阅读理解

　　Should parents ever hit their children?

　　Research suggests many of us are likely to respond “no”, and public support for spanking(打屁股)has been falling over the years．But surveys also show that 75 percent to nearly 90 percent of parents admit to spanking their child at least once．

　　I was raised in a zero-tolerance home for disrespect, and my parents often turned to physical punishment．And, no, I don' t feel I was damaged by it．

　　Nothing is more annoying than watching ill-mannered behavior from children．

　　But there is data to suggest that a return to old-school spanking isn't the answer．

　　Two years ago, Newsweek reported that it had found data suggesting that teens whose parents used physical punishment were more likely to become aggressive．

　　Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire in America, has studied the topic of children and spanking for decades．He said that children who were physically punished have lower IQs than their peers．It may be that children with lower IQs were more likely to get spanked, but the punishment may have been counterproductive(反作用的)to their mental development, as well．

　　Some researchers make the argument that occasional open-handed smacks(用巴掌打)on the bottom are not only harmless but can have some benefit．

　　Last year, Marjorie Gunnoe, a psychologist at Calvin College, studied teens who have never spanked．There are a greater number of children growing up without ever having been physically punished．Gunnoe's research suggests they don' t turn out any better than those who were sometimes spank．

　　There are some parents who simply cannot control their tempers(脾气)．But I still believe that the best parents are the ones who are able to offer fair and firm discipline without ever turning to physical punishment．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　For readers interested in contributing to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan and the Pacific region on March 11, 2011, here is a list of contact information and links for some agencies that plan to provide relief．

　　Locating Loved Ones

　　If you are looking for information on people in the quake zone, Google has opened a Person Finder page．

　　Ushahidi, a crowd sourcing mapping tool, has set up a local platform for Japan that allows people in the area affected by the earthquake to text the location of people who may be trapped in damaged buildings．

　　Inquiries concerning U．S citizens living or traveling in Japan should be referred to the U．S Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services at 1-888-407-4747 or 202 647-5225．

　　Aid and Charitable Organizations

　　Each of the following groups has set up fundraising sites specifically for the victims of Friday' s earthquake and tsunami．

　　AMERICAN RED CROSS

　　Red Cross officials say donors can text REDCROSS to 90999 and a ＄10 donation will automatically be charged to donor's phone bill, or donations can be made directly on its Web site GLOBALGIVING．ORG．

　　Global Giving is working with International Medical Corps, Save the Children, and other organizations on the ground to disburse funds to organizations providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami．Donors can text JAPAN to 50555 to give ＄ 10, and larger increases can be submitted on Global Giving' s Web site．

　　THE SALVATION ARMY

　　The Salvation Army has been providing food and shelter to Tokyo commuters who were stranded when public transportation was interrupted by the earthquake．They are to send a team to Sendai, a city about 250 miles from Tokyo, to assess the situation there．Text JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to make a ＄ 10 donation．(Make sure to respond “YES” to the Thank You message you receive．)Donations can also be made on the organization' s Web site or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY．

　　SAVE THE CHILDREN

　　To make a donation, visit Save the Children's Web site, call 1-800-728-3843, or text JAPAN to 20222 to donate ＄ 10．

　　SHELTERBOX．ORG

　　Shelterbox．org is a disaster-relief organization that focuses on providing survival materials such as tents and cooking equipment to families displaced by disasters．

　　UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK

　　Information is available on the organization's Web site or by calling(212)836-1486．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Cyber language is popular among Chinese netizens, who create English words to reflect novel phenomenon in society．

　　“Gelivable”, combining pinyin of Chinese characters Geili(giving strength)with the English suffix for adjectives, literally means “giving power” or “cool”．Similarly, “Hengelivable” means "very cool", and “ungelivable” means “dull, not cool at al”．“Antizen” referred to the group of college graduates who, earning a poor salary and living in small rented apartments, are like the tiny and laborious ants．

　　David Tool, a professor with the Beijing International Studies University said it's very interesting to combine Chinese with English to create new words．“English is no longer mysterious to the Chinese people．They can use the language in a flexible way according to their own experiences,” he said．Chinese words and expressions were created, as well, by netizens．One example was “Suan Ni Hen”．This three-character expression, which originally meant “you win” with the first character carrying the same pronunciation as garlic in Chinese, is used to satirize(讽刺)high garlic and food prices this winter．

　　Chinese people use the character “bei” before a verb to show a passive voice, and it is used by netizens to show the helplessness in front of false conclusions and fake media reports．For instance, “zisha” means “suicide” while “beizisha” means “be officially presumed to have committed suicide”, and xiaokang means “fairly comfortable life” while “beixiaokang” means “be said to be living a fairly comfortable life”．

　　Wu Zhongmin, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, saw the phenomenon of word creation as a natural response of young people to social issues．“Cyber language is more vivid and it shortens people's distances,” he said．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Two Chinese farmers who became an overnight hit when their heart-rending version of a famous pop song appeared on the Internet took to the stage in front of thousands of fans in Shanghai last Saturday．

　　Wang Xu, 44，and Liu Gang, 29, sang “In the Spring" alongside the song's star composer Wang Feng, in front of about 80,000 people at the Shanghai Stadium．The audience buzzed with excitement and let out deafening cheers, the moment as they were introduced on the stage and then when Liu started the first sentence of their parts of the song．

　　The two migrant workers became stars after singing the tearjerker(催人泪下的)song during an evening drinking session in a 6-square-meter rented room in a late August evening．A friend recorded the performance on a cell phone and posted it on the Internet．

　　“If someday I am dead, please bury me in the spring," they sing．Wang's penetrating chorus, delivered with his eyes closed, has moved thousands to tears．

　　Wang and Liu consider the song a true portrait of lower-class groups like themselves．"With no credit card, no girlfriend, or a home with hot water, but only a guitar, I am singing happily, on streets, under bridges or in wild country, though nobody pays attention to the music," they sing．

　　To support his wife and two sons, Wang came to Beijing in 2000 from the countryside and has worked as a boiler man, and street peddler, before becoming a medical warehouse keeper, with a monthly pay of around 1,500 yuan．Little is left after he pays 600 yuan for rent and buys food．

　　Liu came to Beijing in 2002．“I wanted to try my luck in the big city, " he said．He had worked as a guard, roadside peddler, and porter, but never had a stable job．Street performing was his main income, even after he married and became a father three years ago．

　　Wang and Liu are still uncertain where their fame will lead．Wang has started learning to use a computer．They even have a microblog(微博)account to communicate with fans．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解：

　　Wugging, or web-use giving, describes the act of giving to charity at no cost to the user．By using Everyclick．com, which is being added to a number of university computers across the UK, students can raise money every time they search, but it won't cost them a penny．

　　Research shows that students are extremely passionate about supporting charity － 88％ of full time students have used the Internet to give to charity．This age group is often the least likely to have their own income．19％ of 22 to 24 year olds have short-term debts of more than ￡5,000．With rising personal debt levels in this age group, due to university tuition fees or personal loans and a lack of long-term savings, traditional methods of donating to charity are often not appealing or possible．

　　Beth Truman, a 21 year old recent university graduate, has used Everyclick．com to donate to her chosen charity, the RSPCA, for two years and has seen the “wugging” grow in popularity with students．“When you're at university you become more socially aware, but it's sometimes hard to give to others when you have little money yourself,” says Beth．“Wugging is great for people in this age group as it allows them to use the technology on a daily basis to give to charity, without costing them a single penny．”

　　Wugging is perfect for people who want to be more socially aware and supportive but don't feel they have the means to do so．Students using the web can raise money for causes they care about without costing them anything in terms of time or money, and charities get a valuable source of funding．

　　Everyclick．com works like any other search engine, allowing users to search for information, news and images but users can decide which of the UK's 170,000 charities they would like to support through their clicks．Everyclick．com then makes monthly payments to every registered charity．Launched in June 2005, Everyclick．com is now the eighth largest search engine and one of the busiest charity websites in the UK．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解：

　　Movies in the theater get their recognition at awards ceremonies, such as the Oscars．But how about movies for phones? They are getting their turn at MoFilm-the first mobile film festival．

　　The first MoFilm competition received 250 entries from more than 100 countries．Entries were restricted to films that were five minutes or less in length-ideal for viewing and sharing on mobile phones．An independent jury then selected a shortlist of five film-makers．The winner was chosen from the shortlist by an audience voting using their phones．

　　New Platforms

　　The awards highlight the increasing impact that mobile phones are making in the entertainment industry．Many grassroots filmmakers start out with short films．They are thwarted by the lack of opportunities to screen their work．Therefore, mobile phones are increasingly being seen as a new platform for these short works．

　　It is a good place for anyone who wants to express themselves and find a way to have that expression be seen by a wide audience．Just think about how many people have mobile phones in the world!

　　New Technology Advances

　　MoFilm is pioneering content for mobile and online services that is a world away from Hollywood．The majority of films made for mobiles are now short in length, taking into account the screen size．However this could be overcome as technology advances．

　　In the near future, longer films will likely be seen on the mobile phone．And there are mobile companies creating phones where users can watch movies at higher quality．

　　Wherever you see movies, one thing is certain：the quality of work, the simple ability at story telling, and the thing that inspires someone to tell a story can really come from anywhere．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解：

　　A scientist turns out to be able to see the future by offering each of four-year-olds a piece of candy and watching how he or she deals with it．Some children reach eagerly for the treat they see．Some last a few minutes before they give in．But others are determined to wait until the last moment．

　　By the time the children reach high school, something remarkable has happened．A survey found that those who as four-year-olds had enough self-control to hold out generally grew up to be more popular, adventurous, confident and dependable．The children who gave in to temptation(诱惑)early were more likely to be lonely, easily frustrated and inflexible(固守己见的)．

　　Actually, the ability to delay reward is a sign of emotional intelligence which doesn't show up on an IQ test．

　　The hardware of the brain and the software of the mind have long been scientists' concerns．But brain theory can't explain what we wonder about most, like the question why some people remain upbeat in the face of troubles that would sink a less resistant soul．

　　Here comes the theory of Daniel Goleman, writer of Emotional Intelligence：when it comes to predicting people's success, brain ability as measured by IQ may actually matter less than the qualities of mind once thought of as “character”．

　　EQ is not the opposite of IQ．What researchers have been trying to understand is how they work together; how one's ability to handle stress, for instance, affects the ability to concentrate and put intelligence to use．Among the ingredients(要素)for success, researchers now generally agree that IQ counts for about 20％; the rest depends on everything from social class to luck．

　　While many researchers in this relatively new field are glad to see emotional issues finally taken seriously, some few fear EQ invites misuse．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解：

　　After battling hard times and danger for over nine months, British teenager Mike Perham made history last month as the youngest person to sail solo around the world．

　　The 17-year-old made the record after he cleared the Panama Canal and then sailed through the Caribbean and got home across the Atlantic．

　　Mike is only three months younger than Zac Sunderland, the 17-year-old American boy who had taken the crown as the youngest solo around-the-world sailor in July．

　　The two youngsters met in Cape Town in South Africa as they crossed the globe in different directions．Mike insisted they were not rivals(竞争对手)．“No．It's two teenagers going out there, living their dream and having the adventure of a lifetime,” he said．

　　Mike may be young, but he is no stranger to sailing adventures．He picked up the hobby at the age of 6 when his father took him out in a small boat on a local lake．Father and son sailed separate boats across the Atlantic when Mike was 14, making him the youngest person to cross that ocean solo．That record gave him the taste for this even greater challenge．

　　On the recent journey, the scariest moment for Mike came when his sailboat was hit by storms in the southern Indian Ocean．

　　“We were picked up by what felt like a 60-foot wave and threw down on our side at 90 degrees,” he said．

　　“It felt like I was going right over．Stuff was flying around and I just thought ‘Oh no'．”

　　At other times, he had to dive into the Pacific and fix problems．He tied himself to the boat, jumped into the water and went to work with a knife in 30-second dives underneath the boat to cut a rope away．

　　Mike said he felt proud that he made his dream come true．“You've got to have confidence in yourself that you will make it,” he said．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)