I shook hands with my father in the truck, and for a long time he looked straight ahead and didn’t say a word. But I knew he was going to say a little to me. “I can’t tell anything,” he finally said. “I never went to college, and none of your brothers went to college. I can’t say don’t do this and do that, because everything is different and I don’t know what is going to come up. I can’t help much with money either, but I think things will work out. ”

He gave me a new check-book. “If things get pushing, write a small check. But when you write one, send me a letter and let me know how much. There are some things we can always sell.” In four years all the checks I wrote were less than a thousand dollars. My part-time jobs such as reading to the blind student and sitting with the teachers’ kids filled in the financial gaps.

“You know what you want to be, and they’ll tell you what to take,” my father went on. “When you get a job, be sure it’s honest, and work hard.” I knew that soon I would be alone in the big town, and I would be missing the cool winds and a life where your thinking was done for you.

Then my dad reached down beside his seat and brought the old, broken Bible that he had read so often, the one he used when he wanted to look something up in a friendly quarrel with one of the neighbours. I knew he would miss it. I knew, though, that I must take it.

He didn’t say read this every morning. He just said, “This can help you if you will let it.”

Did it help? I got through college without being a burden on the family. I have been able to make money since.

(   )56. What is the writer’s main purpose (目的) in writing this passage?

A. To tell the readers his life story.

B. To tell people what kind of person his father was.

C. To let people know how poor he was.

D. To tell the readers what present he got from his father.

(   )57.   Why did the father not ask his son not to do this and do that?

A. Because he felt quite confident of his son.     B. Because he was born from a poor family.

C. Because he was a man of few words.

D. Because he didn’t want to be much too strict with his son.

(   )58.  What would someone learn from this passage?

A. How to live by oneself.            B. How to stand on one’s own feet.

C. What a good father should do.       D. What the self-important is like.

(   )59.    What may be the proper Chinese for the underlined part in the passage?

A.  閑暇時光.       B.  學費.       C.  經濟不足.        D.  精神空虛.

(   )60. What kind of book did the Bible seem to be to the writer’s father?

A. It was a book which told you how you should get on well with others.

B. There were many good examples for you to copy in it.

C. It was a book that told you how to get a good job and a good future.

D. It was a good book that could help you when you were in trouble.

According to an official report on youth violence（暴力）, “The greatest danger to the lives of children is not disease or food shortage, but violence”. Why aren’t students taught to manage conflict（沖突）the way they are taught to solve math problems, drive cars, or stay physically fit?

First of all, students need to realize that conflict is unavoidable. A report on violence among middle school students shows that most violence between students begin with small things. For example, a fight could start over the fact that one student eats a peanut butter sandwich each lunchtime. Laughter over the sandwich can then lead to a fight. The problem isn’t in the sandwich, but in the way students deal with the conflict.

Once students realize that conflict is unavoidable, they can practice the golden rule of staying calm（平靜的）. Once the student feels calmer, he or she should choose words that will calm the other person down as well. Rude words only make things worse. On the other hand, soft words can put out the fire before it is out of control.

After both sides have calmed down, they can use another key way to help: listening. Listening allows the two sides to understand each other. One person should describe his or her side, and the other person should listen without getting in a word. Afterwards, the listener can ask some questions to make the speaker’s position clear. Then the two people should change roles.

Finally, students need to consider what they are hearing. This doesn’t mean trying to work out what’s wrong with the other person. It means understanding what both sides are trying to deal with. For example, a shouting match over a peanut butter sandwich might happen because one person thinks the other person is unwilling to try new things. Students need to ask themselves questions such as these: How did this start? What do I really want? What am I afraid of? As the problem becomes clearer, the conflict often simply becomes smaller.

There will always be conflict in schools, but that doesn’t mean there needs to be violence. Learning to resolve conflicts can help students deal with friends, teachers, parents and coworkers. In that way, conflict resolution（解決）is a basic life skill that should be taught in schools across the country.

56. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The lives of school children.     

B. The causes of fights in schools.

C. How to explain youth violence. 

D. How to deal with school conflicts.

57. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A. A small conflict can lead to violence.

B. Students seem to lose their temper easily.

C. Violence is more likely to happen at lunchtime.

D. The eating habit of a student often causes a fight.

58. Why do students need to ask themselves the questions in Paragraph 5?

A. To make clear what the real problem is.

B. To find out who should take responsibility.

C. To show more considerations for both sides.

D. To work out how to stop the shouting match.

59. What’s the writer’s purpose for writing this passage?

A. To tell the latest studies on school violence.

B. To teach students different skills for school life.

C. To describe some problems in school education.

D. To suggest teaching conflict management in schools.

Even though global warming may have made the weather more mild, many animals are still hibernating（冬眠）. It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past, farmers in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation. So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French farmers. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over the France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed since the invention of lighting.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ continuous sleep is a modern invention.
In the past, without the artificial light, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves up around midnight. The late night period was known as “The Watch”. It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbors.
According to some sleep researchers, a short of insomnia（失眠）at midnight is not a disorder. It is normal. Humans can experience another state of consciousness（清醒狀態）around their sleeping, which happens in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning. This period can be a creative time for some people.
Playing with your sleep rhythms（節奏）can be dangerous, as worry may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need.

1. 1.

   The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people ______.

   1. A.
      to set time to catch animals
   2. B.
      to remind others of the time
   3. C.
      to guard against possible dangers
   4. D.
      to wake up their family and neighbors
2. 2.

   We can infer from the last paragraph that people should ______.

   1. A.
      sleep in the way animals do
   2. B.
      follow their natural sleep rhythms
   3. C.
      keep to the eight-hour sleeping way
   4. D.
      ask doctors for help if they can’t sleep
3. 3.

   What is the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?

   1. A.
      To throw new light on human sleep.
   2. B.
      To encourage people to sleep less.
   3. C.
      To give some suggestions on insomnia.
   4. D.
      To find out people’s hibernating history.

I shook hands with my father in the truck, and for a long time he looked straight ahead and didn't say a word. But I knew he was going to say a little to me. "I can't tell anything," he finally said. "I never went to college, and none of your brothers went to college. I can't say don't do this and do that, because everything is different and I don't know what is going to come up. I can't help much with money either, but I think things will work out. "

     He gave me a new check-book (支票簿) . "If things get pushing, write a small check. But when you write one, send me a letter and let me know how much. There are some things we can always sell." In four years all the checks I wrote were less than a thousand dollars. My part-time jobs such as reading to the blind student and sitting with the teachers' kids filled in the financial gaps.

     "You know what you want to be, and they'll tell you what to take," my father went on. "When you get a job，be sure it’s honest(誠實的)，and work hard．”I knew that soon I would be alone in the big town．and l would be missing the cool winds and a life where your thinking was done for you．

    Then my dad reached down beside his seat and brought the old，broken Bible that he had read so often．the one he used when he wanted to look something up in a friendly quarrel with one of the neighbors．I knew he would miss it．I knew，though，that I must take it．

    He didn’t say read this every morning．He just said，“This can help you if you will let it．”

    Did it help? I got through college without being a burden(負擔)on the family．I have been able to make money since．

1．What is the writer’s main purpose(目的)in writing this passage?

      A．To tell the readers his life story．

      B．To tell people what kind of person his father was．

      C．To let people know how poor he was．

      D．To tell the readers what present he got from his father．

2．Why did the father not ask his son not to do this and do that?

      A．Because he felt quite confident of him．

      B．Because he was born from a poor family．

      C．Because he was a man of few words．

      D．Because tie didn’t want to be much too strict with him．

3．What would someone learn from this passage?

A．How to live by oneself．   

B．How to stand on one’s own feet．

C．What a good father should do．

D．What the self-important is like．

4．What may be the proper Chinese for the underlined part in the passage?

      A．閑暇時光．    B．學費．    C．經濟不足．    D．精神空虛．

5．What kind of book did the Bible seem to be to the writer’s father?

      A．It was a book which told you how you should get on well with others．

      B．There were many good examples for you to copy in it.

      C．It was a book that told you how to get a good job and a good future.

      D．It was a good book that could help you when you were in trouble．