According to a new US study, couples who expect their children to help care for them in old age should hope they have daughters because they are likely to be twice as attentive overall.
The research by Angelina Grigoryeva, a sociologist at Princeton University, found that, while women provide as much care for their elderly parents as they can manage, men do as little as they can get away with and often leave it to female family members.
Her analysis of the family networks of 26,000 older Americans concluded that gender(性别) is the most important predictor(预示物) of whether or not people will actively care for elderly parents.
In a paper being presented at the annual conference of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco, she concludes that simply having a sister makes men statistically likely provide less care.
Using data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a study which has been tracking a cross-section of over-50s for the last decade, she calculated that women provide an average of 12.3 hours a month of care for elderly parents while men offer only 5.6 hours.
“Whereas the amount of elderly parent care daughters provide is associated with limitations they face, such as employment or childcare, sons’caregiving is associated only with the presence or absence of other helpers, such as sisters or a parent’s spouse(配偶),” she explained.
“Sons reduce their relative caregiving efforts when they have a sister, while daughters increase theirs when they have a brother.”
“This suggests that sons pass on parent caregiving responsibilities to their sisters.”
In the UK, the 2011 census(人口普查) showed that there are now around 6.5 million people with caring responsibilities – a figure which has risen by a tenth in a decade.
But many are doing so at the risk of their own health. The census showed that those who provide 50 hours or more of care a week while trying to hold down a full- time job are three times more likely to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts(相对应的人) who are not carers.What’s the most important factor to predict if people will actively care for the elderly?
| A．Gender. | B．Education. |
| C．Career. | D．Family networks. |
The US study finds that _______.
| A．sons are twice likely as daughters to care for parents in old age |
| B．having a sister makes men less likely to do their fair share |
| C．sons and daughters seem to give equal care to their parents |
| D．sons are unwilling to leave caregiving responsibilities to female family members |
What does the author stress in the last paragraph?
| A．People should give up their jobs to care for the elderly. |
| B．Many care providers work longer hours than others. |
| C．People shouldn’t pass on caring responsibilities to others. |
| D．Many care providers have potential health problems. |
The author develops the text by _______.
| A．explaining social networks of careers |
| B．describing people’s experiences |
| C．analyzing various research and data |
| D．comparing different gender behavior |
In the modern world more and more people meet the problem of identity. The most interesting example is that of a so-called "banana", which refers to an American who has an Asian face but holds Western values.
In Shanghai, there now live a group of people from abroad. They look no different from the locals and speak fluent Chinese or even Shanghai dialect, but when it comes to writing Chinese characters, they are almost illiterate (文盲). Jack is such an example. He never learned to read or write Chinese characters, which he finds mysterious and difficult. From time to time, he files to the US as he does not feel Shanghai is where he comes from. "But when I am in the States, I feel that's not my home either," he said.
At De Gaulle Airport in France, there is a Swiss man who has been living in the waiting-room for a long time because he lost his passport during his travels. He was refused entry into several countries. But when he was eventually allowed to return to Swizerland, he refused to leave the airport. His reason was very simple—"I am sure who I am. I need no acknowledgement from others," he said during an interview. For this reason he was honored by the Western media as "the Hero of identity".
As the Internet becomes more and more popular, the problem of identity becomes more serious. In a virtual world, people can have different addresses registered with different names. In the Internet chat room, even one's gender (性别) is hard to determine. It seems that in the global village, people are saying hello every day to each other without knowing whom they are talking to.
What will be the next crisis (危机) of identity? With the development of cloning technology, it might be: who is the real "I"? What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．The importance of identity. |
| B．The crisis of identity. |
| C．Differences between Eastern and Western cultures. |
| D．Difficulty in living in foreign counties. |
The Swiss man had to live in De Gaulle Airport in France because __________.
| A．he needed to board a plane at any time |
| B．he couldn't afford to live in a hotel |
| C．he needed others acknowledgement |
| D．he couldn't prove who he was |
A "banana" in the passage is in fact an __________.
| A．American traveling to Asia |
| B．American keeping Eastern culture |
| C．American born in Asia |
| D．America-born Asian |
We can infer from the passage that the author believes __________.
| A．there will be more problems relating to identity in the future |
| B．Internet technology helps solve problems of identity |
| C．only people traveling abroad have problems of identity |
| D．people don't need to worry about identity |
It is common to consider learning as something that takes place in school, but much of human learning occurs outside the classroom, even from birth and people continue to learn throughout their lives.
Even before they enter school, young children learn to walk, to talk, and to use their hands to use toys, food, and other objects. They use all of their senses to learn about the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells in their environments. They learn how to communicate with their parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and other people important to their world. When they enter school, children learn basic academic subjects such as reading, writing, and mathematics. They also continue to learn a great deal outside the classroom. They learn which behaviors are likely to be rewarded and which are likely to be punished. They learn social skills for communicating with other children. After they finish school, people must learn to deal with the many major changes that affect their lives, such as getting married, raising children, and finding and keeping a job.
Because learning continues throughout our lives and affects almost everything we do, the study of learning is important in many different fields. Teachers need to understand the best ways to educate children. Psychologists, social workers, criminologists, and other human-service workers need to understand how certain experiences change people's behaviors. Employers, politicians, and advertisers make use of the principles of learning to affect the behavior of workers, voters, and consumers.
Learning is closely related to memory, which is the storage of information in the brain. Psychologists who study memory are interested in how the brain stores knowledge, where this storage takes place, and how the brain later outputs knowledge when we need it. In contrast, psychologists who study learning are more interested in behavior and how behavior changes as a result of a person's experiences. The author thinks "Learning" in the passage most refers to __________.
| A．life-long learning |
| B．family learning |
| C．learning after graduation |
| D．behavior learning |
The underlined "siblings" in the second paragraph probably means __________.
| A．teachers | B．classmates |
| C．doctors | D．brothers or sisters |
Which period of children's life do they begin to learn how to behave well according to the passage?
| A．After they go into society. |
| B．Before they enter school. |
| C．When they are at school. |
| D．Before they are born. |
Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?
| A．As a matter of fact, learning begins with formal school education. |
| B．Teachers need to understand the best ways to educate their students. |
| C．People need to understand how certain experiences change their behaviors. |
| D．Employers should study the principles of learning to manage their workers well. |
Chinese people take their food and eat it extremely seriously. Eating is a communal (公共的), social, human experience in China. Sharing a meal is a sign of friendship and trust. Eating plays a central role in friendship, business, medicine, family and love. In short, food is life.
When eating, the rice is separated into your own personal bowl, but the dishes are placed in communal bowls in the center of the table and everybody helps themselves with chopsticks. It's considered polite, and sign of respect and friendship, to encourage other people to eat plenty of the good bits, even to pick up food with your chopsticks and drop it into their rice bowls for them.
Food is an important component of weddings, funerals and almost all Chinese festivals. New Year is the time for dumplings, the Dragon Boat Festival is the time for sticky rice Zongzi wrapped in leaves, and Mid-Autumn Day is the time for Moon Cakes. The dinner table is the best forum (公共讨论场所) to close business deals, and it's the number one thing to do with friends.
Chinese women express their admiration for the opposite sex by cooking delicious meals of many courses, and these days it's the other way round.
In short, if you want to get to know Chinese people, understand Chinese culture and thinking and get into Chinese life, you have to eat and appreciate Chinese food. What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Eating Food in China |
| B．How Do Chinese People Eat Food |
| C．The Importance of Chinese Food |
| D．Different Foods for Different Chinese Food |
In the first paragraph, what does the author mean by saying "food is life"?
| A．Without food, there will be no life |
| B．food is as important as life |
| C．we must take food seriously |
| D．we must eat food every day |
What is the representative food for the Dragon Boat Festival in China?
| A．Dumplings | B．Moon Cakes |
| C．Jiaozi | D．Zongzi |
If you want to learn Chinese culture well, one main thing is __________.
| A．Making friends with Chinese |
| B．Eating Chinese food |
| C．Studying Chinese history |
| D．Adapting to Chinese customs |
John Blanchard was studying the crowd making their way through the station. He was looking for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.
When reading a book in a Florida library a year before, John became interested not in the contents of the book, but in the notes penciled in the margin (空白处). The handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and beautiful mind. He discovered the former owner's name in the front of the book: Miss Hollis Maynell.
He located her address and wrote a letter introducing himself. The next day he was shipped overseas to serve in the army. During the next year, they grew to know each other through the mail and their friendship developed. John requested a photograph, but she refused, saying if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return home, their first meeting was suggested—7:00 p. m. at the Grand Central Station in New York.
She wrote, "You'll recognize me by the red rose I wear on my coat." So now John was in the station to meet the girl with a rose.
As a pretty and slim girl in green came over, John noticed her blue eyes like flowers in spring. He walked directly towards her, entirely forgetting she was not wearing a rose. As John came closer to her, he saw another woman with a red rose stood nearby. Well past 40, this woman had graying hair done under a worn hat. Seeing the girl in green walk quickly away, John felt as if he were split (劈开) in two. He desired to follow that girl, but longed for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and supported him.
The woman looked gentle and sensible. John went to her, saying, "I'm Captain John Blanchard. You must be Miss Maynell. I am glad to meet you here. May I take you to dinner?"
She replied with a smile, "I don't know what this is about. But the lady in green who just went by, begged me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you asked me out to dinner, I'd tell you she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!" John was eager to know the former owner of the book because __________.
| A．he was very interested in the contents of the book |
| B．he was impressed by the notes written by the owner |
| C．the book offered him practical and valuable advice |
| D．there was address of the former owner in the book |
What happened to John after getting in touch with Miss Hollis Maynell?
| A．He began to serve the army abroad. |
| B．He was seriously wounded in the war. |
| C．He went on a business tour in Europe. |
| D．He asked Miss Maynell for a photo. |
What do we know about he woman with a rose?
| A．She was Miss Maynell's close companion. |
| B．She was a conductor working in the station. |
| C．She knew nothing about John's appointment. |
| D．She was paid to carry out a love test on John. |
Which would be the best title of the text?
| A．The Meeting in the Station |
| B．The Girl with a Rose |
| C．A Soldier and a Girl |
| D．A Meeting of the Heart |
A high school teacher once told us, "If you make one close friend in school, you will be most fortunate. A true friend is someone who stays with you for life." Experience teaches that he was right. Good friendships are just not easily formed. Why?
One reason may relate to the mobility in our society. Mr. Darrell Sifford, a news columnist, has been studying friendship for many years. He reports the thoughts of one woman on this aspect of friendships:
"She was nine, and her family had just moved to New Jersey, and she didn't know anybody. Her mother said to her," "Amelia, I know you're feeling bad because you don't have any friends. But you can fix that. Just walk across the street—I know there's a girl about your age over there—and knock on the door and ask her to be your friend."
"She added that the direct approach always worked when she was a child. But as she left childhood, she found that the simple direct approach was more and more difficult for her to follow. As an adult, Amelia longed to have friends but her hands were tied. The problem, according to her, is that society teaches us in a number of ways that direct action is not acceptable behavior. We need to be less direct to cushion ourselves against possible rejection and the fright of exposing our own helplessness."
What are some of the obstacles to friendships? According to Mr. Sifford, the greatest is the temptation (诱惑) to expect too much too soon. Deep relationships take time. Another big difficulty is the selfish tendency to think one "possesses" the other, with an almost exclusive right to his time and attention. Similarly, friendships require two-sided actions. In brief, you must give as much as you take. Finally, unless you spend reasonable time together, talking on the phone, writing letters, doing things together, friendships will not last.
Why is it so difficult to form friendships? Perhaps the answer has something to do with the impatient temperament (急躁) of some American people. It is possible, as Mr. Sifford states, that we simply do not stay in one place long enough for a true friendship to develop. However, there can be no disagreement on the need for each of us to think carefully about the kind of friendships we want. As in all interpersonal relationships, success depends on clarity of purpose, openness to others, and a willingness to experiment. What does the underlined word "obstacles" mean?
| A．Something that makes it difficult for you to do or achieve something. |
| B．Something that makes it easy for you to do or achieve something. |
| C．Something that makes it difficult for you to understand something. |
| D．Something that makes it easy for you to do or understand something. |
It can be implied that adults don't make friends in a direct approach because __________.
| A．they are afraid to be rejected by others |
| B．they are afraid to expose their rudeness |
| C．they think it is impolite behavior |
| D．their hands are tied tightly together |
In which of the following cases is it possible for you to develop true friendships?
| A．You stay in one place for long enough with your friend. |
| B．You spend all your time together with your friend. |
| C．You completely possess your friend's time and attention. |
| D．You give your friend as much as you take from him. |
The author quoted many times what Mr. Darrell Sifford said in order to __________.
| A．show respect for him |
| B．share the same opinion with him |
| C．strengthen the authority of his opinion |
| D．make some comments about friendships |
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