If we want to deal with the association（交往） between boys and girls properly, here are some “dos and don’ts” for you to follow.
Keep a normal and healthy state of mind. Our schools and classes are made up of boys and girls. It is very natural for the boys and girls to make friends with each other. We should make as many friends as possible. We should keep in touch with the other sex（性別） in public instead of in secret.
Don’t be too nervous or too shy. If you are a shy person, you can also find a way out. First of all, you can make friends with the students who have the same interest and hobby as you. As both of you have much in common, you may have much to talk about. If you keep doing like that, little by little, you will gladly find you are also as free to express yourself as others.
Don’t fall into the ditch of early love. The boys and girls at adolescence（青春期） are rich in feeling. They are easy to regard the friendship as a sign of love and fall in love with each other at an early age. In my opinion, early love is a green apple that can’t be eaten. An apple won’t taste sweet until it is fully ripe. Boys and girls at middle school are too young to carry the heavy duty of love. Do keep out of early love.
【小題1】The main idea of the passage is to ______.

A．tell students to keep away from early love

B．give some advice on how to associate between boys and girls

C．tell students how to make friends

D．teach boys how to talk with girls

【小題2】We should keep in touch with the other sex in the following EXCEPT ______.

A．with a good state of mind

B．in real friendship

C．in public

D．in secret

【小題3】 If you are a shy person, you can _______.

A．find friends with the same interest and hobby first

B．only have a few friends of the same sex

C．not make friends with the other sex

D．not fail in love with other students easily

【小題4】What does the underlined word “ditch” mean?

A．波浪

B．泥潭

C．圈套

D．迷惑

Loma just had to get in touch with someone: “I had to tell my best
friend something important. I tried calling her but I couldn’t get through. So I sent her an e-mail and then I spoke to her on MSN. Without technology I would not have been able to tell her. ”
Staying connected with friends and family is important for us. That’s
why we asked our readers to tell us how cell-phones, e-mail, blogs, text messaging, and personal pages help them keep in touch. More than 1,500 responded.
Most of them told us they couldn’t live without technology: 80％of
teens said they need technology to stay in touch. Almost 30％said they’d be completely out of their friends without their cell-phones and other methods of communication.
What do they do when they’ve got news they need to share now? Most
teens say they try to reach their friends by phone. But if they don’t reach them, they use QQ, e-mails, and text messaging to get the words out.
Lots of people use one way of communication—like text messaging—to
get a friend’s attention and then use another where they can talk more. “My friends and I always tell each other everything that happens. So I send them text messages to tell them to come online so we can talk about it,” said Sabeiha.
“When planning to get together with friends”, Julian said, “the easiest
and fastest way I know is to send a text message to my contact group.”
Jocelyn said. “If I want to go to see a movie with a few friends, I usually
send text message to them. By telephone, you have to call every single friend
one by one. But text messaging allows you to send the same message to as
many as you’d like, which saves a lot of time. ”
【小題1】Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．E-mails.

B．Blogs.

C．Personal pages.

D．Personal letters.

【小題2】What do most young people use first when they have news to tell their friends?

A．MSN.

B．QQ.

C．Phones.

D．Text message.

【小題3】The underlined part “get the words out” means“     ”.

A．send the message	B．send the e-mail
C．talk with their friends	D．meet their friends

【小題4】 In which part of a newspaper can you find this passage?

A．Sport.

B．Education.

C．Technology.

D．Culture.

When you are curious about something, and want to know more about it, you can use the way of asking questions. Asking questions is the first step to make discoveries and find interesting answers. The steps below can guide you during the research.
Step 1
On a note card or piece of paper，write down the subject that you are interested in. Just get the main idea down. For example, you might write: Discover more about dinosaurs.
Step 2
Next, stop and think for a moment about what you already know about your subject. List what you already know like the sentences below：
（1）Dinosaurs lived long before human beings appeared.
（2）Dinosaurs lived on the earth for more than 150 million years.
（3）Some dinosaurs fed on plants, some on meat.
Step 3
What can you do with what you want to learn? By asking questions. On your paper，start writing down questions about the dinosaurs as you think of them：
（1）What’s the best weather for dinosaurs to live in？
（2）How many kinds of dinosaurs are there？
（3）Have dinosaurs really disappeared？
Step 4
Armed with your list of questions, you can now go to the nearest library or computer to begin your research. As you learn more about your subject, you’ll probably discover some new questions. For example，you might discover that dinosaurs disappeared about 65 million years ago. Why？What happened？Asking new questions can help you research your subject more widely.
The next time you find something interesting to research，take time to
organize your thinking by asking good questions. And remember—learning more always bring more questions.
【小題1】When you do some research，you should take the following steps： _____.
①list what you want to know
②choose a research subject
③list what you already know
④discover new problems

A．①④③②

B．②③①④

C．③②④①

D．④③①②

【小題2】What does the underlined sentence “Armed with your list of questions” mean?

A．Putting your list of questions under your arm.

B．Discussing your questions with your classmates.

C．Writing down your list of questions.

D．Taking your list of questions with you.

【小題3】According to the passage, which of the following is true？

A．You can find all the answers online.

B．Learn more, and you’ll have no questions.

C．During the research, you may keep finding new questions.

D．Asking questions is the only way for research.

【小題4】The best title for this passage is _____.

A．Discovering Dinosaurs

B．Asking Good Questions

C．Finding Subjects

D．Having Interesting Answer

It was a Sunday morning, and I was in a terrible mood. Two of my friends had gone to the movies the night before and hadn’t invited me. I was in my room thinking of ways to make them sorry when my father came in. “Want to go for a ride, today, Beck? It’s a beautiful day.”
“No! Leave me alone!” Those were the last words I said to him that morning.
My friends called and invited me to go to the mall with them a few hours later. I forgot to be mad at them and went with them. I came home to find a note on the table. My mother put it where I would be sure to see it. “Dad has had an accident. Please meet us at Highland Park Hospital”.
When I reached the hospital, my mother came out and told me my father’s injuries were extensive. “Your father told the driver to leave him alone and just call 911, thank God! If he had moved Daddy, there’s no telling what might have happened. A broken rib(肋骨) might have pierced(穿透) a lung....”
My mother may have said more, but I didn’t hear. I didn’t hear anything except those terrible words: Leave me alone. My dad said them to save himself from being hurt more. How much had I hurt him when I hurled those words at him earlier in the day?
It was several days later that he was finally able to have a conversation. I held his hand gently, afraid of hurting him.
“Daddy... I am so sorry....”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll be okay.”
“No,” I said, “I mean about what I said to you that day. You know, that morning?”
My father could no more tell a lie than he could fly. He looked at me and said, “Sweetheart, I don’t remember anything about that day, not before, during or after the accident. I remember kissing you goodnight the night before, though.” He managed a weak smile.
My English teacher once told me that words have immeasurable power. They can hurt or they can heal. And we all have the power to choose our words. I intend to do that very carefully from now on.
【小題1】The author was in bad mood that morning because _______.

A．his father had a terrible accident

B．he couldn’t drive to the mall with his friends

C．his friends hadn’t invited him to the cinema

D．his father didn’t allow him to go out with his friends

【小題2】Why did the author say sorry to his father in the hospital?

A．Because he didn’t go along with his father.

B．Because he was rude to his father that morning.

C．Because he failed to come earlier after the accident.

D．Because he couldn’t look after his father in the hospital.

【小題3】 The reason why the author’s father said he forgot everything about that day is that _______.

A．he had a poor memory

B．he didn’t want to forgive his son

C．he just wanted to comfort his son

D．he lost his memory after the accident

【小題4】What lesson did Beck learn from the matter?

A．Don’t treat your parents badly.

B．Don’t hurt others with rude words.

C．Don’t move the injured in an accident.

D．Don’t be angry with friends at small things.

If you want to become a fluent English speaker you should take some advice: There are four skills in learning English. They are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. The most important thing you must remember is that if you want to improve your speaking and writing skills you should first master the skills of reading and listening.
Read as much as you can. But your reading must be active. It means that you must think about the meaning of the sentence, the meanings of the unfamiliar words, etc. There is no need for you to pay much attention to grammars or try to understand all the unfamiliar words you come across, but the fact that you see them for the first time and recognize them whenever you see them, for example in other passages or books, is enough. It would be better to prepare yourself a notebook so you can write down the important words or sentences in it.
As for listening, there are two choices: besides reading, you can listen every day for about 30 minutes. You can only pay attention to your reading and become skillful at your reading, then you can catch up on your listening. Since you have lots of inputs in your mind, you can easily guess what the speaker is going to say. This never means that you should not practice listening.
For listening you can listen to cartoons or some movies that are specially made for children. Their languages are easy. Or if you are good at listening you can listen to VOA or BBC programs every day. Again the thing to remember is being active in listening and preferably taking some notes.
If you follow these pieces of advice, your speaking and writing will improve automatically, and you can be sure that with a little effort they will become perfect.
【小題1】According to the author, which should you improve first among the four skills?

A．Reading and listening.

B．Reading and writing.

C．Writing and speaking.

D．Speaking and listening.

【小題2】The underlined phrase “come across” in Paragraph 2 can probably be replaced by“          ”.

A．meet by accident

B．discover

C．find on purpose

D．look for

【小題3】The author seems to agree with the view that            .

A．everyone should listen to VOA or BBC programs every day

B．you needn’t practice listening if you keep on reading every day

C．being good at reading is helpful in improving your listening

D．you should take notes of whatever you are hearing

【小題4】The passage is mainly about how to            .

A．choose suitable listening materials

B．deal with new words in reading

C．improve your English as quickly as possible

D．become fluent in speaking and writing English

My friend Karen and I were always together. Karen was only a few months older than I. I always thought she was so beautiful, with long hair and blue eyes. I loved Karen so much because she liked me for being the way I was. I could be myself and share my secrets with her and I never felt like I was being judged.
We had so much fun and were really quite silly. One time I asked my mom to make us the same dresses so we could pretend we were twins.
We continued as best friends throughout grade school. One day, Karen was going to another friend’s place and asked me to come along, but I couldn’t go because I had a babysitting job that afternoon. We walked together to the Becker’s home where I was to babysit and then she continued on her way without me. We had agreed that I would meet her at the corner when she returned and I finished my job.
At four o’clock I rushed to the corner so I wouldn’t be late for meeting Karen. Just as I arrived at the corner, I saw Karen crossing the street. In a second it happened. I saw Karen’s body fly up in the sky. A car had hit her！
Karen was on life support for a week before it was decided that they would allow her to go in peace. Karen’s parents wanted to donate her organs(器官)to the hospital, but there was nothing left healthy enough to be used because she was hit so hard.
I have never got so close to another person since Karen died. I do miss her! Do you cherish(珍惜)your friends? If you don’t, please do, as you may lose them one day.
【小題1】What’s the best title for the passage?

A．A horrible car accident

B．An unforgettable experience

C．My dearest friend—Karen

D．An unforgettable girl

【小題2】When Karen was hit by a car, she was            .

A．on her way to a friend’s place

B．on her way to the Becker’s home

C．shouting to the writer who was so far from her

D．heading to the corner where she and the writer would meet

【小題3】Why were Karen’s organs unable to be donated?

A．Because her parents refused to do that.

B．Because all of her organs were seriously damaged.

C．Because the doctors thought it was too cruel.

D．Because no patients needed organs in the hospital then.

【小題4】What does the writer suggest we do?

A．Cherish our friends.

B．Accept the fact that people die.

C．Be careful when crossing the street.

D．Never be too close to someone.

Young people and older people do not always agree with each other. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. But in one special program in New York State, adults (成年人) and teenagers live together in a friendly way.
Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and enjoyment in work. Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and to build houses. The adults teach them these skills.
There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo-taking or painting. Others sit around and talk or sing. Each teenager chooses his own way to spend his free time.
When people live together, rules are necessary. In this program, the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, “Why did it happen? What should we do about it?”
One of the teenagers has something to say about the experience, “You stop thinking only about yourself. You learn how to think about the group.”
【小題1】 In one special program in New York, young and older people ______.

A．a(chǎn)re friendly to each other.

B．teach each other new ways of building houses

C．live together but do not work together

D．spend eight weeks together, working as farmers

【小題2】Living together, ________.

A．the teenagers have to obey the rules the adults make

B．the members don’t have to obey the rules

C．the members are not allowed to break the rules they make together

D．the members have no free time except on weekends

【小題3】The last paragraph shows that the teenager thinks his experience in the program is _______.

A．disappointing

B．helpful

C．tiring

D．unpleasant

【小題4】The best title for the passage is _______.

A．Rules of Living Together	B．Different Ideas about Living
C．Teenagers and Adults Together	D．Life in New York State

There is a lot of misunderstanding about studying. Most students have not been taught the principles behind really effective working. Imagine a graph showing the amount a person learns against the number of hours he works in a day. If he doesn’t do any work, he learns nothing (point 0). If he does an hour’s work he learns a certain amount (point 1). If he does two hours’ work he learns about twice as much (point 2). If he does more work he’ll learn still more (point 3). However, if he tries to do twenty-three and a half hours’ work in a day, he will be so tired that he’ll hardly remember anything: what he learns will be very little (point 4). If he did less work he’d learn more (point 5).
Now whatever the exact shape of the graph’s curve(曲線), made by joining these points, it must have a high point. Point “X” is the very maximum anyone can learn in the day. And this represents the optimum(最適度), the best, amount of work to do. It is the best possible compromise between adequate time at the books and fatigue(勞累). Fatigue is an absolutely real thing; one can’t escape it or ignore it. If you try to ignore it and press yourself to work past the optimum, you will only get on this downward slope and achieve less than the best – and then become very tired and lose your power of concentration.
The skill in being a student consists of getting one’s daily study as near the optimum point as possible. I cannot tell you what the optimum is. It differs with the type of work, it differs from person to person, and even in the same person it varies from week to week. You must try to find your own. Every day you study, bear this principle of the optimum in mind. When you feel yourself getting fatigued, if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again and not taking it in, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve reached your highest point for the day and should stop. Most ordinary students find their optimum at five hours a day. Yours may be a little more or a little less – but if you get in five hours’ good work a day, you will be doing well.
Now, what are you doing with yourself when you aren’t working? Before examinations some students do nothing at all except sit in a chair and worry. Here is another misunderstanding. People often think that the mind works like the body; it does not. If one wanted to save one’s physical energy in order to cut the maximum amount of firewood, one would lie flat on a bed and rest when one wasn’t chopping. But the mind cannot rest. Even in sleep you dream, even if you forget your dreams. The mind is always turning. It gets its relaxation only by variety. That is what makes the mind rest.
When you’ve finished your optimum number of hours you must stop. You must not then sit around in the chair thinking about the work – that only tires without any learning. You must get out and do something. It doesn’t matter what – anything so long as you are actively doing something else but work.
【小題1】According to the passage, _______.

A．the longer you study every day, the more you will learn

B．you’ll achieve better learning results if you work three hours every day

C．the less work you do, the better you will learn

D．your work efficiency will decrease once you exceed a certain point of work

【小題2】Fatigue can result in ________.

A．loss of memory	B．a(chǎn) need for relaxation
C．a(chǎn) lot of anxiety	D．loss of concentration

【小題3】The passage tells us that a person’s optimum number of working hours _______.

A．follows a regular pattern with each individual

B．changes regularly from week to week

C．can be partly determined by the sort of work he is doing

D．should be determined before he gets too tired

【小題4】The only way the mind can relax is by ________.

A．doing a variety of things in turn

B．not thinking about anything

C．turning continuously

D．getting oneself in a state of fatigue

【小題5】After you have reached the optimum point of study in a day, you should ________.

A．lie in bed and rest

B．do something else actively

C．do some physical labor

D．stop thinking about your studies

Two friends have an argument that breaks up their friendship forever, even though neither one can remember how the whole thing got started. Such sad events happen over and over in high schools across the country. In fact, according to an official report on youth violence, "In our country today, the greatest threat to the lives of children and adolescents is not disease or starvation or abandonment, but the terrible reality of violence". Given that this is the case, why aren't students taught to manage conflict the way they are taught to solve math problems, drive ears, or stay physically fit?
First of all, students need to realize that conflict is unavoidable. A report on violence among middle school and high school students indicates that most violent incidents between students begin with a relatively minor insult (侮辱). For example, a fight could start over the fact that one student eats a peanut butter sandwich each lunchtime. Laughter over the sandwich can lead to insults, which in turn can lead to violence. The problem isn't in the sandwich, but in the way students deal with the conflict.
Once students recognize that conflict is unavoidable, they can practice the golden rule of conflict resolution (解決) : stay calm. Once the student feels calmer, he or she should choose words that will calm the other person down as well Rude words, name-calling, and accusations only add fuel to the emotional fire. On the other hand, soft words spoken at a normal sound level can put out the fire before it explodes out of control.
After both sides have calmed down, they can use another key strategy (策略) for conflict resolution : listening. Listening allows the two sides to understand each other. One person should describe his or her side, and the other person should listen without interrupting. Afterward, the listener can ask non-threatening questions to clarify the speaker's position. Then the two people should change roles.
Finally, students need to consider what they are hearing. This doesn't mean trying to figure out what's wrong with the other person. It means understanding what the real issue is and what both sides are trying to accomplish. For example, a shouting match over a peanut butter sandwich might happen because one person thinks the other person is unwilling to try new things. Students need to ask themselves questions such as these: How did this start? What do I really want? What am I afraid of? As the issue becomes clearer, the conflict often simply becomes smaller. Even if it doesn't, careful thought helps both sides figure out a mutual solution.
There will always be conflict in schools, but that doesn't mean there needs to be violence. After students in Atlanta started a conflict resolution program, according to Educators for Social Responsibility, "64 percent of the teachers reported less physical violence in the classroom; 75 percent of the teachers reported an increase in student co-operation; and 92 percent of the students felt better about themselves'. Learning to resolve conflicts can help students deal with friends, teachers, parents, bosses, and coworkers. In that way, conflict resolution is a basic life skill that should be taught in schools across the country.
【小題1】From Paragraph 2 we can learn that_______

A．violence is more likely to occur at lunchtime

B．a(chǎn) small conflict can lead to violence

C．students tend to lose their temper easily

D．the eating habit of a student is often the cause of a fight

【小題2】Why do students need to ask themselves the questions stated in Paragraph 5?

A．To find out who is to blame.

B．To get ready to try new things.

C．To make clear what the real issue is.

D．To figure out how to stop the shouting match.

【小題3】After the conflict resolution program was started in Atlanta, it was found that______

A．there was a decrease in classroom violence

B．there was less student cooperation in the classroom

C．more teachers felt better about themselves in schools

D．the teacher-student relationship greatly improved

【小題4】The writer's purpose for writing this article is to_______

A．complain about problems in school education

B．teach students different strategies for school life

C．favor teaching conflict management in schools

D．inform teachers of the latest studies on school violence

Sometimes children do not do what their parents tell them to do. When this happens, a parent tries to help the child to do the right thing. When this does not work, the parent usually punishes the child.
There are many things that a parent can do. One thing that people have done is to spank (打屁股) the child. When a parent spanks a child, they will use their hand or a hard object to strike them on their bottom. This is meant to show the child that they have done something wrong.
One parent remembers being spanked when he was a child. His parents used a wooden spoon. When he spanked his own children with his hand, he saw that he put a red mark on his child’s leg. He never did that again.
One problem with spanking is that it teaches the child to hit someone when they do not like what the other person is doing. Another problem with spanking is that the parent is usually angry and can hit the child too hard. Sometimes parents will use spanking for everything and not try other ways to get the child to do the right thing.
Many parents are not sure what to do instead of spanking. Some people think that their religion（宗教）tells them that spanking is okay. Some think that the law lets them do it. The courts say that parents have the right to teach their children how to behave.
Other things should be tried before a parent decides to spank a child. Telling the child exactly what is wanted from them can be one thing. Giving a child more than one choice is another thing that can be tried. Getting down to the child’s level and taking a more child-friendly approach can help as well.
【小題1】According to the passage, when children do something wrong, one thing that parents usually do to punish them is to ________.

A．strike them on the bottom	B．try to help them do the right thing
C．teach them what to do	D．take them to court

【小題2】Which of the following is NOT the problem caused by spanking?

A．It teaches the child to hit others when they offend him or her.

B．The parent may get angry and hit the child too hard.

C．Sometimes parents may use spanking for everything.

D．It makes parents try other ways to make the child do right.

【小題3】Which of the following can best describe the writer’s attitude towards spanking?

A．favorable (贊同的)

B．indifferent (不關(guān)心)

C．interested

D．unfavorable

【小題4】From this passage, we can conclude that ________.

A．Good children always do the right thing.

B．Parents should try their best to avoid spanking their children.

C．Parents have no choice but to spank their children when they do something wrong.

D．Children can have more than one choice to avoid being spanked.