阅读理解

　　Complaining(抱怨)about faulty goods or bad service is never easy. Most people dislike making a fuss(大惊小怪). But if something you have bought is faulty or does not do what is instructed for it, you are not asking for a favor to get it put right. It is the shopkeeper's responsibility(负责) to take the complaint seriously and to replace or repair a faulty article or put right poor service, because he is the person with whom you have entered into an agreement. The manufacturer may have a part to play but that comes later.

　　Complaints should be made to a responsible person. Go back to the shop where you bought the goods, taking with you any receipt(发票)you may have. Ask to see the buyer in a large store. In a small store the assistant may also be the owner or you can complain directly. In a chain store ask to see the manager. If you telephone, ask the name of the person who handles your enquiry, otherwise you may never find out who dealt with the complaint later.

　　Even the bravest person finds it difficult to stand up in group of people to complain, so if you do not want to do it in person, write a letter. Stick to the facts and keep a copy of what you write. At this stage you should give any receipt numbers, but you should not need to give receipts or other papers to prove you bought the article. If you are not satisfied with the answer you get, or if you do not get a reply, write to the managing director of the firm, shop, or organization. Be sure to keep copies of your own letters and any you receive.

(1)The shopper makes a complaint because ________.

[　　]

A．he dislikes causing a fuss

B．it doesn't do what is instructed for it

C．the article bought is not up to standard

D．he was at fault in buying the article

(2)When complaining in person, you should ________.

[　　]

A．get a receipt for what you buy

B．speak to to a responsible person

C．talk directly to the assistant

D．ask to see the buyer

(3)When complaining on the telephone ________.

[　　]

A．you should speak directly to the owner

B．you must ask for the manager

C．you may never find nut who dealt with the matter

D．you should find out with whom you discuss the matter

(4)If you write a letter to complain ________.

[　　]

A．it is important to keep a record of what you say

B．it is necessary to send receipts

C．say how you feel about the matter

D．ask what receipt numbers you should give

The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children．On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special．

However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington．A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909．Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her．It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices（牺牲） and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man．Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910．

In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day．Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died．

When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card．Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental（伤感的）．Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them．Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child need Dad．

1.．The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______．

A．many people celebrate the day                    B．only America celebrates the day

C．America makes it an official day                     D．all men are honored in America

2.．At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______．

A．Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday

B．Sonora’s birthday was June 19

C．it was decided by the president at that time

D．her mother died on June 19

3.．How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?

A．4                    B．10                   C．14               D．24

4.．According to the passage, on Father’s Day,  ______．

A．people will wear the same flowers to honor their fathers

B．only daughters wear red flowers to honor their fathers

C．children must go home to honor their fathers

D．fathers are often honored in different ways

5.．According to the passage, we can infer that Henry Jackson Smart ______．

A．was very kind to anyone                          B．was the first father honored in 1924

C．did a lot for his daughter                       D．always help others by giving money

 

Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time: if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s. In the same way, children learn to do all the other things they learn to do without being taught--- to walk , run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle --- compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone(更不用说) correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.

    If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine(常规的) work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let’s end all this nonsense of grades, exams and marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn: how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.

    Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible(合情理的) to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one’s life is nonsense(无意义的) in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential(基本的), something they will need to get on in the world?” Don’t worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learnt it.

What does the writer think is the best way for children to think?

By listening to their parents’ instructions. 

By asking a great many questions.

By making mistakes and having them corrected. 

By copying what other people do.

What does the writer think teachers should not do?

A. Give children correct answers.        

B. Point out children’s mistakes to them.

C. Allow children to mark their own work.    

D. Encourage children to copy one another.

According to the passage, learning to speak and learning to ride a bike are _____.

A. the most important skills                  B. the basic skills children should master

C. almost the same as learning other skills     D. much different from learning other skills.

The writer thinks that children’s progress should only be estimated(评估) by ______.

A. the children themselves                B. their parents

    C. their teachers                         D. education authorities(权威)

The writer is afraid that children will grow up into adults who are ______.

A. too selfish                            B. too independent

C. dependent and unable to use basic skills    D. able to think for themselves

The question of what children learn, and how they should learn, is continually being debated and redebated. Nobody dares any longer to defend the old system, the learning of lessons parrot-fashion, the grammar-with-a-whip system, which was good enough for our grandparents. The theories of modem psychology have stepped in to argue that we must understand the need of children. Children are not just small adults; they are children who must be respected as much.

Well, you may say, this is as it should be, a good idea. But think further. What happens? "Education" becomes the responsibility not of teachers, but of psychologists (心里学家). What happens then? Teachers worry too much about the psychological implications (暗示) of their lessons, and forget about the subjects themselves. If a child dislikes a lesson, the teacher feels that it is his fault, not the child’s. So teachers worry whether history is "relevant" to modern young children. And do they dare to recount stories about violence? Or will this make the children themselves violent? Can they tell their classes about children of different races, or will this encourage racial hatred? Why teach children to write grammatical sentences? Verbal expression is better. Sums? Arithmetic? No: Real-life mathematical situations are more understandable.

You see, you can go too far. Influenced by educational theorists, who have nothing better to do than to write books about their ideas, teachers leave their teacher-training colleges filled with grand, psychological ideas about children and their needs. They make elaborate, sophisticated (精致的，复杂的) preparations and try out their "modem methods" on the long-suffering children. Since one "modem method" rapidly replaces another the poor kids will have had a good bellyful by the time they leave school. Frequently the modem methods are so sophisticated that they fail to be understood by the teachers, let alone the children; even more often, the relaxed discipline so essential for the " informal" feelings the class must have, prevents all but a handful of children from learning anything.

People do not dare defend the old system mainly because under the old system________.

A. too much grammar was taught to children

B. children were spoiled (宠坏)

C. children were treated as grown-ups

D. children were made to learn passively(被动的)

What view do the modem psychologists hold?

A. Children must be understood and respected.

B. Children are small adults and know what they need.

C. Children are better off without learning lessons.

D. Education of children is the responsibility of psychologists.

What happens when teachers pay too much attention to the psychology of their lessons?

A. They find that the children dislike the lessons.

B. They tend to blame students for their failure.

C. They do not pay enough attention to the actual lessons.

D. They no longer want to teach children history.

Grammatical sentences are regarded as unimportant because ________.

A. it is better to use verbs only

B. words are said out of natural feelings only

C. talking freely and naturally without sentences is a better form of expression

D. it is felt that formal grammar rules might cause unnatural expressions

according to the passage, the modern methods are understood by ________.

A. neither teachers nor pupils

B. only a handful of teachers and pupils

C. the more sophisticated teachers

D. everyone who enjoys the relaxed discipline of the informal classes

The word “conservation” has a thrifty meaning. To conserve is to save and protect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such a good condition that others may also share the enjoyment. Our forefathers had no idea that human population would increase faster than the supplies of raw materials: most of them, even until very recently, had the foolish idea that the treasures were “limitless” and could “last forever”. Most of the citizens of earlier generations knew little or nothing about the complicated and delicate system that runs all through nature, and which means that, as in a living body, an unhealthy condition of one part will sooner or later be harmful to all the others.

　　Fifty years ago, nature study was not part of the school work; scientific forestry was a new idea; wood was still cheap because it could be brought in any quantity from distant woodlands; soil destruction and river floods were not national problems; nobody had yet studied long-term climatic cycles in relation to proper land use; even the word “conservation” had nothing of the meaning that it has for us today.

　　For the sake of ourselves and those who will come after us, we must now set about correcting the mistakes of our forefathers. Conservation should be made part of everybody’s daily life. To know about the water table in ground is just as important to us as a knowledge of the basic math formulas. We need to know why all watersheds (上游集水区) need the protection of plant life and why the running current of streams and rivers must be made to give their full benefit to the soil before they finally escape to the sea. We need to be taught the duty of planting trees as well as of cutting them. We need to know the importance of big, grown trees, because living space for most of man’s fellow creatures on this planet is figured not only in square measure of surface but also in cubic (立方体的) volume above the earth. In a word, it should be our goal to restore as much of the original beauty of nature as we can.

 

1.The author’s attitude towards the use of natural resources is _________.

    A. positive         B. uninterested     C. optimistic           D. critical

2.According to the author, the greatest mistake of our forefathers was that _________.

　　A. they had no idea about scientific forestry

　　B. they had little or no sense of environmental protection

　　C. they were not aware of the importance of nature study

　　D. they had no idea of how to make good use of raw materials

3.To avoid repeating the mistakes of our forefathers, the author suggests that _________.

　　A. we plant more trees

　　B. natural sciences be taught to everybody

　　C. environmental education be directed toward everyone

　　D. we return to nature

4.How can you understand the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A. Our living space on the earth is getting smaller and smaller.

B. Our living space should be measured in cubic volume.

C. We need to take some measures to protect space.

D. We must preserve good living conditions for both birds and animals.