Some time ago, a man punished his 5-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became more upset when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

   Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father next morning and said, “This is for you, daddy.” The father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box empty. He spoke to her in a harsh manner, “Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package?”

   The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, “Oh Daddy, it is not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was full." The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his little girl and he begged her to forgive his unnecessary anger.

   An accident took the life of the child only a short time later and it is told that the father kept the golden box by his bed for all the years of his life and whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

   In a very real sense, each of us as human beings has been given a golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone can hold.

21. The father punished his 5-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper because_________

A. it was too expensive for the family   

B. gold wrapping paper was hard to find at that time

C. she wasted too much while wrapping the gift package

D. she got the gold wrapping paper without permission

22. When the little girl brought the gift box to her father, _____

A. the father was cheerful    

B. the father was very ashamed

C. the father was very natural in behavior      

D. the father was very angry at the cheap gift

23. Through Paragraph 4, the author intends to show____

A. the daughter’s sudden death

B. the meaning of his daughter’s gift to him

C. the father’s coldness leads to his misfortune

D. the father’s suffering after his daughter died

   As children enter their teens, they usually begin to pay more attention to their peers (同龄人) or friends. Peer pressure can be direct or indirect, but it is almost always present. Learning to deal with peer pressure makes a teen mature (成熟的), and able to get along well with others.

Bad peer pressure is when teens feel pressured to do something that they know is wrong, such as smoking, drinking, or drugs, and it can remain with them into adulthood. This is the main reason teens have to learn how to deal with it.

    Some of the things you can do to deal with peer pressure include:

   ● Choose friends who share your values. Good friends use positive peer pressure to help you be your best self.

   ● Keep away from situations where people are doing things you don’t want to do.

   ● Think about your reasons for doing things. Are they good reasons? Are you being true to yourself and your values?

   ● Practice ways of saying no, giving excuses if necessary.

   ● Talk to your parents, or other trusted adults, about the kinds of peer pressure you face, and listen to their advice.

   ● Let the adults know when you need help to get out of a bad situation, and don’t know what to do about it.

   Remember that if just one teen stands up to (对抗) peer pressure, usually others will join him or her. Learning to deal with peer pressure will make you confident and mature.

24. According to the passage, which of the following is true?

   A. Peer pressure includes direct and indirect pressure.

   B. Peer pressure comes from smoking, drinking and using drugs.

   C. Teens facing pressure can’t tell right from wrong.

   D. Teens who face pressure are more mature than those who don’t

25. Teens should learn to deal with peer pressure mainly because ______.

   A. it can keep them from making serious mistakes

   B. it can influence them even when they have grown up

   C. learning to deal with it can help them get along well with others

   D. learning to deal with it can make them mature and confident

26. According to the passage, teens should ______.

   A. stay away from people who don’t share their values

   B. have good reasons for anything they do

   C. say no more often than yes                                   

   D. ask adults they trust for help

27. Which column of a magazine may the passage be from?

   A. Social problem.           B. School news.       C. For teens.           D. Science.

   For more than twenty years scientists have been seeking to understand the mystery of the “sixth sense” of direction. By trying out ideas and solving problems one by one, they are now getting closer to one answer. One funny idea is that animals might have a built-in compass.

Our earth itself is a big magnet (磁体). So a little magnetic needle that swings freely lines itself with the big earth magnet to point north and south. When people discovered that idea about a thousand years ago and invented the compass, it allowed sailors to navigate on ocean voyages, even under cloudy skies.

Actually the idea of the living compass came just from observing animals in nature. Many birds migrate twice a year between their summer homes and winter homes. Some of them fly for thousands of kilometers and mostly at night. Experiments have shown that some birds can recognize star patterns. But they can keep on course even under cloudy skies. How can they do that?

A common bird that does not migrate but is great at finding its way home is the homing pigeon. Not all pigeons can find their way home. Those that can are very good at it，and they have been widely studied.

One interesting experiment was to attach little magnets to the birds’ heads to block their magnetic sense——just as a loud radio can keep you from hearing a call to dinner. On sunny days, that did not fool the pigeons. Evidently they can use the sun to tell which way they are going. But on cloudy days, the pigeons with magnets could not find their way. It was as if the magnets had blocked their magnetic sense.

Similar experiments with the same kind of results were done with mammals. These animals also seem to have a special sense of direction.

28. What is the best title for this passage?

A. A great invention——Compass         B. “Six sense” of direction

C. Methods of finding directions          D. A built-in compass in animals

29. What contributes to the pigeon’s good sense of direction according to the

   passage?

A. The invention of the compass.     B. The existence of their living compass.

C. The recognition of star patterns.    D. The disturbance of cloudy weather.

30. What animal experiments might be talked about after this passage?

A. snakes          B. eagles          C. dogs         D. Bees

            Being Left-handed in a Right-handed World

The world is designed for right-handed people, but why does a tenth of the population prefer the left?  31 

The answer to it remains a bit of a mystery. Since scientists have noticed that left-handedness tends to run in families, it's assumed that left-handedness has a genetic（基因的）component to it.   32   . In fact, identical twins, who share the same genes, can sometimes prefer to use different hands. There are also plenty of theories on what else might determine which hand you write with, but many experts believe that it's kind of random.

Historically, the left side and left-handedness have been considered a negative thing by many cultures.   33   In some areas, the left hand became known as the "unclean" hand. In many religions, the right hand of God is the favored hand. For example, Jesus sits at God's right side. God's left hand, however, is the hand of judgment. Various activities and experiences become rude or even signs of bad luck when the left hand becomes involved. In some parts of Scotland, it is considered bad luck to meet a left-handed person at the start of a journey.   34   A person giving directions will put their left hand behind them and even physically try to point with their right hand if necessary. In some Asian countries, eating with the left hand is considered impolite.

 __ 35    People come to realize that left-handedness is natural. People even noticed that many famous people are left-handed, including Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Charlie Chaplin. Some researchers find out that lefties are more creative and can deal with abstract thinking better. The left-handedness is more easily adaptable to the right-handed world as well. Being left-handed is no longer a sad story now; instead, it is a wonderful gift or maybe it is something you should take pride in.

A. In other words, left-handers are born that way.

B. Left-handedness used to be regarded as a disability.

C. The unfavorable associations of the use of the left hand among cultures are varied.

D. Why do they prefer to use their left hand rather than their right hand for routine activities?

E. Why do some parents force their left-handed children to become right-handed when writing?

F. In Ghana, pointing, gesturing, giving or receiving items with the left hand is considered rude.

G. Fortunately, nowadays most societies and cultures no longer reject left-handedness like  

  before.

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was  56  (real) good and so were the work conditions.   57  that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do  58  best. His boss gave him an axe（斧头）and showed him the area,   59  he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter  60  (bring) 18 trees. “Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way”. Very  61  (motivate) by the boss's words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day,   62  he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder. But he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing fewer and fewer trees. “I must be losing my   63  (strong), ” the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized,   64  (say) that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the  65  time you sharpened your axe? ” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees. ”