Living and dealing with kids can be a tough job these days, but living and dealing with parents can be even tougher.
If I have learned anything in my 16 years, it is that communication is very important, both when you disagree and when you get along. With any relationship, you need to let other person know how you are feeling. If you are not able to communicate, you drift apart. When you are mad at your parents, or anyone else, not talking to them doesn’t solve anything.
Communication begins with the concerns (关心) of another. It means that you can’t just come home from school, go up to your room and take no notice to anyone. Even if you just say “Hi”, and see how their day was for five minutes, it is better than nothing.
If you looked up the word “communication” in a dictionary, it would say “the exchange of ideas, the conveyance (表达) of information, correspondence (通信), means of communication： a letter or a message”. To keep a good relationship, you must keep communication strong. Let people know how you feel, even if it’s just by writing a note.
When dealing with parents, you always have to make them feel good about how they are doing as a parent. If you are trying to make them see something as you see it, tell them that you’ll listen to what they have to say, and ask them politely to listen to you. Shouting or walking away only makes the situation worse.
Here is an example： one night, Sophie went to a street party with her friends. She knew she had to be home by midnight after the fireworks, but she didn’t feel she could just ask to go home. That would be rude. After all, they had been nice enough to take her along with them. Needless to say, she was late getting home. Her parents were mad at first, but when Sophie explained why she was late, they weren’t as mad and let it go. Communication is the key here. If Sophie’s parents had not been willing to listen, Sophie would have been in a lot of trouble.
Communication isn’t a one-way matter： it goes both ways. Just remember： if you get into a situation like Sophie’s, telling the other person how you feel-------listening is the key to communication.
1.In the writer’s view, dealing with parents is __________ than with children.
A. more difficult B. much easier
C. less interesting D. more interesting
2.The underlined phrase “ drift apart” in Paragraph 2 means __________.
A. keep up with others
B. move along smoothly
C. distance yourself form others
D. come closer to each other
3.The example in Paragraph 6 shows that ___________.
A. Sophie is very polite to her parents
B. Sophie’s parents are willing to listen to her
C. Sophie did well in explaining her being late
D. communication is the solution to misunderstanding
4.All the following statements are correct except “_______”.
A. Communication is a two-way matter
B. It is better to say “Hi” to others than say nothing
C. If you don’t agree with others, you’d better let them know
D. When dealing with parents, you only need to listen to them
Have you ever heard of tandem? The word itself means a bicycle built with saddles for two riders sitting one behind the other. However, when we learn a foreign language, we can find a native speaker
who wishes to learn our languages. So we both get a chance to practice. This is the tandem exchange.
For example, I’m a native English speaker but I want to learn Spanish. So I go to a tandem meeting. There I can find a native Spanish speaker who wants to improve his or her English. Then we become “tandem” partners. I speak English with my Spanish tandem partner for about an hour and help him or her with some English problems. After that, we speak Spanish for an hour, too. The idea of this language exchange is great because we can learn something about a language that we may not learn in class. This is the main reason why we can choose the tandem exchange as a way to learn a new language.
In the tandem exchange, we can also read passages with our partner. This way we can not only practice our pronunciation but also understand the meaning of difficult words in other languages. We can then have conversations about the passages in order to practice our speaking and listening.
So I advise you to participate in the tandem exchange. If there’s no foreigner around you, online tandem exchange is also a good choice. Join in the tandem exchange and enjoy the opportunity of learning new languages and understanding the cultures of other countries!
1.Which of the following is a tandem bicycle?
A. 
B. 
C.
D.
2.What is the main reason for choosing the tandem exchange?
A. We can make more friends.
B. We can learn something about a language that we may not learn in class.
C. We can improve our pronunciation.
D. We can learn Spanish in the tandem exchange.
3.Which language skill is NOT practiced in the tandem exchange according to the passage?
A. Speaking. B. Writing. C. Reading. D. Listening.
4.The underlined phrase “participate in” means “ ”.
A. take in B. make up C. take part in D. give up
A
1. How old was King when he died?
A. 29. B. 39. C. 65. D. 68.
2.Which of the following is RIGHT?
A. King was born in Tennessee.
B. King led a bus boycott in Alabama.
C. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963.
D. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia.
3.What’s the purpose of the time line in this article?
A. To teach the students to draw a time line.
B. To introduce Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
C. To tell more about Martin Luther King Jr.
D. To explain why whites and blacks were separated.
完形填空。
I enjoy telling stories. To those parents and teachers who telling children’s stories, I have an important — tell your story seriously. No matter how silly you think it is, ________ it is good enough to tell, you should tell it seriously. You should tell the story ________ the attitude (态度) of the children towards it. Perhaps I can make it by telling a story.
A few students of a class had prepared the story of “The Fisherman and His Wife”. The first girl felt that it was a silly story. She tried to tell it ________ , but some parts of it ________ her feel ashamed. When she came to the words, “Oh, man of the sea, come, listen to me. For Alice, my wife …” she said them very ________ . The next time she came to the same words, she said them so fast and so low that they ________ be heard. And when she tried to repeat the words the last time, she could ________ go on.
Of course everybody laughed, but the flavor (意味) of the story was broken.
Now, it was Kate’s turn to tell the ________ story. Each of her rising and falling tones (声调) showed her ________ attitude to the story. When she repeated the words, “Oh, man of the sea, come …”, the whole class could ________ the fisherman’s feeling.
Those words may ________ silly, but they are important for expressing the fisherman’s feeling. If the person who tells the story thinks they are silly, ________ can see no flavor at all! So please tell your story seriously.
1.A. forget B. finish C. prefer D. hate
2.A. mistake B. trouble C. decision D. suggestion
3.A. so B. until C. if D. although
4.A. in B. with C. about D. without
5.A. clearer B. louder C. more important D. more successful
6.A. simply B. well C. badly D. quietly
7.A. left B. got C. watched D. made
8.A. slowly B. easily C. quickly D. impolitely
9.A. need B. needn’t C. could D. couldn’t
10.A. hardly B. still C. always D. mostly
11.A. latest B. oldest C. same D. different
12.A. negative B. serious C. general D. strange
13.A. hide B. change C. invent D. imagine
14.A. sound B. taste C. smell D. feel
15.A. tellers B. listeners C. singers D. Members
—I’ll be away on a business trip. Would you mind looking after my cat?
—Not at all. ________________.
A. I have no time. B. I’d rather not.
C. I’d like it. D. With pleasure.
—Do you know ____________? —Let me have a guess. Is that Ms Luo?
A. whom we can ask for help
B. who go with us
C. whose the bicycle belongs to
D. how to call the woman in white
