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One evening last summer, when I asked my 14-year-old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response shocked me. "What’s a colander(漏勺)? " he asked.
I could only blame myself. In the family, nobody else’s hands went in the sauce except my own. But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn’t prepared Ray for.
As parents, while we focus on our sons’ confidence and character, we perhaps don’t always consider that we are also raising someone’s future roommates, boyfriends, husbands, or fathers. I wanted to know that I’d raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, "What’s for dinner?" So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course. I was delighted to find that he didn’t say no. For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine. One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting. Then he rolled out the piecrust (馅饼皮) and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven.
I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother—he tried to beg off sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive— but it couldn’t be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping. "I appreciate what you do as a mom," he told me one day. Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there’s nothing masculine (男子气概的) about being helpless.
Now, not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family. That’s what I call a man. I’m glad that I prepared so great a present for my future daughter-in-law.
1.Why was the author shocked at her son’s response?
A. Because he was not well behaved.
B. Because he refused to help with dinner.
C. Because he didn’t know the common kitchen utensils (器皿).
D. Because he was very curious about kitchen utensils.
2.In the author’s opinion, some parents pay little attention to _______.
A. building up children’s confidence
B. telling kids what is right and wrong
C. preparing children for their future life
D. making children live a hard life
3.After learning to do housework, Ray _______.
A. fell in love with sewing
B. did other work in the house
C. began to be more hardworking
D. acknowledged his mother’s efforts
4.We can infer from the text that Ray _______.
A. made great progress in cooking.
B. always thought housework interesting.
C. preferred sewing to cooking.
D. was unwilling to learn cooking at first.
5.What would be the best title for the text?
A. Useful education for boys
B. The importance of housework
C. Boys should be involved in housework.
D. Cooking and sewing make boys masculine.
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At the age of 16, Clara Barton was advised to become a teacher since she was quite shy. She taught in Massachusetts for ten years, and was invited to Bordentown, New Jersey to teach in a school. She saw that these communities needed complimentary education for their citizens, and she took action by creating a free school, one of the first in her state. But later, ignoring her, officials named a male instead as the head teacher. Disappointed, she left her job and moved to Washington D.C., becoming the first woman employed by the US Patent Office.
Clara Barton was forever changed by her experience with the army in the Civil War. She saw doctors use leaves when dealing with injuries since they had nothing else. The medical supplies were well behind the army, who were moving faster than their medical supply lines. She brought in a truck of medical supplies that she collected personally some years ago. Miss Barton continued to work on the battlefields throughout the war.
She helped in the identification of 13,000 dead Union soldiers. This non-stop work made her fully exhausted, and upon recommendation by her physicians, she traveled to Europe where she recovered energy and enriched herself.
While in Europe, and still in poor health, Miss Barton was moved by the hardship on people brought about by the France-Prussia war. She helped in their relief effort, which encouraged her to create the Red Cross, which served the whole army and common people under a neutral flag.
Clara Barton returned to America and then began the establishment of the American Red Cross. The US government did not think there would ever be another war after the Civil War. But she convinced them that the Red Cross would be valuable to serve in times of natural disasters as well. This was her lasting legacy (遗产), an agency that still provides aid to all people today.
1.What does the underlined word mean in the first paragraph?
A. Public. B. Personal. C. Free. D. Advanced.
2.. Why did Clara Barton bring her personal medical supplies
A There were no medical supplies for the army at all.
B. The army’s supplies couldn’t catch up with them.
C. The army’s supplies weren’t good enough to treat soldiers.
D. The enemies cut off the connection between the army and medical supplies.
3.Clara Barton set up the Red Cross because of _______.
A. her experiences in Europe
B. her poor health
C. the lack of supplies for the army
D. her work in the US Patent Office
4.The US government agreed to establish the Red Cross because Clara Barton _______.
A. gave a lot of her legacy
B. said there might be wars in the future
C. explained it would help people in peacetime as well.
D. claimed it could save people from the France-Prussia war.
5.What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. The history of American Civil War.
B. A general introduction to Clara Barton.
C. Clara Barton’s contributions to the US.
D. The Establishment of the American Red Cross.
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Conventional wisdom says that hardship can make us old before our time. In fact, a new study suggests that violence not only leaves long-term scars on children’s bodies, but also changes their DNA, causing changes that are equal to seven to ten years of premature aging (过早老化).
Scientists measured this by studying the ends of children’s chromosomes (染色体), called telomeres, says Idan Shalev, lead author of a study published in Molecular Psychiatry.
Telomeres are special DNA sequences (序列) which prevent the DNA in chromosomes from separating. They get shorter each time a cell divides, until a cell cannot divide any more and dies.
Several factors have been found to shorten telomeres, including smoking, radiation and psychological stresses such as being treated badly when young and taking care of a chronically ill person.
In this study, researchers examined whether exposure to violence could make children’s telomeres shorten faster than normal. They interviewed the mothers of 236 children at ages 5, 7 and 10, asking whether the youngsters had been exposed to domestic violence between the mother and her partner, physical maltreatment by an adult or bullying. Researchers measured the children’s telomeres—in cells obtained from the insides of their cheeks—at ages 5 and 10.
Telomeres shortened faster in kids exposed to two or more types of violence, says Shalev. Unless that pattern changes, the study suggests, these kids could be expected to develop diseases of aging, such as heart attacks or memory loss, seven to 10 years earlier than their peers.
Shalev says there is hope for these kids. His study found that, in rare cases, telomeres can lengthen. Better nutrition, exercise and stress reduction are three things that may be able to lengthen telomeres, he says.
The study confirms a smallbutgrowing number of studies suggesting that early childhood hardship imprints itself in our chromosomes, says Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.
1.The new study has found that ________.
A. violence leaves scars on a child’s mind
B. violence can speed up a child’s aging
C. hardship can change a child’s aging
D. hardship has a long-term effect on children
2.According to the text, telomeres ________.
A. probably cause a cell to divide quickly
B. can help prevent DNA from separating
C. can make a cell die quickly
D. become shorter before they die
3.All of the following things can shorten telomeres EXCEPT ________.
A. maltreatment B. radiation
C. smoking D. exercising
4.Which of the following is TRUE, according to the text?
A. Researchers measured the children’s telomeres from their legs in the study.
B. Kids interviewed in the study are exposed to two or more types of violence.
C. Children who have shorter telomeres may suffer from a heart attack earlier.
D. Victims of domestic violence have no hopes of lengthening their telomeres.
5.What is the best title for the text?
A. Violence aging children’s DNA
B. Children’s changing DNA patterns
C. Violence and children
D. The function of telomeres
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A euphemism (from the Greek words eu—well and pheme—speak) is a word or expression that is used when people want to find a polite or less direct way of talking about difficult or embarrassing topics like death or the bodily functions. Most people, for example, would find it very difficult to say in plain language that they have arranged for their sick old dog to be killed. They would soften the pain by saying "We had Ruby put down" or "We had Ruby put to sleep". Many people prefer to call someone plain than ugly, or cuddly rather than fat.
Euphemisms are an important part of every language, but it seems that English has an ever-growing number of them. The non-native speaker not only has to make sense of the euphemisms he hears, but he also has to learn which euphemisms are appropriate in any particular situation. He might be aware that his American friend needs to use the toilet when she asks where the bathroom (or restroom, or comfort station) is, but he is less likely to guess that his English friend has the same need when he says he has to see a man about a dog. He might have learned, for example, that "in the family way" is a euphemism for pregnant. If, however, he says to his boss, "Congratulations! I hear your wife is in the family way", he would be using an expression that is too familiar for the circumstances.
Schools are full of euphemisms. At Frankfurt International School, for example, the special lessons given to students who are having difficulties in their school subjects are called Study Center (in the middle school) and Academic Workshop (in the high school). Teachers rightly do not want to upset students or parents by being too frank or straight-forward, and usually choose a softer word or expression to convey the same message.
1.According to the passage, people use euphemisms in order to ________ .
A. make themselves understood
B. attract attention
C. avoid embarrassment
D. sound straightforward
2.A person who is described as plain and cuddly is in fact ________.
A. tall and handsome
B. ugly and fat
C. ugly but tall
D. pretty and slim
3.When an English lady says she has to see a man about a dog, she might want to ______.
A. go to the toilet
B. see a doctor about her dog
C. have her old dog killed
D. see a pregnant woman
4.The main purpose of Paragraph 2 is to ________ .
A. stress that euphemisms are an important part of every language
B. suggest non-native speakers use euphemisms as often as possible
C. inform readers that English has an ever-growing number of euphemisms
D. warn English learners to be careful about the meaning and use of euphemisms
5.At Frankfurt International School, the students who receive lessons in Study Center ____.
A. work hard at their lessons
B. do well in school
C. have poor grades in the subjects
D. prefer to learn more
