When I was younger, I thought that boys and grown men should not cry. The tears were signs of being weak and a sissy(胆小鬼), which a man is not supposed to be. This was even strengthened in my young mind when the song, Boys Don't Cry, came out in the early 1980s.
But just this June, I discovered that courage is not all about trying to keep all the pain inside in check. Courage is not all about trying to hide the tears. It is the opposite — the tears strengthen the heart's courage. And I saw this in my father. That day my father cried.
My 18-year-old sister eloped (私奔) and from it I saw how weak my father's heart was. My sister and I were used to seeing him as an iron-willed figure and authoritarian father.
For three days after my sister eloped, he would not talk. He would just sit quietly outside our house in the dark. On the fourth night, I sat beside him and asked him to tell me what he felt about everything.
It has been years since I have laid my hand on my father's shoulder as we have drifted apart (疏远) farther and farther while I was growing up. That night，though, I sensed my father trying to control his pain and I wanted him to be able to let it out. We have all cried over what happened except him. All of us except him.
The simple touch and my words, “Dad, it is not your fault.”, broke my father's dam. In the darkness, he began to cry. I felt his shoulders shaking as he whispered, "Where did I go wrong? All I ever wanted was for my children to grow up right. Why couldn't your sister wait?"
I understood then why he preferred to be in the dark. By being there, he hoped to spare his family of a father's pain. His tears, though we did not see them before that night, were there all the same. I saw his courage, that night when my father cried with my hand on his shoulder, and understood his pain.
1. Why did the author think men shouldn’t cry when he was younger?(No more than 12 words)
2. According to the author and his sister, what kind of person was their father?
(No more than 6 words)
3. How did the author make his father let out his pain?
(No more than 9 words)
4. When did the author see his father’s courage?
(No more than 7 words)
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Thomas Edison was one of the most successful inventors the world has ever seen.
Bui people found that although Edison was good at inventing new things, he was a poor fisherman. He used to spend an hour almost every day sitting at the side of a river and fish. He always fished all alone by himself.
People asked Edison, “Why are you so crazy about fishing when you are so bad at it?” His answer was, “I really never caught ant fish because I have never used any bait (诱饵).” Another question followed, “Why would you fish without bait?” Edison answered, “Because when you fish without bait, people don’t disturb you and neither do the fish.
Sometimes the world’s best inventor was the world’s worst fisherman. In fact, because Edison was the world’s worst fisherman, he could become the world’s greatest inventor.
Are you setting aside some time for yourself to think?
► Slowing down and taking long showers is a good idea.
►
► Long walks are good too.
► Afternoon naps have been proved to improve creativity.
| A．But he never caught any fish. |
| B．It provides me my best time to think. |
| C．So is listening to some soft classical music. |
| D．In all, Edison has thousands of inventions. |
| E．He was asked the reason behind him being a fisherman. |
| F．To make your brain work better, you need to take a rest. |
| G．Set aside 15-20 minutes per day so that you can do nothing. |
【推荐2】Without goals, you may feel like wandering through life without a plan, purpose, or sense of direction. Despite knowing the importance of goals, many people fail to set a meaningful goal and successfully achieve it.
Set a SMART goal and write it down.
The first step is to figure out what you want or need to change.
After you identify a SMART goal, the next step is to make a specific plan on exactly how you will achieve it. You should break the goal down into a set of actionable steps you can take.
Take small, consistent (持续的) steps early on.
Early on, it can be better to make small changes to your daily routine than to make big changes all at once. Consistency is key when it comes to working towards any goal. Research has shown that it takes an average person 66 days to form a new habit.
| A．Reconsider your goal. |
| B．Make an action plan to get started. |
| C．You then need to turn this into a SMART goal. |
| D．Some of them don’t know where or how to start. |
| E．Keeping track of your progress helps you stay focused. |
| F．Once this happens, the new behavior has become “automatic”. |
| G．Identify the skills and strategies you need to complete each step. |
Little Joey was a slow learner. He had lots of problems with spelling and grammar, but this time he at least seemed to understand the task. He took his pen and after a few minutes, he handed the teacher the following composition: Once I had a dog. His name was Tax. I opened the door and in come Tax.
1. One day the teacher was trying to explain_________.
| A．that everyone should pay income tax |
| B．how the government was formed |
| C．the basic principle of income tax |
| D．how much tax one should pay for his or her income |
| A．each student seemed to understand the meaning of income tax |
| B．many of the students were still puzzled |
| C．all the students understood the meaning of income tax |
| D．all the students shook their heads |
| A．say something about income tax |
| B．answer some questions about income tax |
| C．write a composition on income tax |
| D．explain the principle of income tax |
| A．was clear about the subject |
| B．understood what income tax meant |
| C．understood the teacher’s meaning |
| D．wrote a short composition about his dog |
| A．Joey’s composition was close to the topic |
| B．“income tax” and “in come Tax” sounds alike |
| C．little Joey was very clever |
| D．“income tax” share the same meaning with “in come Tax” |
【推荐1】Baseball was always where my heart lay. However, my father did not care for baseball. Two recreational activities he enjoyed were golfing and fishing, neither of which I considered a real sport. He didn’t talk much and he wasn’t good at expressing himself. Frankly, I wasn’t entirely certain he cared about me. In a way, my father was like a familiar stranger I saw every day.
One day, watching the play on television made me want a glove of my own. To my surprise, my father said he wanted one, too. He was on the portly side, but then again, one of the famous pitchers(投球手) on the Mets was even fatter. So I thought, why not?
We bought two gloves, and that evening, he suggested we go out to the courtyard and toss(掷) the ball around. I’d already practiced catching and throwing at school, but I could tell this was the first time for my father, because every time he caught the ball, it landed directly in his palm. If you’ve ever caught a ball with a baseball glove, you know how much this hurts.
But my father caught ball after ball this way. Slap! Slap! He winced(呲牙咧嘴). After about five minutes, I told him I’d had enough. It wasn’t out of mercy, but for my own self-interest. Neighborhood kids were watching and would no doubt tease me later for having an old man who didn’t know how to properly catch a baseball do that. When my father took the glove off, his palm was red and swollen.
Dad, who passed away 11 years ago, never told me he loved me. But that sound of the baseball landing in the soft flesh of his hand, over and over again—it spoke its own tender language, though at the time, all I felt was shame.
1. Why did the father want a glove?| A．He was interested in baseball. |
| B．He was impressed by the play on television. |
| C．He wanted to show his improvement in baseball. |
| D．He wanted to make the author happy. |
| A．Experienced. | B．Cool. |
| C．Famous. | D．Fat. |
| A．The father didn’t feel hurt when catching the ball. |
| B．The father didn’t understand his child at all |
| C．The author didn’t realise his father’s love at first. |
| D．The author criticised his father when playing. |
| A．A Crying Shame for Baseball |
| B．The Sound of Love |
| C．A Loving Father and His Son |
| D．Love That Comes Late |
【推荐2】In the ongoing battle between Tiger Moms, French Mamas, and everyone else who wants to know what is the best way to raise their kids, a new study adds evidence that the extreme Tiger-style may do more harm than good. Authoritarian parents are more likely to end up with disrespectful children with violent behaviors, the study found, compared to parents who listen to their kids with the goal of gaining trust.
It was the first study to look at how parenting styles affect the way teens view their parents and, in turn, how they behave. The study considered three general styles of parenting. Authoritative parents are demanding and controlling while also being warm and sensitive to their children’s needs. Authoritarian parents, on the contrary, are demanding and controlling without the appearance of caring, attachment and receptiveness. They take a “my way or the highway” approach to their kids. Permissive parents, the third group, have warm and receptive qualities, but they set few boundaries and carry out few rules.
Using data on early 600 kids from an ongoing study of middle school and high school students in New Hampshire, researchers from the University of New Hampshire were able to find “my way or the highway” parenting with more violent behaviors like robbery, drug-taking, and attacking someone else with the intention of hurting or killing. Firm but loving parenting, on the other hand, led to fewer lawbreakers. Permissive parenting, surprisingly, didn’t seem to make much of a difference either.
To explain the link between parenting style and behavior in kids, the researchers suggested that what matters most is how reasonable kids think their parents’ power is. This sense comes when kids trust that their parents are making the best decisions for them and believe that they need to do what their parents say even if they don’t always like how their parents are treating them. When kids respect the power of their parents, the researchers reported in the journal of Adolescence, their behavior is better. Previous research has also linked firm but caring parenting with kids who have more self-control and independence.
“When children consider their parents to be the reliable figure, they trust the parents and feel that they have a duty to do what their parents tell them to do,” said lead researcher Pick Trinkner. “This is very important as the parent doesn’t have to rely on a system of rewards and punishments to control behavior and the child is more likely to follow the rules when the parent is not physically present.”
1. Tiger Moms and French Mamas are mentioned in the first paragraph to ________.| A．give an example of authoritarian parenting |
| B．show the advantage of parenting |
| C．compare two types of parenting |
| D．introduce the topic |
| A．Caring parenting. | B．Permissive parenting. |
| C．Authoritarian parenting. | D．Authoritative parenting. |
| A．Allowing the kids to stay up late at weekends as the kids like. |
| B．Beating the kids if the kids don’t follow their instructions. |
| C．Refusing to listen to the kid’s requests and demands. |
| D．Setting some rules and checking the kids’ behaviors. |
| A．their parents listen to them totally |
| B．they believe in and accept their parents |
| C．their parents are sensitive to their needs |
| D．their parents demand and control their behaviors |
【推荐3】When I was ten years old, Mum got paralyzed (瘫痪) . Before that, she was a lively and active woman who amazed many with her energy. I admired her for all the things she did.
However, everything changed when she turned thirty-one.
I still have vivid images of her before her paralysis. She would play popular music, creating a cheerful atmosphere for lively gatherings. She would joyfully rearrange the furniture to make room for friends to abandon themselves to dance. She often spent hours filling the house with flowers, which we picked fresh from the gardens.
After Mum’s paralysis, I began to take care of my 2-year-old sister, Mary Therese. In no time at all, I learned to bathe and feed her. For me it was a giant step beyond playing with dolls. One moment stands out even today: the time Mary Therese fell and skinned her knee, burst into tears and ran past my mother’s outstretched arms into mine. Too late, I noticed slight hurt on Mum’s face, but all she said was, “It’s natural that she should run to you, because you take such good care of her.”
When I was grown and entered the field of corrections, Mum became interested in working with prisoners. She taught writing to them. One day, she asked me to mail a letter to one prisoner, Waymon. I asked for my mother’s permission to read it first. It read: when you said that I couldn’t imagine what it is like to be in prison, I felt like I had to tell you that you are mistaken. When I awoke one day to find that I was completely paralyzed, I felt trapped, overwhelmed by a sense of being imprisoned in a body that would no longer allow me to dance or carry my child in my arms. But then, I made a choice about whether I would smile when I saw my daughters again or I would weep. I made a decision to live as fully as I could.
By the time I finished Mum’s letter, my vision was clouded by tears. For the first time, I saw my mother in a clearer light.
1. How can we describe Mum before her paralysis?| A．Creative. | B．Ambitious. | C．Adventurous. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．Mum had a sharp insight |
| B．Mum was emotionally generous |
| C．Mum was worried about her position |
| D．Mum was absent-minded at the moment |
| A．She regretted for what she had done. |
| B．Waymon’s experience was saddening, |
| C．She witnessed Mum’s character shining through. |
| D．There was some secret between her and her mother. |
【推荐1】I was in the second year of my Ph. D. program when a colleague asked what I would do if I had an extra hour every day. Without much consideration, I said I would use it to help others. The question kept coming to my mind. Like many graduate students, I was overwhelmed (难以承受的) with research, teaching, coursework, and some attempt at a personal life. Still, I asked myself, "Do I really need a 25th hour to help other people-or do I need to make better use of the 24 hours I have?"
I needed something to help me return to my old self. After that conversation with my colleague, I googled (谷歌搜索) “volunteer opportunities near me”. A local organization that drives people to stores or appointments was looking for volunteers. Having grown up in a rural village where everyone knew one another and my grandparents were always close by, I thought serving senior citizens in my new hometown might be just what I needed.
A short time later, I started to volunteer for an organization that provides transportation for senior citizens and people with disabilities. To my surprise, adding this activity to my busy life was just what I needed to calm the confusion I was feeling as a first-generation international graduate student.
I started to volunteer about 3 hours every weekend, the time I otherwise would have wasted oversleeping or scrolling (滚屏) through social media. Sharing stories with my riders was much more rewarding. What they told me about their lives helped me realize that in every corner of the world, humans are connected with the language of emotions. And seeing how eager my riders were to spend time out and about inspired me to think about how to spend my time, which used to slip away. My previously overwhelming schedule began to feel manageable.
I'm proud of who I have become, and I continue to reflect on how I'm using the most valuable thing in life: my time.
1. Why did the author ask himself the question in Paragraph 1?| A．He wanted to return to normal life. |
| B．He was busy but wanted to help others. |
| C．He couldn't bear too much school work. |
| D．He couldn't answer his colleague's question. |
| A．A colleague recommended it. | B．A local organization offered it. |
| C．He got it from his grandparents. | D．He got it by surfing on the Internet. |
| A．Communicating with his riders. | B．Improving his language learning. |
| C．Meeting his grandparents often. | D．Realizing his previous dream. |
| A．It helped him become confident and efficient. |
| B．He found a good way to live a free and quiet life. |
| C．He realized he had wasted too much time pursuing his Ph. D. |
| D．It inspired him to spare more time to accompany his grandparents. |
【推荐2】It is Britain’s most brutal running race—268 miles non-stop along the Pennine Way. Jasmin Paris, who is still breastfeeding her daughter, beat 136 other competitors from 15 countries, 125 men included, to win the Montane Spine Race.She broke the men’s record by over 12 hours.
To train for the race, Paris had to get up at 4, when she would head out for runs in the hills around her home while her family were still in bed. She also went on plenty of long hikes with her baby.
She was on the course for 83 hours and 12 minutes, pausing to power nap and eat for only seven hours. She had to carry everything she needed and had to navigate using a map and compass, mostly alone and in the dark. But she was relentless（坚韧的). Almost 20 hours after she had finished, only two men had completed the race, with everyone else either still on the course or retired.
Top British ultra runner and former Spine Race finisher Damian Hall says: “Her performance was extraordinary—one of the great British ultra-running performances.” Olympian Jo Pavey says Paris’s performance was “awesome and inspiring.”
Since finishing, Paris has caught lots of attention, with television appearances and Chelsea Clinton tweeting about her victory. “This has been harder than the race,” she says. “At least then I just had one job to do: keep putting one foot in front of the other.” All she craves now is a good night’s sleep.
1. How long did Paris stop during the race?| A．7 hours. | B．12 hours. | C．20 hours. | D．83 hours. |
| A．Kind and devoted. | B．Inspiring and determined. |
| C．Considerate and Brave. | D．Generous and hard-working. |
| A．Training for the face. | B．Taking care of her young baby. |
| C．Getting good night’s sleep. | D．Dealing with the public attention. |
| A．The Longest Running Race | B．A Mother and Her Young Baby |
| C．A Woman Beating Men’s Record | D．The Hardest Race in the World |
【推荐3】I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief at a Chinese funeral.
My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried sadly at her desk. Somehow, we got through the day’s work. The next day was the funeral.
Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy (悼词) and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: “There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven.” Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute, weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Men and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man’s mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. She almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral stunned at the outpouring of emotion.
In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more releasing to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.
Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting (哀悼) at the funeral had been restrained (克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it’s the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.
1. What does the underlined words “stiff upper lip style” mean?| A．cold-blooded | B．light-hearted | C．self-controlled | D．warm-hearted |
| A．Five individuals made speeches. | B．The writer was astonished by the scene. |
| C．Everyone was crying out loudly. | D．The boss’s speech was best thought of. |
| A．The English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time. |
| B．Victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored. |
| C．Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples. |
| D．English funeral culture is more civilized than the others. |
| A．An editor’s death. | B．Funeral customs. |
| C．Cultural differences. | D．Western ways of grief. |
【推荐1】All eyes were on Jack Ma. The chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. left his position on Teachers’ Day from leading the e-commerce (电子商务) giant he founded 20 years ago.
“I still have lots of dreams to go after.” Ma wrote in an open letter last year to announce his parting. “The world is big, and I am still young, so I want to try new things.”
The 55-year-old businessman showed that he was ready for new things by arriving at his farewell party dressed up like a rock star.
In fact, his rags-to-riches (白手起家的) story is a good example of doing something different. Visiting the United States in 1995, Ma saw the internet and had the idea of setting up his own trading website. In 1999, he founded Alibaba with a group of friends in a shared apartment, struggling for years to get it off the ground. With all the challenges, the company slowly brought e-commerce to China.
Although his success has inspired a number of Chinese tech businessmen, Ma pointed out that the key is having a dream. “It’s the dreams that keep us full of confidence and never afraid of setbacks (挫折).” Ma said in a video posted on Sept 9.
Now the experienced businessman is looking to focus on education. What can he offer? “I’m not going to teach English; I’m not going to teach business. But I’m going to teach young people how to face challenges.” he told Bloomberg News.
Skilled sailors were never made on calm waters. As Ma said, “Today is cruel. Tomorrow is crueler. But the day after tomorrow is beautiful.”
1. What can we infer according to Paragraph 4?| A．Jack Ma was born in a rich family. |
| B．Jack Ma had the idea of setting up his own trading website in 1999. |
| C．Jack Ma founded Alibaba alone. |
| D．Jack Ma went through challenges to found Alibaba. |
| A．Dreams can guide us to further our education. | B．Dreams can give us confidence and courage. |
| C．Dreams can push us to set up new businesses. | D．Dreams can lead us to offer more to society. |
| A．How to operate business. | B．How to learn English. |
| C．How to face challenges. | D．How to set up a website. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Confidence is the key to success. |
| C．Skilled sailors like calm waters. | D．We should face challenges bravely. |
【推荐2】Intelligent people are more likely to trust others, while those who score lower on measures of intelligence are less likely to do so. Oxford university researchers based their findings on an analysis of the General Social Survey.
The authors say one explanation could be that more intelligent individuals are better at judging characters and may spend more time building relationships with people they can trust. Another reason could be that smarter people are better at weighing up situations and assessing whether or not the other person will keep his or her side of a bargain.
“Intelligence is shown to be linked with trusting others,”said the study’s lead author, Noah Carl of Oxford University. “This finding supports what other researchers have argued, namely that being a good judge of characters is a distinct part of human intelligence.”
In addition, the study shows that individuals who are more trusting are also happier with their lives and have higher levels of physical health. The Oxford researchers found, however, that the links between trust and health, and between trust and happiness, are not explained by intelligence. The findings confirmed that trust is a valuable resource for an individual, and is not simply a measure of intelligence.
The authors say the research is significant because the study of social trust could have far-reaching implications for public welfare, as social trust contributes to the success of important social institutions, such as welfare systems and financial markets.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, trust is in increasingly short supply in the current generation. This decline threatens world leaders’ability to handle some of today’s key challenges like global warming, and the political systems. There are good reasons to think that governments should try to develop more trust in society.
“Distrust usually causes friction in personal relationships, careers and politics among people,” says Stephen Covey. Although the majority of people say that trust can never be restored once it’s broken, Stephen feels it can be brought back. “It’s not easy, and it takes time, but you do it through your behavior, not just things you say.”
1. It can be concluded from the analysis of the General Social Survey that ______.| A．intelligent individuals spend less time on interpersonal relationships |
| B．judgment of characters determines the level of intelligence |
| C．intelligence accounts for the connection between trust and health |
| D．intelligent people tend to show more trust in others |
| A．make the best of a situation. |
| B．stick to one’s promise as agreed. |
| C．figure out the true value of a bargain. |
| D．make an assessment of a deal |
| A．a contributing factor to successful public institutions |
| B．a basic step to deal with global warming |
| C．a decisive basis for stable political systems |
| D．a complete solution to interpersonal conflicts |
| A．behavior is a mirror in which everyone shows his image |
| B．actions always speak louder than words |
| C．behavior is largely determined by mind |
| D．action is the proper fruit of knowledge |
【推荐3】Each year, about 7 million tons of trash (垃圾) is found in the ocean. This trash consists of cigarette ends, medical waste, plastic, mile-long nets, etc... Those items of trash choke (窒息) many species of ocean life so quickly that they eventually become extinct. Ocean pollution harms the earth and animals, and we should stop the problem.
Some other causes of ocean pollution are waste, poisonous chemicals, and the biggest cause is littering (乱丢垃圾). How do these items end up in the ocean? Waste flows through rivers and drains (下水道) directly to the ocean, so ocean pollution continues to step up. The estimated amount of ocean pollution that floated in the sea in 2012 was 288 million tons. This huge number continues to increase by 4% each year. That means 11, 520, 000 tons of trash increase each year. Imagine the future of our ocean. Will there be any room to swim? Also 80% of the ocean is composed of plastic: plastic bottles, plastic bags, and some plastic toys.
How can ocean pollution be solved? Use fabric bags instead of plastic bags. This would reduce the plastic pollution in the ocean. Also for the waste water problem, we could use waste water treatment system. Lastly using renewable energy sources such as wind power or solar power would limit offshore drilling.
If we don’t stop the causes of ocean pollution, water temperatures will continue to rise and ocean life will become endangered. Please be mindful that what we do affects the people around us, the animals around us, and the habitats around us. So will you pay attention to this problem or wait for the next generation to?
1. What leads to the ocean pollution worst?| A．Cigarette ends. | B．Littering. |
| C．Medical waste. | D．Plastic. |
| A．3 | B．4 |
| C．5 | D．6 |
| A．To introduce what’s ocean pollution. |
| B．To make a survey about ocean pollution. |
| C．To make us know more about ocean pollution. |
| D．To call on everyone to fight against ocean pollution. |
| A．The Seriousness of Ocean Pollution |
| B．The Solutions to Ocean Pollution |
| C．The Causes of Ocean Pollution |
| D．The Sorts of Ocean Pollution |
