It is Saturday afternoon. You and your friends are planning to go to the movies and then spend the night together. Just as you start to get ready, your dad reminds you it is your aunt's birthday and the whole family is going out to dinner to celebrate. How can this possibly end without a huge argument?
One of the greatest sources of tension(紧张情绪)between teenagers and their families is the struggle to balance personal desires with family expectations. As you are getting older, you are becoming more independent and more interested in being with your friends.
However, at the same time，your family is trying to figure out how to deal with these changes. While you once spent most of your free time with your family, you are now often absent from home. Parents may get their feelings hurt. Or they might feel that they are losing control of their family during this period. You might feel angry that so many family demands are placed on you.
There are a few things you can try to make it a little easier to ease(缓解)the tension.
* Make your plans in advance．Ask your parents if there is anything else planned at that time.
* When something with your friends interferes(干扰；冲突)with a family event, try to figure out if there is any way you can do both.
* Suggest something you would really like to do with your family. Sometimes parents feel better just knowing their teenager wants to spend time with them.
Some of the time you won’t be happy with the outcome(结果). You might either have to disappoint your parents or have to miss out being with your friends. However, if you show consideration(体谅)for the feelings of both your family and your friends, you can solve the problem in a tender way.
【小题1】The purpose of the first paragraph is to _________.

A．show a disagreement of views

B．serve as a description of teenager trouble

C．serve as an introduction to the discussion

D．show the popularity of teenager problem

【小题2】The tension between teenagers and their families is caused by the fact that____________.

A．teenagers don’t like to take family demands

B．parents want to keep their family under control

C．parents feel unhappy that their children make so many friends

D．both parents and teenagers don’t pay attention to each other’s feeling much

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT the advice given in the passage?

A．Don’t feel angry if your parents ask you to do something．

B．Try to think of ways to balance family event with friend event．

C．Tell your parents before you decide to spend time with your friends．

D．Advise your parents to do something that you are interested in with you．

【小题4】What’s the purpose of the passage?

A．To inform us of parent and teenager tension．

B．To tell us about a common teenager problem．

C．To persuade parents to show consideration for teenagers．

D．To advise teenagers how to deal with their tension with their family．

Things of Value

Our area was just a few miles from the largest wildfire in Colorado’s history. We were on “evacuation alert (疏散警报)”. If we got the   1  to evacuate, we would have to leave immediately.

We   2  suitcases with some clothes and set them by the door. We didn’t  3 these things were valuable, but time was. We moved the computers, with which I wrote for newspapers and made a   4 . We took family pictures off the   5  and packed them in boxes. These were truly valuable and could not be replaced.

Then we took a hard look at all that   6 . There was a lamp that belonged to my great grandmother. It was a   7  to my family. And there was the piano my wife   8  to play when she was a little girl. Not of great   9  in itself, but another family connection. It was impractical to move everything from our home and store them for an indefinite (无限的) time. Some important items would have to stay behind.

The thought of   10  something passed down from our families saddened me deeply,   11  I’d never been much attached to things. It’s about what they   12  —family and love. They each had a(n)   13  to tell, and some of them spoke in the   14  of our parents and grandparents.

The fire   15  reached our home. We were lucky. And though I felt grateful that all was   16 , I also realized just how fortunate I had been   17 . I saw just how rich my life had been.

Someone  18 said, “There are people so poor that the only thing they have is money.” And now I  19  I was indeed rich. I was rich in family, rich in memories, rich in everything that really  20 to me. I am wealthier than I ever believed possible.

It took a fire to teach me, I wonder if there is any other kind of wealth worth seeking.

1.                A．answer         B．task            C．chance   D．call

 

2.                A．packed         B．bought         C．searched D．sold

 

3.                A．worry          B．think           C．care D．doubt

 

4.                A．mark           B．sign            C．living D．plan

 

5.                A．albums         B．ceilings         C．windows  D．walls

 

6.                A．left            B．remained       C．burnt D．unmoved

 

7.                A．connection      B．present         C．symbol   D．treasure

 

8.                A．forgot          B．agreed         C．learned   D．refused

 

9.                A．quality         B．taste           C．sense    D．value

 

10.               A．knocking out     B．leaving behind   C．giving away D．picking out

 

11.               A．even though     B．unless          C．but   D．or

 

12.               A．contained       B．included        C．represented    D．gathered

 

13.               A．idea           B．lie             C．right  D．story

 

14.               A．sounds         B．speeds         C．voices D．feelings

 

15.               A．once          B．never          C．seldom    D．finally

 

16.               A．spared         B．returned       C．stopped   D．found

 

17.               A．at last          B．in return        C．in another way  D．at most

 

18.               A．curiously       B．accidentally     C．coldly D．wisely

 

19.               A．knew          B．promised       C．announced D．thanked

 

20.               A．affects         B．matters         C．helps D．desires

 

 

  Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers，good cooks，do not suddenly appear full-blown. Quite the contrary, just as the cook has to undergo an intensive and hard-working training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose－schoolwork, matters of business,or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort，the more effective the writing and the more rewarding.

    There are still some remote places in the world where you might find a public scribe(抄写员) to do his / her business or social writing for a fee. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letter writing with no more than a quick note . But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.

We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to paper. It would be difficult to count the number of such words，messages，letters，and reports put into the mails or delivered by hand，but the daily figure must be enormous. What is more，everyone who writes expects，or at least hopes, that his writing will be read.  We want to arouse and hold the interest of the readers. We want whatever we write to be read， from first word to last, not just thrown into some "letters－to－be－read" file （档案）or into a wastepaper basket. This is the reason we make our efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.

71. What is good writing compared to in this passage and why? ( No more than 10 words.)

_________________________________________________________.

72. Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word “painstaking”.

_________________________________________________________.

73. According to the passage, why don’t some managers have to do any letter writing? ( No more than 15 words.)

__________________________________________________________.

74. According to the author, if your letter is thrown into some “ letter-to-be-read” file, what will be likely to happen?   (No more than 6 words.)

__________________________________________________________.

75. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?  (No more than 15 words.)

_________________________________________________________.

 -–Do you think he will make a good teacher?

--Yes, I believe he is ________ any good teacher.

A．as patient and devoted a man as

B．so patient and devoted a man as

C．a man as patient and devoted

D．such a patient and devoted man

 

     When I was an official of a school in Paio Alto，California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board，wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times．Polly’s son，Jim，had great difficulty in school, He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers．But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room．His parents knew his difficulties，but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride．Shortly after Jim finished high school，he was killed in a motorcycle accldent, After his death，his mother gave this letter to the newspaper．

“Today we buried our 20-year-old son．He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night．How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time．If I had only known that，I would have said to him，‘Jim，I love you and I’m always so proud of yon．’I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him．I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile，his laughter, and his genuine love to other people．

“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud，the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed，etc．，I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much．

      “I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but，other parents, do have a chance．Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation．The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died．He called me to say,‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you．You have to go to work now．Bye．’That day, he gave me something to treasure forever．”

      If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people，especially family members，that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care．You may never have another chance．Do it today! 

Who was Jim?

      A．A school boy．                                      

B．The writer

      C．The president of a school board．                      

D．An official of a school．

What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase“the educationally handicapped”?

      A．The communication difficulty．              

B．The physical problems．

      C．The psychological problems．                        

D．The learning difficulty．

According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE?

      A．He was always sad about his school marks．

      B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks．

      C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers．

      D．He was kilied in a car accident

What did PoIly think of Jim?

      A．He was a lovely boy with a beautiful smile who always loved others．

      B．He was physically sick but always happy

      C．He was an irritating boy with some bad habits．

      D．He seldom expressed his love to his parents．

The purpose of Polly’s letter is to     ．

      A．memorize her son

      B．teach parents to appreciate their chtidren

      C．teach children how to be good boys

      D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems