Slow parenting means parenting children in the contact of nature without any interference (干预) of materialistic influence. We can also term it as “self-raising”. In slow parenting children are allowed to do what they think proper and parents just keep a watch over the child. Curiosity of the child leads to exploring and discovering things. Parents provide little help only when it’s too necessary, otherwise keep themselves away from the child and just have a look on him/her: This brings about a feeling of self-dependency and they are encouraged to solve their problems.
This is a natural way of learning. When a child is left to learn in a natural environment, the child’s natural development takes place. Influence of any materialistic way doesn’t let the mind develop naturally. Watching TV, playing video games or joining classes of dance, swimming or any other sports will not let the mind develop naturally.
Here creativity of their mind is developed. They explore ideas. The logic behind this is that the kids of animals learn by nature, so can our kids. So let our children play in the garden, to watch flowers, plants, birds, butterflies and other gifts of nature. In the classes of dance, swimming etc. their creativity is influenced and their natural creativity is suppressed (压制). In these classes they are overburdened and can’t train their creativity. So let them play in the open air or garden without any burden instead of joining classes.
Generally parents give toys to their children and explain how to operate them. But those parents who believe in slow parenting give toys and observe how the children are managing them. Their skill to learn and understand comes out. Maybe the process is slow, but it will be their exploration, which will make them self-dependent, and self-capable to learn.

1. 1.

   In slow parenting, parents ______.

   1. A.
      set limits to what their children do
   2. B.
      keep a close watch over their children
   3. C.
      give the whole directions to what their children do
   4. D.
      give their children freedom to do what they think proper
2. 2.

   What is the main advantage of slow parenting according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Arousing children’s curiosity.
   2. B.
      Helping children to be independent.
   3. C.
      Making children interested in exploring nature.
   4. D.
      Keeping children away from materialistic influence.
3. 3.

   We can infer from the third paragraph that______.

   1. A.
      children should join some classes
   2. B.
      slow parenting should be done in a logical way
   3. C.
      exploring nature is a good way of slow parenting
   4. D.
      children can’t learn by nature like the kids of animals
4. 4.

   What is the passage mainly about?

   1. A.
      Slow parenting and its advantages.
   2. B.
      Different parenting styles.
   3. C.
      The requirements of slow parenting.
   4. D.
      The author’s opinion on slow parenting.

New York has taken the title of the world’s top fashion capital from Milan. The annual survey suggest that the top five fashion cities are facing competition from Asia and Australia. New York had been the top fashion city for five years, but Milan took the title in 2009. The survey was made by the Global Language Monitor, a US based organization. It tracks the frequency（频率） of words and phrases in the media, on the Internet and throughout the blog. With the US economy recovering, New York once again took the top title. Hong Kong took second place. It was followed by London, Paris and Los Angeles. The other top 10 cities were Milan, Sydney, Miami, Barcelona and Madrid.

“Because of the new economic situation, the global fashion centers have also changed a lot, ”said Bekka Payack. the Manhattan-based fashion reporter for the Global Language Monitor. “The new list shows that global fashion centers will change now and then. Compared with the traditional fashion cities, some new ones are performing better and better. ”She said that perhaps this is new trend, and it is the first sign that the traditional top five fashion cities——New York, Paris, London, Milan, and Rome——do not control global fashion any more.

The biggest changes in the list are Hong Kong, Madrid and Melbourne. The Group said that the top newcomers to the list include Amsterdam at number 17, Cape Town at 23, Johannesburg at 25 and Vienna at 27.

The following are the 10 top fashion cities of 2010 and the changes from 2009.

1. New York（up 1）    2. Hong Kong（up 5）

3. London（up 2）    4. Paris（down 1）

5. Los Angeles（up 1）   6. Milan（down 5）

7. Sydney（up 2）    8. Miami（up 5）

9. Barcelona（up 5）     10. Madrid（up 11）

1.New York has regained the title of the world’s top fashion capital mainly because __________.

2.Compared with the 2009 list, which of the following has the greatest change?

3.We can infer from the text that __________.

4.The text is probably taken from a __________.

 Next time a customer comes to your office, offer him a cup of coffee. And when you’re doing your holiday shopping online, make sure you’re holding a large glass of iced tea. The physical sensation(感觉) of warmth encourages emotional warmth, while a cold drink in hand prevents you from making unwise decisions—those are the practical lesson being drawn from recent research by psychologist John A. Bargh.
Psychologists have known that one person’s perception(感知) of another’s “warmth” is a powerful determiner in social relationships. Judging someone to be either “warm” or “cold” is a primary consideration, even trumping evidence that a “cold” person may be more capable. Much of this is rooted in very early childhood experiences, Bargh argues, when babies’ conceptual sense of the world around them is shaped by physical sensations, particularly warmth and coldness. Classic studies by Harry Harlow, published in 1958, showed monkeys preferred to stay close to a cloth “mother” rather than one made of wire, even when the wire “mother” carried a food bottle. Harlow’s work and later studies have led psychologists to stress the need for warm physical contact from caregivers to help young children grow into healthy adults with normal social skills.
Feelings of “warmth” and “coldness” in social judgments appear to be universal. Although no worldwide study has been done, Bargh says that describing people as “warm” or “cold” is common to many cultures, and studies have found those perceptions influence judgment in dozens of countries.
To test the relationship between physical and psychological warmth, Bargh conducted an experiment which involved 41 college students. A research assistant who was unaware of the study’s hypotheses(假设), handed the students either a hot cup of coffee, or a cold drink, to hold while the researcher filled out a short information form: The drink was then handed back. After that, the students were asked to rate the personality of “Person A” based on a particular description. Those who had briefly held the warm drink regarded Person A as warmer than those who had held the iced drink.
“We are grounded in our physical experiences even when we think abstractly,” says Bargh.

1. 1.

   According to Paragraph 1, a person’s emotion may be affected by ______.

   1. A.
      the visitors to his office
   2. B.
      the psychology lessons he has
   3. C.
      his physical feeling of coldness
   4. D.
      the things he has bought online
2. 2.

   The author mentions Harlow’s experiment to show that ______.

   1. A.
      adults should develop social skills
   2. B.
      babies need warm physical contact
   3. C.
      caregivers should be healthy adults
   4. D.
      monkeys have social relationships
3. 3.

   In Bargh’s experiment, the students were asked to ______.

   1. A.
      evaluate someone’s personality
   2. B.
      write down their hypotheses
   3. C.
      fill out a personal information form
   4. D.
      hold coffee and cold drink alternatively
4. 4.

   We can infer from the passage that ______.

   1. A.
      abstract thinking does not come from physical experiences
   2. B.
      feelings of warmth and coldness are studied worldwide
   3. C.
      physical temperature affects how we see others
   4. D.
      capable persons are often cold to others
5. 5.

   What would be the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Drinking for Better Social Relationships.
   2. B.
      Experiments of Personality Evaluation.
   3. C.
      Developing Better Drinking Habits.
   4. D.
      Physical Sensations and Emotions.

There are four types of persons who go to work part-time. These include retirees who want a bit more income or socialization, parents who want to spend more time with their children, college and high school students and temporary agency workers who want more experience. Many people enjoy the advantages of working part-time, but benefits are rarely offered to part-time employees.
Most people are hoping for health insurance and retirement benefits when taking a job. Traditionally, companies only offer benefits to employees who work 30 hours or more a week. This is only a 25% reduction in hours, so it doesn’t free up a lot of time for the employee who needs part-time hours. Even when a part-timer is offered health benefits, he is rarely offered paid time off and retirement benefits. Dental benefits are almost never offered to part-time employees.
Many businesses hire part-time employees for the simple reason of saving money. If they work less than a certain number of hours, the employers don’t need to pay for benefits. There are companies, however, that are beginning to offer benefits to part-time employees. This includes benefits for health, paid time off and retirement plans. Some companies have begun to offer this in order to take in high quality, trained professionals who just want part-time hours. If a company wants a qualified employee, it will have to compete with other companies. People who may only want to work part-time may be forced to take a full-time job to get the benefits. Companies who offer benefits to part-timers have an advantage by offering more choices to their employees in terms of hours.
Conducting an Internet search is probably the quickest way to find companies that provide benefits for part-time employees. Many large corporations like Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and Whole Foods offer benefits to part-time employees among other things. Look for companies that offer a team approach to their employees. Employees are given choices and part of decision-making in the business. Businesses that allow employee input are more likely to offer benefits to part-timers.

1. 1.

   People prefer to work part-time mainly because they __________.

   1. A.
      don’t want to spend more time on work
   2. B.
      have so many household and social affairs
   3. C.
      hope to have more money, time and experience
   4. D.
      only expect to make more friends
2. 2.

   From the second paragraph we can learn that part-timers _______.

   1. A.
      can enjoy as many benefits as full-timers
   2. B.
      prefer retirement benefits to health insurance
   3. C.
      often retire without enjoying any benefit
   4. D.
      often enjoy fewer benefits than full-timers
3. 3.

   What’s the advantage of hiring part-time employees?

   1. A.
      They don’t need the insurance.
   2. B.
      They can save employers some money.
   3. C.
      They have no choice but to work hard.
   4. D.
      They can be also changed into full-timers.
4. 4.

   We can infer from the last paragraph that _________.

   1. A.
      it’s easy to find companies providing benefits
   2. B.
      companies not allowing employee input don’t offer any benefit to part-timers
   3. C.
      Starbucks in England doesn’t provide benefits to full-timers
   4. D.
      employees are often forced to choose their jobs

The city can seem a cold, mean place. In the middle of so many people hurrying about their own business, a person can feel alone among the millions of others.

    There is a popular view that in cities, strangers are less likely to help an elderly person cross a street or call the police when they see a bike being stolen. Recently, a New Yorker named Casey Neistat did an experiment. He chained up his bike in several public places, then "stole" it in a number of obvious ways, such as using a hacksaw (钢锯). He filmed everything to see whether other New Yorkers would try to stop a shameless bike theft. The result? People just walked on by.

    Is this evidence of an immoral, selfish urban society? Not necessarily. According to another recent study, the way city people mind their own business is about other factors besides morality (道德).

This is called the Bystander Effect, the theory that city people do not react because of the urban enviromnent they live in.

Psychologist Dr. Harold explained why people did not involve themselves in Neistat's bike theft experiment with the Bystander Effect.

    First, people who live in cities are surrounded by so much activity that they stop noticing what is going on around them. Second, they are less easy to surprise and assume every activity has a logical explanation.

    "The third is that people notice it, but they don't know what to do," he continued. "And the fourth is fear — they know they should do something, but they're afraid to challenge someone with a hacksaw."

A lack of concern is only a small reason why people don't take action, concludes Dr. Harold.

     Despite the results of Neistat's experiment, there is also evidence of a sense of team spirit that connects people in cities. All it takes is a funny joke or a shared interest to start a conversation with someone at a bus stop. When city folk are in trouble, they come together for support — famously in New York on September 11, 2001.

City society is different, but that doesn't mean it's cold or mean — it just means it's busy!

1.Casey Neistat fihned everything in the experiment with the purpose of        .

    A. proving that he was not the thief

    B. telling people that bike theft was immoral

    C. finding out who had a sense of right and wrong

    D. making his experiment well-known to the public

2.We can infer from the third paragraph that morality       .

    A. can partly explain a selfish urban society

    B. is what our society should pay special attention to

    C. is the only factor that leads to a selfish urban society

    D. is the root of the Bystander Effect mentioned in the passage

3.The underlined part September 11, 2001 in Paragraph 9 serves as       .

    A. a reminder of the sad memories

    B. a way to prove Dr Harold's Bystander effect

    C. evidence that city life can be really dangerous

    D. an example to show team spirit connecting city people

4.As can be inferred from the passage, the writer probably       .

    A. criticizes the loss of morality in urban society

    B. feels sad about the result of Neistat's experiment

    C. thinks city people are too busy to care about others

D. disagrees that city life sometimes can be cold and mean