One evening last summer, when I asked my 14 year old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response shocked me."What’s a colander(漏勺)? " he asked.

I could only blame myself.In the family, nobody else’s hands went in the sauce except my own.But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn’t prepared Ray for.

As parents, while we focus on our sons’ confidence and character, we perhaps don’t always consider that we are also raising someone’s future roommates, boyfriends, husbands, or fathers.I wanted to know that I’d raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, "What’s for dinner?" So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course.I was delighted to find that he didn’t say no.For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine.One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting.Then he rolled out the piecrust (馅饼皮) and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven.

I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother—he tried to beg off sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive— but it couldn’t be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping."I appreciate what you do as a mom," he told me one day.Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there’s nothing masculine (男子气概的) about being helpless.

Now, not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family.That’s what I call a man.I’m glad that I prepared so great a present for my future daughter in law.

1.Why was the author shocked at her son’s response?

A.Because he was not well behaved.

B.Because he refused to help with dinner.

C.Because he didn’t know the common kitchen tools.

D.Because he was very curious about kitchen tools.

2.In the author’s opinion, some parents pay little attention to _______.

A.building up children’s confidence

B.telling kids what is right and wrong

C.preparing children for their future life

D.making children live a hard life

3.After learning to do housework, Ray _______.

A.fell in love with sewing

B.did other work in the house

C.began to be more hardworking

D.acknowledged his mother’s efforts

4.We can infer from the text that Ray _______.

A.made great progress in cooking.

B.always thought housework interesting.

C.preferred sewing to cooking.

D.was unwilling to learn cooking at first.

5.What would be the best title for the text?

A.Useful education for boys

B.The importance of housework

C.Boys should be involved in housework.

D.Cooking and sewing make boys masculine.

A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a , I had decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it from my hand and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles, everywhere. I tried to use a broom, with each swipe they just rolled across the kitchen.

For the next week, every time I was in the , I found a pea---in a corner, or behind a table leg. They kept . Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean behind it, and 12 frozen peas hidden underneath.

At the time I found those few remaining , I was in a new relationship with a wonderful I’d met in a support group. After we married, I was reminded those peas under the refrigerator, and realized that my had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered(破碎). My wife had died; I was in a new city with a busy job, and with a son having trouble his new surroundings and the of his mother. I was a bag of spilled frozen peas; my life had come apart and scattered.

When life gets you , when everything you know comes apart, and when you think you’ll never , remember that it’s just a bag of scattered frozen peas. The peas can be , and life will move on. You’ll find all the peas , including the ones that are hardest to find. And when you’ve got them you’ll start to feel whole again.

The life you know can break apart at any time. But you’ll have to , and how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, will you pick them up one by one and put your life back together?

1.A.drink B.vegetable C.fruit D.meat

2.A.slipped B.walked C.ran D.moved

3.A.rubbed B.rolled C.grew D.existed

4.A. so B.and C.although D.but

5.A.kitchen B.living room C.bedroom D.storeroom

6.A.turning up B.getting up C.taking up D.using up

7.A.left B.ate C.found D.planted

8.A.presents B.cans C.vegetables D.peas

9.A.woman B.child C.man D.boy

10.A.for B.of C.with D.in

11.A.wife B.life C.son D.friend

12.A.adjusting to B.leading to C.turning to D.adding to

13.A.thank B.loss C.help D.love

14.A.close B.near C.down D.wide

15.A.get it B.leave it C.take it D.make it

16.A.grew B.bought C.frozen D.collected

17.A.specially B.fortunately C.properly D.eventually

18.A.both B.all C.either D.each

19.A.move on B.put on C.bring on D.call on

20.A.while B.because C.or D.since

Wikipedia is a free-access, free content Internet encyclopedia(百科全书), supported and hosted by the non-profit Wikipedia Foundation. Wikipedia is ranked among the ten most popular websites and is considered the Internet’s largest and most popular general reference book. Now, Wikipedia is becoming Wookiepedia as scientists hope the informative website will help us reach out to intelligent life forms. So aliens can learn about the human race.

Astronomers would like to beam (播送) the entire contents of Wikipedia into space in the hope of contacting aliens. They want to send messages to hundreds of star systems and planets 20 light years away using radio telescopes. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, in California, wants to use powerful radio telescopes to try to reach Chewbacca and his mates in a galaxy(银河系)far away.

The plans will be discussed by astronomers at the weekend as some scientists fear the reply from ET might not turn out to be friendly. Institute scientist David Black said, “One question is if there are dangerous creatures we might be drawing their attention to ourselves. Another is if we go ahead, what message should be sent? There could be many civilizations out there,but if they are all listening and no one is broadcasting or responding, then nothing will happen.”

Professor Stephen Hawking, who has warned that intelligent aliens probably exist and we should keep a safe distance from them, is among those. “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans,” he said.

Signals from Earth’s radio and TV broadcasts have been heading out in space for some 60 years reaching around 5,000 stars.

1.What does the underlined word those in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A. aliens from space

B. astronomers sending signals

C. scientists for the plans

D. scientists against the plans

2.What has Prof. Stephen Hawking warned?

A. intelligent aliens would probably land in America.

B. the plans will be in vain and nothing will happen.

C. none of the civilizations would reply.

D. aliens would bring disasters to the human race.

3.Which can be the best title?

A. Wikipedia, the most popular website

B. Wikipedia to be beamed into space

C. Wikipedia, aliens’ best friend

D. Wikipedia to result in a disaster

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment . “We didn’t know at that time that there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it, ”says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.

But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement . Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many, many times, ”says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first Earth Day.

According to US government reports , emissions (排放) from cars and trucks have dropped from 10. 3 million tons a year to 5. 5 tons . The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 . Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place . A kind of “Green thinking ” has become part of practices .

Great improvement has been achieved . In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs , today in 1995 there are about 6, 600 . Advanced lights , motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution .

Twenty –five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment . Today , it’s hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program . ” Until we do that , nothing else will change! ” say Bruce Anderson .

1.According to Anderson , before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___

A. the social movement

B. recycling techniques

C. environmental problems

D. the importance of Earth Day

2. Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?

A. University professors

B. The business circle

C. Government officials

D. The grass –roots level

3.What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?

A. They have reduced pollution through effective measures .

B. They have settled their environmental problems

C. They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities.

D. They have cut car emissions to the lowest

4.What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?

A. Planning B. Education

C. Green living D. CO reduction

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网