I was very sympathetic with world leaders burdened with resolving conflicts between nations. When my three children were young, in most days it was hard to keep my house from becoming a war zone. It got worse as they grew older. Three years ago, Zack, then 16, couldn't make it through a day without playing tricks on his sisters, Alex and Taryn, then 11 and 9. My husband and I tried to understand his adolescent moodiness. We begged, reasoned, punished, and left heartfelt notes on his bed about how his behavior was hurting our family. His response was a shrug and "I say it because it's true". I even tried telling the girls to fight back. But it was a bad idea. Now I had three kids at war. At wit's end, I poured my heart out to my sister in an e-mail. She wrote back, "Don't e-mail me. E-mail him." Our son was online every day, mailing and instantly messaging his friends. So what if I was within shouting distance? Maybe he would actually hear me this way. There'd be no yelling or door slamming . Zack wouldn't feel under attack. And with a few simple keystrokes, he could respond. Or not. Zack didn't reply for days. When he finally did, his entire message was four words. I expected the worst, but then smiled when I read them, "You are right. I'm sorry." The kids still fought, of course, but Zack scaled back the abuse . Best of all, I now have an effective way to communicate with not one but three easily annoyed teens. They don't tune me out as much. They don't like to listen to me nag .Or as Alex says, "You're so much nicer online." All I know is that the house is quiet, and we're talking. In fact, Taryn just instantly messaged me from upstairs. It's time to take her to softball practice. By the first sentence of the passage, the author really means to be _ . A) humourous B) sympathetic C) serious D) inspiring
A
Encouragement and praise can come in many forms, and some ways are better for child development than others. Researchers at the University of Chicago who studied mother-child interactions found that the type of praise children receive affects their attitudes towards challenges later in life. Specifically, praise that focused on their behavior and the choices that kids made helped them deal with difficult experiences better five years later, compared with praise that focused more on the child himself, like "You're a good boy." The study, which appears in the journal Child Development, is the first major study of praise and child development done outside of a lab setting. "It's exciting to see _ play out in the real world," said Elizabeth Gunderson who led the study. "Praising the efforts, actions and work of kids is going to be more beneficial in their long-term persistence and desire to be challenged and work hard in the future." Such "process praise" includes comments such as "You worked really hard", which emphasize a child's actions. "Person praise" includes comments like "You're so smart", which focus on a child's personal qualities. These distinctions aren't new in the field of psychology, but exactly how they affect children's development over the years hasn't always been clear. As part of the study, the researchers visited the homes of more than 50 kids between the ages of 1 and 3, and filmed their daily interactions with their parents during 90-minute sessions. Five years later, the researchers followed up with the families, measuring the children's attitudes towards challenges and problem solving. The children who grew up with more process praise were more open to challenges. Though person praise didn't seem to have any negative effect on the children, the study suggests that process praise teaches children that their talents and abilities can be developed and improved, while person praise sends the message that their abilities are fixed and therefore not easily changed. Which of the following belongs to "progress praise"? A) You did a good job! B) What an adorable boy! C) You're a real gentleman! D) We are so proud of you!
A
Q: It is believed that it took about 800 thousand to 1 million years for the earth's population to reach the 250 million total which existed at the end of the first century AD. For some time after that, disease, famine and war kept the population increase down to a rate of 1 percent a year so that more than 15 centuries passed before the population reached 500 million. But in the next 250 years, up to 1850, the population of the world shot to 1 billion and today it has reached 3.5 billion. Scientists say that in the next 35 years the population of the world will double, reaching almost 7 billion by the year 2010. When experts are asked what are the most effective measures that can stop over population, they reply that at least three measures can be considered. (A) Increasing sources and supply of food for under-developed countries. (B) Increasing the industrialization of under- developed countries. (C) Controlling birth. The experts add, however, that none of the above measures can be effective by itself, and that all must be combined into one whole program. They also agree that without controlling of births, any other measures are doomed to failure. The population _ because of disease, famine and war. A) didn't increase B) became less C) increased slowly D) still increased very fast
A: C
(Question)
"Just take a deep breath." "Don't think about it." "You're more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash." These are just some words given to people with a fear of flying. But as Tom Cruise, playing Lt. Daniel Kaffee in the movie A Few Good Men, said, "I get sick when I fly because I'm afraid of crashing into a large mountain. I don't think Daniel will help." But there's a new application that just may. Today, the VALK Foundation, a Dutch group that's a partnership between KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the University of Leiden, launches the app in the US. The VALK Foundation was one of the first centers for research and fear-of-flying treatment in the world and is the organizer of three world conferences on fear of flying.The foundation said the app, called Flight App VALK, is the first scientifically-developed, web-based treatment for people who suffer from mild to moderate fear of flying. "The fear of flying application we have created aims to transfer all of the knowledge we have developed through our program into a mobile application that will help ease travelers' fears," said Dr. Lucas van Gerwen, director of the VALK Foundation. Dr. van Gerwen is also a psychologist and professional pilot with more than 30 years experience. The foundation said up to 30% of adults are fearful fliers. The Flight App is designed to help relax passengers before and during flights by educating users about flight safety and turbulence. It explains the sounds and sensations they can expect during departure, flight and landing. And, if a passenger's flight stress reaches a panic level, they press a special panic button which provides audio and written information to help decrease stress levels. Most importantly, the Flight App can be used during the flight in the airplane mode. Once downloaded, the program does not require Internet connection in the air. By saying the words at the beginning of the passage, people are expected to _ . A) decrease their fear of flying B) get rid of their doubt about plane C) have a good time on their flight journey D) use some medicine to cure their fear of flying
(Answer)
A