My teachers suggested that I see a speech specialist (專家) in school.

I never really gave much thought to my speech. If other people understood what I was saying, then that was good enough. I didn’t mind repeating myself many times.

Before testing me, the speech specialist asked me what I thought of having good speech. I told her I thought it was not important.

“Well, when you are in an interview for a job, and they don’t know what you are saying, what are they going to say to you? Nice meeting you, bye,” she said.

Maybe good speech was important. I took part in 20-minute classes each week with the specialist.

After she tested me, she told me that I spoke too fast, and didn’t give enough eye contact (眼神交流). I learned that when I made eye contact with someone, it meant that I was talking to that person, and I could also see what he or she thought about what I was saying.

When my first speech class started, I found that I had been speaking too fast to be understood. Every time I spoke too fast, the specialist stopped me and told me to start again. At first, I got stopped after almost every other sentence. After a while, I felt my speech slow down. I wasn’t sure if people could understand me better, but my friends stopped asking me to repeat myself.

Speech is an important skill to have. If you do have good speech, that’s a good thing, but if you don’t have it, it is never too late to improve.

1.The article is probably taken from       .

A．a(chǎn) newspaper                           B．a(chǎn)n advertisement

C．a(chǎn) detective story                        D．a(chǎn) science book

2.What did the writer think of having good speech before the classes?

A．It was very useful.                       B．It was nothing important.

C．It was impossible.                       D．It was good for interviewing.

3.What were the writer’s problems when he was speaking?

a. He spoke too quickly.

b. He never stopped once he started talking.

c. He seldom kept eye contact with people.

d. He didn’t give others time to ask questions.

A．a(chǎn), b              B．b, c              C．a(chǎn), c              D．b, d

4.From the sentence “but my friends stopped asking me to repeat myself,” we know that _____.

A．the writer’s friends couldn’t understand him

B．the writer still couldn’t make eye contact

C．the writer improved a lot

D．the writer didn’t slow down

5.Through the passage, the writer wants to tell us that _____.

A．seeing a speech specialist is necessary

B．speech is an important skill to have

C．good speech can help you make friends

D．good speech gets good affect

If? you think you are too shy and want to be a little bit braver, just try the following things:

Be open to others. Tell people you are shy. There is no need to hide it. When they get to know you are a shy kid, they will understand you better. This also helps you feel more comfortable in talks.

Try to smile more. When you smile, people think you are friendly and easy to talk with. Remember that other people have feelings too and most people will stay away from an angry-looking face.

Learn to be a good talker. If you find it hard to start a conversation, say something nice about people around you Think about how great you feel when someone says something nice to you.. Don’t make you want to keep talking to that person?

Get your attention elsewhere. Think more about ways to enjoy parties or games. Don’t waste time worrying about your look or whether people or not. You will become relaxed and find it’s not so hard to talk with others.

Take one small step at a time . Each time when you say “Hi” or smile at someone, say to yourself “ You can make it.’ Keeping trying and one day you’ll never feel shy when you talk to others.

Title:? Advice on? 1.?? to be a little braver

Working parents feel that they are not giving their children enough care. They think that their children feel　1　and　2　 to spend more time with them.

Scientists in some colleges have found that working parents believed that they knew　3　 their children, but 　4 had ever asked their children what they thought. So scientists interviewed (采訪) over 1,000 children of working mothers or fathers to　5　 what they wanted. They asked the children　6　they wanted their parents to stay　　7　 and some　8　questions．After they collected the answers, it was   9  that only 10% of the children in their study said that they wanted more time with their parents. _10_, the children who were interviewed said they wanted their parents to give more   11 to them. They said that their parents were as   12  as a bee. When they were asked about what they 13   most, a large number of the children said that they wanted to feel important and   14 .

So parents should know what their children really want and how to get along  15  with them.

1.                A．tired           B．a(chǎn)fraid          C．unhappy  D．worried

2.                A．think           B．let             C．a(chǎn)sk  D．want

3.                A．of　　         B．a(chǎn)t　　　　      C．a(chǎn)bout    D．over

4.                A．every one       B．someone        C．a(chǎn)nyone   D．no one

5.                A．try out         B．find out         C．take out  D．put out

6.                A．whether        B．why            C．when D．how

7.                A．behind         B．a(chǎn)t home        C．a(chǎn)way D．up

8.                A．other          B．others          C．the other D．the others

9.                A．surprising       B．important       C．necessary D．useful

10.               A．But            B．Also           C．However  D．too

11.               A．food           B．care           C．money    D．practice

12.               A．small          B．young          C．lazy  D．busy

13.               A．talked          B．learned        C．needed   D．studied

14.               A．loved          B．hated          C．complained D．troubled

15.               A．good          B．nice           C．fine  D．well

Fashions in child-care (兒童保育)， as all parents know, come and go. Bottle-feeding or mother's milk?  Full-time parental care or a child-minder(兒童保育員)? These problems always trouble the parents a lot. And now, there is a book called Childsplay dealing with the problem of child-care.
The author of Childsplay, Lucy Jackson, believes most school children do some sports at school. And many adults take regular exercise in their free time.
Babies, though, spend most of the time in front of the television or sitting in a push-chair (折疊式嬰兒車) or high chair. If the world were a safer place, every child would run around freely, but that is simply not possible. As a result, they become lazy, overweight and unfit.
Ms. Jackson is worried that if small children take no regular exercise, bad habits will continue into adulthood (成人期 ). She suggests that parents should begin exercising with very small babies, moving their legs and arms gently in time to music. As children grow, they should follow and exercise program using soft balls, household furniture and play equipment.                                    
Many experts in child development do not agree. They feel that children will learn to run and jump as they play naturally; they do not need planned exercise. They would not be overweight if they ate healthier food. An increasing number of parents, though, are taking their children to exercise classes. The kids jump around with their mothers to disco music.They seem to enjoy themselves, but it is not at all clear if the classes have any effect on their future development.
【小題1】According to the passage, the parents do not worry about how to care about their children.
【小題2】Childsplay is a book about how to take care of the children.
【小題3】Ms. Jackson doesn't believe babies take enough exercise.
【小題4】Ms. Jackson encourages parents to take exercise with their babies.
【小題5】Though we don’t know if the exercise will have any effect on children future development, some mothers have already taken their children to exercise.