Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers.But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son, suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents.“The door to his room is always shut,” Joanna noted.

  Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter.“She used to cuddle up(蜷伏)with me on the soft and talk,” said Mark.“Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something.Sometimes she wants to be treated like a young lady.The problem is figuring out which time is which.”

  Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds.“In fact, parents are first on the list,” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers.“This completely changes during the teen years.” Riera explained.“They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”

  Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them.To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them.And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young.Another thing parents should remember is that to be friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.

(1)

“The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son ________

[  ]

A.

is always busy with his studies

B.

doesn’t want to be disturbed

C.

keeps himself away from his parents

D.

begins to dislike his parents

(2)

What troubles Tina and Mark most is that ________

[  ]

A.

their daughter isn’t as lovely as before

B.

they can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly

C.

they don’t know what to say to their daughter

D.

their daughter talks with them only when she needs help

(3)

Which of the following best explains “the wall of silence” in the last paragraph?

[  ]

A.

Teenagers talk a lot with their friends.

B.

Teenagers do not want to understand their parents.

C.

Teenagers do not talk much with their parents.

D.

Teenagers talk little about their own lives.

(4)

What can be learned from the passage?

[  ]

A.

Parents are unhappy with their growing children.

B.

Parents have suitable ways to talk with their teenagers.

C.

Parents should be patient with their silent teenagers.

D.

Parents should try to understand their teenagers.

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about, It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.

The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.

It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life--style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series  of short stories, He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’ Keeping up with the Joneses’ came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

1.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.

A.want to be as rich as their neighbours

B.want others to know or to think that they are rich

C.don’t want others to know they are rich

D.want to be happy

2.It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.

A.live outside New York City

B.live in New York City

C.live in apartments

D.have many neighbours

3.The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ________.

A.a person who lives near another

B.people living in an area

C.an area near the place referred to

D.an area in another town or city

4. Arthur Momand used the name ‘Jones’ in his series of short stories because’ Jones’ is ________.

A.an important name

B.a popular name in the United States

C.his neighbour’s name

D.not a good name

5.According to the writer, it is       to keep up with the Joneses.

A.correct

B.interesting

C.impossible

D.good

 

Hidden in our subconsciousness (潜意识) is a perfect mental picture. We see ourselves on a long trip that goes across the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we think in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle feeding on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, or row upon row of corn and wheat, of flat lands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw(拼图玩具) puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles(通道), condemning the minutes for loitering --waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

“When we reach the station, that will be it!” we cry. “When I’m 38.” “When I buy a new 450SL Mercdes Benz!” “When I put the last kid through college.” “When I have paid off the!” “When I get a promotion.” “When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after! ”

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

“Relish(appreciate) the moment” is a good motto, actually it isn’t the burdens of today that drive man mad. It is the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. Then the station will come soon enough.

1.Why does the author describe the mental picture?

A.To lead us into a perfect world.                    B.To let people enjoy the scenery.

C.To introduce an actual trip of his.                 D.To compare it to our life’s journey.

2.How do people feel when they’re on their trip?

A.Puzzled.                     B.Happy.                C.Relaxed.              D.Impatient. 

3.What does the author mean by “Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today” in Line 2 Paragraph 5?

A.Regret and fear are responsible for the loss of today.

B.We must be careful of the two thieves: regret and fear.

C.regret and fear stop us from enjoying our present life.

D.We’re frequently challenged by the two : regret and fear.

4.Why does the author write the passage?

A.To teach us a good lesson.                           B.To tell us the right attitude to life.

C.To advice us to forget our worries.               D.To stop us wandering along the aisles.

 

阅读下面短文,按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求,在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空,并将答案填写在答题卡标号为16—25的相应位置上。  In order to know a foreign language thoroughly, four things are necessary. Firstly, we must understand the language when we hear    16.          spoken. Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves correctly with confidence and without hesitation.    17.               , we must be able to read the language, and fourthly, we must be able to write it. We must be able to make sentences that are grammatically correct.

There is no easy way to success   18.           language learning.          19.                   good memory is a great help, but it is not enough only    20.                  (memorize) rules from a grammar book. It is not much use learning by heart long lists of words and   21.                meanings, studying the dictionary and so on. We must learn by using the language. 22           .        we are satisfied with only a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language. “Learn through use” is a good piece of   23.           (advise) for those   24.          are studying a new language. Practice is important. We must practise speaking and   25.           (write) the language whenever we can.

 

I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.

I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today.

So here’s what I wanted to tell you: Get a life-a real life, not a desire of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure but it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my choice, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all.

I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and totally. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned.

By telling them this: Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a deadly illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived.

1.. The best title of this passage probably is ____________.           

    A.Live a real life                 B.Love your friends

    C.Don’t waste time                                  D.Be a good mother and wife

2. How did the author form her view of life?

    A.Through social experience.        B.By learning from her friends

    C.Through an unfortunate experience.                 D.From her children and husband.

3.. By the underlined sentence “It is so easy to exist instead of to live” in the fifth paragraph, the author really means that people tend to ____________.

    A.make a living rather than live a real life

    B.work rather than enjoy life

    C.waste a lot in life

    D.forget the most important lessons in life

4.. It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.

    A.the author is a success

    B.the author didn’t try her best to work well

    C.the author spent all her time caring for her children

    D.the author likes traveling very much

 

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