Dear Michelle,
My Dad hates my Mom. He tells me that she is a liar and that I should not trust her. Of course, they are divorced but they have “joint custody” (共同监护). What a joke! I am 15, my brother is nine, and we have a life of hell, frankly.
We live one week on and one week off. This was the brilliant idea of both of my parents, which was fair to them but ruining my life. I cannot get away from his voice and his putting my mom down. Sometimes I think about running away.
A Hopeless Ant
Dear Hopeless Ant,
First, thank you for trusting me with your problem. If all you said is correct, then there are several things that you can and should do to help yourself, your brother, and oddly enough, your parents.
You need a family counselor. Such a person could listen to each family member alone and then meet together to talk about the situation.
If refused, you need to talk to a counselor in your school. You need to be heard, and you need an adult who will listen. A school counselor can organize a meeting with your parents.
Perhaps you need to write to your mother. Writing things down allows people to go over it more than one time.
I cannot imagine that she will stand passively by and do nothing at all to help once she reads how you feel. Your father needs a letter as well. He may not realize the destructive effect that it has on his children.
Lastly, have a plan in mind when all else fails that is not self-destructive. Life passes very quickly, sweetheart, and you will grow up and have your own life.
Until then, you need to keep yourself safe. Never doubt that it will get better. Write back and let me know how everything is going.
Michelle

1. 1.

   The Hopeless Ant wrote the letter to ________

   1. A.
      express dissatisfaction with his parents
   2. B.
      ask for advice seriously
   3. C.
      make his father punished
   4. D.
      just make a joke
2. 2.

   The Hopeless Ant hated his father because ________

   1. A.
      his father always told a lie
   2. B.
      his father wasn’t friendly to his mother
   3. C.
      his father divorced his mother
   4. D.
      the Hopeless Ant couldn’t stay with his parents
3. 3.

   According to the text, which of the following is the Hopeless Ant in need of at present?

   1. A.
      Keep himself/herself away from danger
   2. B.
      Have a talk with his/her parents
   3. C.
      Have his/her own family plan
   4. D.
      Write letters to families
4. 4.

   In which part of a magazine will the text probably appear?

   1. A.
      Entertainment
   2. B.
      Advertisement
   3. C.
      Life
   4. D.
      Education

My friend Dr. Dong had a wonderful chance to go to Seattle to present a paper at a professional meeting. When he got back to Beijing, he told me his experience.

   Dr. Dong enjoyed his first days very much. At the medical conference, he felt quite confident in his area of research and was able to perform well in his presentation. But after a few days, he began to feel uncomfortable. His medical English was fine, but the social communication skills were different.

   He got more and more worried that he was misunderstanding simple English greetings and table talk conventions(习俗). When someone greeted him with, “Hi, how’s it going?” he thought they had asked him “Where are you going?” and answered with the name of the conference hall, only to get a surprised stare from them. At a western style dinner, a colleague asked, “So how’re you enjoyin’ the States?” he thought he heard, “how are you enjoying your steak?” and answered that he was eating chicken, not beef. That time, they smiled, and patiently repeated the question, then both laughed at the error.

By the end of the meetings, Dr. Dong felt a deep sense of “cultural stress” and was worn out from having to pay attention to so many new expressions and ways of dealing with things. He felt his handshake was not as firm as Americans’, found that people reacted unusually when he modestly insisted his English was not good after they complimented(称赞) him, didn’t know how to accept dinner invitations properly and therefore missed out on going to several lunches, and so on. Eventually, he was so confused that he felt the full impact of “culture shock”.

Why did Dr. Dong travel to Seattle?

A. To improve his spoken English.  B. To experience culture shock.

C. To give lectures on his research.   D. To attend a medical conference.

Which of the following best describes Dr. Dong’s experience in Seattle?

   A. Comfortable—very uncomfortable—uncomfortable.

   B. comfortable—very uncomfortable—comfortable.

   C. Comfortable—uncomfortable – very uncomfortable.

   D. Comfortable—uncomfortable – very comfortable.

Dr. Dong felt a deep sense of “cultural stress” mainly because_______.

   A. he was too modest      B. he didn’t understand cultural differences

   C. he lacked confidence     D. he was not good at English listening

My friend Dr. Dong had a wonderful chance to go to Seattle to present a paper at a professional meeting. When he got back to Beijing, he told me his experience.
Dr. Dong enjoyed his first days very much. At the medical conference, he felt quite confident in his area of research and was able to perform well in his presentation. But after a few days, he began to feel uncomfortable. His medical English was fine, but the social communication skills were different.
He got more and more worried that he was misunderstanding simple English greetings and table talk conventions(习俗). When someone greeted him with, “Hi, how’s it going?” he thought they had asked him “Where are you going?” and answered with the name of the conference hall, only to get a surprised stare from them. At a western style dinner, a colleague asked, “So how’re you enjoyin’ the States?” he thought he heard, “how are you enjoying your steak?” and answered that he was eating chicken, not beef. That time, they smiled, and patiently repeated the question, then both laughed at the error.
By the end of the meetings, Dr. Dong felt a deep sense of “cultural stress” and was worn out from having to pay attention to so many new expressions and ways of dealing with things. He felt his handshake was not as firm as Americans’, found that people reacted unusually when he modestly insisted his English was not good after they complimented(称赞) him, didn’t know how to accept dinner invitations properly and therefore missed out on going to several lunches, and so on. Eventually, he was so confused that he felt the full impact of “culture shock”.
【小题1】Why did Dr. Dong travel to Seattle?

A．To improve his spoken English.	B．To experience culture shock.
C．To give lectures on his research.	D．To attend a medical conference.

My friend Dr. Dong had a wonderful chance to go to Seattle to present a paper at a professional meeting. When he got back to Beijing, he told me his experience.

   Dr. Dong enjoyed his first days very much. At the medical conference, he felt quite confident in his area of research and was able to perform well in his presentation. But after a few days, he began to feel uncomfortable. His medical English was fine, but the social communication skills were different.

   He got more and more worried that he was misunderstanding simple English greetings and table talk conventions(习俗). When someone greeted him with, “Hi, how’s it going?” he thought they had asked him “Where are you going?” and answered with the name of the conference hall, only to get a surprised stare from them. At a western style dinner, a colleague asked, “So how’re you enjoyin’ the States?” he thought he heard, “how are you enjoying your steak?” and answered that he was eating chicken, not beef. That time, they smiled, and patiently repeated the question, then both laughed at the error.

By the end of the meetings, Dr. Dong felt a deep sense of “cultural stress” and was worn out from having to pay attention to so many new expressions and ways of dealing with things. He felt his handshake was not as firm as Americans’, found that people reacted unusually when he modestly insisted his English was not good after they complimented(称赞) him, didn’t know how to accept dinner invitations properly and therefore missed out on going to several lunches, and so on. Eventually, he was so confused that he felt the full impact of “culture shock”.

1.Why did Dr. Dong travel to Seattle?

A. To improve his spoken English.  B. To experience culture shock.

C. To give lectures on his research.   D. To attend a medical conference.

2. Which of the following best describes Dr. Dong’s experience in Seattle?

   A. Comfortable—very uncomfortable—uncomfortable.

   B. comfortable—very uncomfortable—comfortable.

   C. Comfortable—uncomfortable – very uncomfortable.

   D. Comfortable—uncomfortable – very comfortable.

3.Dr. Dong felt a deep sense of “cultural stress” mainly because_______.

   A. he was too modest      B. he didn’t understand cultural differences

   C. he lacked confidence     D. he was not good at English listening

4.                                       

A large cat arrived at a farm where many mice lived.None of them dared go outside for fear of being__36__by the cat.

The mice decided to hold a__37__to find a way of stopping themselves from being in__38__.One day，when the cat was out，mice of all ages__39__into the meeting room.

“Let’s build a big trap，”one mouse__40__.When this idea was__41__，another said，“What about poisoning (毒死) her？”But__42__knew where to buy the poison.One young mouse，whose mother had become the cat’s food，__43__said，“Let’s cut her teeth，so she can do no more harm.”But the meeting did not accept his__44__.

At last，one mouse，__45__than the rest，jumped onto a table.Waving a bell，he called for__46__，“Be quiet！We’ll tie this bell to the cat’s tail，so we’ll always know__47__she is！We’ll have__48__to escape，and the slower and weaker mice will hear her coming and be able to__49__！” Hearing the words，everyone got__50__and they congratulated him on his good idea.

“We’ll tie it so tightly (紧紧地) that it will never__51__！”

“She’ll never be able to walk__52__again！Why，the other day，she suddenly appeared right in front of me！Just imagine...”

However，the wise mouse said，“We must__53__who is going to tie it on her tail.” There was not a sound in the room.Nobody was__54__enough to put the plan into action.The meeting ended without any decision being made.

It’s often very__55__to have bright ideas，but putting them into practice is a more difficult matter.

36．A.trained                             B．taught 

C．caught                                 D．invited

37．A.party                               B．test 

C．game                                   D．meeting

38．A.return                              B．danger 

C．fact                                     D．need

39．A.rushed                             B．swam 

C．flew                                    D．stepped

40．A.questioned                       B．explained 

C．suggested                             D．answered

41．A.supported                        B．discussed 

C．accepted                              D．refused

42．A.everybody                       B．nobody 

C．somebody                            D．anybody

43．A.angrily                             B．happily 

C．carefully                              D．slowly

44．A.present                            B．reason 

C．idea                                     D．excuse

45．A.younger                           B．longer 

C．stronger                               D．wiser

46．A.pleasure                           B．silence 

C．help                                     D．information

47．A.where                             B．what 

C．how                                    D．who

48．A.experience                       B．power 

C．time                                     D．space

49．A.shout                              B．watch

C．stay                                     D．hide

50．A.worried                           B．excited 

C．surprised                              D．tired

51．A.drop off                          B．turn up 

C．get up                                  D．put off

52．A.gladly                              B．quickly 

C．quietly                                 D．directly

53．A.believe                             B．learn 

C．imagine                                D．decide

54．A.honest                             B．brave 

C．rich                                     D．old

55．A.easy                                B．difficult 

C．strange                                D．important