A few years ago I was on a bicycle trip when I got off my bike for a rest. I sat down on the grass. A few seconds later, I was covered in ants. They were swarming all over me so I got up and brushed them off. It was a strange experience but I soon forgot about it.

A couple of years later, I was living in Jordan. I had just moved into a modern flat and was unpacking plates when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at the kitchen drawer and there was a cockroach (蟑螂) crawling out of it. I screamed. Then I grabbed a can of insecticide and sprayed it on the cockroach. He ran under the nearby bathroom door. It took me three days before I found the courage to open the bathroom door to see if he was still alive. He wasn’t.

Why did I react so violently to one lone insect when a closer encounter with hundreds of ants hardly affected me? The answer is easy: because cockroaches are creepy (令人毛骨悚然的) crawlies and ants aren’t. Creepy crawlies are those little bugs which cause feelings such as anxiety - they make your skin crawl.

Did you know that some people feel such a fear of bugs that it becomes a phobia (恐惧症)? Psychologists have offered many explanations. Some say we associate them with dirt and disease. Or that these are life forms that are so alien to us, that we find them disgusting for their dissimilarity.

Insects, however, don’t follow our rules - they just do what they want and invade our space. Unfortunately, although insects and bugs have been a successful animal species up to now, many of them, like many other species nowadays, are under threat of dying out. Entomologists warn that this could upset entire ecosystems and lead to all kinds of disastrous consequences.

So my advice to you is: the next time you feel the urge to stamp on, splatter or spray a creepy crawly, give a thought to the planet and stop.

1... Why did the author mention the ants in the beginning?

A. Because the experience with the ants presents a sharp contrast to that with the cockroach later.

B. Because the author wants to show her preference to the ants and her dislike for the cockroaches.

C. Because both ants and cockroaches are creepy crawlies that the author dislikes.

D. Because meeting the ants is an unusual experience that the author can hardly forget.

2.. The underlined word “insecticide” in Paragraph 2 probably means         .

A. a kind of fruit juice                     B. a kitchen knife

C. liquid for killing insects                D. cleanser (洗涤剂)for the bathroom

3.. How does the author feel about bugs like cockroaches?

A. The author doesn’t mind the contact with those harmless small creatures.

B. The author prefers cockroaches to ants and feels guilty for killing one.

C. They invade our space and become a threat to humans.

D. They still deserve a place for keeping the balance of the nature.

4.. Which of the following statements about bugs is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Some people may be frightened so much by bugs that it leads to a psychological barrier to some degree.

B. The earth will have a better and cleaner environment if more creepy crawlies are killed.

C. Many bugs are in danger of dying out so we should not kill them due to fear or disgust.

D. Some bugs are extremely unpleasant that some people have a strong wish to destroy them.

Mr. Read made up his mind to devote all his life to _____ some schools for poor children.

The new Hukou(户口) policy, according to some experts, ______ to attract more high-end talents to contribute to Shanghai’s development.

In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition of each new skill-the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing．It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child: This might happen at any stage．A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads．On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself．

Patents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children．Some may be especially strict in money matters．Others are severe over times of coming home at night or punctuality for meals．In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness．

As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching．To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality．Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”．If they are not sincere and do not practice what they teach, their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled．

A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents’ principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment．

1.Eagerly watching the child’s acquisition of new skills _________．

2.In the process of children’s learning new skills, parents ______．

3.The second paragraph mainly tells us that __________．

4.In moral matters, parents should __________．

Dad loved children. And he always wanted a ____1______ family. Eventually, he got what he wanted with twelve children in the family. Without fail, he would show us off to visitors.

Once, Dad _____2_____ presented the first three children in the family, Ann, Mary and Ernestine, to some visitors. Then he picked up a fourth child, and said, "And this is our _____3_____ model, complete with all the improvements. And don't think that this is all; we are _____4_____ the 1953 model some time next month."

But what he _____5_____ most was taking us out for a drive. On one occasion a man in a village we were passing through shouted _____6_____ that he had seen eleven people in our car, not _____7_____ Mum and Dad. _____8_____, Dad called out over his shoulder, "You _____9_____ the second baby up from the front here, Mister."

Another time, Dad told us this joke, though we were not sure then whether he was telling us the ____10_____. Mum, who was a psychologist (心理学家), once went to give a lecture and left Dad in charge of the _____11_____. When Mum returned, she asked him if everything had been OK. He said everything was fine _____12_____ one of the children had been taught a lesson because he had been _____13_____. When he pointed at the child that had been _____14_____, Mum looked at him calmly and said, "That's not one of ours, dear. He _____15_____ next door."