The International Voluntary Service runs a number of Youth Exchanges throughout the year.Youth Exchanges give small groups of 4­5 young people the opportunity to take part in volunteering trips abroad for an average of two weeks.These young people are joined by 4­5 young people from 3­4 other nationalities and are a wonderful intercultural experience in a safe environment.

Example Youth Exchanges：

Youth Exchange 1

Location：Ireland

Other nationalities： Ireland，Spain，Italy，Hungary

Theme：Focuses on the topic of community reconstruction and community activities—exploring how local issues facing our communities are connected to global issues.The group will also learn about the eco­village as an example of a community and take part in team­building activities.

Youth Exchange 2

Location：France

Other nationalities：Bulgaria，Italy，France

Theme：Organic gardening & continual living.This project will take place in a natural park，where the group will take part in gardening activities and games/workshops about continuous development.

Youth Exchange 3

Location：Macedonia

Other nationalities：Serbia，Turkey，Ireland

Theme：Foster(培养) social inclusion(融入) and motivate personal development of young people through sports and outdoor activities.Promote outdoor activities as a tool to help inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities.

Youth Exchange 4

Location：Italy

Other nationalities：Italy，Bulgaria，Greece

Theme：A social­environmental project that intends to promote social inclusion and continuous development，regarded as a process of civil rights and active citizenship.Over 10 days，the group will take part in activities to raise awareness(意识) about the effect of our behavior on the environment.

1．What do you focus on when travelling in France?

A．Gardening work.

B．Civil rights.

C．Developing social inclusion.

D．Rebuilding communities.

2．If you are interested in protecting the environment，you can take part in________.

A．Youth Exchange 1　　    B．Youth Exchange 2

C．Youth Exchange 3   D．Youth Exchange 4

3．Which nationality are Youth Exchanges most popular with?

A．Spain.        B．Italy.

C．Ireland.      D．France.

Last Friday,6­year­old Landon Johnson went to the RiverTown Crossings Mall in Grandville with his family.While there，the boy and his cousins took turns chatting with Santa，sharing their Christmas desires.

After telling the man in red he wanted a Wii，a toy dinosaur and a remote control car，Landon jumped off Santa’s lap to rejoin his family.But a few moments later，he raced back to Santa’s side：he’d forgotten to tell him something important.Specifically，Landon shared his worry with Santa that his autism (自闭症) would land him on the “naughty list”．

His mom，Naomi Johnson，explained to WOOD­TV this week that Landon is often told he’s “naughty” by people who mistake his autism for bad behavior.“You get the stares when you’re at the grocery store if he’s too loud，” Johnson said.“He’s been told by other people before，‘You don’t need to be so naughty，’or‘Why are you naughty？’．”

Johnson says Santa took the time to listen to Landon’s worries，and held the boy’s hands all the while.“Santa sat him next to him and took Landon’s hands in his and started rubbing them，calming them down.Santa asked Landon if it bothered，him，having Autism？Landon said yes，sometimes.Then Santa told him it shouldn’t. “It shouldn’t bother him to be who he is，” Johnson said.

Landon told Santa that he sometimes “gets in trouble at school and it’s hard for people to understand that he has autism”，but that he’s “not a naughty boy”．

“You know I love you and it’s OK.You’re a good boy，” Santa told WOOD­TV about the chat with Landon.“You’re a good boy，you know.”

Johnson said she was incredibly moved by Santa’s thoughtful words.“This stranger in a red suit told my son the same message I’ve been trying to get through to him for a while now—that he’s special and I love him just the way he was made，” the mom told Today.com.“Seeing Landon’s face light up in that moment was just incredible.I couldn’t stop crying.He was the real Santa Claus.”

4．What did Landon do after he raced back to Santa?

A．He shared Christmas desires with Santa.

B．He checked if he was the real Santa Claus.

C．He told Santa how his autism had bothered him.

D．He asked for a toy dinosaur and a remote control car.

5．What does the underlined sentence mean in Paragraph 4?

A．Avoid those who mistake him.

B．Remain what he is.

C．Try to change the way he behaves.

D．Tell others about his autism.

6．What can we infer from the text?

A．Every child is quite possible to be bothered by autism.

B．Chatting with Santa was a special Christmas gift for Landon.

C．Santa Claus is always popular with children and their parents.

D．Naughty boys are hard to understand because of their bad behaviors.

7．What’s the best title for the text?

A．It’s OK to be you

B．Autism is really a problem

C．Find time to chat with Santa

D．Don’t stay with naughty boys

When students read articles about scientific discovery，they learn what worked. Scientists present the methods that got the best result. They often show only the results that are significant and important.What they won’t show are the mistakes or failures that came first. Yet sometimes those mistakes pointed the way to success.

It can take a long time and many experiments to achieve scientific success. Robbin,16，and Annabelle,15，learned that while working this summer in a biochemistry lab at Stony Brook University in New York. What’s more，they learned that failure is not necessarily something to fear.

“I like the idea of scientific research，” says Robbin. It’s the basis  for  “every  lesson  you  learn  in  school  and understanding everything you see in life”．This summer，Robbin has been working with Lauren，a chemistry student，who is making new drugs to fight harmful bacteria（细菌). At first，the tests made Robbin anxious. She worried that she might be making costly mistakes. But Lauren comforted her that finding out what doesn’t work is “just part of the learning process”．With time，the teen got comfortable with the idea that every experiment wouldn’t succeed.

Annabelle also learned a lot about failure and success. She worked with graduate student Agnieszka Gil. “Sometimes I  try something and it takes a while for the experiment to run.” This means that finding out whether Annabelle did something wrong can be a stressful waiting game，because “if you did something wrong you need to do it again ”．But she’s now learning to be patient and not to expect immediate success.

In science，figuring out why something failed is what may just put them on the road to success.

8．What impresses students most in articles about scientific discovery?

A．Scientists’ achievements.

B．The reasons for success.

C．The cause of mistakes.

D．Stressful process of research.

9．What can we learn from the passage?

A．Robbin is a graduate student.

B．Lauren managed to make new drugs.

C．Annabelle learns the value of patience.

D．Agnieszka expected immediate success.

10．What did Robbin and Annabelle have in common in their experiments?

A．They did their experiments independently.

B．They realized not all experiments would succeed.

C．They helped graduate students to make new drugs.

D．They made serious mistakes in the experiments.

11．What does the writer intend to tell us?

A．The cause of making mistakes in science.

B．The significance of scientific discovery.

C．The importance of doing experiments.

D．The correct attitudes towards failures.

The term “helicopter parents” refers to “a style of parents who are over focused on their children”．

Helicopter parents are always making a big effort to provide children with every opportunity to succeed，from baby steps at age 1，homework at age 8，college application at age 18，employment issues at age 25 to family problems at age 30,40 or even older.They constantly（不断地） shadow the child，always directing his behavior，allowing him zero alone time.

Helicopter parenting can develop for a number of reasons. Worries about the economy，the job market，and the world in general can push parents toward taking more control over their child’s life in an attempt to protect them. Adults who felt unloved or ignored as children can overcompensate(对...补偿过多) with their own children.When parents see other over-involved parents，it can cause a similar response. They feel that if they don’t involve themselves in their children’s lives，they are bad parents.

The main problem with helicopter parenting is that it can backfire.To give an example，the house where Mary lived with roommates was broken into and things were stolen. Mary called the landlord (房东) to install（安装） an alarm system，but before she could finish the negotiations (协商)，her mother rushed in and demanded action.“I felt like my mother ruined my communication with our landlord. We could have gotten it done ourselves. She was well intended but only made me feel annoyed and defeated，” says Mary.

Obviously，overparenting is motivated with the idea of doing good things but it does the exact opposite. In the long run parents are in fact damaging their child’s basic skills to deal with matters independently. It makes the child feel lacking in confidence，less competent in dealing with the stresses of life on their own. They’re winning the battle，but in fact losing the war.

12．What’s the purpose of helicopter parents’ overparenting?

A．To do something good for their children.

B．To make their children not ignored.

C．To help their children find a good job.

D．To get rid of the pressure from other parents.

13．What can we learn from the passage?

A．Children who have helicopter parents live a hard life.

B．Helicopter parenting only happens to very young children.

C．Helicopter parents can  protect their children against all problems.

D．Helicopter parents do their children great harm  in the long run.

14．What will possibly be discussed in the paragraph that follows?

A．The bad effects of helicopter parenting.

B．How we can avoid being helicopter parents.

C．Different opinions about helicopter parenting.

D．The reasons for the development of helicopter parents.

15．What is the author’s attitude towards “helicopter parenting”？

A．Uninterested.    B．Objective.（客观的）

C．Positive.     D．Disapproving.（不同意的）

Holiday gift buying can feel a little empty，when all of those endless lists，long lines at the shopping center and dollars spent lead to a 5­minute excitement of flying wrapping paper（包装纸）.__16__The following tips can help make gift giving more meaningful for both the giver and the receiver.

1．Know the person

The most important thing in the exchanging of gifts is that it shows you really know the person well，and you really care about him.__17__

2．Donate（捐 ）in their name

__18__Research suggests that happier people give more to others, and that giving more makes people happier.Moreover，charity­related happiness is highest when people give in a way that promotes social connection. So，try giving to the less fortunate in someone’s name this holiday season.

3．Give handmade goods or hand­me­downs

__19__A study suggests that people feel that homemade items show more love，and love is what they want to express to the gift receiver.

Family heirlooms (传家宝) may be another good gift choice. A study found that when families hand down even a very depersonalized thing—money—to the generations，the symbolic value of the cash is greater than the numerical value alone.

4．Provide chances for involvement

If there’s a golden rule of gifts，though，it’s this：_20__People who receive experiential gifts，such as concert tickets or a zoo membership，feel more connected to the gift giver than people who received material gifts.

A．But it doesn’t have to be that way.

B．Give experiences rather than objects.

C．The new and store­bought is not always best.

D．That is always beyond their expectation.

E．That means satisfy another’s pleasure.

F．Giving gifts to friends or to charity is linked to happiness.

G．Start listing every person you plan to give a holiday gift.