The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on well with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image (形象) of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it had ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today‘s young people seem to be about their families,” said one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious (叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds: they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There‘s more negotiation (商议) and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat (捣乱).”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I‘m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they‘re fine with me.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments (评论), “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over. ”
1.What is popular among the teenagers today?
A. They worry about school.
B. They dislike living with their parents.
C. They have to be locked in to avoid troubles.
D. They quarrel a lot with other family members.
2.The study shows that teenagers don‘t want to __________.
A. share family responsibility
B. cause trouble in their families
C. go boating with their family
D. make family decisions
3.Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today‘s parents ____________.
A. go to clubs more often with their children
B. are much stricter with their children
C. care less about their children‘s life
D. give their children more freedom
4.According to the writer, teenage rebellion __________.
A. may be a false belief
B. is common nowadays
C. existed only in the 1960s
D. resulted from changes in families
5. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Negotiation in family.
B. Education in family.
C. Harmony in family.
D. Teenage troubles in family.
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.
I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”
“Oh, you’re such a good man,” she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice (临终医院). I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter (计价器).
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
At dawn, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”
1.The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to _____.
A. show she was familiar with the city
B. see some places for the last time
C. let the driver earn more money
D. reach the destination on time
2.The taxi driver did not charge the old woman because he _____.
A. wanted to do her a favor
B. shut off the meter by mistake
C. had received her payment in advance
D. was in a hurry to take other passengers
3. What can we learn from the story?
A. Giving is always a pleasure.
B. People should respect each other.
C. An act of kindness can bring people great joy.
D. People should learn to appreciate others’ concern.
完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面的短文，从短文后给出的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出可以填入文中空白处的最佳选项。
It was raining. I went into a café and asked for a coffee. _______ I was waiting for my drink, I realized that there were other people in the place, but I sensed________. I saw their bodies, but I couldn't feel their souls _______ their souls belonged to the ________.
I stood up and walked between the tables. When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man ________ in front of it. "I'm Steve", he finally answered after I asked him a couple of times what his name was. "I can't talk with you. I'm ________ ", he said. He was chatting online and, ________, he was playing a computer game—a war game. I was _______.
Why didn't Steve want to talk with me? I tried _______ to speak to that computer geek(怪人), ________ not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but no reaction(反应). I was ________. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to shout, "_______!"
I took a few steps back, wondering if all those people in the café were looking at me. I _______, and saw nobody showed any interest.
_______, I realized that the people there were having a nice conversation with their machines, not with people. They were more ________ having a relationship with the _______, particularly Steve. I wouldn't want to ________ the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines _______ with people.
I was worried and I sank in my thoughts. I didn't even ________ that the coffee was cold, ________ Steve didn't notice there was a person next to him.
1.A. Before B.Since C.Although D. While
2.A. pain B. loneliness C. sadness D. fear
3.A. because B. when C. until D. unless
4.A. home B. world C. net D. cafe
5.A. sleeping B. laughing C. sitting D. learning
6.A. busy B. thirsty C. tired D. sick
7.A. first of all B. just then C. at the same time D. by that time
8.A. surprised B. delighted C. moved D. frightened
9.A. once B. again C. first D. even
10.A. but B. so C. if D. or
11.A. excited B. respected C. afraid D. unhappy
12.A. Shut up B. Enjoy yourself C. Leave me alone D. Help me out
13.A. walked about B. walked out C. raised my hand D. raised my head
14.A. From then on B. At that moment C. In all D. Above all
15.A. interested in B. tired of C. careful about D. troubled by
16.A. computer B. soul C. shop D. geek
17.A. tell B. plan C. imagine D. design
18.A. other than B. instead of C. except for D. as well as
19.A. pretend B. understand C. insist D. realize
20.A. as if B. just as C. just after D. even though
All the task ____ ahead of time, they decided to go on holiday for a week.
A.had been finished B.were finished
C.having been finished D.been finished
Babara is easy to recognize as she’s the only one of women who ____evening dress.
A.wear B.wears C.has worn D.have worn
Shanghai is the first city in the world ____a high-speed maglev train, from the city to Pudong Airport.
A.to build B.to be built
C.to have built D.to have been built
