Can you imagine learning by playing games. To be sure, only children experienced some things differently from those with sisters and brothers. Many feel more pressure to succeed. They also tend to look only to their parents as role models in the absence of brothers and sisters.
In India, 10-year-old Saviraj Sankpal founded a support group for the tiny minority of only children. Among other things, the group does volunteer work to counter (or be against) the myth that they are not responsible. "People think we're treated too kindly and ruined," says Sankpal, a computer engineering student. "But I'd like to remind them how lonely it can get."
Most only children, however, say they wish for sisters or brothers only when it comes to caring for aging, unhealthy parents. Britain's David Emerson, coauthor of the book The Only Child, says that such a person bears terrible burden in having to make all the decisions alone. Emerson knows from experience: After his father died, he chose to move his elderly mother from their family home, where she was vulnerable to (or easy to be attacked by) house breakers, to a new one with more security." The move was quite hard on her, and she might feel that I pushed her into it," he says,". After all, I am left with that responsibility."
In the future, more and more only children will likely face similar choices. With working mothers increasing, many families are finding they simply don't have the time, money or energy to have more than one child. As only children become common, perhaps the world will realize that the Charge made against them is unjust.It can be inferred from the passage that the author's attitude towards only children is _______.
| A．ironic | B．objective | C．unfriendly | D．unjust |
It can be inferred from the passage that only children's parents should ___________.
| A．found a support group for their only children |
| B．do volunteer work to help their only children |
| C．let their only children make all the decisions alone |
| D．set good examples for their only children |
Emerson decided to move his elderly mother to a new house because he ___________.
| A．is the only one who cares about her |
| B．doesn't want to leave her alone |
| C．wants to share the responsibility with her |
| D．is worried about her safety |
It is quite usual now for a working mother to ____________.
| A．spend all her time and money on her only child |
| B．be responsible for bringing up her only child |
| C．have and bring up only one child |
| D．devote all her energy to her job |
The main idea of the passage is that ________.
| A．only children are ruined and irresponsible |
| B．only children have to face many challenges |
| C．most only children want to have brothers and sisters |
| D．most only children share their responsibility with their parents |
Here’s the travel plan for some museums on our “Museums of the World” tour.
The Museum of Bad Art (Boston, USA) shows what it describes as “art too bad to be ignored”. The museum hopes to bring the worst of art to the widest possible audience and has even published a book of its most “important” works. As part of the visit, we’ll be shown some truly awful portraits, landscapes and sculptures.
The Washington Banana Museum (Auburn, Washington, USA) contains 4,000 objects related to the history of what the museum describes as “the world’s most perfect fruit”. We’ll be given a guided tour around the museum, during which we’ll learn all sorts of interesting things, such as the fact that bananas were introduced to the USA in 1878 in the same exhibition as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and that the banana is now the US’ number-one selling fruit.
The Hair Museum (Avanos, Turkey) is located in a cave in Cappadocia, in Central Anatolia. It contains 160,000 samples of people’s hair. You’ll be offered a chance to add your own hair to the collection. Later in the year, the museum curator selects 10 donors to attend a pottery workshop. If you’re one of them, you’ll be invited to stay in his guest house.
The museum du Slip (Brussels, Belgium) is devoted to underwear. The idea behind the museum is that everyone is equal in their underwear. You’ll be fascinated to know that it has collected samples from all sorts of people, including artists, politicians and pop stars.
The Museum de Carrosses Funebres (Barcelona, Spain) is a museum of funeral hearses (灵车). It takes a look at how local people have been transported to their funerals since the 19th century. During the tour, we’ll be provided with a fascinating insight into how the people of Barcelona viewed death. Among the 1,000 or so exhibits, pride of place goes to a “flap-coffin”, which is a reusable coffin from the 18th century. What is special about the Washington Banana Museum?
| A．You’ll see some examples of awful art. |
| B．This museum includes an exhibit from the 18th century. |
| C．You’ll learn something about the history of bananas. |
| D．It provides the customs of funerals about local people. |
According to the passage, to which museum can you donate your hair?
| A．The Museum of Bad Art. | B．The Hair Museum. |
| C．The Museum du Slip. | D．The Museum de Carrosses Funebres. |
Which of the following words can best describe the museums?
| A．Well-known | B．Traditional |
| C．Ancient | D．Unusual |
Next Thursday, November 27th（the fourth Thursday in November）, Americans will gather with family and friends to share a big meal to celebrate Thanksgiving. They might play games, tell stories or watch football on television together.
Angelo Rosa has more Thanksgiving memories than most people. From Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, the 100-year-old man lives in the same house where he celebrated a great number of Thanksgiving.
But he says it was different when he was a child. Mr. Rosa was just three when his family came to America. “When we were small children, Thanksgiving was never a very big holiday because at the time we actually didn’t pay too much attention to it.” But, also, he says, his parents faced a language difficulty. “They were from Italy and spoke very broken English, because they were the first generation that came over here.”
And the family had little money. There were six children. Mr. Rosa’s father was a coal miner in Pennsylvania. The family was not able to have big, costly dinners, especially during the hard time of the 1930’s. But Mr. Rosa says Thanksgiving dinners became a tradition in his own family after he married and had children.
This Thanksgiving, Angelo Rosa will go to the home of his daughter about twenty minutes away. He will celebrate the day with loved ones, including his great-grandchildren.
On the other side of the country, Cathie Dahlstrom is preparing dishes for a group of 35 to 40 people in Concord, California. We asked Ms Dahlstrom what she is thankful for this year; her first answer is “The election.” She said she is also deeply grateful for her very large family. Ms Dahlstrom has one daughter. She has five younger brothers and sisters. She also has eight stepbrothers and stepsisters. Many of them and their families will be at the Thanksgiving dinner. At Mr. Rosa’s childhood, Thanksgiving was not a big holiday for the following reasons EXCEPT ________.
| A．the family couldn’t afford expensive dinners |
| B．the family couldn’t communicate well with the local people |
| C．the family didn’t recognize it as an important holiday |
| D．during the 1930’s no one could afford expensive dinners |
From Ms Dahlstrom’s words, we can infer that ________.
| A．she is content with both her family, relatives and the society |
| B．she is thankful for her effort in the election and her family |
| C．she has always been celebrating Thanksgiving this way |
| D．her daughter has a large family with stepbrothers and stepsisters |
As a whole, Thanksgiving in America is________.
| A．a happy gathering with family members, relatives and friends |
| B．a grand family dinner party as well as a tourist holiday |
| C．a great social gathering of entertainment and achievement |
| D．a large gathering of people of different generations |
Who probably wrote the passage?
| A．A close friend of Mr. Rosa. |
| B．A journalist for a radio or TV station. |
| C．A university student who majors in history. |
| D．An actress who wants to experience real life. |
IS IT TIME TO GET MP3?
Your computer has been playing music for years, one CD at a time. Now hundreds of songs can be stored in your PC (personal computer) if they’re in the MP3 format.
What is it?
MP3 compresses music into small computer friendly files. You access MP3 music several ways : Music can be downloaded from websites that have converted vast music libraries into MP3. Or you can prerecord CDs into your PC and convert songs in minutes into MP3. Once MP3 music is on your PC’s hard drive, you can play it through your computer’s speakers, “burn” it onto blank CDs or exchange MP3 files with friends using E-mail.
How much?
Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free. It comes preinstalled on most new computers or can be downloaded from many websites, including MP3. com. Some MP3 sites are free. Just type “MP3 sites” into any search engine. The popular MP3 players start at around $50and can hold hundreds of songs. A blank CD on which you can record music costs about a dollar.
Advantages
MP3 turns your home PC into a tape recorder. Tiny MP3 players are the size of a card, making it easy to take hundreds of songs with you.
Disadvantages
You may find that music at many sites is limited. And some only allow you to listen rather than download offerings. Others let you download music that then can’t be copied to MP3 players. And a growing number of new CDs make it impossible to copy songs to a computer. How can you get MP3 music?
| A．By turning your home PC into a tape recorder |
| B．By taking your own music or songs with you |
| C．By copying songs to a PC through the speakers. |
| D．By downloading from websites which have converted music libraries into MP3. |
Which is NOT true to the passage?
| A．Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free of charge. |
| B．MP3 music can be exchanged with friends by e-mail. |
| C．MP3 music can be downloaded for free at any site. |
| D．A greater number of new CDs make it impossible to copy songs to a computer. |
The underlined word “burn” probably means_____.
| A．fire | B．copy | C．download | D．play |
How much will you pay for a MP3 player?
| A．Free of charge. | B．Free downloading. |
| C．At about fifty dollars. | D．About a dollar. |
Being connected to the Internet has become a necessary part of modern life. Some people actually need it as they cannot do their jobs without it, and others simply feel they need it as they cannot imagine life without it.
To think that something that did not even exist 50 years ago has come to play a crucial role in our lives like this in just about 15 years makes one wonder – just what will the future bring?
In 2004, a survey was conducted in the US asking a group of technology experts their opinions on the Internet in the next ten years. 57% of them agreed that virtual classes will be more widely adopted in schools, allowing students to learn with those at the same level and with interests in the same subjects. It’s quite possible that, by the year 2030, every child in every school will do all their schoolwork on their own laptop with all their textbooks available（现成可使用的）on the Internet. No more heavy books to carry around and no more pens and paper!
At work, we already use email to deal with people both inside and outside our offices and video conferencing（电话会议） is occurring more frequently. This means that meetings can be held between offices in different countries without the trouble caused by business travel. Business travel will not exist in the future, and so will offices as people all start to work from home.
It has also become a trend for people to use pocket computers such as Blackberries. With this helpful equipment, people can send and receive emails, surf the Web, and read multimedia files from absolutely anywhere even if we are on a beach holiday.
The Internet will have a revolutionary（突破性的）effect on entertainment in the future. Already we can buy and download music and movies from the Internet but it is still possible for us to buy a CD or go to the DVD stores to rent the latest movies. However, it’s quite possible that in the future, CD shops and DVD rental stores will close and cinemas will no longer exist. Entertainment will become completely virtual although hopefully people will still want to get outside to play sports and entertain themselves in more healthy ways.
With the Internet we need only relax in the rocking chair. The Internet, however, has problems to be solved. The expression “play a crucial role in” can be understood as “_______”.
| A．change a dull role into | B．play an interesting part in |
| C．act a cruel character in | D．have an important effect on |
According to the passage people are satisfied with all the following changes EXCEPT that
_____________.
| A．CD shops and cinemas will shut down as a result of the adoption of virtual entertainment |
| B．virtual classes can make students’ dream of getting rid of their schoolbags come true |
| C．people can be kept informed anytime and anywhere with the help of convenient equipment |
| D．people won’t have to make business travel any more thanks to the video conference |
What will the writer probably discuss after the last paragraph?
| A．The possible school life in the future. |
| B．Bad effects the Internet can have on us. |
| C．More excitements the Internet will bring us. |
| D．The likely ways to solve the problems. |
What is probably the best title for the passage?
| A．Virtual reality, our best friend! |
| B．Goodbye, textbooks and offices! |
| C．What will future life be like with the Internet? |
| D．How can human beings deal with the Internet? |
IN the famous fairy tale, Snow White eats the Queen’s apple and falls victim to a curse; in Shakespeare’s novel, Romeo drinks the poison and dies; some ancient Chinese emperors took pills that contained mercury, believing that it would make them immortal, but they died afterward.
Poison has long been an important ingredient in literature and history, and it seems to always be associated with evil, danger and death. But how much do you really know about poison?
An exhibition, The Power of Poison, opened last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, intended to give the audience a more vivid understanding of poison. The exhibition will continue until Aug 2014, reported The New York Times.
The museum tour starts in a rainforest setting, where you can see live examples of some of the most poisonous animals: caterpillars, frogs and spiders. Golden poison frogs, for instance, aren’t much bigger than a coin, but their skin is covered in a poison that can cut off the signaling power of your nerves, and a single frog has enough venom to kill 10 grown humans.
The exhibition also features interactive activities. In an iPad-based game, visitors are presented with three puzzling illnesses and asked to identify the poisons based on symptoms. In one case, for example, a pet dog is found sick in a backyard and visitors have to figure out whether it was the toad (蟾蜍), the leaky batteries in the trash or the dirty pond water that did it.
“Poisons can be bad for some things,” Michael Novacek, senior vice president of the museum, told NBC News. “Yet they can also be good for others.”
This is what visitors learn from the last part of the exhibition, which displays how poisons can be used favorably by humans, including for medical treatment.
The blood toxins of vampire bats, for example, can prevent blood from clotting (凝结), which may protect against strokes. A poisonous chemical found in the yew tree is effective against cancer, which is what led to the invention of a cancer-fighting drug called Taxol. One chemical in the venom of Gila monsters can lower the blood sugar of its victims, so it has been used to treat diabetes.
The benefits from natural poisons are not limited to just medicine. Believe it or not, many substances that we regularly take in – chili, coffee and chocolate, etc. – owe their special flavors or stimulating effects to chemicals that plants make to poison insects.By mentioning Snow White and Romeo at the beginning of the story, the author intends to .
| A．show that poison has long been involved in literature |
| B．show that poison is always linked with evil and death |
| C．draw readers’ attention to the topic of the article |
| D．get readers to think of more examples of the use of poison in stories |
What is the main purpose of the exhibition The Power of Poison?
| A．To give people more in-depth knowledge about poison. |
| B．To teach people how to handle poisonous animals. |
| C．To inform people about which animals are the most poisonous. |
| D．To show how poison has been used for medical treatment. |
Which of the following statements about the exhibition is TRUE according to the article?
| A．The exhibition will lead visitors to a real rainforest. |
| B．Golden poison frogs are the most poisonous animals on display. |
| C．Those who visit the exhibition can join in some iPad-based interactive games. |
| D．Visitors can listen to lectures on recent studies of poisonous animals. |
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