Traditional fairytales are being abandoned by parents because they are too horrible for their young children, a study found.
Research revealed one in five parents dislike old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel and are in favor of more modern books. One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the horrible details of Little Red Riding Hood. And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids as the themes of the story are about kidnapping and crimes. Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it forgives stealing.
The survey of 2,000 adults was conducted to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which starts tonight at 9pm on Watch, and sees six episodes based on traditional fairytales. The survey found a quarter of parents questioned wouldn’t consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they prompt too many awkward questions from their children.
Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: “Bedtime stories are supposed to calm down children and send them off to sleep soundly. But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it’s understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children.”
“As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five-year-old child with an over active imagination could take things too seriously. Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will triumph over evil and there is always a moral to the story.”
The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares.
However, half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids’ books, such as The Gruffalo, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr. Men books.Why don’t some parents want to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids?
| A．Rumplestiltskin forgives stealing |
| B．Rumplestiltskin is too difficult |
| C．Rumplestiltskin is too long |
| D．Rumplestiltskin may have bad influence on Children |
We can learn from paragraph 3 that Grimm is _____.
| A．a fairytales book |
| B．a movie for children |
| C．a play loved by children |
| D．a drama based on traditional fairytales |
Which of the following may Steve Hornsey agree to?
| A．There is a moral to a classic fairytale. |
| B．Fairytales are dark. |
| C．Adults take fairytales too seriously. |
| D．Fairytales are not good for children's sleep. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards traditional fairytales?
| A．Optimistic | B．Not mentioned | C．Casual | D．Disapproving |
第二部分．阅读理解（共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
第一节阅读下面五篇短文，从每题后所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案。
Most of us lead unhealthy lives; we spend far too much sitting down. If in addition we are careless about our diets, our bodies soon become loose and fatty and our systems slow moving. There are some aspects(方面) of our unhealthy lives that we cannot avoid. I am thinking of such features of modern city life as pollution, noise, rushed meals and stress. But keeping fit is a way to reduce the effects of these evils. The usual suggestion to a person who is looking for a way to keep fit is to take up some sport or other. While it is true that every weekend you will find people playing football and hockey in the local park, they are outnumbered a hundred to one by the people who are simply watching them.
For those who do not particularly enjoy competitive sports — and it is especially difficult to do so if you are not good at them — there are such separate activities as cycling, walking, jogging and swimming. What often happens though is that you do them in such a leisurely way, so slowly, that it is doubtful if you are doing yourself much good, except for the fact that you have at least managed to get up out of your armchair.
Even after you have found a way for keeping in shape, through sport or gymnastics, you are still only half way to good health, because, according to the experts, you must also master the art of complete mental and physical relaxation(放松). It has to do with deep breathing, emptying your mind of all thoughts, meditation, and so on. Yoga, as practiced in the West, is the most widely known and popular of the systems for achieving the
necessary state of relaxation. It seems ironical (讽刺性的), though, that as our lives have improved in a material sense we have found it increasingly necessary to go back to forms of activity — physical effort on the one hand and relaxation on the other — which were the natural way of life of our forefathers.
41. Pollution, noise and stress are examples of _____.
A. the causes of unfitness B. bad features of modern living
C. the things we can completely do away with D. unavoidable things in town
42. We don’t get much out of separate sports because we _____.
A. don’t do them very often B. don’t do them actively enough
C. find it hard to get out of our armchairs D. don’t find them interesting
43. To be healthy we must _____.
A. keep fit and active B. keep fit and learn to relax
C. be active and practise Yoga D. have a sound mind
44. Our forefathers were healthy because______.
A. their way of life closely connected with both exercise and relaxation
B. they were careful to get plenty of fresh air
C. they spent most of the time out of doors
D. their environment was not polluted
People with less education suffer fewer stressful days, according to a report in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
However, the study also found that when less-educated people did suffer stress it was more severe and had a stronger effect on their health.
From this, researchers have concluded that the day-to-day factors that cause stress are regular. Where you are in society determines the kinds of problems that you have each day, and how well you will cope with them.
The research team interviewed a national sample of 1, 031 adults daily for eight days about their stress level and health. People without a high school diploma reported stress on 30 percent of the study days, people with a high school degree reported stress 38 percent of the time, and people with college degrees reported stress 44 percent of the time.
“Less advantaged people are less healthy on a daily basis and are more likely to have downward turns in their health.” leading researcher, Dr. Joseph Grzywacz of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said in a prepared statement. “The downward turns in health were connected with daily stressors (紧张刺激物), and the effect of daily stressors on their health is much more damaging for the less advantaged. ”
“If something happens every day, maybe it’s not seen as a stressor.” Grzywacz says. “Maybe it is just life.”
57.Stress level is closely related to_______.
A. family size B. work experience C. body weight D. social position
58.Which group reported the biggest number of stressful days?
A. People without any education. B. People without high school degrees.
C. People with high school degrees. D. People with college degrees.
59.The less advantaged people are, the greater_______.
A. the effect of stress on their health is B. the degree of their health concern is
C. the level of their education is D. the effect of education on their health is
60.Less-educated people report fewer days of stress possibly because_______.
A. they don’t want to tell truth
B. they don’t want to face the truth
C. stress is too common a factor in their life
D. their stress is much greater
Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major cause of climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmospheric CO2 is also affecting the ocean chemistry and potentially harming sea life.
Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been researching the water in the Pacific Ocean for almost two decades.
"We've been going to the same spot in the Pacific Ocean, and we try and characterize long-term change in the open ocean environment. And one of the key things that we measure is CO2 levels. And we've been able to record this increasing quantity of atmospheric CO2 into the ocean."
Scientists expected that as atmospheric CO2 increased, more and more of the carbon dioxide would be absorbed into the ocean, affecting the chemical balance of the sea water, with a potentially harmful impact on shellfish and coral in particular.
"As carbon dioxide dissolves（溶解） in the water, or seawater in this case, it forms a weak acid, carbonic acid," Dore explains. "And therefore, as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere goes up and that exchanges with the surface seawater, it drives the pH down, and makes it more acidic."
The seawater Dore and his colleagues have analyzed confirms what the theory predicts.
The effect was particular striking at about 250 meters down, and again at 500 meters. Dore and his colleagues came up with two possible explanations. It could be that surface water picked up CO2 and then moved to those depths. Or there could be a biological explanation.
"It's important to realize that the oceans are really becoming acidic. And it can have negative impacts on a whole variety of sea life from fish to coral. It's potentially catastrophic."
53．What can be the best title of the passage?
A．Sea Life Facing Danger B．Climate Change Affecting Seawater
C．Oceans Becoming More Acidic D．Scientist Researching Seawater
54．Which of the following shows the process of the impact of atmospheric CO2 on sea life?
a．Sea life is endangered．
b．CO2 goes into the surface water．
c．The ocean chemistry is affected．
d．CO2decreases the PH and makes the seawater more acidic．
|
|
e．CO2 levels in the atmosphere go up．
55．Scientist Robert Dore came to the conclusion based on__________.
A．his research and analysis
B．a major cause of climate change
C．some former theory
D．the expectation of other scientists
56．What does the passage want to tell us most?
A．It takes time to make a scientific study．
B．Atmospheric CO2 is doing harm to sea life．
C．Robert Dore is a committed and serious scientist．
D．Measures should be taken to prevent the potential catastrophe．
LONDON, England（CNN）--- The youngest person to sail solo around the world returned home Thursday from his 30,000-mile, 282-day ocean journey.
Mike Perham, 17, sailed into Lizard Point in Cornwall, the southernmost point in Britain, at 9:47 a.m., his race team said.
“It feels absolutely brilliant,” Mike told CNN by phone hours before crossing the finish line. “I'm really, really excited to be going across the line at last. It doesn't feel like long since I crossed it first.”
Mike set off on his round-the-world trip on November 18, 2008. He has been sailing his yacht single-handedly, though a support team has been sailing next to him along the way.
The teen has now achieved the title of Youngest Sailor to Circumnavigate the Globe Solo, according to the Guinness World Records.
Mike learned how to sail when he was seven years old from his father, Peter and at age 14, he sailed across the Atlantic alone.
The teenager's school --- which Mike describes as “highly supportive” of his trip --- has redesigned his coursework to fit in with his trip. It also gave him some coursework to do during “quiet moments,” according to Mike's Web site.
There haven't been many of those quiet moments. Repeated autopilot failures forced him to stop for repairs in Portugal, the Canary Islands, South Africa, and twice in Australia, according to his Web site.
Bad weather in the Southern Ocean --- between Australia and Antarctica --- forced Mike to battle 50ft waves and 57 mph winds. He said at one point, a “freak wave” picked up the boat and turned it on its side.
“My feet were on the ceiling at the time,” he told CNN. “That was a really hairy moment, and I was certainly thinking, ‘Why am I here?’ But we took the sails off and the day after I thought, ‘This is brilliant!’”
Mike describes his father as his biggest hero, always supportive of what he wanted to achieve. Peter Perham said he wasn't too worried about his son facing dangerous situations at sea, as long as he knew what to do and stayed safe.
49. Mike Perham returned to Britain in ________.
A. August B. November C. October D. September
50. Mike Perham is ________ that went on the round-the-world trip in the world up till now.
A. the first B. the bravest C. the luckiest D. the youngest
51. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. the English school is the same as ours
B. the English school gives students a lot of course work
C. the English school has a humane management
D. the English school doesn’t care for students
52. The passage mainly tells us ________.
A. Mike’s exciting sail trip around the globe
B. how Mike’s father taught him to sail a boat
C. why CNN wanted to report the news to the public
D. the introduction of the Guinness World Records
Have you got any wonderful plans for your coming summer vacation? Here are some wonderful films for you to kill time.
| Away We Go With a baby on his way, a young couple, Burt and Verona, look at their lives and are puzzled about what they really want. So they hit the road and seek a place to call home. On their journey, they visit a handful of characters and learned a lot. It’s about taking the scenic route in life, preparing for the hope and excitement and fear of new beginnings, while never forgetting to look out of the window. |
Orphan Esther, a bright and well-behaved child, however, is not as innocent as she appears. Soon after being taken home, the peace of her adoptive family is completely changed You want a good horror film about a child from hell? Then you got one! Do not, in any cases, take children to see it. |
| 500 Days of Summer Tom is in love with Summer from the moment he sees her. Can he accept that she simply likes him for now, not for forever? The movie is about Tom wrestling with that reality. Tom remembers his love, Summer, as a series of joys and bafflements. But Summer is just herself and he cannot have her. Here is a rare movie that begins by telling us how it will end and is about how the hero has no idea why. |
2012 The director Roland Emmerich successfully dresses a corny story with an old Mayan prediction, which is believed by many to happen in the coming 2012 and as a result, attracts millions of people into the cinema. It’s just an entertaining Hollywood blockbuster(大片) with plenty of jokes, instead of a description of what the end of the world is really like. Don’t take it too seriously! |
45. This passage aims to __________.
A. make comments on films for a cinema B. advertise several films for a website
C. recommend several films for fun D. introduce films for a film corporation
46. If you bring your seven-year-old sister to the cinema, which of the following film should you avoid?
A. Away We Go. B. Orphan. C. 2012. D. 500 Days of Summer.
47. Among all the characters mentioned in the passage, who directed films in Hollywood?
A. Roland Emmerich B. Esther C. Burt and Verona D. Tom and Summer
48. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Orphan is a comedy about Esther adopted by a kind family.
B. 500 Days of Summer is a romance with a happy ending.
C. Away We Go shows beautiful scenery on the young couple’s journey.
D. The ancient Mayan prediction is going to happen in 2012.
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