Being a good parent is harder now than it has ever been before. In pressurized modern lives, demands to be a fulfilled individual, a good partner and a good worker, take no account of being a good parent. We haven’t left space for the nurturing parents who are expected to provide what children need. As a result, many families in the western world just don’t work.

       Something will have to change. With luck, people in the future will only have children if they really want them. That should mean parenthood is seen as a much more positive promise than it is now, that parents are socially supported, and are admired for doing a good job.

       The problem is that in the last generation or so we’ve come to assume that women should want and be able to everything that by tradition men have done at the same time as pretty well everything that by tradition women have done. And it’s just not possible. Since adopting a male life style is demonstrably only another form of submission(顺从), quite a number of highly educated and economically privileged(优越的)women are now choosing to take career breaks so as to be at home with their children for longer than that poor 18 weeks.

       The most welcoming trend in parenting is that men are participating more and more, even that is not free of conflict, however. Intellectually(理智上), women want men to be equal parents and do their share. But there’s often a contradictory(矛盾的)emotion because children are the last fort of the female power in the family. “I want him to help me but this is my region and being better at it is one of the new things I’ve got as a female.” In truth, although they haven’t had generations of practice, there’s no reason why men can’t raise children as well as women. Men left to cope after bereavement or divorce, as well as some who take on the role of principal career within a partnership, are already doing it.

16.Why is it more difficult today to be good parents?

       A. Because parents don’t want to face the pressure of rearing children.

       B. Because children are in dependent and don’t need to be taken care of.

       C. Because husbands and wives have little time to talk to each other.

       D. Because people want to fulfill their own dreams, leaving no time to look after children.

17. We can learn from the passage that _______.

       A. people in future will not be as interested in children as people at present

       B. parenthood will be considered as a positive commitment as it is now

       C. women do better in rearing children than men

       D. parents will receive admiration for taking good care of children

18. Nowadays, a lot of highly educated and economically privileged women ________.

       A. tend to stay at home for more than 18 weeks

       B. tend to adopt a male life style

       C. tend to quit their jobs and stay at home

       D. tend to be submissive wives

19. It seems that in parenting , women ________.

       A. are contradictory in their thoughts.                B.demand equality between sexes

       C. tend to leave children to their husbands.         D. often quarrel with their husbands

20. The underlined word “bereavement” in the para 4 probably means _________.

       A. departure of his wife.                                          B. death of his wife

       C. return of his wife                                         D. annoyance of his wife

“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” -a document(文件) stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores(杂务). Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)

After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled, ” admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press(also part of the bargain), stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”

Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids.

Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs(叹气), “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however-until Bob signed the contract, whereupon she decided to relax and enjoy it.

Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria(食堂), his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.

As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”

Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely(日常地) sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative(暂定的) title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.

The couple signed the contract because _______.

A. Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself

B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest

C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks

D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book

It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.

A. pay a certain amount of money

B. do all the housework for years

C. say sorry to his wife

D. admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood

What can we learn about Pat Peters?

A. She was hard-working and selfless.

B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.

C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.

D. She did not love Bob any longer.

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Bob managed to keep the kids’clothes clean.

B. Bob tried to cook good meals for his children.

C. Bob frequently took the kids out to eat because he was too busy at work.

D. Bob taught the kids to make their beds every day.

Which of the following can best end the news story?

A. “My experience of being a mother.”

B. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”

C. “Wait till your mother gets home!”

D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

Mr. and Mrs. Moore were invited to a Christmas party at a hotel one year. They      their car outside and went in. Mr. Moore had never got drunk (醉) before, so he was      not to drink too much,        his friends asked him to drink more        .

   During the party, Mrs. Moore found that she had      to bring her bag, so she asked her husband to go out to the car and       it for her. He      so, but on his way back to the hotel gate, he heard a car horn(喇叭) blowing near his own car. He thought        might be in need of help and went over to the car with the      . He found a small black bear sitting in the driving-seat and blowing the horn.

   When Mr. Moore        the party, he told several people about the bear, but of course they did not believe him and thought he was drunk. When he took them out of the hotel to        that his story was      , he found that the car with the       in it had gone. There were so many____about Mr. Moore's black bear during the next week that he at last put an advertisement(广告) in the newspaper;“If anyone saw a black bear blowing the horn in a car outside the Century Hotel       the evening of Christmas Day, please tell…”

  Two days later      Mrs. Richards called him and said that she and her husband had left their pet (宠物) bear in their car outside the Century Hotel for a few minutes that evening, and that       he had blown the horn.

Mrs. Richards did not      to think there was anything     about that.“Our bear likes blowing car horns,”she said,“and we don't       when we are not driving the car.”

1.A. pulled          B. stayed             C. left          D. hid

2.A. polite           B. careful            C. glad                  D. afraid

3. A. whether              B. until                C. Or                  D. though

4. A. all along        B. once again          C. just then     D. for ever

5. A. learned                 B. known            C. remembered       D. forgotten

6.A. buy           B. get               C. send               D. return

7.A. said    B. went               C. did                  D. thought

8. A. on                    B. someone           C. his wife      D. the bear

9.A. noise                   B. voice             C. cry                  D. shout

10.A. was sent to       B. was seated at       C. got rid of   D. got back to

11.A. show                B. notice             C. require             D. promise

12.A. interesting     B. correct            C. true                 D. exciting

13.A. horn                 B. bear               C. bag                 D. driving-seat

14. A. laughs    B. shouts        C. smiles   D. calls

15. A. for                   B. at                 C. in                   D. on

16. A. the                  B. a                  C. /            D. some

17.A. quickly                 B. completely         C. maybe              D. almost

18.A. mean               B. have              C. know              D. seem

19.A. useful                 B. strange              C. common            D. bad

20.A. agree                B. like                  C. mind                D. worry

 

Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.

    Of course, his secret was not magic or supernatural power. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.

    Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in clubs in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.

    It was the publicity (宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks. She passed it quickly from her mouth to his.

    Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? Worldwide fame and a name remembered today.

1.According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on ______.

A. his special tricks and supernatural powers

B. his unusual ability and skeleton key

C. his magic tricks and supernatural powers

D. his wisdom and magic tricks

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous ______ .

A. in 1894          B. before he married

C. at the age of 17     D. when he was 24

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?                          

A. Houdini was a famous American magician.  

B. Houdini was first recognized in Chicago.   

C. Houdini first entered the entertainment world together with his wife.   

D. Houdini was popular with people from Europe and America.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. A Skeleton Key      B. A Secret Prisoner

C. Worldwide Fame   D. Great Escapes

 

Freda Bright says, "Only in opera do people die of love." It's true. You really can't love somebody to death. I've known people to die from no love, but I've never known anyone to be loved to death. We just can't love one another enough.

A heart-warming story tells of a woman who finally decided to ask her boss for a raise in salary. All day she felt nervous and late in the afternoon she summoned the courage to approach her employer. To her delight, the boss agreed to a raise.                                                

The woman arrived home that evening to a beautiful table set with their best dishes. Candles were softly glowing. Her husband had come home early and prepared a festive meal. She wondered if someone from the office had tipped him off, or... did he just somehow know that she would not get turned down?

She found him in the kitchen and told him the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down to the wonderful meal. Next to her plate the woman found a beautifully lettered note. It read: "Congratulations, darling! I knew you'd get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you."

Following the supper, her husband went into the kitchen to clean up. She noticed that a second card had fallen from his pocket. Picking it off the floor, she read: "Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you."

Someone has said that the measure of love is when you love without measure. What this man feels for his wife is total acceptance and love, whether she succeeds or fails. His love celebrates her victories and soothes her wounds. He stands with her, no matter what life throws in their direction.

Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa said: "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." And love your friends. Love them without measure.

1.The sentence in the first paragraph “Only in opera do people die of love.” means _______.

A.no love in the world is believable

B.love is one thing, and life is another

C.love in operas is truly touching

D.love can survive forever, though people die at different ages

2.That the husband prepared her a second letter about her raise suggests that______.

A.he loves her because he believes that she is sure to receive a raise

B.he has a great way to promote his wife’s love towards him

C.he had a false love for people even if the person is his wife

D.he loves his family members truly, whether they are in good conditions or not

3.From the text, we might say the author_____.

A.refuses any spiritual emotions as embraced and kissed

B.criticize the attitude of suspicion (怀疑) of the love

C.doesn’t believe there is true love in the world

D.thinks the true love does not expect repayment

 

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