1 . For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.

In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is—politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg—the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something—and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.

1. Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?

A．Both are about where to draw the line.

B．Both can continue for generations.

C．Neither has any clear winner.

D．Neither can be put to an end.

2. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents.

B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict.

C．The teens cause their parents of misleading them.

D．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.

3. Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ______.

A．give orders to the other

B．know more than the other

C．gain respect from the other

D．get the other to behave properly

4. What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．Solutions for the parent-teen problems.

B．Examples of the parent-teen war.

C．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts.

D．Future of the parent-teen relationship.

2 . The Best Holiday

I was unbelievably proud of my nine-year-old daughter, Emily. _____ to buy a mountain bike, she’d been saving her pocket money all year, as well as doing small jobs to _____ extra money.

By Thanksgiving, she had collected only $ 49. I said, “You can pick one from my bicycle____.” “Thanks, Daddy. But your bikes are so ______ .” She was right. All my bikes for girls were 1950s models, not the kind a kid today would ____ choose.

As Christmas____ near, Emily and I went bike shopping. As we left one store, she ____a Salvation Army volunteer standing next to a big pot. “Can we give something, Daddy?” she asked. “Sorry, Em, I’m out of _____ .”

Throughout December, Emily ______ to work hard. Then one day, she made a surprising   ________. “You know all the money I’ve been saving?” she said, a little hesitantly. “I’m going to give it all to the poor people.” So one cold morning before Christmas, Emily handed her total savings of $69 to a volunteer who was really very thankful.

____by Emily’s selflessness, I decided to   ______ one my old bicycles to a car dealer who was collecting used bikes for poor children. ____ I selected a shiny model from my collection, however, it seemed as if a ______ bike took on a glow(发光). Should I contribute two? No! One would be enough! But I still couldn’t ____the feeling that I should give another bike. When I later_____the bikes, the car dealer said, “You’re making two kids very happy, sir. Here are your tickets. ____ each bicycle we receive from the kind people, we’re giving away one chance to ____ a girls’ mountain bike.”

Why wasn’t I surprised when that second ticket proved to be the winner? I like to think it was a way of ____ a little girl for a sacrifice beyond her years－ while giving her dad a lesson in the ______.

1.

A．Pleased

B．Engaged

C．Determined

D．Used

2.

A．earn

B．lend

C．share

D．spend

3.

A．path

B．collection

C．store

D．club

4.

A．large

B．shiny

C．expensive

D．old

5.

A．seldom

B．likely

C．slightly

D．merely

6.

A．pulled

B．became

C．went

D．drew

7.

A．noticed

B．sensed

C．realized

D．observed

8.

A．sight

B．work

C．change

D．mind

9.

A．continued

B．started

C．stopped

D．hoped

10.

A．lecture

B．announcement

C．resolution

D．difference

11.

A．Demanded

B．Shocked

C．Persuaded

D．Moved

12.

A．sell

B．mend

C．contribute

D．rent

13.

A．As

B．Before

C．Because

D．Though

14.

A．distant

B．new

C．second

D．durable

15.

A．describe

B．shake

C．explain

D．express

16.

A．shared

B．returned

C．chose

D．delivered

17.

A．Except

B．To

C．For

D．About

18.

A．hire

B．replace

C．recommend

D．win

19.

A．rewarding

B．praising

C．sheltering

D．greeting

20.

A．project

B．process

C．struggle

D．attempt