After commuting, cooking dinner and doing household chores, the average parent has just 30 minutes to devote to their children in the evenings, according to a new study. One in four working parents worry that half an hour simply isn’t enough, while almost half fret that they aren’t a good enough parent during the week.
However, parenting experts believe just 12 minutes a day may be enough for mothers and fathers to fully reconnect with their child — as long as they ask the right questions. Child psychologist Dr Claire Halsey said asking a series of open-ended questions can help improve parents’ relationship with their children.
Among the questions recommended in the research are: “How many times have you smiled today — what made you laugh?”; “Can you act out what you did at breaktime?”; “Who is taller — mummy or your teacher?” and “What are the names of the toys you played with today?” Parents of older children are advised to start up a conversation with: “I’ve got a great story for you but I want one in return… you first!” or “Tell me some school gossip … I’m all ears!”
Dr Halsey, working with the makers of Ribena Plus, who commissioned the research, said: “There is no one as tough on their own parenting skills as a parent — but this study shows there is no need for parents to be so harsh. It’s hard for working parents to juggle all their responsibilities and it can feel like guilt is simply a parent’s lot — but it’s absolutely not. By using clever tactics such as a little preparation alongside use of open-ended questions — such as ‘Tell me what the best bit about your day was?’ — parents can reduce the time worrying about chores and work and spend more time learning about their children’s day.”The underlined word reconnect in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.
| A．discuss | B． communicate | C． understand | D． combine |
According to Paragraph 1, almost half of the working parents ________.
| A．can spare only about half an hour to be with their kids every day |
| B．spend their daytime commuting, cooking dinner and doing household chores |
| C．worry that half an hour’s stay with their kids is far from enough |
| D．fear that they aren’t a good enough parent during the week |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．I will be glad to listen. |
| B．I will be very interested. |
| C．I will listen carefully. |
| D．I will call your teacher at school. |
Which of the following open-ended questions is for a three-year-old child?
| A．Where are you off to with your friends this weekend? |
| B．Who played the best in your football match today? |
| C．What science project are you doing at the moment and can I help with it? |
| D．What are the names of the toys you played with today? |
What does Dr Halsey intend to tell us in this passage?
| A．It is not necessary for parents to spend too much time with their children. |
| B．It is natural that working parents do not afford more time to reconnect with kids. |
| C．It is important that working parents learn more parenting skills. |
| D．It is clever that parents ask their kids questions instead of doing chores. |
Ants have a reputation for strength,organization and teamwork.But researchers have now discovered that a key secret to the success of ants is their ability to identify the importance of age in the work place.
A study of Gentral American leaf-cutter ants has shown that the younger and stronger members are give the toughest job of cutting therough the leaves they harvest.Their sharp youn teeth do this job effectively,but as they get older their teeth become relatively worn and blunt.
But rather than being retired or abandoned by the group,the ageing ants are given a new role more suyted to their physical abilities.They become carriers and teansport the leaves back to the kingdom where they are harvested for food.
The findings by researchers from the University of Oregon and the Oregong State University support previous research showin the survival of a leaf-cutter kingdom depends on the efficiency(效率）of is workers.
“Cuting leaves is hard work,”said Dr.Robert Schofield,who led the research team.“Much of the cutting is done with a V-shaped blade(刀片）between teeth on their jaws.This blade starts out as sharp as the sharpest razor blade that humans have developed.”But over rime the teeth become blunter and the cutting job slows down.The team estimated that,because of this age-related wear,a colony(蚁群)spent twice the energy cutting leaves than it would if all the ants had sharp blades.Its findings support the idea that wear and break can be significant problems for insects as well as largre animals.
Like humans,leaf-cuttre ant recognize that older members of the group can still make a worhwhile contribution to society.“This study shows an advantage of social living that we are familiar with,”said Dr.Schofield.The younger and stronger ants do the toughest job because .
| A．they can teansport the leaves effectively |
| B．they have a sharp blade to cut leaves |
| C．other members are busy with other work |
| D．they can finish the job in a better organized way |
The undrelined word“blunt”in the second paragraph can be replaced by .
| A．quite loose | B．less sharp |
| C．quite fragile | D．more dirty |
What happens to the ants when they become old?
| A．They no longer hve work to do. |
| B．They keep doing the same work. |
| C．They have to leave and live on themselves. |
| D．They are given a new worthwhile job. |
It can be learned from the passage that .
| A．Dr.Schofield is the first to research leaf-cuttre ants |
| B．older ants are more powerful in carrying leaves |
| C．large animals can also suffer from some kind of wear |
| D．leaf-cutter ants are the most lever ants in the world |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．The key secret to the success of ants |
| B．The developed structure of ant colony |
| C．The most challenging job for leaf-cutter ants |
| D．No V-shaped blade,no success of ants |
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In this 2 week course you will be taught how to run a profitable and enjoyable dog training business.
You will have hands on experience training and caring for at least 12 dogs ofall sorts ranging in size from a toy poodle to an Anatolian Shepherd.
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We will train you how to run classes and private in-home lessons.
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In this 1 week course you will have experience caring for over a dozen dogs,parrots,chickens, ducks,cats,and horses.
We will teach you the secrets of successful dog walkers with hours of dog ,parrots,chickens,ducks,cats,and horses.
We will teach you the secrets of successful dog walkers with hours of walking experience.
We will teach you how to wash dogs and horses.
We will teach you how to properly care for cats and birds.Top Dog Trainer School aims to .
| A．help people to be excellent experienced walkers |
| B．teach people how to do business successfully |
| C．help people to start a career related with animals |
| D．eam some money by giving diplomas to its leamers |
We can infer from the passage that the Anatolian Shepherd,compared with a toy poodbl,is .
| A．much more expensive to buy | B．much smaller in size |
| C．more difficult to care for | D．more troblesome in training |
Which of the following is not a peomise made by the dog trainer school?
| A．To start your ownbusiness with affordable money. |
| B．To make a fortune after the training in the school. |
| C．To have wide experience in animal care. |
| D．To find a satisfactory job in this school. |
Through the courses you will learn .
| A．the secrets of how to train the horses |
| B．how to take care of some pets and birds |
| C．how to search for business chanses on the internet |
| D．how to keep your customers'houses clean and healthy |
We can resd the passage in the part of a newspaper.
| A．entertainment | B．advertisement | C．science | D．business |
The next morning Alex was waiting in the FMA president’s suite when Jerome Patterton arrived. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. Then he said, “I want you to give an order to the trust department to sell every share of Supranational we’re holding.”
“I won’t!” Patterton’s voice rose. “Who do you think you are, giving orders-----“ “I’ll tell you who I am, Jerome. I’m the guy who warned the board against in-depth involvement with SuNatCo. I fought against heavy trust department buying of the stock, but no one-----including you -----would listen. Now Supranational is caving in.” Alex leaned across the desk and slammed a fist down hard. “Don’t you understand? Supranational can bring this bank down with it.”
Patterton was shaken. “But is SuNatCo in real trouble? Are you sure?”
“If I weren’t, do you think I’d be here? I’m giving you a chance to salvage something at least.” He pointed to his wristwatch. “It’s an hour since the New York stock market opened. Jerome, get on the phone and give that order!”
Muscles around the bank president’s mouth twitched nervously. Never decisive, strong influence often swayed him. He hesitated, then picked up the telephone.
“Get me Mitchell in the trust department… Mitch? This is Jerome. Listen carefully. I want you to give a sell order immediately on all the Supranational stock we hold… Yes, sell every share.” Patterton listened, then said impatiently, “Yes, I know what it’ll do to the market. And I know it’s irregular.” His eyes sought Alex’s for reassurance. The hand holding the telephone trembled as he said, “There’s no time to hold meetings. So do it! Yes, I accept responsibility.”
He hung up and reached for a glass of water. “The stock is already down. Our selling will depress it more. We’ll be taking a big beating.”
“It’s our clients-----people who trusted us-----who will take the beating. And they’d have taken a bigger one still, if we’d waited. Even now we’re not out of the woods. A week from now the SEC may disallow those sales. They may rule we had inside knowledge that Supranational was about to be bankrupt, which we should have reported and which would have halted trading in the stock. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. The sentence means:
| A．He filled his name on the Jax report quickly. |
| B．Alex signed his name to the Jax report quickly. |
| C．He offered the FMA president the Jax report smartly. |
| D．He prepared the Jax report for Patterton to sign smartly. |
From the context we can infer that ________.
| A．SuNatCo would bring the stock market down if it sold all the Supranational stock they held. |
| B．The president was stubborn and would never listen to others. |
| C．Alex will take the place of Patterton in the future. |
| D．the clients would take a bigger beating than the bank |
The New York stock market is the place where_____.
| A．the old stock can be bought and sold |
| B．shares can be bought and sold |
| C．paper stock can be bought and sold |
| D．some of the stock can be taken without being paid for |
In the sentence “Even now we’re not out the woods.” The phrase “out of the woods” means _____.
| A．free from danger | B．short of wood |
| C．running out of wood | D．set free |
In the writer’s opinion, the president is _____.
| A．good leader of the U.S.A | B．a good manager of a company |
| C．headmaster | D．banker, an indecisive sort of person |
One evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. On this occasion, the work was made less troublesome by the presence of his girl friend. I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children. Later, I discovered that complete confidence was the last thing I should have left home with.
I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out. I called home with this happy news. But instead of hearing his cheerful, grateful voice on the other end of the line, all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.
It was, I should point out, after 10 p.m., when the two younger children should have been in bed. and when the two older children should have been answering the phone. “I’ll give him a lesson,” I said. I decided they must be outside. Why they might be outside at 10∶30 on a winter night I had no idea, but it was the only explanation I could come up with.
Finally, in desperation, I called his girlfriend’s house. After what seemed like countless rings, his girlfriend answered. “Yes,” she said brightly, “He’s right here.”
He came on the phone. I was not my usual calm, rational(理智的)self. After all, one of the rules of survival for modern parents is that you can’t trust modern teenagers. “Where are the children?” I said. He said they were with him. They had done nothing wrong. My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriend’s house just for ice cream and cake. This was too good to be believed. Well, it turns out that I shouldn’t have believed it. It was only part of the truth.
The following Saturday evening we were at my parents home, celebrating my birthday. My oldest son gave me the children’s gifts. Mounted and framed were a series of lovely color photographs of my children, dressed in their best clothes, and wearing their most wonderful expressions. They are pictures to treasure a lifetime, all taken by the father of my son’s girlfriend. The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children because________________. .
| A．she knew that her eldest son was a good baby-sitter |
| B．she thought it no hard work to take care of the younger ones |
| C．she believed he could do well with his girlfriend’s help |
| D．she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter night |
When the author called home that evening, she found that _______________.
| A．two younger children had already been in bed |
| B．the children were preparing a birthday gift for her |
| C．her son was quarrelling with his girlfriend |
| D．there was no one answering the telephone |
What can you learn from the underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph?
| A．The author didn’t believe what her son had told her. |
| B．The author had complete confidence in her son. |
| C．The author believed her son was telling the truth. |
| D．The author was moved by what her children had done. |
What might the children do that evening?
| A．They had a birthday party. |
| B．They framed some photographs. |
| C．They had their pictures taken. |
| D．They made some beautiful clothes. |
What does the author intend to tell us by the story?
| A．Modem teenagers are not worth trusting. |
| B．It is no easy job to look after young children. |
| C．It’s no good to have a girlfriend at an early age. |
| D．Her children have a caring and tender heart. |
Grandparents might be known for spoiling grandchildren, but a new study says they might also be helping the kids improve their social skills and behavior.
Spending time with grandma and grandpa especially appears to help children from single-parent, divorced/separated or stepfamily households, according to the report, published in the February Journal of Family Psychology.
"Grandparents are a positive force for all families but play a significant role in families undergoing difficulties," the study's lead author, Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz, of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said in an American Psychological Association news release. "They can reduce the negative influence of parents separating and be a resource for children who are going through these family changes."
In interviewing 11- to 16-year olds from England and Wales, Attar-Schwartz and her team found that the more conversations the youths had with a grandparent, including asking for advice or even money, the better they got along with their peers and the fewer problems they had, such as hyperactivity and disruptive behavior.
"This was found across all three family structures," she said. "But adolescents in single-parent households and stepfamilies benefited the most. The effect of their grandparents' involvement was stronger compared to children from two biological parent families."
The study did not look at children who lived solely with their grandparents, though.
The findings have great implications for people in the United States, the authors said, because American grandparents are increasingly sharing living space with their grandchildren. A 2004 U.S. Census Bureau survey found that more than 5 million households include a grandparent and a grandchild under 18, up 30 percent since 1990, according to background information in the news release.It is generally believed that a grandmother __________ .
| A．can help a child through hard times |
| B．can help kids develop social skills |
| C．can spoil a child |
| D．is a positive force for all families |
According to the passage, grandparents will be of least benefit to a child __________ .
| A．from two biological parent families |
| B．from a single—parent household |
| C．from a divorced household |
| D．from a stepfamily household |
A child who asks his grandmother for money will __________ .
| A．have difficulty in getting along with his peers |
| B．still get along well with his peers |
| C．be easier to be spoiled than his peers |
| D．not be popular with peers |
We can learn from the last paragraph that ___________ .
| A．there are more families in America undergoing difficulties |
| B．American parents are much busier than those from other countries |
| C．American grandparents are much better at bringing up their grandchildren |
| D．American kids like to share more living space with their grandparents |
The passage implies that __________ .
| A．children who live solely with their grandparents may benefit the most |
| B．grandparents are a source of comfort to children from families undergoing difficulties |
| C．grandparents play a more positive role than parents in children’s growth |
| D．all families should leave their children to be brought up by grandparents |
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