Children find meanings in their old family tales．

When Stephen Guyer’s three children were growing up, he told them stories about how his grandfather, a banker,   1  all in the 1930s, but did not lose sight of what he valued most. In one of the darkest times   2  his strong-minded grandfather was nearly  3  , he loaded his family into the car and   4   them to see family members in Canada with a   5  , “there are more important things in life than money”.

The   6  took on a new meaning recently when Mr. Guyer downsized to  7   house from a more expensive and comfortable one. He was  8     that his children, a daughter, 15, and twins, 22, would be upset．To his surprise, they weren’t.  9     , their reaction echoed (共鸣) their great-grandfather’s．What they 10   was how warm the people were in the house and how  11    of their heart was accessible.

Many parents are finding that family stories have surprising power to help children

  12   hard times. Storytelling experts say the phenomenon reflects a growing   13    in telling tales, evidenced by a rise in storytelling events and festivals.

A university   14   of 65 families with children aged from 14 to 16 found kids’ ability to 15  parents’ stories was linked to a lower rate of anger and anxiety.

The  16  is telling the stories in a way children can 17   . We’re not talking here about the kind of story that  18  , “ When I was a kid, I walked to school every day uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow.” Instead, we should choose a story suited to the child’s 19 , and make eye contact (接触) to create “a personal experience”. We don’t have to tell children 20   they should take from the story and what the moral is.

1.                A．missed         B．lost            C．forgot    D．ignored

 

2.                A．when          B．while           C．how D．why

 

3.                A．friendless       B．worthless       C．penniless D．homeless

 

4.                A．fetched        B．allowed         C．expected D．took

 

5.                A．hope          B．promise        C．suggestion D．belief

 

6.                A．tale            B．agreement      C．arrangement   D．report

 

7.                A．large           B．small           C．new D．grand

 

8.                A．surprised       B．annoyed        C．disappointed   D．worried

 

9.                A．Therefore       B．Besides         C．Instead   D．Otherwise

 

10.               A．talked about     B．cared about     C．wrote about    D．heard about

 

11.               A．much          B．many          C．little D．few

 

12.               A．beyond        B．over           C．behind    D．through

 

13.               A．argument       B．skill            C．interest   D．anxiety

 

14.               A．study          B．design         C．committee D．staff

 

15.               A．provide        B．retell          C．support   D．refuse

 

16.               A．trouble         B．gift            C．fact  D．trick

 

17.               A．perform        B．write           C．bear  D．question

 

18.               A．means         B．ends           C．begins D．proves

 

19.               A．needs          B．activities        C．judgments D．habits

 

20.               A．that           B．what           C．which D．whom

 

 

Sometimes children do not do what their parents tell them to do. When this happens, a parent tries to help the child to do the right thing. When this does not work, the parent usually punishes the child.

There are many things that a parent can do. One thing that people have done is to spank the child. When a parent spanks a child, they will use their hand or a hard object to strike them on their bottom. This is meant to show the child that they have done something wrong.

One parent remembers being spanked when he was a child. His parents used a wooden spoon. When he spanked his own children with his hand, he saw that he put a red mark on his child’s leg. He never did that again.

One problem with spanking is that it teaches the child to hit someone when they do not like what the other person is doing. Another problem with spanking is that the parent is usually angry and can hit the child too hard. Sometimes parents will use spanking for everything and not try other ways to get the child to do the right thing.

Many parents are not sure of what to do instead of spanking. Some people think that their religion（宗教）tells them that spanking is okay. Some think that the law lets them do it. The courts (法院) say that parents have the right to teach their children how to behave.

Other things should be tried before a parent decides to spank a child. Telling the child exactly what is wanted from them can be one thing. Giving a child more than one choice is another thing that can be tried. Getting down to the child’s level and taking a more child-friendly approach (方法) can help as well.

1.          According to the passage, when children do something wrong, one thing that parents usually do to punish them is to _______.

A．strike them on the bottom

B．try to help them do the right thing

C．teach them what to do

D．take them to court

2.          What does the word “spank” mean?

A．打屁股

B．下跪

C．罚站

D．打手心

3.          Which of the following is NOT the problem caused by spanking?

A．It teaches the child to hit others when they offend (冒犯) him or her.

B．The parent may get angry and hit the child too hard.

C．Sometimes parents may use spanking for everything.

D．It makes parents try other ways to make the child do right.

4.          Which of the following can best describe the writer’s attitude towards spanking?

A．favorable (赞同的)	B．indifferent (不关心)
C．interested	D．unfavorable

5.          From this passage, we can conclude (作出结论) that ________.

A．good children always do the right thing

B．parents should try their best to avoid (避免) spanking their children

C．parents have no choice but to spank their children when they do something wrong

D．children can have more than one choice to avoid being spanked

 

The young boy and his father sat quietly watching the snow fall on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

“Dad, my friend told me that every snowflake is      . But they look all the same to me. How can we tell?” the child asked.

Dad felt it was his     to give a more satisfying answer. “Son, snowflakes are like people. We are each      in a very special way. We can test it right now,” he said.

The child stood up, put out his hands, and     as snowflakes landed on his gloves. “These snowflakes are all different on my gloves, but those in the yard look the same. Together they are even more_    and striking. Then if people are like snowflakes, why don't they       well?”

“Choice,”Dad said. "Their choices     them what they are.”

“     choice is a bad thing?” the boy asked.

“Oh, no. Only when we choose the     things.”

“How do we tell right from wrong?" the child asked.

Dad was given the chance to build upon the foundation of his son's     . He reached down and began to     with the snow. He     the snow into two sides, three large snowballs on one side and several smaller ones on the other.

“Which side did the right thing?” he asked the boy.

The child looked at both sides but      answer. Then Dad placed the three larger snowballs on top of each other.

“It’ s a snowman! The side     made me snowman!” the boy replied with    

Yes, all these people came together and recognized how special each of them was, so they joined in a(n)      to build up mankind,” Dad said.                    

The child then stood up and     an arm full of the smaller snowballs. One by one he began to throw them at the other small piles of snow. He said,”This is what happens when people can't work together. They have a(n)     .”

Dad was shocked. He stood up, lifted the boy and     him tightly, whispering to him, “I hope that your world will learn to work and live together. I hope you will make the right      

and learn to build the best snowman ever.”

1.A. different             B. similar                               C. freezing                            D. special

2.A. challenge            B. responsibility                  C. trouble                             D. position

3.A. private                          B. associated                        C. unique                              D. isolated

4.A. inspected            B. watched                           C. glanced                            D. glared

5.A. beautiful             B. effective                          C. comfortable                    D. significant

6.A. cheer up             B. take care                          C. get along                          D. break up

7.A. remain                          B. appear                              C. become                            D. make

8.A. Though                B. However                          C. So                             D. While

9.A. exact                    B.  Wrong                           C. fortunate                         D. coincident

10.A. interest                      B. concern                           C. worry                                D. faith

11.A. communicate   B. mix                                    C. work                                 D. relate

12.A. separated                  B. divided                    C. distinguished                   D. parted

13.A. couldn' t           B. shouldn' t                         C. wouldn' t                          D. needn' t

14.A. that                    B. what                                  C. how                                   D. when

15.A. disappointment        B. frustration                       C. enthusiasm                      D. humour

16.A. power                         B. effort                                C. organization           D. attempt

17.A. gathered           B. sorted                               C. threw                                D. formed

18.A.agreement        B. debate                              C. war                                    D. negotiation

19.A. trembled          B. swung                               C. pulled                               D. held

20.A. steps                           B. turns                                 C. choices                   D. points

 

Even before my father left us, my mother had to go back to work to support our family. Once I came out of the kitchen, complaining, “Mom, I can’t peel(剥……的皮) potatoes. I have only one hand.”

Mom never looked up from sewing. “You get yourself into that kitchen and peel those potatoes,” she told me. “And don’t ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”

In the second grade, our teacher lined up my class on the playground and had each of us race across the monkey bars, swinging from one high steel rod to the next. When it was my turn, I shook my head. Some kids behind me laughed, and I went home crying.

That night I told Mom about it. She hugged me, and I saw her “we’ll see about that” look. The next afternoon, she took me back to school. At the deserted playground, Mom looked carefully at the bars.

“Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She stood by as I struggled to lift myself with my right hand until I could hook the bar with my other elbow(肘). Day after day we practiced, and she praised me for every rung I reached. I’ll never forget the next time, crossing the rungs, I looked down at the kids who were standing with their mouths open.

One night, after a dance at my new junior high, I lay in bed sobbing. I could hear Mom come into my room. “Mom,” I said, weeping, “none of the boys would dance with me.”

For a long time, I didn’t hear anything. Then she said, “Oh, honey, someday you’ll be beating those boys off with a bat.” Her voice was faint. I peeked(窥视) out from my covers to see tears running down her cheeks. Then I knew how much she suffered on my behalf（利益）. She had never let me see her tears.

1. Which of the following expressions can be used most suitably to describe Mom’s attitude when she made the child to peel potatoes?

A．Cruel.                                B．Serious.

C．Cold.                                 D．Strict

2. What does the sentence “I saw her ‘we’ll see about that’ look” imply(暗示)?

A．Mom believed every aim could be achieved if you stuck to it.

B．The race across monkey bars was not difficult enough for a child to give up.

C．Mom was determined to prove she herself was better than the teacher.

D．What the child had said brought Mom great attraction and curiosity.

3. When the child looked down at the kids, they were standing with their mouths open because _________.

A．they felt sorry for what they had done before

B．they were afraid the author might fall off and get hurt

C．they were astonished to find the author’s progress

D．they wanted to see what the author would do on the bars

4.The most probable conclusion we can draw after reading the passage is ______.

A．the last incident was sad enough to make Mom weep

B．the child’s experience reminded Mom of that of her own

C．Mom could solve any problem except the one in the last paragraph

D．in fact Mom suffered more in the process of the child’s growth

 

1 

With the little __________ money, the child told me in a ___________ voice that on the way home most of his money had been stolen.

A. remained; trembled              B. remained; trembling        

C. remaining; trembled                  D. remaining; trembling