a financial company，had what she describes as “one of those extreme jobs.” “I loved working,” she says. But her career path reached a crossroad when her second child was born，and she left her job in February 2007. Hoffman is one of many people who have left the work force to take a break，but she has a position as a consultant．She has described this type of career detour(绕路) ----- which is more common for women than for men—as “off- ramping．” Typically it occurs when the balancing act of parenting and work becomes too tough．
A study by the center found that more than 90 percent of women who off-ramp want to on-ramp back into the work force eventually．But making the transition back to work is rarely easy，and it is even harder in this economic climate of layoffs and hiring freezes.
Considering some of the obstacles faced by on- rampers , a three-day program called “Greater Returns：Restarting Your Career” was held at Columbia University. The goal of the three days was to have them walk away with a big shot of confidence.
According to one school of thought, women looking to make a comeback might even have an advantage in the current economy，especially if they are looking for part-time or consultant positions that do not offer benefits. And a majority of on-rampers are women with extensive working experiences that could give them a slight advantage over less-experienced competition．
“You absolutely cannot be defensive about why you off-ramped,” Ms Hoffman says, “ defensive” would have put her into a hard situation if the Greater Returns program had had not taught her how to describe the years she spent at home．“I now feel confident talking to an employer and saying，‘ Yes，I have been out of the work force，but here is where I can make significant contributions.’”What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Off ramp：it is common |
| B．On ramp：it is easy |
| C．Off ramp or on ramp：it depends on confidence |
| D．Off ramp to on ramp：it can be a hard Journey |
According to the passage，Greater Returns___________．
| A．is intended to relieve the pressure of the jobless women |
| B．has all the jobless women restart their career |
| C．will build up the confidence of those in search of jobs |
| D．is to last a11 the year around for the jobless women |
The main reason for the women’s off-ramping is that_________．
| A．they have to suffer the sexual discrimination |
| B．they have to parent their children |
| C．they reach a crossroad of career |
| D．they have great work pressure |
From what Ms．Hoffman says in the last paragraph，we can conclude________ .
| A．she didn’t get advice from the Greater Returns program |
| B．she was defensive about her off-ramping |
| C．she didn’t get the job because she lied about her experience |
| D．she is off ramp partly due to her straightforward manner |
Which job is easier to get for a woman off-ramper?
| A．Regular workers. | B．Casual workers. |
| C．Company managers. | D．Bank clerks. |
Do you know what your child is going to do when the school bell rings at the end of the day? More than 14 million students leave school every afternoon and have nowhere to go, since they do not have access to affordable after-school opportunities. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (NYVPRC), nine out of ten Americans think all youths should have access to after-school programs, but two-thirds of parents say they have trouble finding programs locally. The bad news is that situation may be getting worse.
After-school hours are the peak time for juvenile crimes and risky behaviors, including alcohol and drug use. The NYVPRC states that children who do not spend any time in after-school activities are 49 percent more likely to use drugs and 37 percent more likely to become a teen parent. Kids are also at the highest risk of becoming a victim of violence after school, particularly between the hours of 2p.m. and 6p.m.. The highest amount of juvenile crime occurs between 3p.m. and 4p.m. , when most children are dismissed from school.
The NYVPRC defines after-school programs as safe and structured activities that offer children opportunities to learn new skills. The skills students learn can range from technology and math to reading and art. Some programs also offer opportunities for internship(实习), community services , or mentoring. These programs have been shown to improve academic achievements, as well as relieve the stresses on working families. A report by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of justice shows that students in after –school programs have fewer behavioral problems and more self-confidence , and can handle conflicts better than students who are not involved with these programs. In addition, according to the Harvard Family Research Project, after-school programs help students from low-income families overcome the inequities (不公平) they face in the school system. What is the theme of the passage?
| A．Prevention of juvenile crimes. |
| B．Risks kids face after school. |
| C．A research report on the stresses of students. |
| D．The benefits of after-school programs. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the first paragraph?
| A．Most parents don’t believe in after-school programs. |
| B．Students are not willing to attend after-school programs. |
| C．It’s difficult for parents to find after-school programs for their children. |
| D．Parents don’t care about where their children go after school. |
We learn from the second paragraph that __________________ .
| A．the teachers should watch over kids after school |
| B．children are dismissed from school too late |
| C．after-school hours are a risky time for children |
| D．children should go home immediately school is over |
The author of the passage probably __________.
| A．fully support after-school programs |
| B．doubts the effects of after-school programs |
| C．believes structured activities are useless for children |
| D．thinks students today are too stressed |
The underlined word “juvenile” in Paragraph 2 has a similar meaning to “_____” .
| A．student | B．teenager | C．adult | D．campus |
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
When we think about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, a pinnacle (顶点) of sheer (纯粹的) delight. And those pinnacles seem to get rarer the older we get.
1 I remember playing police and robbers in the woods, getting a speaking part in the school play. Of course, kids also experience lows, but their delight at such peaks of pleasure as winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved.
For teenagers, or people under 20 the concept of happiness changes. 2 I can still feel the pain of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. I also remember the great happiness of being invited at another event to dance with a very handsome young man.
In adulthood the things that bring great joy—birth, love, marriage—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. 3 For adults, happiness is complex.
4 But I think a better definition of happiness is “ the ability to enjoy something”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from loving and being loved, the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, even good health.
While happiness may be more complex for us, the solution is the same as ever. Happiness isn't about what happens to us; it’s the ability to find a positive for every negative, and view a difficulty as a challenge. 5
| A．Love may not last; loved ones die. |
| B．For a child, happiness has a magic quality. |
| C．Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life. |
| D．Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. |
E. The dictionary defines “happy” as “lucky” or “ fortunate”.
F. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess.
G. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love, and popularity.
Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems．While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves．University of Missouri（MU） researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient．
“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density（密度）”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU．“The radioisotope（放射性同位素） battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries．”
Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro / nanoelectromechanical systems （M/NEMS）．Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe．
“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems．”
His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor（半导体）．Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor．
“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure（晶体结构） of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem．”
Together with J．David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery．In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials．Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair．Jae Kwon gave examples in Paragraph 4_________．
| A．to show chemical batteries are widely applied． |
| B．to introduce nuclear batteries can be safely used． |
| C．to describe a nuclear-powered system． |
| D．to introduce various energy sources． |
According to Jae Kwon, his nuclear battery _______．
| A．uses a solid semiconductor | B．will soon replace the present ones． |
| C．could be extremely thin | D．has passed the final test． |
The text is most probably a ________．
| A．science news report | B．book review |
| C．newspaper ad | D．science fiction |
Like many other nations, China has been busy putting together evacuation （撤侨）plans for its citizens stuck in crisis-torn Libya．The real surprise has been just how many Chinese are living there．The foreign ministry does not know for sure but puts the figure at 30-40,000．
The huge contingent （代表团） in Libya, who work for at least 27 Chinese companies, has brought to light one of the new dilemmas facing China as its economic interests expand．For a mixture of reasons that are partly political, partly business, Chinese workers are now present in many of the most unrest and dangerous parts of the world, including places where anti-Chinese sentiment over jobs and working conditions is on the rise．One of the first wake-up calls was in 2007, when a group of Chinese women were kidnapped in Pakistan, an event which led to the siege of the Red Mosque in Lahore．In the same year, nine Chinese oil workers were killed in Ethiopia．In recent years, Chinese workers have been kidnapped in Cameroon, Congo and Afghanistan．
Publicly, Chinese diplomats admit that the country needs better contingency plans to deal with this sort of situation．Privately, they worry about a different issue: that such incidents will force them to get much more involved in domestic political disputes in far-off lands, pulling the government away from its commitment to a policy of non-interference．The nightmare, a few diplomats and academics admit, would be a large, violent attack on a group of Chinese which then prompted an intense nationalist reaction at home, forcing the government to take the sort of interventionist （干涉主义的） actions it tries to shun．
Beijing gave some indication of how it will respond in the future with the decision on Thursday to send the frigate（护卫舰） Xuzhou, currently conducting anti-piracy tasks off the coast of Somalia, to Libya．Its mission will be to help the evacuation effort, but it is also a warning to any in Libya who might attack Chinese interests, as well as the latest indication of the growing global reach of China’s navy．As Andrew Erickson, a China expert at the US Naval War College says: “This latest initiative（方案） is part of a larger ongoing increase in Chinese power, presence, and influence around the world, and should come as no surprise．China has global interests, cannot free ride forever, and requires a presence in critical areas and situations in order to have a voice．”What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．There are many Chinese workers in the most unrest and dangerous parts of the world． |
| B．China should protect workers in the foreign countries． |
| C．China are taking actions to bring its citizens back from Libya． |
| D．The international situation is terrible |
The underlined word “shun” in the third paragraph most probably means?
| A．take part in | B．avoid | C．carry out | D．refuse |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．It remains unknown how many Chinese are living in Libya． |
| B．A large number workers are working abroad, which bring about advantages and disadvantages． |
| C．In no case will the Chinese government take part in solving the political problems in far-off lands． |
| D．Our government take immediate action to deal with this sort of situation． |
What’s Not true about the frigate Xuzhou?
| A．It is conducting anti-piracy tasks off the coast of Somalia． |
| B．It will help the evacuation effort． |
| C．It is a warning to Libya who might attack Chinese interests． |
| D．It indicates that China’s navy can reach an increasing number of parts of the global． |
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