Let’s say you have a piece of wood, a nail, and a hammer. Pretend the wood is a person, and the nail is a mean rumor(谣言) about that person. If you hammer in the nail, you’re obviously hurting him or her. If you then pull out the nail, there’s still a hole in the wood, and the damage has been done.

There are many reasons why that nail of a rumor can be so harmful. Rumors are, quite simply, a form of bullying(欺侮). When a person or a group makes up a rumor about someone or decides to spread gossip, it’s usually to hurt someone, break up a friendship, or make someone less popular. It’s the same thing as teasing, only it’s done behind someone’s back instead of to his or her face.

When you spread a rumor about someone, you’re sending a signal that the person is outside of the group, and somehow less worthy of friendship than others. You’re making fun of that person or pointing out negative things about him or her. This can let others think that it’s okay to make the person feel bad, and make him or her an outsider.

We need to be able to trust our friends, and gossip and rumors can break this trust. If you tell a personal secret to a friend, and he turns around and tells it to someone else, you might feel like you will get burned if you ever get close to him again.

Letting a rumor influence your behavior is like letting someone else make a big decision for you. Let’s say you hear that the teacher plans to call a Snow Day tomorrow because a blizzard (暴风雪) is coming. Expecting a day off, you don’t do your homework. The next morning, the blizzard turns out to be nothing more than a drizzle(毛毛雨), and school isn’t off after all. You get zeroes on your work.

1.To tell a rumor and a tease apart, you depend on ______.

A．whether it is done behind someone

B．whether it is painful or not

C．whether it is a kind of bullying

D．whether it is spread fast.

2.If a rumor is spread about someone, others may_______.

A．point out his or her advantages

B．keep away from him or her

C．not feel he or she is an outsider

D．be hurt if getting close to him or her again.

3.The purpose of this passage is to _______.

A．advise on how to deal with rumors

B．teach us how to judge a rumor

C．find out why rumors spread fast

D．explain why rumors hurt

 

阅读理解

　　Children start out as natural scientists, eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there's no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children's curiosity(好奇).

　　Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about schooling, salary(薪水)and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one an-other in silence. Finally I said, “Now that we're finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?”

　　After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper(蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?”

　　This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

　　Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, adults typically wait only one second or leas for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their“wait time”to three seconds or more, children give more logical(符合逻辑的), complete and creative answers.

　　Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don't jump in with“That's right” or “Very good”. These words work well when it comes to encouraging good deeds. But in talking about science, quick praise can signal that discussion is over. Instead, keep things going by saying, “That's interesting”or“I'd never thought of it that way before”, or coming up with more questions or ideas. Never push a child to“think”. It doesn't make sense, children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What's more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target(目标) for your disagreement.

　　Lastly, show; don't tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lesson children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass(放大镜), and they'll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates(蒸发), set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.

1．According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is ________.

[　　]

A．to let them see the world around

B．to share the children's curiosity

C．to explain difficult phrases about science

D．to supply the children with lab equipment

2．In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the word“lists”could best be replaced by ________.

[　　]

3．According to the passage, children can answer questions in a more logical, complete and creative way if adults ________.

[　　]

A．ask them to answer quickly.

B．wait for one or two seconds after a question.

C．tell them to answer the next day.

D．wait at least for three seconds after a question.

4．In which of the following paragraph(s) does the author tell us what to say to encourage children in a science discussion?

[　　]

5．The author mentions all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children's curiosity except that adults should ________.

[　　]

A．tell their children stories instead of reciting(背诵) facts

B．offer their children chances to see things for themselves

C．be patient enough when their children answer questions

D．encourage their children to ask questions of their own

请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

W:  Please sit down．Let’s see, you’re Mr. Brown, is that right?

M:  Right．I’ll（1）g_____ from college next June．                          1．     

W:  Have you ever done any work in this field?

M:  No, nothing． We only did some practice（2）w____ in class．                  2．     

W: You seem to be（3）d___ well in college. What kind of pay are you hoping to get?

3．     

M:  From what I’ve read, it seems that the pay at the（4）b_____ should be around $12,000 a year．                                                          4．     

W:  Here we would start at $10,500 （5）f_____ the first year — a kind of training period． Then you would go to $15,000． After that（6）y_____ raises depend on how you have worked．                              5．        6．     

M:  That sounds fair enough． What about other things, like vacation?

W:  Those are all﹙7﹚e_____ in this paper． You can take it with you and look at it at home．                                                          7．     

M:  Oh, thanks． Well, do you think I can get the job?

W:  Well, I’m talking to three people today and four（8）t______, and we’ll only be hiring two people．                                                        8．     

M:  I surely﹙9）h_  that I can work here． But I guess I’ll just have to go home and wait.

                                                                                                                       9．     

W:  You’ll hear something back from us next month． Good （10） l______ and thanks for coming today．                                                      10．     

Americans use many expressions with the word “dog”. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for lead a different kind of life. The expression “to lead a dog’s life” describes a person who has an unhappy existence.
Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.
Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.
People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.
Doghouse provide shelter but they can be cold and lonely in the winter. Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse. However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.
Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.
【小题1】The passage tells us something about________.

A．dogs and their life	B．the expressions that describe dogs
C．the meaning of expressions with the word “dog”	D．the structures of dog expressions

【小题2】 By saying _______, we compare people to dogs in bad ways.

A．“meaner than a junkyard dog”	B．“to work like a dog”
C．“teach an old dog new tricks”	D．“as sick as a dog”

【小题3】By saying ________, we mean every person enjoys a successful period in life.

A．“he lives in a dog-eat-dog world”	B．“he leads a dog’s life”
C．“he is in the doghouse”	D．“every dog has its day”

【小题4】 If we advise the others to leave things alone and not create more problems, we say_______.

A．“become sick as a dog”	B．“rain cats and dogs”
C．“let sleeping dogs lie”	D．“stay in the doghouse”

【小题5】 It has been really hot these days, as _______.

A．it rains cats and dogs	B．we are having the dog days of summer
C．we’re leading a dog’s life	D．we’re in the dog’s house