My 11-year-old son and I rides bikes to and from his school every day. I accompany him on the 20-minute ride through Manhattan, drop him off and return at the end of day to pick him up. We always ride together; sometimes he leads; sometimes I do. And as we ride, we communicate the ways to minimize (使减少或缩小到最低限度) the dangers: Don’t go too fast, and watch out for doors suddenly swinging out from parked cars and jaywalking pedestrians, etc. Some friends worry about the risk of riding in traffic, but is there a better way to let my son know how to deal with traffic dangers?
But recently he requested me to start hanging back a half block or so. This way he could enjoy the feeling of riding on his own, with the security of knowing that I was nearby in case he needed me. This is healthy, of course, as my son needs space to develop independence in preparation for his inevitable (不可避免的，必然发生的) departure from home. However, that means soon he will want to ride to school on his own, and I will no longer have this wonderful routine. “Let your children go if you want to keep them.” I understand this and am trying to let my son go in age-appropriate phases, but I still suffer. It’s one of the most troubling experiences of parenthood — recognizing that your presence is becoming less welcome.
My dilemma as a husband mirrors the concern I feel as a parent. My wife has just left on a six-month mission to cover the situation in Libya. In the days leading up to her departure, we spoke openly about the possibility, however unlikely, that she might be killed. But while I influence her decisions, I do not control them. Finally, it was her decision. I know that letting go is the wisest path in this case too.
As we travel through life’s phases, we must let go of so much. And I don’t think it gets easier with practice. But maybe just accepting that eventually we will have to let go is the secret to living a full life.Why does the writer accompany his son on his daily ride to school?
| A．To build up his strength. |
| B．To teach his son to ride in traffic. |
| C．To tell his son the way to school. |
| D．To communicate more with his son. |
Although he thinks his son’s request understandable, the writer ________.
| A．is worried about his son’s safety |
| B．is angry for his son’s leaving alone |
| C．feels upset for being rejected by his son |
| D．feels sorry for not giving his son enough space |
What does the writer’s wife do?
| A．She is a soldier. | B．She is a politician. |
| C．She is a media person. | D．She is a businesswoman. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Letting go. | B．Father’s love. |
| C．Living a full life. | D．Lessons from riding. |
Loren Gladstone of Toronto is 58, but thinking over how to bequeath (遗赠) his digital property(财产). Doing the paperwork after his parents' death was a challenge. “When my time comes, I wonder if my children will even know what paper is，” he says. As a software developer, his virtual property is both valuable and vital to his business. That reflects a problem. Online lives have increasing economic and emotional value. But testamentary (遗嘱) laws offer confusing and incomplete ways of bequeathing and inheriting (继承) them.
Digital property may include software, websites, downloaded content, online gaming identities, social-media accounts and even e-mails. In Britain alone holdings of digital music may be worth over ￡9 billion ($14 billion). A fifth of respondents to a Chinese local-newspaper survey said they had over 5，000 yuan($790) of digital property. And value does not lie only in money.“Anyone with kids under 14 years old probably has two prints of them and the rest are in online galleries，”says Nathan Lustig of Entrustet, a company that helps people manage digital property.
Service providers have different rules—and few state them clearly in their terms and conditions. Many give users a personal right to use an account, but nobody else, even after death. Facebook allows relatives to close an account or turn it into a memorial page. Gmail (run by Google) will provide copies of e-mails to an executor (遗嘱执行人). Music downloaded via iTunes is held under a license which can be abolished on death. Apple declined to comment on the record on this or other policies. All e-mail and data on its iCloud service are deleted on the death of the owner.
This has led to cases to court in America. In 2004 the family of Justin Ellsworth, an army man killed in Iraq, took Yahoo! to court in Michigan to get copies of his e-mails. This year, a court in Oregon ruled that another American mother whose son had died could use her dead son's password to enter his Facebook account for a short period. Now five American states have made laws giving executors control over the social-networking accounts of dead users.
But this raises the subject of privacy. Passing music on is one thing; not everyone may want their relatives to read their e-mails. Colin Pearson, a London-based lawyer, says access should come only with a clear provision in a will.
But laws, wills and password safes may be contrary to the providers' terms of service, especially when the executor is in one country and the data in another. Headaches for the living and lots of lovely work for lawyers.Why does Loren begin to think over how to bequeath his digital property at the age of 58?
| A．Because he is afraid his children don't know what paper is. |
| B．Because there's no complete law dealing with digital property. |
| C．Because his digital property is of great value and importance. |
| D．Because he is worried his children will be taken to court. |
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Digital property is assessed in terms of nothing except money. |
| B．No laws in America have been made to deal with digital property. |
| C．The relatives may read the e－mail of the dead without permission. |
| D．Lawyers can make money through cases about digital property. |
Facebook, Google and Apple have a similar rule that ________．
| A．users are offered accounts used by nobody else except users themselves |
| B．relatives of the dead may close an account or use it at their own will |
| C．the executor may enter the e－mail and read it by themselves at any time |
| D．the data downloaded by the dead will be copied and then deleted from net |
Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
| A．Digital Information | B．Testamentary Laws |
| C．Deathless Data | D．Vital Property |
Spring is the time to go out and enjoy the weather and scenery. Here are some events to attend in March of 2012 in Oregon!
Oregon Country Fair (OCF), 9 am to 7 pm on March 8-10
OCF first started in 1969, and it’s blossomed into an outstanding example of what a non-profit should be. OCF is an event of shopping & atmosphere, and food ranging from Indian & Afghani cuisine to Italian & France cuisine. Wonderful craft & music never stop. From the time you get there until the time you leave, everyone has a smile on their faces, and they wave and say hello. For tickets, go and visit www. Oregoncountryfair.org.
30th Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament, 8 am to 6 pm on March 12-14
The Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament is an amateur tournament that draws amateur volleyball players to the small town of seaside, as well as AVP Team players who are the best volleyball players. In the past years, it has drawn more than 700 teams playing on over 80 volleyball courts. Just go west, and you can’t miss it. It is about 20 miles south of Astoria. To learn more about it, visit the website www. Seasideor.com.
Hood to Coast Relay, 3:30 am to 6:45 pm on March 26-27
The Hood to Coast Relay is a 200-mile-long relay that consists of 15 000 runners and 4 100 volunteers. It’s the largest relay in the world, which goes from Mt. Hood to Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Oregon. People of the Oregon coast fear Hood to Coast, because local towns and streets are flooded. There are audiences cheering riders on, and many people set up stations to give riders water. If you would like to get the race route maps, visit the website www. Hoodtocoast.com.
Other event information
To learn about other events, visit the website www. aadfv. blogspot.com.OCF covers the following EXCEPT _____.
| A．music | B．dishes | C．dance | D．artworks |
When was the first Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament held in Oregon?
| A．In 1982. | B．In 1986. | C．In 1988. | D．In 1992. |
If Lisa wants to learn more about an outing in Oregon, she may visit _____.
| A．www. Seasideor.com. | B．www. Hoodtocoast.com. |
| C．www. aadfv.blogspot.com. | D．www. Oregoncountryfair.org. |
Locals of the Oregon coast are afraid of the relay because ______.
| A．the relay will last a long period |
| B．they have to offer food and water |
| C．the weather is bad during the relay. |
| D．too many people will go there. |
Since the beginning of the year, smog has covered parts of North China. In January, Beijing saw only five days without smog. The rising PM 2.5 readings terrified many people, and some health experts said that whenever the smog gets serious, hospitals receive more patients suffering acute respiratory（呼吸系统）and heart diseases.
Later, news of polluted underground water in some provinces scared people who wondered whether the water they drink is safe.
So the need to emphasize environmental protection while developing the economy is heard everywhere.
Smog especially is a common concern. Like a popular online post said, air may be the only thing that is equal for everyone, despite your income or vocation. People with higher incomes are able to drink only bottled spring water and eat only organic food by paying higher prices, but they breathe the same air as everyone else.
At a meeting on Monday, many Representatives have expressed their concerns about the air quality, too. One talked about his experience in Beijing. “After taking a taxi from the capital airport to my hotel, which took about an hour, I washed my nose and found the inside of my nose was black. We should ask ourselves this question: Why do we want to develop? It's for living a better life. Dirty air is definitely not a better life," he said.
China needs to develop its economy and invest(投资) in high-tech. Every Chinese wants a strong country. But without blue sky, clean water and safe food, the achievements in the economy will become meaningless. Space technologies are not to be developed for building a base on Mars so that one day all human beings can migrate to the red planet because they have destroyed Earth.
What the public wants is a strong and beautiful China. Former president Hu Jintao spoke at the 18th Party Congress last November saying that great efforts must be made to promote ecological progress and build a beautiful China. The words have shown the central government's resolution to address the environment issue. The effect of smog doesn’t include.
| A．the rising of PM 2.5 readings |
| B．more people suffering diseases |
| C．the increase of people’s income |
| D．patients increased in hospital |
Why smog has become a common concern?
| A．Because people have to pay higher prices. |
| B．Because nobody can avoid it. |
| C．Because we have to develop industry. |
| D．Because a popular online-post discussed it. |
The underlined word “they” in paragraph 6 refers to.
| A．human beings | B．other plants |
| C．space technologies | D．industrial development |
From the last two paragraphs we can infer that.
| A．high-tech can completely solve the problem of pollution |
| B．space technologies should be developed in a large scale |
| C．we can move to the Mars after the earth has been destroyed |
| D．we must protect the environment while developing economy |
I knew I was all right now. Nobody else would come ahunting after me. I got my traps out of the canoe and made me a nice camp in the thick woods. I made a tent out of my blankets to put my things under so the rain couldn't get at them. I caught a catfish and towards sundown I started my camp fire and had supper.
When it was dark I sat by my camp fire, feeling pretty satisfied; but by and by it got sort of lonesome, so I went and sat on the bank and listened to the current crashing along, and counted the stars and drift logs and rafts that came down, and then went to bed; there was no better way to put in time when you are lonesome; you can't stay so, and you soon get it over.
And so for three days and nights. No difference—just the same thing. But the next day I went exploring around the island. I was boss of it; it all belonged to me, and I wanted to know all about it; but mainly I wanted to spend the time. I found plenty of strawberries and green summer grapes; and the green blackberries were just beginning to show.
Well, I went fooling along in the deep woods till I judged I wasn't far from the foot of the island. I had my gun along, but I had shot nothing; it was for protection. About this time I almost stepped on a goodsized snake, and it moved quietly and smoothly through the grass and flowers, and I was after it, trying to get a shot at it. I clipped(疾驰) along, and all of a sudden I bounded(跳) right on to the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking.
My heart jumped up among my lungs. I never waited to look further, but unlocked my gun and went sneaking back on my tiptoes as fast as I could. Every now and then I stopped a second among the thick leaves and listened, but my breath came so hard that I couldn't hear anything else. I moved quietly along another piece further, then listened again; and so on, and so on. If I saw a stump(树桩), I took it for a man; if I stepped on a stick and broke it, it made me feel that a person had cut one of my breaths in two and I only got half, and the short half, too.
There was no time to be fooling around. When getting to the camp, I got all my traps into my canoe again to have them out of sight. I put out the fire and threw the ashes around to look like an old last year's camp, and then climbed a tree.
I suppose I was up for two hours; but I didn’t see or hear anything—I only thought I heard and saw as much as a thousand things. Well, I couldn’t stay up there forever, so at last I got down, but I kept in the thick woods and on the lookout all the time. All I could get to eat was berries and what was left over from breakfast.The underlined part “put in time” in the second paragraph probably means _____.
| A．kill the time | B．take the time |
| C．employ the time | D．waste the time |
Why did the boy always carry his gun with him wherever he went?
| A．To show off his gun. |
| B．To hunt some animals for food. |
| C．To protect himself. |
| D．To play with it for fun. |
How did the boy feel when he saw the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking?
| A．Surprised. | B．Excited. | C．Frightened. | D．Puzzled. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The boy brought with himself a tent |
| B．The boy felt a bit lonely on the island. |
| C．The boy was surely the only person on the island at that time. |
| D．The boy might be bitten by some animal when the story happened. |
Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.
In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, king of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.
Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?
Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist (免疫学家)， encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because________.
| A．they lived healthily in a dirty environment |
| B．they thought bath houses were too dirty to stay in |
| C．they believed disease could be spread in public baths |
| D．they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease |
Which of the following best describes Henry IV’ s attitude to bathing?
| A．Afraid | B．Curious | C．Approving | D．Uninterested |
How does the passage mainly develop?
| A．By providing examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following the order of time. |
| D．By following the order of importance. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To stress the role of dirt. |
| B．To introduce the history of dirt. |
| C．To call attention to the danger of dirt. |
| D．To present the change of views on dirt. |
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