【推荐1】Of course you love your parents — that’s a given. But at times, maintaining the bond between parent and adult can be as challenging as that between parent and teenager. Here are some ways to strengthen an adult relationship with your parents.

Talk to your parents as friends.    1     it may feel funny to give up your role as the child.

“A good start is to model your conversations with Mom and Dad on those you have with friends,”says Dr, Tessina. “Don’t limit your conversations strictly to family memories, or gossip about family members, or your personal life,”she advises.“       2     — why not explore it with Mom and Dad as you would with a friend? Current events, sports, work. local neighborhood issues, or national politics are all fair game.”

    3    When you’re dealing with your parents, laughter can be a lifesaver - both to help you handle the stress of dealing; with sometimes bad-tempered individuals and to help you bond together.

Tell a few jokes you know they’ll enjoy, share some comics from the paper or e-mail with them, watch the Letterman show together.         4    

Tell your parents what bothers you. If you love your mom and dad but they drive you crazy, your resentment can eat away at your relationship. So don’t seethe silently.

    5     For instance, if your mom keeps calling you at work, tell her that your boss is starting to notice and while you love talking to her during the day, it’s beginning to affect your job performance. Arrange a call you can both count on at a mutually convenient time.

A．As a friend,

B．Forgiveness is the key.

C．Keep your sense of humor.

D．There’s a whole wide world out there.

E．Communicate, with gentleness and respect.

F．If you can laugh together, you’re doing okay.

G．If your parents still treat you like you’re

【推荐2】People all need friends because nobody wants to be lonely. A friend can help you in good and bad times. You’ve made friends since childhood.     1     Here are some signs to tell you if your friend is a true friend.

Always be honest

Honesty is important to keep your friendship alive. A true friend always tells you the truth. It may be hard sometimes but lying can destroy your friendship.     2    

Always be there for you

There are always times in your life when you have problems or difficulties. A true friend will always have time to listen to your problems and give advice.     3     But the fact that your friend has time to listen shows he cares for you. Your friend is not a true friend if he can never make time for you when you are in trouble.

    4    

A true friend will always show respect to your ideas whether he agrees or not. Your true friend may say no to you but never insists that he is correct. A true friend sets limits with you because he cares for you and your relationship with him. These limits are also a symbol of respect for you as it can help maintain your friendship.

Always be understanding

    5     We are all different people and we all make mistakes. A true friend is always forgiving and understanding because he doesn’t want to take the risk of losing his best friend.

A．Always be respectful

B．Always be supportive

C．However, you may still not know who your true friends are.

D．He may not be able to offer a way of solving your problems.

E．He can always help you solve your problems as quickly as possible.

F．It is possible that some problems will come up between you and your friend.

G．It is important that your friend speaks honestly and never tells lies or makes up stories.

【推荐3】When was the last time you listened to someone? And when was the last time someone really listened to you? I asked people what it meant to be a good listener. The typical response was a blank stare. People had no trouble, however, telling me what it meant to be a bad listener.

Of course, technology plays a role. Social media helps filter out (滤掉) opposing views. People find phone calls disturbing and ignore voice mail, preferring text or wordless emoji. But tech is not the only blame. High schools and colleges rarely, if ever, offer classes or activities that teach careful listening. Traffic noise on city streets and music playing in shops exceed (超过) the volume of normal conversation by as much as 30 decibels (分贝), and can even cause hearing loss.

So how can we reclaim the lost art of listening? After years of studying and consulting, I discovered that listening goes beyond simply hearing what people say. It also involves paying attention to how they say it and what they do while they are saying it, in what context, and how what they say resonates (与. . . 共鸣) within you. It’s not about merely holding your peace while someone holds forth. Quite the opposite. A lot of listening has to do with how you respond — the degree to which you assist in the clear expression of the other person’s thoughts and in the process, express your own.

Good listeners ask good questions. Good questions don’t begin with “Wouldn’t you agree. or “Don’t you think. . . ?” and they definitely don’t end with “right?” The idea is to explore the other person’s point of view, not sway it. You also want to avoid asking people personal and evaluating questions. Instead, ask about people’s interests so that they feel more connected than if they spend time together accomplishing a task.

The reward of good listening will almost certainly be more interesting conversations. Attentive listeners receive more information, related details from the speakers, even when the listeners didn’t ask any questions. We are, each of us, the sum of what we attend to in life. And to listen poorly, selectively or not at all limits your understanding of the world and prevents you from becoming the best you can be.

1. Which is NOT mentioned as a factor that contributes to bad Listening?

A．People prefer text message to phone calls.

B．Listening skills are not taught in school.

C．The noise around us drowns out our speech.

D．Our responses to others while listening is different.

2. What does the author find about listening?

A．Listening combines hearing, understanding and responding.

B．Listening requires the listener to keep in total silence.

C．Listening isn’t just hearing but also predicting questions.

D．Listening is to put your thoughts into other person’s mouth.

3. What does the underlined word “sway” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Influence.	B．Stop.
C．Prove.	D．Complain.

4. Which of the following will the author most probably agree with?

A．Good listeners should express themselves bravely.

B．Good listening promotes our understanding of the world.

C．Good listeners always receive reward from the speakers.

D．Good listening develops people’s interest in private life.

【推荐1】For most of us, the world’s southern-most point seems like a pretty place, but for Hannah, Hannalore, Sophie and Julia, it’s home. Each year they spend five months living and working in Port welcoming visiting ships and, best of all, watching over the native colony of penguins（企鹅）.

They live on a tiny island the size of a football pitch, but share it with about 2000 gentoo penguins and their chicks, as well as other birds. Life here is different every day and depends on weather and ice conditions, as well as the visiting ships’ schedules. Port Lockroy is one of the most visited places in Antarctica, with one to three ships visiting a day. Between ship visits we have other duties to attend to. These include maintenance jobs, sending postcards from the post office, checking conditions on the historical items in the museum and monitoring the penguin colonies and other wildlife.

Hannah spends much time stamping people’s postcard, which makes her happy to think of the joy over 70,000 people per year get when they receive a postcard from Antarctica, and the most southerly post office in the world! For Sophie, the most amazing thing about my job is being able to live and work with my feathery friends, the penguins. Sophie says they have to make sure the penguins are not disturbed when they are resting or waddling their way back to their nests. They mark specific routes for visitors to walk on so that they don’t use the penguins’ highways. Part of their job is also to count the penguin colony when after they've laid their eggs, then again when the chicks are born and when the chicks are old enough to venture beyond the nest. The information collected will help scientists know if the breeding season has been a successful one or not.

1. What can we learn from the passage?

A．How to live and work in Antarctica.

B．What the real life is like in Antarctica.

C．What the four women do in Antarctica.

D．How to explore the beauty of Antarctica.

2. The duties of the four women include________.

A．posting wildlife to people around the world.

B．changing the weather to preserve historical items.

C．recording the data of the ice conditions in Port Lockroy.

D．collecting information about the breeding season of penguins.

3. Which of the following is TRUE about Port Lockroy?

A．Postcards from Port Lockroy are free of charge.

B．Port Lockroy welcomes the most tourists in Antarctica.

C．Weather is a factor to consider if people are to visit Port Lockroy.

D．When visiting Port Lockroy, tourists can travel wherever as they like.

4. In which our column of the newspaper are you most likely to read the passage ?

A．Book review.	B．People in the news.
C．Economics and business.	D．Sports and events.

【推荐3】Interactions between people and elephants have a long history. Elephants have been trained and used by human beings for thousands of years, for everything from transportation to construction, from logging (伐木) to war.

In more recent times, Asian elephants have been used in entertainment and as a living “machine” to help move logs through the jungle as part of the logging industry. The latter changed in Thailand in 1989, when the Thai government banned logging. Owners of elephants had very little choice but to turn to tourism to earn enough to care for themselves and their elephants by offering elephant riding to tourists.

Mahouts are the elephant handlers who you will see riding or managing the elephants at any camp you visit. Traditionally, being a mahout is part of the family business, and a young family member is matched with a young elephant, and they spend most of their lives together. The traditional mahout life isn't easy. Since they are bonded to their elephant, they rarely have time off or time for family.

These years, younger mahouts in Thailand have been more likely to leave the mahout life to find jobs in the city, resulting in elephants having to get used to multiple mahouts. This can lead to additional stress on the elephant, or result in abuse by a mahout trying to manage an elephant that hasn't built any level of trust with him.

Opponents of elephant riding may suggest that elephant rides be outlawed. My worry is that an immediate ban could lead to another massive change in how elephants are treated, similar to ending logging in 1989. How will mahouts that are currently making a living and supporting their elephants through rides be able to continue to do so? The average lifespan of an elephant is 60 years. Any solution needs to take into account the long-term effects on the elephants currently employed to give rides.

1. What happened in 1989 in Thailand?

A．Elephants joined in tourism.	B．Elephants lost their jobs.
C．Entertainment was forbidden.	D．The government banned the use of elephants.

2. What will cause the ill treatment of some elephants?

A．The great stress to make money.	B．The former masters' leaving them.
C．The heavy load on the elephants.	D．The owners' mistrust of the elephants.

3. What's the best title for the passage?

A．Will You Go to Thailand?	B．Why are Elephants Trained?
C．Should You Ride Elephants in Thailand?	D．How Do Mahouts Train Elephants?

4. Why does the author write this passage?

A．To present a problem.	B．To criticize mahouts.
C．To introduce Thailand.	D．To record his experience.