1 . It would be easy to believe that Mother’s Day was created by a greeting card company. After all, the day is celebrated with special sales and brunches, lots of presents and massive advertising campaigns. But the day was actually conceived more than a century ago by Anna Jarvis of West Virginia as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
Jarvis’s mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs,” teaching women how to care for their children. During the Civil War, she organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” where mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers met to try to promote harmony. The younger Jarvis Was inspired by all the things her mother had accomplished with her social work.
When Jarvis was young, she overheard her mother praying, “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will find a memorial mother’s day honoring her for the matchless service she offers to humanity in every field of life.” When her mom died in 1905, Jarvis looked through all the sympathy cards she received. She underlined all the kind words that praised her mother, reading them over and over. The outpouring of kindness for her mother inspired her to create a day to honor all mothers.
The white carnation was her mother’s favorite flower, so it became the symbol for the day. She said it symbolized the truth, purity and charity of a mother’s love. Her idea of celebrating Mother’s Day was wearing a carnation while visiting your mother or maybe going to church together. Children were also encouraged to write letters to their mothers, sharing the depths of their appreciation.
The first official Mother’s Day events were held on May 10. 1908, at the church where her mother taught Sunday School in Grafton, West Virginia, and at the Wanamaker’s department store auditorium（礼堂）in Philadelphia. Jarvis didn’t attend the event in Grafton, but she sent 500 white carnations.
1. What is the probable meaning of the underlined word “conceived” in paragraph 1?| A．Thought up | B．Figured out. |
| C．Found out. | D．Believed in. |
| A．She created Mother’s Day. | B．She was active in social work. |
| C．She joined in the American Civil War. | D．She taught Jarvis how to care for children. |
| A．Pray for their mother’s happiness. | B．Send some flowers to their mothers. |
| C．Write a letter to thank their mothers. | D．Accompany their mothers to the celebration. |
| A．A Memorable Mother | B．Carnation and Mother’s Day |
| C．The Greatness of a Mother | D．The Founding of Mother’s Day |
2 . When I was a kid, my sister and I would fight all the time over nearly everything. But as we grew older, our bond strengthened by sharing secrets, offering advice and trading clothes. Having a sister by my side while growing up taught me many lessons about the unique bond.
And now, thanks to an 8-year long study that’s making the rounds on the Internet again, science is confirming what I know is true. In the study, researchers discovered that having an older or younger sister can help ease the anxiety for kids between the ages of 10 and 14 years. They also found that people with sisters can “learn how to make up and to have control over their emotions again, which are skills that undoubtedly serve children well.
The revival of this study actually comes on the heels of another newer study, which shows that it’s not just the older kids and parents who influence and shape children as they grow. It turns out that younger siblings(兄弟姐妹) do too, and what’s more, they may also give their older siblings a greater chance of developing empathy (同情).
The Canadian study followed 452 pairs of siblings, all between a year-and-a-half and 4 years old. The researchers found that having a younger sibling increased the older sibling's level of empathy.
This research confirms that sisters are pretty amazing in making the world a much lovely place. As the mom of two boys, I often wonder what kinds of lessons they will learn from their younger sister. Perhaps they will be the same lessons I learned from mine that cooler heads always win. This study gives me hope that all those endless arguments between my kids may actually be laying the groundwork for conflict-settlement skills.
1. What can we learn from the study?| A．Children under four develop empathy fastest. |
| B．It is normal for siblings to quarrel. |
| C．Having siblings is not always a headache. |
| D．Having sisters is helpful to mental health. |
| A．Result | B．Beginning. |
| C．Reappearance. | D．Significance. |
| A．They love their mom very much. |
| B．They have a higher level of empathy. |
| C．They often quarrel with one another. |
| D．They have learned the same lessons as the the author. |
| A．Siblings have a unique bond. |
| B．Siblings have something in common. |
| C．Having siblings is good to children. |
| D．Children having siblings are considerate. |
