Earlier this year,my oldest daughter got braces on her teeth,and let's just say she did not go quietly into that dentist's chair.Fear and hate pretty much describe the days leading up to her first appointment. So when she finally walked out with shiny teeth,a sore mouth and a broken spirit,I told her I was proud of her and took her to Ben &Jerry's for an ice cream reward.Two weeks later,we returned to the scene of the crime.The dentist spent about 45 seconds checking her teeth before sending her on her merry way.Before I could start the car, she was placing her ice cream order.She was shocked when I told her that she wasn't going to get a reward every time we get her teeth checked. Clearly,she's not alone.According to some parenting experts,kids are easily addicted to a benefit--producing system of parental rewards and bribes--it's not all ice creams,candies and cool toys.Some parents are offering their children prizes to just let them sit down and behave in a restaurant--or sleep in their own beds--or score a goal in the next soccer game. While the experts agree that occasional awards are okay, the danger lies in the system's overuse.Kids quickly gain a sense of entitlement ,where they come to expect a big reward for every good thing that they do,no matter how small.To keep things in check,experts say parents should reduce the number of rewards they offer,make sure rewards match the behavior and explain the real benefits of behaving for the sake of behaving. Have you used bribery or a reward system with your kids? Was it successful? Do your kids expect more because of that system? Misguided by the parental reward system,children easily think _ . A) their parents must be far richer than others' B) they can be successful as long as they work hard. C) they should benefit from their every desired behavior. D) their parents will feel happy when they behave well.
C
Language-learners who say they never or hardly ever use dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes. The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. So they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English. The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables , they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check these in a dictionary. This passage mainly tells us _ . A) that students shouldn't use small two-language dictionaries B) what were the defects of small two-language dictionaries C) why students should use large college edition dictionaries D) what dictionary students should choose and how to use it
D
Q: Thanksgiving time came and all the relatives were gathered around the long table, or seated behind TV trays.The television was on and some folks were watching it while talking with one another.Something on television got their attention and one of the adults said, "Listen at it!" Someone else replied."Well, if that don't beat all." Simple phrases were spoken by folks whose language was simple and brief.They had several idioms that were just as colorful phrases and words that brightened the room and warmed the conversation.In school we were taught to speak differently.The way our relatives spoke was discouraged.Sometimes our parents would say things we weren't taught in school.They'd often correct themselves, as if getting rid of a mistake.Of course we learned some of their phrases and used them.They were comfortable words to pronounce, familiar. Our father's side of the family was from Arkansas and Oklahoma and they spoke with the accents native to their birth states.Their voices musical and often high , it was easy to pick up that effect in our own speech and at school my brother and I were often teased for the way we spoke.Our mother's side of the family came from Illinois and they had a tendency to talk fast.They had an accent, too, and my brother and I added that to our own speech, confusing the kids at school all the more.Our father's side of the family loved to laugh and have a good time.Our mother's side of the family was more serious about how they took life in; their joys more silently experienced and enjoyed.It was a rich picture of culture and it gave my brother and me a colorful view in life. Thanksgiving holiday was always an easy comfortable going day.It was the first real holiday of the season when everyone came together in one place, and a good time was spent happily together by all. What's the writer's attitude towards dialects? A) He liked them very much. B) They should be used everywhere. C) They should be taught in school. D) They were not accepted by others.
A: A
(Q).
Armed only with iPhones, the inventive rock band Atomic Tom has gone viral by way of the New York subway. The band has scored an Internet hit with the video to the song "Take Me Out." Singer Luke White says the production was a top-secret operation. "We didn't tell anyone about this. It was completely top-secret from our family, from our friends, from our label, our management, everybody. So the first time that people saw this video was last Friday when we put it on YouTube,"explained White. Since uploading the video to YouTube, band members have spent several days refreshing the page to watch the number of hits rise. The video has also made its way around Twitter as many people have shared it with their friends. "I mean, it still hasn' t quite hit.It' s just kind of blowing our minds right now that we're getting this: ma ny people are fond of it, and they' re sharing it with their friends.We don' t know what it's like really to have something that's viral, so all of this is very new to us." said Eric Espiritu, the lead guitarist of the band. White explains how the video came together: "We did our research with the applications( ) and found applications that worked out really well with the instruments and then we plugged them all into, plugged our phones into mini-battery powered amplifiers that we put underneath our seats, and we did a lot of, you know, practices, in terms of figuring out what the balance of the sound and like who was overpowering, who was too loud or who was too soft." The idea for the video came from Espiritu's younger brother Benjamin. The younger Espiritu directed the video from his initial concept through the final edit and upload to the Internet. "I' ve seen a lot of the music applications come out, and I' ve never actually had the chance to play with them,"says Ben Espiritu. "When I started hearing about how they sound and e verything, I thought it might be unique to take it one step further and then create an entire band just performing solely on the iPhones, and I thought it... What is the band members' attitude towards the sudden fame? A) They are thrilled. B) They are quite used to it. C) They are kind of confused. D) They are so excited as to tell everyone they know.
(A).
C