Every summer, no matter how urgent work schedule is, I take off one day exclusively for my son. We call it dad-son day. This year our third stop was the amusement panic, where we discovered that he was tall enough to ride one of the fastest roller coasters (过山车)in the world. We experienced through face-stretching turns and circles for ninety seconds. Then, as we stepped off the ride, in a calm voice, he remarked that it was not as exciting as other rides he’d been on. As I listened, I began to sense something seriously out of balance.
Throughout the season, I noticed similar events all around me. Parents found it hard to find new stimulations for cold kids. Surrounded by ever-greater stimulation, their young feces were looking disappointed and bored
Facing their children's complaints of "nothing to do", parents were spending large numbers of dollars for various forms of entertainment In many cases the money seemed to do little more than buy relief from the terrible complaint of their bored children. This set me thinking the obvious question: "How can it be so hard for kids to find something to do when there's been such a range of stimulating entertainment available to them?"
What really worries me is the strength of the stimulation. I watch my little daughter's &ce as she absorbs bloody special effects in movies.
Why do children facing such excitement seem starved for more? Thai was, I realized, the point I discovered during my own adolescence that what creates excitement is not going fast, but going faster. Excitement has less to do with speed than changes in speed.
I am concerned about the increasing effect of years at these levels of feverish activity. It is no mystery to me why many teenagers appear uninterested and burned out, with a "been there, done that" air of indifference toward much of life. As increasing numbers of friends’ children are advised to take medicine to deal with inattentiveness at school or anti-depressants (抗抑郁药)to help with the loss of interest and joy in their lives—I question the role of kids’ boredom in some of the diagnoses (处方).
My own work is focused on the chemical imbalances and biological factors related to behavioral and emotional disorders. These are complex problems. Yet I’ve been reflecting more and more on how lie pace of life and the strength of stimulation may be contributing to the rising rates of psychological problems among children and adolescents in our society.The reason why the author felt surprised in the amusement park was that ________.
| A．his son was not as excited by the roller coasters ride as expected |
| B．his songs enjoyed turns and circles with his face stretched |
| C．his son appeared upset but calm while riding the roller coasters |
| D．his son could keep his balance so well on the fast moving roller coasters |
According to the author, children will probably feel excited ________.
| A．if their parents allow them to ride roller coasters very often |
| B．since parents spend money on the same form of entertainment |
| C．after they take anti-depressants according to the diagnoses |
| D．if they are often exposed to more stimulating entertainment |
From his own experience, the author came to the conclusion that children seem to expect _______.
| A．a much wider variety of sports facilities |
| B．activities that require complicated skills |
| C．the change of the forms of recreation |
| D．more challenging physical exercise |
In order to relieve children's boredom, the author would probably suggest ________.
| A．adjusting the pace of life and strength of stimulation |
| B．promoting the practice of dad-son days |
| C．consulting a specialist in child psychology |
| D．balancing school work with after school activities |
I was in a rush as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn’t be late for! I found myself at a checkout counter behind an elderly woman seemingly in no hurry as she paid for her groceries. A PhD student with not a lot of money, I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers. I was in a huge rush, thinking of my upcoming evening. I did not want to be late for this date.
We were in Boston, a place not always known for small conversation between strangers. The woman stopped unloading her basket and looked up at me. She smiled. It was a nice smile –warm and reassuring –and I returned her gift by smiling back.
“Must be a special lady, whoever it is that will be getting those beautiful flowers,” she said.
“Yes, she’s special,” I said, and then to my embarrassment, the words kept coming out.
“It’s only our second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling she’s ‘the one’.” Jokingly, I added, “The only problem is that I can’t figure out why she’d want to date a guy like me.”
“Well, I think she’s very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her,” the woman said.” “My husband used to bring me flowers every week –even when times were tough and we didn’t have much money. Those were incredible days; he was very romantic and – of course – I miss him since he’s passed away.”
I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. There was no doubt in my mind as I walked up to her. I touched her on the shoulder and said, “You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.” I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.
It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just purchased. “You have a wonderful evening,” I said. I left her with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.
I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that this story had helped to seal it for her –that was the night that I won her heart.Why was the writer in a hurry that day?
| A．He had to pick up some groceries. |
| B．He had to go back to school soon. |
| C．He was delayed by an elderly lady. |
| D．He was to meet his girlfriend. |
What does the underlined se “her gift”(Paragraph 2) refer to?
| A．Her smile. | B．Her words. |
| C．Her flowers. | D．her politeness. |
Why did the writer give his flowers to the elderly lady?
| A．She told him a nice story. |
| B．She gave him encouragement. |
| C．She allowed him to pay first. |
| D．She liked flowers very much. |
What is the message conveyed in the story?
| A．Flowers are important for a date. |
| B．Love and kindness are rewarding. |
| C．Small talk is helpful. |
| D．Elderly people deserve respecting. |
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!The writer of this passage must be ______.
| A．an American | B．a Chinese |
| C．a professor | D．a student |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport |
| B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home |
| D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
| A．strict with time | B．serious with time |
| C．careful with time | D．willing to spend time |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
| A．Friendships between Chinese |
| B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’ hospitality |
| D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships |
Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins (维生素). The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.The underlined word “cure” in Paragragh 1 probably means ______.
| A．a medical treatment | B．a kind of vitamin |
| C．a kind of germ | D．a kind of rice |
Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.
| A．spend his holiday |
| B．find ways to grow better crops |
| C．do some research about the island |
| D．help the Javanese with their illness |
Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?
| A．To eat them. |
| B．To carry out his experiments. |
| C．To give the Javanese a surprise. |
| D．To make money by selling them. |
If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.
| A．eat more rice | B．eat more meat |
| C．eat some chicken | D．eat vitamin pills |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．beri-beri was caused by chickens |
| B．the Javanese didn’t like vitamins |
| C．Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful |
| D．the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ |
In order to know a foreign language thoroughly（完全地），four things are necessary．First，we must understand the language when we hear it spoken． Secondly， we must be able to speak it ourselves， with confidence（自信） and without hesitation（犹豫）． Thirdly， we must do much reading． Finally， we must be able to write it． We must be able to make sentences that are correct in grammar．
There are no shortcuts to success in language learning． A good memory is a great help， but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book． It is not much learning by heart long lists（一览表） of words and their meanings， studying the dictionary and so on． We must learn by using the language．
If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized， we are not really learning the language． We must “learn through use．” Practice is important． We must practise speaking and writing the language whenever we can．The most important things to learn a foreign language are ＿＿＿.
| A．understanding and speaking |
| B．listening， speaking， reading and writing |
| C．writing and understanding |
| D．memorizing and listening |
Someone hears and writes English very well， but he speaks it very badly． This is because ＿＿．
| A．he doesn't understand the language when he hears it spoken |
| B．he doesn't have a good memory |
| C．he always remembers lists of words and their meanings |
| D．he often hesitates（犹豫） to practice speaking it |
One can never learn a foreign language well by＿＿＿＿＿．
| A．doing much practice |
| B．studying the dictionary |
| C．learning through use |
| D．using the language |
Which is the most important in learning a foreign language？
| A．A good memory． | B．Speaking． |
| C．Practice． | D．Writing． |
“Learn through use” means ＿＿＿＿＿＿．
A． we use a language in order to learn it
B． we learn a foreign language in order to use it
C． we can learn a language well while we are keeping using it
D． B and C．
It’s the lunchtime break at Shanghai Xianxia Middle School. No mobile phones can be heard ringing anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short messages has disappeared.
A grade-2 student said, “I couldn’t concentrate during classes if the cell phone was with me. I couldn’t help checking if there were messages or missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes.”
The school authorities say they feel the ban is necessary to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile phones to school. More than 96 percent of parents say they welcome the school decision. The school is also being flexible (灵活的) in implementing the ban. Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to contact their parents. But they still have to switch them off in classrooms.
Medical experts have also welcomed the school decision. They say too much dependence on mobile phones can cause many psychological problems in teenage students.The grade-2 student thought that _______.
| A．the mobile phone should be on during classes |
| B．it is good to play cell phone games sometimes |
| C．the mobile phone is helpful to her studies |
| D．it is no good using the cell phone at school |
According to the passage, the students use their mobile phones except _______.
| A．contacting their parents | B．cheating in exams |
| C．sending short messages | D．playing games |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．All the parents welcome the school decision. |
| B．Some students can bring mobile phones to school. |
| C．Medical experts are against the school decision. |
| D．No one is allowed to bring his mobile phone to school. |
What does the underlined word “implementing” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
| A．Carrying out | B．Giving up |
| C．Making up | D．Finding out |
The passage mainly tells us _______.
| A．the mobile phone is a big trouble to teenage students |
| B．the use of the mobile phone can cause mental problems |
| C．about a ban on the mobile phone in a middle school |
| D．a story happening at Shanghai Xianxia Middle School |
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