It's 6 a.In.dark and damp.The gentle mist makes it somewhat difficult to find school bus No.330 parked by the east fence, even with my flashlight. For so many times.it's occurred to me that I've found a strange way of easing into retirement --wheeling a school bus around the streets of Minnetonka, _ elementary and middle-school kids to and from school. Having spent the past 10 years before retirement as a family counselor, I figured that driving a school bus would give me a chance to reconnect with young people, and get me out of the house more ofen. Anyway, I'm learning a lot driving a school bus and I've learned a lot form my fellow drivers. If the kids are paying attention, they can learn it, too. The course is Life 101. The title is Self-Awareness and Self-Management. And the school bus drivers are, for a few minutes each morning and evening, teachers. These drivers are in fact people from different backgrounds, including retired folks-like a onetime corporate CEO, a onetime lawyer, a former teacher, a former investment banker. Some are younger stay-at-home moms, displaced managers , and people throwing their shoulders into a challenging economy. If the kids are paying attention, they may learn important things form these drivers, like discipline, kindness, and courage. How can kids know the discipline that it takes to rise every morning before sunrise,to travel to a cold garage and enter a large box of iron--checking it out from beginning to end----ensuring that it allows all the kids a safe ride? Do they recognize the challenge of being kind and respectful when one's financial _ may be coming down? Do children really understand the courage it takes to get up when snow is piling high and drive a school bus,facing all ultimate fear----an injured child? While academics are vital, self--awareness, self--management and personal responsibility are life--changing. What's the best title of the passage? A) A School Bus Driver in the Gentle Mist B) A School Bus Driver's Training Manual C) A School Bus Driver's Lesson on Life D) A School Bus Driver And His Story
C
(Question)
Time out, extra chores and taking away privileges are more useful forms of disciplining naughty children than spanking or hitting, according to a study on Wednesday. About 94 percent of parents use some form of physical punishment to teach their two-year-olds right from wrong, according to research studies. But psychologists say it could lead to later emotional and behavioral problems. Even children who were only spanked some of time are more likely to show signs of sadness or have less confidence. "The key is to be fair and do the same thing each time. Doing something like hitting a child that seems cruel at best doesn't help and can put a child at risk for problems," said Dr Paul Frick, of theprefix = st1 /UniversityofNew Orleansin Louisians. "It is better to use other punishments," he added. The use of physical punishment to teach children has long been debated. In countries such asAustria,Finland,GermanyandSweden, it is illegal to use physical punishment at home or in schools. Frick and his team, who studied the effects of physical punishment on 98 children, said they couldn't find any positive effects. Some children learned more from the hitting than what the parent was trying to teach them. "The key is to have a lot of different forms of punishment depending on the age of the child," said Frick, who reported his findings in the Journal of Applied Child Psychology. He recommended time out for younger children and taking away television and electronic toys for older children. Giving extra chores can also get the message across. Other measures are at least as effective as physical punishment and have less harmful potential consequences. The researchers kept children whom they thought were at risk of later conduct problems out of the test and an equal number of other children who acted as a control group, to study what measures would be most helpful. They questioned the parents and the children about positive and negative parenting behavior including the use of physical... What's the purpose of the writer to write this article? A) To debate if physical punishment is illegal. B) To introduce how to deal with young kids. C) To order parents not to spank young kids. D) To talk about how to discipline young kids.
(Answer)
D
I needed to get some money so, after Christmas, I took a job in the clothes department at Graham's for the first fortnight of the January sale.I can't say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience I'll never forget. I could never understand why there were so many things in the sales, where did they all come from? Now I know the secret! Firstly, there is the special winter stock and the stock that people buy all the year round; some of these things are slightly reduced.Secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn't sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them.Thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put out at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale.Clever! Lastly, they buy in "seconds"(clothes not in perfect condition) for the sale and they are sold very cheaply. When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already a queue around three sides of the building.This made me very nervous. When the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards looking less confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand.The moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd charged in.I couldn't believe my eyes; this wasn't shopping, it was a battlefield! One poor lady couldn't keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind. Clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted.Quarrels broke out.Mothers were using their small children to crawl through people's legs and get hold of things they couldn't get near themselves. Within minutes I had half a dozen people pushing clothes under my nose; each wanting to be the first served.Where had the famous English queue gone? The whole day continued like that, but I kept my temper81 was taking money hand over fist and began to realize why twice a year, Graham's were happy to turn their expensive store into a battlefield like... What kind of clothes is likely to be s0ld 5% cheaper? A) Last summer's clothes, B) Clothes not in perfect condition. C) Clothes bought in specially for the sales. D) Clothes for winter.
D