题型:任务型阅读 题类:常考题 难易度:困难
辽宁省协作校2019-2020学年高二下学期期中考试英语试题(外研)
My husband and I had tried for many years to have children, but it just never happened. So we applied to be foster parents(养父母). We decided we should start with an older child for a number of reasons. Since we both worked, child care might be a problem. Our dog Corby might be a bit too energetic for a young child.We sat back and prepared to wait for the few months they thought it might take to get a school-age child to pass—which was why we were at a loss when the agency called us within weeks, just before Christmas, and asked if we would take Kaleb, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, for a few months.
This wasn't what we had discussed a few weeks before. It was such short notice. We had made holiday plans and most of all, the boy was toddler(初学走路的孩子)! We went back and forth, and in the end, we just couldn't say no.
The day was set for Kaleb to arrive. We went outside to greet our little guest. But before we could even reach the child, I heard a noise from behind me. I gasped(因惊异吸气). Corby would frighten Kaleb——probably even knock him down.
Corby reached Kaleb before either of us could grab her. She hounded up to the boy and immediately began licking his face with joy. . His face light up with excitement, he cried, "Can this be my dog?
Kaleb came to stay those few months. Yes, we 'adopted Kaleb. He became our son, and Corby…well, she couldn't have been happier. She turned out to be Kaleb's dog, after all.
A. Privately, I was full of doubts.
B. There were so many difficulties,
C. Eight and a half years later, he is still with us.
D. Turning, I saw Corby heading straight for the little boy.
E. In our hurry, we must not have closed the door completely.
F. And honestly, we were a little nervous about taking on a baby.
G. In response, this little boy threw his arms around the dog's neck and turned toward us.
Children in kinder gardens have a lot of chances to interact(互动)with other children at their age.If your child is not in it, it can be fun and helpful to create chances to play with others.Here are some things you can do to support your child's early partner relationship.
Schedule regular playmates.
Start when your child is around one year of age, set aside a few times a week for playtime with partners.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} .Even so, you still might want to give your baby a chance observe and communicate with children who are at the same developmental level.
Join a playgroup.
Many communities have organized playgroups for young children.{#blank#}2{#/blank#},and learn to feel comfortable in a new setting.As an added benefit, while your child plays, you can talk with other parents who have children the same age as your own.
{#blank#}3{#/blank#}
You can organize a playground in your own home.It may involve just one other child, or as many as three or four.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.Remember: safety first.
Offer guidance when needed.
If you see a child playing in a way that might hurt another, certainly you need to help her find a safer way to have fun.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.But remember that some children need to watch for a while before they feel comfortable joining in —encourage everyone to join the fun, but don't push.
A.Make your home safe for play. B.Make sure there are enough parents to talk with C.You'll need a safe space that has been carefully child-proofed. D.It is also necessary to help a child who does not know how to get started. E.This can be a great way for your child to interact with her partners F.It is enough to have a few interesting and safe toys to help everyone feel comfortable. G.If you have older children, of course, they will do a lot of playing with your younger ones. |
Age has its privileges in America, and one of the most important of them is the senior citizen discount. Eligibility(资格) is determined not by one's need but by the date on one's birth certificate. The discounts have become a routine part of many businesses—as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.
People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them; yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent (有支付能力的). Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that "elderly" means "needy". Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have a lower poverty rate than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many older Americans are poor. But most of them aren't.
It is impossible to determine the impact of the discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to revenue. But in other cases, the discounts are given at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant(刺激物) in what some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations.
Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits, which mostly involve a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another sore point. Supported by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job—thereby lessening employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers.
Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become a privilege to a group with millions of members who don't need them.
It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people can't take care of themselves and need special treatment; and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting against—discrimination by age.
Outline | Details |
Introduction | Age determines whether an American can be given a discount, which is a common{#blank#}1{#/blank#}in American business life today. |
Origin of senior citizen discount | Since the senior citizens are often treated as people who are in {#blank#}2{#/blank#} they are given such priority. |
{#blank#}3{#/blank#}situation | ●The situation has changed a lot where the majority of the elderly are not poor at all. ●Younger Americans were at a(n){#blank#}4{#/blank#} directly or indirectly due to the discounts given to the elderly, thus leading to conflicts between generations. ●The number of older Americans {#blank#}5{#/blank#}to work rather than retire is on the increase, which means {#blank#}6{#/blank#}opportunities for young workers. ●It is no longer a kind of charity because millions of senior citizens don't need the priority{#blank#}7{#/blank#} . |
Conclusion | ●It's unwise to offer discount priority to the elderly. ●It will mislead people to think they are unable to{#blank#}8{#/blank#} to themselves. ●People may think that they are ungrateful and they're hurting the{#blank#}9{#/blank#} of other age groups. ●Actually senior citizen discounts, to some extent,{#blank#}10{#/blank#} against their age. |
At a meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Tuesday, Premier Li Keqiang said it is important to keep the social insurance premium(保险费) policy stable(稳定), which to a large extent has eased people's worries at a time when a new regulation on premium collection has aroused public concern.
The general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council recently issued a reform plan for tax collection, which includes pension, medical, unemployment, occupational injury and maternity insurance will be uniformly collected by the taxation authorities from Jan 1, 2019.
In fact, the taxation authorities have been collecting social insurance premiums for more than one decade. Social insurance premiums in 19 provinces and regions are collected by the local taxation authorities.
In particular, companies have expressed concern over the uniform collection of social insurance premium by taxation authorities mainly for three reasons.
First, the new regulation indicates the reform of the collecting system as a result of institutional reform of the State Council. The companies are worried especially because they believe compulsory collection of social insurance premium will increase their expenditure on social insurance.
Second, since the taxation authorities are fully in charge of social insurance premium collection, the companies fear that the establishment of a new collection system will prevent enterprises escaping paying the social insurance premium.
Third, the media have reported that lately the local authorities in provinces such as Jiangsu, Heilongjiang and Hubei have been ordering enterprises to pay the arrears ( 欠 款 ) in social insurance premium they should have paid in the past years.
These factors have increased the companies' concern over the new premium-collection regulation. Some people assume the reform will increase the companies' cost, and some companies have even begun to lay off employees fearing that “winter is coming”.
Thanks to the current premium-collection system, the companies have managed to not pay a huge amount of social insurance premium. Take urban workers' basic pension insurance for example. It is estimated that the companies have paid only about two-thirds of the total amount of social insurance premium. Calculating on the basis of the data for 2017, this year the actual social insurance premium collection is 3.34 trillion yuan ($487.71 billion), while the total amount should be 5.08 trillion yuan. The due amount is more than one-third of the total that should have been paid.
Some background information about the social insurance It is of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}to keep the social insurance premium policy stable.
The State Council issued a reform plan for tax collection, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}
premium policy | All kinds of insurance. |
The {#blank#}3{#/blank#}for the concern expressed by some enterprises | First, the companies are {#blank#}4{#/blank#}that compulsory collection of social insurance premium will increase their expenditure on social insurance. |
Second, the companies fear that the establishment of a new collection system will {#blank#}5{#/blank#}enterprises escaping paying the social insurance premium. | |
Third, the local authorities think it a {#blank#}6{#/blank#}for companies to pay the arrears in social insurance premium they should have paid in the past years. | |
The {#blank#}7{#/blank#}on some companies and people | Some companies have even begun to lay off employees fearing that “winter is coming”. |
Some people think the reform will{#blank#}8{#/blank#} the companies' cost. | |
The {#blank#}9{#/blank#}of current premium-collection system | The companies have paid only about two-thirds of the total {#blank#}10{#/blank#}of social insurance premium. |
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