One mother supporting this new approach toward parenting mentions the advantages her family experienced after her children cut back on activities.

句中supporting...短语作后置定语修饰one mother；her family experienced为定语从句，修饰先行词advantages.

句意：一位支持教育孩子新思路的母亲提到了在她的孩子减少了课外活动之后她的家人感受到的好处。

语篇解读：本文提出了家长教育孩子的两个极端--一是太过严格，一是太过放任。作者认为二者皆不可取，家长应找到平衡点。

6．One of the reasons why parents push children so hard is that they ________.

A．believe in early development in children

B．are too busy to take care of their children

C．don't want their children to lag behind

D．want to repeat what their parents did to them

解析：推理判断题。依据第一段中的they will be holding their own children back if they do not enroll too表明一些家长担心不让孩子参加活动会落后。

答案：C

hold back　阻碍，使……落后

cut back on　 缩减，减少

enroll /In'rəʊl/ v．　　　　　　 注册，登记

emphasize /'emfəsaIz/ vt. 　　　　　　　强调；着重

pessimistic / pesI'mIstIk/ adj. 　　　　　悲观的

5．The writer wants to tell us that ________.

A．there are some good ways to practice handwriting

B．life is like old newspaper

C．we should learn from the student in the story

D．life will not give us a chance to draw a draft

解析：主旨大意题。从倒数第二段的最后两句可知生活就像练书法，不会给我们打草稿的机会。只有珍惜和认真，才会取得成功。

答案：D

B

词数 　251 　　　难度系数 　　★★　　 　建议用时 6′

(2011·绵阳模拟)Pushing children too hard is a really big social problem that seems to be getting worse.Now we have 6­month­olds in music classes and swimming classes.Parents fear that if other children are attending these classes，they will be holding their own children back if they do not enroll，too.

The other extreme，simply taking a_laissez­faire_approach and letting children do-or refuse to do-whatever they want，is not the answer either，of course.

Dr Taylor emphasizes that parents need to push their children based on what is best for children，not what is best for themselves.If children understand that an activity is in their best interests，then they will accept it，he finds.

Dr Taylor and other family experts remain pessimistic about the possibilities for widespread social change.“The force of our popular culture，driven by money and superficial(表面上的)values，cannot be resisted，”he says.But change can take place at a“micro­level”，in families and schools.

When change does occur，the rewards can benefit everyone in the family.One mother supporting this new approach toward parenting mentions the advantages her family experienced after her children cut back on activities.“The biggest thing is that since we have done this，we are rested，”she says.“Not only are our kids rested，because they're not in a ton of stuff，but my husband and I are rested，because we're not driving them everywhere.We weren't living in the moment when we were always busy.We were living by the schedule.The return on our investment of spending time together has been enormous.”

4．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．What teachers say is always true.

B．Success calls for attentiveness.

C．Handwriting is easy to practice.

D．New things are always better than old ones.

解析：细节理解题。综合全文及第四段的最后一句和第五段的最后两句可知要把每一个机会当作用最好的纸练书法一样珍惜，即只有更认真，才会取得成功。

答案：B

3．We learn from the passage that ________.

A．the student finally gave up

B．the student made rapid progress by practicing more carefully

C．the calligrapher was strict with his students

D．old newspaper is not useful

解析：细节理解题。根据第三段内容可知这个学生后来用最好的纸练习书法时比较珍惜纸张，故而会全身心地投入学习。练习得更认真，进步也就更大了。可知答案为B。

答案：B

2．The student didn't make much progress at first because ________.

A．he didn't follow his teacher's advice

B．he was too poor to buy better paper to write on

C．he regarded his writing on old newspaper just as a draft

D．he was not used to the calligrapher's teaching manner

解析：细节理解题。第二、三段内容提到，这个学生一开始在旧报纸上练习书法，虽然练了很长时间，但进步不大。后来按照老师所说的去做，果然进步很快，可知这个学生先前没有取得进步，是因为没有认真去练。把之前在报纸上的练习当成了打草稿。

答案：C

One of his students who often practiced handwriting with old sheets of newspaper complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time.

who often...newspaper为定语从句修饰students；that引导宾语从句，其中though引导让步状语从句。

句意：他的一些学生经常用旧报纸练习书法，其中一人抱怨说尽管他已经跟随书法家学了很长时间，但几乎没有取得什么进步。

语篇解读：有个学生在用了最好的纸后，书法水平得到了提高，其实是因为更认真练习的缘故。生活何尝不是如此，要想取得成功，需要更认真地对待。

1．The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought ________.

A．the student would practice more carefully on the best paper

B．it was comfortable to write on the best paper

C．the student had enough money to buy the best paper

D．the student could write more on the best paper

解析：细节理解题。根据第三段的最后三句可知答案为A。

答案：A

pay attention to注意

fail to do sth.　 未能做某事

treasure/'treʒə/ v．　　　　　　　 珍视；珍爱；珍藏

inexhaustible/InIɡ'zɔːstəbl/ adj.　　　　 用之不竭的；无穷无尽的

military/'mIlətrI/ adj.　 　　　　　　　　　军事的；军队的