I would like to encourage parents, and anyone reading this column to express your special thanks to the men and women who share the care giving of your children. Write your children’s teachers a little note to tell them how important they are it will make their day.
Actually they need far more than thanks. They need pay that is equitable (reasonable)to the important work they do. In our country, we pay nearly the same salaries to the attendants who park and watch our cars as we do to trained people who care for our children.
When you give your car to the attendant, you want it kept in a safe place and you want to get it back without a scratch (划痕). When you give your child to a preschool teacher or caregiver, they do much more.
Quality childcare is physically and emotionally demanding. Children are active, vulnerable (be easily harmed), and eager to learn, and they also need individualized, loving attention. Caregivers teach health, safety, personal hygiene (卫生); they teach values and self－discipline. They lay the foundations for learning reading, science, and math. They teach cooperation and the work ethic (道德规范).
Caregivers in quality child －care homes and centers do everything possible for children, and they keep on doing it until they burn out, or can no longer afford to keep it up. They have families too. We lose many of our best early childhood teachers because so many of them have no health benefits.
Fair wages and basic health benefits will keep the good people in the field that our children need. Please write your state and federal representatives (参、众议院议员)to urge their support of young children, their education and their quality care.
(1)
The underlined expression “it will make their day”(para. 1)means “________”.
[ ]
A．
it will make them happy
B．
it will remind them of their duties
C．
it will make them remember that day
D．
it will encourage them to show their kindness
(2)
According to the passage many caregivers give up their job because ________.
[ ]
A．
they don’t like working with children
B．
they have to look after their own children
C．
they are not well trained to be fit for the job
D．
they get paid too little to support their families
(3)
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
[ ]
A．
Parents always express their special thanks to their children’s teachers.
B．
The local government has been worried about preschool teachers.
C．
Car attendants are able to learn to get better paid than caregivers.
D．
Child caregivers ought to be well respected and better paid.
(4)
The author would probably agree that ________.
[ ]
A．
child caregivers play an important role in preschool education
B．
parents should teach their children how to protect themselves
C．
the country is in great need of quality school teachers
D．
a car attendant is able to learn to be a quality caregiver
TALLMANSVILLE, W．Va．-Eleven miners who died in the Sago disaster could have walked out alive had they known that there was healthier air less than 2,000 feet away, the head of the mining company told NBC News in an interview aired on zMonday-exactly a week to the day that the men sat trapped in the mine awaiting rescuers who arrived too late for all but one survivor．
”They were headed into an unknown,” International Coal Group CEO Ben Haield said．“They had no way of knowing how big, how disastrous the explosion was．In hindsight, if they had known that the smoke was only extremely dense in an area of perhaps 1,000 or 1,500 feet, yes they could have moved to fresh air, yes they could have survived, but they had no way of knowing that．”
”It’s over two miles to the outside and they no doubt would have been concerned that they can’t walk through two miles of smoke,” he added．“If they had known that it was only 1,500 or 42,000 feet of smoke certainly they could have come on out and yes they could have been saved．”
Haield called it a tragedy that was”unavoidable and horribly sad” because the miners, even though they had breathing devices, did exactly what they had been taught to do：hunker down(蹲下)and wait for rescuers．
Crews did not know the location of the miners while they awaited rescue and had no way to communicate with them．
The men appeared to have died after about 10 hours and the rescuers only arrived after about 40 hours．Eleven men died awaiting rescue, one died in the blast that caused the disaster and a 13th survived．
(1)
Which of the following is the most suitable headline for this news report?
[ ]
A．
Mine explosion kills twelve．
B．
Fallen miners were not far from safety．
C．
International Coal Group CEO expresses condolences on(衰悼)death of miners．
D．
Fear of walking long distance leads to death．
(2)
The underlined word”dense” in Paragraph 4 means ________．
[ ]
A．
poisonous
B．
harmful
C．
light
D．
thick
(3)
The underlined paragraph implies that ________．
[ ]
A．
some safety knowledge may mislead victims in a particular situation
B．
all the trapped miners could have survived if they had not hunkered down
C．
to avoid similar tragedies, it is better not to teach miners what to do in case of danger
D．
the miners’ ignorance of proper safety measures lead to the tragedy
(4)
Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
[ ]
A．
One miner survived the accident by moving to fresh air on his own．
B．
The trapped miners did not walk out to safety because they could not tell their location．
C．
The only survivor was rescued around 40 hours after the explosion．
D．
Twelve miners died after sitting trapped in the mine for about 10 hours．
阅读理解
I received pictures of my daughter floating(漂浮)on a lake in California．Right there under the sun during the hottest time of the day, she has only her swimsuit to cover her．
When I showed it to my students, it was as if I had shown them scenes from a horror(恐怖)movie．
“But she will get dark,”they said．
“That's what she wants,”I told them．“We think darker skin(肤色)is beautiful．”
They looked at me in disbelief．It was as if I came from the moon．
For years, American girls spend their summer trying to get as tanned(晒黑)as possible．In China, on the other hand, girls use umbrellas all year round．
What in the world is going on?
The pale skin we think looks unattractive(不漂亮)is what Asian women want．Both groups want to meet their culture's standard(标准)of beauty．
In the US, if you can afford to go on vacation in the summer, you head for a river, a lake or a beach, where you try to get as much sun as possible．If you are rich you take a winter vacation in some sunny spot．Your winter tan shows your wealth．
In China, once upon a time, the few wealthy were the ones who didn't have to work out in the hot sun．So the whiter the skin, the richer the woman．The folk opera performers who play these ladies wore lots of white makeup(妆容)．The tradition survives to this day．
So it comes naturally that none of my students wishes to follow the Western ways in this regard．
But now I am noticing that a new business-the tanning booth(美黑店)-started up in China．I admire those brave enough to define(给…下定义)their own idea of beauty, but I do wonder what their grandmothers would have to say to them about it!
(1)
The students were shocked at the picture the writer showed them because ________．
[ ]
A．
they thought it shameful for a girl only to wear a swimsuit
B．
the writer's daughter was wearing very little while out in the sun
C．
it is dangerous for a girl to be out on a lake alone
D．
with the powerful sunlight the writer's daughter would have got a suntan
(2)
According to the article, which kind of woman meets the American standard of beauty?
[ ]
A．
Women with blond hair．
B．
Women with a slim figure．
C．
Women with tanned skin．
D．
Women with pale skin．
(3)
In the US a winter tan usually means the person ________．
[ ]
A．
is hard-working
B．
doesn't have to work
C．
has a lot of money and spare time
D．
is from a very poor family
(4)
The writer ________ the tanning booth started up in China．
