【推荐1】Low-Cost Gifts for Mother's Day
Gift No. 1
Offer to Be your mother's health friend. Promise to Be there for any and all doctor's visits
whether a disease or a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say "no need," another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor's visit. The Best part ? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. "Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother's life," Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. "Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortaBle pillows to encourage Better sleep," Savard said. "We know that good sleep is very important to our health."
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother's Day By picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构) Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful But inexpensive things -many of which are "green" - and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will Be told that she has helped the chosen charity.
1. What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor's visits?

A．Take notes.

B．Be with her.

C．Buy medicine.

D．Give her gifts.

2. What can be a gift of organization for your mother?

A．Keeping her medical information together.

B．Buying all gifts for her from one company.

C．Making a list of her medical check－ups.

D．Storing her medicines in a safe place.

3. Where can you find a gift idea to improve your mother's sleep?

A．In Gift No. 1.	B．In Gift No. 2.
C．In Gift No. 3.	D．In Gift No. 4.

4. Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to________．

A．enjoy good sleep	B．be well－organized
C．get extra support	D．give others help

【推荐2】At times my mom has been uncomfortable seeing these qualities in me. For example，when I was 12，I went to Puerto Rico all by myself to stay with my grandmother for the summer. My mom was extremely nervous about it. She kept telling me how things were different in Puerto Rico，to always put on sunscreen，not to wander away from my grandmother，and other warnings. She helped me pack and did not leave the airport until she saw my plane take off.
But despite her worries，she let me go on my own. As I moved into my teens，she continued to give me space to grow and learn，even when it might have been difficult for her. When I reached my senior year，I decided to move away for college. Once again I found that I differed from my peers：While many of them wanted to stay close to home，I couldn’t wait to be out in the world on my own. While my mom may not have been happy at the thought of my going away，she was supportive and excited for me.
One big thing I realized during my senior year，as my mom granted me more freedom，was that she actually believes in me and trusts me. That means a lot. Most of my life，and especially when I was little，the main person I tried to impress in my schoolwork or other things was my mother. I knew she expected nothing but the best from me. Sometimes it was hard to live up to her standards；getting a single B on my report card would make me feel bad because I knew she wanted me to have all A’s.
I know that her high standards have helped me stay focused on what’s important，like education，and made me who I am. I am thankful for her support and involvement in my life .Most of all I respect her. She is the strongest woman I know and that’s why I have turned out so strong and independent.
1. When the author decided to go to Puerto Rico，his mother________.

A．wanted to go with him

B．worried about his safety

C．didn’t allow him to do so

D．asked his grandmother for advice

2. The author decided to move away for college to________.

A．be different from his peers

B．keep away from his mother

C．be independent in the outside world

D．make his mother unhappy

3. We can learn from the third paragraph that the author’s mother________.

A．had a high expectation of him

B．was too strict with him

C．used to expect nothing from him

D．cared little about his learning

4. In the passage，the author mainly wants to tell us________.

A．his long way to becoming independent

B．his good relationship with his mother

C．the importance of a mother’s trust and support

D．his mother’s deep love for him

【推荐3】Parents and kids today dress alike,listen to the same music,and are friends.Is this a good thing? Sometimes,when Mr.Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter,Elizabeth,listen to rock music together and talk about interests they both enjoy,such as pop culture.he remember his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.“I would never have said to my mom,‘Hey,the new Weezer album is really great.How do you like it?’”says Ballmer.“There was just a complete gap in taste.”

Music was not the only gulf.From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations,earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.

Today,the generation gap has not disappeared,but it is getting narrow in many families.Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago.Now they are comfortable and common.And parent—child activities,from shopping to sports,involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.No wonder greeting cards today carry the message,“To my mother,my best friend.”

But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents.“There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there,but there is a change happening,”says Kerrie,a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College.“In the middle of that change,there is a lot of confusion among parents.”

Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes.They see the 1960s as a turning point.Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.

“My parents were on the‘before’side of that change,but today’s parents,the 40-year-olds,were on the‘after’side,”explains Mr.Ballmer.“It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days,because life is more difficult to understand or deal with,but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”

1. What can we learn about Mr.Ballmer in Paragraph 1 ?

A．He and Elizabeth both like Weezer.

B．He had different interests with his mom.

C．He had a bad relationship with his mom.

D．He liked talking about music with his mom.

2. What does the underlined word“democratic”probably mean?

A．Equal.

B．Peaceful.

C．Active.

D．Considerate.

3. The passage is mainly about_____________.

A．the problems of parent-child relationship

B．the strategies for parent-child relationships

C．the development of parent-child relationship

D．the ways for parents to handle parent-child problems

【推荐1】As a young man, Al was a skilled artist. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his elder son developed a serious stomachache. Thinking it was only some common disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But it was actually acute appendicitis (急性阑尾炎), and the boy died suddenly that night.

Knowing the death could have been prevented if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, Al’s emotional health grew worse under the burden of his guilt. To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol. As the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he possessed.

When I heard of Al’s death, I reacted with disdain (轻蔑). “What a complete failure!” I thought.

As time went by, I began to take my earlier judgment into consideration again. I knew Al’s now adult son, Ernie. He has grown into one of the kindest, most caring and most loving men I have ever known. One day I worked up my courage to talk about my puzzle with him.

Ernie sat quietly and reflected for a few moments. Then he said, “From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘I love you, son.’”

Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known.

1. What did his elder son die from according to Al?

A．The acute appendicitis.	B．The alcoholism.
C．The separation of his mother.	D．The failure of timely attention.

2. How did Al feel about his son’s death?

A．Responsible.

B．Relieved.

C．Puzzled.

D．Unable.

3. After a talk with Ernie the author ________.

A．began to get close to Ernie	B．came to look up to Al
C．tried to care about Al’s situations	D．hoped to change Ernie’s judgement

4. What does the author want to express in the passage?

A．Love is the best possession.	B．Love is taking from others.
C．Father should be considerate.	D．Father may be misunderstood.

【推荐2】My father was always a good gardener. One of my earliest memories is standing without shoes in the freshly tilled (翻耕的) soil, my hands blackened from digging in the ground.

As a child, I loved following Dad around in the garden. I remember Dad pushing the tiller (耕作机) ahead in perfectly straight lines. Dad loved growing all sorts of things: yellow and green onions, watermelons almost as big as me, rows of yellow com, and our favorite ― red tomatoes.

As I grew into a teenager, I didn’t get so excited about gardening with Dad. Instead of magical land of possibility, it had turned into some kind of prison. As Dad grew older, his love for gardening never disappeared. After all the kids were grown and had started families of their own, Dad turned to gardening like never before. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he still took care of his garden.

But then, the cancer, bit by bit, invaded his body. I had to do the things he used to do. What really convinced me that Dad was dying was the state of his garden that year. The rows and rows of multicolored vegetables were gone. Too tired to weed them, he simply let them be. He only planted tomatoes.

For the first few years after he died, I couldn’t even bear to look at anyone's garden without having strong memories pour over me like cold water from a bucket. Three years ago, I decided to plant my own garden and started out with just a few tomatoes. That morning, after breaking up a fair amount of soil, something caught the comer of my eye and I had to smile, It was my eight-year-old son Nathan, happily playing in the freshly tilled soil.

1. Why did the author like the garden when he was a child?

A．The garden was planted with colorful flowers.

B．The garden was just freshly tilled by his father.

C．He loved what his father grew in the garden.

D．He enjoyed being in the garden with his father.

2. When all the kids started their own families, the author’s father            .

A．devoted more to gardening

B．turned to other hobbies

C．stopped his gardening

D．focused on planting tomatoes

3. What happened to the garden when the author’s father was seriously ill?

A．The author’s son took charge of it.

B．No plant grew in the garden at all.

C．The garden was almost deserted.

D．It brought the author a great harvest.

4. We can infer from the last paragraph that            .

A．the author’s son played happily in the garden

B．the author’s son reminded him of his own father

C．the author’s son was very glad to help the author

D．the author’s son will continue gardening as well

【推荐1】I would never forget the time when we were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.
“Look down, Elsa，” Father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the criss­cross (纵横交错) of streets leading to the square. “See, my dear，” Father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can't get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she didn't believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere (干涉). Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
At school the next day, I secretly poured my lunch soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked our cook to serve it to Mother at dinner. _____________She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone bad！” Quickly I told what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would deal with the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the following years I often remembered the lesson Father taught me. I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago. I wouldn't stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal. Father's wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square.
1. The author's father took her to the top of a church tower to ________.

A．find out how many ways lead to the square

B．enjoy the beautiful scenery of the whole town

C．help her forget some unpleasant things earlier that day

D．inspire her to find out another way to solve her problem

2. What did the author want her mother to do earlier that day?

A．Do something delicious for lunch.

B．Speak to the school about lunch.

C．Taste her awful lunch.

D．Dismiss the cook.

3. The underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph means ________.

A．the cook agreed to serve the soup to Mother

B．the matter of lunch was successfully settled

C．her father persuaded her mother successfully

D．the method the author thought of was effective

【推荐2】At times my mom has been uncomfortable seeing these qualities in me. For example, when I was 12, I went to Puerto Rico all by myself to stay with my grandmother for the summer. My mom was very nervous about it. She kept telling me how things were different in Puerto Rico, to always put on sunglasses and wear sunscreen, not to walk away from my grandmother, and other warnings. She helped me pack everything and did not leave the airport until she saw my plane take off.

Although she was worried about me, she let me go on my own. As I moved into my teens, she continued to give me space to grow and learn, even when it might have been difficult for her.

When I reached my senior year, I decided to move away for college. Once again I found that I differed from my friends: while many of them wanted to close to home, I couldn’t wait to be out in the world on my own. While my mom may not have been happy at the thought of my going away, she was supportive and excited for me.

One big thing I realized during my senior year, as my mom allowed me more freedom, was that she believes in me and trusts me. That means a lot. Most of my life, and especially when I was little, the main person I tried to impress in my schoolwork or other things was my mother. I knew she expected nothing but the best from me. Sometimes it was hard to live up to her standards (标准): getting a single B on my report card would make her feel bad because I knew she wanted me to have all A’s.

I know that her high standards have helped me stay focused on what is important, like education, and made me who I am. I am thankful for her support and involvement in my life. She is the strongest woman I know and that’s why I am so strong and independent.

1. When the author decided to go to Puerto Rico, his mother ______ .

A．worried about his safety

B．wanted to go with him

C．didn’t allow him to do so

D．asked his grandmother for advice

2. The author decided to move away for college to ______ .

A．be different from his friends

B．make his mother unhappy

C．keep away from his mother

D．be independent in the outside world

3. We can learn from the third paragraph that the author’s mother ______ .

A．was too proud of him

B．had a high expectation of him

C．used to expect nothing from him

D．cared little about his learning

4. In the passage, the author mainly wants to tell us ______ .

A．his long way to becoming independent

B．his good relationship with his mother

C．the importance of a mother’s trust and support

D．his mother’s deep love for him

【推荐3】Last summer I sat at a long picnic table near a breathtaking mountain. While the parents were eating dinner, the kids ran up a trail in search of a secret fort. Twenty minutes later one excited little boy, James, interrupted the adult conversation.

“Mom, Mom, you can’t believe what we found!”

Lovingly, his mother smiled and whispered, “I can’t wait to hear, James, but grown-ups are tal king, and there will be a pause in the conversation. Please wait for the pause.”

On my other side, another boy came running up to his mother with equal enthusiasm.

“Mom, Mom, we had so much fun—”

“I am talking! Don’t interrupt,” she said.

“But, Mom—”

“Be quiet! Can’t you see that I am talking??”

“But Mom we found the—”

“Shut up, Steve!” she yelled.

My heart sank. I knew what was coming. James, on my right, patiently waited for the pause, enthusiasm still alive and well. Steve, on my left, walked away from the table, looking shamed, carrying with him stories of secret forts never to be shared.

What markedly different messages to the child! “Wait for the pause” versus “Shut up” gets incorporated (包含)so differently into a child’s developing sense of self.

Harsh(刺耳的) words have bad effects. That’s why I want you to promise to delete the phrases “Shame on you” or “You should be ashamed” from your vocabulary. I have seen countless patients whose paren ts’ thoughtless words echoed in their heads and chipped(消除) away at their self-worth, even decades later.

So we have to discipline ourselves to make our instructions constructive. One great tool is to look for positive behavior to reinforce. Don’t ignore t he things that your kids are doing right. Thank your children. Tell them that you noticed how they waited patiently or cleared their plate without being asked. Chances are that they will do it again. Let them feel noticed, appreciated, and valued. There’s no better way to shape behavior.

1. Why does the writer tell us the story at the beginning?

A．To praise James’ mother.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To stress Steve’s bad manners.	D．To describe the beauty of nature.

2. The writer suggests parents not use harsh phrases such as “Shame on you” because_____.

A．they can show parents’ weakness	B．kids may be likely to copy them
C．their meanings are hard to understand	D．harsh words have bad effects on kids

3. Which of the following is not proper for parents when offering advice?

A．I like the way you deal with it.	B．Awesome, you just make it.
C．Fantastic!	D．Must I keep repeating?

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

A．Love kids through proper language	B．Let kids realize their mistakes alone
C．Never ignore kids’ mental growth	D．Learn to share secrets with kids