Low-Cost Gifts for Mother’s Day

Gift No. I

Offer to be your mother's health friend. Promise to be there for any and all doctors’ visits whether a disease or a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say "no need," but another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor's visit. The best part? This one is free.

Gift No. 2

Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. "Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother's life," Dr. Marie Savard said.

Gift No. 3

Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. "Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep," Savard said. "We know that good sleep is very important to our health."

Gift No. 4

Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother's Day by picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things ---many of which are "green" --- and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.

1. What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor's visits? ______

A. Take notes.    B. Buy medicine.

C. Be with her   D. Give her gifts.

2. Where can you find a gift idea to improve your mother’s sleep? ______

A. In Gift No. 1.  B. In Gift No. 2.

C. In Gift No. 3.  D. In Gift No. 4.

3. Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to ______

A. enjoy good sleep       B. be well-organized

C. get extra support       D. give others help

Both are so much related to each other. And both are so dissimilar! What are the differences between friendship and love? Is platonic(理想的) friendship possible between persons of opposite sex? Let us try and understand.

What is friendship? Why do we call a person our friend? When do we call someone a very good friend? If we care for a person, if we are always ready to help that person and if we share most of our thoughts with a person, they are our good friends. We can always count upon our good friends in an emergency. We are always sure that our friend will understand why we acted in a certain way. We need not explain anything to our very good friends. The friendship is so deep and the relationship is so close, that most of the things are automatically understood by our friends.

What about love? In a relationship of deep love, all the sharing that we discussed above are taken for granted. But love transcends(胜过，超越) all these. During love, we are attached with a particular person, while in friendship, one may have many friends. A loving relationship makes one so much attached to the other, that one gets pained if his/her beloved is hurt! Love also involves a physical element. Friendship does not have that. This is a vital difference. Nature gives us love so that the species can go forward. Nature does not give us friendship.

Your heart beats will never increase in expectation of meeting your friend. You will not lie awake at night thinking about your friend. You will not feel totally lost, if you don't meet your friend for a few days. You will not have dreams in your eyes thinking about your friend. But in love, you will do all these and much more. Indeed, there is no comparison between love and friendship.

4．What's the function of the first passage?

A．To come up with the question for the further discussion.

B．To explain the main idea of the following passage.

C．To tell us the whole meaning of the passage.

D．To advise us to make friends in different way.

5．How do you do to make real friends?

A．You should give others your everything.

B．You should share, help and understand each other.

C．You should have the same interests in everything.

D．Friend in need is a friend indeed.

6．If you are friends, you'll ________.

A．dream of him at night.                   B．lie awake at night and think your friend.

C．feel you don't meet him for a long time.      D．You don't feel excited meeting your friend.

7．The writer gives us the article to ________.

A．tell us the meaning of love and friendship.

B．tell us relationship between friends and relatives.

C．tell us the difference between love and friendship.

D．tell us how to get friendship and love.

I never thought I would have a life­-changing experience at Wal­Mart.

Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn't moving as quickly as I wanted, and I glanced toward the cashier. There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he's an old guy! For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, “How's it going？” But he did something different—he actually listened to people. Then he would respond to what they had said and engage them in a brief conversation.

I thought it was odd. I had grown accustomed to people asking me how I was doing simply out of robotic conversational habit. After a while, you don't give any thought to the question and just mumble something back. I could say, “I just found out I have six months to live，” and someone would reply, “Have a great day！” But that wasn't the end.

He gave them the change, walked around the counter, and extended his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked the customers in the eyes. “I surely want to thank you for shopping here today，” he told them. “You have a great day. Bye­bye.”

The looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. There were smiles and some sheepish grins. All had been touched by his simple gesture—and in a place they never expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.

Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name, Marty.

Who was that guy? It was as if Sam Walton had come back from the dead and invaded this old guy's body. I had never walked away from that shop feeling like that.

8．According to the writer, when common people ask you “How's it going？”

A．they don't really care what you may answer.

B．they are just practicing their conversation ability.

C．they are inquiring about your private information.

D．they don't expect to hear any negative answers.

9．What was most customers' reaction to Marty's behaviors?

A．They thought it priceless.                  B．They were in some way moved.

C．They thought it awful and odd.             D．They felt somewhat offended.

10．What can we infer about Sam Walton?

A．He might be Marty's father or grandfather.

B．He might be friendly and devoted to Wal­Mart.

C．He might have died while working in the market.

D．He might have come back from the dead once before.

11．What does the writer intend to express through the text?

A．Our everyday life is always full of surprises.

B．Most customers enjoy being treated this way.

C．Being different is a good way of doing business.

D．A little positive action can make a big difference.

While astronauts in space get to do many exciting things, they miss out on ordinary things that we all take for granted—being able to walk on firm ground, hanging out with family and digging into a slice of hot steaming pizza. Though not much can be done about the first two things, there may soon be a solution to the third one, thanks to this cool 3-D pizza printer!

About a year ago, NASA offered $125,000 to Anjan Contractor, a 3-D technology expert, to build a device that would allow astronauts to make pizza on demand. The mechanical engineer promised that his invention would produce pies in large quantities that looked, tasted and even smelled like pizza made in common ovens.

Late last year, the engineer presented a video of his first prototype (原型) that begins by creating a single slice of dough (面团) that is cooked and printed at the same time. Then comes the tomato “sauce”—a mix of tomato powder, oil and water and finally, a protein slice that resembles cheese. While the video doesn’t show the baking process, the inventor says that once the pizza is printed, it can be ready to be consumed (消耗) in 7 seconds.

While the pie in the video looks delicious enough to attract any pizza lover, Anjan Contractor is far from ready for astronauts. That’s because he still has to find a solution to make the food container in the printer last for 30 years. Though that may sound unrealistic, actually it is not. Anjan Contractor believes that the only way that is possible is that the water is removed from all the ingredients and then they are reduced to the powder form. This, as you can imagine, will not be so easy. But, while the printer may not be ready for space, it certainly looks ready enough for people on earth. Hopefully, NASA and Contractor will consider selling it to those not fortunate enough to go to Mars!

12. Why does the author mention the things that astronauts in space cannot do?
A. To ask us not to take common things for granted.
B. To show they live a difficult life there.
C. To show their life is boring in space.
D. To introduce the topic of the text.

13. NASA offered $125,000 to Anjan Contractor mainly to ________.
A. create some new type of 3-D printer
B. attract more companies to work for NASA
C. help astronauts in space enjoy fresh pizza one day
D. produce pizza in large quantities to earn great profits

14. The biggest challenge that Anjan Contractor is faced with now is probably that ________.
A. he has no money left to go on with his research
B. the pizza doesn’t seem appetizing to pizza lovers
C. he has no way to make pizza that can last for thirty years
D. he cannot make the food container last for decades

15. What’s the best title of the passage?
A. NASA is trying its best to help astronauts eat better
B. Astronauts may soon be able to enjoy steaming hot pizza
C. NASA is working on making pizza for common people
D. A 3-D pizza printer has been used to make pizza

How to Love Your Parents

     Even if you think that your parents are mean-spirited at times, loving your parents is a normal and fulfilling part of life．You love them for the fact that they created you, raised you, and are in part, a source of who you are. Here are some ways to love your parents． 

___16___  A gentle "good morning" and "I love you" will warm a coldest heart． 

Remember that they brought you into this world．Without your parents, we might still wander at an unknown corner in an unknown world．

    Respect them more and cherish these moments．You can use these moments to learn from them, preparing yourself for when you're off on your own．It's OK to get angry but angry actions don't help you or your parents． Act calmly, cool off, write down your feelings, or talk to a friend．___17____

    Obey their requests． It will make your attitude better and earn you more respect from them．It may seem like you are going through hell when you don't get what you want or you have to clean．However, you had better remember they keep a roof over your head when it's cold, raining, snowing, or too hot．Understand that parents are human beings and make mistakes．____18_____ Since you can forgive your friends, why not forgive your parents?

    Keep company with them．Do things with your parents like watching TV, or go

somewhere with them．____19_____  Listen to their old stories and learn from them． You will find they are your teachers in this way or another．

    Some people simply may not be able to love their parents．__20___ Seek help if you are being abused（虐待）in any way． Parents do not have a right to harm you．

A.   Forgiveness is the key．

B.   Tell them you love them every morning．

C.   Parents will in turn express their love to you．

D.   After this, share your feelings with your parents．

E.    Anyway, spend as much time with them as you can．

F.    Please remember parents are as important as friends．

G.   There can be realistic reasons for this, family violence for example．