A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a   16 , I had decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it   17  from my hand and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles,   18  everywhere. I tried to use a broom,   19  with each swipe they just rolled across the kitchen．
For the next week, every time I was in the   20 , I found a pea---in a corner, or behind a table leg. They kept   21 . Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean behind it, and   22  12 frozen peas hidden underneath．
At the time I found those few remaining   23 , I was in a new relationship with a wonderful   24  I’d met in a support group. After we married, I was reminded 25  those peas under the refrigerator, and realized that my   26  had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered（破碎. My wife had died; I was in a new city with a busy job, and with a son having trouble   27  his new surroundings and the  28  of his mother. I was a bag of spilled frozen peas; my life had come apart and scattered．
When life gets you   29 , when everything you know comes apart, and when you think you’ll never  30 , remember that it’s just a bag of scattered frozen peas. The peas can be  31 , and life will move on. You’ll find all the peas   32 , including the ones that are hardest to find. And when you’ve got them   33  you’ll start to feel whole again．
The life you know can break apart at any time. But you’ll have to   34 , and how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom,  35  will you pick them up one by one and put your life back together?

A.     Try to know more about your child.

B.      Being a daddy is your top priority.

C.      Value your child for what he is.

D.     Let your child teach you.

E.      Time is of the essence.

F.      Look for the good and praise it.

Seven Simple Rules for Dad

My main object in life is to make sure I do the best possible job rais­ing Tommy, now aged ten. That means I have to be the best possible father I can be. I am no psychologist, but I do see what succeeds with my son and me. I also observe other fathers. Here is what I have found works best in the dad department.

1.

The key to a happy child is having a dad who is there with him consis­tently, day in and day out. It is far better to spend evening after evening just sitting near him while he reads a book or plays on the computer than to spend a couple of hours every Saturday buying him toys or taking in a movie.

2. Share your strengths and fears.

You are your child's ally, not his adversary. The child who knows that his father was once afraid of the dark, and is still afraid of needles, gets to know that his own weaknesses are part of mankind, not a unique shame.

3.

 Encouragement is the primary engine of human development. I have been telling Tommy for a year now that he is a whiz in math because I know he can calculate in a nanosecond the number of toys he can buy with his allowance. Now he's a whiz in math at school too. Consistent recognition of a child's strengths is more important by far than vitamins. You deny it to them at their peril and yours.

4. Do not allow your children to be rude.

My son is expected to share, answer others when they greet him and congratulate those who succeed. By teaching him about politeness, I make sure he realizes that others' feelings are worth taking into account. If he can get that into his little towhead, he will have learned the most basic foundation of human interaction.

5.

A common misstatement about child development is that “kids don't come with instruction manuals(操作指南).” Not true—they do. They tell you when they’re hungry. They tell you when they're lonely or scared. They are like little guided tours of themselves. Children will tell you what they want, although not always with words. Fatigue, irritability and sadness are ways of telling Dad what they need. Look and listen.

6.

When Tommy knows he is loved for himself, not for any particular accomplishment, he has a certain peace that allows him to learn better, sleep better, play better, be more helpful around the house. Whether he becomes a rocket scientist or a plumber, I want Tommy to know he's No. 1 with me.

7.

If you decide your kids come before your sales quota or bridge game, you will find that all the other pieces of Daddyhood fall into place. When you put your kids first, you're getting the most value for every hour on earth. What’s more, you have made the rightest decision of your life.

—benjamin j. stein in The Washingtonian

A lot of us lose life's tougher battles by starting a frontal(正面的)attack-when a touch of humor might well enable us to win. Consider the case of a young friend of mine, who hit a traffic jam on his way to work shortly after receiving an ultimatum(最后通牒)about being late on the job. Although there was a good reason for Sam's being late-serious illness at home-he decided that this by-now-familiar excuse wouldn't work any longer. His supervisor was probably already pacing up and down preparing a dismissal speech. Yes, the boss was, as Sam entered the office at9:35. The place was as quiet as a locker room(更衣室);everyone was hard at work. Sam's supervisor came up to him. Suddenly, Sam forced a grin and stretched out his hand. "How do you do!" he said. "I'm Sam Maynard. I'm applying for a job. Which, I understand, became available just 35 minutes ago. Does the early bird get the worm?"

　　The room exploded in laughter. The supervisor clamped off a smile and walked back to his office. Sam Maynard had saved his job-with the only tool that could win, a laugh.

　　Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected(忽略), means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for patching up differences, apologizing, saying "no," criticizing, getting the other fellow to do what you want without his losing face. For some jobs, it's the only tool that can succeed. It is away to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialogue may start a quarrel. For example, many believe that comedians(喜剧演员)on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance(忍受力)than people in any other forum.

1.WhywasSamlateforhisjob?

　A. Because he was ill.　　 B. Because he got up late.

C. Because he was caught in a traffic jam. 　 D. He was busy applying for a new job.

2.The main idea of this passage is ____.

　A. Sam Maynard saved his job with humor 　 B. humor is important in our lives

　C. early bird gets the worm 　　　　 D. humor can solve racial discriminations.

3.The phrase "clamped off" n paragraph 3 means____.

　A. tried to hold back　 B. tried to set　 C. charged　 D. gave out

4.Which of the following statements can we infer from the passage?

A. Many lose life's battles because they are lacking in a sense of humor.

B. It wasn't the first time that Sam came late for work.

C. Sam was supposed to arrive at his office at8:30.

D. Humor is the most effective way of solving problems

A new study done by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario （HEQCO） shows that it doesn't make much of a difference that parents reward their children with cash for their better marks.
Many parents have offered cash to their children in the hope that it would improve marks and possibly raise their children's interest in achieving higher marks.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto （UT） and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT） to learn more about the potential for financial encouragement as motivation for improved marks, involved first and second year students receiving financial aid in 2008-2009 at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
The top students participating in the study who said they were "very concerned" about having enough money to complete their degrees were to receive $100 for getting a grade of 70 per cent for each one-semester course, plus $20 for every percentage point beyond that.It was imaginable that a student could earn as much as $700 for achieving 100 percent in a course.
Harvey Weingarten, president and CEO of HEQCO said, "In its efforts to help disadvantaged students by exploring the idea of paying them to attend school, the Toronto District School Board （TDSB） is asking the same question many other districts are asking about how to improve student participation and performance.Our study and others to date indicate that this practice has little effect if any in those situations where it has been tested."
The authors of the study suggest that ineffective study habits may be a barrier to academic achievement and that the real problem may be more a lack of academic preparation than a lack of effort or motivation.They note that the availability of peer （同伴） advising does not appear to have helped greatly.They conclude that other potential avenues to improving performance, or other approaches of teaching, are needed at the high school and postsecondary levels.

1. 1.

   If a student gets a grade of 85% in a course, he will get _____.

   1. A.
      $100
   2. B.
      $300
   3. C.
      $400
   4. D.
      $700
2. 2.

   The underlined words "this practice" in Paragraph 5 refer to _____.

   1. A.
      improving student participation
   2. B.
      seeking help from different districts
   3. C.
      paying disadvantaged students to attend school
   4. D.
      testing student performance in the same district
3. 3.

   The real problem with student participation and performance is most probably a lack of____.

   1. A.
      academic preparation
   2. B.
      effort or motivation
   3. C.
      teaching methods
   4. D.
      peer advising
4. 4.

   What is mainly discussed in the passage?

   1. A.
      Many parents have offered cash to their children.
   2. B.
      Many first and second year students receive financial aid.
   3. C.
      Ineffective study habits lead to poor academic achievement.
   4. D.
      Rewarding students with cash for good grades has little effect