Our lives were supposed to be more flexible and family-friendly thanks to the technology at our fingertips. But in this age of BlackBerrys, recession pressures, working at home after hours and on weekends, family time may not be working out the way we thought.
Busy parents who expected more time with the kids are Finding that more work hours at home don't necessarily translate into quality time with them.
A new generation of parents needs to discover the meaning of "quality time," researchers say. “Personally, just given the life I lead, I think there is something to this idea of quality time- spending productive time with children vs. just being around,” says Peter Brandon, a professor at Carleton College. He says engaging or interacting with a child in activities such as reading or playing counts as quality time rather than "passive monitoring," such as washing the dishes while the child is watching TV.
This time with children pays off,” Brandon says. He notes that good parent-child relationships result in children being happier and more successful, including at school.
As parents struggle to be more available to their kids, new research on work and family  schedules to be presented Friday at the meeting in Dallas includes a study that shows parents' availability is on the decline because more parents are in the workforce. Although parents today may be spending more time on child care, they are less available overall.
Working parents who spend less time with their children should try to make sure the time they do spend is communicating with them, vs. doing the dishes or spending more time on themselves, Brandon says “The trade-off is not necessarily taking away time from your kid,” he says "You're taking away time from other things”
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly intends to tell us that            .

A.technology lets parents work at home
B.parents are satisfied with their work
C.technology makes our lives much easier
D.the family time is not always satisfying
【小题2】We can learn from the third paragraph that               .
A.some families are not experiencing quality time
B.it's enough for parents to stay with their children
C.parents enjoy engaging in work-at-home activities
D.working hours at home can transform into quality time
【小题3】 According to Brandon, the quality time means
A.just, being around with children
B.work time is separate from family time
C.spending instructive time with children
D.letting the children do whatever they want to do
【小题4】The underlined sentence “This time with children pays” off means            .
A.the time with children is of little value
B.the time with children costs quite a lot
C.the time with children leads to good result
D.the time with children has a bad effect on them
【小题5】What will the author most probably talk about in next part of the passage?
A.How to spend more time at home
B.How to do the dishes in a proper way.
C.How to spend more time on working at home.
D.How to take away time in a much proper way.

I’m 30 years old, and there are several things that life has taught me that I want to share with you.Here are the 4 lessons that life has taught me in the past 30 years.
1.Take Care of Your Body
Life is “unfairly” biased(偏向的) towards people who “look good,” like it or not.So it’s important that you do all that is in your power to look your best.   71    You will live longer, and you will live happier, if you take care of your body; you may even get promoted faster on your job.Remember that your health is really your greatest wealth.
2.   72     
No one taught me to save when I was growing up; no one told me the importance of saving.Fortunately I was able to learn the value of saving through reading great books like “The Millionaire Next Door”.What I want to teach others is to save at least twenty percent of your income.If you are to be wealthy, you must not just earn a lot, you must save a lot.
3.Think long-term.
In high school I was thinking about college, in college I was thinking about life after college.I’m designing my life and I’m making decisions today that will enable me to live the life I desire when I’m in my 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.You have to think long-term; you have to see the “big picture.”     73   
4.Realize the Power of Focus
Focus, focus, focus…     74    If you fail in this lifetime, you will fail because of broken focus.If you focus on the goals that are most important to you, you will achieve them.The problem is that there are so many distractions.  75   Winners decide to major on majors, and they even let important things slip, because they just focus on achieving what is critical to their goals.

A.The importance of saving.
B.If you plan your future properly, you will live into your plans.
C.Save Your Money.
D.Nothing is more critical than focus.
E.What separates the winners from the losers is that the winners learn to focus on their goal.
F.I mean dressing nicely, working out and eating right.
G.It’s critical that you pursue relationships with individuals who are good first.

The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning on my life. I was waving goodbye to my son, the last one of my fledglings (刚会飞的鸟)to leave home and go to new woods, "University actually" . I felt so lighthearted after spending many years looking after my four children—cooking, washing, ironing, teaching them how to look after themselves and manage their finances—that I actually thought “At long last, freedom".

But, as I watched my last one leave, although it was a joyous occasion, I realized I had not really prepared for this day, I was too tied up with bringing up these adults of the future to realize that they would all leave the nest and lives independently.

At first I didn't know what "I" wanted to do. I tried a part time job, which ended in me running out in tears. I started a business making soft furnishings, but that didn't work either.  I grew my own veggies and fruit, which lasted 3 years, until I was advised by my doctor that my feet couldn't take any more "tools” driven through them.

I began wondering if I had a future of my own. I cried for the life I was used to, and hadn't known or wanted anything different.

Then one day I saw an ad. for foster parents, I discussed it with my husband who was always behind everything I tried and with great disturbance , I rang up the number.

I now laugh and sing with my 14-year-old foster daughter, even when my cooker is a mess and my bathroom is a disaster area. I now know, 8 years later, what “I” was meant to be doing with all the spare hours, days, and weeks I had on my hands when my last fledgling flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.

1.How did the mother first feel when her last child went off to university?

A.Lonely.

B.Anxious.

C.Relieved.

D.Annoyed.

2.The underlined phrase “was tied up with” in the second paragraph means “        ”.

A.was occupied in

B.was associated with

C.was tired of

D.was addicted to

3.In the third paragraph, the poor mother did all the things just to         .

A.live a greener and healthier life

B.earn more money for her kids’ education

C.shift her attention and ease her anxiety

D.start her own decorating business

4.What did the empty-nested mother think of her husband?

A.Skilled

B.Supportive

C.Stubborn

D.Open-minded

5.Thanks to the foster daughter, the author         .

A.got rid of her busy work

B.forgot her other children

C.found a suitable job

D.knew what she really wanted

 

The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning on my life. I was waving goodbye to my son, the last one of my fledglings (刚会飞的鸟)to leave home and go to new woods, "University actually" . I felt so lighthearted after spending many years looking after my four children-cooking, washing, ironing, teaching them how to look after themselves and manage their finances-that I actually thought “At long last, freedom".

But, as I watched my last one leave, although it was a joyous occasion, I realized I had not really prepared for this day, I was too tied up with bringing up these adults of the future to realize that they would all leave the nest and lives independently.

At first I didn't know what "I" wanted to do. I tried a part time job, which ended in me running out in tears. I started a business making soft furnishings, but that didn't work either.  I grew my own veggies and fruit, which lasted 3 years, until I was advised by my doctor that my feet couldn't take any more "tools” driven through them. 

I began wondering if I had a future of my own. I cried for the life I was used to, and hadn't known or wanted anything different.

Then one day I saw an ad. For foster parents, I discussed it with my husband who was always behind everything I tried and with great disturbance, I rang up the number.

I now laugh and sing with my 14-year-old foster daughter, even when my cooker is a mess and my bathroom is a disaster area. I now know, 8 years later, what “I” was meant to be doing with all the spare hours, days, and weeks I had on my hands when my last fledgling flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.

1.How did the mother first feel when her last child went off to university?

A.Lonely.

B.Anxious.

C.Relieved.

D.Annoyed.

2.The underlined phrase “was tied up with” in the second paragraph means “        ”.

A.was occupied in

B.was associated with

C.was tired of

D.was addicted to

3.In the third paragraph, the poor mother did all the things just to         .

A.live a greener and healthier life

B.earn more money for her kids’ education

C.shift her attention and ease her anxiety

D.start her own decorating business

4.What did the empty-nested mother think of her husband?

A.Skilled

B.Supportive

C.Stubborn

D.Open-minded

5.Thanks to the foster daughter, the author         .

A.got rid of her busy work

B.forgot her other children

C.found a suitable job

D.knew what she really wanted

 

I was the youngest of five boys and also had four sisters who had to pull together and take care of each other. Dad wasn't around, so I never knew him well. He killed himself when I was three years old, leaving mom with the job of raising nine kids. She was a very hard worker, and in order to make ends meet, she hardly ever rested. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want.
Even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be successful. Regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me—not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons.
Surprising as it might seem, basketball wasn't in my plans. One day, my mom cut a rim(边缘) off an old water barrel(水桶) and then held it up for me to throw an old rubber ball through. By junior high, I started playing basketball on a team. I loved to compete. For me, it paid off. I always put the effort in, every day.
I am grateful for the life I've enjoyed as a basketball star. Basketball is not life. It can be exciting. But the most important thing about basketball is that it gives me a way to do good things for others as I move through this journey called life.

  1. 1.

    It can be inferred that the author's________.

    1. A.
      brothers were more famous than him
    2. B.
      mother had a great influence on his career
    3. C.
      father loved his children and wife very much
    4. D.
      family was rich and happy when he was a child
  2. 2.

    Why did the author's father kill himself?

    1. A.
      Because the family was poor.
    2. B.
      Because he often quarreled with his wife.
    3. C.
      Because he was seriously ill.
    4. D.
      The passage didn't tell us the reason.
  3. 3.

    From the second paragraph, we can infer that________.

    1. A.
      the author was respected as a brave boy
    2. B.
      the author's family didn't like his career
    3. C.
      the author got on well with his mother, brothers and sisters
    4. D.
      the author helped his brothers and sisters succeed
  4. 4.

    What does the author get from basketball?

    1. A.
      How to do good things for others.
    2. B.
      Life is as hard as playing basketball.
    3. C.
      Cooperation with others is important.
    4. D.
      Two heads are wiser than one.

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