Americans are obsessed (着迷的) with telling their life stories. This phenomenon isn’t simply the product of the technological world. 1. People are eager to tell stories and are fascinated by those of others. Even at preschool, “sharing time” is a common Monday-morning activity where the teenagers will sit in a circle and take turns telling a story about something they did over the weekend.
2. In many Asian countries, talking about and drawing attention to oneself can be seen as socially inappropriate. People are often unwilling to share their life stories and do not encourage others to do so. But there are also times Asians do share their stories. 3. Asians believe that a person is largely decided by his or her social status and relationships, leaving little reason to broadcast detailed and revealing personal stories to establish a unique self.
Ironically, the more unique Americans strive to be, the greater their need to feel connected with others. In their culture of individuality, relationships are highly mobile and can be easily formed or dissolved(破裂).
Sharing personal stories brings them closer through the exchange of thoughts, feelings and desires. 4. But this motivation is not nearly as strong among Asians, for whom social relations are generally unconditional, obligatory(义不容辞的) and stable, and therefore require little maintenance(维护).
5. American parents encourage children to share their stories and create opportunities to re-experience the past with children. Asian parents, by contrast, engage their children in telling personal stories less frequently. When they do talk about a child’s experiences, they are not particularly concerned with parent-child bonding but tend to focus on disciplining the child.
A. They tend to focus more on outer facts than personal details.
B. It helps them shape their “selves” and makes them who they are.
C. Interestingly, this obsession is not necessarily shared in other cultures.
D. Talking about personal stories is to cheer people on with positive feelings.
E. It connects them like many different points, holding their society together.
F. Sharing personal stories is also an essential part in everyday conversations.
G. Parents in America and Asia differ in how they share memories with children.
The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
—Thomas Macaulay
Some thirty years ago, I was studying in a public school in New York. One day, Mrs. Nanette O'Neill gave an arithmetic ________ to our class. When the papers were marked she discovered that twelve boys had made exactly the ________ mistakes throughout the test.
There is nothing really new about ________ in exams. Perhaps that was why Mrs. O'Neill_________ even say a word about it. She only asked the twelve boys to ________ after class. I was one of the twelve.
Mrs. O'Neill asked ________ questions, and she didn't ________ us either. Instead, she wrote on the blackboard the ________ words by Thomas Macaulay. She then ordered us to ________ these words into our exercise-books one hundred times.
I don't ________ about the other eleven boys. Speaking for ________ I can say: it was the most important single ________ of my life. Thirty years after being introduced to Macaulay's words, they ________ seem to me the best yardstick(准绳), because they give us a ________ to measure ourselves rather than others.
________ of us are asked to make ________ decisions about nations going to war or armies going to battle. But all of us are called upon daily to make a great many personal decisions. ________ the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket_________ turned over to the policeman? Should the ________ change received at the store be forgotten or returned? Nobody will know except ________. But you have to live with yourself, and it is always better to live with someone you respect.
1.A. paper B. problem C. test D. lesson
2.A. easy B. funny C. same D. serious
3.A. lying B. cheating C. guessing D. discussing
4.A. didn't B. did C. would D. wouldn't
5.A. come B. leave C. apologize D. remain
6.A. no B. certain C. many D. more
7.A. excuse 
B. reject C. help D. scold
8.A. following B. common C. above D. unusual
9.A. repeat B. copy C. put D. get
10.A. worry B. know C. hear D. talk
11.A. myself B. ourselves C. themselves D. herself
12.A. chance B. incident C. lesson D. memory
13.A. even B. almost C. always D. still
14.A. way B. sentence C. choice D. reason
15.A. All B. Few C. Some D. None
16.A. quick B. wise C. great D. personal
17.A. Would B. Must C. Should D. Need
18.A. and B. or C. then D. but
19.A. extra B. small C. some D. necessary
20.A. me B. us C. you D. them
We already know the fastest, least expensive way to slow climate change: Use less energy. With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more—doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.
Not long ago, my wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is bending up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don't keep reducing emissions(排放) of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.
We decided to try an experiment. For one month we recorded our personal emissions of CO2. We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a strict diet. The average US household(家庭) produces about 150 pounds of CO2 a day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars. That's more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses. But how much should we try to reduce?
For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth. In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting(融化) of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. "To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent," he said.
Good advice, I thought. I'd opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind. We'd gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock. I'd almost forgotten the windows even opened. We should not let this happen again. It's time for us to change our habits if necessary.
1.Why did the author and his wife try a new diet?
A. To take special kinds of food.
B. To respond to climate change.
C. To lose weight.
D. To improve their health.
2.The underlined words "tipping points" most probably refer to ________.
A. freezing points B. burning points
C. melting points D. boiling points
3.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. it is necessary to keep the air-conditioning on all the time
B. it seems possible for every household to cut emissions of CO2
C. the average US household produces about 3,000 pounds of CO2 a month
D. the average European household produces about 1,000 pounds of CO2 a month
Research shows that childhood friendships are important indicators of future success and social adjustment. Children’s relationships with peers (同龄人) strongly influence their success in school, and children with fewer friends are more at risk of dropping out of school, becoming depressed and other problems.
Making and Keeping Friends Is More than Child’s Play
When 6yearold Rachel returned to school on a recent Monday morning, her eyes immediately scanned the playground for her friend Abbie. “Though they were only separated by a weekend, the girls ran right into each other’s arms and hugged,” recalls Rachel’s mother Kathryn Willis of Gilbert. “It was like a scene from a movie.”
Most parents instinctively (本能地) know that having friends is good for their child. Experts agree that friendship is not simply child’s play, but a powerful predictor of social adjustment throughout life.
A Skill for Life
“Childhood friendships serve as a very important training ground for adulthood,” says Dr.Robbie AdlerTapia, psychologist with the Center for Children’s Health & Life Development at the East Valley Family Resource Center.
Researcher William Hartup states, “Peer relations contribute significantly to both social and cognitive (认知的) development.” Hartup concludes that the single best childhood predictor of adult social adaptation is not school grades or classroom behavior, but rather, how well a child gets along with other children.
The work of Arizona State University professor of Developmental Psychology Gary Ladd proves that being able to make and keep friends is beneficial to kids while the lack of friends is detrimental.
Good Friendships Don’t Just Happen
Experts agree that it is essential for children to establish highquality friendships. But, researchers warn, these friendships don’t necessarily just happen. Often, a good friendship begins with involved parents.
Psychologist Dr.Lynne Kenney Markan believes kids should be taught social skills in much the same way they are taught math and reading.
Bad Company
Many parents worry about the quality as well as the quantity of their child’s friendships. “When she was in 1st grade, her supposed ‘best friend’ began calling her names and threatening to hurt her,” says Mindy Miller. “My daughter wasn’t allowed to talk to or even look at other girls in her class. It really crushed her spirit. I told my daughter she didn’t need a ‘friend’ like that.”
“I’ll bend over backwards(拼命) to help my son get together with a friend I think is good for him,” AdlerTapia says. “I don’t look at it as manipulation (操纵)，just positive parental involvement.”
1.The example of Rachel and Abbie is used to indicate that ________.
A. childhood friendship is of great significance to their growth
B. a positive friendship helps children solve emotional and physical problems
C. it is a proven fact that peer friendship is the most rewarding experience throughout life
D. Rachel missed her friend Abbie very much because of their separation of one weekend
2.The underlined word “detrimental” could be replaced by ________.
A. aggressive B. disappointing C. ridiculous D. harmful
3.We can learn from the passage that highquality friendship most probably results from ________.
A. social skills and good study habits
B. school grades and classroom behaviors
C. academic success and social adaptation
D. positive parental involvement and social skills
4.From the last paragraph we can conclude that Dr.Robbie AdlerTapia agrees that ________.
A. parents should regard making friends as something that just happens
B. it’s wise for parents to support and encourage healthy peer relationships
C. parents only need to help their children to cope with difficult social situations
D. parents are supposed to encourage their children to make as many friends as they can
One of the main challenges facing many countries is how to maintain their identity in the face of globalization and the growing multi-language trend. "One of the main reasons for economic failure in many African countries is the fact that, with a few important exceptions, mother-tongue education is not practiced in any of the independent African states." said Neville Alexander, Director of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa at the University of Cape Town.
In response to the spread of English and the increased multi-language trends arising from immigration, many countries have introduced language laws in the last decade. In some, the use of languages other than the national language is banned in public spaces such as advertising posters. One of the first such legal provisions(规定) was the 1994 "Toubon law" in France, and the idea has been copied in many countries since then. Such efforts to govern language use are often considered as futile by language experts, who are well aware of the difficulty in controlling fashions in speech and know from research that language switching among bilinguals is a natural process.
It is especially difficult for native speakers of English to understand the desire to maintain the "purity" of a language by law. Since the time of Shakespeare, English has continually absorbed foreign words into its own language. English is one of the most mixed and rapidly changing languages in the world, but that has not been a barrier to acquiring superiority and power. Another reason for the failure of many native English speakers to understand the role of the state regulation is that it has never been the Anglo-Saxon way of doing things. English has never had a state-controlled authority for the language, similar, for example, to the Academic Francaise in France.
The need to protect national languages is, for most western Europeans, a recent phenomenon-------especially the need to ensure that English does not unnecessarily take over too many fields. Public communication, education and new ways of communication promoted by technology, may be key fields to defend.
1.Neville Alexander believes that __________.
A. mother-tongue education is not practiced in all African countries
B. globalization has resulted in the economic failure of Africa
C. globalization has led to the rise of multi-language trend
D. lack of mother-tongue education can lead to economic failure
2.The underlined word "futile" (in paragraph 2) most probably means " ___________".
A. workable B. practical
C. useless D. unnecessary
3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. English has taken over fields like public communication and education.
B. Many aspects of national culture are threatened by the spread of English.
C. Most language experts believe it is important to promote a national language.
D. Europeans have long realized the need to protect a national language.
4.The best title for the passage is __________.
A. Fighting against the rule of English
B. Protecting local languages and identities
C. Globalization and multi-language trend
D. To maintain the purity of language by law
假定你是李华，是你校模拟联合国大会[Model United Nations（MUN）] 主席。你校将举办第五次模联活动，请给你们的外教Smith老师写封信，邀请他担任指导老师（advisor）。信的内容包括：
1. 主题：全球气候；
2. 举办时间和地点
3. 指导老师的任务。
注意：
1. 词数100词左右；
2.可以适当的增加细节，以使行文连贯。
