Earlier this month, blogger Lisa Henderson announced that she and her husband John had decided not to have Christmas. The family, who lives in Utah, will still put up decorations, but presents from Santa are a no-go this year.
“John and I feel like we are fighting a very hard uphill battle with our kids when it comes to their rights,” Henderson wrote on her blog. “It is one of the biggest struggles as a parent these days in middle class America. Our kids have been acting so ungrateful lately. ... John said, “We shouldn’t just celebrate Christmas. And, so that’s what we did.”
Instead, the Hendersons are putting the money they would have spent on gifts toward service projects in order to teach their three sons the “pleasure of giving.” The children will still receive gifts from grandparents and other family members, but this year, she said, their letters to Santa will be asking him to find someone who needs presents more than they do.
In an interview with ABC News, 11-year-old Caleb Henderson admitted that he and his brothers had been behaving badly. “We would hit each other. We were fighting and crying,” he admitted, and Lisa said that when she broke the news to her sons, they cried pretty hard.
But so far, Henderson told Fox News last week, the family is having a sudden turning this into a different kind of gift. They have already held a clothing drive and sent boxes of clothes and candy to a village in the Philippines that was hit hard last year by Typhoon Haiyan.
“The children were excited and kept wanting to give more and more,” she reported on her blog.
Many readers responded positively to Henderson’s post. Some sharing their own stories of limiting Christmas in order to teach their children to be charitable(仁慈的) or grateful. “As parents you’re giving your kids something so much more special than a bunch of gifts on Christmas,” one wrote.
But Henderson received negative follow-ups as well on her blog. Responding to critics, she updated her blog with a statement that reads, in part:
I just wanted to explain a couple of things. First, my kids are in no way hurt for things.... They have reacted by making gifts for each other and packing them into each other’s stockings stealthily(偷偷地). They are learning exactly what we wanted them to learn, because they are not moving around feeling sorry for themselves. They are thinking of others.
The second thing I wanted to explain is why I wrote this post. Some people seem to think I wrote this for attention. Ummm, the attention you get from posts like this is not good and actually extremely difficult to deal with.... The reason I wrote this post is I want to empower parents to feel like it’s okay to take a stand. ... I wanted to share what we are doing, so any parents that feel they are struggling with the same issues in their home can see what others are doing and get ideas for their family. My intention is to help support other parents and to raise amazing kids.
1.The Hendersons decided not to spend Christmas because_______.
A. they wanted to make their kids understand the pleasure of giving
B. their kids could receive presents from their other family members
C. the struggling couple tried to save some money to buy kids gifts
D. the whole family would go to the disaster areas in the Philippines
2.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by_______.
A. when Lisa told the kids they didn’t spend Christmas, they felt extremely sad
B.all the kids let out an excited cry when Santa sent them Christmas presents
C. the moment Lisa said the Philippines was hit by typhoon, they burst into tears
D. when their grandparents didn’t send them gifts, the kids couldn’t help crying .
3.From the last two paragraphs we can conclude that_______.
A. the writer wants to share his experiences of raising amazing kids
B. educating kids needs regular communication and great patience
C. the writer strongly called on people to care for the unfortunate
D. parents should praise children for their kindness to other people
4.Which of the following can be the best title?
A. Why These Parents Decided Not To Celebrate Christmas.
B. How Americans usually Spend A Traditional Christmas.
C. A Hard Battle between Kids And Parents At Christmas.
D. What American People Do To Have A Nice Christmas.
Don’t you hate it when someone snubs（冷落）you by looking at their phone instead of paying attention? The word “Phubbing”, which comes from “phone” and “snub”, describes such behavior . With popularization of smart phones, we see a new "Phubbing" group everywhere in public places: in subway, restaurants, roads, people are checking the mobile phone, ignoring the people around completely. What is worrying us is that not only young people, but also the elderly and kids are getting addicted（上瘾）to Phubbing.
On Dec 29th, a 28-year-old woman—a mother of two in Wenzhou, drowned after she fell into a river while looking at her mobile phone. A Pakistani man was killed on Dec 15th, 2015, after being hit by a fast moving train while trying to take a selfie (自拍)with it on the track. Last month, Justin, a college student was shot in subway in San Francisco, the U.S. The surveillance(监控)video showed that before Justin was killed, the killer pulled out the gun several times, and even wiped his nose with it. However, nobody noticed that. The surrounding passengers all focused on their cell phones.
Phone is the tool for communication, but now it distances people and makes them separated from each other. Therefore, someone jokes “the furthest distance in the world is not the distance between life and death, but that you don’t know I stand in front of you while you focus on the mobile.”
Phubbing appears harmless; however, it does affect our life. 23-year-old Alex from Melbourne wrote in his blog: "I can no longer focus on what I am eating since I started twittering. My skill of food photography has improved very fast, while my interest in food drops a lot as a result."
1.The author gives several examples in Para.2 to_______.
A. show the phubbing people are dangerous.
B. tell people the bad effects of phubbing
C. say phubbing is more and more popular.
D. warn people not to use phones any more.
2.The author wants to tell us in the passage that______.
A. Kids shouldn’t use phones
B. it’s time for us to stop phubbing
C. Phubbing distances people
D. phubbing can cause accidents
3.What may the passage talk about next?
A. Ways to stay away from phubbing
B. People who are addicted to phubbing
C. Possible reasons for phubbing
D. Advice on how to use a cell phone
Festivals play an important role in a culture’s identity. I can’t think of a better way of appreciating a new culture than by taking part in one of its festivals. Here are some special festivals around the world．
★ Boryeong Mud Festival－Boryeong, South Korea
For two weeks in July, millions gather in Borueong to experience the grey pools and slides．What began as a way of promoting the region’s mineral-rich mud has turned into a festive party, complete with music and fireworks.While the mud is usually only available in cosmetic products, here you can cake yourself in grey as you want．
★Holi－India
Holi, the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu celebration full of joy and one of India’s most important holidays. During the day of the last full moon of the lunar month, usually late February throughout the country, but the cheerful spirit is common throughout Hindu communities around the world．
★Koninginnedag－The Netherlands
Although their current Queen’s birthday is really during the winter, the Queen still celebrates it on April 30th, the country’s official “ Queen’s Day” since 1949．Orange is the national color, and the streets become a sea of feather boas（长围巾）and body paint as crowds gather in the plazas（广场）．Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, with many live music acts, but nearly every town is alive with orange on this day．
★National Elephant Day in Thailand
In Thailand, March 13th is regarded as National Elephant Day to show that the Thai elephant plays an important role in the Thai history. Thai Elephant Day has been held on an annual basis since the idea was first approved by the Thai government in 1998. Special events are held at a number of venues in northern Thailand．At the Mae Sa Elephant Camp, it has become a tradition on March13th for the dozens of elephants there to be treated to a huge feast of fruits and sugarcane．
1.What we can learn from the passage is that _____.
A. people around the world celebrate Holi differently to show their respect for religion.
B. Koninginnedag－The Netherlands was celebrated on their current Queen’s birthday
C. it is an international custom for the Thai elephant to eat all kinds of fruits and sugarcane
D. Boryeong Mud Festival was originally held to advertise for their mineral resources
2.What is the purpose of the festival held on March 13th in Thailand?
A. To call on people to protect these endangered elephants．
B.To give the Thai elephant a chance to eat fruits and sugarcane．
C.To help people relax themselves by feeding the Thai elephant．
D.To give the importance of the elephant in the Thai history．
3.You can experience the Festival of Colors in．
A．South Korea B．India
C．the Netherlands D. Thailand
4.What is the main purpose of the text?
A.To tell people how to enjoy and relax themselves．
B.To introduce some unique festivals around the world．
C.To get people to celebrate different kinds of customs．
D.To show the importance of celebrating different festivals．
Teenagers who spend hours in front of the television may have a poorer diet as young adults.
A study, which included nearly 1,400 high school students, found those who watched TV for five hours or more per day had less healthy diets than peers(同龄人) five years later. Why does this happen? Should the parents take any measures?
On the one hand, people who spend a lot of time in front of the TV, especially teenagers, may snack more, and that may affect their long-term diet quality.
On the other hand, TV ads for fast food, sweets and snacks tempt teenagers to eat more of those foods. And TV time might also replace exercise time for some kids.
Lead researcher Dr. Daheia J. Barr-Anderson, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told Reuters Health a clear correlation between TV time during high school and diet quality in young adulthood. While the heaviest TV viewers were eating the most junk food, those who’d watched less than two hours per day had the highest intake(吸收) of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and high-calcium food. In her opinion, parents should limit and monitor TV viewing.
As far as I am concerned, children should watch no more than two hours of television per day. And parents should set a good example by eating right, being physically active and curbing their own TV time.
1.What’s the best title for this passage?
A. Teenagers’ TV Time May Affect Their Diets Later
B. People Should Keep Away from TV to Keep Healthy
C. Why Do Teenagers Like TV?
D. Parents’ Own Habits May Affect Children Later
2.What suggestion does the author give the parents?
A. They can’t do what they don’t want their children to do.
B. They must watch TV with their children.
C. They should forbid the children to watch TV.
D. They should pay attention to nutrition in diets.
3.The underlined word “ curbing” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “_________”.
A. adding B. stopping
C. controlling D. checking
4.According to the passage, heavy TV viewers tend to _________.
A. eat more fruits B. take in fewer vegetables
C. eat less junk food D. take in high-calcium food
概要写作
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
When a consumer finds that something he or she bought is faulty or in some other way does not live up to what the producer says for it, the first step is to present the warranty(保单),or any other records that might help, at the store of buying. In most cases, this action will produce results.
However, if it does not, there are various means the consumer may use to gain satisfaction. A simple and common method used by many consumers is to complain directly to the store manager. In general, the “higher up” the consumer takes his or her complaint, the faster he or she can expect it to be settled. In such a case, it is usually settled in the consumer's favour, taking it as true that he or she has a just right.
Consumers should complain in person whenever possible, but if they cannot get to the place of buying, it is acceptable to phone or write the complaint in a letter.
Complaining is usually most effective when it is done politely but firmly, and especially when the consumer can show clearly what is wrong with what was bought in question. If this cannot be done, the consumer will succeed best by presenting specific information as to what is wrong, rather than by making general statements. For example, “The left speaker does not work at all and the sound coming out of the right one is unclear” is better than “This stereo(立体音响) does not work.”.
The store manager may advise the consumer to write to the producer, if so, the consumer should do this, stating the complaint as politely and as firmly as possible. But if a polite complaint does not achieve the expected result, the consumer can go a step further. He or she can threaten to take the seller to court or report the seller to a public organization responsible for protecting consumers' rights.
应用文写作
假如你是李华，最近你的英国网友David 给你发来邮件，谈到他想利用假期去做兼职，但是遭到母亲的反对。他希望你可以谈谈假期打工的好处，以帮助他说服母亲。请据此给他回复一封邮件。
注意： 1、词数80左右（开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。）
2、可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear David,
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Yours,
Li Hua
