Droughts (干旱)are common in Kenya . Before ,they came every 10 years ,but now they seem to be hitting us more often and for a longer time .
We gave the droughts names :“longoza”was the drought when many animals died ; there was the drought of the “planes” because food was dropped from the air by planes; and one particularly bad drought was called “ man who dies with his money in his fist (拳头)”，because ,even if there was money , there was simply no food to buy .
I was born in 1951 in Machakos. From what my mother tells me , when I was 7, there was a serious drought . I clearly remember the terrible weather and the hunger. I can’t tell you how many times I went to bed without eating . “ I slept like that ,” is how we described it . I can’t count the number of days when “ I slept like that,” or describe the feeling of going to sleep hungry ,knowing I’d wake up and there would still be no food for breakfast.
My father would leave early in the morning carrying a little basket to ask for food on credit (赊欠). Each night he would return home around 10:00p.m. My mother would try to encourage me by telling me to keep the water in our pot boiling so that when my father arrived we could quickly cook any food he brought in the already prepared water . I would keep the fire burning and the water boiling , along with the hopes that we would eat that night. But my father would arrive frustrated and empty -handed. And I would sleep like that.
【小题1】The best title for the text is ________.

完型填空

　　London-life for Cathy Hagner and her three children is set to permanent (不大可能改变的).

　　Their 1 school day and her job as a lawyer's assistant are busy enough. 2 Hagner also has to take the two boys to soccer or hockey or basketball while dropping off her 3 at piano lessons or Girl Scout Club. 4 , the exhausted (精疲力尽的) family doesn't get home until 7 p.m. There is just time for a quick 5 before homework.

　　In today's world, middle-class American and British parents treat their children 6 they were competitors 7 for some finishing line.

　　Parents take their children from activity to activity to make their future 8 . It seems that raising a genius (英才) has become a more 9 goal than raising a happy and well balanced child.

　　“ 10 across the country are reporting a growing number of children 11 from stomachaches and headaches 12 exhaustion and stress,” says child expert William Doherty of the University of Minnesota.

　　Teachers are 13 exhausted kids in the classroom. It's a very serious problem. Many children attend 14 clubs by necessity. But competitive pressures also 15 an explosion of activities. They 16 sports, language, music and maths classes for children as 17 as four.

　　“There is a new parenting trend(趋势) under way which says you have to tap all your child's potential (潜能) at a young age, 18 you will let them down,” says Terry Apter, a Cambridge-based child and adolescent psychiatrist(青少年精神病专家).

　　“It isn't entirely 19 : there have always been pushy parents. But what was seen as strange behaviour before is now well 20 .”

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阅读理解.

　　Andy is nine now but he's still in Grade One. He likes playing football and does not like to use his head． He does not listen to the teachers in class, so he can't do his homework. His teachers do not like him. They tell his parents about it, but they do not know what to do.

　　It's Sunday today. Andy gets up early in the morning. After breakfast his mother tells him to do his homework. He goes to his bedroom. His mother is busy with housework, the boy goes out with a ball, she doesn't find it. Supper is ready and Andy comes back. His parents are angry, but they say nothing.

　　At nine the boy wants to go to bed, his father stops him and asks, "Do you finish your homework?"

　　"No," answers the boy, "I can't do it."

　　His father is angrier. He is pulling him by the ear and says, "Where is your ear?"

　　"Oh, dear! "Andy calls out, "It's in your hand !"

根据短文内容，选择正确答案.

（1）Andy is still in Grade One because ________.

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A．he is very busy

B．he doesn't study hard

C．he likes playing football

D．he is too young

（2）The teacher do not like Andy because ________.

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A．he often forgets all things

B．he is not a good student

C．he doesn't like them

D．he is often late for class

（3）Andy has lunch ________ today.

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（4）Andy's father is angrier because ________.

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A．the boy does not do his homework

B．he can not find his son today

C．the boy does not do any homework

D．the boy goes out with a ball

（5）________, so his father pulls him by the ear.

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A．Andy wants to go to bed early

B．Andy is nine but still in Grade One

C．Andy does not want to stay at home

D．Andy does not listen to his parents