【推荐2】Most recently, it's very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews. Naturally, it's easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We—as parents—are so eager to shelter our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself constantly that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I'll let them fail．
I'll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.—will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is, my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.
My children now are becoming little masters of compromise, but they try to negotiate everything now. It's a small price to help them learn a skill they'll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don't accompany them on job interviews.
1. Why do parents accompany their kids on job interviews?

A．Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties．

B．Because they think they can help them on the questions．

C．Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews．

D．Because their kids strongly request them to do so．

2. According to the author, what is beneficial to kids' development?

A．Sheltering them．	B．Keeping them safe．
C．Leaving them alone．	D．Blaming them．

3. Why does the author stress failure in kids' life?

A．To make them stronger than other kids．

B．To help them grow in this tough world．

C．To help them develop all social skills．

D．To make them learn to compromise．

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the text?

A．Never Shelter Your Kids

B．Let Your Kids Fail

C．Be Eager to Grow Up

D．Live Without Parents

【推荐3】Rising through Stages to Realize Ourselves

Many modern people have the problem that they don’t know who they are and what their purpose is.     1     Once high school seniors graduate, they seem to lose their identity. They once studied hard, but after they stop working, they begin to lose their way.

In the theory of the Hierarchy of Needs, Abraham Maslow put forward a similar situation, which consists of the five levels of a person’s need. The fifth and final level is self- realization, which is where our final achievement lies.     2    

I think self-realization has three major aspects. The first stage is acceptance, the second stage is discovery and the last stage is perseverance.

Acceptance is the first stage. We should be reminded that we are all born unique, so we all have our own strengths and weaknesses.     3     Being objective and yet tolerant is the key to acceptance.

Once we’ve accepted ourselves, we can discover what we are interested in and what we want to be. Many people tend to go along with social expectations.     4     So before we start working towards a purpose, we should ask ourselves “Is this what we truly desire?” and “Is this going to change the situation we’re in?”

The last stage is perseverance.     5     Those who can self-realize are people who focus on the things they want to change.

Through the three stages, we could gain recognition of ourselves. And by this point, whatever our lives were like, we would be able to stand tall, confident of ourselves.

A．It’s nothing to a man of perseverance.

B．But indeed we should live for ourselves.

C．Only by acceptance of the past can we change it.

D．This is especially common among college students.

E．It is the process of knowing ourselves and finding a purpose.

F．Exploring our potential isn’t going to be done in a short time.

G．Only when we understand these can we pursue them or change them.

【推荐1】Nowadays, people all over the world have various ways of dealing with a common cold. Some take over-the-counter(非处方的) medicines such as aspirin while others try popular home remedies(治疗) like herbal tea or chicken soup. However, here is the tough truth about the common cold:nothing really cures it.

Then why do people sometimes still believe that their remedies work? According to James Taylor, a professor at the University of Washington, colds usually go away on their own in about a week, improving a little each day after symptoms peak, so it’s easy to believe it’s medicine rather than time that deserves to be praised, USA Today reported.

To many of us, it still seems hard to believe that we can deal with more serious diseases yet are powerless against something as common as a cold. Recently, scientists came closer to figuring out why. To understand it, you first need to know how antiviral(抗病毒的) drugs work. They attack the virus by attaching to and changing the surface structures of the virus. To do that, the drug must fit and lock into the virus like the right piece of a jigsaw(拼图), which means scientists have to identify the virus and build a 3-D model to study its surface before they can develop an antiviral drug that is effective enough.

The two cold viruses that scientists had long known about were rhinovirus(鼻病毒) A and B. But they didn’t find out about the existence of a third virus, rhinovirus C, until 2006. All three of them lead to the common cold, but drugs that work well against rhinovirus A and B don’t work well when used against C.

“This accounts for most of the previous failures of drug trials against Thinovirus,” study leader Professor Ann Palmenberg at University of Wisconsin-Madison, US, told Science Daily.

Now, more than 10 years after the discovery of rhinovirus C, scientists have finally built a highly-detailed 3-D model of the virus, showing that the surface of the virus is, as expected, different from that of other cold viruses.

With the model in hand, hopefully a real cure for a common cold is on its way. Soon, we may no longer have to waste our money on medicines that don’t really work.

1. What does the author think of popular remedies for curing a common cold?

A．They are really quite effective.

B．They are slightly helpful.

C．They still need to be improved.

D．They actually don’t work.

2. How do antiviral drugs work?

A．By identifying the viruses and breaking them up directly.

B．By reshaping the top layers of the target cold viruses.

C．By attacking the viruses one after another like finishing a jigsaw.

D．By absorbing different kinds of cold viruses at the same time.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The surface of cold viruses looks quite similar.

B．Scientists have already found a cure for the common cold.

C．Knowing the structure of cold viruses is the key to developing an effective cure.

D．Scientists were not aware of the existence of rhinovirus C until recently.

4. What is the best title for this passage?

A．Drugs against cold viruses

B．Helpful home remedies

C．No current cure for common cold

D．Research on cold viruses

【推荐2】You may have heard that some plants and animals are endangered. What does that mean exactly?

Endangered means there are very few of that kind still alive. Someday they might become extinct. You may wonder what people can do to help them.

Plant trees

As the date of Earth Day roughly coincides with U.S.Arbor Day, planting trees is a popular Earth Day activity. Trees helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean pollution, secure soil in place to prevent erosion, and provide homes for many birds, insects and other animals.     1    

    2    . And plant them in your garden or on nature strips where plants are usually grown. Restoring the local plant life will help attract native bird life, pollinators and local mammals.

    3    

Why not welcome these nonhuman neighbors into your yard？ Here is how to do it. Instead of mowing the entire yard, leave a few sections unmoved.     4     Provide a source of water, like a bird bath or a small pond. Don’t try to get rid of snakes, lizards, frogs,moles, squirrels,and the other creatures, many of which are beneficial.

Clean up litter in your community

Many groups use the weekend of Earth Day to clear roadways, highways and neighborhood streets of litter that has accumulated since the last clean-up day.     5    

A．Welcome animals into your yard

B．Choose flowers that are native to your area.

C．One way is to protect the animals’ or plants’ habitats

D．Bees, butterflies, and many other insects will find this inviting

E．It’s a wonderful community project that you can do as an individual or with a group

F．So planting trees is a long -lasting act you can do to celebrate Earth Day

G．Encourage people to respect wild spaces by not damaging animal habitats, littering,and dumpling in the water.

【推荐3】One thing you probably always wondered about is why Americans drive on a different side of the road than their British cousins. It might seem strange that the UK drivers stay on the left, but they are not alone. Around 35% of the world population does the same, including people in Ireland, Japan, and some Caribbean islands.

It is said that originally almost everybody traveled on the left side of the road. However, their mode of transport was quite different from today: Think four legs instead of four wheels. For medieval (中世纪的) swordsmen on horseback, it made sense to keep to the left to have their right arms closer to enemies. Mounting and dismounting was also easier from the left side of the horse, and safer done by the side of the road than in the center.

Things changed in the late 1700s when large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses were used to transport farm products in France and the US. In the absence of a driver’s seat inside the wagon, the driver sat on the left, with his right arm free to use his whip (鞭子) to keep the horses moving. Since he was sting on the left, and wanted other wagons to pass on his left, so he kept to the right side of the road.

The British Government refused to give up their left﹣hand driving ways and made laws to encourage driving on the left. Meanwhile post-revolution France, under their left﹣handed ruler Napoleon, accepted the right side of the road. During all this driving confusion, the British and the French were giving up their power across the globe, and as part of their rapid colonization (殖民化) they insisted that the countries they occupied drive on the same side of the road. This explains why former British colonies such as Australia, New Zealand, and India drive on the left, while former French colonies like Algeria, Ivory Coast, and Senegal drive on the right.

1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To make a question about two driving patterns.

B．To make a comparison about two driving patterns.

C．To give background of the text.

D．To support the following paragraphs.

2. What can we learn from the second paragraph?

A．People in ancient times were accustomed to walking on the right of the road.

B．People in ancient times usually afforded to hang out by carriage.

C．Swordsmen rode warhorses to make them fight better.

D．Swordsmen usually rested their warhorses on the left side.

3. What’s the text mainly talking about?

A．The history of the left-hand rules in colonial corners.

B．The evolution process of the left-hand rules.

C．The medieval history of the left-hand rules.

D．The progress of the left-hand rules in colonies.

【推荐1】Think of the last time you disagreed with another person. Maybe you argued with a sibling (兄弟姐妹) over what to watch on TV.    1     How did your disagreement end? Were you able to seethe issue from the other person’s viewpoint?

    2    They are part of life. After all, everyone has different opinions. We all have past experiences that shape how we see the world. Still, not all disagreements are bad. In fact, many people look on them as opportunities to learn. They do so by trying to understand where both sides are coming from.

How can you understand both sides of an issue? Often it is best to start by asking questions.    3    The right questions can also help us learn about other people. In a disagreement, asking for more information can help you learn about a person’s viewpoint. It can also lead you to get more facts. This can paint a better picture of the entire issue.

When seeking to understand both sides of the issue, it’s important to know the difference between facts and opinions. Remember, facts are based on true information. Opinions can change from person to person. Paying attention to facts can stop biases (偏见) from taking over in a disagreement.     4    

Disagreements may be uncomfortable at first.    5    The next time you disagree with another person, try asking questions about their viewpoint. You never know what you might learn.

A．In many situations, disagreements are unavoidable.

B．Questions help us learn about the world around us.

C．This can help everyone involved see both sides of the issue.

D．After all, don’t most people just want to prove that their side is right?

E．Maybe you’re wondering why it’s important to understand both sides of an issue.

F．Or perhaps you tried to convince grown-ups that ice cream makes a better dinner than vegetables.

G．However, when both sides truly try to understand each other, they often find they have more in common than they thought.

【推荐3】The man sitting opposite Robert was the Financial Controller. Everybody called him “the FC” for short. He made all the decisions about money. Robert needed some more. That was why he had to see him. The two men did not get on very well. In fact, they had always disliked each other.

“Your request is out of the question,” the FC said. Robert had difficulty in controlling himself, but he managed somehow. He explained that he wanted the money in order to make more programmes.

“And why do you want to do that?” the FC asked sharply. Again, Robert almost lost his temper. “Because more and more people are listening to my department’s programmes. There’s great demand for them,” he answered.

The FC did not seem to believe him. But Robert had a report on the numbers of listeners to all EBC programmes. The FC became less confident (自信). Robert threw the report down on the table and told him to read it.

The FC looked at it in silence. The figures (数字) proved that he had been wrong, but he did not want to admit it. “Well,” he finally said, “I may have made a small mistake.” Robert noticed the word “may”. He got up to leave. But he had the feeling that he would get the money after all.

1. In the story the Financial Controller was a person who was in charge of______.

A．EBC programs.	B．EBC money.
C．both B and A.	D．Robert’s department’s programs.

2. “Your request is out of the question.” Here “out of the question” means______.

A．possible.	B．impossible.
C．with some question.	D．without any question

3. Robert decided to make more programs because_________.

A．“the FC” disliked him

B．he wanted to meet the needs of the listeners.

C．he wanted to show himself off.

D．the members of his department wanted him to do so.

4. Who do you think won the argument(争论)in the end?

A．Nobody.	B．The listeners.
C．Robert.	D．The Financial Controller.