Alone in the light at the dining room table, surrounded by a nearly dark house, I sat in tears.
Finally, I  36  in getting both kids to bed. As a new single  37 , I had to be both Mommy and Daddy to my two little children.
With full rights of my children, I  38  to give them a normal and comfortable home life. I  39  a happy face for them.
I rose slowly, trying not to  40  even the least sound which might start them up  41 . I tiptoed(蹑手蹑脚地走) out of their room,  42  the door part way, and went downstairs.
And loneliness(孤独). I  43  as thought I were at the bottom(底部) of a great sea of loneliness. It all  44  together and I was at once lost. I sat there,  45  crying.
Just then, a pair of little  46  went around my middle and a little face looked up at me. I looked down into my five-year-old son’s  47  face.
I was shy to be  48  crying by my son. “I’m sorry. Ethan, I didn’t know you were still awake.” I don’t know why, but so many people  49  when they cry and I was no exception. “I didn’t  50  to cry. I’m just a little  51  tonight.”
“It’s ok, Daddy. It’s okay to cry; you’re just  52 .”
I couldn’t express(表达) how happy he made me, this little boy, who was simple, gave me  53  to cry. He seemed to be saying that I didn’t have to always be  54 , and that sometimes it was possible to allow myself to feel weak and let out my  55 .

Children start out as natural scientists, eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there’s no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children’s curiosity. Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about schooling, salary and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another in silence. Finally I said, “Now that we’re finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?”

After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper(蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?”

This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, adults typically wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children give more logical, complete and creative answers.

Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right” or “Very good”. These words work well when it comes to encouraging good behavior. But in talking about science, quick praise can signal that discussion is over. Instead, keep things going by saying “That’s interesting” or “I’d never thought of it that way before”, or coming up with more questions or ideas.

Never push a child to “Think”. It doesn’t make sense, children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What’s more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target(目标) for your disagreement.

Lastly, show; don’t tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lesson children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass(放大镜), and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates(蒸发), set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.

1.According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is _______.

A. to let them see the world around         

B. to share the children’s curiosity

C. to explain difficult phrases about science  

D. to supply the children with lab equipment

2. In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the word “lists” could best be replaced by ______.

A. any questions                                              B. any problems

C. questions from textbooks                         D. any number of questions

3.According to the passage, children can answer questions in a more logical, complete and creative way if adults ________.

A. ask them to answer quickly

B. wait for one or two seconds after a question

C. tell them to answer the next day

D. wait at least for three seconds after a question

4.In which of the following paragraph(s) does the author tell us what to say to encourage children in a science discussion?

A. The second and third.                    B. The fourth and fifth.

C. The fifth and sixth.                                                   D. The fifth.

5.The author mentions all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children’s curiosity except that adults should ________.

A. tell their children stories instead of reciting(背诵) facts.

B. offer their children chances to see things for themselves.

C. be patient enough when their children answer questions.

D. encourage their children to ask questions of their own.

完形填空 （共15小题； 每小题2分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从下列各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该题涂黑。

I climbed the stairs slowly，carrying a big suitcase，my father following with two more. By the time I got to the third floor，I was　1　and at the same time feeling lonely. Worse still，Dad　2　a step and fell，sending my new suitcases 　3　down the stairs. “Damn!”he screamed，his face turning red. I knew trouble was ahead. Whenever Dad's face turns red，　4　！

How could I ever　5　him to finish unloading the car without screaming at me and making a scene in front of the other girls，girls I would have to spend the rest of the  6  with？Doors were opening and faces peering out(探出)，as Dad walked with difficulty close behind. I felt it in my bones that my college life was getting off to a(n)　7　start.

“Enter the room quickly，”I thought. “Get him into a chair and calmed down.” But then again，would there be a chair in Room 316？Or would it be a(n)　8　room？

Finally I turned the key in the lock and   9   the door open，with Dad still   10    about a hurting knee or something. I put my head in，　11　the worst. But to my　12　，the room wasn't empty at all！It had furniture，curtains，a TV，and even paintings on the walls.

And there on a well??made bed sat Amy，my new roommate，dressed neatly. Greeting me with a nod，she said in a soft voice，“Hi，you must be Cori.” Then，she　13　the music and looked over at Dad. “And of course，you're Mr.Faber，”she said，　14　.“Would you like a glass of iced tea？”Dad's face turned 15　 less red before he could bring out a “yes.”

I knew then that Amy and I would be friends and my first year of college would be a success.

A few years ago my sister moved from her home in Alabama to Buffalo, New York. Since moving to Buffalo she’s become a big hockey fan and has encouraged me to start watching it. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to find hockey on television here in Alabama. Since hockey games don’t air very much on television I’ve had to look for different ways to watch hockey games.

I often see websites that claim if you go to their website you can watch television on your computer. I try out many of these websites hoping that one of the television stations is a northern station that airs hockey games. Unfortunately, most of them don’t work. Either the site doesn’t really give you what they advertise or their video player doesn’t work properly. But finally I’ve found one website that actually works.

Free Tube is a site that you can go to and watch Television online for free. You don’t have to download any kind of special software or pay money or even sign up for anything. All you have to do is go to Free Tube, choose your channel and start watching. 

The different channels to choose from are separated into different categories like news, business, entertainment, music and sports. You’re not going to find channels like NBC or ABC so you can watch the latest episode of Heroes or Grey’s Anatomy but it does include some popular channels like Cartoon Network and ESPN.

There is also a movie section. Each movie channel airs different sorts of films like adventure, classics, comedy or horror and that channel will always air that kind of movies. The movie section also includes my favorite station called Maxx Trailers (预告片). Maxx Trailers airs nothing but movies trailers 24 hours a day. Some of the trailers are for movies coming out and some are for movies that have already been released but already released movies don’t go back farther than a couple of months.

So far I haven’t had any problems with Free Tube’s video player either. Whenever I choose a channel, the video almost always works and usually loads every quickly. The only problem I have with Free Tube is that there is currently a glitch if you’re using Firefox. Once you choose a channel you can’t select another channel to change to, your web browser will freeze up. So if you’re using Firefox, the only way to switch channels is to leave the site and re-enter the site, when choosing what channel you want to go to. However, Free Tube is aware of this glitch and is working with Mozilla to get it fixed right away.

If you’re missing some show everyone is talking about like Grey’s Anatomy or Heroes, this isn’t really a solution for that. But Free Tube is a good way to find channels that you weren’t aware of; there are several good stations to be found.

1.The author mainly ________ in this passage.

A. tells us his experience in using the Web

B. introduces Free Tube to the readers

C. shows us the disadvantages of Free Tube

D. shows us how to enjoy films online

2.The author got interested in watching hockey games ________

A. because he is a sports fan

B. due to his sister’s influence

C. since everyone enjoys the games

D. because he has nothing to do all day long

3.From the passage we can learn that ______________

A. the author is also very fond of movies           

B. Maxx Trailers airs to-be-released movies

C. ABC is a very famous TV station in America   

D. Firefox is the only software used to watch films online

4. The underlined word “glitch” probably means _________

A. cover                 B. change            C. note                  D. fault

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal—that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck—of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract（合同）of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding（有回报的）.
【小题1】What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?