Just like the young character in Hannah Montana, who so often fights with her father over her desire to be more independent, British teenagers also have their troubles.

A recent survey among 2,000 British parents shows that girls and boys experience similar kinds of stress, with some slight differences .

Girls want to grow up fast, demanding greater freedom. They feel pressure from their peers to be thin and sometimes dangerously experiment with alcohol .

Girls over 14 are more concerned with getting a boyfriend, make-up and going out with friends than with their schoolwork. They are more likely to complain about pocket money .

Parents found they have their toughest time with boys over the age of 15. Their sons are battling bad skin, are reluctant(不情愿的) to speak, and just like girls over 14 are little interested in their studies. Seven out of ten parents said their sons become frustrated(挫败的) when they are not understood .

Unsurprisingly, it isn’t just British teenagers who have such problems.

In a survey published in the US last month, two out of three high school students said their life was tough. There was a universal worry over body image and ability to fit in socially.

Plenty of the teenagers feel great pressures to get good grades, with nearly half regarding this as their top worry. The next biggest issue is pressure they face to get into good college. According to the survey, 66 percent reported saving their money to pay for all or part of college.

“Today’s American teens have witnessed what their families have endured during recent economic challenges, and they are much more aware of the importance of planning ahead,” said Stuart Rubinstein, managing director with TD Ameritrade, which carried out the survey.

What is the article mainly about?

         A. What makes the lives of teenagers so hard?

         B. How to deal with teen problems?

         C. Stress faced by UK and US teenagers.

         D. Peer pressure faced by UK and US teenagers.

According to the survey, boys over 15 often feel great pressure to ______.

         A. grow up fast                  B. experiment with alcohol

         C. get into a good college                  D. be more open and communicative

The underlined word “universal” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to ______.

         A. global                     B. common                C. average                 D. reasonable

How have recent economic challenges affected American teens?

         A. They have become more concerned about their future.

         B. They are now more worried about the ability to fit in socially.

         C. They are attempting to learn more about money management.

         D. They are spending more time developing their practical skills.

Twenty-first century humanity has mapped oceans and mountains, visited the moon, and surveyed the planets. But for all the progress, people still don’t know one another very well.

That brings about Theodore Zeldin’s “feast of conversation”-events where individuals pair with persons they don’t know for three hours of guided talk designed to get the past “Where are you from?”

Mr.Zeldin, an Oxford University professor, heads Oxford Muse, a 10-year-old foundation based on the idea that what people need is not more information, but more inspiration and encouragement.

The “feast” in London looks not at politics or events, but at how people have felt about work, relations among the sexes, hopes and fears, enemies and authority, the shape of their lives. The “menu of conversation” includes topics like “How have your priorities changed over the years?” Or, “What have you rebelled against the past?”

As participants gathered, Zeldin opened with a speech: that despite instant communications in a globalized age, issues of human heart remain. Many people are lonely, or in routines that discourage knowing the depth of one another. “We are trapped in shallow conversations and the whole point now is to think, which is sometimes painful,” he says. “But thinking interaction is what separates us from other species, except maybe dogs…who do have generations of human interactions.”

The main rules of the “feast”: Don’t pair with someone you know or ask questions you would not answer. The only awkward moment came when the multi-racial crowd of young adults to seniors, in sun hats, ties and dresses, looked to see whom with for hours. But 15 minutes later, everyone was seated and talking, continuing full force until organizers interrupted them 180 minutes later.

“It’s encouraging to see the world is not just a place of oppression and distance from each other,” Zeldin summed up. “What we did is not ordinary, but it can’t be madder than the world already is.”

Some said they felt “liberated” to talk on sensitive topics. Thirty-something Peter, from East London, said that “it might take weeks or months to get to the level of interaction we suddenly opened up.”

What can the “conversations” be best described as?

    A. Deep and one-on-one. B. Sensitive and mad.

    C. Instant and inspiring.   D. Ordinary and encouraging.

In a “feast of conversations”, participants ______.

    A. pair freely with anyone they like

    B. have a guided talk for a set of period of time

    C. ask questions they themselves would not answer

    D. wear clothes reflecting multi-racial features.

From the passage, we can conclude that what Zeldin does is ______.

    A. an attempt to promote thinking interaction

    B. one of the maddest activities ever conducted

    C. a try to liberate people from old-fashioned ideas

    D. an effort to give people a chance of talking freely

“How did you do it, Dad ? How have you   21   not to take a drink for almost 20 years? ”It took me almost 20 years to have the  22  to even ask my father this very  23 question.

When Dad first 24  drinking, the whole family was on pins and needles  25  he got into a situation that, in the past, would have started him drinking again.For a few years we were  26  to bring it up for fear that the drinking would begin again.

“I had this little  27  that I would recite to myself  28  four to five times a day ” was Dad’s  29 to my 18-year-old unasked question.“The  30  were an instant relief and constant reminder to me that things were never so  31  that I could not handle them,”Dad said.And then he  32  the poem with me.The poem’s simple, yet profound (深奥的) words  33  became part of my daily routine as well.

About a month after this talk with my father,I  34  a gift in the mail from a friend of mine. It was a book of affirmations (断言) with one affirmation listed for each  35  of the year.

I 36  opened the book to the page of my birthday to see what words of wisdom this book had in store for me. 37  of disbelief and appreciation rolled down my face.There,on my birthday ,was the  38  poem that had helped my  39 for all these years! It is called The Sereniry Prayer.

God,give me the Serenity(平静)to accept the things I cannot change,the Courage to  40  the things I can,and the Wisdom to know the difference.

1.

A.failed

B.succeeded

C.managed

D.tried

 

2.

A.courage

B.ability

C.wisdom

D.confidence

 

3.

A.interesting

B.personal

C.hard

D.unanswered

 

4.

A.started

B.enjoyed

C.minded

D.stopped

 

5.

A.every time

B.all time

C.next time

D.last time

 

6.

A.anxious

B.glad

C.afraid

D.eager

 

7.

A.book

B.passage

C.poem

D.list

 

8.

A.at least

B.at most

C.at first

D.at last

 

9.

A.comment

B.praise

C.contribution

D.reply

 

10.

A.words

B.phrases

C.letters

D.sentences

 

11.

A.strange

B.different

C.simple

D.tough

 

12.

A.shared

B.talked

C.read

D.impressed

 

13.

A.surprisingly

B.immediately

C.increasingly

D.regularly

 

14.

A.brought

B.bought

C.received

D.accepted

 

15.

A.hour

B.week

C.month

D.day

 

16.

A.easily

B.hurriedly

C.sadly

D.peacefully

 

17.

A.Tears

B.Smiles

C.Sweat

D.Satisfaction

 

18.

A.correct

B.impossible

C.original

D.exact

 

19.

A.mother

B.father

C.friend

D.classmate

 

20.

A.believe

B.benefit

C.change

D.do

 

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