Several recent studies have found that being randomly assigned to a roommate of another race can lead to increased tolerance but also to a greater likelihood of conflict.
Recent reports found that lodging with a student of a different race may decrease prejudice and compel students to engage in more ethnically diverse friendships.
An Ohio State University study also found that black students living with a white roommate saw higher academic success throughout their college careers. Researchers believe this may be caused by social pressure.
In a New York Times article, Sam Boakye – the only black student on his freshman year floor -said that "if you're surrounded by whites, you have something to prove."
Researchers also observed problems resulting from pairing interracial students in residences.
According to two recent studies, randomly assigned roommates of different races are more likely to experience conflicts so strained that one roommate will move out.
An Indiana University study found that interracial roommates were three times as likely as two white roommates to no longer live together by the end of the semester.
Grace Kao, a professor at Penn said she was not surprised by the findings. "This may be the first time that some of these students have interacted, and lived, with someone of a different race," she said.
At Penn, students are not asked to indicate race when applying for housing.
"One of the great things about freshman housing is that, with some exceptions, the process throws you together randomly," said Undergraduate Assembly chairman Alec Webley. "This is the definition of integration."
"I've experienced roommate conflicts between interracial students that have both broken down stereotypes and reinforced stereotypes," said one Penn resident advisor (RA). The RA of two years added that while some conflicts "provided more multicultural acceptance and melding (融合)," there were also "jarring cultural confrontations."
The RA said that these conflicts have also occurred among roommates of the same race.
Kao said she cautions against forming any generalizations based on any one of the studies, noting that more background characteristics of the students need to be studied and explained.
1.What can we learn from some recent studies?
A. Conflicts between students of different races are unavoidable.
B. Students of different races are prejudiced against each other.
C. Interracial lodging does more harm than good.
D. Interracial lodging may have diverse outcomes.
2.What does Sam Boakye's remark mean?
A. White students tend to look down upon their black peers.
B. Black students can compete with their white peers academically.
C. Black students feel somewhat embarrassed among white peers during the freshman year.
D. Being surrounded by white peers motivates a black student to work harder to succeed.
3.What does Alec Webley consider to be the "definition of integration"?
A. The school randomly assigns roommates without regard to race.
B. Students of different races are required to share a room.
C. Interracial lodging is arranged by the school for freshmen.
D. Lodging is assigned to students of different races without exception.
Most recently, it's very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews. Naturally, it's easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We—as parents—are so eager to shelter our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself constantly that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I'll let them fail．
I'll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.—will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is, my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.
My children now are becoming little masters of compromise, but they try to negotiate everything now. It's a small price to help them learn a skill they'll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don't accompany them on job interviews.
1.Why do parents accompany their kids on job interviews?
A. Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties．
B. Because they think they can help them on the questions．
C. Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews．
D. Because their kids strongly request them to do so．
2.According to the author, what is beneficial to kids' development?
A. Sheltering them． B. Keeping them safe．
C. Leaving them alone． D. Blaming them．
3.Why does the author stress failure in kids' life?
A. To make them stronger than other kids．
B. To help them grow in this tough world．
C. To help them develop all social skills．
D. To make them learn to compromise．
4.Which of the following might be the best title for the text?
A. Never Shelter Your Kids
B. Let Your Kids Fail
C. Be Eager to Grow Up
D. Live Without Parents
Is losing weight as simple as doing a 15-minute writing exercise? In a new study, women who wrote about their most important values, like close relationships or religion, lost more weight over the next few months than women who didn't. "We have this need to feel self-integrity (正直,诚实）,” says Christine Logel of the University of Waterloo. "When something threatens your sense that you're a good person, like failing a test, we can buffer（缓冲） that self-integrity by reminding ourselves how much we love our children, for example".
For this study, the researchers recruited 45 female undergraduates, of whom 58% were overweight. Each woman was weighed, and was then given a list of important values, like creativity, music or relationships with friends and family members. Each woman ranked the values in order of how important they were to her. Then half the women were told to write for 15 minutes about the value that was most important to her. The other half, a control group, were told to write about why a value far down on their list might be important to someone else.
The women came back months later to be weighed again. Women who had written about an important value lost an average of 3.41 pounds, while women in the control group gained an average of 2.76 pounds.
"How we feel about ourselves can have a big effect," Logel says. Maybe when one of the women who wrote about an important value went home that night, she felt good about herself and didn't eat to make herself feel better. Over a few months, that could make a real difference in her life,
1.How can a 15-minute writing exercise of important values affect people?
A. They will feel proud of themselves and gain weight gradually.
B. They may feel good about themselves and then eat less than usual.
C. They may continue writing and decide to become a professional writer.
D. They will never have meals at night to make themselves lose weight.
2.What were the females required to do in the study?
A. Only the control group was given a list of important values.
B. Both groups ranked the values in order of importance to them.
C. Each woman was weighed three times in the process of the study.
D. The overweight women wrote about the value most important to them.
3.Which of the following persons may lose weight according to the new study?
A. Mary who wrote about her own adventure.
B. Catherine who described her illness in her writing.
C. Shirley who wrote how much she loved her children.
D. Alice who complained her boss in her diary.
4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
A. Writing Benefits Women a Lot
B. Losing Weight Is Very Simple
C. Writing Contributes to Losing Weight
D. Women Values Losing Weight
Bicycle Safety
Operation Always ride your bike in a safe, controlled manner on campus(校园). Obey rules and regulations. Watch out for walkers and other bicyclists, and always use your lights in dark conditions.
Theft Prevention
Always securely lock your bicycle to a bicycle rack---even if you are only away for a minute. Register your bike with the University Department of Public Safety. It’s fast, easy, and free. Registration permanently records your serial number, which is useful in the possible recovery of the bike stolen.
Equipment
Brakes
Make sure that they are in good working order and adjusted properly.
Helmet
A necessity, make sure your helmet meets current safety standards and fit properly.
Lights
Always have a front headlight---visible at least 500 feet in front of the bike. A taillight is a good idea.
Rules of the Road
Riding on Campus
As a bicycle rider, you have a responsibility to ride only on streets and posted bicycle paths. Riding on sidewalks or other walkways can lead to a fine. The speed limit for bicycles on campus is 15mph, unless otherwise posted. Always give the right of ways to walkers. If you are involved in an accident, you are required to offer appropriate aid, call the Department of Public Safety and remain at the scene until the officer lets you go.
Bicycle Parking
Only park in areas reserved for bikes. Trees, handrails, hallways, and sign posts are not for bicycle parking, and parking in such posts can result in a fine.
If Things Go Wrong
If you break the rules, you will be fined. Besides violating rules while riding bicycles on campus, you could be fined for:
No bicycle registration---------------------------------------------------$25
Bicycle parking banned--------------------------------------------------$30
Blocking path with bicycle ---------------------------------------------$40
Violation of bicycle equipment requirement -------------------------$35
1.Registration of your bicycle may help you _____________.
A. find your stolen bicycle B. get your serial number
C. receive free repair services D. settle conflicts with walkers
2.When you ride a bicycle on the campus, ___________.
A. ride on posted bicycle paths and sidewalks
B. cycle at a speed of over 15 mph
C. put the walkers’ right of way first
D. call the police before leaving in a case of accident
3.If you lock your bicycle to a tree on the campus, you could be fined _ ________.
A. $25 B. $30 C. $35 D. $40
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. A guide for safe bicycling on campus.
B. Directions for bicycle tour on campus.
C. Regulations of bicycle race on campus.
D. Rules for riding motor vehicles on campus.
I noticed the woman when I entered the newsroom. My secretary told me she wanted to put an ad to 36 a baby. So I suggested several 37 lines for these ads to her: 38 , Baby to love; or Dear Birth Mother, Let Us Help You. The ad would contain 39 about her and her husband: they were 40 , could afford to raise a child. But then something 41 me: the major newspapers carried ads like this and their 42 were larger than ours. “Have you tried the major ones?” I asked. “Yes, but all failed and one more wouldn’t 43 .” She handed me a check and left with a 44 smile.
A week later the woman called in a 45 of delight: “Please don’t run the ad again. We ’ve connected with 46 . The baby is due in a month.” Good news. I asked her if she 47 keep in touch if the adoption 48 to have a happy ending. She agreed but added when the adoption was final she was 49 to give me the story.
One day my phone rang. I 50 her voice immediately. “The adoption is final. Would you like to come and meet him?” Happily, I made a (an ) 51 with her for the next day. “His name is Ben,” she said, as I started to take 52 . “He slept through the night from the start. Now he’s smiling and starting to turn over. Of course I’m not 53 him. If he is a little slow.” She paused. “ Oh, I should tell you Ben has Down’s Syndrome.(唐氏综合症)” I stopped writing . I wasn’t sure how to 54 . But she smiled “Ben was meant for us, don’t you see? He needs me more than a 55 developing child would.” She sat on the sofa, holding her son. Both of them smiled. “You wanted a story with a happy ending,” said the woman “ You got it.”
1.A. afford B. affect C. adopt D. adapt
2.A. ordinary B. standard C. effective D. ridiculous
3.A. Wanted B. To Want C. Wanting D. Want
4.A. address B. data C. picture D. information
5.A. rich B. stable C. considerate D. lonely
6.A. occurred to B. turned to C. referred to D. wrote to
7.A. titles B. circulations C. names D. columns
8.A. kill B. work C. hurt D. do
9.A. warm B. weird C. weak D. wild
10.A. spirit B. tone C. way D. sound
11.A. a birth mother B. a lovely baby C. an ad company D. an orphanage
12.A. might B. should C. would D. dared
13.A. turned over B. turned up C. turned out D. turned down
14.A. safe B. comfortable C. brave D. honest
15.A. classified B. identified C. picked D. recognized
16.A. look B. appointment C. appearance D. call
17.A. pains B. pictures C. clues D. notes
18.A. rushing B. speeding C. pressing D. running
19.A. reply B. react C. restore D. release
20.A. steadily B. gradually C. normally D. regularly
-----I’m more than happy to go out this weekend.
----- ______. We’ve got so much work to do at that time.
A. Don't worry B. Forget it
C. Don't say so D. Don't mention it
