Why are Chores Important for Children to Do?
You might hold back from assigning your children chores because they already have their hands full with homework and school activities.
You’ve often heard that a “family that prays together, stays together”, right?
The best way to teach children how to appreciate what they have is to give them age-appropriate household chores. They’ll also learn to sympathize with you and learn what’s involved in making a home.
When you assign your children age-appropriate household chores, you’re teaching them to be responsible. You won’t always be around to wash the dishes or set the table for them. They’ll have to assume that responsibility on their own, perhaps after leaving home. As a child growing up, you likely learned how to do things around the home from your parents.
| A．Chores give them a sense of purpose and usefulness. |
| B．Doing household chores influence your child’s maturity. |
| C．The same applies when handling chores around the home. |
| D．Wouldn’t it be nice to pass on those skills to your children? |
| E．That’s understandable, but household chores can benefit your children. |
| F．It takes effort, time, and resources to do all the things around the home. |
| G．Children learn to cherish only with the experience of doing chores at home. |
相似题推荐
Kevin Salwen was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleepover in 2006 . While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes Coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other.
“Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal.” Hannah protested. The light changed and they drove on, but Hannah was too young to be reasonable. She pestered（纠缠）her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something.
“What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?”
Warning!
Eventually, that’s what the family did. The project —crazy, impetuous （鲁莽的） and utterly inspiring — is written down in detail in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: “The Power of Half.” It’s a book that, frankly, I’d be nervous about leaving around where my own teenage kids might find it. An impressionable child reads this, and the next thing you know your whole family is out on the street.
At a time of enormous needs in Haiti and elsewhere, when so many Americans are trying to help Haitians by sending everything from text messages to shoes, the Salwens offer an example of a family that came together to make a difference — for themselves as much as the people they were trying to help. In a column a week ago, it described neurological （神经生物学的）evidence from brain scans that unselfishness lights up parts of the brain normally associated with more primary satisfaction. The Salwens’ experience confirms the selfish pleasures of selflessness.
Mr. Salwen and his wife, Joan, had always assumed that their kids would be better off in a bigger house. But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other. A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house.
1. What does the underlined word “inequity” most probably mean in Paragraph 3?
| A．Unfairness. | B．Satisfaction. |
| C．Reasonable statement | D．Personal attitude. |
| A．Don’t respond to a child's demands firmly without consideration. |
| B．Unless a child is realistic, never give an answer immediately. |
| C．Give an answer if the child is reasonable. |
| D．Never give a quick answer to an idealistic teenager. |
| A．The Salwens regretted selling their house. |
| B．The relationship between the family members of the Salwens is much closer. |
| C．Small houses can bring happiness. |
| D．The Salwens intend to buy another big house. |
| A．Mercedes Coupe is only an ordinary car which is quite cheap. |
| B．Unselfishness has nothing to do with people’s primary satisfaction. |
| C．Hannah asked her parents to do something charitable and they sold their house. |
| D．The writer’s children asked him to sell their house. |
On a recent Saturday, I stepped into a MeDonald to use the ladies’ room. There I saw a woman of my age with a concerned look on her face helping her elderly father slowly make his way to the men’s room with his walker.She seemed like a loving,dutiful daughter dealing with the role reversal(逆转)that comes with age—those moments when it feels like you’re talking care of your parents,instead of being taken care of by your parents.
As a member of the sandwich generation,I can relate.I often feel like the peanut butter between two pieced of bread:I’m trying to hold it together for my two teenage daughters,and also meet the needs of my 89-year-old mom,Elinor.
My mother’s day-to-day care became a must after my father passed away last year.My parents cared for each other through Parkinson’s disease,heart disease and cancer.Now mom is living alone, in the same house in Virginia where my elder sister,my younger brother and I grew up. The house is full of 55 years’ memories about my mom and my dad. And the thought of leaving it makes her extremely sad.
But what if something happens to her and no one is there to help? What about the hours of loneliness that can’t be alleviated with a phone call? I am lucky that my brothers and sisters and I are in regular communication and we all want to do our part.
We don’t want to decide for her, of course. And we do have options: We could ensure that the house is safe for her, or bring in someone a couple of hours a day to cook a few meals and do light house-keeping. The most important thing is to keep talking about it as family,and to keep mom involved in the discussion.
Whatever we decide, we’ll do it together.Mom sacrifices her whole life for us,and we want to help her age with dignity.
1. What does the author think of the woman of her age? (no more than 10 words)2. Why doesn’t the author’s mother want to leave her house? (no more than 8 words)
3. What does the underlined word “alleviated” in Paragraph 4 mean? (1 word)
4. What makes the author think she is lucky ?(no more than 16 words)
5. What inspiration do you get from the passage? Please express it in your own words.(no more than 25 words)
【推荐3】It was our turn to open our presents this particular Christmas morning. The living room was already covered with torn (撕开的)wrapping paper. Obviously, the children could hardly wait to discover the hidden treasures, which they had expected for nearly a month. Now we adults sat around the room with our presents at our feet, slowly removing the paper, trying to maintain our dignity in front of the children.
My wife Brenda, and her family have a tradition of getting each other gag (恶作剧)gifts. This always makes me a bit uneasy at Christmas or my birthday, never knowing what embarrassment lies waiting for me under the wrapping paper.
Recently, my six-year-old daughter Christy seemed to busy herself with something while I was playing computer video flight games. Now she was standing directly in front of me. The excitement of the moment just shone across her face. Finally, I came to the last gift and with my natural Sherlock Holmes ability, I concluded that this had to be the gag gift. With everyone looking on, I decided to go ahead and get it over with — just let them have their laugh — and I tore the paper and there it was...a toy airplane about two inches long. Our holiday guests started giggling (咯咯笑) to themselves as I looked up to my wife with an unpleasant smile on my face, saying, “A toy airplane? Are you kidding me?”
Brenda gave me the look — that look that always tells me I have just said something wrong and should have given it a second thought. I had failed to look at the name tag (标签) before I opened the present to see who it was from. As I picked up the paper from the floor and read the name tag, my heart sank. On the tag were the letters that read, “To dad, Love Christy.”
1. The author feels uneasy at Christmas or on his birthday because _______.| A．he has to spend a lot on presents |
| B．the wrapping paper is easily torn |
| C．he feels embarrassed being with his wife’s family |
| D．he is afraid of the unknown gag gifts |
| A．she was eager to express love to Dad |
| B．she was thrilled on seeing her gift from her parents |
| C．she was getting a load of gag gifts |
| D．she was interested in her video flight games |
| A．Regretful. | B．Unpleased. |
| C．Moved. | D．Excited. |
| A．his wife was unhappy with what he had said |
| B．holiday guests giggled on the present |
| C．the gift was not what he had expected |
| D．his words could have hurt his daughter’s feeling |
| A．Gag gifts: a family tradition |
| B．A toy airplane: joy at Christmas |
| C．A hidden treasure: love from dear daughter |
| D．A name tag: Christmas present |
【推荐1】An Italian company has told staff to stop sending any internal (内部) emails for a week in an effort to reduce stress levels.
Home textiles company Gabel, based in the northern Como region, appointed an expert to interview its employees about what their main concerns were at work, the local La Provincia di Como website reports. Many said that managing the huge volume of internal emails was a burden during the working day. That pushed the company’s management to propose a solution, which — somewhat ironically — was sent to all staff in an email.
“Together we will begin the following experiment, which will take us back in time to when people talked more,” managing director Emilio Colombo wrote, declaring an “email-free” week until 13 November. “We invite you not to use email for internal communications (between colleagues at the same location), in favor of a more direct and immediate contact.”
The company’s president, Michele Moltrasio, tells the BBC it hasn’t been easy to stop such an “ingrained” practice, temporarily, but that employees have welcomed the challenge. “They are rediscovering the pleasure of meeting and talking rather than writing,” he says. And that includes Mr. Moltrasio, who is avoiding emails along with everyone else. “Even if from next week we all go back to using email, these days of experimentation are very worthwhile, to understand and rethink the methods and pace of working,” he says.
Several recent studies have found that a high volume of emails raises stress levels at work. In 2013, researchers said that a full inbox led to peaks in people’s blood pressure and heart rate. And last year, a study at the University of British Columbia found that limiting email use during the day lowered people’s stress levels “significantly.”
1. What did an Italian company do to reduce its employees’ pressure at work?| A．Ask its employees not to send emails anymore. |
| B．Launch a campaign to stop using emails temporarily. |
| C．Ask experts to design a new way of communication. |
| D．Interview employees about their concerns at work. |
| A．Deep-rooted. | B．Highly-praised. | C．Newly-released. | D．Commonly-seen. |
| A．Emails have been an outdated means of communication in the company. |
| B．Employees don’t communicate with each other so directly as they did in the past. |
| C．It is quite easy for employees to stop using emails. |
| D．Employees’ working stress is due to the large number of emails they deal with every day. |
| A．Negative. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Reserved. |
【推荐2】Experts often tell students to centre their efforts on a narrow field to get a job after school. But recent research into Nobel Prize winners suggests that wider interests are important. Michele Root-Bernstein and Robert Root-Bernstein published their study in the Creativity Research Journal.
They said Alexis Carrel won his Nobel Prize in medicine in 1912 by using techniques he learned from the clothing business. He realized that people who used thread(线) to make and fix clothing had a skill that could be used in operations to put new organs into people’s bodies.
In 1978, a professor from Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania won the Nobel Prize in economics. His name was Herbert Simon. He worked in many parts of the university during his career and supported projects in computer science, artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy and economics. Outside of work, he played the piano, wrote music, painted, made drawings and played chess.
They found that most professionals are not like the prize-winners. The prize-winners are special in that they regularly look for the chances to learn new things, even outside of their jobs.
Dario Fo won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997. He talked about drawing and painting as a way to solve problems that came up in his writing. “When I’m having difficulty with a play, I stop writing so I can draw out the action in pictures,” he said.
The researchers say that, even among people who do not win big prizes, those with many interests are often successful. They pointed to a 2012 report about students who study two major fields in college. That study plan is called a “double major”. Double majors are often more creative and more interested in starting their own businesses than those who centred on only one study area.
Other researchers have found that having an outside activity that makes you think can help predict future success in a job. Some of those activities include playing chess, performing music or creating art.
1. For what did Alexis Carrel win the Nobel Prize?| A．His wide range of knowledge. |
| B．A major breakthrough in organ transplant. |
| C．The new effective medicine he invented. |
| D．His achievements in the clothing industry. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Never too old to learn. |
| C．Knowledge is no burden(负担). | D．The early bird catches the worm. |
| A．Their spare time life is colourful, |
| B．They may be open-minded and creative. |
| C．They will win big prizes in the future. |
| D．They stick to the same job for a long time. |
| A．Good Foundation for Your Future Success |
| B．Basic Quality of Creative Talents from Nobel Winners |
| C．Study: Future Students with One Profession and Many Capabilities |
| D．Study: Nobel Prize Often Goes to People of Wide Interests |
【推荐3】Researchers have found that men and women consumed 15% more calories when looking at their phones while eating. They also eat more fatty food. The groundbreaking（开创性的）study suggests that staring at a phone screen may distract（使分心）dinners from how much food they are actually eating. "It may prevent the correct understanding of the brain over the amount of food ingested（摄取）," said researchers who filmed 62 volunteers eating alone.
The men and women, aged 18 to 28, were invited to help themselves to a choice of food—ranging from healthy options to soft drinks and chocolate—until they were satisfied. In three trials, the volunteers were recorded eating no distractions, using a smart phone or reading a magazine.
On average the volunteers ate 535 calories without the distraction of a smart phone but 591 when using a mobile. Those in the sample who were classed as overweight ate 616 calories while using their phones. When using their mobiles, the volunteers also consumed 10 percent more. They also eat more when reading a magazine.
"Smart phone use during a meal increased calorie and fat intake," said Marcia Gilberto, a lead author of study carried out at the federal University of Lavras in Brazil and University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. He added: "Tablets and smart phones have become the main "distracters" during meals, even early in childhood, so it is important to pay attention to how this may impact food choices."
1. Why people would eat more when looking at the phone while eating?| A．Looking at the phone makes people at ease. |
| B．Staring at the phone may distract diners from the amount of food ingested. |
| C．Food becomes more delicious when the diners look at the phone. |
| D．Staring at the phone improves the eaters' appetite（食欲）for food. |
| A．About 560. | B．About 591. | C．About 616. | D．About 535. |
| A．Staring at a phone screen may distract people's attention. |
| B．To call on people to put their smart phone down while eating. |
| C．Using a smart phone at mealtimes can lead to consumed more calories. |
| D．Reducing calories is very important for people's health. |
| A．what should people do to keep fit. |
| B．why do people get overweight when eating with smart phones. |
| C．how should people keep weight when eating. |
| D．how does smart phones during dinner influence food choices in childhood. |
