The Best of Friends

The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families.But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents,which is the opposite of the popularly-held image(形象) of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.

An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past.“We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,”said one member of the research team.“They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds:they want a car and material goods,and they worry about whether school is serving them well.There’s more negotiation(商议) and discussion between parents and children,and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process.They don’t want to rock the boat.”

So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends.“My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,”says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall.“I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing.As long as they know what I’m doing,they’re fine with it.”Susan Crome,who is now 21,agrees.“Looking back on the last 10 years,there was a lot of what you could call negotiation.For example,as long as I’d done all my homework,I could go out on a Saturday night.But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”

Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected.It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts.A researcher comments,“Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings.But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled.The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”

1.What is the popular image of teenagers today?

A.They worry about school.

B.They dislike living with their parents.

C.They have to be locked in to avoid troubles.

D.They quarrel a lot with other family members.

2.The study shows that teenagers don’t want to _______.

A.share family responsibility

B.cause trouble in their families

C.go boating with their family

D.make family decisions

3.Compared with parents of 30 years ago,today’s parents _______.

A.go to clubs more often with their children

B.are much stricter with their children

C.care less about their children’s life

D.give their children more freedom

4.According to the author,teenage rebellion _______.

A.may be a false belief

B.is common nowadays

C.existed only in the 1960s

D.resulted from changes in families

5.What is the passage mainly about?

A.Negotiation in family.                        B.Education in family.

C.Harmony in family.                        D.Teenage trouble in family.

 

D

　　Build the highway and watch the town grow.At first a few shops appear and maybe a restaurant.Then a hotel opens. Eventually new house are built. A village is born.

　　This is also how the virtual world has developed. Think of the Internet as the road carrying information between two computers.Think of the World Wide Web as the village. At first it is just a place on the virtual road where travelers meet. More travelers come bringing new kinds of information. New travelers come bringing new kinds of information.New villages are started.

　　Every willage has a founder.Tim Berners-Lee is the man who wrote the software programme that led to the foundation of the Word Wide Web.How did he get the idea? He tells us on his own web site. "One of the things computers were not able to do was store in formation from different sources. The dream behind the Web is of a common space in which we communicate by sharing information."

　　In 1991 his programmmes were placed on to the Internet.Everyone was welcome to use them.

　　Tim Berners-Lee could have followed the Microsoft route by forming a company to sell the programmes he invented. Or he could have joined another company. But in his view the Web is a language,not a pproduct. Charging a gee for using his programmes would have slowed the growth of the Web.And other companies would make similar products to compete. Instead of one World Wide Web there would be several smaller Webs. Each would use incompatible (不相容的) software. They Web is valuable because it uses a common computer language to reach people and share information. Competing webs would lose this value.Imagine if somebody sent you a bill every time you spoke a world of English.

　　In 1994 Tim Berners-Lee formed the World Wide Web Consortium,or W3C.More than 200 leading companies and laboratories are represented by W3C. Together they make sure that everyone, no matter what their equipment or solftware,can work equally on the Web.

　　"The Web can help people to understand the way that others live and love. It helps us understand the humanity of people," he says.

　　68.The writer's purpose in writing the first two paragraphs is to ______.

　　　A.give us some idea of the Internet

　　　B.give us some idea of the Web

　　　C.tell us how the idea of Web started

　　　D.tell us the idea of the Web is wonderful

　　69.Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in order to _____

　　　A.place his programmers on the Internet

　　　B.stop smaller webs appearing

　　　C.help people to form a web site

　　　D.let people share all kinds of information

　　70.According to the text,the disadvantage of competing webs is that they would ______.

　　　A.slow the development of the Web

　　　B.destroy the whole web system

　　　C.lose the value of information

　　　D.waste a lot of money

 

 

Our “Mommy and Me” time began two years ago. My next-door neighbor and fellow mother, Christie, and I were out in our front yards, watching seven children of age 6 and under ride their bikes up and down. “I wish I could take one of my children out alone,” said Christie.

Then we worked out a plan: When Christie takes one of her children out, I’ll watch her other three. And when she watches two of mine, I’ll take someone out.

The children were extremely quick to accept the idea of “Mommy and Me” time. Christie’s daughter, McKenzie, went first. When she returned, the other children showered her with tons of questions. McKenzie was smiling broadly. Christie looked refreshed and happy. “She’s like a different child when there’s no one else around,” Christie shared with me quickly. With her mother all to herself, McKenzie didn’t have to make an effort to gain attention.

Just as Christie had noticed changes in McKenzie, I also discovered something different in each of my children during our alone times. For example, I am always surprised when my daughter, who is seldom close to me, holds my hand frequently. My stuttering（口吃的）son, Tom, doesn’t stutter once during our activities since he doesn’t have to struggle for a chance to speak. And the other son, Sam, who’s always a follower when around other children shines as a leader during our times together.

The “Mommy and Me” time allows us to be simply alone and away with each child ---talking, sharing, and laughing, which has been the biggest gain. Every child deserves（应得到）to be an only child at least once in a while.

1.What is the text mainly about?

   A. The experience of the only child being with mother.

   B. The advantage of spending time with one child at a time.

   C. The happy life of two families.

   D. The basic needs of children.

2.Right after McKenzie came back, the other children were _____________.

   A. happy        B. curious        C. regretful        D. friendly

3.What is one of the changes the author finds in her children?

   A. The daughter acts like a leader.         B. Sam holds her hand more often.

   C. The boys become better followers.      D. Tom has less difficulty in speaking.

4.The author seems to believe that ___________.

   A. having brothers and sisters is fun

   B. it’s tiring to look after three children

   C. every child needs parents’ full attention

   D. parents should watch others’ children   

 

 

A small town in southwest Britain is banning(禁止) plastic bags in an attempt to help the environment and cut waste—a step that environmentalists believe is a first for Europe.

Shopkeepers in Modbury population 1500,agreed to stop handing out disposable plastic bags to customers on Saturday.They said paper sacks and cloth carrier bags would be offered instead.

Last month,San Franciso became the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags.Internationally,laws to discourage the use of plastic bags have been passed in parts of South Africa and Ireland,where governments either tax shoppers who use them or fine companies that hand them out.Bangladesh already bans them,and so do at least 30 remote Alaskan villages.

Modbury,about 225 miles southwest of London,has also declared a bag amnesty(宽限期),allowing local people to hand in plastic bags that have piled up at home.They will be sent for traveling.

The Modbury ban was the idea of Rebecca Hosking,who saw the effect of bags on marine life while working in the Pacific as a wildlife camerawoman.She said response(反应) in the town so far had been “really positive”.

“Modbury is quite an old-fashioned town and a lot of people have wicker baskets to go out shopping anyway,”Hosking told Sky News Television.

The Worldwatch Institute,an environmental research agency,states that 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year in the United States alone.More than 500 billion are used yearly around the world.

1.What was Rebecca Hosking?

A.A lawyer.                             B.An environmentalist.

C.A sailor.                             D.A photographer.

2.The underlined word “disposable” in the passage probably means _______.

A.acceptable                                B.valuable

C.throw-away                                D.long-lasting

3.It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A.most of the people in Modbury continue to use plastic bags

B.fewer and fewer plastic bags will be used in the world

C.San Francisco is the first city to ban plastic bags in the world

D.most countries in the world have passed laws to ban plastic bags

4.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

A.Environmental Protection

B.Big Cities Banning Plastic Bags

C.Effect of Plastic Bags on Sea Animals

D.British Town Banning Plastic Bags

 

The evidence for harmony （ 和谐）may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image(形象) of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.

An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. "We were surprised by just how positive today's young people seem to be about their families," said one member of the research team. "They're expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There's more negotiation(商议) and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don't want to rock the boat."

So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. "My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me," says 17-years-old Daniel Lazall. " I always tell them when I'm going out clubbing. As long as they know what I'm doing, they're fine with it." Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. "Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I'd done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that."

Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, "Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over."

1.According to the author, teenage rebellion ________.

A．resulted from changes in families

B．is common nowadays

C．may be a false belief

D．existed only in the 1960s

2.What is the passage mainly about?

A．Education in family

B．Harmony in family

C．Teenage trouble in family

D．Negotiation in family

3.The study shows that teenagers don't want to ________.

A．go boating with their family

B．share family responsibility

C．make family decisions

D．cause trouble in their families

4.Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today's parents ________.

A．care less about their children's life

B．go to clubs more often with their children

C．give their children more freedom

D．are much stricter with their children