As nanny(保姆), cook, cleaner, shopper, driver, and gardener, she has one of the most demanding jobs in Britain today. And paying someone else to do the chores(家务活) which take the average housewife 71 hours a week would cost ?349.
At over ?18,000 a year that’s more than the earnings of 70 percent of the population, including train drivers, firemen, prison officers, and social worker. Looking after a baby less than a year old takes a housewife into a even higher pay league. According to a stud, she earns ?457 a week – at nearly ?24,000 a year, the same as teachers, engineers, and chemists.
Researchers put a price on each chore, then tried to find out how long the average person takes doing them. They found housewives spend an average 70.7 hours a week on housework – with looking after the children (17.9hours) and cooking and cleaning (12.9 hours each) the most time-consuming(费时).
A wife with a part-time job still works and average of 59 hours a week at home. Those in full-time employment put in longer hours at home than in the workplace. The good news is that these hours sharply as children get older. While the average mother with child under one puts in 90 hours weekly, the figure drops to 80 hours from one to four and to 66 hours from five to ten.
Mother-of-four Karen Williams from London said, “Paying the housewives may not be practical, but the government should recognize the value of housework, perhaps through the tax. Running a house takes a lot of time and most husbands don’t understand this. For example, my husband only puts a shelf up now and again. He never cleans the kitchen – that’s the real test.”
【小题1】Who earns most according to the text?

Yoga（瑜伽）is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. After a long time of practice yoga, you no longer just practice it — you love it.

Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned（有弹性的）, and more flexible as you move from one pose to another. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. “Rather than building muscles, yoga builds muscle tone,” says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of KISS Guide to Yoga. “Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism（新陈代谢）, and it also helps to control weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat around the cells disappear, thus losing weight.”

I do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need an increase in energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative（恢复体力的）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（使消除）stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis court, in the dentist’s chair, and when I’m stuck in traffic.

You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, but 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 poses by letting go of the tension.

64. What will be talked about if this passage continues?

A. Yoga is becoming part of your spiritual life.

B. Yoga is becoming popular all over the world.

C. The disadvantages of yoga.

D. Encouraging people to do yoga.

65. According to the second paragraph, yoga can help people ___.

   A. grow tall                  B. lose weight C. be flexible in thinking         D. make friends

66. Why does a person feel tired after yoga?

A. Because when practicing yoga, people will consume a lot of energy.

B. Because he or she surrenders to the poses by letting go of the tension.

C. Because yoga doesn’t benefit all the people.

D. Because he or she doesn’t do yoga poses naturally.

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

   A. What’s yoga?                                                        B. How do I do yoga poses?

   C. The benefits of yoga.                                     C. The varieties of yoga.

New rules for middle school students came out in March. Middle school is going to use a new way to decide who the top students are. The top students won’t only have high marks. They will also be kids who don’t dye（color）their hair, smoke or drink. The following are some of the new rules.

Tell the truth. Have you ever copied someone else’s work on an exam? Don’t do it again! That’s not something an honest student should do. If you have played computer games for two hours in your room, don’t tell your parents you have done homework.

    Do more at school. Good students love animals and care for other people. April is Bird-Loving Month in China. Is your school doing anything to celebrate? You should join! That way, you can learn more about animals and how to protect them. When more people work together, it makes it more fun for everyone. Have you ever quarreled with your teammates when your basketball team lost? Only working together can make your team stronger. Be friendly to the people you are with. Try to think of others not only yourself.

    Be open to new ideas. Have you ever thought that people could live on the moon? Maybe you’ll discover Earth II someday. Don’t look down on new ideas. Everyone’s ideas are important. You should welcome them, because new ideas make life better for everyone.

    Protect yourself. Has someone ever taken money from one of your classmates? Don’t let it happen to you. If you have to go home late, you should let your parents know.

Use the Internet carefully. The Internet can be very useful for your studies. But some things on the Internet aren’t for kids, so try to look at Web pages that are good for you. You can use the Web for fun or homework.

66. How did the author construct the passage?

1.Which of the following persons can be a top student?

A. Tom who dyes his hair has good marks.

B. John is good at study and easy to accept new ideas.

C. Mary is always helping others and never uses the Internet.

D. Jack, a caring boy, likes quarreled with his classmates

2.According to the third paragraph, a top student should ______.

A. make the team stronger                                B. work together with others

C. be a good friend to others                                      D. get on well with others

3.The passage tells us how to ______.

A. be top students                                        B. do more at school

C. care for others                                          D. use the Internet

4.According to the new rules, a top student should do all the following except ______.

A. tell the truth                                              B. be open to new ideas

C. use the Internet carefully                      D. think only other people

An old problem is getting new attention in the United States—bullying. Recent cases included the tragic case of a fifteen-year-old girl whose family moved from Ireland. She hanged herself in Massachusetts in January following months of bullying. Her parents criticized her school for failing to protect her. Officials have brought criminal charges against several teenagers.

Judy Kuczynski is president of an anti-bullying group called Bully Police USA. Her daughter Tina was the victim of severe bullying starting in middle school in the state of Minnesota. Her said, "Our daughter was a very outgoing child. She was a bubbly personality, very involved in all kinds of things, had lots of friends. And over a period of time her grades fell completely. She started having health issues. She couldn't sleep. She wasn't eating. She had terrible stomach pains. She started clenching her jaw and grinding her teeth at night. Didn't want to go to school."

Bullying is defined as negative behavior repeated over time against the same person. It can involve physical violence. Or it can be verbal — for example, insults or threats. Spreading lies about someone or excluding a person from a group is known as social or relational bullying.

And now there is cyber bullying, which uses the Internet, e-mail or text messages. It has easy appeal for the bully because it does not involve face-to-face contact and it can be done at any time.

The first serious research studies into bullying were done in Norway in the late 1970s. The latest government study in the United States was released last year. It found that about one-third of students age twelve to eighteen were bullied at school.

Susan Sweater is a psychologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and co-director of the Bullying Research Network. She says schools should treat bullying as a mental health problem to get bullies and victims the help they need. She says bullying is connected to depression, anxiety and anti-social behavior, and bullies are often victims themselves.

66．From the case of Tina, we can know that            .

A．bullying is rare        B．victims suffered a lot

C．schools are to blame D．personalities are related

67．Which of the following is NOT bullying?

A．To beat someone repeatedly.   B．To call someone names.

C．To isolate someone from friends.    D．To refuse to help someone in need.

68．Why is cyber bullying appealing to the bully?

A．Because it can involve more people.      B．Because it can create worse effects.

C．Because it is more convenient.       D．Because it can avoid cheating.

69．According to Susan Sweater,           .

A．bullies are anti-social      B．bullies should give victims help

C．students are not requally treated     D．bullies themselves also need help

70．Which of the following can be the best title of the text?

A．Bullying—Old Irish Girl Committed Suicide

B．15-Year-Old Irish Girl Committed Suicide

C．Cyberbullying-Taking Off in Schools

D．How to Find Bullying among Teens

C
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human condition is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful (有压力的) conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support money aid, material resources, and needed services - that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.
66. Interpersonal relationships are important because they can ________
A.    make people live more easily                     B.  smooth away daily problems
C.    deal with life changes                            D.    cure types of illnesses
67. The researches show that people's physical and mental health _______
A. lies in the social medical care systems which support them
B. has much to do with the amount of support they get from others
C. depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles
D. is related to their courage for dealing with major life changes
68. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "cushions"?
A.    takes place of         B. makes up of      
C.    lessens the effect of    D. gets rid of
69. Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work in spare time is an example of ________
A. instrumental support             B. informational support
C. social companionship             D. the strengthening of self-respect
70. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. Interpersonal relationships.                 B. Kinds of social support.
C. Ways to deal with stress.              D. Effects of stressful condition.