One potential problem with allowances is that children’s responsible behavior can become about earning the allowance rather than the intrinsic(固有的)value of their family responsibilities. For example, if you pay your children for taking out the rubbish, they see this chore (家務(wù)事) as a job that they should be rewarded for instead of a responsibility they must fulfill as part of the family. But giving children an allowance for weekly chores is not necessarily bad. You are rewarding them for fulfilling their family responsibilities, but it is not for a specific act. It is an appreciation of their commitment to your family values. You are also conveying another important message that their actions have consequences: if they do good things, good things happen. They also learn a lesson about the market economy, namely that work is rewarded.
Allowances can also be used as punishment and to teach children lessons about family values. For example, if your children join a group of kids smashing (砸碎) pumpkins on Halloween, a part of a reasonable punishment might be to require them to pay the families out of their allowance to replace the pumpkins. Thus, your children learn that bad behavior has financial consequences. Meanwhile, by relating the punishment to the misdeed, you ensure that your children see the connection and learn the value lesson.
How much allowance should you pay your children? The precise amount depends on your family’s financial situation, the cost of living and your children’s needs. Children can start to earn a weekly allowance as early as 5 years of age. An increase of $ 1 per week for each year of your children’s lives is realistic until they reach their mid-teens. When they begin to drive and date, you can calculate their expenses and establish a reasonable allowance that covers their needs.
小題1:The first paragraph mainly tells us that giving allowance to children may____________.

A．lead to children’s preference for money rather than anything else

B．lead to children’s preference for earning money on their own

C．cause the problem that children value money more than responsibilities

D．cause children to earn money instead of going to school

小題2:When your children join a group of kids smashing pumpkins on Halloween, ___________.

A．you should give them some allowances to pay for the pumpkins

B．they should be rid of their opportunity to celebrate Halloween

C．you should ensure your children see the connection with their lessons

D．they should face the consequence of losing their own money

小題3:It can be inferred from the passage that_____________.

A．the author doesn’t want to give any tips on the allowance amount

B．a(chǎn)llowances given to children of different ages may vary

C．children under 6 can’t be given any allowance

D．the allowance amount grows depending on the amount other children receive

A certain student passed all his examinations. Then he went to college to  1  his studies. There he wrote down his  2  for a course in English, but after the first 3 , he didn’t go to it any more.
The English lecturer  4  this student was always absent (缺席的) and thought he had  5  to another course, so he was  6  when he saw the boy’s name on the list of students who wanted to take the English  7 at the end of this year.
The lecturer had  8  a difficult paper, which followed his  9 closely, and he was eager (急切的) to see  10  this student would answer the questions. He  11  the boy’s answers would be very bad, but when they  12  him and he examined them  13 , he was able to find only one small mistake in them. As this surprised him greatly, he  14  the paper repeatedly but still couldn’t find more than one, so he  15  for the student to question him about it.
When he came and sat down, the lecturer asked him, “I  16  you came to my first lecture and you’ve been absent from all the others. But I’ve examined your  17  carefully and I’ve found only one small mistake in it. I’m curious (好奇的) to know your  18 .”
“I’m very  19  about that mistake,” answered the student. “After the examination, I  20  what I should have done. I would not have made that mistake if I had not been confused by your first lecture.” 

小題1:	A．value B．continue C．improve D．begin

小題2:	A．questions B．a(chǎn)nswers C．problems D．name

小題3:	A．week B．lecture C．meet D．sight

小題4:	A．heard B．regretted C．noticed D．believed

小題5:	A．a(chǎn)dapted B．devoted C．gone D．changed

小題6:	A．surprised B．a(chǎn)ngry C．pleased D．unhappy

小題7:	A．test B．subject C．note D．course

小題8:	A．discovered B．prepared C．invented D．found

小題9:	A．ideas B．reports C．lectures D．texts

小題10:

A．when B．what C．why D．how

小題11:

A．hoped B．proved C．expected D．wished

小題12:

A．showed B．gave C．handed D．reached

小題13:

A．carelessly B．carefully C．slowly D．happily

小題14:

A．enjoyed B．kept C．did D．examined

小題15:

A．cared B．called C．sent D．looked

小題16:

A．promise B．know C．a(chǎn)dvise D．guess

小題17:

A．lessons B．paper C．notebook D．exercises

小題18:

A．wisdom B．experience C．method D．explanation

小題19:

A．glad B．nervous C．bitter D．sorry

小題20:

A．realized B．understood C．remembered D．suffered

Agatha Christie went out at night．She never forgot the night when she met a robber many years ago．
That evening, she was invited to a birthday party which lasted until 2 o’clock in the morning．Agatha walked in the quiet street alone． Suddenly from the shadow of a dark building a tall man with a sharp knife in his right hand ran out at her． “Good morning, lady,” the man said in a low voice, “I don't think you wish to die here!”
“What do you want?” Agatha asked．
“Your earrings(耳環(huán))． Take them off!”
Agatha suddenly had a bright idea． She tried to cover her necklace with the collar (衣領(lǐng) ) of her overcoat while she used the other hand to take off both of her earrings and then she quickly threw them on the ground．
“Take them and let me go,” she said． The robber saw that the girl didn’t care for the earrings at all, only trying to protect the necklace． He thought the necklace would cost more, so he said, “Give me your necklace．”
“Oh, sir． It’s not worth much． Please let me keep it．”
“Stopping rubbish(廢話)． Quick!”
With shaky hands, Agatha took off her necklace． As soon as the robber disappeared, she picked up her earrings and ran as fast as she could to one of her friends．
The earrings cost 480 pounds and the necklace the robber had taken away cost only six pounds．
小題1:Agatha never forgot the night, for she _______．

A．was robbed of her earrings

B．had a good time at the birthday party

C．was robbed of her necklace

D．was robbed, but she fooled the robber

小題2:The birthday party ___________．

A．was over at 2	B．didn’t end after 2
C．ended before 2	D．didn’t end at 2

小題3:Which of the following is not true? ______．

A．Agatha pretended not to care for her earrings

B．Agatha pretended to care for her necklace

C．Agatha really cared for her earrings

D．Agatha didn’t care for her earrings at all because they were not too expensive

小題4:After reading the story，you may know that Agatha was a _____ girl．

A．brave and famous	B．clever and brave
C．foolish	D．beautiful

You must know the “ding dong ditch”. Person A rings Person B’s doorbell, and then quickly runs away or hides before Person B answers. Person B hurries to answer the door, only to find that no one’s there. After the  1 thing is repeated several times, this is called “ding dong ditch”.
Sharon Mardis, a single mother of four, told ABC News that she  2 a “ding dong ditch” when she  3  to her door at 1:00 am last night.
“My doorbell started ringing,  4  I came to the door,” Sharon told ABC News. “There was 5  at the door. I went back in the house. I got ten or twenty  6  and the doorbell started ringing again. I came back to the door, still nobody at the door.” She got  7  and stepped outside, shouting, “Who’s that? What on earth are you going to do?” There was just  8 .
But after Sharon returned to the house, she  9 something. Smoke! Sharon quickly  10  her kids and the family pets and ran out of the house. Only then did she  11  how bad the fire was. The  12 of the house fell down; the house was quickly  13  by flames. The smoke detectors(探測(cè)器) had never  14  : they were out of batteries. Good thing for the doorbell.
The  15  is who had rung it.  16  found that the flames has fused(熔化) the wires of the doorbell together, causing it to ring. But  17 , the fire had nothing to do with the doorbell wiring at all. It had started in the bathroom, well down the hall. From there, the flames didn’t spread to the nearby  18 , where the children and Sharon were sleeping.  19 , they surprisingly reached the doorbell first, making it ring repeatedly, and  20 Sharon to avoid danger.
Sharon believes it happened that way thanks to an angel.

小題1:	A．special B．same C．important D．serious

小題2:	A．experienced B．followed C．learned D．practiced

小題3:	A．fell B．turned C．responded D．returned

小題4:	A．though B．but C．because D．a(chǎn)nd

小題5:	A．somebody B．nobody C．something D．nothing

小題6:	A．miles B．centimeters C．feet D．kilometers

小題7:	A．tired B．a(chǎn)ngry C．worried D．interested

小題8:	A．cry B．noise C．silence D．laugh

小題9:	A．hit B．touched C．heard D．smelled

小題10:

A．gathered B．settled C．comforted D．frightened

小題11:

A．wonder B．dream C．realize D．a(chǎn)gree

小題12:

A．paintings B．roof C．lights D．floor

小題13:

A．covered B．separated C．blocked D．stopped

小題14:

A．moved off B．left off C．taken off D．gone off

小題15:

A．fact B．opinion C．mistake D．question

小題16:

A．Nurses B．Firefighters C．Teachers D．Doctors

小題17:

A．fortunately B．strangely C．honestly D．clearly

小題18:

A．kitchen B．hall C．bathroom D．bedroom

小題19:

A．Instead B．Therefore C．Thus D．Then

小題20:

A．ordering B．encouraging C．warning D．a(chǎn)dvising

Good manners play an important part in maintaining（保持）peace in society. A man with good manners doesn’t hurt others’ feelings, and therefore he’s on good terms with everyone. In this way he helps to keep the peace in society.
But a man with bad manners has no respect for others. He uses words carelessly and behaves rudely towards others and causes a lot of unpleasantness. In the end, he himself will suffer the most. Everyone avoids him and he is forced to live alone.
To live well in society, money alone is not enough. Even the richest man cannot afford to have bad manners. He may have enough money to buy all things he wants; but if his manners are bad, he will have no friends, and no one can live happily without friends.
We should have good manners, for it’s human nature to try to get friendship; and friendship has to be earned （獲得）through our own attitude towards others. If we are kind to others, they will be kind to us, and kindness is the most basic quality of good manners. Bad manners drive away friends as well as our own family members.
On the other hand, a man with good manners has many friends. He commands the respect of all those who come into contact（聯(lián)系）with him. He doesn’t talk ill about others. Even when he’s provoked, he tries his best not to upset others. He also feels sorry about the weak and the disabled.
There are, however, many people who behave so well outside their homes that they are respected by everyone outside. But in their own homes they are worse than the devil（魔鬼）. Such people cannot be said to have good manners. Their behavior will soon be discovered by others.
If one’s manners are good, one behaves well everywhere, even when one is away from the critical（愛(ài)挑剔的）eyes of others. Only such a person can live well in society.
小題1:People with good manners bring society _____.

A．peace

B．enjoyment

C．respect

D．friendship

小題2:What does the author mainly want to tell us in Paragraph 4 ?

A．People are born friendly.

B．Bad manners make people lose friends.

C．Money is not the most important.

D．Kind people will be treated kindly.

小題3:The underlined word “provoked” in the passage may mean _____.

A．tired

B．sad `

C．made angry

D．left alone

小題4:What’s the main idea of the passage ?

A．Kindness is important.

B．Friendship is important.

C．Good manners are important.

D．People with bad manners can’t live well.

The following is a timetable in Shanghai Pudong International Airport．

Airline	Flight Number	Destination	Departure	Gate
Air Canada	137	Beijing	10:12 a．m．	24
Japanese Airlines	320	Tokyo	10:30 a．m．	18
British Airways	405	Paris	11:00 a．m．	20
Pan American	226	London	11:20 a．m．	12
Pan American	12	Beijing	11:43 a．m．	15
Air Canada	178	Tokyo	12:32 a．m．	21
CAAC	289	Hong Kong	12:32 a．m．	14
CAAC	314	Moscow	12:45 a．m．	18
British Airways	230	New York	12:55 a．m．	23

小題1: A man wants to take Flight 178 to Tokyo. Which gate should he go to?

A．14

B．28

C．21

D．18

小題2:Lisa is at gate 23. Where is she going?

A．Paris

B．Beijing

C．Tokyo

D．New York

小題3:Now it’s 10:40. Mary is at gate 20. Which airline’s plane will she take?

A．British Airways	B．Japanese Airlines
C．Pan American	D．Air Canada

小題4:Gate _______ is the busiest among all these gates.

A．23

B．18

C．24

D．15

Winter is dangerous because it’s so difficult to know what is going to happen and accidents take place so easily. Fog can be waiting to meet you over the top of a hill. Ice might be hiding under the melting (融化) snow, waiting ahead to send you off the road. The car coming to you may suddenly slip（滑） across the road.
Rule No.1 for driving on icy roads is to drive smoothly (平穩(wěn)地). Sudden movements can make a car very difficult to control. So every time you either start or stop your car, increase or reduce your speed, you must be as gentle and slow as possible. Suppose you are driving with a full cup of hot coffee on the seat next to you. Drive so that you wouldn’t spill (濺) it.
Rule No.2 is to pay attention to what might happen. The more ice there is, the further down the road you have to look. Test how long it takes to gently stop your car. Remember that you may be driving more quickly than you think. Generally, allow twice of your usual stopping distance when the road is wet, three times this distance on snow than usual, and even more on ice. Try to stay in control of your car at all time and you will not get into trouble.
小題1:The writer tries to _____ in this passage.

A．show his dislikes about bad winter weather

B．give information about winter weather

C．a(chǎn)sk people not to drive in winter

D．a(chǎn)dvise people about safe driving in winter

小題2:According to the passage, the writer thinks that _______.

A．people should not drive in the snow

B．drivers should think more about problems in winter driving

C．people drive too fast in winter

D．winter drivers should stop their cars less

小題3:In the passage the writer talks about a cup of coffee ______.

A．to show how important smooth movements are

B．to ask the drivers to bring some soft drinks with them

C．to tell the drivers to be more relaxed

D．to show how it can be spilled

小題4:Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Traffic accidents take place easily in winter.

B．Fog and melting snow often cause car accidents.

C．The stopping distance on ice is as long as the usual one.

D．In winter you should drive your car with great care.

Laws to stop tigers, camels, zebras and snakes being used as performing animals in circuses have been announced by the government.
The environment minister, Jim Paice, hoped the laws would be brought in before the end of the parliament in 2015, which is the main law-making institution of the UK. At present between 35 and 50 wild animals are thought to be used by circuses in England and Defra offered to help find new homes for the retired performers.
The announcement follows a campaign by animal charity organization for the ban (禁令), which became worse when a video appeared last year of a circus elephant being beaten by a worker. Campaigners were angry when Paice previously announced tougher licensing instead.
Circus Mondao, whose website shows zebra and camels, said it would probably challenge the suggested ban. The circus is a member of the European Circus Association, which previously challenged Austria's ban, saying there was no scientific evidence (證據(jù)) that the animals were harmed by the travelling or conditions. On its website, Mondao says that when it travels animals are the last to be loaded and the first to be unloaded; they are moved to tents within an hour of arriving, and are usually moved 20-50 miles.
Animal charities welcomed the move, but called for ministers to speed up the laws. Asked why circuses would be banned from keeping wild animals but not domestic animals such as horses, a Defra spokesman said a key difference was that domesticated animals were more used to conditions such as travelling. "Wild animals aren't domesticated: we feel it's not right ethically (倫理上) for wild animals to perform," he said.
小題1:What is the proper order of the following events ?
a. Tougher licensing was announced by the environment minister.
b. A campaign for a ban was launched by an animal charity.
c. Laws were announced by the government.
d. The suggested ban was challenged by Circus Mondao.

A．b, d, c, a

B．c, b, a, d

C．b, a, c, d

D．c, a, d, b

小題2:According to the text, which of the following is TRUE?

A．Retired performers are taken good care of in their new homes.

B．The environment minister expected to introduce the law during the present parliament.

C．Austria’s ban has been seriously challenged by all the European circuses.

D．Animal charities were not satisfied with the suggested laws at all.

小題3:“Domestic animals ” are probably      .

A．a(chǎn)nimals that provide meat for people

B．a(chǎn)nimals that are introduced from other countries

C．a(chǎn)nimals that are well trained by a circus

D．a(chǎn)nimals that live on farm or in people’s home

Careercast.com is out with its list of best and worst jobs of 2012. It’s bad news for the writer of this story, but much brighter for the folks who program the code that keeps this website busy.
Using a method that looked at physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook, career Website Careercast.com, ranked the top 200 jobs. They also ranked the jobs with the most stress. Not surprisingly, none of the most stressful jobs show up on the best jobs list.
At the top is software engineer and at the bottom is the lumberjack. Cutting trees failed to skate above the bottom 10 percent in all ranking categories, except income. “Unemployment for lumberjacks is very high, and the demand for their services is expected to continue to fall through 2016. And while working outside all day may seem like a great job perk(有額外津貼的工作), being a lumberjack not only is considered the worst job, but also one of the world’s most dangerous,” according to Careercast.com. And, for that most dangerous job, a lumberjack earns a little more than $32,000 a year. That’s about $56,000 less than the easy job of a software engineer, which has the average salary at $88,000 a year, according to Careercast.
Here’s a complete look at the best and worst jobs. And, take a look at the most stressful jobs. You may be surprised.
Best Jobs                     Worst Jobs             Most Stressful Jobs
Software Engineer                   Lumberjack              Enlisted Soldier
Actuary                         Dairy Farmer                Firefighter
Human Resources Manager         Enlisted Military Soldier       Airline Pilot
Dental Hygienist                    Oil Rig Worker         Military General
Financial Planner                   Reporter (Newspaper)        Police Officer
Audiologist                     Waiter/Waitress         Event Coordinator
Occupational Therapist              Meter Reader                Public Relations Executive
Online Advertising Manager          Dishwasher              Corporate Executive Computer Systems Analyst          Butcher                 Photojournalist
Mathematician                       Broadcaster             Taxi Driver
小題1:Who might be most interested in the passage?

A．Job-hunters.	B．Net surfers.
C．Employers.	D．Educators.

小題2:Which of the following was not considered when Careercast.com ranked the top 200 jobs?

A．Hiring outlook.	B．Pressure.
C．Mental demands.	D．Salary.

小題3:What do we know about the lumberjack?

A．Although the lumberjack has high unemployment, it isn’t considered the worst job.

B．On the best jobs list, the lumberjack isn’t at the bottom.

C．More lumberjacks’ services will be needed after 2016.

D．A lumberjack earns less than half of a software engineer’s salary a year.

小題4:According to the passage, the list is good news for ______.

A．Online Advertising Managers.	B．Reporters.
C．Firefighters.	D．Dairy Farmers.

小題5:What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To describe the advantages of different careers.

B．To provide career information.

C．To explain why a software engineer is the best job.

D．To analyze why a lumberjack is the worst job.

Located along California’s San Andreas Fault, the city of San Francisco is likely to take precautions(預(yù)防，防備) in the event of the next big earthquake.
According to a New York Times report, emergency planners in San Francisco are not only thinking of human evacuation(撤離，疏散) plans in the event of an earthquake, but also of how to care for pets during a natural disaster. Ideally, the planners will be able to train pet-disaster responders who work to evacuate dogs, cats and other household pets from the disaster site to one of the 125 temporary animal shelters that will be set up or, if the pet is injured, it will be brought to an emergency animal medical unit where there will be people on hand to tend to the pet’s injury. The city’s “no-pets-left-behind” policy results from the great number of pet deaths during the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.
As emergency responders arrived to rescue people isolated in their homes during Katrina, hurricane victims were told that they could not take their pets along with them when evacuating; thus, many pet owners were forced to make the heart-breaking decision to save themselves while leaving their pets behind to perhaps meet their deaths.
Since then, the U.S. has passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006, allocating federal funds for animal disaster planning projects. Yet, not all counties are as progressive as San Francisco has been in the effort to protect pets in the event of a natural disaster. Pets are after all, a large part of San Francisco’s population — overnumbering the number of school age children in the city.
Over the last three years, San Francisco has received $350,000 in federal funds designated to animal disaster preparedness efforts in order to protect animals in the case of a disaster such as an earthquake. The city is still working on obtaining $300,000 to pay for an emergency animal unit. Until then, animal lovers in San Francisco will continue to work to ensure that pets are never an afterthought when it comes to rescues during earthquakes or other life threatening situations.
小題1:We learn from the second paragraph that ______.

A．emergency planners in San Fransico only consider human evacuation plans in a disaster

B．emergency planners in San Fransico only think about pet evacuation plans during a disaster

C．the safety of both humans and pets in a disaster is taken seriously

D．emergency medical units will be used only for humans

小題2:What do we know about Hurricane Katrina?

A．A great number of pets died during Hurricane Katrina.

B．San Francisco’s “no-pets-left-behind” policy had been made before Hurricane Katrina.

C．The pet owners chose to sacrifice themselves in order to save their pets.

D．Emergency responders failed to rescue the hurricane victims.

小題3:Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．San Fransisco has made great effort to protect pets in a natural disaster.

B．The number of school age children in San Fransisco is smaller than that of pets.

C．The U.S. government has spent money on animal disaster planning projects.

D．All the countries are in the effort to protect pets in a natural disaster.

小題4:The underlined word “designated” in the last paragraph most probably means ______.

A．loaned

B．a(chǎn)llocated

C．replaced

D．obtained

小題5:What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．How to take precautions in the earthquake.

B．Human evacuation plans in the earthquake.

C．Taking steps to care for pets during a natural disaster.

D．How to train pets to escape from a disaster.