1 . There is an old Chinese proverb that states “One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade,” and this is how it should be with mothers and daughters. The relationship between a mother and a daughter is sometimes confusing. The relationship can be similar to friendship. However, the mother and daughter relationship has unique characteristics that distinguish it from a friendship. These characteristics include a hierarchy (等级) of responsibilities and unconditional love, which preclude mothers and daughters from being best friends.
Marina, 27 years old, said, “I love spending time with my mom, but I wouldn’t consider her my best friend. Best friends don’t pay for your wedding. Best friends don’t remind you how they carried you in their body and gave you life! Best friend: don’t tell you how wise they are because they have been alive at least 20 years longer than you.” This doesn’t mean that the mother and daughter relationship can’t be very close and satisfying.
While some adult relationships are still troubled, many find them to be extremely rewarding. This generation of mothers and adult daughters has a lot in common, which increases the likelihood of shared companionship. Mothers and daughters have always shared the common experience of being homemakers, responsible for maintaining and passing on family values and traditions. Today contemporary mothers and daughters also share the experience of the workforce and technology, which may bring them even closer together.
Best friends may or may not continue to be best friends, but for better or worse, the mother and daughter relationship is permanent, even if for some unfortunate reason they aren’t speaking. The mother and child relationship is closer than any other. There is not an equal relationship. Daughters should not feel responsible for their mother’s emotional well-being. It isn’t that they don’t care deeply about their mothers. It’s just that they shouldn’t be burdened with their mother’s well-being.
The mother and daughter relationship is a relationship that is not replaceable by any other. Mothers never stop being mothers, which includes frequently wanting to protect their daughters and often feeling responsible for their happiness. Mothers always “trump (胜过)” friends.
1. What does the underlined word “preclude” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．differ | B．prevent | C．benefit | D．change |
| A．The mother and daughter relationship can be replaced by a best friend. |
| B．A mother’s love brings her and her daughter a close friendship. |
| C．The mother and daughter relationship goes beyond best friends’ friendship. |
| D．Marina has a troubled relationship with her mother. |
| A．By listing data. | B．By giving explanations. |
| C．By quoting sayings. | D．By giving examples. |
| A．How to Be a Good Mother and Daughter? | B．Who Is a Mother’s Best Friend? |
| C．Mothers or Friends? | D．Can a Mother Be a Daughter’s Best Friend? |
2 . Yesterday we said goodbye to my grandfather. He was 96 years old and he was my last grandparent.
It has been a while since I saw my grandpa in person. I think he only met my youngest Lilly once. It kind of pains me to think that I deprived(剥夺)my children of the chance to know their only great-grandparent. But I didn’t want them to know or remember a very old man, incapable of getting down on his knees to play with them, and laughing with them because he can’t hear what they’re saying. That’s not the grandfather I know.
My grandfather never stopped. He was an early-adopter to have a laptop-type-device long before Apple was a houschold word and he was programming video games for grandkids to play before most people knew what programming was. He kept physically fit every day of his life. In his later years, he kept busy playing tennis, ballroom dancing, swimming, bicycling. In the end, he didn’t lose a battle to any disease. His body simply could not go on anymore.
I feel extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to know my grandfather. Intentional or not, he taught me many lessons. My grandfather taught me to waterski when I was 5 years old and he taught me how to surf about a decade after that. Whenever I thought it’s too late for me to study a language or get better at piano, he made it clear that it’s only my fear holding me back, not age.
These lessons make life meaningful to me. I prefer to think of them as lessons for living a positive life that leaves a positive impression on me. That is something I will strive to do. Thanks to my grandfather, I have a pretty good blueprint to follow. So I guess the best thing I can offer my children to feel connected to that man is the lessons I learned from him.
1. Why did the author seldom take kids to their disabled great-grandfather?| A．To promote the kids’ independence. |
| B．To keep the old man living a quiet life. |
| C．To prevent the kids from being frightened. |
| D．To avoid the kids having a bad impression of him. |
| A．By eating apples everyday. | B．By playing with little kids. |
| C．By living a simple life. | D．By keeping exercising. |
| A．He was a surfing instructor. | B．He was very encouraging. |
| C．He did everything with an intention. | D．He studied a new language in his old age. |
| A．Memories of My Grandfather | B．Winning a Battle to Disease |
| C．Connecting the Generations | D．Impression of My Childhood |
3 . Desperate to help his 96-year-old mother to speak her mother tongue again, Keith McDermott made an appeal on social media and was met with a flood of kind responses. The old lady, Ray, was moved to tears after talking on the phone with one of the enthusiastic respondents in Welsh.
Ray moved to America after meeting her husband when she was only 18, hence waving goodbye to her life in Wales. She continued to speak Welsh with her mum-keeping a little bit of home. But she lost her beloved mum four decades ago and hadn't spoken Welsh ever since.
Despite suffering from short-term memory loss and sometimes not remembering what she has done recently, Ray's childhood memories in Wales remain clear. “She wants to return but I know, given her age, such long-distance travel is out of the question.” said Keith, “Once she mentioned ‘I wish I could speak Welsh again but I suppose I never will.’ It was then that I thought I should make her wish happen.”
So Keith, 70, posted on social media in the New York Welsh area asking for any Welsh speakers that could speak Welsh with his mum. And he was touched, as well as a little shocked, to receive over 30 responses within half an hour. Keith thanked everyone and eventually asked Melisa to give his mum a phone call. “Speaking with Melisa, her (Ray's) Welsh was a little rusty. A few more Welsh conversations and I think she'd be fluent again,” added Keith.
“When you have a parent in their nineties, you will find you two have something in common: you're both old, so I am very sympathetic to my mother's feelings of loneliness and isolation (孤立). I'm feeling it myself.” Keith hopes to set up more Welsh phone conversations for his mum and Melisa has promised to send Ray some short stories in Welsh to remind her of her life in Wales.
1. Why did Keith post a message on social media?| A．To gather American Welsh speakers. |
| B．To help his mum speak Welsh again. |
| C．To slow down his mum's memory loss. |
| D．To track down his family's Welsh origin. |
| A．Surprised and moved. | B．Concerned and thankful. |
| C．Sympathetic and excited. | D．Astonished and isolated. |
| A．Social media contribute to closer family ties. |
| B．Mother tongue means more than a language. |
| C．Childhood experiences shape one's later life. |
| D．One will be more sensitive when getting older. |
| A．A community noticeboard. |
| B．A health magazine. |
| C．A language-learning website. |
| D．A local newspaper. |
4 . Five years ago, my husband and I bought a former farm. It’s a short ride from our Vancouver home but a world away. As we restore the land, I feel my well-being returning, but I think the farm is also working its magic on our son’s growing resilience (适应能力). Since Dev was 20, he has lived with mental illness. We have been on this journey with him from crisis to recovery.
It has taken a couple of years to clear the land, seed the lawn (草坪) and build garden beds. But we did it even as other parts of our life had come undone. The farm was holding our family together. We come over on weekends and holidays and have been planting.
Before he went to treatment, we planted a “guild” in the old apple farm.
The desire to recover this land has grown in me.
| A．We helped ourselves by helping others. |
| B．We also learned how to depend on others. |
| C．My son had great difficulty making a recovery. |
| D．I have seen this drive toward restoration in my son as well. |
| E．Just when it couldn’t get any worse, an unexpected light occurred. |
| F．During this time, Dev is concentrating on his own restoration process. |
| G．Its aim is to support the health of trees by grouping other surrounding components. |
5 . Talking with Your Parents
Learning to deal with your parents as a young adult is a tough task. Sometimes, parents struggle to admit you have grown up and can care for yourself. Other times, they may simply have thought otherwise. No doubt, communication is the best way to solve the conflict. Here are some tips on that.
Choose a time when your parents can sit down and talk with you without being distracted. Try to talk with your parents alone at first. If you live away from home, call and ask what time would work the best for them.
Be straightforward and honest.
You are only as good as your words, so don't lie. Simply recount the events from your list and include your emotional reactions. If it is easier, you may ask your parents to remain silent until you finish with an initial 'list' of concerns.
When your parents get a chance to talk, respect them and listen carefully. This is your opportunity to try to understand where they are coming from. There is a possibility that the same event was viewed in two different ways.
Ask for advice.
Keep parts of the conversation positive by telling your parents about your goals for the future. Discuss your financial, romantic, or work plans and ask for their advice?
| A．Pick a good setting. |
| B．Choose a suitable time. |
| C．Wait until they are finished and ask some questions. |
| D．It's not healthy to hold thoughts and feelings inside. |
| E．It's best to avoid a public place for a conversation of this type. |
| F．You can also ask your parents for money to show respect for them. |
| G．This lets them know that you value their opinion and will request it. |
6 . Accompanied by her father, using a combination of aid and free climbing and taking advantage of some special equipment and ropes for protection, 10-year-old Selah made it to the top of El Capitan on June 12 after five days of big wall climbing.
Climbing the challenging and adventurous Nose route of El Capitan was a labor of love for Selah in more than one way. Her parents , Mike and Joy Schneiter, fell in love on this 3,000- plus-foot huge rock and she has always wanted to feel the way that her parents felt when they were up there together. Selah showed great interest in rock climbing at an early age. She wore her first rock-climbing equipment shortly after she learned to walk. She first dreamed of climbing El Capitan when she was 6 or 7.
El Capitan is a famous mountain-sized rock in Yosemite National Park. Getting to its top is no easy task. It's taller, as reported, than the tallest building in the world-Dubai’s Buri Khalifa. El Capitan and its difficult Nose route, which runs more than 3,000 feet high up the center of the rock's face, is considered one of the world's hardest big wall climbs and has attracted the best climbers over time. But never before had a youngster accomplished it.
Selah's achievement caught national attention. Outside Magazine called her the youngest documented person to climb the Nose. Ken Yager, president of the Yosemite Climbing Association, said he also couldn't think of anyone younger who has done it.
Selah is humble about her El Capitan accomplishment. "I'm not necessarily a special kid or anything like that, she said. "There were a few times when I would be so worn that it would kind of discourage me from holding on. But overall, it was just great to keep plugging away.”
Selah shared this advice for other young climbers dreaming of big walls, "It doesn't take necessarily a super special person to do something like that. You just have to put your mind to it.”
1. What do we learn about Selah climbing El Capitan?| A．She began her climbing on June 5. |
| B．She got inspired by her family history. |
| C．She managed without any external help. |
| D．She was the first female to reach the top. |
| A．To state El Capitan's height. |
| B．To prove El Capitan's popularity. |
| C．To introduce El Capitan's location. |
| D．To stress the challenge of climbing El Capitan. |
| A．Determined. | B．Generous. |
| C．Warm-hearted. | D．Fortunate. |
| A．Dream big and aim high. |
| B．Be committed to your ambition. |
| C．Chance favors the prepared mind. |
| D．Nothing is impossible for a genius. |
7 . Yesterday, I went to the bookstore to pick up a present for my mother’s upcoming birthday. I found one of the books I wanted, but not the other one my mother had discussed with me the other day. When I went to pay. I asked the clerk behind the counter if I could order the second book.
A lady was standing in line behind me at the checkout. The clerk said she could order the book. but asked if I would mind letting the lady behind me pay for her purchases first. The lady behind me said no and that it was fine to wait.
It took nearly 15 minutes to put my order through! The lady behind me chatted agreeably with us for the entire time. When it finally came time for me to pay, I placed two $10 off cards on the counter. The clerk informed me the offer was only valid(有效) for the book I was purchasing in-store and wouldn’t work for the book I’d ordered. This meant that I’d have one $ 10 card left.
“You can come back and purchase another book.” the clerk smiled. “The offer is valid until the end of the week.”
I thought about this for a millisecond and then turned around to face the lady behind me who’d been so patient, kind, and charming through the very long wait at the checkout. “Here.” I gave her the $10 off card. She was very surprised and said. “Really?”
The gift didn’t cost me anything. I knew I wouldn’t be back before the end of the week and it rewarded someone whose attitude left a smile in my heart. Most definitely a win-win moment.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．The author couldn’t afford anything else but books as a birthday present. |
| B．The book store had no suitable books available as a birthday present. |
| C．Reading was probably appealing to the author and the mother alike. |
| D．The author was a regular customer of the book store. |
| A．Impolite. | B．Considerate. | C．Cold | D．Easy-going. |
| A．The author was always very generous to strangers. |
| B．The $ 10 off card would become invalid next week. |
| C．The author believed the lady would smile at her/him. |
| D．The author wanted to thank the lady for her kindness. |
| A．Win win Moment at the Bookstore | B． Bread, Another |
| C．Lovely Delay at the Bookstore | D．Patience and Friendship Rewarded |
8 . Here’s the bad news:Men are hurting, and, according to many researchers, masculinity (男子气) is what is hurting them and making it hard for them to maintain friendships. Society tells men to hide their feelings and expects them to be aggressive, so many men lose their friendship when growing up. The good news is that some skills can be recovered!
Accept your own desire and normalize it for the people in your life. Way, an expert, recommends seeking for articles about masculinity and friendship and poring over them. Don’t forget you have the entire Internet at your fingertips, friend!
Model vulnerability (脆弱).
Get close with the children in your life. Way’s research says that the No.1 thing that helps men with masculinity grow up to own enriching friendships is to be close with children who are not afraid to express emotions.
| A．Ask more questions. |
| B．Get curious. |
| C．Say the thing that scares you, |
| D．There are a lot of experts who can help, and here’s what they recommend. |
| E．In order to show your strengths, |
| F．In this way you can start a normal conversation with your friends. |
| G．So, if you’re a parent, or working on something to do with children. |
9 . As a teenager, I terrorized my mother. We often quarreled about whether or not I would empty the dishwasher, take out the trash, or clear the dinner plates. My brothers referred to these infamous screaming matches as World War III every time a battle began. The fights lasted as long as my mother could put up with my sharp tongue and snide remarks, after which I was sent to my room without dinner.
Now we don’t argue anymore. It’s not because I’ve matured, gotten married, and left my parents, house, but because my mother cannot utter enough words to form sentences. Her brain is a mess that cannot communicate like a room full of people speaking different languages with no interpreter.
At fifty-four, she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and now, four years later, she is completely dependent on my family and me to function. We feed her, dress her, bathe her, drive her around, and pray that the disease progresses slowly.
Alzheimer’s has changed both the relationship we share as a mother and daughter and the fundamental beliefs that guide my life. I now believe that I am fortunate to have the opportunity to give back to my mother with the same love and devotion she always shared with me.
I visit her as often as my schedule permits. Sometimes I share stories with her, reducing any details to basic terms that she can understand. Sometimes we sit in silence and comment every now and then about how good the coffee is. “Makes you feel good,” she tells me, talking about the coffee, and I want to say the same thing about the time spent with her. I am so grateful for these moments, for the experiences we share, and for the chance to make up for the way I treated her years earlier. The funny thing is that she may never remember those arguments.
1. What does the underlined word “matches” probably refer to?| A．Games. | B．Remarks. | C．Arguments. | D．Moments. |
| A．Her basic beliefs. | B．Her mother’s disease. |
| C．Her being mature. | D．Her mother’s devotion. |
| A．Sad. | B．Funny. | C．Anxious. | D．Thankful. |
10 . When Dominick Cabalo noticed four years ago that his son Nicholas, then in Grade 4, was struggling to make new friends at school, he came up with a creative way to help him “break the ice”. The graphic artist from Glendale, Calif, started creating amazing drawings on his sons brown paper lunch bags.
From Captain America to Darth Vader to Kobe Bryant, Cabalo has drawn about 400 pictures of animals, superheroes, movie characters and pop culture icons (偶像）on his son’s lunch bags. The Grade 8 student told CTV News Channel on Wednesday that he had noticed the influence his father's artwork had on social life at school.
“It would encourage a conversation. If it was a movie, then we would talk about what happened or our favorite scenes,” Nicholas said. “People I don’t talk to would start talking to me about what my father has drawn on bags.”
Although Cabalo said he couldn’t see his son’s schoolmates’ reactions to his drawings first-hand, Nicholas would often let him know which ones were hits at school. “If I do something funny or draw something quite humorous, Nicholas will report back to me and say, ‘Oh yeah, they really liked this one,’”Cabalo said.
Cabalo said his son’s favorite drawings are the ones about superheroes. He explained that, every time a new superhero movie is released (上映）,he will make sure to include that character on a lunch bag. With so many lunch bags and superhero movie series, Cabalo admits there have been a few repeated characters over the years.
1. Why did Dominick Cabalo decide to create drawings on his son’s lunch bags?| A．To become famous. | B．To show his talent. |
| C．To sell them and earn money. | D．To help his son make friends. |
| A．are popular with Nicholas's classmates |
| B．are about the latest superhero movies |
| C．express deep thoughts and feelings |
| D．influence Nicholas's classmates greatly |
| A．Animals. | B．Superheroes. |
| C．Movie characters. | D．Pop culture icons. |
| A．A Son Learns to Make Friends | B．A Son Is Influenced by His Dad |
| C．A Dad Creates Drawings on Lunch Bags | D．A Dad's Artwork on Lunch Bags Helps His Son |
