Two friends have an argument that breaks up their friendship forever, even though neither one can remember how the whole thing got started. Such sad events happen over and over in high schools across the country. In fact, according to an official report on youth violence, “In our country today, the greatest threat to the lives of children and adolescents is not disease or starvation or abandonment, but the terrible reality of violence”. Given that this is the case, why aren’t students taught to manage conflict the way they are taught to solve math problems, drive cars, or stay physically fit?

First of all, students need to realize that conflict is unavoidable. A report on violence among middle school and high school students indicates that most violent incidents between students begin with a relatively minor insult. For example, a fight could start over the fact that one student eats a peanut butter sandwich each lunchtime. Laughter over the sandwich can lead to insults, which in turn can lead to violence. The problem isn’t in the sandwich, but in the way students deal with the conflict.

Once students recognize that conflict is unavoidable, they can practice the golden rule of conflict resolution: stay calm. Once the student feels calmer, he or slid should choose words that will calm the other person down as well. Rude words, name-calling, and accusation only add fuel to the emotional fire. On the other hand, soft words spoken at a normal sound level can put out the fire before it explodes out of control.

After both sides have calmed down, they can use another key strategy for conflict resolution: listening. Listening allows the two sides to understand each other. One person should describe his or her side, and the other person should listen without interrupting. Afterward, the listener can ask non-threatening questions to clarify the speaker’s position. Then the two people should change roles.

Finally, students need to consider what they are hearing. This doesn’t mean trying to figure out what’s wrong with the other person. It means understanding what the real issue is and what both sides are trying to accomplish. For example, a shouting match over a peanut butter sandwich might happen because one person thinks the other person is unwilling to try new things. Students need to ask themselves questions such as these: How did this start? What do I really want? What am I afraid of? As the issue becomes clearer, the conflict often simply becomes smaller. Even if it doesn’t, careful thought helps both sides figure out a mutual solution.

There will always be conflict in schools, but that doesn’t mean there needs to be violence. After students in Atlanta started a conflict resolution program, according to Educators for Social Responsibility, “64% of the teachers reported less physical violence in the classroom; 75% of the teachers reported an increase in student cooperation; and 92% of the students felt better about themselves”. Learning to resolve conflicts can help students deal with friends, teachers, parents, bosses, and coworkers. In that way, conflict resolution is a basic life skill that should be taught in schools across the country.

1.This article is mainly about              .

A．the lives of school children                B．the cause of arguments in schools

C．how to analyze youth violence             D．how to deal with school conflicts

2.From Paragraph 2 we can learn that              .

A．violence is more likely to occur at lunchtime

B．a small conflict can lead to violence

C．students tend to lose their temper easily

D．the eating habit of a student is often the cause of a fight

3.Why do students need to ask themselves the questions stated in Paragraph 5?

A．To make clear what the real issue is.

B．To get ready to try new things.

C．To find out who is to blame.

D．To figure out how to stop the shouting match.

4.After the conflict resolution program was started in Atlanta, it was found that           .

A．more teachers felt better about themselves in schools

B．there was less student cooperation in the classroom

C．there was a decrease in classroom violence

D．the teacher-student relationship greatly improved

5.The writer’s purpose for writing this article is to              .

A．complain about problems in school education

B．teach students different strategies for school life

C．inform teachers of the latest studies on school violence

D．advocate teaching conflict management in schools

More Chinese are seeking out the surgeon’s knife to improve their looks.Yet the tragic death of the former Super Girl Wang Bei has made people aware of the risks of cosmetic surgery, which is becoming increasingly popular.  Wang Bei，24，is said to have gone under the knife in Wuhan，to jump-start her stage-show career. It seems that the ambitious singer has finally achieved the fame and influence after her death.

For years Miss Lu expected a plastic surgery to make her jaw fashionable narrow and her face smaller. She finally decided against it after hearing of the death of Wang Bei. "Wang Bei’s death rang the warning bell for me，"Miss Lu said in her blog." It was frightening and I gave up the plan. "

A common thread of online discussion is why someone considered beautiful was so dissatisfied with her looks. Some netizens said Wang was a victim of society’s impractical standard of beauty：double eyelids，and the pointed chin typical of Western actresses. Others said her death indicated the limits to which people would go to achieve fame and fortune.

Last year 15 billion yuan was spent on cosmetic surgery and the figure is expected to rise  20％ annually. The International Society of Plastic Surgery ranks China first in Asia in terms of the number of cosmetic surgeries in 2009. Worldwide, China is third, after Brazil, while the United States is first.

Nowadays，people are living longer and better. But the effect of aging off their appearance affects their mood and confidence. Many older women want to look young and beautiful. Young people, on the other hand, see cosmetic surgery as the key to wealth and love. "They want to improve their appearance to find better opportunities at work and in marriage，"says a famous plastic surgeon. "We’re living in a highly competitive society. People regard appearance as a weapon in life battle. Those who are young and naturally good-looking tell me，‘I don’t care how much I spend. Just make me look more beautiful.’ "

Advice from a surgeon and psychologist：

1.Choose regular, qualified hospitals with a good reputation.

2.Try to find an expert surgeon who will not suggest several operations over time.

3.Don’t expect too much from changing your appearance. Safety should be the first.

4.Have a realistic understanding of the risks of the surgery (death，injury and failure)and make a balanced decision.

1.What’s the influence of Wang Bei’s death on the public?

2.It is mentioned in the passage that________.

3.What’s the main idea of the 5th paragraph?

4.According to a surgeon and psychologist,it is better to________.

Many of us mistakenly believe that it’s wrong to think we have any good qualities. We may spend a lot of time blaming ourselves for our negative qualities, thinking that self criticism is the key to improving our performance. However, a constant focus on our supposed shortcomings can stop our efforts to make friends with other people. How can we believe that others could like us if we believe our inner being is flawed?

If someone seems to dislike you, the reason for that dislike might have little or nothing to do with you. The person who doesn’t like you might be fearful, or shallow or busy or shy. Perhaps you and that person are simply a mismatch for each other at this particular time.

Don’t take yourself out of the game by deciding that your flaws are bigger than your good qualities. In fact, some of the very qualities you consider to be flaws may be irresistible to someone else. Although some factors that might cause one person to reject you, there are at least many factors that will work in your favor.

You might be thirty pounds over your ideal weight, but you may have a wonderful laugh and a real enthusiasm for life. There are many people who don’t mind your extra pounds. You may drive a shabby car, but you might be a great dancer and a loyal friend. There are people out there  looking for loyalty, or fun, or sweetness, or wisdom, and the package it comes in is not important. If you are worried that you are not beautiful enough to attract friends, keep in mind that not everyone is looking for physical beauty in their friends. You can decide to feel inferior because you don’t have much money and you don’t drive a nice car. You can believe that this is the reason                                       

that you don’t have many friends in your life. On the other hand, if you are very wealthy you may be suspicious that everyone is after your money and that nobody really likes you as a person.

Whenever anyone measures educational success, East Asian countries are always top scorers. But in a recent league table, a European country, Finland, was top of the class. South Korea was still in second place, though. Britain was at number 6.

In Korea the school day is long—typically 7 or 8 hours, followed by hours of private tutoring in the evenings. All this hothousing leaves Korean students so tired, they sometimes fall asleep in class next day. Worries about the effects of late night cramming(填鸭式) led the government to force cramming schools to close by 10 pm. Finnish children spend the least time in class in the developed world, often finishing just after lunch, with about one hour of homework a day. Private tuition is uncommon. The British and American school day is quite long in comparison, around 6 hours, and secondary school pupils do 2 or 3 hours of self-study a night.

The Korean education system, like many in Asia, is intensely competitive, with students even competing to get into the best cramming schools, to help them get ahead. Finnish education is far less cut-throat. Classes are all mixed ability, and there are no league tables. British schools again occupy the middle ground, with quite high levels of competition for places at university, and schools and universities battling to come top of league tables for everything from exam results to student satisfaction. Korea and Finland both do well, yet their education systems are so different.

However, there are some similarities in Korea and Finland. In those countries, teachers have high status in society, and education is very highly valued. Those attitudes can't change quickly. But it can be done. They might be the star pupils now, but until the l970s, Finland's educational system was poor. Their thoroughly different approach to schooling has taken them to the top in just a generation.

1.The students spend the least time in school in         .

A．the UK            B．Finland            C．the USA           D．Korea

2.According to the text, we think in Korea         .

A．students spend more time in studying

B．students are tired of studying in class

C．students leave their school early

D．students are always top scorers

3.The underlined phrase “all this hothousing” in Paragragh 2 probably refers to         .

A．private evening tutoring                  B．self-study at home

C．long-hour study                         D．school study

4.From Paragragh 3, we can know that         .

A．Finnish students are less stressed in study

B．there're also many cramming schools in Britain

C．students in Korea are the most competitive in Asia

D．British schools are less competitive than universities

5.According to the author, the key to improving education is         .

A．the attitude                            B．the schooling time

C．star pupils                             D．new teaching approach

Jonny Jones was a nice and popular boy, who everyone loved．He was so much fun, so good and so kind to everyone that they treated him wonderfully. But as everything he needed was given to him without asking, Jonny became a weed. He was so spoiled by everyone that he couldn’t stand any hardship.

One day Johnny heard a mother saying to her son “Come on, my boy, get up and stop crying. You are behaving like Johnny Jones.” That made Johnny feel very ashamed. But he was sure that he would prefer to be known as a good boy rather than a fool. Worried, he spoke to his father about all this, though he was afraid that maybe he would be laughed at for having such worries. His father, far from laughing at Johnny, told him that a teacher had taught him a secret trick to turn him into the toughest boy off all. “Eat a candy less, study a minute more, and count to five before crying.” Johnny asked, “Just that? ” “Yes, just that,” said his father, “It’s very simple, but I warn you that it won’t be easy.”

Johnny was happy like a bird, ready to follow the advice. He went to see his mother, and she noticed how happy he was when she offered him candies. “One candy less”, thought Johnny, so he only took one. That afternoon he had another chance to put it into practice by studying one minute more. The result was that he missed the first minute of his favorite program! But having achieved this gave him a great feeling of satisfaction. The same happened when he ran up against the corner of the kitchen table. He only managed to count to four before crying, but that was left deeply in his mother’s memory.

Over the following days Johnny kept using the motto in his life as his father told him. And the more he put this into practice ,the easier it got. Before long he realized that he could also do things that would seem impossible before.

1.The underlined word "weed" in the first paragraph refers to ____．

    A．a person with a strong v/ill

    B．a person with a weak character

    C．a person who isn't popular with everyone

    D．a person who changes his behavior according to the situation

2.What made Jonny Jones decide to change himself?

    A．A mother's words．               B．Others' attitude to him．

    C．His father's advice．            C．His teacher's warning．

3.What is the key point of the advice from Jonny's father?

    A．Eat fewer candies than before．

    B．Count to five before crying．

    C．Talk with parents and follow their advice．

    D．Learn to control oneself and keep using the motto in life．

4.What message does the writer want to convey through the story?

    A．One should be brave to face his mistakes．

    B．Nothing is difficult as long as you set your mind on it．

    C．Spoilinga child too much may result in his selfish behaviors．

    D．A strong will can be developed by small but consistent efforts．