Generational differences and the economy are shifting more responsibilities for children from their parents to grandparents, according to a new survey.
More than one-third of grandparents aged 50 and older contribute financially to their grandchildren’s upbringing, and 11 percent have a grandchild living with them, the poll by AARP showed.
40 percent of people who responded to the telephone survey, whose average age was 69, reported spending more than ＄500 on grandchildren over the past year beyond traditional gifts. Education costs accounted for about 50 percent, daily expenses for about 32 percent and medical and dental costs for about 18 percent.16 percent provided daycare for grandchildren.
“They are the safety nets for American families, helping to pay for practical expenses and necessities,”said Amy Goyer, AARP’s multigenerational and family issues (问题) expert.
“We see many providing daycare services, while growing numbers even have grandchildren living with them,”she said, referring to the 16 percent who watch their grandchildren while the parents are at work or at school.
Overall, nearly 90 percent of the 1,904 grandparents questioned said they play a very or somewhat important role in their grandchildren’s lives, and about 70 percent live within 50 miles of the closest one.
The poll conducted by Woelfel Research Inc. also showed that grandparents increasingly adapted to the younger generation’s life issues and preferred ways of communicating.
More than one-third connect with their grandchildren via email, Skype or text messaging, while half said they routinely discuss topics ranging from values to drug and alcohol use.
Nearly 40 percent said they had discussed dating or sex with at least one grandchild. About 60 percent said they spoke with their grandchildren at least once a week.
Most of the grandparents said they had five or more grandchildren, while one-fourth said they have grandchildren of a different race, mixed race or different ethnicity.According to Paragraph 3, what did the spending of over ＄500 last year NOT involve?
| A．Traditional gifts. |
| B．Education cost. |
| C．Daily expenses. |
| D．Medical and dental costs. |
When do the 16% of the grandparents polled take care of their grandchildren?
| A．When the parents are retired. |
| B．When the parents are working or buying gifts. |
| C．When the parents are at work or at school. |
| D．When there are three generations in the family. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?
| A．One-third of grandparents aged 50 and older assist in bringing up their grandchildren. |
| B．The grandparents surveyed offered nets to their grandchildren. |
| C．Many grandparents polled said they play an important role in their grandchildren’s lives. |
| D．A majority of the grandparents surveyed said they had five or more grandchildren. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．American grandparents are more responsible for grandchildren |
| B．Woelfel Research Inc. and AARP |
| C．Generational differences and the present economy |
| D．Grandparents and their grandchildren |
Oyster
What is an Oyster card?
Oyster is the easiest way to pay for journeys on the bus ，Tube ，tram，Docklands light Railway (DLR)，London Overground and National Rail journeys in London You can store your travel cards, Bus & Tram Pass，season tickets and credit to pay for journeys as you go.
Where to get an Oyster card?
There are a number of ways for you to get an Oyster card ：
• At over 3,900 Oyster Ticket stops
• At Tube and London Overground station ticket offices
• At some National Rail stations
• At London Travel information Centres
• Online at tfl. gov. uk/oyster
How to use an Oyster card?
To pay the correct fare on the Tube ，DLR，London Overground and National Rail services，you must always touch m on the yellow Oyster card reader at the start of your journey，and touch out at the end. ff you don’t, a maximum cash Oyster fare will be changed When using the bus or tram, you must only touch in at the start, but not at the end of your journey.
What happens if I don’t visit London very often?
Don’t worry. Any pay as you go credit on your card will not expire (过期)，so you can keep it for your next visit or lend it to a friend.
Fares
Traveling by Tube from Central London (Zone l)to Heathrow (Zone 6)
Adult Oyster single fare
£ 4. 20 Monday to Friday 06:30 - 09:30 and 16:00 一 19:00
£ 2. 70 at all other times including public holidays
Adult single cash fare £ 5.00
For further information，visit tfL.gov. uk /fares.
You can get an Oyster card at the following plaices EXCEPT_____
| A．on the website | B．at an Oyster Ticket stop |
| C．at a post office | D．at a Tube station |
Which of the following is TRUE about Oyster cards?
| A．They are limited in use to the owners themselves. |
| B．On National Rail services you must touch them on the reader twice. |
| C．They are not suitable for those who don’t visit London often. |
| D．Oyster card Tube fares cost more on public holidays than on weekdays. |
H a person with an Oyster card fakes the 7 o’clock Tube from Central London to Heathrow for a week (no public holiday in between)，he should pay_____.
| A．f 18.90 | B．£ 29.40 | C．£21.90 | D．f26.40 |
The passage is probably taken from a_______
A journal B. travel brochure C. textbook D. novel
Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were not willing to work on farms along the Atlantic because they worried about the terrible storms that destroy buildings and crops. The farmer received a steady stream of refusals at the interview for a farmhand
Finally, a short, thin man approached the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.
“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows. ” answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer ，the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm ，busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly from offshore. Jumping out of bed，the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled， “ Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they are blown away! ”
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows. ”
Enraged (激怒）by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot ,Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement，he discovered that all of the hay had been covered. The cows were in the bam，the chickens were in the coops，and the doors were barred The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down, Nothing could be blown away.
The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he also returned to his bed to sleep while the wind was still blowing.Why did the farmer constantly advertise for hired hands?
| A．Because he needed hired hands all. the year round. |
| B．Because there was too much work to do on the farm. |
| C．Because he could hardly hire a farmhand. |
| D．Because he offered poor conditions for the hired hands. |
The farmer felt amazed because _______
| A．the Little man was sleeping | B．everything was in safety |
| C．the wind was too strong | D．he could not open the doors |
What did the man mean by saying “I can sleep when the wind blows. ” ?
| A．He needed much sleep after working hard on the farm. |
| B．He was very brave and not afraid of wind |
| C．He enjoyed sleeping when the wind blew. |
| D．He would get everything done before the wind blew. |
Which of the following statements about the Little man is TRUE?
| A．He was not afraid of storms. |
| B．He was a heavy sleeper under any condition |
| C．He was hard-working and devoted to his work. |
| D．He was fired shortly after he tied everything down. |
[1]All people have dreams and they obey the rule that if you can dream it, you can achieve it! Here are four goals for people to reach a perfect life in their future.
[2]The first goal common to all of us in health and energy. We all want to be healthy and fit, to have high levels of energy and to live free of pain and illness. Today, with the incredible advances in medical science, the quality of our health and fitness, and our lifespan, is largely determined by design, not by chance. People with excellent health habits are far healthier, have more energy, and live longer and better than people who have poor health habits. Remember that health is not everything, but without health everything is nothing!
[3]The second goal that we all have in common is to enjoy excellent relationships – intimate, personal or social – with the people we like and respect, and who is turn. Fully 85% of your happiness will be determined by the quality of your relationships at each stage, and in each area, of your life. How well you get along with people, and how much they , have more impact on the quality of your life than perhaps any other factor.
The third common goal is to do work that we enjoy, to do it well, and to be well paid for it. You want to be able to get and keep the job you want, to get paid more and promoted faster. You want to earn the very most that is possible for you at each stage of your career, whatever you do.
The fourth goal we all have in common is to achieve financial independence. You want to reach the point in life where you have enough money so that you never have any financial worries. You want to be completely free of them. You want to be able to order dinner in a restaurant without referring to the price listing to determine what you want to eat.What does this passage chiefly talk about? (no more than 12 words)
Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words. (no more than 6 words), and who is turn
Complete the following sentence with proper words according to Paragraph 4? (no more than 6 words)
Everybody wants to make no matter what job he is engaged in.Why does the author put health ahead of other goals? (no more than 20 words)
What does the underlined word “them” in the last paragraph probably refer to? (no more than 3 words)
The organization representing British universities has expressed concern about the potential effect of tuition fees（学费）after figures showed a drop of more than 6% in student applications with less than a month to go before the deadline for 2013 applications.
Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) showed there were 265,784 university applications by UK-based candidates up to 17 December, 6.3% down on the parallel period in the admissions cycle the year before. While this is less than the 8.4% year-on-urea fall seen in earlier Ucas figures, released in mid-November, the coming January deadline makes it ever more likely that the total 2013 applicant figure will see a second sizeable fall following the introduction of annual fees of up to ￡9,000.
Nicola Dandridge, the chairman of Universities UK, said : “However, we must be concerned about any drops in the numbers applying to university and in particular, we must look closely at how the increase in graduate contributions in England may be affecting the decisions of promising students. However ,the December figures show a drop in numbers across the UK, suggesting that it is not only a question of tuition fees in England putting off from applying.”
A report of the Uncas figures to mid-December shows a 6.5% fall for applicants in England and 11.7% for those in Wales, with smaller drops of 3.9% for Scotland and 0.5% for Northern Ireland. Scottish students at home institutions pay on fees, while those from Northern Ireland have fees capped to ￡3,575 for Northern Irish universities.
Dandridge added: “No one should be put off applying to university because of worries about finance.”
“It is important that no one is put off applying to university because they do not have information about the student support available to them. Most new students don’t need to pay directly. There will be more financial support for those from poorer families and everyone will make lower loan repayments than they do now once they are in well paid jobs.”A drop of more than 6% for 2013 applications is probably the effect of .
| A．the increased tuition fees |
| B．the approaching deadline |
| C．the concern from applicants |
| D．the difficulties with applications |
Compared with the previous year, the fall in student applications is .
| A．3.9% | B．6% | C．6.3% | D．8.4% |
Why is the fall for application the smallest in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
| A．Because they have more financial support. |
| B．Because the tuition is much cheaper for them. |
| C．Because the education is better there. |
| D．Because the universities are free for them. |
Which of the following is true?
| A．The application for universities is on a rise continuously. |
| B．The fall for applications is due to family problems. |
| C．The education in Scotland and Northern Ireland is worse. |
| D．The rise of tuition fees has an effect on applications. |
The last paragraph tells us that .
| A．everyone should apply to university |
| B．students may get financial supports |
| C．lower loan repayments is unavailable |
| D．most new students will not pay fees |
Minimalism (简约主义) is a term that describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is reduced to its most basic features.
As for me, minimalism functions well not in art or design, but in my daily life.
When I was packing for university, I found it extremely difficult to let go of some of the things I owned. I knew I couldn’t take everything with me, but I kept asking myself “how could I possibly throw this away?”, “what if I need it one day?”, and “what about all of the memories?” Now that I’ve moved, and left that stuff behind, I don’t even miss it. Whether or not I got rid of it, it barely makes a bit of difference to me now.
I’ve learned that over time people forget, or their need for a particular object eventually disappears. Either they store it away or they get rid of it.
You might think nostalgically（怀旧的） about the toys you cared about when you were a child, but what is making you smile now is not the thing itself but the memory of it. 1’ve heard it a hundred times, “you don’t need things to make you happy.” It takes something life-changing like moving across the country to realize how true this is.
Speaking of which, for a lot of people, minimalism is about able to move. It’s about being able to go almost anywhere at any time because you don’t have many possessions to carry. When you keep things you don’t need they become a burden that ties you to a place. Moving to university was a good time to let go of a lot of stuff. And when I visit for the holidays, I’ll probably get rid of even more, to lighten the burden.
Of course there are exceptions. There are some things that are irreplaceable, very rare or expensive or we simply love and cherish for some reason or another, since we are humans. But after we keep those, how much is left that we don’t really need?
Hence, minimalism. And why does minimalism bring happiness? That was a bit of a roundabout way of saying that, it’s because what really makes me happy is freedom. And the key to freedom is minimalism because minimalism reduces our attachment to things.
Attachment to too many objects creates a great mess and can severely hold back our freedom to do whatever we want, while minimalism helps us start new projects, move, travel, learn new things, work, expand, be debt-free, be healthy – really living life to our full potential.
I left the nest to fly onwards and upwards, I can’t do it with old things weighing me down. And that is why I have adopted minimalism with open arms.In paragraph l, the writer gives the definition of minimalism to .
| A．introduce a topic | B．present his own idea |
| C．describe a scene | D．offer an argument |
Many people don’t want to let go of some of their belongings because .
| A．they haven’t had any life-changing experiences |
| B．they fear their memories will be gone with the thrown-away stuff |
| C．they hope to live life to their full potential by storing things away |
| D．they may have to change their lifestyle because of the loss of them |
Which of the following is NOT the reason why the writer favors “minimalism” in life?
| A．It takes the burden off her while she is moving. |
| B．It reduces her attachment to her personal things. |
| C．It enables her to gain the freedom that she desires. |
| D．It helps her to realize how true life is. |
By saying “there are exceptions”, the writer means
| A．little is left if we keep what we cherish most in our life |
| B．minimalism should be practised accordingly in different situations |
| C．minimalism is a method difficult to employ in reality |
| D．life is full of exceptions so it’s difficult to preserve what we value |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Minimalism brings happiness. |
| B．Minimalism is applied in many fields. |
| C．Minimalism makes people think nostalgically. |
| D．Minimalism is about able to move. |
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