Dear David,

My daughter will be five years old. She is happy, well-mannered, loving and pretty. She has attended a Montessori school since she was 16 months old and has made two friends. The three girls are always together, or talking with each other.

But recently the girls told my daughter that they would not play with her if she kept playing with the boy who was disliked by most of the class. My daughter always finds good things in others and insisted they play with him, too. Then one of the friends told my daughter she didn’t have straight hair and shouldn’t play with them. Then she started ignoring my daughter. My mother-in-law decided to iron my girl’s beautiful curly hair(卷发).

With her birthday coming, my child decided to invite her friends to her party. When I asked her why, she said because they were always together, but I know one of the girls will not attend her party. 

I’m concerned about her. I feel lost, not knowing how to help my child.

Jenny

Dear Jenny,

It’s always painful to a mother when someone hurts her child. Your daughter’s friends weren’t nice to her, but little kids are still learning how to get along with others. As a result, young friendships are often fleeting, even changing from day to day. Your daughter seems to be remarkably loving, outgoing and mature(成熟的) beyond her years. Perhaps you need to be proud of the way she treats people.

Ironing your daughter’s hair won’t send your daughter or the other girls a good message. It implies that there is something wrong with the way she is. You have no choice but to let your daughter know that one of the girls won’t be attending her birthday party. If she seems upset, remind her that other friends will be there. My guess is that she will rise to the occasion.

Hope this helps.

David

1.What’s the mother’s problem?

A．Her daughter doesn’t respect other kids

B．Her daughter seems to be losing her friends

C．Her daughter cares too much about her friends

D．Her daughter doesn’t know how to deal with others

2.When the daughter was asked not to play with that boy, she probably ____.

A．thought her friends were right.

B．felt lucky to have such good friends.

C．thought her friends shouldn’t have said that.

D．realized her friends were not popular with others.

3.David used the underlined word“fleeting”to show that  _____.

A．kids value friendship B．young friendships don’t last long          C．young friendships are very important D．kids are good at dealing with others

4.In David’s opinion, ironing the daughter’s hair _____.

A．is the right thing to do                    B．will make her more popular.

C．will make her doubt the way she is.          D．will help her win back her friends.

 

For years I wanted a flower garden．But then we had Matthew．And Marvin．And the twins, Alisa and Alan．And then Helen．Five children．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．

Money was tight, as well as time．Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I' d have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you now．”

Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own．

One spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen．Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by．I looked out the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches．Then I put my glasses on－and I couldn't believe what I saw．

There was a money tree in my yard!

I went outside to look．It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree．Think of' all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars! There was also a note attached: ‘‘IOU eight hours of digging time．Love, Marvin．"

Marvin kept his promise, too．He dug up a nice ten－by－fifteen foot bed for me And my other children bought me tools, ornaments , a trellis（格架）, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books．

That was three years ago．My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did．I feel like they're right there with me．

I'm still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!

1.Why did the mother say "Money doesn't grow on trees"?       .

A．She wanted them not to spend extra money

B．She was too sad to say anything else

C．She told them a truth on money

D．she just played a joke with them

2.What do we know about the mother according to the text?       ．

A．She is a bad-tempered woman

B．She believes money can grow on a tree now

C．She is a writer

D．She is hard-working in housekeeping

3.What can be inferred from the text?      ．

A．The author raised five children

B．The money tree was a Mother Day's gift

C．It cost Marvin eight hours to dug up the bed

D．Children planted a weeping willow in the yard

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?  ___    ．

A．My Money Tree                        B．The Garden of My Children

C．Mother's Love                          D．Marvin's Promise

 

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背)in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it—there aren’t any whale along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale actually as big as our boat was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡)and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.

1.The author says “I’m so glad I did.”(in Para.2)because_______.

A．he witnessed the whole process of fishing

B．he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

C．he experienced the rescue of the whales

D．he spent the weekend with his family

2.The harbour survived the storm owing to ______.

A．the shape of the harbor                  B．the arms of one bay

C．the still water in the channel               D．the long coast line

3.The mother whale failed to help her baby because _______.

A．she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

B．the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

C．she had no other whales around to turn for help

D．the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

4.What is the theme of the story?

A．Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness.

B．Fishing provides excitement for children.

C．It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals.

D．It’s vital to protect the environment.

 

If you want to teach your children how to say sorry, you must be good at saying it yourself, especially to your own children. But how you say it can be quite tricky.

   If you say to your children “I’m sorry I got angry with you, but…”, what follows that “but” can make the apology ineffective: “I had a bad day” or “You noise was giving me a headache” leaves the child who has been injured feeling that he should be apologizing for this bad behavior.

   Another method by which people appear to apologize without actually doing so is to say “I’m sorry you’re upset”; this suggests that you are somehow at fault for allowing yourself to get upset by what the other person has done.

   These pseudo(虚假的) apologies are used by people who believe saying sorry shows weakness. Parents who wish to teach their children to apologize should see it as a sign of strength, and therefore not turn to these pseudo apologies.

   But even when presented with examples of true regret, children still need help to become aware of how difficult it is to say sorry. A three-year-old child might need help in understanding that other children feel pain just as he does, and that hitting a playmate over the head with a heavy toy requires an apology. A six-year-old child might need reminding that spoiling other children’s expectations can require an apology. A 12-year-old child might need to be shown that taking away the biscuit tin without asking permission is acceptable, but that borrowing a parent’s clothes without permission is not.

1.If a mother adds “but” to an apology, ________.

       A. the child may find the apology easier to accept       

       B. the child may feel that he should apologize to his mother 

       C. she does not realize that the child has been hurt       

       D. she doesn’t feel that she should have apologized

2. According to the author, saying “I’m sorry you’re upset.” most probably means “_____”

       A. You have good reason to get upset  B. I apologize for hurting your feelings 

       C. I’m wrong for making you upset     D. I know you’re upset, but I’m not to blame

3. We learn from the last paragraph that in teaching children to say sorry ____.

       A. their ages should be taken into consideration   

       B. parents should be patient and tolerant(宽容的)

       C. parents need to set them a good example      

       D. the difficulties involved should be taken no notice of

4. It can be inferred from the text that apologizing properly is ________.

       A. not necessary among family members     B. a sign of social progress 

       C. not as simple as it seems                      D. a matter calling for immediate attention

 

Dear Abby,

This is my first letter to you, although I have been reading your column for many years. I need an outside opinion.

I am a grandmother in my 70s and have just returned from visiting my daughter, her husband and their three dearly loved children--all under the age of 5--and I'm upset with some of their parenting ways.

For example: They lock the doors to their children's bedrooms at night because the children might get out of their beds and wander around the house, and we may not hear them."

 If one child should get punishment, all three are punished, and if one child says a naughty

word, all three are given hot sauce (辣酱汁) in the mouth. I know these parents love their children very much, but are these ways of disciplining them wise? Please understand, it is not my aim to interfere (干涉).

--- Gram

Dear Gram,

Children's bedroom doors should not be locked. Should a flash fire break out, it would be a nightmare (噩梦).Punishing all the children when only one has earned the punishment is a good way to make them grow up to hate each other. Children who use "naughty" words should not be punished with hot sauce in the mouth-they should be taught the proper and acceptable word to use instead of the "naughty" word. 

                                                                                                               

Gram's daughter _____________.

A. is very strict with her children            B. does not love her three children

C. always punishes her children at night      D. often gives her children hot sauce

Gram writes the letter in order to ____________.

A. disclose her daughter's ways as a mother     

B. criticize her daughter's ways as a mother

C. express her anger about her daughter s ways as a mom

D. get others' opinion about her daughter's ways as a mom

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Gram seems to care for her grand children very much.

B. Gram is against some of her daughter's ways as a mom.

C. Abby is for only one of Gram's daughter's ways as a mom.

D. Abby agrees with Gram about her daughter's ways as a mom.