Parents should stop complaining themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted(坚持) that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling（四肢摊开）himself on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was only a quick look at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don't know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn't forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She admitted（承认）that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
小题1:This text is most probably written by ______.

A．a specialist in teenager studies

B．a headmaster of a middle school

C．a parent with teenage children

D．a doctor for mental health problems

小题2:The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.

A．the change from good to bad that’s seen in a child

B．the way that parents often complained about themselves

C．the opinion that a child has of his parents

D．the advice that parents want their children to follow

小题3:The boy on the sofa would most probably be described as ______.

A．clever

B．quiet

C．unusual

D．rude

小题4:From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ______.

A．pay no attention to them

B．are too busy to look after them

C．have come to hate them

D．feel helpless to do much about them

小题5:What is the author' s opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?

A．Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.

B．Parents should pay still more attention to the change.

C．Parents should work more closely with school teachers.

D．Parents cause the change in their children.

Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don’t know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.” He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She confessed(坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
小题1: This text is most probably written by ______.

A．A specialist in teenager studies.

B．a headmaster of a middle school

C．a parent with teenage children

D．a doctor for mental health problems

小题2:The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.

A．the change from good to bad that’s seen in a child

B．the way that parents often blame themselves

C．the opinion that a child has of his parents

D．the advice that parents want their children to follow

小题3:The boy on the sofa would most probably be described as ______.

A．lazy

B．quiet

C．unusual

D．rude

小题4:From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ______.

A．pay no attention to them

B．are too busy to look after them

C．have come to hate them

D．feel helpless to do much about them

小题5:What is the author’s opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?

A．Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.

B．Parents should pay still more attention to the change.

C．Parents should work more closely with school teachers.

D．Parents are a fault for the change in their children.

There are some very good inventions which, for one reason or another, don’t become popular. These inventions should be better known, even though I think that some of them are crazy. Let’s have a look at some of these inventions and see if you agree that they should be more successful.
The Australians had a great idea to stop people from drinking and driving. The idea was that if a driver wanted to start the car, she or he would have to blow into a bag first. If there was too much alcohol(酒精) in their breath, the car wouldn’t start. It sounded like a great idea to me, but people said that they might need to drive the car in an emergency even if they had drunk too much alcohol. Another idea I liked was an invention by a scientist who thought his children watched too much TV. He linked the TV to an exercise bike so that the electricity to power the TV was generated(产出) by the bike. If the children wanted to watch a lot of TV, they had to pedal(踩踏板) very hard. I found another invention on the Internet which was intended (倾向于) to encourage good habits. Believe it or not, this invention was an ashtray(烟灰缸) which spoke to you when you lit a cigarette! The “voice” of the ashtray was activated (启动) by the heat from the cigarette and reminded you how dangerous it is to smoke.
One of the strangest inventions I have come across is a bicycle which can cross rivers! The idea was that when you came to a river, you could inflate a huge plastic ball all around the bike. You would then get into the ball which would float on the river while you pedaled the bike inside the ball! Why not use a bridge instead? A friend of mine at school once bought a strange pair of football shoes. On the bottom of the shoes there was a rotating pad of studs (转动钉垫). The idea was that you would change direction more quickly if the studs rotated with you. The problem was that every time you stopped you changed direction whether you wanted to or not! I think he wore those shoes twice! One thing I would like is a baseball cap with a built-in radio so you can listen to sport all day with your hands free. While we are on the subject of sport, the Americans invented a kind of robot for sports fans. If you were watching your team on TV on your own, you could press a button and the robot would do “high fives” with you! Fantastic! I wonder if you have any good ideas for inventions like these.
小题1:What’s the writer’s attitude towards the inventions mentioned in Paragraph 2?

A．The writer regrets he knew nothing about the inventions.

B．The writer doubts if the inventions will be popular soon.

C．The writer thinks people will benefit from the inventions.

D．The writer finds these inventions are the strangest of all.

小题2:What can we know from the passage?

A．The father used his invention to stop children watching too much TV.

B．It was very bad for the drivers to blow into a bag before their driving.

C．The bike crossing rivers was considered one of the best inventions.

D．The invention of new shoes would make players run much faster.

小题3:The underlined word “inflate” in the third paragraph means __________.

A．check out	B．blow up
C．look into	D．turn over

小题4:What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Popular Inventions Today.

B．Technology and Invention.

C．The History of Invention.

D．Inventions with a Difference.