Since we are social beings，the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships.
One strength of the human condition is our tendency to give and receive support from one another under stressful circumstances. Social support consists of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties.
Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily difficulties. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over a range of illnesses，from depression to heart disease，show that the presence of social support helps people protect themselves from illness，and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First，friends，relatives，and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others despite our faults and difficulties.
Second，other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to explain and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third，we typically find social companionship supportive. Engaging in leisure-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting(转移……注意力)us from our worries and troubles. Finally，other people may give us instrumental support-financial aid，material resources，and needed services-that reduces stress by helping us solve and deal with our problems.
1.Research shows that people's physical and mental health has much to do with ______ .
A.the social medical system
B.the amount of support they get from others
C.their strength for dealing with interpersonal ties
D.their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles
2.The underlined word "cushions" probably means" ______ ".
A.adds up to B.lessens the effect of
C.does away with D.lays the foundation for
3.Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work is an example of ______ .
A.important support
B.instrumental support
C.social activity
D.the strengthening of self-respect
4.Social companionship is beneficial in that ______ .
A.it helps strengthen our ties with relatives
B.it enables us to get rid of our faults and mistakes
C.it makes our leisure-time activities more enjoyable
D.it draws our attention away from our worries and troubles
The letter arrives from a school that your son told you is his dream school. You dare not open it，instead，you hand it to him when he arrives home from school. You watch as his eyes light up and you know this is the beginning of something. You are just not sure what. Your son insists that the coach must really want him since he took the time to write him a letter. Is this in fact true？Did he write other kids and if so how many？How would you know？
The simple fact of the matter is that you can read very little into that first letter. Coaches cast a wide net in the first few stages of the recruiting(录取)cycle. That letter may in fact，be the first and last time your son ever hears from that particular coach. Think about it：if he has not seen your sons transcripts or his standardized test scores，if you have not visited the school，if he has no knowledge of your financial needs，can it be anything significant？
So how do you treat these letters or emails？Is there some format you can apply？Say tor instance，three letters mean real interest…or three letters and a call means a greater degree of interest？
My experience in deal with cases of various applications is that answers will not come automatically. Call the coach and find out how real the interest in fact is. "Is my son a top recruit in your mind？" "How many players at his position will you be recruiting this year?" By asking these simple and direct questions，you as a parent，will have established a dialogue and hopefully figured out how much interest，if any really exists. However，here comes the challenge. Applicants and parents are vague with coaches about their intention and level of interest all the time. In fact，the coach's situation is no less confusing than yours. He is fighting a similar battle on multiple choices. There is little clarity on either end.
Enjoy that first letter. Let's hope it is one of many and let's hope you apply a bit of realism with a bit of wishful thinking about how happy your son should be when this is all over.
1.How did the parent feel about the letter that his son got from his dreamed school？ ______
A.expectant B.hesitant
C.doubtful D.hopeful
2.According to the passage，by calling the coach，parents can______ .
A.determine the level of interest from coach
B.build up a communication with the coach
C.identify the real intention of the coach
D.understand more about the situation of the coach
3.The author of the passage is most likely to be ______ .
A.a consultant to help students with their application
B.a parent with similar experiences
C.a school authority that supervises the application
D.a coach in charge of the application
4.The purpose of the passage is to ______ .
A.remind parents of the importance of the first letter from coaches
B.tell parents how to react to the first letter from coaches
C.advise parents to ignore the first letter from coaches
D.warn parents to be realistic towards the first letter from coaches
Several months ago I decided it would be wise to investigate the possibilities of buying a life insurance policy，if for no other reason than because I understood it might be a good investment. I got the name of an insurance agent from a friend and called the agent to get some information.
From the kinds of questions I put to him，the agent would tell that I knew nothing about insurance so he kindly offered to explore the matter with me in more detail -to help me determine the kind of policy I ought to be considering.
That evening he appeared at my door promptly at 7：30；without wasting time on amenities he spread his papers out on the kitchen table and launched into a lengthy explanation. I listened attentively as he talked about the difference between various types of policies，and he explained the kind of coverage he felt I ought to have because of my age bracket and financial objectives. Toward the end of the evening (after three or four hours of talking)，he kindly helped me fill out an application for a 50，000 dollar policy，and then he asked if I could go to a Dr. Luther's office on Friday for a physical examination.
I don't know why，but it was not until the mention of the doctor's appointment that I realized fully what was happening. I was about to sign a lifetime contract yet I had not really made a decision about whether I wanted to buy the policy or not. As a matter of fact，the question of the need for a decision from me one way or the other had not even come up. Suddenly I felt sure that I definitely did not want to buy the policy. However, since he had spent so much time with me，I didn't want to make him feel that he had wasted his time. So I invented an excuse about things I had to do on Friday，and I assured him I would call him in a few days. Actually，I had no intention of going to see Dr. Luther or of calling the agent again. I wanted to forget the whole thing.
It's been over three months now since our meeting，and my friendly insurance agent still calls at my office faithfully two or three times a week. My secretary knows that I don't want to talk to him，so when he calls she tells him that I'm in a meeting or that I'm out of the office or that I'm away on a business trip. I realize now that it was a mistake not to tell him outright that I'm not interested，and please not to bother me any more，all I can do is to avoid his calls and hope I don't run into him someplace.
1.The writer phoned the insurance agent because ______ .
A.He wanted to fill out an application for a life insurance policy.
B.He had decided to buy a life insurance policy.
C.He wanted to explore the possibilities of buying a life insurance policy.
D.He took great interest in the insurance company.
2.According to the passage，the agent was ______ .
A.an experienced salesman B.kind but inexperienced
C.ineffective D.easy to deal with
3.The writer didn't tell the agent the truth because ______ .
A.he was afraid of him.
B.he felt embarrassed to do so.
C.he thought it none of the agent's business.
D.he didn't wish to lose the agents friendship.
4.The writer realizes that ______ .
A.he should have told the truth to the agent earlier.
B.he should buy the policy.
C.the agent is a real friend.
D.insurance is but swindle(骗局)
In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet,despite the competition,my -year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest,a competition she won last year.
As a writer I know about winning contests,and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's the strange thing about being a parent.
So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.
A revelation(启示)came last week when I asked her, " Don't you want to win again？" No," she replied," I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade. "
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously(自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall,I offered suggestions for characters,conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided" by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade,I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting(借用)my daughter's experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me,it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps,putting myself far enough a way to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment， grow and find their own voices.
1.What do we learn from the first paragraph？
A.A lot of distractions compete for children's time nowadays.
B.Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
C.Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.
D.Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.
2.What did the author say about her own writing experience？
A.She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
B.Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.
C.She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
D.Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
3.Why did Rebecca want to enter this year's writing contest？
A.She had won a prize in the previous contest.
B.She wanted to share her stories with readers.
C.She was sure of winning with her mother's help.
D.She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
Tianwu has climbed Huashan more than 3, 000 times in the past decade. He is a _______ , transporting goods up the slopes on his back, for a living. But he is most _______ for his disability: He has only one arm.
He _______ his left arm in an accident in 1992 at the coal mine. With two young children and parents to _______, he was working overtime that day when a pulley brake _______ after that he opened a store, but it went bankrupt from too many _______ sales. _______ his hard work, he was left with nothing but debts. Then he heard about bearers for Huashan Mountain from a friend and thought it would be an _______ job.
His first job was to _______ 30 kilograms of goods to High Ladder. He had a companion who ________ mid-way, but he finished his job with ________ pain in his knees. But as he ________ experience through the years, he has developed his own ________ for climbing the mountain.
Now he carries 60 kilograms of goods up the mountain every day-1 kilogram more than his own body weight. ________, he makes three to four trips each day to and from." I ________ each step very carefully and have never had any accident in the past 10 years," He said.
Being a bearer is a tiresome and dull job in many people's minds, but he enjoys himself. He appreciates and remembers the calligraphy ________ in the rocks and copies them. His favorite one is, "Though heavy snow falls down on verdant pines, the pines still stand ________." He once said," I'd like to stay here because the mountain pays my hard work ________."
"I don't lament for my ________ days and will not fear the future," He said. The painstaking job has given him a strong ________.
1.A.carrier B.guide C.bearer D.servant
2.A.noted B.famous C.well-known D.pitied
3.A.destroyed B.damaged C.disabled D.lost
4.A.stand for B.live for C.look for D.care for
5.A.failed B.fell C.disappear D.broke
6.A.casual B.credit C.chain D.constant
7.A.Besides B.Regardless C.Except D.Despite
8.A.ideal B.satisfying C.loose D.outstanding
9.A.take B.carry C.fetch D.load
10.A.stopped B.paused C.quitted D.rested
11.A.hard B.intense C.severe D.serious
12.A.received B.gained C.established D.desired
13.A.way B.technique C.procedure D.assistance
14.A.Nevertheless B.Therefore C.Moreover D.thus
15.A.care B.mind C.follow D.watch
16.A.painted B.printed C.written D.carved
17.A.straight B.still C.high D.verdant
18.A.back B.off C.away D.up
19.A.old B.last C.past D.hard
20.A.body B.health C.heart D.mind
—Didn’t you have a good time at the party?
—Of course I did.As a matter of fact,I had such fun that time seemed to_____so quickly.
A.go by B.go away
C.go out D.go over
