Being a mother is apparently not like it was in the good old days.

　　Today’s parents yearn for the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found. Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to handle work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.

The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did – just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day. And 64 per cent said this was because they felt they ‘had’ to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the ‘perfect mother’, the report found.

Other findings showed social networking and parenting websites, as well as technology such as Skype, were important in providing help and support among female communities. Kate Fox, a member of the Social Issues Research Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: ‘With increasing pressure on mothers to work a “double shift” — to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner — support networks are more important than ever.

It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialised nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a ‘primary activity’. Mothers who stay at home, on the other hand, manage twice as much time – more than two and a half hours – looking after their offspring, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

　　Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their offspring in the hands of nurseries or childminders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.

　　The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them - even if their husband is not in work. A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child - 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work. Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children.

1.What does the underlined phrase “yearn for” probably means ___________.

A. hate            B. forget          C. miss        D. control

2.Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. Today’s mothers have less time left for their children and themselves.

B. The working mothers can hardly strike the balance between work and family.

C. Most of the mothers can not control their husbands nowadays.

D. Modern fathers do not spend enough time with their children.

3.From Para. 4, we can infer that ___________.

   A. Skype is a very famous expert in studying social issues

   B. working mothers can seek help on line

   C. working mothers’ double shift is to be a wife and a mother

   D. Kate Fox has opened a website offering help to working mothers

4. What critics say means that _____________.

   A. it is wise for working mothers to put their kids in nurseries or childminders

   B. children do not like nurseries or childminders at all

   C. nurseries or childminders are dangerous places for children

   D. too much time in nurseries or childminders is bad for kids’ mental and physical health

 

Blogs are being used more and more by teachers. Many Internet services now offer free and easy ways to create personal Web pages.

Through comments on blogs, or Web logs, teachers can share their classroom experiences. They can exchange ideas and discuss successes and failures. They can debate educational policies. Or they can just sympathize with each other.

A teacher in the American state of North Carolina recently wrote on her blog: “Apparently the teachers at my school use too much paper. So my principal yelled at everyone at the last staff meeting for, like, ten minutes. Now, I’ve just been told, we are not getting anymore paper for the rest of the year.”

This unidentified blogger is now in her third year of teaching, but still calls her site firstyearteacher.blogspot.com.

A blogger who calls himself Minister Lawrence works as a substitute teacher. In April he wrote about a disputed plan to split the Omaha, Nebraska, public schools into separate systems for black, Latino and white students. Supporters say minority parents do not have enough power over their children’s education.

But Minister Lawrence wrote at teachersparadise.blogspot.com: “I’m afraid that what this says’ to a lot of people is that blacks, whites and Hispanics are not equal, and “reinforces” racist beliefs among people.”

Educators did not become involved with blogging right away. Many were concerned with privacy issues and security. But now, thousands of teacher blogs can be found on the Internet. Many teachers do not identify themselves, and they change the names of students and co-workers.

What are teachers not doing through blogs?

A. They discuss educational problem.         B. They send money to the poor students.

C. They share teaching ideas.                D. They comfort each other.

What is the main idea for the passage?

A. More and more teachers are using blogs.    B. It is exciting to use blogs.

C. Blogs are popular with students.        D. Educational problems are settled through blogs.

Why some teachers do not identify themselves? Because ___

A. they are forbidden to identify themselves.   

B. they are forbidden to write something through blogs

C. they want to ensure their security

D. they want to amuse others.

Which of the following is the result of the teachers’ using blogs?

A. Paper consuming is declining.           B. Teaching is improving.

C. Classes are more active.                D. Government is against it.

Minister Lawrence’s blogs are about___

A. classroom experiences                 B. teaching plans

C. educational policies                   D. the black minority

Being a mother is apparently not like it was in the good old days.
　　Today’s parents yearn for the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found. Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to handle work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.
The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did – just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day. And 64 per cent said this was because they felt they ‘had’ to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the ‘perfect mother’, the report found.
Other findings showed social networking and parenting websites, as well as technology such as Skype, were important in providing help and support among female communities. Kate Fox, a member of the Social Issues Research Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: ‘With increasing pressure on mothers to work a “double shift” — to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner — support networks are more important than ever.
It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialised nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a ‘primary activity’. Mothers who stay at home, on the other hand, manage twice as much time – more than two and a half hours – looking after their offspring, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
　　Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their offspring in the hands of nurseries or childminders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.
　　The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them - even if their husband is not in work. A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child - 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work. Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children.
【小题1】. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The good old days of mothers in the 1970s and 1980s.

B．The great sufferings of today’s children.

C．The statistics of working mothers and full-time mothers.

D．The big problems that today’s working mothers face.

【小题2】. What does the underlined phrase “yearn for” probably means ___________.

A．hate

B．miss

C．abandon

D．control

【小题3】 Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Today’s mothers have less time left for their children and themselves.

B．The working mothers can hardly strike the balance between work and family.

C．Most of the mothers can not control their husbands nowadays.

D．Modern fathers do not spend enough time with their children.

【小题4】 From para. 4, we can infer that ___________.

A．working mothers can seek help on line

B．Skype is a very famous expert in studying social issues

C．working mothers’ double shift is to be a wife and a mother

D．Kate Fox has opened a website offering help to working mothers

【小题5】. What critics say means that _____________.

A．it is wise for working mothers to put their kids in nurseries or childminders

B．too much time in nurseries or childminders is bad for kids’ mental and physical health

C．nurseries or childminders are dangerous places for children

D．children do not like nurseries or childminders at all

Moral science is taught as a subject in most schools but with little effect. Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that morality is not a science, strictly speaking. It is too much of a social phenomenon, and also has too much of the personal and subjective things mixed within. Besides, morality itself changes with generations, so it is impossible to be printed in a normal textbook.
I remember sitting through forty minutes of moral lessons, which told stories about little children who never told lies and were rewarded for their goodness. It had little effect and left no impression on me, though.
If moral science has to be taught as a subject in schools, it needs a participatory approach. When you tell a child about moral, you also have to deal with social norms( 社会规范) and cultural differences. You have to explain that morality can be subjective, and be able to co-exist in society. You will probably have to refer to the morals at the present time.
The best way to tell a child how to live is to show him what is valued. If a child likes his friend, you have to make the child think about why. Once the child notices and recognizes goodness in others, he or she is likely to develop it as well.
In fact, children learn most of their morals by watching people around them. They absorb behaviour patterns from teachers and older students. They watch to see what is rewarded and who is punished. They learn on the sports field and through social work. Moral science lessons should simply consist of letting them live and interact, and watch you support correct values and reward good behaviour.
【小题1】Which is NOT the reason that moral science is taught in schools with little effect?

A．Morality doesn’t belong to a science

B．Morality is more like a social phenomenon.

C．Different generations have different moral ideas.

D．Morality can’t be written down in textbooks.

【小题2】 The author describes his own experience of learning moral lessons in order to                .

A．explain that telling lies is not moral for little children

B．advise that people should be rewarded for their goodness

C．prove that moral lessons in schools have little effect

D．show that he has no impression of moral science

【小题3】When you tell a child about morals, you should               .

A．teach him to share personal moral ideas with others

B．tell him about social norms and cultural differences

C．explain that nobody can influence his moral ideas

D．say that the morals at the present time will be changed

【小题4】What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The best way of teaching children about morals.

B．The value of teachers setting a good example.

C．The influence of people’s behavior on morals.

D．The importance of rewarding good behavior.

A healthy dose of sunshine may be the secret to staying young, British scientists have disclosed.

Vitamin D is produced naturally by the skin in response to sunlight and may help to slow the ageing process and protect against heart disease, according to the study.

Researchers from King's College London studied 2,160 women aged between 18 and 79, looking at their telomeres - a biological marker of ageing found in DNA．As people get older, their telomeres get shorter and they are easy to have illnesses.

But the study found women with high levels of vitamin D had comparatively longer telomeres - a sign of being biologically younger and healthier.

The study suggests vitamin D may help to slow down the ageing process of DNA, and therefore the ageing process as a whole.

Lead researcher Dr Brent Richards said: "These results are exciting because they prove for the first time that people who have higher levels of vitamin D may age more slowly than people with lower levels of vitamin D．

"This could help to explain how vitamin D has a protective effect on many ageing related diseases, such as heart disease and cancer."

He said further studies are required to confirm the findings.

Professor Tim Spector, head of KCL's twin research unit, and a co-author of the report, added: "Although it might sound absurd(荒谬的), it's possible that the same sunshine which may increase our risk of skin cancer may also have a healthy effect on the general ageing process."

Vitamin D made by the action of sunlight on the skin accounts for 90 per cent of the body's supply, but lower levels can also be obtained through food such as fish, eggs and breakfast cereals.

Other studies have suggested the vitamin plays a key role in protecting against cancer and heart disease.

64．What’s the best title of this passage?

  A．Sunshine 'helps to keep you young'

  B．Vitamin D has a protective effect on many diseases

  C．Telomeres - a biological marker of ageing

  D．People have found the secret to having a long life

65．How can people get vitamin D?

    A．through water            B．through sunshine     

       C．through food                 D．both B and C

66．What does the underlined word in paragraph three refer to?

    A．It refers to a kind of vitamin that can keep you young.

    B．It refers to a biological marker of ageing found in DNA.

    C．It refers to a kind of element that can be obtained from sunshine.

    D．It refers to a part of the body.

67．Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

    A．women with high levels of vitamin D shows a sign of being biologically younger and healthier.

    B．vitamin D has a protective effect on many ageing related diseases.

    C．too much sunshine may increase our risk of skin cancer.

    D．It has been proved that sunshine 'helps to keep you young'.