However, in today’s world, stars are regarded as role models along with the heroes listed above, despite their intentions or actions. Teens attempt to imitate their actions for two major reasons. Firstly, to be fashionable and accepted by popular culture, and secondly because stars’ actions are so well documented by the media that it seems to grab our attention and turns it to following stars’ lives. Much of the reports about stars is shocking and exhibits bad morals or lifestyles that aren’t right for teenagers. In addition, almost everything stars do is described beyond truth to make a shocking story by taking it to the next level.
However, teens must take responsibility for their actions. We can’t always blame stars for influencing us. Only you have control over yourself and only you choose to do something. Our bodies and actions are in the hands of no one else.
Now, whoever said stars are role models? Whether they choose to be or not, stars set examples as soon as they step into the spotlight. With reporters following and recording every move they make, it is impossible not to be watched and then be imitated. These people influence teens whether or not they want to. Why should someone who doesn’t want to be setting an example set one? So,should we look up to them or to people who are true and good role models? It’s our responsibility as teens to know right from wrong, and it’s time for us to take responsibility for our actions. In doing so,we will lean toward those inspiring people that want to be setting an example, and follow in their steps to be like them.
1. According to the first paragraph, _______ can usually be role models.
A.political leaders |
B.wealthy writers |
C.people inspiring others |
D.people with great intelligence |
A.Interest in stars’ life and expectation of getting rich. |
B.Motivation for being fashionable and inspiration from popular examples. |
C.Intentions to gain acceptance and encouragement from stars’ lifestyle. |
D.Desires to be stylish and great influence from the mass media. |
A.have a control over their own bodies and actions |
B.be responsible for their own choices and behaviors |
C.follow fashionable stars’ steps to be more popular |
D.choose right role models according to different reports |
A.stars have the responsibility for teenagers’ actions |
B.not all famous stars choose to influence teenagers |
C.teenagers choose those inspiring people as their role models |
D.stars set examples immediately they stepped into the spotlight |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Technological change is everywhere and affects every aspect of life, mostly for the better. However, social changes brought about by new technology are often mistaken for a change in attitudes.
An example at hand is the involvement of parents in the lives of their children who are attending college. Surveys (调查) on this topic suggests that parents today continue to be “very” or “somewhat” overly-protective even after their children move into college dormitories. The same surveys also indicate that the rate of parental involvement is greater today than it was a generation ago. This is usually interpreted as a sign that today’s parents are trying to manage their children’s lives past the point where this behavior is appropriate.
However, greater parental involvement does not necessarily indicate that parents are failing to let go of their “adult” children.
In the context (背景) of this discussion, it seems valuable to first find out the cause of change in the case of parents’ involvement with their grown children. If parents of earlier generations had wanted to be in touch with their college-age children frequently, would this have been possible? Probably not. On the other hand, does the possibility of frequent communication today mean that the urge to do so wasn’t present a generation ago? Many studies show that older parents - today’s grandparents - would have called their children more often if the means and cost of doing so had not been a barrier.
Furthermore, studies show that finances are the most frequent subject of communication between parents and their college children. The fact that college students are financially dependent on their parents is nothing new; nor are requests for more money to be sent from home. This phenomenon is neither good nor bad; it is a fact of college life, today and in the past.
Thanks to the advanced technology, we live in an age of bettered communication. This has many implications well beyond the role that parents seem to play in the lives of their children who have left for college. But it is useful to bear in mind that all such changes come from the technology and not some imagined desire by parents to keep their children under their wings.
1. The surveys inform us of ______.A.the development of technology |
B.the changes of adult children’s behavior |
C.the parents’ over-protection of their college children |
D.the means and expenses of students’ communication |
A.parents today are more protective than those in the past |
B.the disadvantages of new technology outweigh its advantages |
C.technology explains greater parental involvement with their children |
D.parents’ changed attitudes lead to college children’s delayed Independence |
A.negative | B.supportive |
C.understandable | D.sceptical |
A.Technology or Attitude |
B.Dependence or Independence |
C.Family Influence or Social Changes |
D.College Management or Communication Advancement |
A. | B. |
C. | D. |
【推荐2】I was at the Gathering for Science in Boston, on 22 April 2017, as were 70.000 other scientists. We were there to stand up for facts and truth.
Where are the crowds of scientists now? Since then, harms from science denial have only increased: global suffering has grown owing to inaction on climate change, and some epidemics have risen along with vaccine skepticism.
I've been out there talking to the science deniers, and I've asked my scientist friends to come with me. “Those people just aren't worth talking to.” they'll say. “I wouldn't make a difference anyway.” What's wrong. Those people can and do change their minds, although it requires someone to put in the time to overcome distrust.
To be sure, many experts have launched themselves against misinformation, enduring abuse on social media and even threats to their safety. But when scientists turn down my invitations, it's not because of fear. Most often, their excuses are grounded in the “backfire effect”, a questionable 2010 finding that people sometimes embrace misconceptions more strongly when fared with corrective information, implying that pushing back against falsehoods is counter-productive. Even the researchers whose results were exaggerated to popularize this idea do not embrace it anymore, and argue that the true challenge is learning how best to target corrective information.
In fact, evidence is growing that rebuttals can he effective. Science deniers all draw on the same flawed reasoning techniques: cherry-picking evidence, relying on fake experts, and engaging in illogical reasoning. A landmark 2019 study showed that critiquing the flawed techniques can contain the spread of misinformation.
So how does “technique rebuttal” work in practice?
Arnaud Gagneur and his colleagues at the University of Sherbrooke conducted more than 1.000 20-minute interviews in which they listened to new parents' concerns about vaccinations and answered their questions. Those parents' children were 9% more likely to receive all the vaccines on the schedule than were those of uninterviewed parents whose babies were delivered in the same maternity ward. One mother told him: “It's the first time that I've had a discussion like this, and I feel respected, and I trust you.” It is self-evident in science communication that you cannot convince a science denier with facts alone; most science deniers don't have a lack of information, but a lack of trust.
So what should scientists do? Even non-experts can use technique rebuttal. A geologist can engage a neighbor who is vaccine hesitant. A protein biologist can coach an aunt or uncle who wants “more evidence” that climate change is real. Instead of shilling to more comfortable conversations, engage in respectful exchange. If you spend more time asking questions than offering explanations, people will be more likely to pay attention to the explanations that you do offer.
1. What can we learn from the passage?A.The Gathering for Science addressed online abuse. |
B.The silence of scientists worsens harm from science denial. |
C.Ineffective vaccines speed up the spread of some epidemics. |
D.The author's friends find it valuable to talk with science deniers. |
A.suggests caution before correcting others |
B.emphasizes the effectiveness of rebuttals |
C.results from flawed reasoning techniques |
D.enjoys wide support in the academic field |
A.the interviewed parents agreed to vaccination due to the sufficiency of the information |
B.geologists and protein biologists need to make sure the conversations are comfortable |
C.scientists are encouraged to listen carefully and ask questions during interaction |
D.scientists should teach non-experts how to conduct respectful exchanges |
A.express concerns for misinformation |
B.analyze the main cause of science denial |
C.advocate employing technique rebuttal |
D.present the problems scientists encounter |
【推荐3】Millions of Americans sit behind a computer screen, chained to their desk all day because the vast majority of stable, high-paying professions(职业) are “office jobs”. However, having a successful career does not require you to sit behind a desk and plug away at a computer all day.
In fact, there are a large number of non-desk jobs in a variety of industries that are growing and offering workers a direct path to the middle class, according to a new analysis of labor market information from CareerBuilder. While most of the highest-paying non-desk jobs are medical professions that require a doctoral or professional degree, there are 170 non-desk professions that pay $15 per hour or more, do not require a bachelor’s degree(学士学位) for a typical entry-level position, and have seen at least 6 percent job growth over the last four years.
“The US workforce has gradually changed to office-based work because of the rise of the professional service economy and productivity gains associated with information technology,” Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources Officer at CareerBuilder, said in a statement. “But some of the healthiest areas of job growth year after year are in middle-skill professions that don’t require workers to sit in front of computer monitors and phones for 40 hours a week.”
Here are the top-paying jobs that don’t require you to work at a desk in various kinds — none of which require a four-year college degree — and their hourly salary(工资) and growth rate since 2010: professional assistants(助理) : $26.57, 14 percent; elevator repairers: $37.81, 6 percent; mechanical engineering technicians: $25.19, 10 percent; and electromechanical(电动机械的) technicians: $24.68, 8 percent.
While they tend to pay less than traditional office jobs, non-desk professions provide a variety of benefits. Haefner points to a 2014 CareerBuilder survey that discovered workers who don’t work at a desk all day are less likely to complain about their work environment and less likely to report being overweight.
1. What does the underlined phrase “plug away” in the first paragraph probably mean?A.Turn off a switch. | B.Look for a job. |
C.Keep on working | D.Give up working |
A.A non-desk job may provide you with a middle-class life. |
B.The last four years has seen an increase in desk jobs. |
C.The college degree is the ticket to a position. |
D.A non-desk job cannot offer you a secure life. |
A.High salary. | B.Medicine. |
C.Information technology. | D.Service industries. |
A.Elevator repairers. | B.Professional assistants. |
C.Electromechanical technicians. | D.Mechanical engineering technicians. |
【推荐1】The “reading wars,” one of the most confusing and disabling conflicts in the history of education, went on heatedly in the 1980s and then peace came. Advocates of phonics (learning by being taught the sound of each letter group) seemed to defeat advocates of whole language (learning by using cues like context and being exposed to much good literature).
Recent events suggest the conflict of complicated concepts is far from over. Teachers, parents and experts appear to agree that phonics is crucial, but what is going on in classrooms is not in agreement with what research studies say is required, which has aroused a national debate over the meaning of the word “phonics.”
Lucy M. Calkins, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College and a much-respected expert on how to teach reading, has drawn attention with an eight-page essay. Here is part of her argument: “The important thing is to teach kids that they needn’t freeze when they come to a hard word, nor skip past it. The important thing is to teach them that they have resources to draw upon, and to use those resources to develop endurance.”
To Calkins’s critics, it is cruel and wasteful to encourage 6-year-olds to look for clues if they don’t immediately know the correct sounds. They should work on decoding — knowing the pronunciation of every letter group — until they master it, say the critics, backed by much research.
Calkins’s approach “is a slow, unreliable way to read words and an inefficient way to develop word recognition skill,” Mark S. Seidenberg, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, said in a blog post. “Dr. Calkins treats word recognition as a reasoning problem — like solving a puzzle. She is committed to the educational principle that children learn best by discovering how systems work rather than being told.”
Many others share his view. “Children should learn to decode — i.e., go from print on the page to words in the mind — not by clever guesswork and inference, but by learning to decode,” Daniel Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia, told me. He said the inferences Calkins applauds are “cognitively (认知地) demanding, and readers don’t have much endurance for it. … It disturbs the flow of what you’re reading, and doing a lot of it gets frustrating.”
Yet a recent survey found that only 22 percent of 670 early-reading teachers are using the approach of phonics and what they mean by phonics is often no more than marking up a worksheet.
Both sides agree that children need to acquire the vocabulary and background information that gives meaning to words. But first, they have to pronounce them correctly to connect the words they have learned to speak.
Calkins said in her essay: “Much of what the phonics people are saying is praiseworthy,” but it would be a mistake to teach phonics “at the expense of reading and writing.”
The two sides appear to agree with her on that.
1. Critics of phonics hold the opinion that ________.A.children should be taught to use context |
B.teaching phonics is both boring and useless |
C.kids acquire vocabulary in hearing letter groups |
D.pronunciation has nothing to do with meaning of words |
A.Tell me and I will forget; show me and I will remember. |
B.Skilled reading is fast and automatic but not deliberative. |
C.Word recognition skill should be developed in problem reasoning. |
D.Learning to make reasonable inferences is also a way of decoding. |
A.phonics approach has been proved to be successful |
B.children don’t shy away from difficulties in reading |
C.the two reading approaches might integrate with each other |
D.reading and writing are much more important than phonics |
A.An everlasting reading war among critics |
B.From print on the page to words in the mind |
C.A battle restarts between phonics, whole language |
D.Decoding and inferring confuse early-reading teachers |
【推荐2】The lives of the Ancient Greeks revolved(运转) around Eris, a concept by which they defined the universe. They believed that the world existed in a condition of opposites. If there was good, then there was evil;if there was love, then there was hatred; joy, then sorrow; war, then peace; and so on. The Greeks believed that good Eris occurred when one held a balanced outlook on life and coped with problems as they arose. It was a kind of ease of living that came from trying to bring together the great opposing forces in nature. Bad Eris was evident in the violent conditions that ruled men’s lives. Although these things were found in nature and sometimes could not be controlled, it was believed that bad Eris occurred when one ignored a problem, letting it grow larger until it destroyed not only that person, but his family as well. The Ancient Greeks saw Eris as a goddess: Eris, the Goddess of Discord, better known as Trouble.
One myth that expresses this concept of bad Eris deals with the marriage of King Peleus and the river goddess Thetis. Zeus, the supreme ruler, learns that Thetis would bear a child strong enough to destroy its father. Not wanting to father his own ruin, Zeus convinces Thetis to marry a human, a mortal(凡人) whose child could never challenge the gods. He promises her, among other things, the greatest wedding in all of Heaven and Earth and allows the couple to invite whomever they please. This is one of the first mixed marriages of Greek Mythology and the lesson learned from it still applies today. They do invite everyone . . . except Eris, the Goddess of Discord. In other words, instead of facing the problems brought on by a mixed marriage, they turn their backs on them. They refused to deal directly with their problems and the result is tragic. In her fury(狂怒), Eris arrives, ruins the wedding, causes a jealous argument between the three major goddesses over a golden apple, and sets in place the conditions that lead to the Trojan War. The war would take place 20 years in the future, but it would result in the death of the only child of the bride and groom, Achilles. Eris would destroy the parents’ hopes for their future, leaving the couple with no legal heirs (继承人) to the throne.
Hence, when we are told, “If you don’t invite trouble, trouble comes,” it means that if we don’t deal with our problems, our problems will deal with us . . . with a revenge! It is easy to see why the Greeks considered many of their myths learning myths, for this one teaches us the best way to defeat that which can destroy us.
1. Bad Eris is defined in the passage as _______A.the violent conditions of life. | B.the problems man encounters. |
C.the evil goddess who has a golden apple. | D.the murderer of generations. |
A.he needed to buy the loyalty of a great king of mankind. |
B.he feared the gods would create bad Eris by competing over her. |
C.he feared the Trojan War would be fought over her. |
D.he feared being a father of a boy who would kill him in the future. |
A.he knew that the child could not climb Mt. Olympus and manage to kill a god. |
B.he knew that the child would be killed in the Trojan War which would happen in 20 years. |
C.he knew that no matter how strong a mortal child was, he couldn’t overthrow an immortal god. |
D.he knew that Thetis would always love him above everyone else. |
A.Do not consider a mixed marriage. |
B.Do not anger the gods. |
C.Do not ignore the problems that arise in life. |
D.Do not take myths seriously. |
【推荐3】Exams never made me break out in a nervous sweat with tears threatening to ruin my already-trembling façade — but this one did. Even booking my piano exam reduced me to a blubbering mess of anxiety.
I feel permanently scarred inside churches — no longer admiring their beauty because, over the years, I have received such terrible marks from examiners hiding behind the stained-glass partitions. Despite being 15 — too old, too cool to be frightened — I remember trembling inside the bathroom stalls before my tests. I wished I never had to play in front of others.
But this time, after booking my Level 8 Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam, I went back to my normal routine. A little practice here, a little practice there. And then it happened.
My trusty, 10-year-old electric piano gave out. Middle C started to sound like an F-sharp and all other keys sounded like they were a fourth above their natural tone. Thankfully, my precious, boredom-saving buttons still worked. I could still change my piano’s settings from “piano” to “harpsichord .” I admit, it was a lot of fun banging on my wacky keys. Each note bonged like the sound on children’s TV shows when a character repeatedly runs into a wall.
Goofiness aside, I had to get my act together. I hated practicing but I really wanted a good mark. When I told my father what had happened to my piano, he only glared at me with disappointment, “When I was your age, I learned to be resourceful.”
Hmm. I had a broken piano, an exam coming up in a few months and a father who refused to buy me a new piano because he wanted to teach me a “life lesson”. I finally came upon a decision: I’d practice at school.
Going to a private school had to have its benefits, so I looked for a place to play. The school had many pianos but only a few in tune. Within a few days of searching, my piano books, my artistic best friend and I headed off to a music room at every available opportunity.
I loved finding new pianos in hidden corners of the school and I laughed at the dusty old historic pianos. They really had character. I spent hours in those music rooms while my friend honed her art skills in sketching and drawing. She suffered through my annoying, repetitive scales while I looked over my shoulder once in a while and admired her work. Not only did I become a better musician, but I also managed to gain a few subpar skills as an art critic.
As my exam drew close, all the music teachers knew to look for me in the piano rooms during recess, after school and late on Fridays. In anticipation of my assessment, one of my music teachers let me perform for her as a mini practice exam. To my surprise, she was greatly impressed.
Within a few months I went from not caring about my playing to feeling actually, maybe, kind of proud of my work. And over countless hours spent in my favorite, soundproof music room, I discovered that behind the piano, I could become anyone. Talking to other people never came easy to me, but I was able to express myself through music. I became overjoyed. It was like I had developed a sixth sense, one that only musicians could understand.
When I played, my worries about what others thought of me and how I viewed myself merged to reveal who I really am. All my adolescent musings made me feel like I was in a cage, but music gave me the key. Sitting behind a piano and creating music combined the movement of my body and the inner workings of my heart.
Music had never been the love of my life but that was changing. I loved the idea of being on a stage and creating something for others to enjoy and remember. Actually, it wasn’t a something, but rather a feeling that the audience would carry outside into a world where music wasn’t the only thing that people cared for.
When the time came to play in front of an examiner, instead of fearing my judge, I feared nothing but being unable to represent all my hard work. All the anxiety I had about going up on stage dimmed, and when the lights went on, all I could think about was the marvellous journey I’d had to get here. Trilling the keys reminded me of when I’d spent nearly two hours alone in a music room, more content than I had been anywhere else. Playing the melody reminded me of the bittersweet music experiences of past years.
Many days later, I received my mark. Not only did I earn a rarely mentioned “well done” and an 82 per cent, I had rewritten what music meant to me.
Now whenever I get caught up in the daily struggle, I remember the hard work that it took to reach my goal. Whenever I feel discouraged, I never forget to look at the gleaming keys of my new upright piano. As my father always says, some lessons are just learned the hard way.
1. What made the author so stressful inside churches these years?A.The religious atmosphere. | B.The artistic performance. |
C.The horrible surroundings. | D.Her colorful fantasy. |
A.The author’s family was too poor to afford a new piano. |
B.The father was quite angry about the author’s bad behavior. |
C.The author showed great dissatisfaction about her father. |
D.The father wanted the author to address the problem independently. |
A.mixed | B.separated | C.interacted | D.exploited |
A.Her good friend accompanied her to get through hard time. |
B.Her teachers treated her much better than before. |
C.Her family supported her quite well. |
D.Her own understanding of musical value. |
A.Nervous — disappointed — angry — calm |
B.Curious — frustrated — hopeful — grateful |
C.Frightened — indifferent — passionate — proud |
D.Depressed — satisfied — disappointed — peaceful |
A.An important Music Test |
B.A Hard but Enjoyable Life |
C.The Key to Happiness |
D.My Favourite Piano |