When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.
When Doctor Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle: "No pain, no gain". He hardly watered his new trees, an attitude which flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water.
So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he'd beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.
Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some 25 years ago. They were tall and strong.
I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb's trees in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to encounter hardship. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be torn apart.With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs often______.
| A．kept watering them every morning |
| B．talked to them to get their attention |
| C．paid little attention to them |
| D．beat them to make them grow deep roots |
What does the underlined word "Adversity" mean in the sixth paragraph?
| A．Difficult living conditions. | B．Lack of moisture. |
| C．Enough care or attention. | D．Bad weather. |
Which prayer does the author wish for his sons?
| A．Have an easy life, without too much to worry about. |
| B．Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives. |
| C．Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life. |
| D．Meet people like Dr Gibbs in the future. |
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher--- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume(香水).
Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M. D. (医学博士).
The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”What did Mrs. Thompson do on the first day of school?
| A．She made Teddy feel ashamed. |
| B．She asked the children to play with Teddy. |
| C．She changed Teddy’s seat to the front row. |
| D．She told the class something untrue about herself. |
What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy?
| A．He often told lies. |
| B．He was good at math. |
| C．He needed motherly care. |
| D．He enjoyed playing with others. |
In what way did Mrs. Thompson change?
| A．She taught fewer school subjects. |
| B．She became stricter with her students. |
| C．She no longer liked her job as a teacher. |
| D．She cared more about educating students. |
Why did Teddy thank Mrs. Thompson at his wedding?
| A．She had kept in touch with him. |
| B．She had given him encouragement. |
| C．She had sent him Christmas presents. |
| D．She had taught him how to judge people. |
“In real life, the daily struggles between parents and children are around these narrow problems of an extra hour, extra TV show, and so on” said Avi Sadeh, psychology professor at Tel Aviv University. “Too little sleep and more accidents,” he said.Sadeh and his colleagues found an extra hour of sleep can make a big difference. The children who slept longer, although they woke up more frequently during the night, scored higher on tests, Sadeh reported in the March/April issue of journal Child Development. “When the children slept longer, their sleep quality was somewhat weak, but in spite of this their performance for study improved because the extra sleep was more important than the reduction in sleep quality. ”Sadeh said. “Some studies suggested that lack of sleep as a child affects development into adulthood and it’s more likely to develop their attention disorder when they grow older. ”
In earlier studies, Sadeh’s team found that fourth graders slept an average of 8.2 hours and sixth graders slept an average of 7. 7 hours. “Previous research has shown children in elementary school need at least nine hours of sleep a night on a regular basis, said Carl Hunt, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research in Bethesda, and high-school-age children need somewhat less, he said, adding that the results of lack of sleep could be serious.
“A tired child is an accident waiting to happen,” Hunt said. “And as kids get older, toy get bigger and the risks higher. ” Hunt also said too little sleep could result in learning and memory problems and long-term effects on school performance. “This is an important extension of what we already know, ” Hunt said of Sadeh’s research, adding sleep is as important as nutrition(营养) and exercise to good health. “To put it into reality,” Hunt said, “parents should make sure they know when their children actually are going to sleep and their rooms are helpful to sleep instead of playing. ” What is Child Development?
| A．A new story | B．An organization |
| C．A periodical magazine | D．A TV programme |
How many persons are exactly mentioned in the text?
A One B Two C Three D FourWhich of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．There are some daily struggles between parents and children because of having nothing in common with extra rest time. |
| B．The children who sleep longer are weak in their study. |
| C．Lack of sleep as a child has great effect on their development into adulthood. |
| D．In general, children in elementary school need at least nine hours of sleep a night. |
Everyone would like to be a millionaire but can you imagine having over $30 million and only being 20 years old? Britney Spears from Kentwood, a small town in Louisiana, is only 20 years old; she is an international pop superstar with not only $30 million but also a $2 million house in LA. At her young age, she can look after her family financially all her life.
This year is a big year for Britney. She is currently on a 31 day tour of the US and every concert is a sell-out. That means she plays in front of a crowd of around 18,000 every time. It’s tiring schedule but brings great rewards. When touring, she goes to bed around l a.m. and then has a lie-in until l p.m. or 2 p.m. the next day. Her philosophy（人生观）is to take care of the body and relax but always make sure you work hard and have fun.
Spears is not satisfied with only touring and selling nearly 40 million records， so she decided to branch out into the movie business and try a bit of acting. She made an appearance in “ Austin Powers 3” this year and she is filming a teenage comedy that will be released in March 2003. In this movie, she has a starring role. The movie was her own concept and she picked the writer.
For Britney, acting is another way to express herself and she is enthusiastic about it all. If her movies are successful, her bank account is sure to grow by another few million dollars but she has been quoted as saying she does it for the love, not the money.We can infer from the text that most millionaires are .
| A．in their 30s | B．around 20 | C．older than 20 | D．in their 40s |
The underlined word “you” in the second paragraph refers to .
| A．a person in general | B．a particular person |
| C．Britney Spears herself only | D．the reader |
Which of the following is not true according to the text ?
| A．Though young, Britney can support her family now. |
| B．While touring, Britney sleeps about 12 hours a day. |
| C．Britney will be even richer with her movies successful. |
| D．The teenage comedy movie was based on Britney’s own story. |
According to Britney Spears, she works .
| A．to be a great actress | B．for the enjoyment |
| C．for money | D．to be more famous |
When you are talking to somebody at a party, do you focus entirely on the person you are speaking with or does your attention keep jumping around the room to all the other people there? General1y, if the person is someone you really want to talk to, you will focus on him. Most other people will only get about half of your attention.
You may think that this is OK, because if you don’t really want to talk to him, then what does it matter if you don’t give him your full attention? Consider two things. First, you may just not realize the importance of that conversation. If you are at a networking meeting and you hope to meet the CEO of Company X, but you end up talking to someone who has a low-level job at a different company, then you may let your attention wander (走神) as you speak to him. But maybe you don’t realize that this person has already met the CEO and could introduce you. Do you think he will do that if he feels you don’t really care about speaking to him? This doesn’t mean you need to spend the whole time talking to him. Five or ten minutes of real attentive (专心的) conversation can be worth 30 minutes to an hour of partial attention.
Second, whether you want to speak to someone is based on the situation. You can love your wife, but if she tries to talk to you while you are watching something you like on TV, where is your attention going? Make your own decision, but if you want her to feel valued, give her your 100% attention. The nice thing is that in many cases you can give her your attention for a few minutes and then return to what you were doing. You miss very little, she feels valued, and all is good.The author’s opinion is made believable mainly by ________.
| A．giving examples | B．using figures | C．asking questions | D．description |
The second paragraph mainly tells you that ________.
| A．you should focus on whoever you are talking to |
| B．you should be interested in everyone at a party |
| C．you can refuse to talk to someone you don’t like at a party |
| D．you should be patient with everyone at a party |
A person who has a low-level job probably ________.
| A．would like to talk to you | B．is the one you’re looking for |
| C．wants to make friends with you | D．is well worth focusing on |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Always be friendly to others at a party. |
| B．Improve your communication skills by focusing on others. |
| C．It is important for you to be active at a party. |
| D．You should respect your wife at any time. |
There is an English saying: “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter had similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programmes. The group that tolerated (忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny programme. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which diminish both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.Doctors have proved the following EXCEPT that .
| A．smiling does good to health | B．laughter can be tolerated |
| C．there is a way to reduce pain | D．laughter can work the muscles in the feet |
The main idea of the passage is that .
| A．laughter and physical exercise have similar effects on the human body |
| B．smile can produce the same effects as laughter |
| C．pain can be reduced by laughter |
| D．laughter is the best medicine |
The students who tolerated the pain for the longest time.
| A．listened to different radio programmes | B．could produce a kind of chemical |
| C．don’t have stress or pain | D．listened to a funny programme |
The underlined word “diminish” in the second paragraph is similar to “ ’’.
| A．test | B．stop | C．reduce | D．increase |
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