Many parents who welcome the idea of turning off the TV and spending more time with the family are still worried that without TV they would constantly be on call as entertainers for their children. They remember thinking up all sorts of things to do when they were kids. But their own kids seem different, less resourceful, somehow. When there’s nothing to do, these parents observe regretfully, their kids seem unable to come up with anything to do besides turning on the TV.
One father, for example, says, “When I was a kid, we were always thinking up things to do, projects and games. We certainly never complained in an annoying way to our parents. ‘I have nothing to do’.” He compares this with his own children today: “They’re simply lazy. If someone doesn’t entertain them, they’ll happily sit there watching TV all day.”
There is one word for this father’s disappointment: unfair. It is as if he were disappointed in them for not reading Greek though they have never studied the language. He deplores (哀叹) his children’s lack of inventiveness, as if the ability to play were something born that his children are missing. In fact, while the tendency to play is built into the human species, the actual ability to play – to imagine, to invent, to elaborate on reality in a playful way –and the ability to gain fulfillment from it, these are skills that have to be learned and developed.
Such disappointment, however, is not only unjust, it is also destructive. Sensing their parents’ disappointment, children come to believe that they are, indeed, lacking something, and that this makes them less worthy of admiration and respect. Giving children the opportunity to develop new resources, to enlarge their horizons and discover the pleasure of doing things on their own is, on the other hand, a way to help children develop a confident feeling about themselves as capable and interesting people.
1. According to many parents, if there’s nothing to do, the children would .
A. turn on the TV B. complain to their parents
C. ask their parents to play with them D. do all of the above
2. Many parents think that, instead of watching a lot of TV their children should .
A. sit silently studying Greek B. think up things to entertain themselves
C. find chances to talk with parents D. enjoy themselves outdoors
3.The father often blames their children for not being able to entertain themselves. This is unfair because .
A. the children are not really lazy, but there’s nothing for them to do
B. they do not lack the ability to play
C. they have to learn and develop their playing ability gradually
D. the father have done nothing to help the children
4. When parents show constant disappointment in their children, the children will .
A. lose their confidence and respectability
B. be much more disappointed
C. refuse to learn new things
D. discover the pleasures of doing things on their own
5.What is the author’s main idea?
A. Today’s children are becoming less capable and independent than before.
B. Parents should give children more help on how to be creative.
C. Turning off the TV will help us solve a lot of family problems.
D. It’s not just for parents and children to complain each other.
Step to Discovering Your Passion
By Julie Jordan Scott
Even before the first tip, you simply must get out a notebook, journal, piece of paper, napkin … SOMETHING to write on to save your discoveries! These tips will only help if you pursue them, so please either take a moment to find writing tools NOW or print this out and promise yourself to complete this exercise later. It may take you some thinking time to get it done . . . and now . . . here are your tips . . . . .
1. Find Your Joy Factor
Look at the whole of your life history. When did you experience the most sustained period of Joy? What were you doing then? Where were you? Who were you with? How did it feel?
2. What Are Your 3 Most Favorite things to do?
If you had a free day with NO commitments, where would you be found? What would you be doing with whom?
3. In what area do you excel? (NO MODESTY ALLOWED HERE!)
Truly, what are you complimented on a lot? This could be ANYTHING.
4. What do you most want to be remembered for?
If you were designing your epitaph(墓者铭), what would you want it to say? (NOT what your Mom wants, or your SPOUSE(配偶的一方) wants or your third cousin twice removed, but what do YOU want your headstone to say?)
5. If you had a magic wand(魔杖), what would you change about your life TODAY?
How would it look compared to how it looks now? which aspects of your life ARE changeable, both short term and long term?
6. How does your Joy factor overlap with your favorite things and the areas in which you excel? Do the areas in which you excel bring YOU joy, or are they really for someone else . . . . . do you see which are obvious matches, and which do not fit? Those that overlap, that bring YOU the most Joy, are most likely the things that would bring you into Passionate Living.
7. What is the first even teeny tiny step you can take to living out your Passion as you have defined in #6?
Take some time to really think this one through . . . . . . concentrate and focus, and then you will be able to start the the next step . . . BUILDING YOUR ROAD MAP.
1.The purpose of the first paragraph is .
A. to arouse the readers’ interest and show them what to do
B. to find the piece of paper that is useful for the tips C. to print the tips out and show them to others
D. to copy the tips and read them
2.The underlined word “commitment” has the closest meaning to .
A. time B. exercise C. work D. joy
3. The underlined word “compliment” means .
A. scold B. praise C. criticize D. question
4.Of the following, would probably give the correct evaluation of you.
A. You Mom B. Your spouse C. Your children D. You yourself
5. are most likely to bring into passionate living.
A. Your favorite things B. The areas in which you excel
C. Your joy factor D. The things that overlap
New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses that they use in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to take care of them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact, they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole Unite States.
The cost of shoeing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty--five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two to three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses ------ for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country form Ireland in 1948.He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and, as he puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”
1.According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a man.
A. clever B. rich C. strong D. tall
2. James Corbin became a blacksmith because he .
A. was interested in horses. B. was needed by the policemen
C. drew a picture of the horses D. had to make a living
3. In the reading passage “to shape a shoe” is to .
A. fit it on the horse’s foot B. use it for two or three hours
C. make the form of a horseshoe from a piece of metal D. draw a picture of the shoe
4.The best title for the passage is .
A. Policemen on Horseback B. Blacksmiths and Horseshoeing
C. James Corbin, a Blacksmith D. Horseshoeing Is a Good Way to Make a Living
5. Which of the following is true?
A. Only a few large American cities have some policemen on horseback.
B. New York is the only city in America to have some policemen on horseback.
C. Policemen on horseback enjoy traveling around the United States.
D. Policemen on horseback are less expensive than those in cars.
My father came to the United States as a Ukrainian immigrant (移民) when he was 14 years old. Unable to speak English but willing to do anything to succeed, he learned the language, became a barber, and opened up his own business in a small town. He put my sister and me through college during a time when most people thought that women didn’t need an education and that they should be satisfied with getting married and having children. He gave us values and ambition. But this story didn’t really start until my father was 60 years old.
I was preparing to get married and my father was attempting to practice the polke, a must at any Ukrainian wedding. But he just couldn’t do it! He had lost mobility in his leg and was diagnosed with a brain tumor (肿瘤). After surgery, this energetic, hard-working man was forced to retire as a result of significant paralysis (瘫痪) in his right arm and leg. My dad had always worked two jobs and spent his spare time working around the house. Now that kind of life came to a sudden stop. Yet never once did he complain. He bought rubber balls and spent his days trying to regain his hand mobility by squeezing those balls over and over.
After his last operation, he chatted with me pleasantly in the hospital room until a nurse flew into the room, waving her finger at me, and yelling, “You’d better tell your father to stay in bed. He is paralyzed and will never walk again. He needs to stop trying to get out of bed and accept the fact that he can’t walk now or ever. I am sick of picking him up and you’d better warn him to stay put!” My father smiled. He spent a great deal of time on the floor that year, but he eventually got up and walked.
My father lived nineteen more years after that operation. He bought himself a motor scooter (小型摩托车) and spent years zipping around the streets of Philadelphia. He was proud, free, and always smiling.
1. In what way was the author’s father different from most other people in his times?
A. He succeeded in migrating to the U.S.
B. He learned the new language easily and quickly.
C. He achieved his life goal by working as a barber.
D. He had his daughters educated.
2. The underlined word “polke” in Paragraph 2 probably refers to .
A. a song B. a dance C. a musical instrument D. a tool for painting
3.The author’s father used the rubber balls to .
A. kill his too much spare time B. relieve himself from work pressure
C. get his hand’s function back D. recover from his operation
4. Which of the following can be used to describe the author’s father?
A. Perfect. B. Strong-minded. C. Creative. D. Impractical.
5. What can we learn from the text?
A. Love can do wonders. B. Failure is the mother of success.
C. A father’s love is most valuable. D. Never give up on your life.
完形填空(共20小题; 每小题1.5分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从所给的 A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I will never forget the year I was about twelve years old. My mother told us that we would not be 36 Christmas gifts because there was not enough money. I felt sad and thought, “What would I say when the other kids asked what I’d 37 ?” Just when I started to 38 that there would not be a Christmas that year, three women 39 at our house with gifts for all of us. For me they brought a doll, I felt such a sense of 40 that I would no longer have to be embarrassed when I returned to school. I wasn’t 41 . Somebody had thought 42 of me to bring me a gift.
Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my 43 Christmas there special and memorable, I 44 remembered the women’s visit. I decided that I wanted to create that same feeling of 45 for as many children as I could possibly reach.
So I 46 a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help. We gathered about 125 orphans (孤儿) at the Christmas party. For every child, we wrapped colorful packages filled with toys, clothes, and school suppliers, 47 with a child’s name. We wanted all of them to know they were 48 . Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts, I 49 them that they couldn’t open their presents 50 every child had come forward. Finally the 51 they had been waiting for came as I called out, “One, two, three. Open your presents!” As the children opened their packages, their faces beamed and their bright smiles 52 up the room. The 53 in the room was obvious, and 54 wasn’t just about toys. It was a feeling –the feeling I knew 55 that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit. I wasn’t forgotten. Somebody thought of me. I matter.
1. A. sending B. receiving C. making D. exchanging
2. A. found B. prepared C. got D. expected
3. A. doubt B. hope C. suggest D. accept
4. A. broke in B. settled down C. turned up D. showed off
5. A. relief B. loss C. achievement D. justice
6. A. blamed B. loved C. forgotten D. affected
7. A. highly B. little C. poorly D. enough
8. A. present B. first C. recent D. previous
9. A. hardly B. instantly C. regularly D. occasionally
10. A. strength B. independence C. importance D. safety
11. A. kept up with B. caught up with C. came up with D. put up with
12. A. none B. few C. some D. each
13.A. fine B. special C. helpful D. normal
14.A. reminded B. guaranteed C. convinced D. promised
15. A. after B. until C. when D. since
16. A. chance B. gift C. moment D. reward
17. A. lit B. took C. burned D. cheered
18.A. atmosphere B. sympathy C. calmness D. joy
19.A. it B. such C. something D. everybody
20. A. by B. till C. for D. from
The traffic rule says young children under the age of four and less than 40 pounds must be in a child safety seat.
A. being weighed B. to weigh C. weighed D. weighing
