【推荐2】Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at $2.50. How she wanted that necklace! When she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said," Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I'll tell you what. I'll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of housework that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don't forget that for your birthday, Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?" Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her.

Jenny worked on her housework very hard every day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a brand-new dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls. How Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother to run errands(跑腿).The only time she didn't wear them was in the shower. Her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green!

Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favorite chair every night and read Jenny her favorite story.

One night when he finished the story, he said," Jenny, do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you," the little girl said.

"Well, then, give me your pearls."

"Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!" Jenny said. "But you can have Rosy, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay?"

"Oh no, darling, that's okay." Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. "Good night, little one."

A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, and Jenny gave the same reply.

Several days later, when Jenny's father came in to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling. "Here, Daddy," she said, and held out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father's hand.

With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and the other he pulled out of his pocket a blue box. Inside of the box were real, genuine, beautiful pearls. He had had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap stuff so that he could give her the real thing.

1. Why did the mother tell Jenny the plastic pearl necklace "cost an awful lot of money"？

A．She was discouraging Jenny from buying it.

B．She was telling Jenny to ask her grandma for help.

C．She was reminding Jenny of its true value.

D．She was encouraging Jenny to get it by her hard work.

2. Which of the following was unrelated to the fact that Jenny could get the plastic pearl necklace?

A．She promised to work on the housework hard.

B．She was lucky to have her birthday coming near.

C．She went out with her mother to run errands.

D．She got supported from her grandma with a dollar bill.

3. The last time the father came in to read Jenny a story, why was her lip trembling?

A．She was disappointed that her father always asked for her necklace.

B．She was struggling in her mind about the decision to make.

C．She was pleased to give the necklace to her father.

D．She was unwilling to exchange her necklace for the real one.

4. What caused Jenny to make the final decision to give up her necklace?

A．Her father's request.	B．Her father's tolerance.
C．Her father's real necklace.	D．Her father's love.

【推荐3】More and more people come to realize that negative self-talk and negative energy can affect you in many ways and cause you additional stress. Because of this, developing more positive self-talk is an important way to reduce stress in your life. You can help yourself maintain a positive frame of mind, which will help with positive self-talk by surrounding yourself with positive energy in your life. You can get that by adding some elements to your life.

Listening to music that not only has a pleasant melody, but an uplifting message, can be great for developing positive self-talk. Have you ever had a song "stuck in your head" for a few hours or days, the lyrics repeating themselves in your mind? If those lyrics were positive and inspirational, that would be a good thing. It’s a much better mental soundtrack to have than a running stream of complaints, criticisms of self-limiting thoughts, or even songs that had more depressing or sad lyrics.

Books on strength, personal power, enlightenment, or self-help can be good resources to help you change your outlook and the things you say to yourself. Rather than bringing habitual self-defeating thoughts, you can find yourself thinking of new can-do concepts when times get tough.

One of the most important ways you can get and keep positive energy in your life is with the company you keep. Do your friends uplift you, or bring you down? Are they critical, or approving? Ideal friendships provide support when you’re down, fun when you’re up, wisdom when you’re lost. Good friends can inspire you to reach greater heights, and see your strengths even when you don’t always. Pay attention to how your friends make you feel, and if they’re less than supportive, start putting your energy and time toward people who are better suited to be your friends.

In addition, positive affirmations (肯定) can certainly change your self-talk from negative to positive. Now, why not begin working positive affirmations into your life in some creative ways?

1. How many ways does the author suggest to maintain a positive frame of mind?

A．Three.	B．Four.
C．Five.	D．Six.

2. If you have something "stuck in your head", you’ll probably 　　　.

A．be developing positive self-talk

B．regard the lyrics of a song as positive

C．keep thinking of this thing all the time

D．keep singing the same song for a long time

3. According to the passage, your best company should be those who 　　　.

A．uplift you or bring you down

B．are supportive when you are strong

C．provide fun when you’re depressed

D．encourage you to do things better

4. What will probably be talked about in the following paragraph?

A．Some great ways of making great friends.

B．How negative self-talk influences a person.

C．Some creative ways of practicing affirmation.

D．How positive self-talk reduces stress in one’s life.

【推荐3】While children are dogs-loyal and affectionate(情深的)－teenagers are cats. It's so easy to be a dog owner. You feed it, train it, and boss it around. It puts its head on your knee and gazes at you as if you were a Rembrandt painting. It bounds indoors with enthusiasm when you call it.

Then around age 13, your adoring little puppy turns into a big old cat. When you tell it to come inside, it looks amazed,as if wondering who is so boring. Instead of dogging your doorsteps, it disappears. You won't see it again until it gets hungry-then it hunts through the kitchen long enough to turn its nose up at whatever you're serving. When you reach out to touch its head, in that old affectionate gesture, it turns away from you, then gives you an indifferent(冷漠的) stare, as if trying to remember where it has seen you before.

Since you are the one who raised it, taught it to fetch and stay and sit on command, you assume that you did something wrong. Filled with guilt and fear, you redouble your efforts to make your pet behave.

Only now you're dealing with a cat, so everything that worked before now produces the opposite of the desired result. Call it, and it runs away. Tell it to sit, and it jumps on the counter. The more you go toward it, waving your hands, the more it moves away.

Put a dish of food near the door, and let it come to you. But remember that a cat needs your help and your affection too. Sit still, and it will come, seeking that warm, comforting lap it has not entirely forgotten. Be there to open the door for it.

One day your grown-up child will walk into the kitchen, give you a big kiss and say, "You've been on your feet all day. Let me get those dishes for you. "

Then you will realize your cat is a dog again.

1. When you call a dog, how will it probably react to you?

A．Excitedly	B．Indifferently
C．Angrily	D．Calmly

2. What does the word “It” refers to in the third paragraph?

A．A dog	B．A parent
C．A situation	D．A teenager

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Children like cats can easily follow parents' directions.

B．Parents should try their best to leave their children alone.

C．You can't expect children to be considerate toward their parents.

D．Parents should consider what they do wrong to educate their kids.

4. What is the main purpose of writing this passage?

A．To tell us how a dog changes into a cat.

B．To tell us how to deal with teenagers aged 13 or so.

C．To tell us the similarities between pets and children.

D．To tell us how to raise pets like cats and dogs.