1. What do the speakers think about their children?
| A．Noisy. | B．Tidy. | C．Shy. |
| A．In New York. | B．In London. | C．In Singapore. |
| A．Their friends. | B．Their laughter. | C．Their music. |
1. Where will the man go first this afternoon?
| A．To the market. | B．To the post office. | C．To the repair shop. |
| A．Visit his grandparents. | B．Throw a party for the kids. | C．Have dinner with his mother. |
| A．Roast chicken. | B．Sandwiches. | C．Pizza. |
1. 中国高中生做家务概况；
2. 你对学生做家务的看法；
3. 你最喜欢做的一项家务及原因。
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| A．It needs to be ironed | B．It is being washed now. | C．It is still in the laundry basket. |
5 . New research has found caring for grandchildren can make a difference to seniors. Publishing their findings in the journal Aging & Mental Health, a team of experts from Germany and the U.K. reviewed data from 28 studies which included 191, 652 adults from 21 countries.
People aged 60 or above who cared for their grandchildren for an average of 12 hours a week were 60% less likely to experience loneliness than non-caregivers, one of the reviewed studies found. Five other studies, out of a total of seven, also produced data showing a negative connection between loneliness and care-giving for grandchildren. What’s more, five out of six reviewed studies found seniors who volunteered in their communities felt less lonely than those who didn’t.
“This is the first review of its kind to look into the relationship between care-giving, volunteering, and loneliness in old people,” co-author Dr. Matthew Prina said. “Further research could help find the best dose (剂量) of caring for grandchildren. But valuing their unpaid activities will likely play an important role in their well-being. We also looked at studies that focused on care-giving for partners with serious health conditions. In those cases, seniors reported having higher levels of loneliness. This kind of care-giving may bed a lonely experience when there is lack of support from others.”
Experts further explained that when caring for children, older adults tend to be more drawn into society, through things like school, play dates and other social events. For example, seniors can actively join in different activities and continuously learn things from a younger generation.
While not everyone has young children in their life, volunteering opportunities also work. Now one group called Eldera is bringing the two concepts together. It focuses on connecting generations by pairing experienced adults aged 60 or above with children across the world. The wisdom of the elders, with years of experience, knowledge and common sense, is the most valuable resource for the younger generation. It can help them imagine a better future.
1. What did the new research find out about the elderly?| A．60% seniors are less likely to suffer loneliness. |
| B．Many of them are willing to be volunteers. |
| C．Their mental health is related to their personality. |
| D．Caregiving and volunteering can reduce loneliness. |
| A．The needs of the elderly are always placed second. |
| B．The elderly hardly get support from their family members. |
| C．Respecting the old’s contributions is beneficial to their health. |
| D．It is a tough job for the elderly to care for their grandchildren. |
| A．It inspires them to understand the society. |
| B．It helps them get more social opportunities. |
| C．It enables them to improve common sense. |
| D．It enhances their working ability. |
| A．Providing volunteer opportunities for the young. |
| B．Calling on people to care more about the elderly. |
| C．Spreading the wisdom of the old to the young. |
| D．Teaching old people skills of caring for children. |
6 . I spent time at my father’s house and mountain cabin this weekend, both of which have plug -in electric kettles. I enjoyed how quickly they boiled water, plus it’s kind of nice to not have to run across the house to stop the unbearable scream of the whistle( 哨 声 ) , My father was shocked that I didn’t own one, but I explained that I value the classic design of my Revere Ware kettle and I enjoy boiling water on the stove for my tea.
However, I’m nothing if not practical. I have a gas stove and the price of natural gas has been coming up, which isn’t ending any time soon. We’re not as bad as Europe, where people are removing their beloved stoves due to skyrocketing gas prices, but it’s certainly worth considering the cost of gas vs. electricity. The gas company is rolling out a 25% rate increase, which made me dive down this rabbit hole.
It’s not easy to compare gas to electric costs, as an electric kettle uses 1. 5 kilowatts to boil water and it takes 6428 British therm units (BTUs)to boil water using a standard gas stove. Of course, the gas company uses “therms”, and there are 1. 00024e-5 therms in one BTU. 1 kWh=0. 0341296 therms and I pay 14.47e/kWh for electricity and 61. 458≠/therm for gas. So you can see why you almost need an advanced mathematics degree to puzzle out the cost of heating a kettle on the gas stove vs. a plug-in electric. Of course you also have to consider that you’re not actually boiling water for a full hour
I never got even close to a point where I could do the math, but I did come to the conclusion that I could stop mindlessly filling the entire kettle when I’m having just a single cup of tea. Plus my low-tech kettle was produced without planned obsolescence( 过 时 )and should last for a very long time. No additional purchases necessary.
1. What does the author think of her father’s electric kettles?| A．They cause annoying noise | B．They are inconvenient to use |
| C．They are classic in design. | D．They lose some traditional flavor |
| A．Hold a negative attitude to life. | B．Consider moving somewhere else |
| C．Get into an awkward situation. | D．Study how to escape like a rabbit |
| A．To stress an advanced math degree is rewarding |
| B．To show it’s hard to make an economical choice |
| C．To prove the gas company has overcharged users |
| D．To explain the author is a price-sensitive consumer |
| A．Keep using it. | B．Upgrade it. | C．Replace it. | D．Sell it |
1. What’s wrong with the boys?
| A．They lost a camera. | B．They got sick. | C．They wasted money. |
| A．Go shopping. | B．Go to a bank. | C．Have a birthday party. |
The nicotine in tobacco is
1. Why was the new piece of furniture so cheap?
| A．It was very dirty. |
| B．All the legs were weak. |
| C．The back had a small problem. |
| A．Yellow. | B．Green. | C．White. |
| A．She is not very neat. |
| B．She doesn`t like the white color. |
| C．She often finds things at discounted prices. |
I live in a small but lovely neighborhood. Our house is neither large nor luxurious, but it has a fairly big garden. My father loves his garden. He planted some seeds in it and took good care of the plants, watering them, applying fertilizer, weeding and getting rid of bugs. He was never tired of doing all that stuff. But at that time, I didn’t understand why working in the dirt excited him so much.
Unfortunately, in the summer vacation before senior high school, my father was seriously injured in an accident. He had to stay in bed for a while. My mother had several business trips, so she couldn’t take care of the garden. I didn’t want my father to worry. I said that I would take care of his garden until he recovered. I assumed that the little plants would continue to grow as long as they had water, and luckily it rained fairly often, so I didn’t think much about the garden.
One Saturday morning, my father said to me, “Christine, the vegetables should be about ready to be picked. Let’s have a salad today!” I went out to the garden and was upset to see that many of the lettuce (生菜) leaves and carrots had been half eaten by bugs. There were hundreds of bugs all over them!
I panicked for a moment but then I quietly went to the nearest supermarket to buy some vegetables. When I was making the salad, my mother came home and saw the bag from the supermarket in the kitchen. I was embarrassed and admitted, “Dad would like a salad, but the garden is a disaster. I don’t want to disappoint him, so I went to the store and bought some vegetables.” My mother smiled, saying, “Honey, you know what is the right thing to do.”
Paragraph 1
My father seemed very pleased when I took the salad to him.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2
Feeling guilty, I decided to do the right thing.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
