Babies are born yogis. Once we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and laugh about it. Then we aged, got injured, and began carrying stress in our shoulders and back. In short, we lost our balance.

Yoga(瑜伽) is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. I was seriously out of balance when I started practicing yoga in 1999. I had plantar facilities in both feet, and my doctor had warned me against all the things I loved to do: walking, hiking, and playing tennis. I was desperate for exercise. Yoga became my salvation and even enhanced my other fitness activities. I practice yoga at least twice a week, but I consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after a while you no longer just practice yoga—you love it.

Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one pose to the other. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. “Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone,” says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K.I.S.S. Guide to Yoga. “Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism (新陈代谢), it also helps to regulate weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be removed around the cells.” I do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses.

Yoga becomes part of your mental life. Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses. This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist’s chair, and in traffic jams. You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time “fighting” yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you “surrender” to the pose by letting go of the tension.

Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life. Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is not restricted to any religious group. Yoga teaches “right” living in how we deal with ourselves and others. As I work on a difficult pose, I learn patience, forgiveness, and the value of gentleness. Yoga advocates proper eating, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga.

1.What would be the best title for this passage?

A.What’s Yoga?

B.How I Do Yoga Poses

C.The Benefits of Yoga

D.The Varieties of Yoga

2.According to the third paragraph, yoga can help people __________.

A.grow taller

B.lose weight

C.become flexible in thinking

D.make more friends

3.People feel tired after yoga because __________.

A.they consume energy in practicing yoga

B.they respond well to yoga poses

C.they spend too much time on yoga

D.they force themselves into yoga poses

4.If this passage continues, what will the writer most probably write about in the next paragraph?

A.Yoga as a means to keep fit.

B.Who may like yoga

C.Popularity of yoga all over the world.

D.Encouraging people to do yoga.

 

Homeschool materials are every where .In fact, as a homeschool parent, one of the best learning tools you can use is making use of songs. Think of it .When you hear your favorite songs come on the radio and as soon as the lyrics begin , you can join in at once and sing along. Perhaps,  you haven’t heard this song for months or even years! Doesn’t it amaze you? There is no doubt that learning through lyric and rhyme(韵律)is a great way!

With some careful searching , you can come up with many songs ,lyrics ,and rhymes that fit well with your homeschool lesson plan or unit study. Some places even have songs that have the same themes with the lessons. They are perfect to be used to add to your homeschool materials ! Even if you don’t find a particular great song for what you may be teaching at the time, you can write your own. With a little practice, you can not only write your own songs over time but also be surprised how good you can become.

Take any of the traditional chidren’s  songs and modify(修改) them to meet your needs .This is an interesting exercise for both you and your children. It helps you with reading , recognizing(识别)sounds, and improving memory. Soon you’ll have your children want to write and sing their own songs!

Song and singing is such a great way to teach your children. It’s fun and relaxing. Sometimes. you really need such a break from your study and work .It will cost nothing. So turn your creativity and imagination loose and have fun .Whisrle (吹口哨) while you work!

1.In Paragraph 1,the author proves his point through______

A. his favorite songs                 B. his own experience

C. people’s common experience            D. singing along with the radio

2.What does the underlined word “They” in  Paragraph 2 refer to?

A .Songs.     B. Themes.      C. Lessons      D. Places

3.According to the passage, modifying traditional songs can ______

A. improve people’s writing ability

B. make materials more interesting

C. help children sing better

D. help people improve memory

4.The passage is probably written to______

A .homeschool students

B. homeschool parents

C .all the children

D. school teachers

5.Which of the follwing would be the best title for the passage?

A. How to raise children at home

B. How to find homeschool materials

C. Homeschool materials in songs

D .Children’s singing materials

 

I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language — the way it can evoke(唤起) an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all — all the Englishes I grew up with.

Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But I feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions (认识) of the limited English speaker.

I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly, her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.

I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal(内在的) language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.

1.By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that       .

A.she uses English in foreign trade

B.she is fascinated by languages

C.she works as a translator

D.she is a writer by profession

2.The author used to think of her mother’s English as      .

A.impolite

B.amusing

C.imperfect

D.practical

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A.Americans do not understand broken English.

B.The author’s mother was not respected sometimes.

C.The author’s mother had positive influence on her.

D.Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A.The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English.

B.The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother.

C.The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English.

D.The author’s experiences of using broken English.

 

Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum (论坛) asking what "PK" meant. "My family has been watching the 'Super Girl' singing competition TV program . My little daughter asked me what 'PK' meant, but I had no idea," explained the puzzled father.

To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, "PK" is short for "Player Kill", in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other.

In the case of the "Super Girl" singing competition, "PK" was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition ranking.

Like this father, Chinese teachers at high schools have also been finding their students' compositions using Internet jargons (行话) which are difficult to understand. A high school teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn't understand.

"My 'GG' came back this summer from college. He told me I've grown up to be a 'PLMM'. I loved to 'FB' with him together; he always took me to the 'KPM'," went one composition.

"GG" means Ge Ge (Chinese pinyin for brother). "PLMM" refers to Piao Liang Mei Mei (beautiful girl). "FB" means Fu Bai (corruption). "KPM" is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's.

Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language.

If you do not even know what a Kong Long (dinosaur, referring to an ugly looking female) or a Qing Wa (frog, referring to an ugly looking male) is, you will possibly be regarded as a Cai Niao!

1.By writing the article, the writer tries to  ________ .

A.explain some Internet language

B.suggest common Internet language

C.laugh at the Beijing father

D.draw our attention to Internet language

2.What does the writer think about the term "PK"?

A.Fathers can't possibly know it.

B.The daughter should understand it.

C.Online game players may know it.

D."Super Girl" shouldn't have used it.

3.The examples of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons ________ .

A.are used not only online

B.can be understood very well

C.are welcomed by all the people

D.cause trouble to our mother tongue

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A.A puzzled father

B.Do you speak Internet-ish?

C.Keep away from Internet-ish

D.Kong Long or Qing Wa?

 

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