Teenage blues (P1)

The teenage years can be tough. You may experience different kinds of pressures. What are they?

 

A. What makes the lives of teenagers so hard.

B. How to deal with teen problems.

C. Stress faced by UK and US teenagers.

D. Peer pressure faced by UK and US teenagers.

A. grow up fast              B. experiment with alcohol

C. get into a good college             D. be more open and communicative

A. global       B. common    C. average   D. reasonable

A. They have become more concerned about their future.

B. They are now more worried about the ability to fit in socially.

C. They are attempting to learn more about money management.

D. They are spending more time developing their practical skills.

 

How do you cope with pressure? Share your good ways with your classmates.

 Fill in the following blanks with the words and phrases given in the box.

1. Several people ________ the accident.

2. Many politicians are more ______ with power and control than with the good of the people.

3. It seemed impossible that anyone could ____ such pain.

4. The children _________ the danger of taking drugs.

5. By the end of the day, we were all feeling very tired and _________.

6. No matter how hard she tried, she just didn't ______.

1. C。本文主要讲述了英国与美国青少年遇到的不同困扰与压力，D选项主要侧重同龄压力，而文章中提到的压力是来自多方面的，故答案是C。

2. D。由第四段“Their sons were battling bad skin, were reluctant (不愿的) to speak”可知D项正确。

3. B。上下文提到的都是在美国青少年中普遍存在的问题，所以universal在这里表示“普遍的”。

4. A。由最后一段“…and they are much more aware of the importance of planning ahead” 可知A项正确。

 

witnessed; concerned; endure; are aware of; frustrated; fit in

 

Brits love their junk food (P4)

A. a study of different attitudes to fast foods

B. how popular fast foods are in many foreign countries

C. different countries’ attitudes towards food and body weight

D. a study of how popular fast foods are in different countries

 

A. Americans are proud of the fast foods they eat

B. those British who love fast foods do not care about their body weight

C. the British would like to think that other foods they eat make up for eating occasional fast food

D. most Americans believe the enjoyment of food is more important than its possible effect on their waistlines  

A. they value their image

B. they have better foods than other countries

C. they value self-discipline

D. they fear criticism for an unhealthy diet

 

1．全文都在谈a research carried out by the BBC，内容是各国迷恋快餐的人口比例还有背后的原因，最后还说了不太喜欢快餐的法国人并分析了原因，所以D正确。

2. 根据第四段可以判断比例分别是：过半的英国人；44%的美国人；35%的阿联酋人。所以C正确。

3. 文章开始说了美国式快餐的发源地，但并没表明他们对吃快餐很自豪，所以A错误。根据第三段可排除B。C的线索是第五段They can't deny themselves that hamburger or extra piece of pizza, but "make themselves feel better by washing it down with a diet coke," the study suggested。原文只是说美国人觉得（忍不住要吃快餐）缺乏自律才导致肥胖，但并不是觉得从吃快餐得到的快乐比对体重的影响更重要。所以D错误。

4. A的线索是最后一段的French people take care of their image as a matter of course.，所以正确。B项文章根本没提。C项是张冠李戴。D项是说他们怕别人批评他们不健康的饮食，但原文是说他们不喜欢不健康的饮食，怕会影响健康。

 

Earn more, be happier (P5)

Have a quick debate: Can money buy happiness? The class could be divided into groups of 6. Each group should give 2-3 reasons for their point of view.

 

Go through the article. Fill in the blanks in the table according to the text. (No more than 3 words for each blank.)

 

A recent piece of research into the relations between _________

 

 

Choose the correct answer.

1. According to Deaton and his team, ____.

A. a salary far below $75,000 means you are often troubled by your quality of life

B. a salary above $75,000 means there’s no point caring how much more you earn

C. a person with a salary of $100,000 is definitely happier than one with a salary of 75K

D. a person with a salary of $100,000 probably does not feel they have a better life than one with a salary of 75K

2. The underlined phrase “leveled out” in Paragraph 6 probably means ____.

A. decreased                 B. stopped rising

C. doubled                   D. became unclear 

3. We can infer that the research concludes ____.

A. just like wealth, happiness is relative

B. absolute wealth means absolute happiness

C. if all had more or less the same income, all would be happy

D. a person can be happy if he/she doesn’t compare him/herself with others

4. The article mainly discusses _____.

A. the relations between economic growth and policy

B. the relations between money and happiness

C. what decides emotional well-being

D. how to improve your daily moods

 

Using the table, give your own account of the article.

 

Key: 

填空题：A recent piece of research into the relations between money and happiness

 

选择题：ABAB

1. A项线索是第四段 For people making less than that, said Angus Deaton, an economist at Princeton University, “Stuff is so in your face it’s hard to be happy. It interferes (注) with your enjoyment.” In sb’s face口语里意思是烦人，就是说这个工资线下的人们总要被物质、生计所累，很难享受生活。根据第六段的最后一句their overall life satisfaction continued to rise as their earnings grew beyond that point.可排除B、D项。根据第八段最后一句That doesn’t necessarily (不一定) mean they are happier day to day, Deaton said.可以排除C。

2. 因为这里but the effect leveled out at…用了转折连词，说明不再上升了，再根据第七段（过了这个线，人们的日常的幸福感并不一定有大改变）可以确定是这个意思，而总体幸福感还是上升，所以并不能说就是下降或者不明显。就可以排除其他选项了。

3. 从最后一段可以排除B项。C和D都和攀比相关，但是关于研究并没得出这样的结论，只是说在比较之后更富有的人幸福感更强，所以从这个角度说，幸福也是相对的。所以A正确。

4. 文章从新的研究开始一直是在谈年薪和幸福感的关系，所以B正确。

 

Don’t throw away chances (P6)

A. it was made of vellum

B. it was the only book that survived the great fire

C. it was a story about how to tell the touchstone from ordinary stones

D. it included the secret of the touchstone

A. is pure gold          B. feels cold         

C. is magic                D. is a big pebble

A. to test how far he could throw

B. to practice throwing pebbles

C. to avoid picking up the same pebble once again

D. to express his disappointment at failing to find the touchstone

A. Careful habits can lead to success.

B. Habits can benefit you but also hold you back.

C. Never judge a person or a thing by appearances.

D. Opportunity only visits the ready and watchful mind.

 

1. D。由第一段可知这本书的特殊性就是在它的书页之间夹着一张牛皮纸，这张纸上面包含着Touchstone的秘密，所以D正确。

2. C。由第二段第一句可知 touchstone是一块小圆石，非常神奇，能够把任何普通金属都变为纯金，故选C。

3. C。根据第四段第一，第二句可以知道他仍石头是为了不重复捡到同一块石头。

4. D。文章所传达的精神是机会只垂青那些有准备又时刻保持警惕的人。

 

 

Cloze:

Growing old is something that nobody can understand until they experience it for themselves. I may not be “old” but I am certainly beginning to     1     it – I turned 18 just over a week ago. I am now an adult.

As a child you     2     adults – or “grown ups” as I used to call them – to always be     3     control, to know what is right and wrong.     4     as a teenager, I thought that when I reached 18 I would be far more     5     in many aspects of life. But now that I am 18, I know that is not true.

It is clear to me now that you do not     6     learning when you are 18. Every day you learn something     7    , no matter what your age. However, I do understand when you become an adult you have to     8     more responsibility.

Whereas before I     9     had to clean the dishes, set the table or help out around the house, now I do all of those. I have already     10     myself the nickname “housekeeper”.

I can even drive now, which is pretty     11    , because of the frequency of accidents. But that’s not to say that 18 is not     12     to be. Not only can I drink alcohol, but I can also     13    ! In fact, being 18 has made me really interested in     14     because it now means that I can change things on     15     Day. More and more of my friends     16     to become politicians, and it is great to think that they can     17     things for the better.

    18     one of my friends jokingly said to me on the first day I was 18, “today is the     19    压抑的) and scary, but trust me, it’s a very     20     age. day of the rest of your life”, he made it sound depressing (

1. A. dislike              B. feel               C. learn          D. love

2. A. expect            B. criticize        C. deny          D. know

3. A. beyond   B. of         C. with           D. in

4. A. Even               B. But       C. So               D. Since

5. A. comfortable     B. interested      C. assured              D. contented

6. A. continue        B. desire   C. stop                    D. refuse

7. A. interesting       B. unique         C. valuable             D. new

8. A. take on          B. put on         C. take up         D. put up

9. A. seldom   B. once      C. hardly          D. always

10. A. honored       B. chosen         C. earned         D. won

11. A. scary            B. amazing        C. fascinating    D. difficult

12. A. adventurous B. tough     C. good            D. annoying

13. A. elect      B. vote     C. volunteer              D. involve

14. A. lifestyle  B. politics  C. environment D. career

15. A. Labor   B. Independence C. Christmas D. Election

16. A. hate            B. refuse     C. consider     D. want

17. A. change B. make           C. work                  D. improve

18. A. After    B. Before     C. When           D. Though

19. A. last                B. only             C. right                     D. first

20. A. depressing    B. exciting C. fearful         D. comforting

 

1. 根据句意“我还没有老，但是已经开始____老了”，并结合下文作者写到的自己满了18岁后生活的变化，可知B为最佳选项。
2. 结合下空一起考虑，小孩子眼里的大人总是能很好地控制一切，明白是非。expect期望，认为；criticize 批评；deny 否认；know知道。
3. in control 控制，掌控。
4. 该段提到了三个阶段对成年人的不同看法：由下文的But now that I am 18…表明18岁后作者开始意识到自己前面两个阶段的看法是不对的，而前面两个阶段应该是递进关系，故选A。
5. assured（有把握的, 自信的）与上文know what is right and wrong相对应。
6. 由Every day you learn something…可知，年满18岁了也不能停止学习。
7. 无论什么年龄，你每天都能学到新东西。
8. take on 承担，呈现；put on 穿上；take up 开始从事，占据（时间/空间）；put up举起。
9. 与now I do all of those形成对比，作者以前很少做家务。
10. earn sb sth 表示（因自己的成就、行为等）得到应得的事物。
11. 由下文because of the frequency of accidents可推知作者认为开车是一件很恐怖的事情。
12. 上文提到了18岁要承担的责任等，而下文提到了因为18岁而获得的权利，这些都是好的方面，故选C。
13. 根据常识，年满18岁就有选举权了，选举投票要用vote。
14. 15、16、17空可综合在一起考虑，由上空vote，以及下文I can change things on 15 Day可知，作者因为自己能够在选举日通过投票影响选举结果也对政治产生了兴趣。
16. 由下文it is great to think…可知，越来越多同学想成为政治家。
17. change for the better =improve变好。
18. 句意为：当我的一个朋友调侃地在我18岁第一天说道：“今天是你余生第一天”，他说得似乎有点压抑与吓人。
19. the first day I was 18 相对于作者漫长的余生来说，当然是第一天了。
20. 由关键词but可知，作者的态度与其朋友的态度相反，所以此处要选与depressing and scary意义相反的词，故选B。