Terry Thomas has a very boring job ,although it pays very well .What Terry does is sitting in a rowboat all day long .He makes $ 16.37 an hour ,which is certainly an excellent wage for sitting in a little boat and doing nothing. The boat stays all day under a bridge that is being rebuilt. There is a distance of about 100 feet between the boat and the workers on the bridge overhead. The rest of Terry's fellow workers are up on the bridge working. Terry's job is to rescue anyone who falls off the bridge into the water. So far, no one has given him anything to do .Although he's delighted that none of his companions has fallen into the water, he also admits that the job is very boring because there is nothing to do. No one on the work crew really wants duty on the boat. But the job is a union requirement, and it must be filled. To quality for the job, a person must be an excellent swimmer and have training in lifesaving skills. Only a few men on the work crew meet those standards. Before Terry took the boat job, several others had it and gave up because they found it so tedious. What does Terry do in his little boat all day? He spends a good bit of time making sure that his suntan lotion is adequate for the job of protecting his skin. He reads and listens to the radio .Each day he looks forward to lunch and then to quitting time. What's the best title for the passage? A) A Boring Job B) The Man in a Rowboat C) A Job of Great Skill D) Hard Physical Labor
A
(Question)
Many parents have learned the hard way that what sounds like open communication is often the very thing that closes a youngster's ears and mouth. One common mistake is the The Lecture, the long _ that often starts with "When I was your age...." Eighteen-year-old Kelly calls lectures "long, one-side discussions in which I don't say much." Kids reflexively shut down in the face of a lecture. Their eyes glaze over, and they don't register any incoming information. Listen to 13-year-old Sarah describe her least favorite times with her mom and dad. "First, they scream. Then comes the 'We're so disappointed' speech. Then the 'I never did that to my parents' lecture begins. After that, even if they realize how ridiculous they sound, they never take it back." Lines like "When you have children of your own, you'll understand" have been seriously said by parents since time immemorial. But many of our expert parents, like Bobby, a registered nurse and mother of three, feel that by falling back on cliches to justify our actions, we weaken our position. Since kids are creatures of the here and now, the far-off future has no relevance to them. Therefore, good communicators like Bobby suggest, "Give specific reasons for your actions in present language: 'I'm not letting you go to the party because I don't think there will be enough adult supervisions .'" Betty, who lives in Missiouri, uses an indirect approach. "I find that warnings are accepted more readily if I discuss a news article on a subject I am concerned about. My husband and I talk about it while our children absorb the information. Then they never think I'm preaching." This really helped when Betty's kids began driving. Instead of constantly repeating "Don't drink; don't speed," she would talk about articles in the paper and express sympathy for the victims of a car crash. Betty made no special effort to draw her kids into the conversation. She depended on a teen-ager's strong desire to put in his opinions---especially if he thinks he isn't being asked for them. Which of the following statements is NOT right? A) Kids won't listen to their parents because they think what their parents say is boring. B) Many kids think they have no right to express their own opinions. C) Some kids think their parents should apologize when they are wrong. D) Kids don't like any discussion at all.
(Answer)
D
Ques: Twenty courses provided by 18 top Chinese universities went online on Wednesday, China's latest attempt to disseminate teaching resources within the nation and promote Chinese culture globally. These courses cover 20 subjects or lectures given by speakers and professors from several universities, including Zhejiang University, Nankai University and Wuhan University.Most of the courses will focus on traditional Chinese culture, according to the Ministry of Education. They are available through the websites of NetEase and China Network Television, as well as icourse.edu.cn, for free. Some of the courses will be translated into English and promoted across the rest of the world, according to NetEase Company, an international body promoting open content among the world's universities. The company has set up a translation team and "will kick off the translation work when we finish the negotiation on intellectual rights with universities", said Zhu Xirui, a senior manager for NetEase Company. "We want to promote Chinese culture to overseas netizens through the program," he said. Ding Xiuhong, another manager of NetEase Company, said they had invested more than 15 million yuan($2.37 million)in the program. "Although we haven't made a profit from 'the program, it will at least help increase our website's page views," Ding said. "I'd like to watch the Chinese elite classes, such as Chinese literature and poetry, as well as economy," said Jeremy Scaramuzzi, a teacher at Tsinghua International School. He said he was also interested in Chinese classes on political science since that is the subject he majored in in the United States. It can be inferred from the passage that _ . A) the investors are making some profits B) the translation work is being carried out C) the program has gained great popularity D) the courses are given in Chinese at present
Ans: D
Teens are more likely to behave badly if their parents expect them to,a new US study has found. "Parents who believe they are simply being realistic might actually be having a bad effect on their children," Christy Buchanan,a teacher at Wake Forest University and one of the authors of the study,said. "Bad expectations on the part of both parents and children predict more rebellious behaviors later on." The finding came from a study of more than 250 sixth and seventhgraders and their mothers. They were examined at the start of the study and again one year later. If kids' mothers expected them to take more risks and be more rebellious,higher chances of risky behavior were seen. _ _ _ when kids had bad expectations of themselves. "Sometimes parents expect more negative behavior from their children than they should based on the children's history of behavior," Buchanan said.Parents shouldn't be naive about the possibility of bad behavior,she said,but it's also a mistake to think that children who are wellbehaved will naturally become rebellious at the age of 13. "By thinking risktaking or rebelliousness is normal for teenagers and showing that to their children,parents might add to other messages from society that make teenagers feel that they are strange if they are not willing to take risks or break laws," she said."This can mean,for example,that when parents expect teens to drink before they turn 21 or to do other risky behaviors,kids are less likely to refuse to do so later in their lives." On the other hand,parents' expectations that teens can exhibit good behaviors and refuse to behave badly or to take risks could help reduce the possibility of bad behavior,Buchanan said."As a parent,you should put expectations on your children carefully." What might be the most suitable title for the passage? A) Risktaking is normal for teens. B) Why are my teens behaving badly? C) Don't expect too much from your teens. D) Bad expectations lead to badbehaving teens.
D