My day began on a decidedly sour note when I saw my six-year-old wrestling with a limb of my azalea bush. By the time I got outside, he'd broken it. "Can I take this to school today?" he asked. With a wave of my hand, I sent him off. I turned my back so he wouldn't see the tears gathering in my eyes. I loved that azalea bush. I touched the broken limb as if to say silently, "I'm sorry."
I wished I could have said that to my husband earlier, but I'd been angry. The washing machine had leaked on my brand-new linoleum. If he'd just taken the time to fix it the night before when I asked him instead of playing checkers with Jonathan. What are his priorities anyway? I wondered. I was still mopping up the mess when Jonathan walked into the kitchen. "What's for breakfast, Mom?"
I opened the empty refrigerator. "Not cereal," I said, watching the sides of his mouth drop. "How about toast and jelly?" I smeared the toast with jelly and set it in front of him. Why was I so angry? I tossed my husband's dishes into the sudsy water.
It was days like this that made me want to quit. I just wanted to drive up to the mountains, hide in a cave, and never come out.
Somehow I managed to lug the wet clothes to the Laundromat. I spent most of the day washing and drying clothes and thinking how love had disappeared from my life. Staring at the graffiti on the walls, I felt as wrung-out as the clothes left in the washers.
As I finished hanging up the last of my husband's shirts, I looked at the clock. 2:30. I was late. Jonathan's class let out at 2:15. I dumped the clothes in the back seat and hurriedly drove to the school.
I was out of breath by the time I knocked on the teacher's door and peered through the glass. With one finger, she motioned for me to wait. She said something to Jonathan and handed him and two other children crayons and a sheet of paper.
What now? I thought, as she rustled through the door and took me aside. "I want to talk to you about Jonathan," she said. .
I prepared myself for the worst. Nothing would have surprised me.
"Did you know Jonathan brought flowers to school today?" she asked.
I nodded, thinking about my favorite bush and trying to hide the hurt in my eyes. I glanced at my son busily coloring a picture. His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow. He brushed it away with the back of his hand. His eyes burst with blue as he admired his handiwork.
"Let me tell you about yesterday," the teacher insisted. "See that little girl?"
I watched the bright-eyed child laugh and point to a colorful picture taped to the wall. I nodded.
"Well, yesterday she was almost hysterical. Her mother and father are going through a nasty divorce. She told me she didn't want to live, she wished she could die. I watched that little girl bury her face in her hands and say loud enough for the class to hear, 'Nobody loves me.' I did all I could to console her, but it only seemed to make matters worse."
"I thought you wanted to talk to me about Jonathan," I said.
"I do," she said, touching the sleeve of my blouse. "Today your son walked straight over to that child. I watched him hand her some pretty pink flowers and whisper, 'I love you.'"
I felt my heart swell with pride for what my son had done. I smiled at the teacher. "Thank you," I said, reaching for Jonathan's hand, "you've made my day."
Later that evening, I began pulling weeds from around my lopsided azalea bush. As my mind wandered back to the love Jonathan showed the little girl, a biblical verse came to me: "...these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." While my son had put love into practice, I had only felt anger.
I heard the familiar squeak of my husband's brakes as he pulled into the drive. I snapped a small limb bristling with hot pink azaleas off the bush. I felt the seed of love that God planted in my family beginning to bloom once again in me. My husband's eyes widened in surprise as I handed him the flowers. "I love you," I said.
1.From the first four paragraphs, we know that_____
A. the writer's husband was a very considerate man
B. the writer was fond of life in a cave
C. the present life let the writer feel nothing but sad
D. things didn't go as the writer expected.
2.What's the proper order of the events according to the passage?
①Mother arrived at school and knew the truth.
②The son presented the flower to the girl.
③Mother felt sad to see the flower branch broken.
④The girl was desperate and wanted to die.
⑤The son broke a flower branch and took it to school.
A. ③①②④⑤ B. ④⑤③②①
C. ⑤④③②① D. ④③⑤①②
3.What was the writer’s most probable state of mind when the teacher wanted to have a talk with her?
A. enthusiastic B. amazed
C. optimistic D. calm
4.What is the closest meaning of the underlined word “hysterical”?
A. angry B. shocked
C. mad D. light-hearted
5.Why did Jonathan pick up a limb of the writer's azalea bush?
A. He had a preference for azalea.
B. He wanted to show off before his classmates.
C. He intended to comfort the girl.
D. He lost his heart to the girl.
6.The best title of the story may be________ .
A. The Greatest of These B. A limb of my azalea bush
C. You’ve made my day D. My best day
The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphone, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic (怀旧的)skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful---both in school and in life.
Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.
Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.
In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to know well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.
Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe “those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then over time.
“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”
1.What makes writing by hand a thing of the past?
A. The absence of blackboard in classroom
B. The use of new technologies in teaching.
C. The lack of practice in handwriting.
D. The popular use of smartphones.
2.Berninger’s study published in 2009 ___________.
A. focused on the difference between writing by hand and on a computer.
B. indicated that students prefer to write with a pen and paper.
C. found that good essays are made up of long sentences.
D. discussed the importance of writing speed.
3.Which of the following best shows the role of spelling?
A. Spelling improves one’s memory of words.
B. Spelling ability is closely related to writing ability.
C. Spelling benefits the translation from words into ideas.
D. Spelling slows down finding exact words to express ideas.
4.What does “mind’s eye” in paragraph 5 mean?
A. Window. B. Soul
C. Picture. D. Imagination.
5.What conclusion could be drawn from the passage?
A. Computers can help people with their choice of words.
B. Spell checks can take the place of spelling teaching.
C. Handwriting still has a place in today’s classrooms.
D. Functional spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade.
With about 10 million new iPhone 6s ordered in the initial days on the market, a lot of old iPhones are bound to be thrown into the dustbins. Sure, you could sell, donate or recycle your old iPhone, but you probably will not. And there are better things to do with it.
One creative example: At the Missouri University of Science and Technology, a biology class is making old iPhones into microscopes. Using less than $10 worth of supplies, the old phones are mounted onto a lens and can magnify an object to 175 times its size.
Here are 5 smart-and-cheap uses for old iPhones.
Music for your car
Take your music library on the road. Some cars are equipped with docking ports for iPhones and have dashboard screens so you can choose your favourite music hands-free. Or you can just use the cigarette lighter for power.
Remote Control
Televisions, speakers and other devices now have apps that allow users to make their iPhones into fashionable remotes. Carm Lyman, 42, of Napa, California, transformed his iPhone 4 into a remote for his household sound system after his iPhone 5 arrived. Lyman can control the audio levels and activate speakers in various parts of his home as well as access different music services.
Cookbook
No need to go through recipe books or hunt around for other devices when you have a kitchen iPhone. Download a cookbook app, such as My Recipe Book (99 cents) or Big Oven (free), and just leave the device on the kitchen counter. It takes up almost no space and will hold far more recipes than any book.
Baby Monitor
Sure, you can spend $100 or more on a baby monitor, or you can just set your old iPhone up to watch video of your baby in real time as well as hear and even talk to him or her. Cloud Baby Monitor ($3.99) also allows parents to receive the signal on a wireless network or on WiFi so they do not have to be within a certain number of feet of the monitor.
Vehicle Tracker
Whether you need to find your car if it is stolen, record where you have traveled, or spy on your teenage driver, the built-in GPS in your phone can be used as a tracking device. An app like InstaMapper ($2.99) lets you watch the vehicle in real-time and have a record of it. Keep in mind that the phone can still dial 911, even if it does not have cellphone service, Smith said.
You can also use your old phone as a back-up in case your new model suffers irreparable harm. That said, the battery of a phone that sits in a drawer unused could be exhausted to the point where it is no longer workable.
1.We can learn from the passage that an old iphone___________.
A. can be used as a microscope
B. is necessary to be charged regularly
C. can light a cigarette in a car
D. is able to communicate with a baby
2.Who will probably benefit the most from an old iphone?
A. A housewife B. A musician
C. A traveller D. A phone user
3.If you expect the uses to work properly, ___________.
A. the wifi is a must
B. you are required to download apps
C. cellphone service is needed
D. some extra work must be done to your phone
4.Which of the following statement is true?
A. The uses mentioned above can’t funtion in an iphone6.
B. The uses can be available in a certain small area.
C. An old iphone may give you clues about a stolen car.
D. A cookbook app takes up no space of your old iphone.
Amy Chua may well be very nuts. What kind of a mother will drag her then 7-year-old daughter’s dollhouse out to the car and tell her that it is going to be donated if the poor kid doesn’t master a difficult piano composition by the next day? What kind of a mother will inform her daughter that she is nothing but “garbage”? And what kind of mother will believe, as Chua tells readers, that “an A- is not always a good grade”? The only activities her children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually win a medal, which must be gold.
What kind of a mother she is? Why, a mother who is raising her kids in the typical Chinese way, rather than the Western way. In her new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua tells her adventures in Chinese parenting, and — so nuts as she may be — she is also mesmerizing (迷惑的). Chua’s voice is that of a happy, knowledgeable serial killer — think Hannibal Lecter — who’s explaining how he’s going to cut his next victim, as though it’s the most self-evidently normal behavior.
There is another attractive aspect of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. There are methods to Chua’s madness, enough method to stir up self-doubt in those readers who support the more educating parenting styles. It is trusted that Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is going to be a book club and parenting blog phenomenon; there will be fevered debate over Chua’s tough love strategies, which include unchangeable bans on such Western indulgences (纵容) as sleepovers, play dates, and any after class activities except practicing musical instruments, which must be limited between the violin or the piano.
The back story to Chua’s book is this — she is the daughter of a couple of Chinese immigrants and is now a professor at Yale Law School and the author of two best-selling “big-think” books on “free-market democracy” and “the fall of empires”. When Chua married her husband, her fellow Yale law professor and a novelist Jed Rubenfeld, they agreed that their children would be brought up in “the Chinese way,” in which punishingly hard work, enforced by parents produces excellence; excellence, in turn, produces satisfaction. The success of this strategy is hard to debate. Their older daughter is a piano talent who played at Carnegie Hall when she was 14 or so. The second, a more rebellious (叛逆的) daughter, Lulu, is a gifted violinist. Chua rode the girls hard, making sure they practiced at least three hours a day even on vacations, when she would call ahead to arrange access to practice in hotel lobby bars and basement storage rooms.
Chua also rarely refrained (抑制) from criticizing her daughters. She explains: Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable to Westerners. Chinese mothers can say to their daughters, “Hey so fatty, lose some weight.” By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue, talking in terms of "health" and never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in treatment for eating disorders and negative self-image. ... Western parents are concerned about their children’s minds. Chinese parents aren’t. They assume strength, not weakness, and as a result they behave very differently.
1.The underlined word “nuts” in the first and second paragraphs most probably means _____.
A. intelligent B. crazy
C. difficult D. eager
2.Which of the following practices are tough love strategies EXCEPT _______.
A. Children must get a medal if they attend a competition
B. Children should practice piano even on holidays.
C. Children are indulged to sleepover, play dates, etc.
D. Children are called “garbage” or “fatty”
3.What’s the writer’s purpose of using the example of “weight problem”？
A. To show Chinese parents can do unimaginable things.
B. To make a comparison between Western and Chinese mothers.
C. To make us believe the western way of parenting is much better.
D. To show that Chinese mothers care more about their children.
4.From the passage we can learn that Chua’s way of parenting is _______.
A. widely acceptable B. very traditional
C. quite controversial D. out of date
5.Which is the main idea of the passage?
A. The Chinese way of parenting has its advantages.
B. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is a best seller.
C. The westerners are not good at raising children.
D. Tiger mothers raise their children in the Chinese way.
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21~40各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes the sky like beautiful birds darting(俯冲) and . As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a kept them in check.
blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great . They shook and pulled, the control string and the long tail kept them in check, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!” They flew beautifully even they fought the restriction(约束) of the string. , one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. “Free at last,” it seemed to say. “Free to fly with the wind.”
Yet from restraint simply put it an unsympathetic breeze. It flew awkwardly to the ground and in a wild mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. “Free at last”, free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown along the ground, and to stuck lifeless against the first barrier.
How much like kites we sometimes are. The heaven gives us misfortune and restrictions, rules to from which we can and gain strength. Restraint is a counterpart(对应物) to the winds of opposition. Some of us resist the rules so hard that we never fly high enough to reach the heights we might have obtained. We obey part of the rules and rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.
Let us each rise to the great heights, that some of the restraints that we may be unhappy about are actually the steadying force that helps us and achieve.
1.A. make B. play C. fly D. enjoy
2.A. covered B. transformed C. explored D. filled
3.A. singing B. dancing C. moving D. falling
4.A. chain B. rope C. string D. stick
5.A. Rather than B. Instead ofC. Apart from D. Other than
6.A. widths B. lengths C. depths D. heights
7.A. and B. then C. but D. or
8.A. escaped B. struggled C. arose D. fought
9.A. as B. while C. before D. after
10.A. Gradually B. Finally C. Actually D. Obviously
11.A. Dependence B. Power C. Freedom D. Happiness
12.A. in favor of B. at the expense of C. in the charge of D. in control of
13.A. deserted B. landed C. grew D. dropped
14.A. helplessly B. senselessly C. carelessly D. hopelessly
15.A. break B. follow C. acknowledge D. interrupt
16.A. protect B. suffer C. grow D. survive
17.A. necessary B. possible C. probable D. likely
18.A. yet B. never C. ever D. then
19.A. considering B. attempting C. thinking D. recognizing
20.A. go up B. run away C. hurry up D. fly away
--You haven’t been to New Zealand, have you?
-- . How I wish I there.
A. Yes, I have；went
B. Yes, I haven't；could have been
C. No, I have; would go
D. No, I haven't; had been
