A generation of parents raised according to the permissive principles of postwar childcare experts is rediscovering the importance of saying "No" to their children. They are beginning to reclaim the house as their own. Even spanking (打屁股) is back.
While today's parents do not want to return to the Victorian era (时代) — when children were seen, spanked, but not heard — there is a growing acknowledgement that the laissez-faire approach produced a generation of children running rings around puzzled parents struggling to restore order.
Janthea Brigden, a trainer with Parent Network, says: “The problem is that parents don't want all that controlling things. What they want is to be able to discipline (管教) their children through teaching and encouraging."
According to Steve Biddulph, the author of More Secrets of Happy Children, the permissive era was often just an excuse to ignore children. He believes discipline involves firm but friendly teaching and does not need to involve punishment. He teaches a method called "stand and think”, where a child is helped to figure out what is wrong and how to get it right. Mr. Biddulph understands parents using spanking, but lie is against it. "The happiest children are those who know Mum and Dad are in charge. As children grow into their teens, more negotiation can take place, such as: Prove you can be home safely by 1l pm, and we might let you stay out till midnight."
“There is no good evidence that an occasional, properly administered spanking is harmful in any way.”says John Rosemond, an American who has won a huge following by calling for "parent power". It is pure nonsense to believe that restricting children to their room as a punishment could make them have negative feelings about the room and cause sleep problems.
Mr. Rosemond tracks the overturning of traditional family values to the end of the Second World War. He blames the change of the American family into a child-centered, self-respect-oriented (以……为导向) unit on psychologists and social workers, who for 30 years have weakened traditional approaches. Previous generations of American parents raised children not by the book, but by self-evident truth, he says. Children should be seen and not heard. If you make your bed, you'll have to lie in it. He says that those phrases contain time-honored understanding and principles that helped children to develop what we refer to as the "three Rs" of parenting: respect, responsibility and resourcefulness.
1.Which is closest to the meaning of the underlined word "laissez-faire" in the second paragraph?
A.Let it be. B.Go for it.
C.Get it right. D.Take it easy.
2.If his child did something wrong, Steve Biddulph would ______.
A.give him a good beating
B.lock him up in a dark room
C.ask him to stand in a corner for hours
D.help him find out the problem and solution
3.By mentioning the underlined part in the last paragraph, Mr. Rosemond .
A.blames parents for ignoring children's rights
B.reminds parents to communicate more with children
C.encourages parents to involve children more in family affairs
D.explains how previous generations of parents raised children
4.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.The causes of discipline problems.
B.The best way to discipline children.
C.Different opinions on ways of parenting.
D.Differences between parents of different times
An open office is supposed to force employees to cooperate. To have them talk more face to face. To get them off instant messenger (IM) and brainstorming new ideas. But a recent study by two researchers offers evidence to support what many people who work in open offices already know: It doesn’t really work that way. The noise causes people to put on headphones and tune out. The lack of privacy causes others to work from home when they can. And the sense of being in a fishbowl means many choose email over a desk-side chat.
Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban, two Harvard Business School professors, studied two Fortune 500 companies that made the shift to an open office environment from one where workers had more privacy. Using “sociometric” electronic badges (徽章) and microphones, as well as data on email and instant messenger use by employees, the researchers found in the first study that after the organization made the move to open-plan offices, workers spent 73% less time in face-to-face interaction. Meanwhile, email use rose 67% and IM use went up 75%.
The participants wore the badges and microphones for several weeks before the office was redesigned and for several after, and the company gave the researchers access to their electronic communications. The results were astonishing. “We were surprised by the degree to which we found the effect,” Bernstein said. The badges could tell that two people had a face-to-face interaction without recording actual spoken words. The researchers were careful to make sure other factors weren’t in question—the business cycle was similar, for instance, and the group of employees were the same.
In a second study, the researchers looked at the changes in interaction between specific pairs of colleagues, finding a similar drop in face-to-face communication and a smaller but still significant increase in electronic correspondence.
Another wrinkle in their research, Bernstein said, is that not only did workers shift the way of communication they used, but they also tended to interact with different groups of people online than they did in person. Moving from one kind of communication to another may not be all bad—“maybe email is just more efficient,” he said—but if managers want certain teams of people to be interacting, that may be lost more than they think. The shift in office space could “have strong effects on productivity and the quality of work”.
Bernstein hopes the research will offer evidence that will help managers consider the possible trade-offs of moving to an open office plan. In seeking a lower cost per square foot, they buy into the idea that it will also lead to more cooperation, even if it’s not clear that’s true. “I don’t blame the architects,” he said. “But I do think we spend more of our time thinking about how to design workplaces based on the observer’s angle”—the manager—“rather than the observed.”
1.Employers prefer an open office because they think it can ______.
A. increase competition
B. improve communication
C. create a safe environment
D. motivate workers’ responsibility
2.Why was there an increase in electronic correspondence among employees?
A. Because they thought little of desk-side chat.
B. Because they shifted to a new business cycle.
C. Because they wanted to protect their privacy.
D. Because they needed to complete more tasks.
3.What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
A. The researchers.
B. The managers.
C. Certain teams of people.
D. Different groups of workers.
4.As for the design of workplaces, what is Bernstein’s major concern?
A. Connectivity.
B. Accessibility.
C. User-friendliness.
D. Cost-effectiveness.
Poet William Stafford once said that we are defined more by the detours (绕行路) in life than by the narrow road toward goals. I like this image. But it was quite by accident that I discovered the deep meaning of his words.
For years we made the long drive from our home in Seattle to my parents' home in Boise in nine hours. We traveled the way most people do: the fastest, shortest easiest road, especially when I was alone with four noisy, restless kids who hates confinement (限制) and have strong opinions about everything.
Road trips felt risky, so I would drive fast, stopping only when I had to. We would stick to the freeways and arrive tired.
But then Banner, our lamb was born. He was rejected by his mama days before our planned trip to Boise. I had two choices: leave Banner with my husband, or take him with me. My husband made the decision for me.
That is how I found myself on the road with four kids, a baby lamb and nothing but my everlasting optimism to see me through. We took the country roads out of necessity. We had to stop every hour, let Banner shake out his legs and feed him. The kids chased him and one another. They'd get back in the car breathless and energized, smelling fresh from the cold air.
We explored side roads, catching grasshoppers in waist-high grass. Even if we simply looked out of the car windows at baby pigs following their mother, or fish leaping out of the water, it was better than the best ride down the freeway. Here was life. And new horizons.
We eventually arrived at my parents' doorstep astonishingly fresh and full of stories.
I grew brave with the trip back home and creative with my disciplining technique. On an empty section of road, everyone started quarreling. I stopped the car, ordered all kids out and told them to meet me up ahead. I parked my car half a mile away and read my book in sweet silence.
Some road trips are by necessity fast and straight. But that trip with Banner opened our eyes to a world available to anyone adventurous enough to wander around and made me realize that a detour may uncover the best part of a journey-and the best part of yourself.
1.Why did the author use to take freeways to her parents' home?
A.It was less tiring.
B.It would be faster and safer.
C.Her kids would feel less confined.
D.She felt better with other drivers nearby.
2.What does the author discover from the trip according to Paragraph 6?
A.Freeways are where beauty hides.
B.Getting close to nature adds to the joy of life
C.Enjoying the beauty of nature benefits one's health
D.One should follow side roads to watch wild animals
3.Why did the author ask the kids to get out of the car on their way back home?
A.To give herself some time to read.
B.To order some food for them.
C.To play a game with them.
D.To let them cool down.
4.What could be the best title for the passage?
A.Charm of the Detour
B.The Road to Bravery
C.Creativity out of Necessity
D.Road trip and Country Life
Pastime is a bi-monthly magazine for curious young minds. Many of the topics we write about won’t be covered in the classroom. All the articles are written in a lively style, and each one is paired with drawings by some of the country’s most talented artists.
♦ History focuses on archaeological (考古的) sites around the world where archaeologists work to unearth important finds.
♦ World includes stories about daily life, folk tales, and history and traditions of the people and places.
♦ Sport includes nutrition tips, information about up-and-coming young athletes, and sports events.
♦ Art stimulates a child’s cultural life, from film to theatre through to writing and music.
On top of all that, Pastime is packed with items to stimulate a youngster’s imagination, including pages of puzzles and a step-by-step guide to creating their own impressive-looking drawings.
In every issue, we review the latest books top authors write for youngsters. There are also short works of fiction written especially for Pastime by some of our best writers.
We know that children at this age are dealing with many emotions and sometimes difficult feelings, so we have a personal advice page to reply to questions dealing with personal and moral problems.
Unlike many of today’s throwaway comics, Pastime is written and designed to be kept and treasured. We know children love going online — but we also know how much they enjoy holding a printed magazine in their hands, and the excitement they get when each new issue drops through the letterbox personally addressed to them.
Subscription
Pastime is published six times a year. An annual subscription costs just £20 and makes a great gift for any child aged eight to twelve.
To order by phone: Dial 1-800-821-0156 and use Offer Code WEBSAVE86 for print-only subscriptions.
You can cancel at any time for magazines that haven’t shipped yet.
1.If a reader is interested in festivals, he can read ______.
A. History
B. World
C. Sport
D. Art
2.What does the magazine provide?
A. Photos of talented artists.
B. Stories created by children.
C. Suggestions on readers’ problems.
D. Book reviews written by students.
3.For subscription, one needs to know that the magazine ______.
A. offers electronic copies
B. costs £20 for each copy
C. is for kindergarten children
D. is published every two months
完形填空
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1--20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I’m left _______. Why do these people create mistrust and problems, especially with those from other _______?
I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s, _______ children from different races and religions played and studied _______ in harmony. At that time my family lived a stone’s ________from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was a Malay Muslim and I was an Indian Hindu—we just _______ our differences. Perhaps, our elders had not filled our heads with unnecessary advice, well _______ or otherwise.
We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we’d _______ the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to _______ the unexpected. At times Ismail would accompany my family as we made a rare shopping trip to town. We would be glad of his ________.
When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail’s family later returned to their village, and I ________ touch with him.
One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. I ________ my destination. The driver acknowledged my ________ but did not move off. Instead, he looked ________ at me. “Raddar?” he said, using my childhood nickname(绰号). I was astonished at being so _________addressed(称呼). Unexpectedly! It was Ismail! Even after two ________ we still recognized each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a true affection, something ________ to describe.
If we can allow our children to be ________ without prejudice, they’ll build friendships with people, regardless of race or religion, who will be ________ their side through thick and thin. On such friendships are societies build and ________ we can truly be, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “we happy few, we band of brothers”.
1.A.interested B.pleased C.puzzled D.excited
2.A.parties B.cities C.villages D.races
3.A.why B.which C.how D.when
4.A.together B.around C.alone D.apart
5.A.drop B.throw C.move D.roll
6.A.refused B.made C.sought D.accepted
7.A.paid B.meant C.preserved D.treated
8.A.explore B.search C.discover D.desert
9.A.get through B.deal with C.come across D.take away
10.A.arrival B.choice C.effort D.company
11.A.lost B.gained C.developed D.missed
12.A.stated B.ordered C.decided D.chose
13.A.attempts B.instructions C.opinions D.arrangements
14.A.anxiously B.carelessly C.disappointedly D.fixedly
15.A.familiarly B.strangely C.fully D.coldly
16.A.departures B.months C.years D.decades
17.A.possible B.funny C.hard D.clear
18.A.them B.themselves C.us D.ourselves
19.A.from B.by C.with D.against
20.A.still B.otherwise C.then D.instead
单项填空
1.－What's wrong with Jack? He is absent today.
－Oh, he is in the hospital. He _________ (ride) really fast when unexpectedly a car appeared and he had no time to avoid it.
2.You will never gain success _________ you are fully devoted to your work.
3.In English class, our teacher often creates an environment _________ we are given the opportunity to solve problems ourselves.
4.If Julia had practised hard enough last night, she _________ (be) more confident on the stage now.
5.They have leading experts in this field, and that's _________ they've made important progress.
6.Stand over there, _________ you'll be able to see the oil painting better.
7.－ Is the project difficult for the students?
－ No. Most of the relevant information _________ (provide) for them.
8.As is often the case, he tends to forget all about eating and sleeping, especially when deeply _________ (absorb) in work.
9.Jane is in a hurry because the train to the airport leaves _________ half an hour.
10.The airport _________ (complete) next year will help promote tourism in this area.
