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Certainly, a well-rounded education is the foundation from which all of us spring forth. I am grateful to the many incredible teachers who have inspired me to do greater things, and have fired my enthusiasm for everlasting learning!
I have also been honored to have the most amazing teachers in all of my children's lives. These are extraordinary people who not only teach our children, but love them, challenge them, and provide an environment where a child learns how to learn.
But, sometimes I wonder if the outline of our educational plan is lacking something. I watched the movie Easy A with my older daughter. The main character's parents were loving, supportive, and built great confidence in their daughter and developed her ability to handle her own problems.
There was a scene where the mother was speaking to the younger child and he announced that he received an "A" on his spelling test. She replied, "That' s great, honey, but everything has spell check these days. " It was funny --- but TRUE ! I don't mean that we shouldn't teach our children how to spell, but maybe some of our time should be spent educating them about the dangers of posting things on Facebook.
Maybe we might want to spend time showing them how real life works - the credit card isn't free money - you will have to pay it back at sometime. Oh, and get this - they charge you for borrowing that money. Perhaps, we should spend some time on interpersonal relationships. I worry that our kids do not know how to relate to one another.
Choosing a career (职业) is a daunting task. My daughter is in her second year in college and has changed her major twice. It' s not that she didn't know what she wanted to do. What she "wanted to do" and the degree she chose did not match.
I have learned many college students do not know what they want to do because they haven' t seen what it looks like in the real world. Being a journalist in the real world looks very different from writing stories. Maybe if we spent some time exposing them to real life experience - maybe two or three courses m areas of interest in high school that give them a "feel" for what that particular field would look like, they might be better prepared. I do not know the solution, but it seems that it should at least be a topic of discussion.
1. Why does the author mention the movie Easy A?
A. To prove the importance of book learning.
B. To show the parents' ignorance of spelling.
C. To lead to the topic he is going to talk about.
D. To share with the readers his feeling about the movie.
2.The author believes that
A. students need to focus on the skills in learning
B. parents and school should be consistent in education
C. his daughter is smart enough to make her own choice
D. courses in areas of interest in high schools will benefit students
3.The underlined word "daunting" in Paragraph 6 probably means_____
A. discouraging B. specific
C. rewarding D. regular
4.What is mainly discussed in the passage?
A. Schools should prepare students for the real life.
B. What students learn in school should be practiced in life.
C. Life experience is of greater importance than school education.
D. Students should spend more time discussing practical problems.
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The Tropical Paradise Holiday
Welcome to St Anna, our tropical paradise just off the coast of Latin America. You can spend two weeks in our luxury four-star hotel. The cost of your flight is included in the holiday, and you can be picked up from your home by our special airport bus. On your arriving, our coach will be waiting to take you to the hotel. All flights leave from Heathrow on a Monday morning.
The Cowrie Hotel is built right on the beachfront, and many rooms have wonderful ocean views. If swimming and surfing are not enough for you, the hotel also offers horse rides on the island, and a discount membership of the golf club.
The Rain Forest Adventure Holiday
Every year Broughton holidays offer twelve days of unforgettable adventure in a tropical rain forest. You may have a choice of Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, or even to the greatest rain forest of them all, the mighty Amazonian forest.
You will fly to our special base camps at the edge of the forest, where you will be given five days of survival training, and talks on the local wildlife.
Then you take a bus into the forest. You will have to walk the final five miles to the camp sites to avoid disturbing the local ecology. All of the camp sites have been carefully built to cause the minimal amount of disturbance to the local wildlife.
Remember that these adventure holidays take you deep into the wilderness,and they are not suitable for families with young children. Also remember that no more than two dozen guests can stay at any camp at one time, so if you want to go on one of these very special holidays, you will need to book early !
1. Choosing the Tropical Paradise Holiday, travellers can enjoy ______.
A. a welcome party
B. beautiful ocean views
C. different indoor activities
D. free membership of the golf club
2. What can we learn about the rain forest holiday?
A. Different means of transportation will be used.
B. Travelers will learn to talk with wild animals.
C. The holiday will end with a survival training.
D. Booking early, travelers will get a discount.
3. What kind of people will probably choose the rain forest holiday?
A. People loving water sports.
B. People travelling with children.
C. People preferring comfortable hotels.
D. People concerned with environment and wildlife.
4. Which of the following is mentioned in both holidays?
A. Price. B. Transportation.
C. Reservation. D. Departure time.
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If there's one thing I' ve learned from my years of being a kid, it' s that you have ZERO control over your own life.
Ever since school ended, I haven' t had anything I' ve needed to do or anywhere I' ve needed to be. As long as the air-conditioning(空调) was working and the TV remote had batteries in it, I was ready for a relaxing summer holiday.
But then, out of the blue, this happened - " Pack your bags. We' re going on a road trip ! " Mom said excitedly.
This isn't the first time Mom has sprung a trip on us without any warming. Last year on the first day of summer, she said we were going .to visit Aunt Loretta at the nursing home.
It wasn't exactly my idea of a fun way to kick off the summer. One time when we visited Aunt Loretta, her roommate grasped me and wouldn't let me go until someone gave her a chocolate cookie !
Mom kept talking about going to the nursing home for a whole day, which made me worry a lot. But at breakfast the next morning, she told us where we were really going - Disney World.
I was very happy, because I was really worried about spending the whole week at the nursing home. So was Dad.
But when my little brother, Danny, heard about the change he became very angry. Mom had talked up the Aunt Loretta trip so much that Danny was actually excited about going there.
We ended up putting off our trip to Disney so we could visit Aunt Loretta.
I tried to talk Mom into letting us do something normal, like going to a water park for the day, but she didn't want to hear it. She said that spending a lot of time together in the car would be a " bonding" experience for the whole family.
1.What did the author prefer to do during his summer holidays?
A. Visit Aunt Loretta.
B. Travel with his family.
C. Look after his little brother.
D. Watch TV comfortably at home.
2. From the passage, we can learn that the author_______
A. loved his aunt very much
B. got pretty excited about the road trip
C. felt helpless with his mother's surprise trips
D. blamed Danny for not going to Disney World
3. Who makes the final decision in the family?
A. The author. B. Mom. C. Dad. D. Aunt Loretta
4.The author wrote the passage to_______
A. remember his mother
B. tell the story of his aunt
C. express his love for his brother
D. share with readers his childhood experiences
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The term, culture shock, describes the anxiety produced when a person moves to a completely new environment. This term expresses the lack of direction, the feeling of not knowing what to do, and not knowing what is appropriate or inappropriate. The feeling of culture shock generally sets in after the first few weeks of coming to a new place.
We can describe culture shock as the physical and emotional discomfort one suffers when coming to live in another country or place. Often, the way that we lived before is not accepted as or considered as normal in the new place. Everything is different, for example, not speaking the language, not knowing how to use banking machines and so forth.
Although one can experience real pain from culture shock, it is also an opportunity for resetting one' s life objectives. It is a great opportunity for learning and acquiring new viewpoints. Culture shock can make one develop a better understanding of oneself.
Culture shock has many stages. The first stage is called the "honeymoon" stage. The new arrival may feel excited as everything is new.
In the second stage, a person may encounter some difficult times in daily life. For example, communication difficulties may occur such as not being understood. There may be feelings of discontent, anger, sadness, and feeling incompetence. This happens when a person is trying to adapt to a new culture. Transition (过渡) between the old methods and those of the new country is a difficult process and takes time to complete.
The third stage is characterized by gaining some understanding of the new culture. One may start to feel a certain psychological balance. The new arrival may start to have a feeling of direction and want to belong.
In the fourth stage, the person realizes that the new culture has good and bad things to offer. The person has a more solid feeling of belonging and starts to set goals for living.
The fifth stage is called the " re-entry shock". This occurs when a return to the
country of origin is made. One may find that things are no longer the same. For example, some of the newly acquired customs are not in use in the old culture.
Many factors (因素) contribute to the length and effects of culture shock. For example, the individual's state of mental health, type of personality, previous experiences, familiarity with the language, and level of education. So the five stages are present at different times and each person has their own way of reacting. 64. What do we learn about culture shock?
1.What do we learn about culture shock?
A. It has negative effect on people.
B. Its effect can differ from person to person.
C. It disappears when people return to their homelands.
D. It can be avoided if one can understand the language.
2.Which stage of culture shock is Tommy in?
Tommy moved to France with his parents two months ago.
But now he still can not get used to the life there.
He also has problems in schooling.
Even worse, he doesn't think anybody cares about him.
A. Stage 2. B. Stage 3. C. Stage 4. D. Stage 5.
3. The main purpose of the passage is to________
A. discuss and clarify B. argue and advise
C. introduce and explain D. compare and evaluate
