I am walking through the winter park where the trees stand cold and bare (光秃秃的). The yellow leaves have fallen to the ground. Now, a group of women gather at the sides of a path. In the cold winter, they’re moving their arms and legs to a rhythm (节奏). They are, of course, the dancing aunties.
It seems that if you go to any public space around China, you’re likely to see these dancing aunties. When I first came to China, it was one of the first things that annoyed me. That’s because in Britain dancing in public is not a cultural habit. You won’t see any age group swinging their arms and tapping their feet in a park. Usually, they just take a walk for exercise.
Now and again the dancing aunties have hit the headlines (头条新闻). Some people find them annoying. But others respect their right to dance in public. Most of them are middle-aged. They finally have some free time to do whatever they like. There is no more work, and their kids have left.
All in all, I like seeing these women enjoying themselves. They remind us of the importance of exercise as we get older. Besides, most of them have raised the whole families. Now it is their time to have fun and enjoy some peace.
The Dancing Aunties in the Cold Winter | |
What can you see in the cold winter? | The 1.are bare and the2. are on the ground. |
A group of women gather together | They’re 3. and legs. |
What can you see in any public space in China? | The 4. . |
The writer’s opinion about it. | They remind us exercise is 5. . |
Having a teenager at home can be a real headache. Many teenagers smoke, drink and even fight. They often do something dangerous.
Earlier studies have shown that teenagers are more likely (可能) to make irrational decisions than people from any other age group, including children and adults. Is it that teenagers are too young to tell right from wrong? Not really. So what’s the reason?
According to Laurence, a teacher from a US university, the reason is that teenagers care a lot about how their peers (同龄人) view them—that is “peer influence”.
As children enter their teenage years, they spend more time with their friends and classmates, and also they care more about what they think of them. This makes teenagers make decisions without thinking about the costs.
In a test, a group of teenagers were asked to play a video driving game. When they played with their friends watching around them, they took more chances and drove more carelessly because that would increase their possibility of winning. But when they played alone, they drove more safely.
Why do peers have such a big influence on teens’ behavior?
As Laurence sees it, a teenager’s brain is like a car with a good accelerator (油门) but a weak brake (刹车). The “accelerator” is fully developed by teenage years while the “brake” is still not fully developed. When teenagers are watched by their peers, they usually push hard on the accelerator. With their weak brake, it is likely that they are going to end up in an accident.
But the good news is that a violent (暴力的)teenager doesn’t necessarily become a violent adult. About two-thirds to three-quarters of violent youth grow out of it. “They get more self-controlled.”
1.What does the underlined word “irrational” in the 2nd paragraph mean?
A. Quick. B. Crazy. C. Careful.
2.Why are teenagers likely to make wrong decisions according to the text?
A. They like difficult tasks.
B. They don’t care about costs.
C. They care a lot about what their peers think of them.
3.How does Laurence explain the influence of peer pressure on teens’ behavior?
A. By comparing it with how a car works.
B. By comparing it with an accident.
C. By showing research findings.
4.What can we learn from the text?
A. Teenagers are easy to have traffic accidents.
B. Peer influence is bad on teenagers.
C. Most of the teenagers become less violent when they grow up.
Every year many young people leave school for a few weeks or months and enjoy an unusual type of educational program. They learn new skills by living in a different country and doing unusual jobs. There are several organizations. They help students to find the experience they are looking for. The table below shows a few possibilities for students.
Country | Job | Time | Description |
India | Teaching young children | One month | ·Teaching music and dance ·Helping children learn how to communicate |
Ghana | Health care work | Two months | ·Seeing how doctors work in a less developed country ·Helping care for patients |
Thailand | Saving elephants | Three weeks | ·Cleaning elephants ·Helping train elephants |
New Zealand | Teaching Chinese | Six weeks | ·Helping adults learn Chinese ·Spreading Chinese culture |
One interesting possibility is helping elephants in Thailand. Most people think of elephants as animals in zoos. In fact, many elephants in Thailand are no longer kept in cages. Now, hundreds of them are homeless. They don’t have owners to care for them. Although they may look well, they are often in poor health and don’t have enough to eat.
One center in Thailand cares for these elephants. It gives them a safe and natural living space. When they are at the center, they stay in a building but are free to walk around. Students come from all over the world to help here. The student helpers work with the elephant keepers. These keepers train the students in caring for the elephants. In the morning, they go to the forest together and lead the elephants to the center. They clean them and give them food. In the afternoon. They take the animals back into the forest for the night. Helping at the center is interesting and the young people learn a lot.
1.Which country can you choose if you want to prepare yourself for a medical career?
A. India. B. Ghana. C. Thailand.
2.Which job might be suitable for the students who love children and arts?
A. Teaching young children B. Health care work C. Saving elephants
3.What does the underlined word “they” in the last paragraph probably refer to?
A. The keepers. B. The doctors . C. The elephants.
4.What does the writer think of the unusual educational program?
A. It is amazing. B. It is boring. C. It is helpful.
One morning,an old gardenner found lots of flowers missing.He was so angry that he shouted loudly, “Who did this?” In order to protect his flowers, he locked the garden gate in the evening.
The next morning,he found some of this flowers missing again. He decided to find out how that happened. When night came,he sat quitely to watch his garden.Soon he saw a tortoise(乌龟) moving slowly into the garden.
The gardener shouted, “I catch you this time!” The tortoise quickly said, “I’m sorry. If you really want to punish me,no matter what you decide to do, please do not throw me into the water. It’s terrible to die that way.”
“You destroyed so many of my beautiful flowers. I must punish you!” said the old gardener, and he quickly threw the tortoise into a lake next to his garden.
After a while , the tortoise swam away happily. The old gardener then knew that the tortoise was not afraid of water.
1.Why was the old gardenner so angry?
A. Because his flowers were not alive.
B. Because he found his flowers missing.
C. Because his flowers were not beautiful.
2.What did the gardenner do to protect his flowers at first?
A. He watched the flowers in the evening.
B. He locked the garden gate in the evening.
C. He did nothing in the evening.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. The old gardenner was very smart.
B. The tortoise was so clever.
C. The old gardenner was very happy.
Some time ago one of my chairs had a broken leg. I _________ think there would be any difficulty ______ getting it fixed, as there were a lot of furniture shops near my home. So I left home one morning with the chair. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). But I was quite wrong. The man didn’t even look at my chair.
In the _________ shop though, the situation was just the same, and in the third and in the fourth.
I entered ________ shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the ________ ,“Would you like to buy the chair ?” He ________ it carefully and said,“Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty dollars, ”I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty dollars,” I said. “Yes, I saw that. It’s nothing.”
________ was doing according to my plan. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will
be easy to _______ after the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, but I’ve changed my mind.” “You ______ be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny drooped. “I know what you want,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money _______ with too much trouble. But I’ll fix this for you.”
1.A. don’t B. didn’t C. do
2.A. in B. with C. on
3.A. two B. second C. twice
4.A. other B. another C. the other
5.A. customer B. shopkeeper C. agent
6.A. saw B. looked at C. watched
7.A. Something B. Anything C. Everything
8.A. buy B. use C. sell
9.A. must B. can C. might
10.A. but B. and C. or
– How beautiful your dress is!
– ________.
A. Yes, I like it. B. Not at all. C. Thank you.
