Children find meanings in their old family tales. 

When Stephen Guyer’s three children were growing up, he told them stories about bow his grandfather, a banker,    36   all in the 1930s, but did not lose sight of what he valued most. In one of the darkest times   37   his strong-minded grandfather was nearly   38    , he loaded his family into the car and   39    them to see family members in Canada with a   40   ,“there are more important thins in life than money. ”

The  41   took on a new meaning recently when Mr. Guyer downsized to a   42    house from a more expensive and comfortable one. He was  43     that his children ,a daughter, 15, and twins, 22, would be upset. To his surprise, they weren’t   44      , their reaction echoed （共鳴） their great-grandfather’s. What they   45    was how warm the people were in the house and how  46     of their heart was accessible. 

Many parents are finding family stories have surprising power to help children   47    hard times. Storytelling expects say the phenomenon reflects a growing  48     in telling tales, evidenced by a rise in a storytelling events and festivals. 

A university   49    of 65 families with children aged from 14 to 16 found kids’ ability to 50   parents’ stories was linked to a lower rate of anger and anxiety. 

The  51    is telling the stories in a way children can  52     . We’re not talking here about the kind of story that   53    , “When I was a kid, I walked to school every day uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow. ” Instead, we should choose a story suited to the child’s  54    , and make eye contact （接觸） to create “a personal experience”,. We don’t have to tell children

55   they should take from the story and what the moral is . ”

36. A. missed       B. lost     C. forgot  D. ignored

37. A. when     B. while    C. how      D. why

38. A. friendless       B. worthless    C. penniless    D. homeless

39. A fetched       B. allowed      C. expected     D. took

40. A. hope     B. promise      C. suggestion  D. belief

41. A. tale    B. agreement   C. arrangement      D. report

42. A. large   B. small   C. new      D. grand

43. A. surprised    B. annoyed      C. disappointed     D. worried

44. A. Therefore    B. Besides      C. Instead      D. Otherwise

45. A. talked about     B. cared about      C. wrote about      D. heard about

46. A. much     B. many     C. little       D. few

47. A. beyond       B. over     C. behind  D. through

48. A. argument     B. skill   C. interest     D. anxiety

49. A. study   B. design       C. committee        D. staff

50. A. provide      B. retell       C. support      D. refuse

51. A. trouble      B. gift     C. fact     D. trick

52. A. perform      B. write    C. hear     D. question

53. A. means   B. ends     C. begins  D. proves

54. A. needs    B. activities  C. judgments    D. habits

55. A. that     B. what     C. which   D. whom

Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can’t be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.

Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance(機(jī)械維修，保養(yǎng)) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can’t ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope.

When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.

1. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The values are different between the old and the young.

B. The moral problems raised by old people.

C. The personal freedom for the old.

D. Old people’s viewpoint on life.

2. We can know from the first paragraph that________.

A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.

B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.

C. Very old people like to live with their children.

D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people.

3. According to the author, which of the following is right?

A. The older a person, the more care he needs.

B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people’s values.

C. The human body can’t be compared to a car.

D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.

4.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.

A. their money or their health

B. the conclusion you come to

C. your talk to the old people

D. whether age is happy or unpleasant

Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can’t be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.

Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance(機(jī)械維修，保養(yǎng)) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can’t ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope.

When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.

1. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The values are different between the old and the young.

B. The moral problems raised by old people.

C. The personal freedom for the old.

D. Old people’s viewpoint on life.

2. We can know from the first paragraph that________.

A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.

B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.

C. Very old people like to live with their children.

D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people.

3. According to the author, which of the following is right?

A. The older a person, the more care he needs.

B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people’s values.

C. The human body can’t be compared to a car.

D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.

4.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.

A. their money or their health

B. the conclusion you come to

C. your talk to the old people

D. whether age is happy or unpleasant

Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can’t be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.

Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance(機(jī)械維修，保養(yǎng)) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can’t ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope.

When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.

5. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The values are different between the old and the young.

B. The moral problems raised by old people.

C. The personal freedom for the old.

D. Old people’s viewpoint on life.

6. We can know from the first paragraph that________.

A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.

B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.

C. Very old people like to live with their children.

D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people.

7. According to the author, which of the following is right?

A. The older a person, the more care he needs.

B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people’s values.

C. The human body can’t be compared to a car.

D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.

8.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.

A. their money or their health

B. the conclusion you come to

C. your talk to the old people

D. whether age is happy or unpleasant

“Old wives tales” are beliefs lasting for many generations. For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time.

Did your mother ever tell you to eat your carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration. Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic is good for you, too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.

       Unfortunately, not all of Mom’ s advice passed the test of medical studies. For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes. However, sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.

Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales. After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.

Which of the following is TRUE according to the test?

       A. Eating garlic is good for our eyes.         

       B. Sticky sweets are damaging our teeth.

       C. Swimming after a meal is dangerous.     

       D. Carrots prevent people from catching colds.

The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means”_____”.

A. to be believable                             B. to be valuable    

C. to be admirable                                   D. to be suitable

What is the author’s attitude toward “old wives tales” in the text?

A. Subjective                 B. Objective             C. Dissatisfied       D. Curious