For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict（冲突）between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part，this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ （青少年）complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.
In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrel on unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is—politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg—the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong，for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something—and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress. Why does the author compare the parent teen war to a border conflict?
| A．Both can continue for generations. | B．Both are about where to draw the line. |
| C．Neither has any clear winner. | D．Neither can be put to an end. |
What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict. |
| B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict. |
| C．The teens accuse their parents of misleading them. |
| D．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents. |
Parents and teens want to be right because they want to__________.
| A．give orders to the other | B．know more than the other |
| C．gain respect from the other | D．get the other to behave properly |
What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts | B．Examples of the parent-teen war |
| C．Solutions for the parent-teen problems | D．Future of the parent-teen relationship |
A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a piece of advice, “I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage,” she offered. “Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband agreed. So each of them tried to think of the things that annoyed them about the other and wrote down what they came up with. The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
“I’ll start,” offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband’s eyes because he never thought that he had so many shortcomings.
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. “Now, you read your list and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists,” she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated, “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect. I don’t want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn’t want to try and change anything about you.” The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us and see the wonderful things before us?Why were there tears in the husband’s eyes when the wife read his annoyances?
| A．Because he had no courage to face his shortcomings. |
| B．Because he never thought he had so many annoyances in his wife’s eyes. |
| C．Because he was sorry that he didn’t find any annoyance about his wife. |
| D．Because he didn’t think he deserved to have such a perfect wife. |
After hearing the husband’s words, the wife felt _________.
| A．moved and ashamed |
| B．sad and disappointed |
| C．satisfied and proud |
| D．surprised and confused |
The story is intended to tell us that ___________.
| A．disappointment cannot be avoided in our life |
| B．young couples should be more tolerant (宽容的) to each other |
| C．we should turn a blind eye to other people’s blame |
| D．we should try to look for and see the wonderful things around us |
People all need friends because nobody wants to be lonely and a friend can help you in good and bad times. You’ve made friends since childhood，but you still don’t know who your true friends are. Here are some signs to tell you if your friend is a true friend：
Always honest
Honesty is important to keep a relationship alive. A true friend always tells you the truth. It may be hard sometimes but lying can destroy a friendship. It is important that your friend speaks honestly and never makes up stories.
_________________
There are always periods in your life when you have problems or difficulties. A true friend will always have time to listen to your problems and give advice. He may not be able to offer a solution to your problems but the fact that your friend made time to listen is a sign he/she cares for you. Your friend is not a true friend if he/she can never make time for you when you are in trouble. You also need to be reasonable and accept that your friend also has other things to do so he/she can’t always listen immediately to your problems.
Always respectful (尊敬的)
A true friend will always respect your opinion no matter whether he/she agrees or not. Your true friend may disagree but never insists that he/she is correct.
Always understanding
It is possible that some problems will arise between you and your friend. A true friend will always be forgiving (体谅的) and understanding，even if it isn’t his/her fault. We are all different people and we all make mistakes. A true friend is always forgiving and understanding because he/she doesn’t want to take the risk of losing his/her best friend.What’s the best title for the third paragraph?
| A．Always there for you |
| B．Keep your secrets |
| C．Always happy for you |
| D．Remember your important days |
According to the passage，a true friend will always ________________.
| A．follow your advice |
| B．offer a solution to your problems |
| C．listen immediately to your problems |
| D．respect your opinion even if he/she disagrees with it |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Never tell lies to friends. |
| B．Making time for friends. |
| C．Sharing fun with friends. |
| D．Paying attention to a friend’s opinions. |
A true friend will always forgive and understand you because __________.
| A．he/she wants to help you |
| B．he/she doesn’t want to lose you |
| C．he/she wants you to feel confident |
| D．he/she doesn’t care about your mistake |
A man was walking on a mountain when he found an amazing cave. Stored inside were all kinds of treasure and precious stones. When he saw it, he concealed the cave entrance and stayed there, guarding it.
From that day on, the man hid all his valuables in the cave, and to avoid anyone suspecting he was rich, he gave up his job, his home, and his friends. He constantly watched the approaches to his cave, wanting no one to find out about it. Fearing thieves, he guarded the cave all night long.
He was so devoted to the cave that he hardly ate or drank. Before long, he fell ill. Many days passed, and he got thinner and sicker, losing all his strength. One day, when he could hardly move at all, he realized that it was his greed that had brought him to this extreme end. He understood that guarding his treasure had been of no use and no good. He decided to share it with others.
He crawled (爬) into the cave to fetch some jewels, but discovered that the cave was almost empty. All he could find was a small emerald (绿宝石). He took it and left the cave, intending to give it to the first person passing by. Soon a woman approached and accepted the emerald with great joy. The man said to her, “I could have given you many more riches, but I don’t know where they went. This is all I have now.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing else?” replied the woman. The man shook his head and pointed to the cave. He found that some riches were still there; he saw some gold coins. He said, “Take them with you.” The woman took both the emerald and the coins, and went away happily.
In a while, an old man passed by and asked the man what he was doing there. The man replied, “What bad luck! Just a moment ago I gave a woman the few riches left over from the treasure I was guarding.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing else?” The old man asked him.
The man showed him the cave, and they found a box filled with jewels and gold. The man was shocked. The old man explained to him, “At last! At last someone has freed himself from the spell (咒语) of this cave. You see, this is a magic cave, and you’re the first to pass its great test. Many people have devoted their lives to this cave, only to end up realizing there’s nothing here ...”
“And why does this happen?” said the man. “Why does the treasure appear and disappear?”
“My son, this magic cave has as many riches as does your own heart. When someone discovers it, the cave fills with the treasure they bring with them, but later, when they all devote themselves to guarding the treasure, their hearts begin emptying, and so does the cave. The only way to fill it is to fill your heart with all that is good, as you did by giving that last jewel to the woman. That’s the reason why the cave was filling up again ...”
And so, the man understood it was better to share than to keep things to himself. And, from that day, thanks to the cave and the old man, the man became ever more noble (高尚的) and generous.The underlined word “concealed” in the first paragraph can be replaced by “_____”.
| A．built | B．covered |
| C．discovered | D．used |
After the man fell ill, he intended to ______.
| A．tell others about his story |
| B．take all the treasure home |
| C．give some of the treasure to other people |
| D．return the treasure to the woman and the old man |
What happened to the man in the end?
| A．He became more generous. |
| B．He became the richest man in the world. |
| C．He became more careful about his health. |
| D．He became more grateful to others for their help. |
What can we learn from this passage?
| A．Be a good listener. |
| B．Don’t be angry with others. |
| C．We should learn to share. |
| D．We ought to help each other. |
Today, roller skating （滑旱冰）is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn’t easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn’t exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball(化妆舞会). He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was astonished to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces. Nobody forget Merlin’s grand entrance for a long time!The text is mainly about ____.
| A．a strange man |
| B．an unusual party |
| C．how roller skating began |
| D．how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century |
People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he ____.
| A．often gave others surprises |
| B．was a gifted musician |
| C．invented the roller skates |
| D．was full of imagination |
Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to ____.
| A．impress the party guests |
| B．arrive at the party sooner |
| C．test his invention |
| D．show his skill in walking on wheels |
What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?
| A．The roller skates needed further improvement. |
| B．The party guests took Merlin for a fool. |
| C．Merlin succeeded beyond expectation. |
| D．Merlin got himself into trouble. |
Suppose you work in a big firm and find English very important for your job because you often deal with foreign businessmen. Now you are looking for a place where you can improve your English, especially our spoken English.
Here are some advertisements about English language training from newspapers. You may find the information you need.
| Global English Centre * General English in all four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing * 3-month (700 yuan ), 6-month ( 1,200 yuan ) and one-year (2,000 yuan ) courses. * Choice of morning or evening classes, 3 hours per day, Mon.—Fri. * Experienced college English teachers. * Close to city centre and bus stops. Tel: 67605272 Add: 105 Zhongshan Road 100082 |
| Modern Language School * Special courses in English for business, travel, banking, hotel management and office skills. * Small classes (12 — 16 students) on Sat.& Sun. from 2:00 — 5:00 pm. * Native English teachers from Canada and USA. * Language lab and computers supplied. * 3-month course:1,050 yuan; 6-month course: 1,850 yuan Write or phone: Modern Language School, 675 Park Road, 100056 Tel: 67353019 |
| The 21st Century English Training Centre * We specialize in effective(卓有成效的)teaching at all levels. * We offer morning or afternoon classes, both of which last three months and a half at a cost of 800 yuan. * We also have a six-week TOEFL preparation class during winter and summer holidays. * Entrance exams: June 1 and Dec. 1 * Only 15-minute walk from city centre. Call 67801642 for more information |
| The International House of English * Three / Six-month English courses for students of all levels at very low cost: 60 yuan for 12 hours per week; convenient(方便的)class hours: 9:00 — 12:00 am and 2:00 — 5:00 pm. * A four-month evening program for developing speaking skills (same cost as day classes). * Well-trained Chinese and foreign teachers experienced in teaching English as a second /foreign language. * Free sightseeing and social activities(活动) * Very close to the Central Park. For further information call 67432308 |
You work from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm every day. Which schools will you choose?
| A．Global English Centre and Modern Language School |
| B．Global English Centre and the International House |
| C．Modern Language School and the 21st Century |
| D．The 21st Century and the International House |
The 21st Century is different from the other three schools in that ____.
| A．its teaching quality is better |
| B．it is nearest to the city centre. |
| C．its courses are more advanced |
| D．it requires an entrance examination |
If you take the evening program at the International House, you will pay ____.
| A．60 yuan | B．240 yuan |
| C．720 yuan | D．960yuan |
If your friend wants to take a course in English for hotel management, he may call at _____ for class information.
| A．67605272 | B．67353019 |
| C．67801642 | D．67432308 |
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