Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.

The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me. Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season.

She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding. Delores Clemens says, “That’s not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he’s going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Cuddle your baby. Hug him! And she started to do that. They just want a little cuddling and a little love. And it works!”

Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year.

In class, with her baby son is Natasha．She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life.

The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen. That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones. By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two.

1.What is the text mainly about?

2.Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____.

3.What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?

4.According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?

Even people who don’t understand English can enjoy Chaplin’s films because they are mostly silent. It isn’t what he says that makes us laugh. It depends upon actions which mean the same thing to people all over the world. He is master of the art – a kind of world language.

As a young man, he and his brother traveled to America in a small company of actors. Chaplin was then invited to join a new company that was making film comedies. Very soon he had made dozens of short films for this company. And it was in his second film that he wore the clothes which made his reputation – black hat, tight coat, baggy trousers, huge shoes, moustache and walking stick. He intended simply to make people laugh. But the odd make-up made him look both comic and sad.

By the time he was thirty, Chaplin was the greatest, best known and best loved comedian in the world. He received thousands of dollars for each film he made. He had formed his own manner of acting. He was welcomed by excited crowds wherever he went. But he worked very hard and had few close friends. Perhaps that is why the sad side of the little tramp began to show more clearly in the films he made. The little man began to want more than food and a roof over his head. He began to want love.

In one of his most famous films “The Gold Rush” a girl plays tricks on the little man. Then she begins to feel sorry for him and treats him kindly. He mistakes her pity for love. The girl in “City Lights” is blind. She thinks he is the most wonderful man she has ever met. But then she recovers her sight and sees what a foolish figure he is. This sadness gives Chaplin’s films a depth of human experience which few comedians can equal.

After living in America for forty years he moved to Switzerland. There he died on Christmas Day 1977. He once described himself as a citizen of famous pictures that were made during the 1920s and 1930s, the time of the silent films. But, to many people all over the world Chaplin will always be the king of comedy.

1.What’s the meaning of the underlined word in the first paragraph?

A．A man in control of people, animals or things.

B．A man who is head of a house or a family.

C．A man of great skill in art or work.

D．A skilled workman with his own business.

2.Charlie Chaplin had few friends because he _____.

A．was famous

B．didn’t want to have friends

C．was not good at making friends

D．spent most of his time in working and had no time to make friends

3.In all Chaplin’s films, the main character is _____.

A．a girl                                 B．a girl and little man

C．a little man                            D．a wonderful man

4.We may infer that films with sound probably came into being _____.

A．after the 1920s and 1930s                B．in the 1930s

C．in the 1970s                           D．after the 1930s

5.Which one is wrong according to the passage?

A．The little man didn’t want love.            B．Chaplin made a lot of money.

C．He didn’t live in the same country.         D．He became famous in a short time

--- Do you know _____ Mr. Black’s address is.

--- He may live at No. 18 or No. 19 of Bridge Street. I'm not sure of _____.

An Australian company, Smart Car Technologies, has developed a system that lets drivers know when they’re speeding．When the technology becomes commercially available, it could help lead-footed drivers avoid tickets and also save lives．The company that developed the product hopes to convince Australian government agencies to put the technology into use in their automobile fleets.

The product, called Speed Alert, links real-time location data and speed obtained with the help of GPS(全球定位系统) to a database of posted speed limits stored in a driver’s PDA or programmable mobile phone．The setup of the product does not need to be hooked(钩住) up to a car’s speedometer．In fact, it is entirely portable．It will also work with newer phones and PDAs that have built-in GPS receivers．If a driver exceeds（超过） the speed limit, the speed is shown and an alert sounds.

Michael Paine, an Australian vehicle design engineer and traffic safety consultant, was hired to analyze the product．He told Live Science  that his colleagues in the road safety field are “very enthusiastic” about what they’re now calling “intelligent speed alert.” Other research, according to Paine, shows that 40 percent of all traffic deaths involve speeding．There is also a potentially future use: “Since the system is so portable, it would be easy to make it a requirement for teenage drivers to always use a speed alert device when driving,” Paine said．“The system even has the function to record speeding violations(违背), so parents can monitor their teenage drivers.”

The product will soon go on sale in Sydney.

41．What’s the purpose of the new product_______.

A．To inform us of the new car system.     B．To introduce some improvement in cars.

C．To limit certain drivers to safe driving.   D．To popularize the built-in car system.

42．Lead-footed drivers refer to the ones        .

A．who drive too carelessly   B．that drive extremely fast

C．who are partly disabled     D．that drive too slowly

43．The second paragraph mainly talks about        .

A．the project of the built-in product     B．why the system becomes popular

C．the functions of GPS in cars       D．how the product is programmed

44．Which of the following is true of Speed Alert according to Michael Paine?

A．Most of the traffic deaths can be avoided. 

B．Speeding violations can be easily found out.

C．The system will excite some teenage drivers.

D．The product will not be available for adults.

As I grew older, my dad and I grew further apart. We always had totally different opinions. He thought that college was a waste of time, but for me it was important to finish college. He wanted me to work my way to the top as he had done in his field, but I wanted a different life. There was a time when we did not talk with each other.

A few months ago, I heard that my 84-year-old dad was in poor health. When he called and asked whether I could move from Colorado back to Tennessee to help him, I knew he was seriously ill. I am his only child and so it was time to meet my father’s requirement.

Two weeks after moving back, we bought a boat and started fishing again. Fishing was one of the few things that we did while I was young and that we both enjoyed. It is strange but true that as we are fishing we are able to put things that have kept us apart for so many years behind us. We are able to talk about things that we have never talked about before. Fishing has been healing the old wounds that have kept us apart. 

It is not important how many fish we catch. It is about enjoying the relationship that we have not had for years. I’m 62 and he is 84. When we are on the lake fishing, it is like two kids enjoying life. It is far better to find a way to put the unhappy past behind. I am so lucky to spend the happy time with my father in his last years. Now my heart is filled with love. A smile always graces my lips.                                                      

1.The author and his father became further apart because       .

A．they lived very far from each other

B．they had different views on things

C．they only communicated by phone

D．they seldom went to see each other

2.Why did the author come back to Tennessee?

A．Because his father invited him to go fishing.

B．Because he decided to live in a different city.

C．Because his father is ill and needs caring.

D．Because he regretted being rude to his father.

3.For the author, fishing with his old father       .

A．helps cure his father’s disease

B．is a good way to get close to nature

C．makes him realize the importance of relaxation

D．provides a chance for them to communicate

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A．Fishing brings us together                 B．Forgiving is difficult

C．Memories of old days                    D．My beloved father