阅读理解

Just what is a tiger mother?Amy Chua is a law professor at America's Yale University and her recent book on the subject is making waves.She's been called “dangerous”，“outrageous”，even a “monster” for her descriptions of how she brought up her two daughters.

Her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother describes fighting with a daughter for hours at the piano to ensure the child gets a piece of music right.She rejected birthday cards made for her by her girls because she didn't think they had made enough effort.She compared one child negatively with the other，threatening to burn their toys.Her rules include：schoolwork always comes first; an A­minus is a bad grade; children must be two years ahead of their classmates in math，and playing the violin or the piano is a must.

Ms.Chua considers the Chinese hard work ethic as a way of creating happy，successful children—at least in her case.Although she's had a large amount of flak for her theories，one thing can't be ignored—the success of Chinese children in the education system.

In Britain，shocking research shows that Chinese girls，for example，are outperforming all other foreign groups at GCSE—79 percent getting 5 A­C Grades，compared with 58 percent of white British girls.So what is it about Chinese parenting that's leading to high achievers?And how do Amy Chua's theories play into that success?

She told me that if her daughter came back from school with 96/100 in a test，Chua would ask her what happened to the other 4 points.It's about always knowing “you can do better”，she told me.

Interestingly，in China，the birthplace of the tiger mother，people are moving away from traditional Chinese parenting.They are following more western parenting styles.

1.After reading Amy Chua's recent book，the public ______.

A.feel very sorry for their own children

B.consider her a very successful mother

C.realize their methods of bringing up children are wrong

D.don't think highly of her methods of bringing up her children

2.What can we learn about Amy Chua according to Paragraph 2?

A.She is very strict with her children.

B.She doesn't think her children are clever.

C.She is very interested in playing the piano.

D.She knows playing is important to children.

3.Paragraph 4 shows that ______.

A.Chinese parents don't think grades are very important

B.Chinese children are cleverer than British children

C.Chinese parents are proud of their children

D.Chinese children do well in their study

4.The underlined word “flak” in the third paragraph probably means “______”.

A.attention　　　　　　　 B.criticism

C.curiosity      D.contribution

5.It can be inferred from the text that ______.

A.Amy Chua will change her methods

B.Amy Chua considers her methods useful

C.Amy Chua's children don't love their mother

D.Amy Chua's children prefer western parenting styles

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1.D　推理判断题。根据第一段“She's been called ‘dangerous’，‘outrageous’，even a ‘monster’...”可推断出，公众对她的教育方法评价不高。

2.A　推理判断题。根据第二段可知她对她的孩子们很严厉。

3.D　细节理解题。根据第四段“...Chinese girls，for example，are outperforming all other foreign groups at GCSE —79 percent getting 5 A­C Grades...”可知，中国的孩子学习成绩要好得多。

4.B　词义猜测题。attention意为“注意”;criticism意为“批评”;curiosity意为“好奇”;contribution意为“贡献”。根据第一段人们的评价，结合Although引导的让步状语从句判断，B项符合逻辑。句意：尽管她因为她的教育理论受到了很多批评，但是有一点不容忽视——中国孩子在教育上的成功。

5.B　推理判断题。根据第三段“Ms.Chua considers the Chinese hard work ethic as a way of creating happy，successful children...”可推断出，她认为她的教育方法很有用。

Martin was returning to work in his London office after spending two weeks with his brother in New York.He was coming back with a heavy heart.It was not just that it was the end of a wonderful holiday; it was not just that he invariably suffered badly from jet lag(时差); it was that Monday mornings always began with a team meeting and，over the months，he had grown to hate them.

Martin was aware that colleagues approached these meetings with hidden agendas; they indulged in (沉溺于)gameplaying; and he knew that people were not being honest and open.The meetings themselves were bad enough—there was all the moaning afterwards at the meeting like “I could have improved on that idea，but I wasn't going to say”.

As this morning's meeting began，Martin prepared himself for the usual dullness and boredom.But，as the meeting progressed，he became aware of a strange background noise.At first，he thought that he was still hearing the engine noise from the aircraft that had brought him back to London.But，as he concentrated on the noise，it became a little clearer.

He realized，to his amazement，that he could actually hear what they were thinking at the same time as they were speaking.What surprised him，even more than the acquisition(获得)of this strange power，was that he discovered that what people were saying was not really what they were thinking.They were not making clear their reservations.They were not supporting views which they thought might be popular.They were not contributing their new insights.They were not volunteering their new ideas.

Martin found it impossible not to respond to his new knowledge.So he started to make gentle interventions，based more on what he could hear his colleagues thinking than on what he could hear them saying.“So，John，are you really saying...” “Susan，do you really think that?” “Tom，have you got an idea on how we could take this forward?” They looked at him，puzzled.In truth，he felt rather proud of his newly­acquired talent.

As the meeting progressed，it was clear to him that each member of the meeting was learning how to hear the thoughts of the others.The gameplaying started to fall away; people started to speak more directly; views became better understood; the atmosphere became more open and trusting.

The meeting ended.As people left the room，Martin found that he could still hear what they were thinking.“That was the best meeting we've ever had.” “All meetings should be like that.” “In future，I'm going to say what I think”.

1.It is known from the first paragraph that Martin ______.

A.just came back from his business trip in New York

B.was found to suffer from a serious heart disease during the trip

C.had a good time during his fortnight's stay in New York

D.didn't like his work in his London office

2.Why did Martin hate his company's team meeting?

A.Because it had to be held every Monday morning.

B.Because he was tired of hosting such a meeting.

C.Because he couldn't control the meeting that was out of order.

D.Because the meeting atmosphere wasn't open and trusting.

3.The underlined part “his newly­acquired talent” in Paragraph 5 means that he could ______.

A.still hear the engine noise of the plane though he was back

B.clearly hear what the members of the meeting were saying

C.actually control the thoughts of the members of the meeting

D.express what the meeting members were thinking based on their words and their thoughts

4.What do we know about this Monday morning's meeting from the passage?

A.Martin made people say what they were thinking immediately the meeting began.

B.Martin was angry at the dullness of the meeting at the beginning of the meeting all the time.

C.Martin led people to express their real thoughts with the meeting progressing.

D.Many members of the meeting played games and told lies at the meeting all the time.

5.It is inferred from the last two paragraphs that towards the end of the meeting Martin would hear such words as “______”.

A.I was thinking of making a suggestion—but I couldn't be bothered

B.I have got an idea on how we could take this forward.I think we should...

C.The usual people say the usual things，so I have no other new ideas

D.I could have improved on that idea，but I wasn't going to say

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1.C　细节理解题。根据第一段“It was not just that it was the end of a wonderful holiday...”中的“a wonderful holiday”可判断，他在纽约的两周过得很愉快，由此判断答案为C项。

2.D　细节理解题。根据第二段可知，与会人员口是心非，表里不一，这种不公开、不诚实的会风使他厌烦，由此判断正确答案为D项。

3.D　词义猜测题。第四段提到马丁能根据与会人员所说的话而得知他们心里的真实想法，之后第五段接着说，他说出与会人员的真实想法，使别人都迷惑地看着他，由此判断，“他新获得的能力”即意为：他能根据别人的话说出他们心里的真实想法。

4.C　细节理解题。会初，马丁准备着忍受会议的乏味，而后随着会议的进行，他发现自己能根据别人所说的话而得知他们心里的真实想法，对此他做出反应，即试着说出他们心里的真实想法，从而引导人们学会理解他人的想法，并坦诚地说出自己心里的想法。由此判断正确答案为C项。

5.B　推理判断题。根据“people started to speak more directly”可知，随着会议的进行，与会人员开始坦诚地说出心里真实的想法，B项即为这样的话，故正确答案为B项。