A MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE
The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How pleased and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They planned to make French toast and chicken porridge. They had watched their mother in the kitchen. There was nothing to it. Jenna and Jeff knew exactly what to do.
The big day came at last. The alarm rang at 6 a.m. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the kitchen. They decided to boil the porridge first. They put some rice into a pot of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Jeff broke two eggs into a plate and added in some milk. Jenna found the bread and put two slices into the egg mixture. Next, Jeff turned on the second stove burner to heat up the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until Jeff started frying the bread. The pan was too hot and the bread turned black within seconds. Jenna threw the burnt piece into the sink and put in the other slice of bread. This time, she turned down the fire so it cooked nicely.
Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to shake. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna panicked. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the gas quickly. But the stove was a mess now. Jenna told Jeff to clean it up so they could continue to cook the rest of the porridge. But Jeff’s hand touched the hot burner and he gave a cry of pain. Jenna made him put his hand in cold water. Then she caught the smell of burning. Oh dear! The piece of bread in the pan had turned black as well.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右。2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As the twins looked around them in disappointment, their father appeared.
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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . My brother and I are exactly one year apart. We look like twins, but we are completely
I didn't
At the start of the semester, I practised “Circle of Life" for a musical. This was the first time I
After two days of this, my brother asked me to
A.mature | B.different | C.content | D.normal |
A.disliked | B.preferred | C.replaced | D.abandoned |
A.writer | B.leader | C.painter | D.performer |
A.get along | B.drop by | C.show off | D.check in |
A.try | B.mind | C.enjoy | D.delay |
A.In particular | B.In vain | C.In return | D.In theory |
A.humorous | B.ordinary | C.competitive | D.grateful |
A.above | B.below | C.near | D.without |
A.issue | B.contrast | C.agreement | D.balance |
A.struggled | B.expected | C.promised | D.decided |
A.began | B.allowed | C.stopped | D.continued |
A.hated | B.experienced | C.accepted | D.wanted |
A.help | B.invite | C.join | D.admire |
A.gracefully | B.suddenly | C.fiercely | D.cautiously |
A.limit | B.sentence | C.mistake | D.philosophy |
A.rude | B.angry | C.surprised | D.excited |
A.lose | B.share | C.reduce | D.maintain |
A.wrong | B.right | C.back | D.down |
A.luck | B.absence | C.effort | D.fear |
A.fight | B.noise | C.quiet | D.safety |
3 . Today's world is not an easy adjustment for young adults. Key skill set for success is persistence (毅力), a characteristic that researchers say is heavily influenced by fathers. Researchers from Brigham Young University discovered that fathers are in a unique position to help their adolescent children learn persistence.
BYU professors Laura Padilla-Walker and Randal Day arrived at these findings after following 325 American families over several years. And over time,the persistence gained through fathers led to higher achievement in school.
"There are relatively few studies that stress the unique role of fathers,"Padilla-Walker said. "This research also helps to prove that characteristics such as persistence-which can be taught-are key to a child's life success.”
Researchers determined that dads need to practice an "authoritative" parenting style. Authoritative parenting is not authoritarian:rigid,demanding or controlling. Rather,an authoritative parenting style includes some of the following characteristics:children feel warmth and love from their father;responsibility and the reasons behind rules are stressed children are given an appropriate level of autonomy(自主权).
In the study,about 52 percent of the dads exhibited above-average levels of authoritative parenting. A key finding is that over time,children raised by an authoritative father were significantly more likely to develop persistence,which leads to better outcomes in school.
This particular study examined 11 to 14-year-olds living in two-parent homes. Yet the researchers suggest that single parents still may play a role in teaching the benefits of persistence,which is an avenue of future research.
1. What is special about the BYU professors' study?A.It centered on fathers' role in parenting. |
B.It was based on a number of large families. |
C.It analyzed different kinds of parenting styles. |
D.It aimed to improve kids' achievement in school. |
A.Ignore their demands. | B.Make decisions for them. |
C.Control their behaviors. | D.Explain the rules to them. |
A.Single parents. |
B.Children aged from 11 to 14. |
C.Authoritarian fathers. |
D.Mothers in two-parent homes. |
A.Three Characteristics of Authoritative Fathers. |
B.Key Skills for Young Adults to Succeed in Future. |
C.Children Tend to Learn Determination from Father. |
D.Family Relationship Influences School Performance. |
When a tornado(龙卷风) touched down in a small town nearby,many families were left completed ruined. Afterward all the local newspapers carried many human-interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered(破碎的) mobile home, a depressed expression on her face. A young boy, seven or eight years old, stood at her side, eyes downward. Clutching(紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera, eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growing interest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves. I stuck the picture of the young family on our refrigerator, explaining their difficulty to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three-year-old Meghan.
“These poor people now have nothing,” I said. “We’ll share what we have with them. I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously, as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.
While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up old toys and games.
Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She came to the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat, painted-on-face, gave her a final kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys.
“Oh, Honey,” I said.” You don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much.”
Meghan nodded seriously, eyes filled with held-back tears. "Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she’ll make that other little girl happy,too.”
Paragraph. 1:The boys had watched,open-mouthed,as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box.
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I looked my children for a long moment.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . A Great Way to Teach Children to Take Responsibility
As parents, one of the most important things to teach children to take responsibility is to include chores as a part of their daily routine. In order to make a family function smoothly, every member must contribute. Teaching your children to take responsibility at an early age makes it easier for them to shoulder greater responsibilities as they grow older.
Make rewards and punishments a part of the lesson. Together decide whether they will be rewarded or not.
Children need to be taught that there are punishments for their actions in case of not doing their assigned chores. Decide and agree from the start what the punishment will be.
Teaching your children the importance of contributing to the family is of great importance.
A.A chore is a specific task a child has been assigned which helps improve the life of the entire family. |
B.And what punishment they will receive if a chore isn’t done. |
C.Actually you are taking a critical step in empowering them for their future. |
D.Start by teaching children the difference between a chore and cleaning up after themselves. |
E.Teach children the importance of each assignment, and why it matters. |
F.Children will not be rewarded at all for merely cleaning up. |
G.And if so, what the reward will be for a job well done. |
At the end of the class, Mr. Smith announced our assignment for the next Monday was to talk about someone we were grateful to instead of a book report. Upon hearing it, I couldn’t help complaining to Mareya that I was so nervous about having to talk in front of the whole class.
“ Arizona ,you’ve been in at least three plays ,” Mareya pointed out.“ If you don’ t get stage fright in front of those big audiences, why are you bothered by a few kids in our class ?”
It was true, but in a play you were part of a group. I shook my head. Plus, there were so many people I was grateful to. There was no way I could possibly pick just one. Plus, even if I picked one I’ d have no idea what to say. Plus, even if I figured out what to say, I was a million- percent positive I’ d mess up if I tried to say it out loud! I’ d be standing there with everyone staring at me, waiting for words to come out of my mouth.“ Oh , my goodness !” I pulled my sweatshirt hood ( 兜 帽 ) over my face, put my hands over my ears and said,“ I don’t want to talk about it !”
But one thing about really good friends who knew you really well was that they didn’ t always do exactly what you asked them to. Mareya could be pretty pushy talking of being helpful. She scribbled(潦草地写) something on a piece of paper , lifted my hood, and smiled. She’ d drawn a funny elephant (named Franky) with the word BREATHE coming out of its trunk .
“ This is Franky, the ‘everything is going to be all right’ elephant ” Mareya giggled. She held the picture up to her ear and asked, “What’ s that you say, Franky? You think my friend Arizona should come over to my house this weekend so we can work on our talks together?”
注意:1. 续写词数应为150 左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1. And that was exactly what happened.
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Paragraph 2 .On Monday morning, however, I decided to talk about Mareya.
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7 . Who needs friends? According to most psychologists (心理学家) we all do, especially nowadays when so many other aspects (方面) of modern life are changing. It seems that having friends keeps us both healthy and happy.
The number of TV series about groups of friends shows just how important friendship is to us. Psychologist Dorothy Rowe says that many of us now turn to our friends, instead of our families, for advice, comfort and security. One woman named Rebecca she interviewed even told her that if she had got to choose between her husband and her friend, she would choose her friend.
Since our friends mean so much to us, it is not surprising that the happiest marriages are also friendships. “Once the romantic stage of a relationship has passed, it is friendship that holds people together,” says Rowe. If the couple do not make some change, they will either get tired of each other and break up or stay together and seek friendship with others.
But is friendship equally important to women and men? According to author Rhonda Pritchard, women are more likely than men to have close friends. “ You tell a friend things that you’d never tell a partner”,says one woman she interviewed. For men, friendship is usually based on doing things together rather than the private conversations that are typical of women friend. Men share time and activities like building a fence or a business, running, riding a bike, fishing or watching football, but they don’t often share their feelings.
Although many women find their relationships with a husband or boyfriend is not enough, many men say that their partner is their best friend. Even women who are very happily married are likely to become very unhappy without a close friend and can even find the breakup of a close friend as painful as the end of a marriage.
Lasting friendships can provide a lot of the same support that families provided in the past, but the perfect situation is to have your family there for as well. Friendships and family relationships can both change, but a friend will not consider you when making really important decisions in the same way that a family member will.
1. What did Rebecca think about friendship?A.Families are reliable forever. | B.Her friend means more to her than her husband |
C.One needn’t have too many friends. | D.Friends are as important as families. |
A.they are encouraged by their partners. |
B.they are not fairly treated by their partners |
C.they don’t get what they need from their partners. |
D.they think their friends are more romantic. |
A.Women often do things together. |
B.Women often talk about business with friends. |
C.Men seldom talk about their feelings. |
D.Men often talk to their friends about work and family. |
A.feel as upset as when a marriage ends. | B.share feelings with their partners. |
C.treat their partners as friends. | D.turn to their husband for comfort. |
8 . Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. A few days before Christmas, he
As money was tight, he became even angrier when on Christmas Eve he saw that she had used all of the gold paper to
The next morning the little girl,
But when he
The little girl
An accident took the girl’s life only a short time later. It is said that the father
A.praised | B.encouraged | C.thanked | D.punished |
A.promising | B.learning | C.admitting | D.agreeing |
A.decorate | B.draw | C.buy | D.measure |
A.time | B.advice | C.space | D.money |
A.filled with | B.ready for | C.different from | D.related to |
A.thinking | B.forgetting | C.ensuring | D.regretting |
A.closed | B.opened | C.accepted | D.found |
A.happily | B.anxiously | C.angrily | D.shyly |
A.hand | B.lecture | C.solution | D.present |
A.looked up at | B.caught up with | C.lived up to | D.made up for |
A.empty | B.broken | C.full | D.colorful |
A.love | B.hate | C.forgive | D.defend |
A.kept | B.observed | C.used | D.searched |
A.interested | B.discouraged | C.surprised | D.terrified |
A.share | B.refuse | C.remember | D.remove |
9 . My brother Joe liked driving cars. He was especially
As a little boy, Joe would often say to me. “Sister, when I am old enough to drive my own car, I will fly so fast that angels will run scared.” With a big grin (咧嘴笑), he would
Joe was born blind. But he could
Growing up is a
One hot summer day when he was 16, Joe, with the help of stick, found his way to my stepfather’s car.
He felt the heat of the
I have heard various versions (版本) of this story. They all
A.lacking in | B.doubtful about | C.fond of | D.afraid of |
A.cheerful | B.disappointed | C.interested | D.worried |
A.locate | B.imagine | C.experience | D.seek |
A.really | B.definitely | C.fortunately | D.never |
A.act | B.dream | C.drive | D.see |
A.achieve | B.light | C.refuse | D.darken |
A.Story | B.Life | C.Dream | D.Car |
A.deserve | B.realize | C.satisfy | D.change |
A.difference | B.balance | C.war | D.mix |
A.nothing | B.anything | C.something | D.all |
A.metal | B.keys | C.seals | D.stick |
A.opened | B.began | C.fired | D.turned |
A.come up with | B.come down to | C.get reduced to | D.catch up with |
A.broke | B.exploded | C.roared | D.burst |
A.Definitely | B.Hopefully | C.Amazingly | D.Fortunately |
Several years ago, I traveled by train to Stockholm. I was visiting two friends who were to meet me at the train station. I stood there waiting for my first friend to arrive and in the midst of all the hurrying passengers that Friday afternoon, I heard a weak voice; it sounded like a question. I turned and saw a young man standing with a white cane ( 拐 杖 ) , his suitcase by his feet. I approached and asked,“Do you need help?”“Yes,”he replied, nodding his head, appearing relieved.
He had been trying for some time, unsuccessfully, to get someone’s attention. He had missed his train home. His cell phone battery was dead, and he needed to call his mother to tell her of the circumstances.
This young man named Mustafa, I found out, had just completed his first week at a school for the blind. He went to school on Mondays and returned home on Fridays. Of course I helped him call his mother. I did not understand what he spoke with her on my cell phone, but I could tell the language was Swedish. Of course the next problem was finding the right train home and telling his mother the new arrival time. Yet in this disordered train station, I did not want to miss connecting with my friend Bogdan who was on his way to the spot where we were standing.
Before I could dial the number to call Bogdan, he was suddenly already there. I described the problem and Bogdan took the young man’s arm and we were off on our adventure to help get Mustafa home. While sorting out where his home was, what train, and what time, my second friend Marcello called and wondered where we were. Soon he joined us. It happened that Marcello speaks 12 languages.
注意:
1. 续写词数应为150 左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Marcello’s gift in language was a great advantage.
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Now we were leading Mustafa to his train.
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