22. If teachers want to print, they can go to ___________.

A. a seminar room B. a computer room

C. a group study room D. an individual reading room

23. Who can apply to use the computer rooms?

A. Teachers B. Visiting scholars

C. Graduate students D. Teachers and students

B

From my earlier memory of Mother it somehow seemed quite natural to think of her as different, nor of everyday things as Father was. In those days he was a young-looking man. He did not hesitate to make friends with children as soon as they were able to talk to him and laugh at his stories. Mother was older than he was. She must have been a woman of nearly forty, but she seemed even older. She changed little for a long time, showing no indication of growing old at all until, towards the end of her life, she suddenly became an old lady.

I was always inquisitive about Mother’s age. She never had birthdays like other people, nor did anyone else in our family. No candles were ever lit or cakes made or presents given in our house. To my friends in the street who talked delightfully about their birthday parties, I would repeat my mother’s words that such celebrations were only foolish.

“Nothing but deception,” she would say. “As though life can be marked by birthdays. It’s deeds, not years, that matter.”

Although I often repeated her words and even prided myself on not having birthdays, I once could not help asking Mother when she was born.

“I was born. I’m alive as yocan see, so what more do yowant to know?” she replied, so sharply that I never asked her about her age again.

In so many other ways Mother was different. Whereas all the rest of the women I knew in the neighboring hoses took pride in their housewifely abilities, their new furniture, the neat appearance of their homes, Mother regarded all those things as of little importance. Our house always looked as if we had just moved in or were about to move out.

24. How did Father impress the author?

A. He liked writing stories. B. He loved making friends.

C. He was a very young man. D. He was popular with children.

25. Before the end of her life, Mother ___________.

A. looked quite young B. looked like an old lady

C. looked younger than she was C. looked like a forty-year-old woman

26. What does the word “inquisitive” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A. Certain B. Curious. C. Cautious. D. Confident.

27. What do we learn about Mother?

A. She was lazy. B. She was strict. C. She was proud. D. She was special

C

It is only praise or punishment that determines a child’s level of confidence. There are some other important ways we shape our kids-particularly by giving instructions and commands in a negative or positive choice of words. For example, we can say to a child “Don’t run into traffic!” pr “Stay on the footpath close to me.” In using the latter, yowill be helping your kids to think and act positively, and to feel competent in a wide range of situations, because they know what to do, and aren’t scaring themselves about what not to do.

Why does such a small thing make a difference? It is all in the way the human mind works. What we think, we automatically rehearse (预演). For example, if someone offered yoa million dollars not to think of a blue monkey for two minutes, yowouldn’t be able to do it. When a child is told “Don’t fall off the tree,” he will think of two things: “don’t” and “fall off the tree”. That is, he will automatically create the picture of falling off the tree in his mind. A child who is vividly imagining falling off the tree is much more likely to fall off. So it is far better to use “Hold on to the tree carefully.”

Clear, positive instructions help kids to understand the right way to do things. Kids do not always know how to be safe, or how to react to the warning of the danger in negative words. So parents should make their commands positive. “Sam, hold on firm to the side of the boat” is much more useful than “Don’t yodare to fall out of the boat?” or worse still “How do yothink I’ll feel if yodrown?” The changes are small but the difference is obvious.

Children learn how to guide and organize themselves from the way we guide them with our words, so it pays to be positive.

28. Positive choice of words helps kids to __________.

A. do things carefully B. build up their confidence

C. improve their imagination D. learn in different situations

29. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A. A child will act on what is instructed

B. One can’t help imagining what is heard.

C. A child will fall off the tree when told not to.

D. One won’t think of a blue monkey when given money.

30. Which of the following commands helps kids to be safe?

A. Fasten your seat belt.

B. Don’t play by the lake.

C. How do yothink I’ll feel if yoget hurt?