“What’s that?” my ten-year-old daughter, Genie, asked. She’d caught me laughing at a piece of mail I’d just opened. “Wake-up service, $2.50 per call.” At the bottom was a phone number and a drawing of a rotary phone, like the one my great- aunt Sara had owned 40 years ago.

“Is that mail funny?” Genie asked.

“Not really,” I admitted. “It’s just outdated.”

“What’s a wake-up call?” She asked. I explained how, before smart-phones, people sometimes paid someone to wake them with a call.

“Who sent this flyer(传单)?” she pressed.

“Probably someone older,” I said.

Her eyes lit up. “Can we order a wake-up?” she asked.

“We don’t need it.” I picked it up and headed for the recycling bin.

“Wait!” she screamed. “I feel sorry for the wake-up man, if he needs some money,” she said, tearing up. “Can’t we order?”

I looked at the flyer with its drawing of a rotary phone. I remembered, again, my great-aunt Sara and her rotary phone. As a kid, I’d visited her over Labor Day, when Jerry Lewis would host his charity event for the disabled kids. Aunt Sara would squeeze my hand, then reach for the rotary phone, dialing the number on the screen. Holding the receiver between us, we’d announce to the operator, “We’d like to help those kids.”

Now here was my own child, showing the same big heart I’d once been encouraged to have, and how could I ignore her? I googled the flyer’s return address. The address belonged to a man called Raymond. He was in his mid-60s. We called him and, holding the receiver between us, the way Aunt Sara and I used to, told him we needed his services. “Great!” Raymond said in a shaky but friendly voice, clearly amazed at receiving an order from a child.

Genie was happy all week.

Technology has made some things outdated. But there are still other things the world will always require. In the rush of my daily life, I’d temporarily forgotten that, I guess I just needed a wake-up call.

1.Why did Genie beg to order the service?

A. She was afraid of being late.

B. She wanted to help the old man.

C. She was curious about the service.

D. She was interested in the rotary phone.

2.What made the author finally decide to order a wake-up call?

A. Her own childhood experience.

B. The less fortunate wake-up man.

C. Genie’s curiosity about the service.

D. The information she found on Google.

3.How did Raymond feel when receiving our order?

A. Excited. B. Disappointed.

C. Doubtful. D. Regretful.

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

A. A Wake-up Man B. A Kindhearted Girl

C. The Wake-up Call D. The Rotary Phone

A murder will occur this weekend in the peaceful seaside town of Langley, Washington. In fact, a murder has occurred there every February for the past 25 years. But don’t panic! It’s all part of the town’s yearly Mystery Weekend.

What began as a local event in 1984 now attracts visitors from over the U.S. and even abroad. Would-be detectives (侦探) arrive and check in at the visitor center on Saturday. There, they receive a packet, including a newspaper with details about the crime and information telling where to find clues (线索). Participants then travel to various shops, restaurants and other downtown locations, picking up clues as they go. Along the way, they encounter and interview suspects played by local townspeople. Most Langley residents participate in some way in the Mystery Weekend, a true community event.

Amateur (业余的) detectives have until Sunday at 4:00 p.m. to solve the crime and turn in their guesses. Then as everyone gathers, the murderer is found and arrested, and prizes are awarded for correct answers. It’s the perfect ending for a murder mystery and enormous fun for those who get to play detectives.

For visitors, Mystery Weekend is not only fun but also a great introduction to the charms of Langley. It’s a very attractive community with historic buildings, exciting ocean views and above all, friendly people. Since Langley is on an island, a fun way to get there is by taking a ferry to the nearby town of Clinton and then driving the rest of the way. Langley has a delightful selection of inns with beds and breakfasts that are open all year round. And activities in Langley aren’t limited to Mystery Weekend. There is also great hiking, biking, golfing and diving to enjoy. And for a special adventure, visitors can book one of the whale–watching ships that leave nearby harbors each day.

1.The second paragraph mainly tells us _______.

A. where participants can pick up the clues

B. why the detectives try to clear up the case

C. when Mystery Weekend came into being

D. what people do during Mystery Weekend

2.How can you get to Clinton according to the passage?

A. By car B. By train

C. By boat D. By plane

3.According to the passage, visitors in Langley can _______.

A. book inns open throughout the year to their own taste

B. take a ferry to Clinton for a special adventure

C. enjoy a wide variety of recreation like dancing and singing

D. feel safe to watch whales performing

4.We learn from the text that Mystery Weekend _______.

A. aims to decrease crime rate B. is an annual local event

C. offers visitors a chance to make money D. is intended for detectives

Your children are watching you. 1. According to the Health Program, developing healthy habits is an important part for your children. And when it comes to developing healthy habits, parents influence their children more than anyone else.

2.What happens during those early years can influence children for the rest of their lives. This includes some eating and exercise habits. Children are very careful, even at a young age. Children watch what others do carefully and imitate the behaviors of those closest to them. As parents, you should do the following: 3. If you do that, your children are more likely to be enthusiastic about developing theirs.

Let your children see you taking care of your own physical health by eating fruits and vegetables. Talk to them about healthy habits in appropriate terms and at a proper time.4.

5. Computers, televisions and other forms of technology are a major part of life in the 21st century. Unfortunately, as the use of technology in the home increases, so docs the time spent watching TV or playing on the computer. So as parents, you should also arrange the time for your children wisely.

A. Don’t get rid of technology, but use it wisely.

B. Take part in physical activities and exercise regularly.

C. Be enthusiastic about developing healthy habits of your own.

D. Your actions are speaking to them louder than your words will.

F. Children prefer to imitate their parents rather than listen to them.

F. This can be helpful to teach your children to form good eating habits.

G. It s easy for the children to form their healthy habits when they are young.

The more hours young children spend in child care, the more likely they are to turn out aggressive and disobedient by the time they are in kindergarten, according to the largest study of child care and development ever conducted. Researchers said this correlation(相关性) held true regardless of whether the children came from rich or poor homes, were looked after by a relative or at a center, and whether they were girls or boys.

What is uncertain, however, is whether the child care actually causes the problem or whether children likely to turn out aggressive happen to be those who spend more hours in child care. It also remains unclear whether reducing the amount of time in child care will reduce the risk that a child will turn into a mean person. What's more, quality child care is associated with increased skills in intellectual ability such as language and memory, leading some academics to suggest that child care turns out children who are "smart and naughty".

The government-sponsored research, which has tracked more than 1,300 children at 10 sites across the country since 1991, is bound to cause the debate over child care again: How should people balance work and family? And how should parents, especially mothers, resolve the demands that are placed on them to be both breadwinners and supermoms?

That debate was already on display at a new briefing yesterday, where researchers themselves had different opinions about the data and its implications(含义). "There is a constant relationship between time in care and problem behavior, especially those involving aggression and behavior," said Jay Belsky of Birkbeck College in London, one of the lead investigators of the study who has previously annoyed women's groups because of his criticisms of child care. "On behalf of fathers or mothers?" interrupted Sarah Friedman, a developmental psychologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and one of the other lead scientists on the study. "On behalf of parents and families," responded Belsky.

"NICHD is not willing to get into policy recommendations," said Friedman, contradicting her colleague. "There are other possibilities that can be entertained. Yes it is a quick solution—more hours in child care is associated with more problems. The easy solution is to cut the number of hours but that may have implications for the family that may not be beneficial for the development of the children in terms of economics." In an interview after the briefing, Friedman said that asking parents to work fewer hours and spend more time with their children usually meant a loss of family income, which adversely(不利地)affects children.

Scientists said that the study was highly reliable. But the researchers said they had no whether the behavioral difficulties persisted as the children moved to higher grades.

1.Children who spend more time in quality child care will ________.

A. develop greater ability in language

B. be easy to manage and less naughty

C. possess great risk-taking spirit

D. be greedy and mean to their classmates

2.What is still unknown about higher level of aggressiveness in kindergarten children?

A. Whether higher level of aggressiveness can be avoided with longer child care.

B. Where longer child care equally affects children from different families.

C. Whether aggressiveness is a direct result of longer child care.

D. Whether longer child care improves intellectual ability in children.

3.In the fifth paragraph the word "it" probably mean “________”.

A. NICHD is unwilling to give parents recomme ndations

B. NICHD is willing to give policy advice concerning child care

C. the number of hours in child care should be reduced significantly

D. parents should discipline the behavior of their children more strictly

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