1 . Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. The purpose is to let children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance.
In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money.
At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance.
The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics.
Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life.
Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.
Allowances give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving it to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it.
1. What is special about children learning financial management by experience?| A．They learn more quickly. |
| B．They are not as likely to make mistakes. |
| C．Their mistakes won't matter so much. |
| D．They have plans made by their parents. |
| A．they will know how hard it is to learn budget |
| B．they will have an easy time learning the lesson |
| C．what they will learn is absolutely true |
| D．their parents will teach them a hard lesson |
| A．regularly twice every month |
| B．whenever he has run out of money |
| C．telling him to ask for permission before spending |
| D．without telling him what to spend on |
| A．borrow money from others | B．ask their parents for more money |
| C．get paid for their household routines | D．earn money by extra work |
2 . You have probably heard of the Mozart effect. It's the idea that if children or even babies listen to music composed by Mozart, they will become more intelligent. A quick Internet search reveals plenty of products to assist you in the task. Whatever your age is, there are CDs and books to help you taste the power of Mozart's music, but when it comes to scientific evidence that it can make you more clever, the picture is more mixed.
The phrase "the Mozart effect" was made up in 1991, but it was a study described two years later in the journal Nature that sparked real media and public interest about the idea that listening to classical music somehow improves the brain. It is one of those ideas that sound reasonable. Mozart was undoubtedly a genius himself; his music is complex and there is a hope that if we listen to enough of it, we'll become more intelligent.
The idea took off, with thousands of parents playing Mozart to their children, and in 1998 Zell Miller, the Governor of the state of Georgia in the US, even asked for money to be set aside in the state budget so that every newborn baby could be sent a CD of classical music. It was not just babies and children who were exposed to Mozart's music on purpose, even an Italian farmer proudly explained that the cows were played Mozart three times a day to help them produce better milk.
I'll leave the debate on the impact on milk yield (产量) to farmers, but what about the evidence that listening to Mozart makes people more intelligent? More research was carried out but an analysis of sixteen different studies confirmed that listening to music does lead to a temporary improvement in the ability to handle shapes mentally, but the benefits are short-lived and it doesn't make us more intelligent.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?| A．Mozart composed many musical pieces for children. |
| B．There is little scientific evidence to support the Mozart effect. |
| C．There are few products on the Internet about Mozart's music. |
| D．Children listening to Mozart will be more intelligent. |
| A．people were strongly against the idea |
| B．Mozart played an important part in people's life |
| C．the idea was accepted by many people |
| D．the US government helped promote the idea |
| A．Favorable. | B．Objective. | C．Doubtful. | D．Positive. |
| A．What Music Is Beneficial? |
| B．Listening to Mozart, Necessary? |
| C．What Is the Mozart Effect? |
| D．To Be or Not to Be？ |
3 . One of the great challenges of modern parenting is the roadblock posed by the learner driver. Your child is almost an adult, but just before the homestretch, you need to spend 120 of the most stressful hours of your life locked with them in a car, their teenage hands behind the wheel.
When I embarked on teaching my first child to drive, I was nervous. I’m not a natural teacher, as I am easily bored and quickly get angry. Worse, I’m not a natural driver. I even failed my first attempt to get a license. Oh, I can get from A to B without too much trouble, but once I get there, I’m likely to drive into a wall while parking.
Happily, my first child was a fast and diligent learner with an eye for traffic signs. Still, there were enough narrow misses, and by the time it was his younger sister’s turn, my nerves were already shot.
My daughter is bright and talented, but on the roads, she sort of … freestyles. Even after hours of professional driving lessons, her every move behind the wheel is fresh and unpredictable.
Even after 40 hours of driving, occasional mistakes happen. We will be driving along beautifully for 30 minutes, and once I begin to relax, my daughter will sail through a red light.
“Oops!” she’ll say. “Sorry, Mom! I missed that one,” and we nearly die. It’s exhausting, and, quite frankly, it’s terrifying.
As much as I’m longing for her to have her license, I find myself wondering if it’s a good idea. Even if she passes her test, who’s to say she won’t forget the next red light as soon as she’s out there on her own?
One of my friends has refused to teach her daughter to drive as she is “just not responsible enough” to be on the road. A middle-aged friend of mine gave up trying to get his license after the eighth failed attempt and an evident lack of skill.
We take it for granted that everyone should drive, but perhaps there are some people who just shouldn’t be behind a wheel. What if my daughter is one of them?
Well, I don’t know. At least not yet. But in these dark times, one thought springs to mind. If it’s the end of the world, maybe we can stop driving lessons for a while?
1. Why does the author mention her own driving experiences?| A．To tell us why she couldn’t drive well. |
| B．To explain what makes a good driver. |
| C．To show how difficult it is to pass a driving test. |
| D．To explain why she was unconfident about teaching driving. |
| A．The author was pleased. | B．The author was frightened. |
| C．The author felt relaxed. | D．The author was confused. |
| A．Some people had better not learn to drive. |
| B．Patience matters when parents teach their kids to drive. |
| C．Those learning to drive should be careful about traffic signs. |
| D．It’s normal for beginners to make occasional mistakes when they drive. |
| A．Let her daughter take professional driving lessons. |
| B．Persuade her friend to take the driving test again. |
| C．Advise her daughter to give up her driving lessons. |
| D．Continue to teach her daughter to drive. |
4 . Tom Savage has quit his job as a research analyst and found a perfect new start sting up his own social enterprise in Madagascar. He tells readers of the UK newspaper the Guardian that they can do likewise and follow their dream.
Every day dozens of Toms are reported in newspapers and magazines and on career websites and blogs. Their real-life tales aren't there to surprise or shock, as a result, many readers are taking on board.
Sophie Collins, 23, is a biology graduate from London. But before starting her course at university in Edinburgh, Scotland, she took a year out and enrolled in an Art Foundation course. “Art makes me happy, even if it won't pay my bills for a couple of years.” said Collins.
The idea that you should be free to follow your dream, whether as a young person or as a middle-aged adult with a well- established career, is on the upgrade.
In schools, students are taught that they can do whatever they want and can be whoever they choose so long as they work hard enough at that dream. People in the public eye, such as Italian classical singer Andrea Bocelli, have given up positions in admirable professions to take their chance on fame. Bocelli was a lawyer before he made it as a singer, selling 70 million albums worldwide.
The media and reality TV talent shows have also played their part in encouraging young people to follow their heart.
In 2006, 18-year-old Ray Quinn, barely out of school, finished second in the British TV talent show The X Factor. He later secured a record deal with Sony.
Each year since then, hundreds of thousands of people have applied to the show, hoping, and expecting, that the chance to realize their ambitions will soon come.
Even if they don't have a particular dream in mind, many young people are encouraged to take a year or two to find where their interests lie, instead of jumping into a job which they may later tire of.
George Evans, 24, is determined to find a job which interests him. “I think most of us recognize that it is happiness and not money that is the ultimate goal,” said the Cambridge University graduate. “Unless you are passionate about your career, you won't truly succeed.”
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true?| A．Sophie Collins took an art course before entering university to pursue her interest. |
| B．Andrea Bocelli, who used to be a lawyer, enjoys great success as a classical singer. |
| C．Ray Quinn achieved his career success though he had performed poorly at school. |
| D．George Evans thinks happiness counts more than money when choosing a career. |
| A．sharing the same boat | B．accepting the idea |
| C．rejecting the concept | D．ignoring the fact |
| A．Choose a career that truly appeals to you. |
| B．Make efforts to be interested in your job. |
| C．Make attempts to seek a meaningful career. |
| D．Build up confidence when seeking a job. |
5 . Lizzy Brown, a 42-year-old mother of three from East Riding, Yorkshire, was diagnosed with cancer when she was 14 years old. Ms Brown received the diagnosis having woken up frightened on her 14th birthday. She was admitted to a hospital in Cambridge in 1989, where she was told that she shouldn’t expect to survive into adulthood.
While being monitored (监护) at the hospital, Ms Brown was looked after by a kind nurse called Debbie Bye. Ms Brown has never forgotten the good care that Ms Bye provided during her time of need. “My prognosis (预断) was very poor,”' Ms Brown said. “I wasn’t expected to live more than five years, but now I’m 42 with three children and there’s not a wheelchair in sight. She might have thought she was doing her job but it went above and beyond that. I remember watching Debbie work and being so inspired by the way that she did things. She showed me that children are children no matter what is wrong with them and she treated us all the same.”
The childhood cancer survivor always wondered what had happened to the nurse over the years,which is why she decided to put a call out on Twitter. Ms Brown tweeted an appeal to find Ms Bye, with her tweet being shared more than 1,000 times. Her action proved successful, as the two women were eventually able to make contact (取得联系) thanks to the power of social media.
“To be there when Lizzy was given her prognosis was something I will never forget,’’ said Ms Bye, who has since retired (退休) from hospital work and now works part-time in a school. “She was a teenager in denial and over the years I have often wondered what happened to her and came to the only conclusion I could and thought she had passed away. I am blown away.”
1. What do we know about Ms Bye?| A．She is in poor health now. |
| B．She still works in the same hospital. |
| C．She forgot about Lizzy Brown’s situation. |
| D．She once worked whole-heartedly as a nurse. |
| A．She turned to the Internet. |
| B．She visited quite a few places. |
| C．She asked many relatives for help. |
| D．She made a public appeal in local papers. |
| A．scared | B．excited | C．pitiful | D．nervous |
| A．To report a moving reunion. |
| B．To warn us of the danger of cancer. |
| C．To show us how to live a healthy life. |
| D．To give advice on how to treat nurses. |
6 . Meg. Jo, Amy and Beth live with their mother Mrs. March while their father is fighting in the Civil War. The family doesn’t have much money. They live next door to M. Laurence, who is very wealthy, and his grandson, Laurie. The passage below is about Beth, who loves to play the piano. The March family only has a small, out-of-tune piano. The “Mansion of Bliss” is Mr. Laurence’s house.
But Beth, though dying for the grand piano, could not gather courage to go to the Mansion of Bliss’. She went once with Jo; but Mr. Laurence, not being aware of her weakness, stared at her so hard from under his heavy eyebrows, and said “Hey!” so loud, that he frightened her so much, her feet chattered on the floor, she never told her mother; and she ran away, declaring she would never go there any more, not even for the dear piano. No comfort could overcome her fears, till the fact coming to Mr. Laurence’s ear in some way, he set about mending matters. During one of the brief visits he made, he artfully led the conversation to music, and told such attractive stories that Beth found it impossible to stay in her distant corner, but moved nearer and nearer, as if interested. At the back of his chair she stopped, and stood listening with her great eyes wide open, and her cheeks red with the excitement of this unusual performance. Taking no more notice of her than if she had been a fly, Mr. Laurence talked on about Laurie’s lessons and teachers: and as if the idea had just occurred to him, he said to Mrs. March:
“The boy pays little attention to his music now. But the piano suffers for lack of use. Wouldn’t some of your girls like to run over, and practise on it now and then, just to keep it in tune, you know, madam?”
Beth took a step forward, and pressed her hands tightly together to keep from clapping them and the thought of practising on that splendid instrument quite took her breath away. Before Mrs. March could reply, Mr. Laurence went on: “They needn’t see or speak to anyone, but run in at any time: for I’m shut up in my study at the other end of the house, Laurie is out a great deal, and the servants are never near after nine o'clock.”
Here he rose, as if going. “Please tell the young ladies what I say; and if they don’t care to come, why, never mind.”
“Oh, sir, they do care, very, very much!” Beth finally made up her mind to speak, in her eager yet shy way.
“Are you the musical girl?” he asked, without any frightening “Hey!” as he looked down at her very kindly.
“I’m Beth. I love it dearly, and I’ll come, if you are quite sure nobody will hear me-and be disturbed,” she added, fearing to be rude, and trembling at her own courage as she spoke.
“Not a soul, my dear. The house is empty half the day; so come as much as you like.”
“How kind you are, sir!”
Beth blushed like a rose under the friendly look he wore; but she was not frightened now, and gave the big hand a grateful squeeze, because she had no words to thank him for the precious gift he had given her.
1. According to the passage, Beth’s fear may result from ______.| A．dying for playing the piano | B．her being very weak |
| C．going to Mr. Laurence’s house | D．Mr. Laurence's staring and a loud greeting |
| A．considered Beth as a fly | B．pretended not to see Beth |
| C．didn't notice Beth at all | D．thought more of Beth than a fly |
| A．Because other people in the house didn’t like Beth and Jo at all. |
| B．Because there was nobody in the house when Beth came to play. |
| C．Because he wanted Beth to feel comfortable coming to his house. |
| D．Because Laurie wasn’t at home and Beth had no one to play with. |
a. Mr. Laurence visits the Marches. b. Mr. Laurence talks about music.
c. Beth says she’ll play Mr. Laurence' piano. d. Beth and Jo visit the ‘Mansion of Bliss’
e. Beth listens in a corner. f. Mr. Laurence invites the sisters to play the piano.
g. Mr. Laurence says “Hey!” to Beth.
| A．d-g-a-b-e-f-c | B．d-g-a-f-e-b-c | C．a-g-b-e-f-d-c | D．a-g-d-b-e-f-c |
| A．rude but attractive | B．kind but weak |
| C．friendly and thoughtful | D．mysterious and attractive |
7 . We thought we had it all---a beautiful house, three healthy children and one more on the way, two cars, a couple of four-wheelers for entertainment---and we loved it. Then, the market turned and my husband’s job at a construction company was gone. The company was closing down for good.
We both started looking for jobs right away, but there weren’t any to be found. With each passing day we were getting increasingly worried and we continued to work together in order to pull our family through. The more we pulled together, the closer we got. I felt feelings of admiration for my husband that I hadn’t felt in years.
That’s why it was so hard for me to watch him blame himself for our present situation. I continually asked him to stop, but he seemed to want to punish himself for not having a job.
Finally, one afternoon I pulled him aside and said, “We have four healthy children. That's what's important. That makes you a rich man.” “But what if we lose the house? They’ll hate me---you’ll hate me,” he replied.
I smiled at him and put my hands on both sides of his face to make him look me in the eye.
“No matter where we live I will be happy---as long as I have you.” I smiled again. In all the struggling together I had found that deep love for him that I had on the day we said “I do”.
I could see his shoulders and neck relaxed. He held me close and we were able to talk and plan and dream together in a way that we hadn’t for quite some time. It was a turning point for us as a couple and a family.
We are still struggling for our better life, but I consider us well-off because we have something that money can’t buy and no one can take away from us.
1. The underlined sentence in the second paragraph means that ________.| A．they became closer as they struggled together |
| B．they hoped to find jobs in the same company |
| C．both of them had the courage to face difficulty |
| D．they were trying to make their relationship closer |
| A．She thought she should be blamed. |
| B．She thought he had tried his best. |
| C．She thought he would get a job someday. |
| D．She thought it would remind her of sad memories. |
| A．Bitter but quiet. | B．Comfortable and easy. |
| C．Hard but happy. | D．Well-off and relaxing. |
| A．We Have It All | B．We Find It Again |
| C．A Perfect Couple | D．A Hard Time |
8 . My best friend travelled to stay with my family last weekend. When she arrived, she went straight to the kitchen and, without asking, ate some dried fruit. She wasn’t being rude. I knew she would do this. We’ve known each other for almost 20 years. She can eat anything she wants from my kitchen. Indeed, I bought her favorite fruits and snacks at the shop that morning.
Our long weekend together was simple. I was recovering from surgery and couldn’t go to shopping malls. We passed the time running errands (差事), but there was never a quiet moment. We’ve lived in different cities for almost a decade. Reunions (相聚) need conversation.
Our personalities are matched and a shared history is extremely valuable. We were competitors at high school before bonding. Then we discovered the many interests that we had in common. Our friendship developed itself quickly. We stayed companions and supported each other through law school and through our first jobs. What I like most about our friendship is that we don’t have to “do”, but we simply have to “be”. We drop the act, the performance, the public version of ourselves.
There is something special about friends who know everything about you. They are rare. They have seen your bright lights of achievements and the depths of desperation. The special friendships are those which never fail to delight, whose continuation is worth the extra effort, despite distance and difference in our separate lives. I had the very great joy of this reminder last weekend. I’m lucky to have found this friend, and to see a future where her companionship remains. Being together is perfection.
1. What does the underlined sentence indicate in Para. 2?| A．They talked a lot about their lives. |
| B．They enjoyed running errands. |
| C．They had a noisy weekend. |
| D．They quarreled at times. |
| A．They help each other achieve in their fields. |
| B．They’re best friends despite different hobbies. |
| C．They inspire each other to be their best selves. |
| D．They’re comfortable just being themselves. |
| A．Real friends are easy to make. |
| B．Good friendships need effort. |
| C．Special friendships may fail to delight. |
| D．Distance and difference bring friendship. |
| A．To express thanks to her best friend. |
| B．To share the friendship she treasures. |
| C．To describe the appearance of her best friend. |
| D．To explain how she offers help to her friend. |
9 . There are various reasons why people travel. Some tourists go to see battlefields or other historic remains. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. Most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.
Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money for the sun because they have so little of it. People of cities like London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam spend much of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain. This is the reason why the Mediterrancan has always attracted them.
Every summer many people travel to Mediterranean resorts and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason: sun! The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economics of Mediterranean countries. Italy’s 30,000 hotels are booked without a break every summer. And 13 million people camp on French beaches, parks and roadsides. About 37 million tourists visit there yearly, or one tourist for each person living in Spain.
But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can deal with. The Mediterrancan is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. None of these, however, is ruining anyone’s fun. Obviously, they don’t go there for clean water. They allow traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don’t even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, ifs still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Olso.
1. Europeans travel mostly for the reason that ___________.| A．they are interested in different cultural and social customs |
| B．they want to see some famous historic sites |
| C．they would1 like to take pictures in front of famous places |
| D．they wish to escape from the cold and darkness |
| A．all the 37 million people living in Spain are tourists |
| B．there are a large number of tourists visiting Spain |
| C．every person living in Spain has to take care of a tourist |
| D．every family in Spain is visited by a tourist every year |
| A．Polluted water. | B．Crowded buses. | C．Rainy weather. | D．Traffic jams. |
| A．People travel for different reasons. | B．Travelling causes a lot of problems. |
| C．Northern Europeans travel for sun. | D．Europeans are fond of travelling. |
10 . A 3-year-old boy called Casey who was lost in the woods for two days is now safe at home with his family. But he told his rescuers that he was not alone in the rainy, freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend --- a bear.
The child went missing on January 22 while playing with friends at his grandfather's house in the southern state of North Carolina. When the other children returned to the house and Casey did not, the family searched the area for almost an hour before calling the police.
Police formed a search and rescue team to look for the young boy in the nearby woods. But two days went by and still no Casey.
Then on January 24, someone called the police saying they heard a child crying in the woods. Police followed up on the information and found Casey at about 9:30 that night. They pulled him out of some briar(多刺野灌木). He was in good health.
Casey told the rescuers that he had hung out with a black bear for two days, a bear he called his "friend".
Officer Hughes spoke with reporters from several agencies. He said Casey did not say how he was able to survive the woods for three days in the cold, rainy weather. However, he said, "Casey did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear. And at no point do I think he was taken away illegally."
Doctors at Carolina East Medical Center treated Casey for minor injuries. He was then released to his family on January 25.
His mother Brittany Hathaway talked with reporters from a local news agency and thanked everyone who joined in the search and rescue efforts.
"We just want to tell everybody that we're very grateful that you took the time out to come search for Casey and prayed for him, and he's good," said his mother. "He is good, he is up and talking. He's already asked to watch Netflix."
1. What happened to Casey?| A．He was ignored by his friends. | B．He was attacked by a bear. |
| C．He went missing in the woods. | D．He was wanted by the police. |
| A．How Casey managed to survive. | B．When he was successfully rescued. |
| C．Why he was seriously injured. | D．How many hours he was trapped. |
| A．Naughty. | B．Lucky. | C．Intelligent. | D．Determined. |
| A．His mother cared about him. | B．His mother was very grateful. |
| C．Casey deserved a good rest. | D．Casey was in good condition. |
| A．survey | B．advertisement | C．news report | D．character introduction |
