Are you an only-child in your family? Are you feeling alone at home? How are you dealing with it?

Zhang Luwen, 12, feels lucky to have a 4-year-old “brother”. “With him, I never feel lonely at home. He goes with me wherever I go,” said the girl of Sichuan Province. But it is not easy to be a sister. Zhang has to help her parents bath her “brother” every week. This is because he is hairy — he is a dog.

As the number of pet owners in China grows more and more, Chinese students have animal friends at home. Experts say that these small animals give these only-children lessons in love, care, teamwork and generosity.

This month, the first study on the influence of pets on the children came out. It is a survey of 402 Beijing primary school students. It shows that animal friends are good for children.

China had more than 90 million only-children by 2006, according to the government. “In families of three, most children feel lonely. They don’t have many chances to learn how to love and be responsible for others,” said Zhou Xia in the study group. “So having a pet can help with the problem.”

However, some students complain that their parents don’t allow them to have pets. “They are afraid a pet would stop me studying,” said Chen Qi, of Chongqing.

Perhaps he could learn from Qin Yixing, 13, of Beijing. “I don’t play with my dog until I have finished my homework. I made the promise to my mom and I must keep it,” said the girl.

1.According to the passage, experts think _______.

A．it is good for students to have animal friends at home

B．only-children families in China will be fewer and fewer

C．small animals at home are bad for students

D．parents should buy more pet animals for their children

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A．Zhang Luwen’s parents bath every week.

B．Zhou Xia thinks a pet animal can solve the problem that children feel lonely.

C．Chen Qi of Chongqing has got a pet animal.

D．Qin Yixing’s parents don’t want her to have a pet.

Are you an only-child in your family? Are you feeling alone at home? How are you dealing with it?
Zhang Luwen, 12, feels lucky to have a 4-year-old “brother”. “With him, I never feel lonely at home. He goes with me wherever I go,” said the girl of Sichuan Province. But it is not easy to be a sister. Zhang has to help her parents bath her “brother” every week. This is because he is hairy — he is a dog.
As the number of pet owners in China grows more and more, Chinese students have animal friends at home. Experts say that these small animals give these only-children lessons in love, care, teamwork and generosity.
This month, the first study on the influence of pets on the children came out. It is a survey of 402 Beijing primary school students. It shows that animal friends are good for children.
China had more than 90 million only-children by 2006, according to the government. “In families of three, most children feel lonely. They don’t have many chances to learn how to love and be responsible for others,” said Zhou Xia in the study group. “So having a pet can help with the problem.”
However, some students complain that their parents don’t allow them to have pets. “They are afraid a pet would stop me studying,” said Chen Qi, of Chongqing.
Perhaps he could learn from Qin Yixing, 13, of Beijing. “I don’t play with my dog until I have finished my homework. I made the promise to my mom and I must keep it,” said the girl.
【小题1】According to the passage, experts think _______.

Some students think it d__【小题1】___ to learn English well. That’s b__【小题2】__ they don’t find the right way. I think r__【小题3】___ is very important for students. The more you read， the b__【小题4】__ you’ll understand. Reading is helpful to listening, speaking and writing.
If you often read English aloud, you’ll improve(提高) your listening. On the other hand（另一方面）, listening a lot can h__【小题5】____ you to read better. Reading English everywhere when you are f_【小题6】__, if you wish. You can get a lot of knowledge（知识） when you read. Sometimes you need to s_【小题7】__ your ideas, you can either speak or write. That means you are using w__【小题8】__ you learned from reading. The same as Chinese, the more you read, the better you can write. If you want to r__【小题9】__ something, you should read again and again. So from now on, you’d better do more reading. It’s a good w__【小题10】__ to learn English well.

1 

Some students think it d__1___ to learn English well. That’s b__2__ they don’t find the right way. I think r__3___ is very important for students. The more you read， the b__4__ you’ll understand. Reading is helpful to listening, speaking and writing.

If you often read English aloud, you’ll improve(提高) your listening. On the other hand（另一方面）, listening a lot can h__5____ you to read better. Reading English everywhere when you are f_6__, if you wish. You can get a lot of knowledge（知识） when you read. Sometimes you need to s_7__ your ideas, you can either speak or write. That means you are using w__8__ you learned from reading. The same as Chinese, the more you read, the better you can write. If you want to r__9__ something, you should read again and again. So from now on, you’d better do more reading. It’s a good w__10__ to learn English well.

Adopting(领养) a pet can be a lot of work, but it is also great fun. Mollie Lesser, 18, of Chicago, US, recently adopted a little dog named Cookie. Cookie is not Mollie’s first dog. The family had another dog that passed away over the summer. They were very s __1.__, so they adopted Cookie last autumn. It was only six m__2.__ old. “My parents compare it to having a baby,” Mollie said. “It can take a lot of time.”

Cookie needs to be w__3.__ or let into the backyard several times a day. His trainer, Lisa Collins, says a young dog actually needs to be let outdoors every two hours.

Owning a dog is not just about playing with it. O__4.__ also want their dogs to do something helpful. Collins says that, t__5.__ proper training, animals can learn to listen to orders from b__6.__ adults and kids. Having a dog not only means providing it with fresh food and clean water every day, it also needs special care and a_7.__. And patience and training are also necessary. Mollie said her dog has already chewed(咀嚼) up a pair of leather shoes. Her parents have been working with Collins to stop its bad behaviour l__8.__ chewing or jumping on people. Having a pet takes a lot of time, but Mollie doesn’t m__9.__.

“Falling in love with a pet is easy, but adopting a pet is a big decision,” said Lesser. “Think it over b__10.__ you adopt a pet."