Life is difficult.
But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is painful. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole of solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit we encourage the human ability to solve problems just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurts, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.From the passage, it can be inferred that ______.
| A．not everybody has problems |
| B．we become stronger by facing and solving the problems in life |
| C．life is difficult because our problems bring us pain |
| D．people like to complain about their problems |
The writer uses just one short sentence in the first paragraph probably to ______.
| A．save space | B．persuade readers |
| C．make readers laugh | D．get readers’ attention |
According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
| A．encourage them to learn |
| B．make them suffer |
| C．help them learn to deal with pain |
| D．help them understand life is difficult |
“Those things that hurt, instruct.” From Benjamin Franklin suggests that ______.
| A．we do not learn from experience |
| B．we do not learn when we are in pain |
| C．pain teaches us important lessons |
| D．pain cannot be forgotten |
My husband is reading The Secret Garden （《秘密花园》）aloud to our kids. They are at the part where Mary has told Colin that she’s found the garden her mother loved. It’s an exciting moment. But the passage I’m waiting for is a few chapters（章节）on, after Colin has tasted his first breaths of fresh air and Mary has grown strong running in the garden. It’s just a detail, but my kids will notice it: a delicious description of toasted（烤）potatoes and eggs.
We have a tradition of trying foods from the books we read aloud. It started when we read Elizabeth Enright’s The Saturdays, and one of the boys asked, “What are petit fours（花色小蛋糕）?” An answer, my husband and I felt, wouldn’t be as good as a sample. So one Saturday we all sat down having tea and little cakes, covered with pink, green, and yellow. It was exciting for the kids to try a dessert（甜点）they had learned about in a book. The petit fours they tried didn’t tell them what it was like to live in New York City 60 years ago, but tasting them made the book’s words alive.
Later, when we read C.S.Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, we had Turkish delight. We read The Penderwicks, written by Jeanne Birdsall, and had gingerbread（姜饼）.We read Paddington Bear and tried marmalade（橘子果酱）.
Soon we will reach the part of The Secret Garden where Mary, Colin, and Dickon roast potatoes and eggs in a small oven（炉） in the earth. My kids will go out into the woods to find the perfect place for an oven of our own. Yes, we’ve eaten potatoes and eggs, but never in the open air.
The world that a good book creates is whole and real, but it lies flat on the page until a reader gives life to it.The text is written mainly to _____.
| A．show the importance of reading aloud |
| B．discuss food culture in children’s books |
| C．provide a new means of family education |
| D．introduce some interesting books |
The author believes tasting foods from the books may help children _____.
| A．understand the books better |
| B．enjoy more healthy food |
| C．be friendlier to each other |
| D．know more about history |
The underlined words “Turkish delight” in Paragraph 3 probably refer to _____.
| A．a great time |
| B．something delicious |
| C．a trip to Turkey |
| D．more stories |
Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?
| A．The taste of a good book |
| B．The best way to make kids learn |
| C．Eating means more than reading |
| D．Our toasted potatoes and eggs |
It’s not easy being a teenager(13至19岁青少年)---nor is it easy being the parent of a teenager. You can make your child feel angry, hurt or misunderstood by what you say without realizing it yourself. It is important to give your child the space he needs to grow while gently letting him know that you’ll still be there for him when he needs you.
Expect a lot from your child，just not everything. Except for health and safety problems，such as drug use or careless driving，consider everything else open to discussion. If your child is unwilling to discuss something，don’t insist he tell you what’s on his mind. The more you insist，the more likely that he’ll calm up. Instead，let him attempt to solve(解决)things by himself. At the same time，remind him that you’re always there for him should he seek advice or help. Show respect for your teenager’s privacy(隐私).Never read his mail or listen to personal conversations.
Teach your teenager that the family phone is for the whole family. If your child talks on the family’s telephone for too long，tell him he can talk for l5 minutes，but then he must stay off the phone for at least all equal period of time. This not only frees up the line so that other family members can make and receive calls，but teaches your teenager moderation(节制).Or if you are open to the idea，allow your teenager his own phone that he pays for with his own pocket money or a part-time job.The main purpose of the text is to tell parents_________.
| A．how to get along with a teenager |
| B．how to respect a teenager |
| C．how to understand a teenager |
| D．how to help a teenager grow up |
What does the phrase "calm up" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．become excited | B．show respect |
| C．refuse to talk | D．seek help |
The last paragraph is about how to teach a teenager______.
| A．to use the phone in a sensible way |
| B．to pay for his own telephone |
| C．to share the phone with friends |
| D．to answer the phone quickly |
What should parents do in raising a teenager according to the text?
| A．Not allow him to learn driving or take drugs. |
| B．Give him advice only when necessary. |
| C．Let him have his own telephone. |
| D．Not talk about personal things with him. |
Moral（道德的）science is taught as a subject in most schools but with little effect. Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that morality is not a science, strictly speaking. It is too much of a social phenomenon, and also has too much of the personal and subjective things mixed within. Besides, morality itself changes with generations. So it is impossible to be defined in a textbook.
I remember sitting through forty minutes of moral lessons, which told stories about little children who never told lies and were rewarded for their goodness. It had little effect and left no impression on me, though.
If moral science has to be taught as a subject in schools, it needs a participatory(参与其中的) approach. When you tell a child about morals, you also have to deal with social norms（规范）and cultural differences. You have to explain that morality can be subjective, and be able to co-exist in society. You will probably have to refer to the morals of the present time.
The best way to tell a child how to live is to show him what is valued. If a child likes his friend, you have to make the child think about why. Once the child notices and recognizes goodness in others, he or she is likely to develop it as well.
In fact, children learn most of their morals by watching people around them. They absorb behavior patterns from teachers and older students. They watch to see what is rewarded and who is punished. They learn on the sports field and through social work. Moral science lessons should simply consist of letting them live and interact, and watch you support correct values and reward good behavior.Which is NOT the reason that moral science is taught in schools but with little effect?
| A．Morality doesn’t strictly belong to a science. |
| B．Morality is more like a social phenomenon. |
| C．Different generations have different moral ideas. |
| D．Morality can’t be written down in textbooks. |
The author describes his own experience of having moral lessons in order to _____.
| A．explain telling lies is not moral for little children. |
| B．advise people should be rewarded for their goodness. |
| C．prove moral lessons in schools have little effect. |
| D．show he has no opinions about moral science. |
When you tell a child about morals, you should________.
| A．teach him to share personal moral ideas with others. |
| B．tell him about social norms and cultural differences. |
| C．explain that nobody can influence his moral ideas. |
| D．say that the present morals are likely to be changed. |
What is the last paragraph mainly about?
| A．The best way of teaching children about morals. |
| B．The value of teachers’ setting a good example. |
| C．The influence of people’s behavior on morals. |
| D．The importance of rewarding good behavior. |
May : Happenings from the past
May 5,1884
Isaac Murphy , son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history , rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby . He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times .
May 9 , 1754
Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon （漫画）, showing a snake cut in pieces, with the words “ Join or Die” printed under the picture.
May 11,1934
The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl , the result of years of drought（干旱），blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington , D.C. .
May 19, 1994
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis , former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s , died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64 .
May 24, 1844
Samuel F.B. Morsr taps out the first message , “ What Hath God Wrought ,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C. , to Baltimeore , Md .We know from the text that Buchanan is_____________.
| A．Isaac”s father |
| B．a winnning horse |
| C．a slave taking care of horses |
| D．the first racing horse in Kentucky |
What is the title of the first American political cartoon ?
| A．Join or Die |
| B．Pennsylvania Gazette |
| C．What Hath God Wrought |
| D．Kentucky Derby |
In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die ?
| A．1934 | B．1960 | C．1964 | D．1994 |
Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history ?
A. Washington , D. C. B. New York City
C. Kentucky. D. Pennsylvania
How men first learned to invent words is unknown, in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters, we call words.
The power of words, then, lies in their association-the thing they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and the sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increase.
Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey （表达，传递）his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should, therefore, learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they make our speech silly and vulgar.（粗俗的）Which of the following about a real poet is NOT true?
| A．He is less than a master of words. |
| B．His style is always charming. |
| C．His poem can move men to tears. |
| D．He can express his ideas in words that sing like music. |
Where does the real power of the words come from?
| A．From the words themselves. |
| B．From their characteristics. |
| C．From their curiosity. |
| D．From their association. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The importance of choosing words. |
| B．Where the real power of words come from. |
| C．What great writers are like. |
| D．We should learn to choose words carefully. |
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