Most recently, it's very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews. Naturally, it's easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We—as parents—are so eager to shelter our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself constantly that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I'll let them fail．
I'll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.—will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is, my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.
My children now are becoming little masters of compromise, but they try to negotiate everything now. It's a small price to help them learn a skill they'll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don't accompany them on job interviews.
【小题1】Why do parents accompany their kids on job interviews?

C
“The pen is more powerful than the sword.” There have been many writers who used their pens to fight things that were wrong. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them.
She was born in the U.S.A. in 1811.One of her books not only made her famous but has been described as one that excited the world，and was helpful in causing a civil war and freeing the enslaved race. The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861，in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally won.
This book that shook the world was called "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Begun as a serial for the Washington anti-slavery weekly, the National Era, it focused public interest on the problem of slavery, and was deeply controversial(争议的). In writing the book, Stowe drew on her personal experience: she was familiar with slavery, the anti-slavery movement, and the underground railroad, because Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, where Stowe had lived, was a slave state.
There was a time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child has read this novel that did so much to stop slavery. Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting. The book has shown us how a warm-hearted writer can arouse（唤起）people's sympathies（同情）. The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor been a slave. The Southern Americans were very angry at the book, which they said did not at all represent（描述）true state of affairs, but the Northern Americans were wildly excited over it, and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free.
Following publication of the book, she became well- known, speaking against slavery both in America and Europe.
In 1862, when she visited President Lincoln, it was said that he greeted her as “the little lady who made this big war”: the war between the states.
49. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was________when her world famous book was published.
A. about sixty years old                                B. around fifty years old
C. in her forties                                                D. around twenty years old
50. What do we learn about Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe from the text?
A. she had been living in a state where slaves were kept.
B. she herself encouraged the Northern Americans to go to war to set the slaves free.
C. she was better at writing than at swinging a sword.
D. she had once been a slave.
51. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book caused the civil war because________.
A. she wrote so well that Americans loved her very much.
B. she disclosed the terrible wrongs that had been done to the slaves in the Southern States.
C. the Southern Americans hated the book, while the Northern Americans liked it.
D. the book had been read by many Americans.
52. What can we learn from the text?
A. it isn’t necessary to use weapons to fight things that were wrong.
B. A writer is more helpful in a war than a soldier.
C. We must understand the importance of literature and art.
D. No war can be won without such a book as Uncle Tom's Cabin

　A university graduate described as a “respectable and intelligent” woman is seeking professional(专业的) help after being convicted of （证明有……罪）shoplifting for the second time in six months.

Ana Luz, recently studying for her PhD, has been told she could end up behind bars unless she can control the desire to steal from shops .

Luz ,who lives with her partner in Fitzwilliam Road ,Cambridge ,admitted stealing clothes worth ￡9.95 from John Lewis in Oxford Street ,London ,on March 9.

Phillip Lemoyne ,prosecuting（起诉）,said Luz selected some clothes from a display and took them to the ladies’ toilet in the store .When she came out again she was wearing one of the skirts she had selected ,having taken off the anti-theft security alarms（防盗警报装置）.

She was stopped and caught after leaving the store without paying, Mr Lemoyne said.

He added that she was upset on her arrest and apologized for her actions.

Luz,28, was said to have been convicted of shoplifting by Cambridge judges last October ,but Morag Duff, defending ,said she had never been in trouble with the police before that .

“She is ashamed and embarrassed（尴尬） but doesn’t really have any explanation why she did this ,” Miss Duff said . “She didn’t intend to steal when she went into the store .She is at a loss to explain it. She is otherwise a very respectable and intelligent young lady .She went to her doctor and asked for advice because she wants to know if there is anything in particular that caused her to do this.”

Judge David Azan fined Luz ￡ 50,  and warned : “You’ve got a criminal record .If you carry on like this ,you will end up in prison ,which will ruin your bright future you may have.”

Luz achieved a degree in design at university in her native Spain, went on to a famous university in Berlin , Germany for her master’s degree and is now studying for a PhD at Cambridge University ,UK.

1.What does the underlined sentence “She is at a loss to explain it” mean?

2.Which of the following best explains the meaning of the word “shoplifting” used in the passage?

3.From the passage we can learn that           .

4.What would be the best title for the passage ?

Taking exams in a large group setting can be stressful for students and for the staff members who are watching over them. When classrooms are crowded and desks are close together, cheating might be tempting.

? One university in Thailand came up with an anti-cheating hat that makes it almost impossible for students to see other students’ papers. A photo of the students wearing the anti-cheating hats made its way to the Internet, and the university was criticized for making students wear those ridiculous looking homemade hats. The hats were made by stapling two pieces of paper onto a headband, one to each side of the head.

? After being criticized, senior academic staff at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, released a statement saying that the hats idea came from students. They said that in a bid to prevent cheating they asked the students for ideas on how to prevent cheating in the upcoming exam, which was being taken by almost one hundred students. Students came up with different ideas, and then the paper hat idea was selected by them as the most fit. The university claims that no one was forced to use the hat, but they all chose to do so. “When wearing the hat during the exam, students felt more relaxed,” Nattadon Rungruangkitkrai, a lecturer at the university said. “It was not meant to indicate that Kasetsart students often cheat on exams. I apologize if the photo makes other people look at my students in a negative way,” Rungruangkitkrai added.

1.Why was the university criticized on the Internet?

A. Wearing the anti-cheating hat made students look ridiculous.

B. The homemade anti-cheating hat looked too simple.

C. Wearing the anti-cheating hats couldn’t prevent students from cheating in the exam.

D. The university forced students to wear the anti-cheating hat.

2.What’s most of the Kasetsart University students’ attitude towards the cheating hat?

A. Skeptical???????? B. Supportive????? C. Objective?????? D. Negative

3.It can be inferred from the passage that_______

A. it’s useless wearing the anti-cheating hat in the exam.

B. Kasetsart students are often caught cheating in the exam.

C. wearing the anti-cheating hat is effective to some degree.

D. some students are forced to wear the anti-cheating hat.

They can be seen more frequently than ever before on college campuses, wearing thick-rimmed glasses while listening to indie(独立的) music. One might find them playing unusual musical instruments, shopping at second-hand stores or expressing themselves in other unique ways. They call themselves hipsters. Being “hip” used to mean following the latest fashion. But gradually the word has evolved into a synonym for “cool”.
Hipsters value independent thinking, progressive politics, an appreciation of creativity and intelligence. Hipsters take pains and pride in not being mainstream. However, their culture has become quite trendy. This irony is central to their culture and offers an interesting paradox.
“I do take things in the mainstream with a grain of salt,” says Ben Polson, a college student at Brown University in the US. Polson describes himself as a hipster and says he often questions what determines popularity, especially regarding music.When lesser-known bands become popular they often lose their former fan base in exchange for a new one. There is a famous hipster saying that goes: I used to like that band before it got popular.
According to Polson, bands’ music changes when they go mainstream. They become “less experimental, doing things just to save popularity and fans. The original elements that we were drawn to slowly dwindle for the sake of popularity.”
Many young adults have started to view hipsters’ outlook as cool and are adopting their counterculture mindset (心态)themselves. This has led to specialized brands, stores and music for the hipster position. Ironically, some such stores, including clothing labels Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, have gained mainstream popularity. This has seemingly diluted(冲淡) the anti-mainstream culture.
“A lot of people that are self-defined hipsters aren’t really hipsters, they’re just trying to conform to the non-conformist(不墨守成规者) to seem cooler,” says Amanda Leopold, a college student from Oberlin College, US. Although Leopold has many unconventional tastes and seems quite individualist, she refuses to classify herself as a hipster.
There is a conflict among hipsters about the very definition of the label. To some, to be a hipster is to be free from cultural constraints. To others, it means wearing a certain style and listening to a specific style of music. The former constantly strives for uniqueness, while the latter strives not to be mainstream.
And yet, the movement is gaining mainstream popularity. “It’s kind of the trend these days; everyone wants to be hip so no one’s hip,” says Leopold. “There have been hipsters since the seventies. It’s only become popular recently.”
Hipsters reject materialism and laugh at mainstream culture. But are they really beyond material comforts? Do they have any ideas of their own if they despise mainstream so much?
Christy Wampole, an associate professor of literature at Princeton University, US, is not so sure. She says the hipster is a contradiction in himself and an easy target of mockery(嘲弄). Writing in The New York Times, Wampole paints a less appreciative picture of a typical hipster.
“The hipster is a scholar of social forms, a student of cool. He studies continuously, searching for what has yet to be found by the mainstream. He is a walking citation(例证); his clothes refer to much more than themselves. He tries to negotiate the age-old problem of individuality, not with concepts, but with material things.”
【小题1】From the passage we can know that hipsters are ____________________________.