Gunman Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children in two classes of Grade One in Sandy Hook Elementary School. The only survivor(幸存者) is a six-year-old girl. She escaped by lying on the floor pretending to be killed.
After the accident , she ran out of the school building covered from head to feet with blood (血). The first thing she said to her mother was, “ Mommy, I was OK, but all my friends were dead,” Pasrtor(牧师) Jim Solomon told the ABC news’s Lara Spencer this weekend , “I thought it was impossible for her to escape from being killed without others’ help. She could behave so calmly in such a dangerous and frightening situation. She has wisdom beyond her age, for sure.”
The girl, whose name is not being written out for special reasons, was the first student to run out of the accident place at Sandy Hook, Solomon said. He said the young girl described the gunman to her mother in a way that only a young child could. “Well, she saw someone who she felt was angry, and someone who she felt was mad,” Solomon said. “Somehow, at that moment, thank God, she was able to act as if she were already dead and saved herself. And that is very unusual and admirable (令人钦佩的) for so young a girl.” she said.
There were 20 students killed on Friday in Sandy Hook Elementary School, eight boys and 12 girls. Six teachers were also killed. “Her parents told me that they couldn’t stand the feeling of a survivor’s guilt（ 负罪）, because so many of their friends no longer have their children but they have theirs.” Solomon said.
“I think you can understand their feelings as well,” he said how the girl’s mother and father were feeling about the disaster. “I don’t know whether I would have the kind of feeling that they have if the same thing happened to me.”How did the six-year-old girl escape from being killed?
| A．By fighting against the killer |
| B．By pretending to be killed |
| C．By running away quickly |
| D．By getting protection from teachers |
According to the passage, which word can best show the quality of the girl?
| A．Strong | B．Friendly |
| C．Wise | D．Curious |
From the passage, we can know that___________________.
| A．all students in Sandy Hook were killed |
| B．Solomon didn’t remember the name of the girl |
| C．eight other children escaped the accident |
| D．people didn’t know the six-year-old girl’s name |
Why did the girl’s parents feel guilty?
| A．Because they had some relationship with the gunman. |
| B．Because they didn’t tell the skills of escaping to other children. |
| C．Because their daughter survived while their friends didn’t. |
| D．Because they didn’t report the terrible accident ahead of time. |
My six-year-old came home from school this week with two envelopes. One was for a donation to help people in the Philippines. The other was to help hungry families have a Thanksgiving meal.
“I’ll put a check in each of these. Then you can add your own money from your piggy bank, okay?” I said, thinking he’d be so excited to put his own stamp on things.
“That’s okay, mom. You put money in. I don’t want to waste mine,” he sweetly sang as he colored. “I want to fill my bank all the way up.”
Ack! I guess I know what our dinnertime discussion will be about tonight, I thought.
I had figured that through watching his parents donate items, helping us take toys from time to time to needy kids and putting money in the basket at church, he would just understand why it was important to help people in need — and even want to do it himself.
But of course he doesn’t really understand yet. “There’s a big disconnect between the people ‘over there’ and my piggy bank,” said parenting educator Vicki Hoefle.
“There’s nothing wrong with the child. There’s just no connection.”
As for having that conversation immediately, or forcing my son to put money into the envelopes: “Try not to do it now,” Hoefle said. Teaching a child about donating their own money or toys or time to people in need “should be a gentle introduction into what we hope will be a way of life for our kids.”
She suggested these things to help children understand the importance of giving:
* Just talk about it. Then explore the issue from a perspective he can understand.
* Use the course of a year to introduce kids to opportunities. That way, they won’t be shocked when you ask them to stuff their own money into an envelope （like this writer just did）.
* Pick a family charity for the year and have a conversation about how you all can help throughout the year.
* Think of this not as something you must teach, but as something to expose them to.
At her house, Hoefle said, “When you got something new, you gave something up.” Each birthday, her children would pick what toys they had outgrown and give them away. “There was a comfort in it. It just became a natural part of the kids’ lives.”
So I will fill those envelopes alone this time. But I’ll make sure he understands why they should be filled—gradually.When the writer asked her son to give money to help the poor, he __________.
| A．declined to donate |
| B．sang a sweet song |
| C．put all his money in a bank |
| D．seemed very surprised |
Hoefle’s attitude towards children’s unwillingness to donate money can be best described as “___________”.
| A．critical | B．tolerant |
| C．positive | D．worried |
Which of the following is Hoefle’s approach to educating kids about charity?
| A．Giving courses about charity. |
| B．Setting a rule for children to give. |
| C．Inviting a lot of poor people home. |
| D．Giving children enough real life chances. |
What can we learn about the writer from the passage?
| A．She often makes donations for people in need. |
| B．She taught her son a lesson over dinner that evening. |
| C．She is at a loss as for what she should do next. |
| D．She invited a parenting educator home for advice. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Kids, please help those in need. |
| B．Why are kids unwilling to donate? |
| C．Kindness is lost in the young generation. |
| D．How can we help kids learn generosity? |
I would like to tell you a story about my uncle Theo. He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else. He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned. Well, he applied a post in Camford University. It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates（候选人）who applied for it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.
Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover. Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams. The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall. The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.
Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping. Adams didn’t seem to do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall. He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.
The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, to his horror, that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently（流利地）himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause. Adams bowed and smiled, and sat down.
Now, it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture. His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way. With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently. There was hardly any applause when he sat down.
The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”.
Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Hobdell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision. We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. I was greatly impressed. But, you will remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr. Hobdell must have! This is why we decided that Mr. Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted! ”
As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But, my dear fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?
| A．Good-mannered | B．Modest |
| C．Childish | D．Bookish |
What do we know about the post at Camford University?
| A．The applicants had to sit for an examination. |
| B．There was much competition for the post. |
| C．The post requires a lot of teaching experience. |
| D．The post offered quite high salary. |
Adams did not bother to do any preparation because______.
| A．he was quite familiar with the subject. |
| B．he knew the committee members well. |
| C．he had a well-thought-out plan. |
| D．he had full confidence in himself. |
When Uncle Theo’s turn came, _______.
| A．he felt so angry that he couldn’t see a word. |
| B．he felt so upset that he could not remember anything. |
| C．he had to put the same thoughts in another way. |
| D．he had to repeat the speech, word by word from memory. |
When the committee went out to make a decision, Adams _______.
| A．could not help feeling worried. |
| B．could hardly wait to show his joy. |
| C．felt sorry for Theo and tried to cheer him up. |
| D．felt ashamed and tried to chat with Theo. |
Theo became successful because _______.
| A．he had a better memory than Adams. |
| B．he was more experienced than Adams. |
| C．the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted. |
| D．the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech. |
Almost everyone accepts the fact that crime can never be wiped out entirely. Thus control of crime becomes the focus of police and government around the world. The question lawmakers must answer is, “Which system of criminal punishment works best for society?” Each country has developed its own ideas for solution to this question, and these solutions then determine how criminals are punished under different systems. However, none of the current system in use has proved 100 percent effective.
There are many ideas about punishment of criminals. Some systems look only to get retribution（严惩）against criminals. These systems work to frighten criminals away from repeating a crime in the future. These systems also try to deter（威慑）others in society by using the criminal as an example of what can happen to a person if he or she is caught committing crimes. Rehabilitation（改造）is another philosophy by which many systems of punishment operate. The goal of these systems is to return a former criminal to society after a required period of treatment and training, usually in prisons. The idea is to help change the person’s behavior so that he or she becomes a law-abiding citizen.
Capital punishment is another form of punishment which systems use in extreme criminal cases, sometimes involving such crimes as a murder, rape, and violent theft. In these cases, the person is put to death. Today, capital punishment is used in relatively few countries. Many countries have done away with it. In other words, capital punishment remains only in officially law books but is rarely used. However, capital punishment remains in use in some countries including the United States.
When looking at the number of crimes committed, the effectiveness of any of these forms of punishment comes into question. In the United States, for example, 80 percent of the people arrested each year are male, and the majority of these are young men or boys. One-third of all auto thefts, robberies, and burglaries are committed by young men under the age of 18. Generally, young people have less responsibility in society, so they risk losing little if they are caught in a criminal activity. However, it can also be argued that today’s youthful criminals do not fear the punishment they receive if caught by police. Current methods of criminal punishment do not serve the purpose of deterring young criminals in the United States.
A major problem with the current system of rehabilitation in the United Stated is that most criminals return to crime after they have supposedly been rehabilitated. Two-thirds of those caught by police each year are repeat criminals. As a result of this fact, many people feel that rehabilitation of criminals is a lost cause. Since the late 1970s, many see retribution as a preferred punishment in criminal cases in the United States.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Capital punishment | B．Prison system |
| C．Young criminals | D．Control of crime |
What is the main purpose behind retribution?
| A．To satisfy the victim | B．To create repeat offenders |
| C．To frighten future criminals | D．To take criminals out of society |
Many crimes in the United States are committed by _________.
| A．leaders | B．teenagers |
| C．factory workers | D．street wanders |
According to the passage, which is true of the legal system in the United States?
| A．Capital punishment is not allowed |
| B．Few young people commit crimes |
| C．The majority of criminals will not repeat crimes |
| D．Many people see retribution as the preferred punishment |
What is a big problem with the system of rehabilitation ?
| A．Prisons are full | B．Criminals repeat crimes |
| C．The crime rate is going up | D．Young men are going to prison |
Imagine that someone in your neighborhood broke the law, and the judge put the whole neighborhood under suspicion. How fair will that be? Well, it happens every day to high schoolers. Just because some students have stolen things in shops, all of us are treated like “shoplifters”. Even though I’d never steal, store employees looked at me like I’m some kind of hardened criminal mastermind.
For example, during one lunch period, my friend Denny and I went to the Grab “n” Go on Tuesday. We arrived to find a line of students waiting outside. A new sign in the window told the story:“ NO MORE THAN TWO STUDENTS AT A TIME.” After 15 minutes, we finally got in. But the store manger laid the evil eye on us. I asked him about the new sign, and he said, “You kids are lifting too much stuff.” You kids? Too much stuff? Not only were we considered to be shoplifters, but brilliant, greedy shoplifters.
The Grab “n” Go isn’t an isolated case. Earlier this year, a department store worker told me to leave my backpack at the front of the store. When I asked who was going to keep an eye on my stuff, she said, “Don’t worry. It isn’t going anywhere.” In other words, I had to risk losing my stuff so that the store wouldn’t have to risk losing theirs. “Don’t worry,” I replied, “I don’t need to shop here.”
The most annoying thing, though, is the way employees watch my friends and me. It’s almost strange and frightening. Once, at a drug store, I went down an aisle and found a guy standing on a box, stocking the shelves. He was watching my hands, which were empty. He got down off his box and rushed off, as if he was going to get the store manger. How crazy is that?
You know, this kind of prejudice can go both ways. I work at the CD Crib, and every day I see adults commit a terrible crime. They put on a set of headphones and sort of dance to the music. Talk about bad! Tomorrow, I’m going to put a sign in the window: “ NO MORE THAN TWO ADULTS LISTNENING TO MUSIC AT A TIME.”“ Shoplifters” ( Paragraph 1) refers to _____________.
| A．the neighbor | B．thieves |
| C．employees | D．store owners |
The manager of the Grab “n” Go thought that _______________________.
| A．people might be angry about the lining up |
| B．the shop might be over-crowded |
| C．students might steal things |
| D．kids should be accompanied by their parents |
What is the tone of the writer?
| A．Angry | B．Sad |
| C．Pleased | D．Excited |
By saying “this kind of prejudice can go both ways”, the writer intends to _______________.
| A．put up a notice to prevent adults from committing a crime. |
| B．encourage adults to listen to CDs before they buy them. |
| C．stop adults from talking bad things when in CD stores. |
| D．accuse adults in the same way as they did towards the boys |
How does the writer develop his argument?
| A．By example | B．By classification |
| C．By comparison and contrast | D．By cause and effect |
Celebrities(名人) have become a powerful influence on some people because of their social position and their economic situation.
First, some people admire and imitate stars because they allow themselves to be influenced by the media. Television, radio, and magazines invade(侵扰) the lives of audience with a variety of shows, information, and publications about stars and their lives. For instance, Britney Spears has become the target of paparazzi(狗仔队). In May, Britney appeared at the front page of the most popular magazines revealing that she married her best friend in Vegas, Nevada. Media also invade stars’ lives because reporters know they can get high profits from readers who buy and follow their favorite artists’ news.
Second, some mad audiences imitate their celebrities for their lack of confidence. Some people who are shy and lack personality may find that imitating others will cause a good impression. For example, my cousin Jenny, who lacks a social life because of her introverted(内向的) personality, believes that acting and dressing like Jennifer Lopez will make her popular in high school.
Finally, several fans of stars imitate them because of peer pressure. Since my niece’s girl friends formed an Antonio Banderas’ fan club, she had also joined the group. Although she wasn’t a huge fan of his, now she collects most of Banderas’ possessions. In fact, when I asked Arianna, my niece, why she was part of Banderas’ fan club, she replied with a doubtful tone that she did not wish to be rejected by the other teens.
In conclusion, it is true that celebrities play spectacular roles in their performances in Hollywood, which entertains many people all over the world; however, modern celebrities influence the audience to the point where their fans admire and try to imitate their lives.What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Why people are influenced by celebrities. |
| B．The harmful influence of celebrities. |
| C．What kind of people are influenced by celebrities |
| D．How to avoid the influence of celebrities. |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that ___________.
| A．media are on the side of stars |
| B．stars know how to take advantage of media. |
| C．media can give wrong information about stars |
| D．media invade stars’ lives for their own good |
Arianna joined the Antonio Banderas’ fan club to _____________.
| A．seek encouragement from the star | B．be accepted by other teens |
| C．become a real fan of the star | D．learn more about the star |
The author of the passage probably believes that ______________.
| A．it’s easy for people to resist the influence of celebrities |
| B．all young people are easily influenced by celebrities |
| C．it’s no good for people to imitate celebrities blindly |
| D．people can improve their personality by imitating their favorite stars |
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