When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.
I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.
In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.
However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.
After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.
By JackJack brought the couple their food very fast because _______.
| A．the manager asked him to do so | B．he respected the elderly |
| C．the couple wanted him to do so | D．he wanted more pay |
When Jack called the couple “elderly”, they became _______.
| A．nervous | B．satisfied | C．unhappy | D．excited |
In Jack’s hometown, _______.
| A．people dislike being called “old” |
| B．people are proud of being old |
| C．many people reach the age of seventy or eighty |
| D．the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants |
After this experience, Jack _______.
| A．lost his job in the restaurant |
| B．made friends with the couple |
| C．no longer respected the elderly |
| D．changed his way with older people |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got. |
| B．Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience. |
| C．The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple. |
| D．From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture. |
Peter King, 15 and Mary King, 13 went to see a doctor together. Peter had a bad cold, so the doctor gave him some pills to take. Mary had a bad cough, so the doctor |gave her some cough medicine.
These are the words on the bottle of medicine:
| Cough Medicine Shake well before use. Take three times daily after meals. Dosage: Adults 2 teaspoonfuls Children 8 -14 1 teaspoonful Child 4-7 1/2 teaspoonful Not suitable for children below the age of 4. Store in a cool place. Use before October 1998. |
Mary should take ____ in a day.
| A．2 teaspoonfuls | B．3 teaspoonfuls |
| C．4 teaspoonfuls | D．1 teaspoonful |
People aged ____ cannot take this medicine.
| A．80 | B．15 | C．20 | D．3 |
Mary or her mother should ____ the medicine after the tenth month of 1998.
| A．throw away | B．take two times |
| C．stop to take | D．take 3 times more |
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding |
| B．pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
| C．great and important; common |
| D．hopeful and helpful; careless |
According to the context we can guess that a genius is ________ while an idiot is ________.
| A．a normal person; a funny person |
| B．a strong person; a weak person |
| C．a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person |
| D．a famous person; an ordinary person |
A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
| A．whose parents are clever |
| B．often thinking about difficult problems |
| C．often helped by his parents and teachers |
| D．born with a good brain and putting it into active use |
What would life be like without rich, creamy, mouthwatering, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate?
Life would be bitter for most Americans. They spend about $13 billion a year buying all sorts of chocolate treats.
However, for the African children who toil under slavelike conditions on cacao plantations, life is not sweet. The cacao bean is the main ingredient in the chocolate. According to a 2002 survey by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the US Agency for International Development, about 284,000 children work in dangerous conditions on cacao farms in western Africa.
More than half those children are younger than 14. Many were sold into forced labor to work 12 hours or more a day on the cacao plantations.
A number of international organizations, including several African governments, recently began a program to eliminate(消除) child labor on cacao plantations. Under the program, government officials will remove children from abusive working situations while teaching farmers about child labor issues.
The program will also make borrowing money easier for cacao farmers. Officials hope farmers will use the money to invest in their farms and hire paid laborers.The cacao bean is the main ingredient in _______.
| A．treats |
| B．coffee |
| C．chocolate |
| D．cigarettes |
How many children under 14 work on cacao farms in western Africa?
| A．About 284,000. |
| B．About 142,000. |
| C．About 467,000. |
| D．About 876,000. |
From the passage, you can reasonably conclude that _______.
| A．cacao farms in western Africa rely heavily on child labor |
| B．children in Africa know how to make the best chocolate |
| C．candy bars sold in the United States are made on plantations in Africa |
| D．eating too much chocolate is bad for your health |
Americans love dogs, all types of dogs: small dogs, big dogs, lapdogs (供玩赏的小狗). Each year, people spend billions of dollars on their four-legged pals, making sure the lovable dogs have enough food to eat and lots of toys to play with.
Dogs love people, too. They lick their faces, protect their homes. Where did these four-legged companions come from? Some scientists believe that they have found the answer.
Scientists have long known that dogs evolved from（演化） wolves. Exactly when the transformation from wolf to dog actually took place, however, remains a mystery.
Some said dogs evolved as a separate species 135,000 years ago in two parts of the world. One group of dogs developed in Europe and Asia from Asian wolves. The other group evolved in North, Central, and South America from American wolves.
Now researchers say those theories are wrong. New studies suggest that domesticated dogs first appeared 15,000 years ago in eastern Asia. Scientists also say that every modern dog descended from approximately five female Asian wolves, the mother of all modern dogs.
Scientists suspect dogs first set paws in North America by following settlers across a land bridge that once linked northern Asia and North America.According to recent studies, all modern dogs came from female wolves in ______.
| A．Asia | B．Africa |
| C．Europe | D．South America |
From this story, we can conclude that _______.
| A．dogs are scientists’ best friends |
| B．dogs are more like wolves than they are like any other animal |
| C．most dogs are from Africa |
| D．scientists have no idea how dogs evolved |
The underlined word “domesticated” means “_______”.
| A．tamed | B．indoor | C．intelligent | D．friendly |
The best title for this story might be ______.
| A．Why Cats Don’t Like Dogs |
| B．Barking up the Wrong Tree |
| C．Love Me, Love My Dog |
| D．Going from Wolf to Dog |
It’s a nightmare for Huazhong University of Science and Technology （HUST）: within a week，two students committed suicide by jumping off dorm buildings．对于整个华中科技大学来说，这简直就是场噩梦：一周之内，两名学生在宿舍跳楼自杀。
Officials from the university are reluctant to give interviews．校方官员们不愿接受采访。
“We had a hard time calming down students who were shocked at the suicides,” said Zhang Jingyuan，one official of HUST．
“Media coverage may arouse some students’ negative emotions again．Suicide can be contagious,” Zhang said．他说，“媒体的报道将会再次引发学生的消极情绪，自杀是会传染的。”
The university reacted promptly to the first suicide on October 23．对于今年10月23号发生的第一起自杀事件，华中科技大学迅速做出应急措施。
Advisors and class leaders conducted dorm-to-dorm checks to find students suffering depression．Then psychologists offered one-on-one counseling to them．辅导员和班长们走访了每个宿舍，找出遭遇抑郁的学生。然后，心理咨询师会为这些学生提供一对一的心理咨询。
Notice boards publicizing tips for identifying peers’ mental problems and offering help were set up in front of dorm buildings．Leaflets carrying similar information were handed out to each dorm．宿舍楼前竖起一些布告栏，为同学们普及关于如何发现身边人遭遇心理问题并提供帮助的小贴士。印有类似内容的小册子也被分发给每个寝室。
However，the second suicide came seven days later．然而，七天后，第二起自杀事件发生了。
Both students were described as men of few words．Their schoolmates didn’t see anything to indicate suicide．据周围人描述，这两名学生都很少言寡语。他们的同学都没有觉察到任何自杀前的征兆。
Zhang revealed that the two students had been bothered by mental disorders．But the school didn’t know this until the students’ close friends outside school and their parents unveiled the truth after the suicides．章劲元透露，这两名学生曾经饱受心理疾病的困扰。但是学校对此并不知情，他们校外的好友和家长也是在自杀事件发生后才说出实情。
According to Zhang，there are only three full-time counselors working in the university’s counseling center for its 60,000 students．He complained: “It’s unrealistic to rely only on counselors to detect students’ mental problems．”据章劲元说，全校共有六万名学生，但学校的心理咨询中心只有三位全职心理咨询师。他抱怨说：“仅仅依靠心理咨询师来察觉学生的心理问题，这是不现实的。”
Effective prevention comes from long-term education for life instead of temporary intervention to meet an emergency，said Hu Yi’an．Hu delivers a course of lectures on life and death at Guangzhou University．He worries that universities have paid little attention to education for life．有效的预防来自于长期的生命教育，而并非遭遇紧急状况时的临时干预，胡毅安（音译）说。他在广州大学教授以生命和死亡为主题的课程。他为各大高校给予生命教育的关注少之又少而担忧。
“Education for life helps students respect and love life so they won’t resort to ending their lives when they have difficulties,” said Hu．“生命教育可以帮助学生尊重、热爱生命，这样一来，当他们遇到困难的时候就不会选择结束生命了,” 胡毅安说。
According to Hu，the principles can be incorporated into everyday teaching．胡毅安还表示，这些观念可以融入到日常教学中去。
Hu is also concerned that some universities are conveying discriminatory message that will hold back students from seeking help．胡老师也很担心一些大学传递出带有歧视性的信息会使得学生们不愿去寻求帮助。
When HUST conducted the dorm-to-dorm examination，students with poor academic performance were paid special attention．In March，Peking University also released a controversial policy，which required teachers to have a chat with students “with biased thinking”．当华中科技大学校方挨个宿舍进行走访时，学习成绩较差的学生也被给予了特别关照。三月份，北京大学也推行了一项备受争议的政策，该新规要求教师们要找那些学生中的“激进分子”谈话。
However，Hu suggested that students step out of their comfort zone to seek real-life communication．The underlined word “reluctant” in paragraph 2 probably means “ ”．
| A．willing | B．unhappy | C．refused | D．decided |
Which measure the university took to the first suicide is incorrect?
| A．Conducting checks to find out the students’ depression． |
| B．Offering counseling to the students． |
| C．Setting up notice boards publicizing tips for identifying peers’ mental problems and offering help． |
| D．Handing out leaflets to each student． |
Which of the following is right according to the text?
| A．Officials of HUST were willing to give the details about the suicide． |
| B．HUST didn’t respond to the first suicide． |
| C．What the university about the suicide was a success． |
| D．Their close friends and parents did know the students had mental disorder． |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Two students of HUST committed suicide． |
| B．What can we do to prevent the student’s suicide? |
| C．The reasons why the students committed suicide． |
| D．The dangers in the universities in China． |
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