What’s the Matter with Kids Today?

Dear Michelle,

   Why can’t my daughter manage her life better? She is 17 and a top student, but she seems to be wasting her life away with a boyfriend who is holding her back. He uses up every waking minute of her precious time and smooth-talk(对花言巧语) her as well.

   His goal is to get her to agree to go to the college of his choice, not her choice, and because his grades are lower, his choices will be limited.

   I want to save her, but she pushes me away and shuts me out. She has only brought us pride and joy, and now this! Help!

                                                         A worried mother

Dear Mother of a 17-year-old girl,

  “Hmm…. What’s the matter with kids today?” Remember that song from Bye Bye Birdie?

  Well, if you do not, let me fill you in about teenagers and their life-management skills. Do not expect too much too soon because at the young age of 17, life-management is not within their reach, nor should it be. Both the conditions and the skills for life-management result from life experience, and if management goes before experience there would be little of it.

   Your daughter is a top student for good reasons. She is smart and studies with intelligence and you have given her good values.

   When the time comes for her to choose her college, and she visits the ones that were designed for students at the top of their game, she will most probably break away from her boyfriend’s influence.

  Few top students would change their life path just because of puppy love(早恋).

  That being said, there might be some childish wisdom in what she is doing after all.

  Perhaps she is choosing to worry you, her parents, for the reason that she does not know herself. Being such a good girl and being always a source of joy might have become a bit too much for her.

  Let your daughter have her own private moment of 11^th grade rebellion. It’s not unreasonable for her to break from perfection.

                                                               Michelle

56. From the mother’s letter we know that the 17-year-old girl ____.

  A. is staying with the boy day and night             B. wants to stay with the boy at college

  C. is falling behind in her studies                       D. does not like to talk with her mother

57. According to Michelle, a 17-year-old girl is too young to ____.

  A. fall in love                                                 B. have life-management skills

  C. fail life-management problems                    D. experience anything

58. Michelle seems to believe the 17-year-old girl will finally ____.

  A. come up with the right decision                    B. be persuaded by her boyfriend

  C. take her mother’s advice                           D. make her boyfriend follow her choice

59. By saying “childish wisdom”, Michelle means the girl might be trying to show her parents that she _____.

  A. has become tired of studying hard                  B. can’t be always obeying them

  C. likes her boyfriend very much                        D. is always perfect

      By the age of almost four,  Elijah Edney has never had a haircut in his life.  But now he can ' t wait to visit the barber's  -  for two reasons: losing his two - foot - long golden hair will mean   that strangers stop mistaking him for a girl; the hair will be donated to charity to provide a wig   (假发) for a child with cancer.

       Mrs.  Edney, who works in a restaurant, says, "Elijah has always had beautiful hair, so I let him grow it as he w8nted.  It' s like silk.  But now it is at a stage where people mistake him for a  girl and he wants it cut into a boy's haircut. "

       Mrs.  Edney and her husband want to collect enough money-£350-to process Elijah's hair  for a sick child.  She says,  "I couldn't bear to see all Elijah's beautiful hair go to waste and my  mum mentioned charities that have human hair made into wigs. "

       Mrs. Edney says, "If we can raise the amount we want, it will mean a family will not have   to pay for the wig and can receive it for free.  When you've got children yourself, you hope that if  they lost their hair someone would do the same for them by donating their hair. "

       The two-foot-long hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust (小公主信托基金)  to  make a wig for children suffering cancer. Elijah keeps telling people he is giving his hair to poor  princesses and he is so excited about it.

        A spokesman for the Little Princess Trust says, "We're very grateful to anyone who decides   to have their hair cut to donate it to the Little Princess Trust. As a result of hair donations like  this, the charity receives real-hair wigs for free to pass on to families whose children have sadly  lost their own hair through cancer treatment. "

  61. Why has Mrs.  Edney let Elijah's hair grow so long?

       A. Because Elijah has beautiful hair. 

 B. Because she likes long hair.

       C. Because Elijah looks nice with long hair.  

D. Because she wants to donate his hair to charity.

  62. Who first thought of charities that use human hair?

       A.  Elijah's father.                      B.  Elijah's mother.

       C.  Elijah himself.                      D.  Elijah's grandmother.

  63.  Elijah's parents try to raise money to _________.

       A. pay the barber for his work         

    B. process his hair into a wig

       C. give the Little Princess Trust along with a wig

       D. give a child who lost his hair through cancer treatment

  64. What does Elijah think of his hair being given to a charity?

       A. He doesn't care about it.                B. He wants to keep it a secret.

       C. He is excited about it.                  D. He feels sad for poor children.

  65. According to the last paragraph, the Little Princess Trust________.

       A. encourages people to cut their hair to donate it

       B. welcomes and gives thanks for such donations

       C. gives free wigs to children who have lost their hair

       D. provides treatment for children with cancer

Internet has become part of young people’s life. You can do lots of things on line such as chatting, sending messages and emails, getting useful knowledge and information, buying things without going to the shops, visiting cool websites, and so on. But it’s also easy to be cheated online. Here’s a story about a girl named Mary.

Mary is an 18-year-old girl who lives in New York. The people in Mary’s family are so busy that they hardly have time to be with her. In fact, Mary is quite lonely. So she spends a lot of time on QQ.

Last year Mary made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and he lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Mary had a common interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot the time. David sent Mary a picture of “himself”: he was a tall, good-looking young man with a big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.

Before David’s birthday, Mary wanted to give him a surprise. She flew to San Francisco. But when Mary knocked on David’s door, she found that the special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!

So when you make friends on the Internet, please be careful. Here are some rules to make sure you are safe and have fun on the Internet.

u    Don’t give your password to anyone else, and never let out the following information: your real name, home address, age, school, phone number or other personal information.

u    Never agree to meet someone you met on the Internet without your parents’ permission. Never meet anyone you met online alone.

u    Always remember that people online may not be who they say they are. Treat everyone online as if they were strangers.

u    Remember — not everything you read on the Internet is true.

1.Why does Mary spend a lot of her time on QQ?

A．Because she feels lonely.

B．Because she doesn’t like learning.

C．Because she wants to make a boyfriend.

D．Because she likes computer games.

2.Mary thought David was special because __________.

A．he was tall and good-looking               B．he sent her a picture of himself

C．he was from San Francisco                D．he made her quite happy on QQ.

3.It’s good for children to _________ on the Internet.

A．give password to others

B．get useful knowledge and information

C．give phone number to others

D．believe everything they read

4.What shouldn’t be done when you are online according to the passage?

A．Sending messages and emails.

B．Visiting cool websites.

C．Giving your real name to others.

D．Treating everyone online as strangers.

5.What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Things might not be real on the Internet.

B．It’s not good to chat on QQ.

C．Don’t meet some one you get to know on QQ.

D．Don’t buy anything on line.

Internet has become part of young people’s life. You can do lots of things on line such as chatting, sending messages and emails, getting useful knowledge and information, buying things without going to the shops, visiting cool websites, and so on. But it’s also easy to be cheated online. Here’s a story about a girl named Mary.
Mary is an 18-year-old girl who lives in New York. The people in Mary’s family are so busy that they hardly have time to be with her. In fact, Mary is quite lonely. So she spends a lot of time on QQ.
Last year Mary made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and he lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Mary had a common interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot the time. David sent Mary a picture of “himself”: he was a tall, good-looking young man with a big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.
Before David’s birthday, Mary wanted to give him a surprise. She flew to San Francisco. But when Mary knocked on David’s door, she found that the special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!
So when you make friends on the Internet, please be careful. Here are some rules to make sure you are safe and have fun on the Internet.
u    Don’t give your password to anyone else, and never let out the following information: your real name, home address, age, school, phone number or other personal information.
u    Never agree to meet someone you met on the Internet without your parents’ permission. Never meet anyone you met online alone.
u    Always remember that people online may not be who they say they are. Treat everyone online as if they were strangers.
u    Remember — not everything you read on the Internet is true.
【小题1】Why does Mary spend a lot of her time on QQ?