【推荐1】Living and dealing with kids can be a tough job these days, but living and dealing with parents can be even tougher.
If I have learned anything in my 16 years, it is that communication is very important, both when you disagree and when you get along. With any relationship, you need to let other person know how you are feeling. If you are not able to communicate, you drift apart. When you are mad at your parents, or anyone else, not talking to them doesn’t solve anything.
Communication begins with the concerns of another. It means that you can’t just come home from school, go up to your room and ignore everyone. Even if you just say “Hi”, and see how their day was for five minutes, it is better than nothing.
If you looked up the word “communication” in a dictionary, it would say “the exchange of ideas, the conveyance （表达）of information, correspondence （通信）, means of communication: a letter or a message”. To maintain (保持) a good relationship, you must keep communication strong. Let people know how you feel, even if it’s just by writing a note.
When dealing with parents, you always have to make them feel good about how they are doing as a parent. If you are trying to make them see something as you see it, tell them that you’ll listen to what they have to say, but ask them politely to listen to you. Yelling or walking away only makes the situation worse.
This is an example: one night, Sophie went to a street party with her friends. She knew she had to be home by midnight after the fireworks, but she didn’t feel she could just ask to go home. That would be rude. After all, they had been nice enough to take her along with them. Needless to say, she was late getting home. Her parents were mad at first, not when Sophie explained why she was late, they weren’t as mad and let the incident go. Communication is the key factor here. If Sophie’s parents had not been willing to listen, Sophie would have been in a lot of trouble.
Communication isn’t a one-way deal: it goes both ways. Just remember: if you get into a situation like Sophie’s, telling the other person how you feel-listening is the key factor to communication.
1. In the writer’s view, dealing with parents is __________ than with children.

A．more difficult

B．easier

C．more uninteresting

D．more interesting

2. The main idea of the second paragraph is __________.

A．the importance of friendship

B．to make your feeling known to others

C．the importance of communication

D．the disagreement between generations

3. When parents and children are in communication, the key to a happy relationship is that __________.

A．children should always obey their parents

B．they should be equal

C．parents play the leading part

D．both make the opposite know their feelings

4. The example in this passage proves that ___________.

A．Sophie’s parents are willing to listen to her

B．Sophie is very polite to her parents

C．Sophie did well in explaining her being late

D．communication is the solution(解决办法) to misunderstanding

5. All the following statements are correct except “_______”.

A．If you don’t agree with others, you’d better let them know

B．It is better to say “Hi” to others than say nothing

C．If you are not able to communicate, walk away

D．Communication is a two-way deal

【推荐2】Linda Evans was my best friend—like the sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming, horseback riding.
When I was 13, my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special time—like my wedding (婚礼) and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped “Address (地址) Unknown. ” I had no idea how to find Linda.
Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share (分享) happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman — Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans,” I thought, but I still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Linda Evans Wagman is my mother. ”
Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much, even after 40 years, laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again!
1. The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans _______.

A．at the age of 13	B．before she got married
C．after they moved to new homes	D．before the writer’s family moved away

2. They didn’t often write to each other because they _______.

A．got married	B．had little time to do so
C．didn’t like writing letters	D．could see each other on special time

3. There was an empty place in the writer’s heart be­cause she _______.

A．was in trouble

B．didn’t know Linda’s address

C．received the card that she sent

D．didn’t have a friend like Linda to share her happi­ness or sadness

4. They haven’t kept in touch _______.

A．for about 40 years	B．for about 27 years
C．since they got married	D．since the writer’s family moved away

【推荐3】I was wandering around the Albuquerque International Sunport Airport. My flight had been delayed and I heard an announcement: “If anyone near Gate A – 4 understands Arabic(阿拉伯语)，please come to the gate immediately. ” Gate A – 4 was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman was crumpled (蜷缩成一团的) on the floor, she reminded me of my grandmother.

“Talk to her,” urged the flight agent. “We told her the flight was going to be late, and she did this.”

I bent over to put my arm around the woman and spoke uncertainly. “Shu-dow-a, shu-bid-uck, habibti? She stopped crying. She thought the flight had been canceled. She needed to be in El Paso for a medical treatment the next day. I said, “You’ll get there, just late. Who is picking you up? Let’s call him.”

We called her son. In English, I told him that I would stay with his mother until we got on the plane. She talked with him. Then we called her other sons just for fun. Then we called my dad, and they spoke for a while in Arabic and found out that they had several shared friends. After that, I called some Palestinian poets I know and let them chat with her.

She was laughing a lot by then, patting my knee and answering questions. She pulled a bag of home-made cookies filled with nuts and topped with sugar from her bag and offered them to the women at the gate. To my amazement, no one refused. It was like a sacrament (圣餐). The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo —we were all smiling, covered with the same sugar.

I looked around that gate and thought: This is the world I want to live in, one with no anxiety. This can still happen anywhere, I thought. Not everything is lost.

1. What can we learn about the author?

A．She was highly skilled in speaking Arabic.

B．Her grandmother saw her off at the airport.

C．She took the same flight with the older woman.

D．Her father was an acquaintance of the older woman.

2. Why did the older woman burst into tears at the boarding gate?

A．Her flight ticket seemed to have got lost.

B．She couldn’t make herself fully understood.

C．Her flight was canceled because of bad weather.

D．She thought she couldn’t make it for her treatment.

3. Which words can best describe the author?

A．Brilliant.	B．Considerate.
C．Generous.	D．Extraordinary.

4. What could be the best title for this passage?

A．A Delayed Flight in Albuquerque	B．A Strange Palestinian Woman
C．Cookies at Gate A – 4	D．A Wonderful World

【推荐2】Feeling overwhelmed? Maybe the parent of a preschooler in your family just called to say they need extra help with child care, and a sick neighbor wants to know if you can pick up some groceries for her. Meanwhile, your best friend keeps calling in need of someone to open up to.

In less stressful times, perhaps, you’d have jumped to help out and lend an ear. But after months of social isolation (孤立), coping with work demands, and caring for loved ones, the balance has started to tip. Suddenly your own need for emotional support is outweighing your capacity for kindness.

That’s understandable, and OK. If you’re feeling insensitive or overburdened these days in response to another’s pain or request for help, that doesn’t make you unkind. What you’re feeling could instead be what we mental health professionals call “compassion fatigue (同情疲劳)”. Anxiety, sadness, and low self-worth can also be symptoms of this sort of emotional tiredness, the American Institute of Stress notes. Often we associate this stress condition with health care workers, but the American Psychological Association warns that anyone who continually cares for others or who witnesses others’ sufferings is also at risk.

Research shows compassion fatigue can be successfully treated—with stress-reduction techniques, such as meditation, as well as with specific treatment. The key is learning how to recognize the symptoms so that you can get help.

When the two of us—a psychologist and a social worker—feel like we have “nothing left to give,” supporting our own sad friends or caring for a sick relative can feel like running a marathon with aching muscles. But showing sympathy—and avoiding emotional burnout—doesn’t have to be painful for anyone. As Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki notes in his book The War for Kindness, “empathy (共情) is a skill we can all strengthen through effort.”

1. Which of the following is “compassion fatigue”?

A．The guilt after refusing to help your neighbors.

B．The loneliness without getting emotional support.

C．The anxiety from failing to be successfully treated.

D．The sadness from seeing people suffering from cancers.

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．People are unable to offer help when they’re stressed.

B．Showing no sympathy for others’ sufferings is unacceptable.

C．Whoever cares for others will suffer from emotional tiredness.

D．Those constantly attending to others may experience compassion fatigue.

3. What does this passage try to convey?

A．Compassion fatigue can be easily treated.

B．Avoiding emotions causes pain to everyone.

C．The skill of showing sympathy can be built up.

D．Experts can do nothing about compassion fatigue.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Helping Hands Need A Break

B．Sympathy Is What We Can Acquire

C．Stress Symptoms Need Recognizing

D．Psychologists and Social Workers In Danger

【推荐3】“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” But now scientists have given us another warning: too much play with smart phones or computers makes you dull too.

“Many focus on the benefits of digital devices in education but ignore the costs,” said Patricia Greenfield from the University of California, "losing the ability to understand the emotions(情感) of other people is one of the costs."

Greenfield and her research team did an experiment. They worked with 105 children who spend about 4.5 hours in front of screens on a school day. The students were asked to describe the emotions towards the pictures and videos of people who were happy, sad, angry or scared. Then, half of them attended a five﹣day nature and science camp. There they had no smart phones, TV or computers. The other half stayed in school and spent the five days as usual. Five days later, all the children took the test again.

Students who had been to the camp got about 5 percent more answers correct than they had done before the camp. But the other group of students didn't show much improvement.

The study is not perfect in some sense, said the researchers. But scientists say that the study is still a warning for us. “Emotional skills develop in practice and the brain develops through real communication.” said Professor Taylor, a professor at the university of San Francisco.

Researchers talked to 2,000 parents of children aged 2—16 in the UK about what activities their children could do confidently. The results were surprising. Their children could use a tablet (平板电脑)(59%)and work a mobile phone (57%) more confidently than they could tie their shoe laces (鞋带)(53%)!

So, spend more time away from mobile phones and computers if you want to be an understanding friend, and not a member of what the Daily Mail called "Generation Helpless".

1. According to Professor Greenfield, using digital devices in education leads to　 　.

A．getting along well with family members	B．failing to understand other peoples emotions
C．making more mistakes when taking exams	D．falling far behind others in all schoolwork

2. Scientists think the results of Greenfield's experiment　 　.

A．are far from perfect	B．are quite surprising
C．are worth considering	D．need to be improved

3. What can we know from the text?　 　

A．Students learned how to describe emotions in the experiment.

B．Students living without screens did much better in studies.

C．Too much play with digital devices raised some worries.

D．Most of the UK children couldn't tie their shoe laces.

4. What is the best title for the text?　 　

A．Screens harm emotions	B．Here comes a digital world
C．Stay away from the Internet	D．How people become addicted?

【推荐2】Cats may have “attachment (依恋) styles” that are similar to those of people. Contrary to cats' original reputation, most cats form deep, close relationships with their owners, researchers say.

A team of researchers studied the relationship between the owners and their kittens by a type of psychology experiment. They set up a room, which is bare except for a few toys. The team instructed each owner to sit in a circle outlined on the floor in the middle of the room and ignore his or her kitten for two minutes, not making eye contact or speaking unless the cat stepped inside the circle. Owners were allowed to interact (互动) with their pet if the cat entered the circle. Then, the owner left the cat alone in the room for two minutes, before re-entering and again sitting inside the circle.

The researchers tested 79 kittens and their owners and recorded each pair’s interactions on camera. Based on how the cat reacted to their owner’s return, the researchers believed 70 of the participants have attachment styles. The findings indicate that the attachment is probably a biological characteristic that may have evolved (进化) to improve survival.

To see if a particular kitten’s attachment could change with training, 39 of the kittens were arranged to join a special class and 31 weren’t. For six weeks of classes, the kittens that attended a special class socialized with other cats and unfamiliar adults, and learned how to sit or walk on leash (皮带). But when all of the kittens repeated the original experiment, very few switched attachment styles. It proves that the relationship formed between a human and a cat is stable over time, which means those first interactions are important, the researchers say.

The team hopes that understanding how cats bond with humans could help more stray (无主的) cats be adopted.

1. What is the original impression that cats make on people according to the text?

A．Indifferent.	B．Close.
C．Kind.	D．Lazy.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The process of the experiment.

B．The type of the experiment.

C．The achievements of the team.

D．The effect of the research.

3. What does the training classes suggest about a cat’s attachment to humans?

A．It changes easily.

B．It forms in six weeks.

C．It lasts for a long time.

D．It only shows to its owner.

4. From which is the text probably taken?

A．A biology textbook.

B．A research paper.

C．A health magazine.

D．A travel brochure