It's an annual back-to-school routine．One morning you wave goodbye，and that __1__ evening you're burning the late-night oil in sympathy．In the race to improve educational standards, __2__ are throwing the books at kids．__3__ elementary school students are complaining of homework __4__．What's a well-meaning parent to do?

　　As hard as __5_ may be，sit back and chill，experts advise．Though you've got to get them to do it，by __6__ too much，or even examining __7__ too carefully，you may keep them __8_ doing it by themselves．"I wouldn't advise a parent to check every __9__ assignment，"says psychologist John Rosemond，author of Ending the Tough Homework．"There's a __10__ of appreciation for trial and error．Let your children __11__ the grade they deserve."

　　Many experts believe parents should gently look over the work of younger children and ask them to re-think their _12__．But "you don't want them to feel it has to be __13__ ，"one teacher says．That's not to say parents should __14__ homework-first，they should monitor how much homework their kids __15__.Thirty minutes a day in the early elementary years and an hour in __16__ four，five，and six is standard，says Rosemond．For junior-high students it should be _17__ more than an hour and a half，and two for high-school students．If your child __18__ has more homework than this，you may want to check other _19__ and then talk to the teacher about __20__ assignments.

1．A．very                     B．exact 　　          C．right                  D．usual

2．A .officials                 B．parents               C．experts               D．schools

3．A .Also                      B．Even 　　          C．Then                 D．However

4．A .tiredness                B．confusion            C．duty                  D．puzzle

5．A．there                   B．we 　　             C．they                  D．it

6．A．giving                  B．teaching 　　      C．helping              D．doing

7．A．questions              B．answers 　　      C．standards            D．rules

8．A．off                       B．without 　　       C．beyond               D．from

9．A．single                   B．piece 　　          C．page                  D．other

10．A．drop                  B．short 　　          C．cut                    D．lack

11．A．acquire               B．earn 　　           C．gather                D．reach

12．A．exercises            B．shortcomings      C．mistakes             D．tests

13．A．perfect               B．better 　　         C．unusual              D．complete

14．A．forget                 B．refuse 　　         C．miss                  D．ignore

15．A．have                  B．prepare 　　       C．make                  D．perform

16．A．classes               B．groups 　　        C．grades                D．terms

17．A．about                 B．not 　　             C．much                D．few

18．A．previously           B．rarely 　　         C．merely                D．consistently

19．A．children             B．teachers 　　      C．parents              D．schools

20．A．finishing             B．lowering 　　     C．reducing             D．declining

To celebrate the end of our exams, my friends and I went to a fast food restaurant.We__26__hamburgers and Coca Cola at the counter. When our__27__came,I started walking towards an empty table. By bad luck, my purse strap (带子) got__28__on a chair and the tray (托盘) that I was holding slipped__29___my hands and went flying in the air. The tray, and its contents,__30___on a man who was just about to__31___a bite of his sandwich. I stared,greatly___32__,as the drinks soaked (浸湿) his white shirt.
Then I___33__my eyes and prepared myself for his burst of__34__.Instead,he said “It’s OK” to_ 35__me before he disappeared into the washroom.
Still shaky and unsure___36__to do next, my friends and I went to a table and sat there, trying our best to look___37__.A moment later, the man came out of the washroom and___38__our table, my heart almost stopped
___39__.I thought he was going to ask for my father’s_ 40 __and call him.
　　To my surprise, he merely smiled at us, handed us some cash and said,“__41___yourself new hamburgers. ”He then walked_ 42___without even finishing his food.
　　He could have made what was already an uncomfortable situation worse,___43__he chose a different way and gave us a reason to believe that there is still__44___in this world. I will never___45__his actions.

Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day’s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn’t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?

　When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well-equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen….

At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.

Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I’m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.

I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won’t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I’ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don’t live to make memories—I just live, and the memories form themselves.

1. Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of ______.

A. observing her school routine     B. expressing her satisfaction

C. impressing her classmates       D. preserving her history

2.What caused a change in the author’s understanding of keeping a diary?

A. A dull night on the journey.

B. The beauty of the great valley.

C. A striking quotation from a book

 D. Her concerns for future generations.

3.What does the author put in her diary now?

A. Notes and beautiful pictures.

B. Special thoughts and feelings.

C. Detailed accounts of daily activities.

D. Descriptions of unforgettable events.

4.The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is ______.

A. to experience it             B. to live the present in the future

C. to make memories           D. to give accurate representations of it

                                     MEN VS. WOMEN
COMPARING NICKNAMES
　If Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose.
　If Mike, Charlie, Bob and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla (怪兽), Peanut-Head and Scrappy.
EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Charlie, Bob and John will each throw in $20, even though it’s only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back.
　When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
MONEY
　A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.
　A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn’t want.
BATHROOMS
　A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, comb, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn.
　The average number of items in the typical woman’s bathroom is 337... A man would not be able to identify most of these items.
ARGUMENTS
　A woman has the last word in any argument.
　Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
CATS
Women love cats.
　Men say they love cats, but when women aren’t looking, men kick cats.
FUTURE
　A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
　A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
SUCCESS
　A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
　A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
MARRIAGE
　A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t.
　A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change and she does.
DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.
　A man will only dress up for weddings and funerals.
NATURAL
　Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
　Women somehow deteriorate (恶化) during the night.
OFFSPRING
　Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
　A man is vaguely (含糊地) aware of some short people living in the house.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Any married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no sense in two people remembering the same thing.
63. This passage is_________________.
A. a story           B. an advertisement         C. a report          D. a humor
64. The purpose of this passage is________________.
A. to inform the readers of some secrets between men and women
B. to remind the readers of the big differences between men and women
C. to amuse the readers using some interesting examples
D. to show that men perform better than women in our daily life
65. When the girls get their bill, they take out the pocket calculators_________________.
A. to make sure they won’t be cheated by the servant    B. so that they can share the bill equally among them
C. because they want to know what time it is now        D. if they forget to bring their mobile phones
66. What does the underlined sentence mean?
A. A man doesn’t know what to do before he gets married.
B. A man is worried about his future job after he gets married.
C. Anything unexpected will probably happen to a man after he gets married.
D. It’s not easy for a man to find a good job as a woman thinks.