1 . For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.

In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is—politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg—the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something—and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.

1. Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?

A．Both are about where to draw the line.

B．Both can continue for generations.

C．Neither has any clear winner.

D．Neither can be put to an end.

2. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents.

B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict.

C．The teens cause their parents of misleading them.

D．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.

3. Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ______.

A．give orders to the other

B．know more than the other

C．gain respect from the other

D．get the other to behave properly

4. What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．Solutions for the parent-teen problems.

B．Examples of the parent-teen war.

C．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts.

D．Future of the parent-teen relationship.

2 . Have you winterized your horse yet? Even though global warming may have made our climate more mild, many animals are still hibernating(冬眠) .It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact, as a species, we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past , peasants in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation . So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French peasants. As soon as the weather turned cold people all over France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months on end.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed fundamentally since the invention of artificial(人造的) lighting and the electric bulb.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though.   Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ uninterrupted sleep is a modern invention.
In the past , without the artificial light of the city to bathe in, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves around midnight. The late night period was known as ”The Watch” It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals ,although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbours .
According to some sleep researchers, a short period of insomnia(失眠) at midnight is not a disorder .It is normal . Humans can experience another state of consciousness   around their sleeping, which occurs in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning .This period can be an extraordinarily creative time for some people .The impressive inventor, Thomas Edison , used this state to hit upon many of his new ideas.
Playing with your sleep rhythms can be adventurous   ,as anxiety may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural ; however, according to Warren’s theory，it is really the opposite of what we need.
1. The example of the French peasants shows the fact that________.

A．people might become lazy as a result of too much sleep

B．there were signs of hibernation in human sleeping habits

C．people tended to sleep more peacefully in cold weather

D．winter was a season for people to sleep for months on end

2. The late night was called “The Watch”because it was a time for people______.

A．to set traps to catch animals

B．to wake up their family and neighbours

C．to remind others of the time

D．to guard against possible dangers

3. What does the author advise people to do ?

A．Sleep in the way animals do.

B．Consult a doctor if they can’t sleep.

C．Follow their natural sleep rhythm.

D．Keep to the eight-hour sleep pattern.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To give a prescription for insomnia.

B．To urge people to sleep less.

C．To analyze the sleep pattern of modern people.

D．To throw new light on human sleep.

3 . Before I had my son, I spent two years working with children with disabilities. I learnt that shouting and threats of punishment would result in a disaster. Coming up against their behaviour could only make the job harder and their behaviour more extreme. I found something that worked, though.

There was a very naughty boy in the nursery and a teacher who was generally very confident with the children was asked to take charge of him. One day the boy joined a session in the room next to mine. His appearance created an atmosphere of tension. He spent the entire session running around, hitting and kicking, and destroying property.

I was in the craft room working with some other children when my co­worker told me that this boy's teacher was in tears, and could not get control of the situation. As we were talking, the boy ran in. I told my co­worker that I would take care of him.

I closed the door. He was full of energy, throwing things around and making a huge mess. But I could see that he was doing all these to annoy me. He needed connection, and this was the only way he knew how to ask for it. So I sat back down and kept quiet. Then he slowed down and began making a rocket. I talked to him about it. We continued like this for a few minutes before I slipped into the conversation:

“So what happened today?”

It was purely a question, no blame or anger in my tone. I believe that if I had criticized him, the gate that was slowly opening would have shut firmly closed. He told me that the teacher didn't let him do what he knew well due to safety but asked him to do what he disliked. He also admitted that he had enjoyed making her run around and saw it as a game. I explained that his teacher had not seen it as a game and was very upset. This again was stated simply as a fact. I suggested that next time he had a session, he talk about what he hoped to do at the start, which might be easier for everyone. He agreed and was quiet for a moment. Then he looked at me with tears in his eyes before quietly asking if he could go to find his teacher to apologize.

1. The boy made trouble for his teacher because he ________．

A．was accused of destroying property

B．was told not to yell at other children

C．was made to do things against his will

D．was blamed for creating an air of tension

2. Why didn't the author do anything about the boy's bad behaviour at first?

A．She didn't want to make it worse.

B．She didn't mind the huge mess at all.

C．She was tired of shouting and threats.

D．She hadn't thought of a coping strategy.

3. The author managed to get the boy to talk to her by ________.

A．playing games with him

B．giving him a good suggestion

C．describing his teacher's feelings

D．avoiding making critical remarks

4. Why did the boy have tears in his eyes in the end?

A．He was sorry about his reputation.

B．He was regretful about his behaviour.

C．He was fearful of the author's warning.

D．He was sad for the author's misunderstanding.

4 . When our restaurant business failed, we headed north in a camping truck to Texas, hoping to have a “fresh start”.

At the _______of Palo Duro Canyon (峡谷) State Park, I _______a job advertisement hiring park hosts. The position offered a _______, permanent campsite in the park, and _______, the hosts served as a link between the park’s guests and the rangers (护林人). It was the perfect solution: a rent-free place to reorganize our lives. We entered the park and I made an _______for the following day.

The park was_______, so it took us some time to find an available site. That evening, as we finished our dinner, my wife saw two large skunks (臭鼬) walking toward our table. We_______climbed onto the table and, for the next four hours, waited for them to _______our camp.

Having survived that night, we were _______that everything else would be all right. The next day we met with the people who ran the park. They explained our________ and gave us a beautiful campsite.

That evening, ________, we learned about the canyon ________ They were strong and cold, rocking our little camping truck violently, and we lay ________ in the dark until the winds died away.

________the weeks that followed, we learned to survive in our truck and ________

the little money my wife ________by substitute teaching. Building a successful business and then losing it had left very little time for building a successful ________. For a time after our business ________I thought I might lose my family as well.

Living in the tiny__________with no television, we sat close together reading and talking. One evening, standing under a jeweled sky, I found myself ________ for all the hardships. We had walked the trails and climbed the canyon walls. We had become a family!

1.

A．back

B．edge

C．centre

D．entrance

2.

A．sponsored

B．published

C．noticed

D．answered

3.

A．safe

B．free

C．convenient

D．beautiful

4.

A．in return

B．in time

C．in short

D．in turn

5.

A．attempt

B．agreement

C．appeal

D．appointment

6.

A．crowded

B．dangerous

C．ideal

D．quiet

7.

A．repeatedly

B．immediately

C．eventually

D．calmly

8.

A．attack

B．leave

C．pass

D．search

9.

A．satisfied

B．determined

C．confident

D．aware

10.

A．responsibilities

B．requirements

C．circumstances

D．conditions

11.

A．moreover

B．therefore

C．meanwhile

D．however

12.

A．winds

B．snows

C．woods

D．trails

13.

A．shaking

B．quarrelling

C．mourning

D．aching

14.

A．After

B．Between

C．During

D．Beyond

15.

A．give away

B．hand out

C．live on

D．put aside

16.

A．borrowed

B．earned

C．posted

D．raised

17.

A．business

B．career

C．family

D．image

18.

A．started

B．failed

C．expanded

D．declined

19.

A．truck

B．park

C．house

D．camp

20.

A．desperate

B．ready

C．suitable

D．thankful

5 .         A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.

The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.

Survey respondents were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.

The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio of disability and death for the study period.

“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.

“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.

Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.

The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.

However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.

1. According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

A．Optimistic adults.

B．Middle-aged adults.

C．Adults in poor health.

D．Adults of lower income.

2. Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people________.

A．to fully enjoy their present life

B．to estimate their contribution accurately

C．to take measures against potential risks

D．to value health more highly than wealth

3. How do people of higher income see their future?

A．They will earn less money.

B．They will become pessimistic.

C．They will suffer mental illness.

D．They will have less time to enjoy life.

4. What is the clear conclusion of the study?

A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

B．Good financial condition leads to good health.

C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

6 . Feeling blue about world ? “Cheer up.” Says science writer Matt Ridley.”The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and got nature.”
Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—tactical .because he’s carefully weighed the evidence optimistic because that offence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good .And this is what he’s set out to prone from unique point of view in his most recent book. The Rant anal Opting .He views mankind as grand enterprise that .on the whole has done little but progress for 100.000 years. He backed his finding with hard gathered though years of research.
Here’s how he explains his views.
1）Shopping fuels invention
It is reported that there are more than ten billion different producers for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty .our own generation has access to more nutritious food ，more convenient transport ，bigger             houses, better ears and of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us .This will continue as long as we there things to make other things. This more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be.
2) Brilliant advances
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ener before is that the four most basic human needs -food, clothing, fuel and shelter- have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s             light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it’s half second.
3) Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change
Mitigating(减轻) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welface as climate change itself. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fassil-fuel(化石燃料) electrieity is forhidden by well meaming members of green polucal movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that mes in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon canses realparn, we may well find that we have stopped a nose bleed             by putting a tournquet(止血带) around our necks.
1. What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?

A．Weakness of human nature.

B．Concern about climate change.

C．Importance of practical thinking.

D．Optimism about human progress.

2. How does Ridley look at shopping?

A．It encourages the creation of things.

B．It results in shortage of goods.

C．It demands more fossil fuels.

D．It causes a poverry problem.

3. The candle and lamp example is used to show that .

A．oil lamps give off more light than candles

B．shortening working time brings about a happier life.

C．advanced technology helps to produce better candles.

D．increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods.

4. What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

A．Cutting carbon is necessary in spite of the huge cost.

B．Overreaction to cliamate change may be dangerous.

C．People’s health is closely related to climate change.

D．Careless medical treatment may cause great pain.