1 . What Does Food Mean to you?

My whole relationship with food has become consumed by the after-effects of my illness and dealing with them. As a result, I’ve forgotten that there’s more to food than this. And I don’t think I’m the only one.     1     While it is fantastic that there are so many inspiring books that encourage healthy eating this simply can’t be the extent of our relationship with food. What about our experiences with food? Putting aside the other stuff, what does food mean to you?

When I think about my experience with food, my thoughts immediately go to my family. For me, food is family. Every evening, my dad would make it home by 6pm so that we could all sit down and have dinner together. We would share the highs and lows of our days and on a Sunday we would chat about our plans for the week. We never ate dinner in front of the television and very rarely was it ever just my brother and me.     2     Now, despite the fact my brother and I have long since left home, whenever we return, it’s always about the food. Our parents plan the meals, sharing new recipes and dishing out family favourites, so that ultimately the food enhances our trip and creates new memories. Food truly is family.

    3    . Children who eat regularly with their families are at a lower risk of developing poor eating habits, weight problems or substance addictions. It also gives families a chance to reflect on their days together and forges stronger bonds between parents and children.

Everyone has a different attitude to food, and it will mean different things to different people. For me, though, good quality, healthy food is important, but without the socio-familial aspect, there is something sorely lacking from my relationship with food.     4    . So while I will continue watching what I eat (because I have to), I’ll remember this is not food’s main attraction, but only a part of what food really means to me.

A．Studies have shown the importance of eating together.

B．This is certainly not true for me, and the relationships that were built over the kitchen table with my family are very important to me.

C．The social importance of food, and eating together, should not be downplayed or replaced by a focus on purely what we are eating.

D．Many recipe books on sale have got caught up in an obsession with ‘clean eating’, dieting, watching what we eat and generally eating healthily.

E．It’s common knowledge that you are what you eat and this reflected in the ideas behind eating healthy, clean and unprocessed food.

F．Food and meal times were, and still are, the glue that brought us together and keeps us together.

2 . Researchers came to the conclusion that having two daughters is the key to a happy and harmonious family life after examining the lives of families with different combinations of children, both male and female.

The results show of all the variations, two girls make for the most harmonious family life as they are unlikely to fight, will play nicely and are generally a _______ to be around.

It also emerged that two girls rarely _______ their parents, make limited noise, often trust in their parents and are unlikely to wind each other up or_______ each other.

_______, doubling the number of daughters is likely to lead to a whole world of pain, the report found. Mums and dads with four girls _______ out to be the least happy with family life overall. Parents of four girls also admitted to having to _______ an average of four fights or arguments a day, the study of 2,116 families_______.

The study looked into families with twelve different combinations of children, _______ only children but including everything from a brother and sister to four of the same _______.

Mums and dads were asked to rank their children’s behavior. Two girls ________ highly in every category. They were “easy to reason with”, “helped around the house” and ________ “liked each other”.

In fact, mums and dads with four children of any gender found it harder, the results showed. ________, sixty-two per cent of parents with this combination would have exactly the same number of children if they had their time again.

“Every child is a blessing and there are lots of things parents can do to ________ family life is as harmonious as possible.”

“Making sure quality time is spent with all children, ________ them how lucky they are to have siblings and creating family ________such as eating and playing together can all help everyone to get the most out of family life together.”

1.

A．contribution

B．burden

C．pleasure

D．coincidence

2.

A．delight

B．annoy

C．consider

D．respect

3.

A．forgive

B．benefit

C．ignore

D．comfort

4.

A．By contrast

B．As a result

C．In addition

D．To some extent

5.

A．figure

B．carry

C．burst

D．turn

6.

A．adjust to

B．cope with

C．lead to

D．negotiate with

7.

A．predicted

B．surveyed

C．revealed

D．conducted

8.

A．enclosing

B．concluding

C．exposing

D．excluding

9.

A．sex

B．age

C．hobby

D．background

10.

A．spoke

B．appreciated

C．educated

D．scored

11.

A．definitely

B．generally

C．narrowly

D．exactly

12.

A．Therefore

B．Besides

C．Moreover

D．However

13.

A．secure

B．promise

C．ensure

D．influence

14.

A．reminding

B．remembering

C．recalling

D．reforming

15.

A．rituals

B．power

C．alternative

D．events

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than our need.

A. flexible B. function C. self-image D. fairly E. initiative   F. valued G. capable H. pattern   I.short-lived J. accomplished   K. remarkably

Family problems come in all shapes and sizes; some are     1     and easily managed, while others are more chronic and difficult to handle. Stress points include events such as illness and injury, changing jobs, changing schools, moving and financial difficulties. Each family develops its own ways of coping with these stresses, some of which work better than others. Unsuccessful coping can be recognized by a number of characteristics, including the following:

This usually occurs because family members avoid discussing problems or even avoid admitting that problems exist. Some families just have not learned the skills of negotiating or, for some other reason, cannot let go of bad or hurt feelings. Children are likely to     2     their behaviour after their parents’ behaviour and may learn to refuse to talk about feelings and problems.

Families often have not decided how family responsibilities will be divided among family members. When that happens, family life can become chaotic, and many things do not get     3    . At the other extreme, some families are not     4     at all, and family members do not help one another out or     5     reassign responsibilities as family circumstances change.

Families are, especially for children, the most important source of emotional support. During the middle years, children find it hard to obtain this emotional support outside the family. Children do not perform or develop well without this support.

Families     6     best when the individuality of each family member is acknowledged and appreciated. At the least, even if someone else’s personal traits or characteristics are not highly     7    , each family member needs to tolerate these traits and respect that individual. Otherwise children are likely to have a difficult time developing a healthy     8    , and they will have low self-esteem(自尊) and poor social skills.

Children need to succeed in order to feel     9     of successfully managing life’s stresses and challenges. If they are taught or encouraged to rely on others (within the family or outside it) to solve their problems, they will have low self-esteem and lack     10     and will have trouble succeeding in the world.