Being a mother is apparently not like it was in the good old days.
　　Today’s parents yearn for the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found. Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to handle work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.
The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did – just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day. And 64 per cent said this was because they felt they ‘had’ to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the ‘perfect mother’, the report found.
Other findings showed social networking and parenting websites, as well as technology such as Skype, were important in providing help and support among female communities. Kate Fox, a member of the Social Issues Research Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: ‘With increasing pressure on mothers to work a “double shift”— to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner — support networks are more important than ever.
It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialised nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a ‘primary activity’. Mothers who stay at home, on the other hand, manage twice as much time – more than two and a half hours – looking after their offspring, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
　　Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their offspring in the hands of nurseries or childminders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.
　　The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them - even if their husband is not in work. A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child - 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work. Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children.
【小题1】What does the underlined phrase “yearn for” probably means ___________.

A．Skype is a very famous expert in studying social issues

B．working mothers can seek help on line

C．working mothers’ double shift is to be a wife and a mother

D．Kate Fox has opened a website offering help to working mothers

A．it is wise for working mothers to put their kids in nurseries or childminders

B．children do not like nurseries or childminders at all

C．nurseries or childminders are dangerous places for children

D．too much time in nurseries or childminders is bad for kids’ mental and physical health

A teacher of English as a second language is the 2004 Teacher of the Year in the United States.Kathy Mellor of Rhode Island will spend the next year as an international spokeswoman for education.President Bush and his wife,Laura,honored her during a ceremony（仪式）at the White House last week.

For the past nineteen years,Kathy Mellor has taught English as a second language at Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown,Rhode Island,in the northeastern United States.She redesigned the program for E.S.L students at her school to provide each student with one to three periods per day in classes for English learners.How much instruction the students get depends on their level of skill in listening,speaking,reading and writing.The amount of time they spend in these classes is reduced as their level of English increases.

A teacher describes this as the most successful E.S.L.program in North Kingstown.She also praises Kathy Mellor for providing help to students and their families by forming a local parents group for speakers of other languages.This improved their ability to help their children.Kathy Mellor earned a master’s degree in education from Rhode Island College.She studied teaching English as a second language.

She was chosen for the national honor of Teacher of the Year from among top teachers in each of the fifty states.As Teacher of the Year,Kathy Mellor will travel around the United States and to other countries.She will talk about the importance of education and the work of teachers.

50.This passage is mainly about______.

A.Teacher of the Year 2004 in the United States

B.Ms Mellor’s English teaching instruction

C.Ms Mellor’s teaching skills of learning English

D.praises to Ms Mellor from other teachers

51.What does“E.S.L.”in the passage stand for?

A.English study learners.　　　　                           B.English speaking and listening.

C.English special learners.　　　　                       D.English as a second language.

52.From this passage we can learn that______.

A.middle school teachers from each state are honored Teachers of the Year

B.middle school teachers in the USA have to get master’s degrees

C.Ms Mellor’s students have no problems in learning English

D.the American government pays much attention to education

Do you know why different animals or pests (昆虫) have their special colors? Colors in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves.

　　Some birds like eating locusts (蝗虫), but birds cannot easily catch them. Why? It is because locusts change their colors together with the change of the colors of crops(庄稼). When crops are green, locusts look green. But as the harvest time comes, locusts change to the same brown color as crops have. Some other pests with different colors from plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves for lives and appear only at night.

If you study the animal life, you’ll find the main use of coloring is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through forests. They cannot be easily seen by hunters (猎人). This is because they have the colors much like the trees.

Have you ever noticed an even stranger act? A kind of fish in the sea can send out a kind of very black liquid (液体)when it faces danger. While the liquid spreads over (散开), its enemies (敌人)cannot find it. And it immediately swims away. So it has lived up to now though it is not strong at all.

From the passage we learn that locusts________.

A. are small animals                  B. are easily found by birds

C. are dangerous to their enemies    D. change their colors to protect themselves

How can pests with different colors from plants keep out of danger?

A. They run away quickly.         

B. They have the colors much like their enemies.

C. They hide themselves by day and appear at night.      

D. They have to move quietly.

Bears and lions can keep safe because _________.

A. they have the colors much like the trees     B. they move quietly

C. they like brown and gray colors             D. they live in forests

Why can the kind of fish live up to now?

A. Because it is very and strong.     

B. Because the liquid it sends out can help it escape from its enemies.

C. Because the liquid it sends out can kill its enemies.

D. Because it swims faster than any other fish.

Which is the best title for this passage?

A. The Change of Colors for Animals and Pests　 　

B. Colors of Different Animals and Pests

C. The Main Use of Colors for Animals and Pests　　

D. Some Animals and Pests

When you are far away from home for the first time and have a lot to adjust to，you can't do it alone. However independent you are，it is good to have a roommate during your first year.
Living with someone helps ease your loneliness. Sure it may seem appealing to be able to play your music and turn up your TV as loud as you want, but coming home to an empty room every day can be depressing. If you have a bad day, you may want to talk to someone.
Friends are great sources of venting (宣泄), but friends can't always be there. Even worse, they may be self­centered and show no interest in your problem. It's not that roommates aren't like this, but even just small talk can help you feel better.
Having a roommate teaches you how to get along with people and settle conflict. You two should set up rules immediately and discuss what to do when there is conflict. If you two don't like each other，you still study，relax，and sleep in the same room. You must find a way to get along.
Finally，having a roommate exposes (使接触) you to different ways of living. Your roommate may come from a different city，and have different living habits. He or she also has different interests and personalities. You don't have to end up liking the same things your roommate does，but try to learn something different. You will be surrounded by many different people in college and have the chance to try things you never have before. Why not start learning from your roommate？
Having a roommate gives you the skills and personal background you will need to utilize (利用) when you are out on your own. Make the most of living with a stranger and besides，there will be plenty of opportunities for you to have your own room later in your college years.
【小题1】Who are probably the intended readers of the passage？

As society advances and basic needs are most often being met, things that were not considered important in the past have taken priority(优先). In the past, people could easily get a job and progress pretty well, as long as they were hard-working; education was important but not as crucial(关系重大) as it is today.

Nowadays, just as clothes are important to first impressions, degree is important to a person’s first job interview or even a job with a good salary. Although experience is important to survive in any trade or profession, the first thing that companies look for is that piece of paper before looking at one’s experience.

A passport into the world of any profession is what having a degree means today, especially for professions that have need of certification and pay well, such as architects, doctors, lawyers, and teachers.

That piece of paper, the degree, is also a passport to jobs in top or middle management in any company, especially so for multi-national corporations(跨国公司). Having a degree opens up opportunities that one would not have had if one did not have any kind of degree. A degree simply proves that one has gone through the necessary training and understanding of how to carry out a job.

Although there are many that may say having a degree may not necessarily equal to success, it would most definitely help any person achieve success in shorter and easier steps. Success cannot simply be a result of hard work and/or depending on one’s experience or degree alone; it is the art and knowledge of how to work that determines one’s success. Therefore, it should not be for the sake to get a degree, but the quality of the degree and experiences that one can learn from that matter as well.

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

A. People used to be hard-working

B. How important is the degree?　　

C. How can we enter the top management?

D. Degree surely leads to success

2.Why does the author mention clothes in the second paragraph?

A. To prove the importance of the first impression.

B. To stress the importance of job interviews.　　

C. To show the importance of clothes.

D. To explain the importance of degree.

3.What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A. Having a degree

B. Success

C. Necessary training

D. Having an opportunity