Have you ever wondered who is killing time in the cafes at three in the afternoon while you are busy at school? Linda and I found the answer when we got part-time jobs at Starbucks and KFC during the summer vacation?
Kangkang is a ninth-grader at Qingtan Middle School in Changzhou, Jiangsu. He got back home on March 1 after four days out in the open. He ran away from home because he felt stressed out about the coming senior high school entrance examination. “I needed some fresh air,” he said.
The boy is not the only one stressed out over exams. Reporters from the Oriental Education Times did a survey at a Shanghai middle school. It showed that 72 percent of students feel stressed and 67 percent of these students said their stress comes from school grades.
Stress is a normal physical response to things that make people feel worried or disrupt (打乱) their lives in some way.
People often feel stressed when they take on a big job, such as performing in a play, taking a test, or playing in a sports match.
Some stress is good. It makes you more active. If you have an important test, stress can push you to study harder.
But too much stress is unhealthy. It can make it hard to concentrate. It can also make you feel worried and tired.
What is the best way to deal with stress? Chen Yifan is a student at Nanjing University of Technology. She passed the college entrance examination and has some experience to share. “During the days when I was preparing for the exams, I often took a walk and chatted with my classmates. We told each other our worries and this helped me to stay peaceful,” she said to Xinhua Daily newspaper.
Doctors suggested that, besides sharing thoughts with friends, students could also relax by listening to music, reading a book or just spending some time alone.
More tips for when you feel stressed
● Get some rest. Remember that your brain will work better if you let it have some
time to rest.
● Make sure that you are getting regular exercise and eating healthy meals. Exercise
can help you to relax and stay focused.
● Make a list of the things you need to do. Do things one at a time. Cross things off
the list when you’ve finished them.
| A．Because the air was not fresh. |
| B．Because he couldn’t fall asleep. |
| C．Because he felt stressed out over exams. |
| D．Because he wanted to travel to another city. |
| A．Taking on big jobs. |
| B．Preparing for the exams. |
| C．Spending some time alone. |
| D．Reading books from morning till night. |
| A．Stress can always make people more active. |
| B．More than half of the students feel stressed at school. |
| C．Brains will work better if people let them work all the time. |
| D．Sharing thoughts with friends will make you get high school grades. |
| A．We shouldn’t get rid of stress just because it is bad. |
| B．Students in Shanghai get stressed out very easily. |
| C．Too much stress makes people active and study harder. |
| D．When people’s lives are disrupted, they may feel stressed. |
| A．Don’t get stressed |
| B．Study hard to success |
| C．A survey of dealing with stress |
| D．The ways to become a top student |
In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.
It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
| A．want to be as rich as their neighbours |
| B．want others to know or to think that they are rich |
| C．don’t want others to know they are rich |
| D．want to be happy |
| A．live outside New York City |
| B．live in New York City |
| C．live in apartments |
| D．have many neighbours |
| A．an important name |
| B．a popular name in the United States |
| C．his neighbour’s name |
| D．not a good name |
| A．do as the poor persons around him do |
| B．do everything he likes to do |
| C．do as his neighbours do |
| D．do as the rich people around him do |
When we talk about stars, especially women stars, it seems that they are always young, pretty and own attractive body shapes. But recently a Britain’s Got Talent (英国达人) star Susan Boyle has changed our views completely.
Simon Cowell, one of the organizers of the talent show spoke of his surprise over Ms Boyle’s voice. “This lady came up, and I’m thinking, ‘This will take five seconds and I can go to have a cup of tea.’ That changed when she began to sing I Dreamed a Dream from Lea Miserables. She knew we were going to have that reaction(反应) and just to see that look of satisfaction on her face midway through — it was one of my favorite moments,” Cowell said.
The performance was posted online and before long, the 47-year-old Scottish woman has been famous all over the world.
Speaking from her home in Scotland, Ms Boyle said that she hadn’t thought of changing her appearance. She said that her friend helped her with make-up. “I mean, it’s meaningless.” She added.
Ms. Boyle also spoke of the reason she first began to explore her musical talents. “ I was kind of slow at school, so getting something like singing was a good way of hiding behind that and therefore it built my confidence.’’
________.
| A．she was confident of her singing |
| B．she was satisfied with the organizers |
| C．she was pretty and in good shape |
| D．she sang the song I Dreamed a Dream from Lea Miserables |
| A．It was the musical talents that built Susan's confidence. |
| B．Susan Boyle was not good at her lessons when at school. |
| C．Susan Boyle became famous because of her appearance. |
| D．Simon Cowell didn’t think Susan Boyle a good singer at the first sight. |
| A．It’s never too old to learn. |
| B．It’s easier to succeed at the age of 47. |
| C．If you have a dream, keep trying to make it come true! |
| D．If you are not able to study well, to be a singer instead. |
Some top students are giving advice.
| Bill, Canada When taking tests, relax. If you’re worried that you’ll fail the test, you’re sure to get a low score. If you have studied for it long enough, you shouldn’t be worried about getting a low grade. |
| Lily, America Remember the most important advice to get good grades is very simple; do well on tests to get an A or an A-. Do what your teacher says, and the chances are fairly good that you’ll get an A+. Don’t stress yourself. Act cool! |
| Betty, Britain Write good notes. Coloured pens are fun to write with if you want to get more creative with your notes, but use them only for parts of your notes that will probably be on a test or that are important. It makes them stand out. Go over your notes before you take the exams. |
| Tom, Australia In order to get good grades, try to do your homework immediately after school. Time management is important. If you’re told to do the homework next week, get started the same day you know it. Before you start, you’d better make clear what to do and how to do it. |
| A．Betty. | B．Bill. | C．Lily. | D．Tom. |
| A．not to worry | B．not to stress ourselves |
| C．to get more creative | D．to make clear what to do |
| A．how to get good grades |
| B．how to start learning |
| C．what to do when taking tests |
| D．what to take when going to school |
任务型阅读（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）
Travelling is one of the most important activities and people have been interested in it for many years. Modern traffic develops fast, so travelling to different places has become much faster than before. Staying healthy while travelling can make your trip happier. But do you know how to keep healthy during a trip? The following information may be useful to you.
Before leaving
Wear comfortable shoes, a hat and sunglasses.
Take some necessary medicine with you. They can be used when you get sick or have other problems.
Do some exercise for weeks or months before you leave if you plan to do lots of walking or climbing during your trip.
Prepare proper food. Before you prepare the food, the first thing you need to think about is how long you will travel with the food. If you take a long trip, you should bring food such as bread, biscuits and some fruit. They don’t go bad quickly. The nearer people can bring meat, fish, eggs, milk and even salads and vegetables.
While travelling
Be sure not to eat dirty food or bad fruit.
Have enough time to take a rest during your trip.
Tap water is not safe, so drink bottled water and always clean the cover of the bottle.
Keep food in good condition. If you take hot food, you should try to keep it hot. For example, you can put it in heavy towels. If you need to keep cold food cold, you can put cold food in a box with ice. When you arrive, put cold food in the fridge. Remember: If you travel with food, keep hot food hot and cold food cold.]
| How to keep |
|
| Before leaving |
● Wear comfortable shoes, a hat and |
| ● |
|
| ● Exercise for weeks or months |
|
| ● Prepare proper food. Take bread, biscuits and some fruit for a |
|
| While |
● |
| ● Have enough |
|
| ● Drink |
|
| ● Keep food in good condition. |
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