I will never forget the very moment that caused me to leave my gift behind because I wanted the gift that my older sister Maria had.

My family was spending a week at the beach. One morning, Maria went to the beach early, but I stayed behind to finish a drawing of a seashell. After finishing the drawing, I walked to join Maria. She was a top gymnast (体操运动员). Her show was perfect as she wheeled along the beach. The beauty of that sight froze me, and I decided immediately that I too would become a gymnast like her.

I knew that I had never been very good at sports. However, when I told my parents I wanted to take a gymnastics class, they agreed with me in surprise. The next week, I went to a beginners’ class.

   If only my parents had talked me out of this misguided plan! Five minutes into the first class, it was clear that I didn’t have the gift of a gymnast. But I kept at it.

   During this time, drawing and painting—which had been my two favorites—all but left my mind. It must have been hurting for my family as they watched my hopeless efforts. I blindly decided to be like Maria. I just would not give up.

   At the same time, on the advice of Ms. White, my art teacher, I hurriedly handed in my seashell drawing for an art contest in our town. One night as I was having a hard time practicing, the phone rang. It was Ms. White. “Alice, you won the contest!” she said loudly.

 “Really?” was all I could reply.

“Yes,” Ms. White said. “They’re going to give you a prize. And that’s not all. The winner is also accepted into Wildale’s Summer Fine Arts Institute.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Only a handful of young artists were accepted each summer.

That night I didn’t go back into the living room to continue practicing. Gymnastics was Maria’s gift, not mine. It had taken me a while, but I realized that I had a gift of my own.

1.Alice wanted to be a gymnast because ________.

A. she had been good at sports                  B. her sister’s show was perfect

C. she hated drawing and painting               D. her parents wanted her to do so

2. How did Alice feel about learning gymnastics at last?

A. Satisfied.           B. Worried.             C. Hopeful          D. Regretful.  

3. From the story, we can infer that ________.

A. Alice’s parents disagreed with her choice of gymnastics

B. Alice did not realize her gift in drawing and painting at first

C. Alice spent a hard time preparing for the art contest in the town

D. Alice couldn’t believe the news that she got the prize for painting

4. What does the writer want to tell us according to the passage?

A. We should value our own gifts.           B. It takes time to find one’s gifts.

C. We could develop different gifts.        D. It’s never too late to show our gifts.

 

If you had a chance to prepare dinner for your mother, would you choose to make it right now or some day in the future? Watch the video Paradise (天堂) Dinner by Liu Xiaoyu, a junior at[Hebei Institute of Communications, and you will find a right answer.
Recently the six-minute film Paradise Dinner won a great success on the Internet. It told the story of a son who made a big lunch for his mother, but he can only send the dinner to paradise, because his mother has been dead.
"If you do not show your filial piety to your mother right now, you might never have the opportunity in the future, because your mother is growing older and older day by day-this is the main theme of my film, " said the 21-year-old Liu.
Liu conceived(构想)  the story for Paradise Dinner over his 2010 summer vacation.
One day during that holiday,  Liu found his parents were not young any more.  " So I decided to write a story for Paradise Dinner to call for all people, especially young people, to show more filial piety to their parents," he said.
With the help of his teachers and his schoolmates, he found actors, Zhang who played the mother and Yuan Zhen who played the son. At last he finished the film.
Many Web users said they liked the film very much and most of them cried like Liu's parents when they watched it.
【小题1】 From the passage, we know Liu Xiaoyu _____.

A．made a big dinner for his mother

B．made a short video on the Intemet

C．has graduated from a university

D．sent a dinner to paradise himself

【小题2】What have you known about Liu Xiaoyu's mother?

A．She didn't know the film.

B．She didn't feel moved.

C．She couldn't help crying when she saw the film.

D．She acted the mother in the film.

【小题3】 The underlined words "filial piety" probably mean ___in Chinese.

A．友善

B．同情心

C．仁慈心

D．孝心

【小题4】The fifth paragraph mainly tells us___.

A．when Liu Xiaoyu wrote the story

B．Liu Xiaoyu's parents were old

C．why Liu Xiaoyu wrote the story

D．why our parents should love their children

【小题5】 The writer wrote this article to___.

A．encourage p.eople to care more about their parents

B．introduce a short video

C．think highly of the talent of Liu Xiaoyu

D．show the kind heart of most people

A new study suggests that the more teenagers watch television, the more likely they are to develop depression (抑郁症) as young adults.

The researchers used a national long-term survey of healthy young teenagers of about 13—16 to find out the relationship between media(媒体) use and depression. They based their findings on more than 4000 young teenagers who were not depressed when the survey began in 1995.

As part of the survey, the young people were asked how many hours of television or videos they watched daily. They were also asked how often they played computer games and listened to the radio. Here was the result. The young people spent five and a half hours a day using media and more than 2 hours of that was spent watching TV.

Seven years later, in 2001, more than 7% of the young people had signs of depression. The average age at that time was 21. Brian Primack at the University of Pittsburgh medical school was the lead author of the new study. He says every extra hour of television meant an 8% increase in the chances of developing signs of depression.

The researchers say they did not find any such relationship with the use of other media such as movies, video games or radio. But the study did find that young men were more likely than young women to develop depression given the same amount of media use.

Doctor Primack says the study did not find out if watching TV causes depression directly. But one possibility, he says, is that it may take time away from activities that could help prevent depression, like sports and social activities. It might also prevent a person from sleeping well, he says, and that could have an influence.

The study was just published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

In December, the journal Social Indicators Research published a study of activities that help lead to happy lives. Researchers from the University of Maryland found that people who describe themselves as happy spend less time watching television than unhappy people. The study found that happy people are more likely to be socially active, to read, attend social services and to vote.

Process of the study	Details
The purpose of the research	To find out   1.  between media use and depression
At the beginning of the research	2. was made among over 4000 young people who were not depressed.
The result of the survey	These young people spent five and a half hours a day in using media and they spent over 2 hours or that   3.
Seven years later	Researchers found 7% of the young people had a sign of depression. Every extra hour of watching TV meant an 8% increase in the chances of developing signs of depression.
Results of the study	1. Watching TV might have    4.    and it may take time away from activities and sports. 2. Young men get more chance than young women to develop depression. 3. The reason some people get depression is that   5.

 

They are talking about the movie __they watched yesterday

A./  B. whose C. what  D. whom 

 

I will never forget the very moment that caused me to leave my gift behind because I wanted the gift that my older sister Maria had.
My family was spending a week at the beach. One morning, Maria went to the beach early, but I stayed behind to finish a drawing of a seashell. After finishing the drawing, I walked to join Maria. She was a top gymnast (体操运动员). Her show was perfect as she wheeled along the beach. The beauty of that sight froze me, and I decided immediately that I too would become a gymnast like her.
I knew that I had never been very good at sports. However, when I told my parents I wanted to take a gymnastics class, they agreed with me in surprise. The next week, I went to a beginners’ class.
If only my parents had talked me out of this misguided plan! Five minutes into the first class, it was clear that I didn’t have the gift of a gymnast. But I kept at it.
During this time, drawing and painting—which had been my two favorites—all but left my mind. It must have been hurting for my family as they watched my hopeless efforts. I blindly decided to be like Maria. I just would not give up.
At the same time, on the advice of Ms. White, my art teacher, I hurriedly handed in my seashell drawing for an art contest in our town. One night as I was having a hard time practicing, the phone rang. It was Ms. White. “Alice, you won the contest!” she said loudly.
“Really?” was all I could reply.
“Yes,” Ms. White said. “They’re going to give you a prize. And that’s not all. The winner is also accepted into Wildale’s Summer Fine Arts Institute.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Only a handful of young artists were accepted each summer.
That night I didn’t go back into the living room to continue practicing. Gymnastics was Maria’s gift, not mine. It had taken me a while, but I realized that I had a gift of my own.
【小题1】Alice wanted to be a gymnast because ________.

A．she had been good at sports	B．her sister’s show was perfect
C．she hated drawing and painting	D．her parents wanted her to do so

【小题2】 How did Alice feel about learning gymnastics at last?

A．Satisfied.

B．Worried.

C．Hopeful

D．Regretful.

【小题3】 From the story, we can infer that ________.

A．Alice’s parents disagreed with her choice of gymnastics

B．Alice did not realize her gift in drawing and painting at first

C．Alice spent a hard time preparing for the art contest in the town

D．Alice couldn’t believe the news that she got the prize for painting

【小题4】 What does the writer want to tell us according to the passage?

A．We should value our own gifts.	B．It takes time to find one’s gifts.
C．We could develop different gifts.	D．It’s never too late to show our gifts.