Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me. Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season.
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding. Delores Clemens says, “that's not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Cuddle your baby. Hug him! And she started to do that. They just want a little cuddling and a little love. And it works!”
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year.
In class, with her baby son is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life.
The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen. That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones. By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two.
1.What is the text mainly about?
A. Parents who are a child’s first teachers.
B. A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered.
C. A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure life.
D. A kind teacher who help homeless young mothers.
2.Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____.
A. help homeless young mothers become good parents
B. provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter
C. help mothers in New York be good parents
D. teach some parents how to love their children
3.What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?
A. She has a mother of five and a grandmother.
B. She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged.
C. She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers.
D. She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House.
4.According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?
A. Canada
B. the United States of America
C. Mexico
D. Britain
One of the greatest contributors to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations(引文) showing how it was used.
This was a huge task, so Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.
Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next 17 years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.
But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum(精神病院) for the Criminally Insane.
Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.
In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.
Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volunteers defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.
1.According to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary ____.
A. came out before Minor died
B. was edited by an American volunteer
C. included the English words invented by Murray
D. was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary
2.How did Dr. Minor contribute to the dictionary?
A. He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers.
B. He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray.
C. He provided a great number of words and quotations.
D. He went to England to work with Murray.
3.Which of the following best describes Dr. Minor?
A. Brave and determined. B. Cautious and friendly.
C. Considerate and optimistic. D. Unusual and scholarly.
4.What does the text mainly talk about?
A. The history of the English language.
B. The friendship between Murray and Minor.
C. Minor and the first Oxford English Dictionary.
D. Broadmoor Asylum and its patients.
Three Boys and a Dad
Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home to visit her mother. Expecting a whole day to relax, he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favorite TV talk show on his first day off in months. “This will be like a walk in the park,” he’d told his wife. “I’ll look after the kids, and you can go visit your mom.”
Things started well, but just after eight o’clock, his three little “good kids”—Mike, Randy, and Alex—came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted “breakfast, daddy.” When food had not appeared within thirty seconds, Randy began using his spoon on Alex’s head as if it were a drum. Alex started to shout loudly in time to the beat（节拍）. Mike chanted “Where’s my toast, where’s my toast” in the background. Brad realized his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds.
Life became worse after breakfast. Mike wore Randy’s underwear on his head. Randy locked himself in the bathroom, while Alex shouted again because he was going to wet his pants. Nobody could find clean socks, although they were before their very eyes. Someone named “Not Me” had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes. Brad knew the talk show had already started.
By ten o’clock, things were out of control. Alex was wondering why the fish in the jar refused his bread and butter. Mike was trying to show off his talent by decorating the kitchen wall with his color pencils. Randy, thankfully, appeared to be reading quietly in the family room，but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands. Brad realized that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible.
At exactly 11:17, Brad called the daycare centre (日托所）.“I suddenly have to go into work and my wife’s away. Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes?” The answer was obviously “yes” because Brad was smiling.
1.When his wife left home. Brad expected to .
A. go out for a walk in the park
B. watch TV talk show with his children
C. enjoy his first day off work
D. read the newspaper to his children
2.Which of the following did Randy do?
A. Drawing on the wall B. Eating apple jam
C. Feeding the fish. D. Reading in a room
3.Why did Brad ask the daycare centre for help?
A. Because he wanted to clean up his house.
B. Because he suddenly had to go to his office
C. Because he found it hard to manage his boys home.
D. Because he had to take his wife back
4.This text is developed .
A. by space B. by comparison C. by process D. by time
I became a gardener when I was twelve. My early__36___of gardening may not have originated from my love for nature. It was to ___37____my parents.
At that time, we had a big yard in which a beautiful maple tree stood. But my mother often looked with __38___at this work of natural art. Those golden leaves seemed like tons of rubbish to her, “something else to ___39___!”Seeing the neighbors busy with gardening, my father even thought it a waste of time.
At that age, I always did something___40_____to whatever my parents did! If gardening were something they found____41___, I would plant a garden!
I planted some lily（百合花）seeds in the yard. But they failed to ___42___.I continued to plant sunflower seeds and roses. Wild ____43_____joy,I found the first rose bloom（开花）.One by one, the flowers bloomed their heads off.__44___, I was touched by this land of wonder.
___45___, my parents showed no interest in my garden. My father even___46_____at me because he found it was ___47____to move around my garden to the driveway. To my mother’s ___48__,I put in her vase my real roses which, in her eyes, were simply weeds____49___flowers.
Regardless of their ____50___, I kept on planting my garden and ____51___to enjoy the pleasure of gardening. Plants make such good companions: they breathe, they bloom, they____52____to care and love.
It has been many years since I made my first garden out of my desire to ____53___my parents .Today I become known as Mrs. Greenthumbs, teaching gardening and hosting a gardening show, which makes my parents feel very____54_.And now I could say it is my affection for____55___that makes me a real gardener.
1.A. memory B. dream C.intention D. design
2.A. please B. change C. help D. annoy
3.A.doubt B.appreciation C. surprise D. excitement
4.A.collect up B care about C. clean up D. come in
5.A.equal B. similar C. superior D. opposite
6.A.painful B. valuable C. upsetting D. interesting
7.A.come up B. break out C. hold on D. get through
8.A.to B. with C. in D. by
9.A.Luckily B. Cheerfully C. Regularly D. Eventually
10.A.Instead B. However C. Therefore D. Besides
11.A.shouted B. laughed C. glanced D. jumped
12.A.convenient B. troublesome C. enjoyable D. dangerous
13.A.sadness B. displeasure C. delight D. relief
14.A.other than B. more than C. rather than D. less than
15.A.disklike B. encouragement C. threat D. suggestion
16.A.decided B. stopped C. continued D. struggled
17.A.devote B. turn C. respond D. lead
18.A.defeat B. satisfy C. respect D. challenge
19.A.proud B. comfortable C. strange D. disappointed
20.A.freedom B. life C. growth D. nature
________with so much trouble，we failed to complete the task on time.
A．Faced B．Face
C．Facing D．To face
When it was his turn to deliver his speech，________，he walked towards the microphone.
A．nervously and embarrassingly
B．nervous and embarrassedly
C．nervously and embarrassing
D．nervous and embarrassed
