Fun is, in fact , a word heard far more frequently in families today than in the past , when “duty”and “responsibility ”were often the words used.Parents today are more youthful in appearance and attitudes. Their clothes and hair-styles are more casual, helping to bridge the divide. Those who are athletically inclined also enjoy Rollerblading, snowboarding, and rock-climbing with their children.

     For the past three years, Kathy and Phil Dalby have spent at least one evening a week at a climbing gym with their three children. "It's great to be able to work together," Mrs Dalby says. "We discuss various climbs and where the hard parts are. Sometimes that leads to other Conversations. We're definitely closer."

     A popular movement of parent effectiveness training in the 1970s has helped to reshape generational roles. The philosophy encourages children to describe their feelings about various situations. As a result, says Robert Billingham, a family-studies professor at Indiana University, "Parents and children began talking to each other in ways they had not before."

     On the plus side, he adds, these conversations made parents realize that children may have important thoughts or feelings that adults need to be aware of.

     But Professor Billingham also sees a downside: Many parents started making decisions based on what their child wanted. "The power shifted to children. Parents said, 'I have to focus on making my child happy', as opposed to 'I have to act as a parent most appropriately'."

     Other changes are occurring as the ranks of working mothers grow.  Time-short parents encourage children's independence, making them more responsible for themselves. "They'll say, 'We trust you to make the right decisions' (whether they're ready to assume the responsibility or not) ,"says Billingham.

     The self-esteem movement of the past quarter-century has also affected the family dynamics (原动力). Some parents worry that if they tell their child no, it will hurt the child's self-esteem.

1.What's the trend in parent-child relationship mentioned in the passage?

A. Parents are chasing after fashion and ignoring the feelings of their children.

B. More parents and children are sharing the same enthusiasm for a certain sport.

C. Parents are taking more responsibility and setting more limits for their children.

D. The generation gap is narrowing and parents are respecting their children's thoughts more.

2.Which of the following has NOT contributed to the change in the parent-child relationship?

A. Younger parents.                   B. Parent effectiveness training.

C. More working mothers.              D. The self-esteem movement.

3.What's the best title for the text?

A. Parents and Children as Friends.

B. Parents and Professors as Debaters.

C. Growing Mutual Understanding.

D. Disappearing Responsibility.                                                                            

 

B

What happens inside the skull of a soccer player when repeatedly heads a soccer ball? That question motivated a challenging new study of the brains of experienced players that has caused discussion and debate among soccer players, and some anxiety among those of us with soccer-playing children.

For the study, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York selected 34 adults, men and women. All of the volunteers had played soccer since childhood and now competed year-round in adult soccer leagues. Each filled out a detailed questionnaire developed especially for this study to determine how many times they had headed a soccer ball in the previous year, as well as whether they had experienced any known concussions (脑震荡) in the past.

Then the players completed computerized tests of their memory and other learning skills and had their brains scanned, using a complicated new M.R.I. technique which can find structural changes in the brain that can’t be seen during most scans.

According to the data they presented at Radiological Society of North America meeting last month, the researchers found that the players who had headed the ball more than about 1,100 times in the previous 12 months showed significant loss of white matter in parts of their brains involved with memory, attention and the processing of visual information, compared with players who had headed the ball fewer times.

This pattern of white matter loss is “similar to those seen in traumatic (外伤的) brain injury”, like that after a serious concussion, the researchers reported, even though only one of these players was reported to have ever experienced a concussion.

The players who had headed the ball about 1,100 times or more in the past year were also generally worse at recalling lists of words read to them, forgetting or fumbling the words far more often than players who had headed the ball less.

1.The passage is most probably a ________.

A．news report                           B．research report

C．story for soccer players                   D．text for doctors

2. In which way can researchers find the structural changes in the brain?

A．Computerized test                       B．Questionnaire

C．Scanning                              D．M.R.I. technique

3. From the passage we can conclude that frequent heading may have ________.

A．significant effect on brain                 B．little effect on one’s brain

C．nothing to do with the brain injury           D．one’s memory improved

4.What is likely to be the cause of memory loss?

A．Playing soccer frequently                 B．Tests of their memory

C．White matter loss                       D．Information processing

5.The underlined word “fumbling” is closest in meaning to ________?

A．remembering      B．misunderstanding   C．recalling          D．missing

 

In some urban centers, workaholism is so common that people do not consider it unusual．They accept the lifestyle as normal．Government workers in Washington D．C．, for example, frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week．They do this because they have to; they do it because they want to．

Workaholism can be a serious problem．Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they probably don't know

how to relax; that is, they might not enjoy movies, sports, or other

types of entertainment．Most of all, they hate to sit and do nothing．The lives of workaholics are usually stressful, and this tension and worry can cause health problems such as heart attacks or stomach ulcers．In addition, typical workaholics don't pay much attention to their

families．They spend little time with their children, and their marriages may end in divorce．

Is workaholism always dangerous? Perhaps not．There are, certainly, people who work well under stress．Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in life．Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy．For most workaholics, work and entertainment are the same thing．Their jobs provide them with a challenge; this keeps them busy and creative．

Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work．It provides people with paychecks, and this is important．But it offers more than financial security It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they have produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say," I made that．" Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity; by working, they get a sense of self and individualism．In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others．

1.A workaholic is a person who____．

A． tends to work long hours

B． behaves in a strange way

C． has to do many social jobs

D． holds high social positions

2.What can be the problem of workaholism?

A． Being late．

B． Being lazy．

C． Being hopeless．

D． Being unhealthy．

3.According to some studies, most workaholics           .

A． live a hard life

B． regard work as something enjoyable

C． like to be under stress

D． are good at both work and entertainment

4.What are the advantages one can get by working according to the text?

a． popularity      b． satisfaction      c． good payment

d． self-confidence  e． higher positions  f． social acceptation 

A． a; b; d; e           B． b; c; e; f            C． a; c; d; f  D． b; c; d; f

 

In some cities, workaholism（废寝忘食工作）is so common that people don’t consider it unusual. They accept the lifestyle as   26  .  Government

workers in Washington, D. C.,   27  , frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week. They don’t do this because they have to; they do it because they   28  to. Workaholism can be a   29   problem. Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they   30   have no idea of how to relax; that is, they might not   31   movies, sports, or other types of entertainment. Most of all, they   32   to sit and do nothing. The lives of workaholics are usually stressful, and this tension（紧张）and worry can cause   33   problems such as heart attacks and stomach diseases.     34   , typical workaholics don’t pay much attention to their families. Their marriages may end in   35   as they spend little time with their families.

Is workaholism   36   dangerous? Perhaps not. There are, certainly, people who work   37   under stress. Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in work. They feel   38   is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy. For most workaholics, work and entertainment are the same thing. Their jobs   39   them with a challenge; this keeps them busy and creative.

  40   do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several  41   to work. Of course, it provides people with paychecks, and this is important. But it offer  42  financial security. It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction   43   they have produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say “I   44   it”. Psychologists claim that their work gives people an identity（自身价值）. After they take part in work, they    45   a sense of self and individualism.

1.A．strange                     B．boring                           C．pleasant               D．normal

2.A．for example              B．on the other handC．what’s more                 D．after all

3.A．agree                          B．promise               C．dare                     D．want

4.A．slight                           B．serious                 C．obvious                D．difficult

5.A．still                     B．probably              C．certainly              D．mostly

6.A．afford                        B．enjoy                             C．watch                            D．allow

7.A．dream              B．decide                            C．intend                           D．hate

8.A．physical            B．cultural                C．social                             D．mental

9.A．Therefore                 B．However             C．Anyway                 D．Besides

10.A．happiness      B．silence                          C．failure                           D．surprise

11.A．sometimes    B．always                           C．seldom                 D．hardly

12.A．sadly                        B．differently                    C．efficiently            D．slowly

13.A．study                       B．family                            C．life                        D．work

14.A．equip                       B．pack                     C．provide                D．fill

15.A．When                      B．Why                     C．How                      D．Where

16.A．factors           B．advantages          C．steps                    D．ways

17.A．no more                  B．more or less                  C．no more than     D．more than

18.A．when                       B．before                           C．unless                            D．until

19.A．valued            B．failed                             C．caught                           D．made

20.A．give                          B．lose                      C．get                        D．need

 

Early this morning, I got up to make a batch of Rice Krispie Treats for my neighbor across the hall. She barely greets me when we see each other, and her sweet little boy, who's now four,  has picked up her mother's manner and will not talk to me, either．

Last Monday, she had called the firefighters when a pan I'd forgotten on the stove caused my flat to fog up while I was out taking a walk. When I came home, the street in front of our apartment house was blocked by a police car, a fire truck and an ambulance! The instant I saw them, I remembered the pan! Luckily, nothing serious had happened, and all my neighbors agreed with the firefighter who said, "It could have happened to anyone．" When I thanked the neighbor who had called the firefighters-let's call her Ivy-and apologized for causing the trouble, she just asked if my cats were all right．When I said they were fine, she said, "Well, that's ok then," and turned into her flat．l felt strangely safe, knowing that even though we don't get along, she'd done the right thing and didn't blame me．So, the Rice Krispie Treats．

Last Christmas, my neighbor carelessly let it out that she was holding a grudge （怨恨） towards me because of an incident we'd had four years ago．I had particularly apologized and asked if there was anything I could do to improve our relationship. She would not accept my apology．

It had taken me a lot of courage to apologize and ask that question instead of insisting that we both shared responsibility for what had happened．Her flat-out refusal to make amends（补偿） really shocked and saddened me．After that, I decided I'd just leave her be-a relationship takes two to work．So, you see, I was really scared she was going to refuse my offer again, leaving me standing on her doorstep, facing the closed door and holding my plate of treats． I know some people have a hard time understanding how the possibility of rejection can make an adult so afraid, but that's just the way I felt．

Then, I reminded myself of how loving and good I had felt yesterday when I'd done some random acts of kindness （thanks to helpothers．org）, after telling myself: Feet the fear,  and do it anyway! So I put the squares of Rice Krispie Treats on a beautiful plate, opened my apartment  door-and there she was, standing in the hallway．I smiled and said, "Hi," but when she saw me, she turned on her heels and went back inside, even though she seemed to have just stepped out．I went after her, regardless, and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I've got something for you ! I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you were paying attention on Monday．" When she heard me speaking, she turned around． As I held the plate towards her, explaining these were very sweet American treats, and that she could just try and see whether she and her family would like them, her eyebrows winged up-and she took the plate．l was so happy and excited．We then talked a bit about how she'd become aware of the smoke in my flat, and parted ways．

Back in my place, I did a "happy dance", because I had dared to be kind even though I hadn't been sure at all my kindness would be welcome．I do hope that our relationship will slowly get better; I know I was and still am biased（存有偏见）towards her at times, but even if we don't make amends, I want to be able to be kind without depending on other people's behaviors and reactions .

1.The neighbor held a grudge towards the writer most probably because_____．

A．the writer's cats disturb her neighbor frequently

B．the writer didn't thank her for calling the firefighters

C．the writer never apologized to her for her misbehaviors

D．the writer had an unpleasant experience with the neighbor long ago

2. From Paragraph 4, we can learn that the author_____.

A．was afraid of being rejected again by her neighbor

B．didn't know how to get along with her neighbor

C．didn't admit it was her fault in the last incident

D．refused to forgive her neighbor's rude behavior

3. After the writer said "Feel the fear, and do it anyway!", she decided to_____.

A．do an act of kindness

B．leave her neighbor be

C．apologize to her neighbor once more

D．do something to let her neighbor down

4.What can we learn about the writer?

A．She was a professional dancer．

B．She often had quarrels with her neighbor．

C．She had a bias against her neighbor sometimes．

D．She had an unpleasant experience at Christmas this year．

5. What does the author try to tell us?

A．Don't punish yourself because of other's mistakes．

B．We should be kind to others, regardless of their behavior．

C．We must keep a good relationship with our neighbors．

D．When we make a mistake, we should have the courage to admit it．