If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak. When you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows this. Yet there are many people who do not seem to know that one’s memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by exercising it regularly. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.

If a friend complains that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame, or that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is really his own fault. Not all of us can become very strong or very clever, but all of us can improve our memory by the same means — practice.

Have you ever noticed that people who cannot read or write usually have a better memory than those who can? Why is this? Of course, because people who can’t read or write have to remember things: they cannot write them down in a little notebook. They have to remember dates, prices, names, songs and stories, so their memory is exercised all the time.

So if you want a good memory, learn from those who cannot read or write: practise remembering.

 

1.According to the passage, few people know that _____.

A. arms or legs become weak if they are not used for some time

B. when they start using their arms or legs again, they slowly become strong again

C. a person’s memory becomes weak if he does not practise remembering things

D. it is their own fault if their arms or legs are weak

2.The author thinks that if a person has a poor memory, _________.

A. it is his own fault B. his parents are to blame

C. he is just unlucky           D. his arms must be weak

3. From Paragraph 3, we can learn that _________.

A. people who can’t read are cleverer than those who can

B. people who can’t write are cleverer than those who can

C. a little notebook helps people who cannot read or write get a better memory

D. people who practise remembering regularly have a better memory

4. The passage mainly tells us ____________.

A. how to get our arms and legs stronger    

B. how to improve our memory

C. how to read and write                 

D. how to remember dates and prices

 

People

   People is America’s No.1 magazine about fascinating（迷人的）people. It’s a guide to who and what’s hot in the arts, science, business, politics, television, movies, books, music and sports. It is published weekly.

   Publisher: The Time Inc. Magazine Company

   Cover Price: $211.47

   Our Price:$117.00

   Issues（期数）:53 issues/ 12 months

Lucky

   Lucky is the shopping magazine with the best buys（合算的商品）, and the fashion tips you’ll need before you hit the stores. What makes Lucky really special is that it gets you the information you need before anyone else has it.

   Publisher: Conde Nast Publications Inc.

   Cover Price: $35.40

   Our Price:$15.00

   Issues（期数）:12 issues/ 12 months

Parents

   The most trusted magazine for parents who want to raise smart, loving and self-confident children. Each issue has age-specific child-development guidance, advice on your child’s health and safety, and the best ways to encourage your child’s learning.

   Publisher: Meredith Corporation

   Cover Price: $42.00

   Our Price:$9.97

   Issues（期数）:12 issues/ 12 months

Entertainment

   This magazine covers movies, television, music, Broadway stage productions, books, and popular culture. Unlike celebrity-focused magazines like People, its main concentration is on entertainment media and reviews. It’s intended for a more general audience.

   Publisher: The Time Inc. Magazine Company

   Cover Price: $199.50

   Our Price:$38.95

   Issues（期数）:57 issues/ 12 months

1. Which of the following is for common readers?

   A. Lucky.       B. Parents        C. Entertainment.        D. People.

2. According to the passage, what makes Lucky so special?

   A. It has lots of cartoons.                 B. It has pictures of stars.

   C. It tells you where to find bargains.       D. It has information no one else has.

3. The underlined phrase, “celebrity-focused magazines” , probably refers to magazines focusing on ______.

   A. hot events and famous stars           B. festivals and celebrations

   C. political events                     D. daily life

4. You’re most likely to find the above information ______.

   A. on a magazine club website             B. in an educational magazine

   C. in a guide to magazines                D. in a magazine sales report

5. Buy ______, a reader can save most.

      A. Lucky.       B. Parents        C. Entertainment.        D. People.

 

The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful, says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral freedom.

A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. Keep cool, says George Herbert, for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.

To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. Anger, says Pythagoras, brings with folly(愚蠢) and ends with regret. You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.

 Self-control is man’s last greatest victory.

 If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.

1.What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?

   A. The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself.

   B. One’s moral freedom is based on the control of himself.

   C. To control oneself is the most difficult in one’s life.

   D. If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful.

2.What is the correct interpretation of “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad ”in paragraph 2 ?

   A. If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first.

   B. If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished.

   C. If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy.

   D. If you are mad, you will be punished by the gods.

3.If a man lacks self-control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT _______.

   A. the very backbone and nerve of character   

   B. the patience and power to control himself

   C. strong feelings                        

   D. self-confidence

4.The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to _______.

   A. explain that self-control is the key to success

   B. teach people how to control everything in order to make a great success

   C. distinguish all kinds of self-control and suggest ways for keeping it

   D. advise people not to lose temper so as to make and keep more friends

5.The passage is mainly developed by _____.

   A. analyzing causes             B. making comparisons

   C. examining differences             D. listing quotations

 

Ifhas anyone noticed how, with the passage of time, one’s relationship with one’s grown-up daughters and sons becomes changed? I’ve been aware of this for some time but I’m not quite sure how to deal with it.

Take the kitchen sink for example.

Following a family get-together at my place, I walked into the kitchen to find Kate, my daughter, carefully cleaning the sink.

“Don’t do that; what are you doing that for?” I said, unhappy about the hidden criticism.

“Mum,” she said, “you really ought to put your glasses on when you clean the sink. Behind the tap here was black!”

But it’s not just things like kitchen sinks. Another time Kate arrived to pick me up to lunch. She looked at me and then asked, “Mum, why do you use brown eyebrow pencil when your hair is grey?”

A sudden memory of her, aged 14, going to her first mixed party flooded back. She had come in to say goodbye. For a moment I thought she’d been an accident. Both eyes were black. I remember suggesting that perhaps a little less eye make-up might be more effective.

Now I told her, “My hair used to be brown.”

“It looks absurd.(荒唐)”

“Mrs. Menzies had dark eyebrows with grey hair.”

“Yes, but you’re not Mrs. Menzies, are you?” she said triumphantly, as if that proved her point.

But a recent event made me realize that something really must be done.

She had returned home for a few weeks before getting married. One evening I went out on a dinner date. By the time my companion left me at the front door, it was about 2am. As I stepped in, an angry figure in a white nightgown（睡衣）stopped me.

“Well, what time of night is this to be coming home?” she shouted. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”

Shades of the past come back to disturb me. But what should I do about all this? Nothing, probably. Maybe, after all, it’s only a stage young people are going through.

1.The daughter thought her mother didn’t clean the kitchen sink well because of her       .

A．laziness

B．carelessness

C．unhappiness

D．poor-quality glasses

2.From the passage we know the daughter         .

A．didn’t want to help with the sink

B．didn’t like brown eyebrow pencils

C．had an accident when she went to her first party

D．shouted at her mum because she came home late

3.How does the mother feel after all these have happened?

A．Shocked.

B．Proud.

C．Envious.（嫉妒）

D．Confused.

4.The author writes the stories to prove that         .

A．their relationship became stronger

B．their roles changed as time passed

C．her daughter very much cared about her

D．her daughter got upset as she grew up

 

Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.

“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’”says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”

Music was not gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.

Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversation on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.

No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”

But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents.

“There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,”says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”

Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourage everyone to have a say.

“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,”explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”

1.The underlined word gulf in Para.3 most probably means _______.

A. interest       B. distance        C. difference        D       . separation

2. Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?

A. Parents help their children develop interests in more activities.

B. Parents put more trust in their children’s abilities.

C. Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs.

D. Parents share more interests with their children.

3. The change in today’s parent-child relationship is _______.

A. more confusion among parents

B. new equality between parents and children

C. less respective for parents from children

D. more strictness and authority on the part of parents

4.By saying“today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” the author means that today’s parents _______.

A. follow the trend of the change

B. can set a limit to the change

C. fail to take the change seriously

D. have little difficulty adjusting to the change.

5.The purpose of the passage is to _______.

A. describe the difficulties today’s parents have met with

B. discuss the development of the parent-child relationship

C. suggest the ways to handle the parent-child relation ship

D. compare today’s parent-child relationship with that in the past