Every kid wishes to be an adult. Do you remember playing house as a child — pretending(假装) to be a grown-up like your parents? Did you imagine you were a doctor, a soldier or a teacher? At that time, anything seemed more exciting than being young.

But now as grown-ups, some adults find they cannot leave childhood behind. They become “kidults”. Being a kidult has become a lifestyle choice among young people across Asia. Some kidults collect toys they once played with. Hello Kitty, Garfield, and Snoopy have many adult fans around the world. It is not unusual to see a 20-something woman with a big Garfield-shaped cushion on her sofa or a Hello Kitty mobile phone accessory.

Other kidults still enjoy children’s stories and fairy tales. For example, the British publisher Bloomsbury even released an edition of the Harry Potter novels with an adult cover. That way, no one else on the subway will know that an adult is actually reading a children’s book.

“Kidults can be like vitamins to society. Adults who love their childhood most and hold on to pure, child-like emotion(情感) may be needed in such a rough and dry society,” said Lee So-jung, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

He added that kidult culture may fill the generation gap(代沟) between adults and kids. It could give children and their parents books, movies, and cartoon shows to enjoy together.Tim Greenhalgh, an adviser in London explained that some kidults just refuse to grow up. They hold on to childhood because working life in a busy and stressful city frightens them. Kidults would like to forget their age and openly show their fear of society and adulthood.

“So, they can escape from increasingly busy and stressful lives that are hard to deal with,” Greenhalgh said.

In order to tell you what I believe, I must bring up something from my personal history. 

The turning point of my life was my decision to give up my business job and study music. My parents, although sharing my love of music, didn’t think it was a good choice that I took up music as a job. Considering my family background, this was understandable. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years at Spring Hill College in Mobile, and though he was much loved by his students, he didn’t earn(挣钱)enough to provide for his large family. As a result of this example in the family, my parents strongly asked me to go to the college instead of a conservatory(音乐学院)of music although I loved my violin and spent most of my spare time practicing.

Before my graduation from Columbia, the family ran into some money problems and I felt it was my duty to leave college and take a job. That was why I took a business job, which I always think of as the wasted years. I went into it for money, for being able to help the family. Money is all I go out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by.

My wish was to save enough to quit(退出)and then go to Europe to study music. I continued to make money, and finally, bit by bit, I earned enough to make myself able to go abroad. The family got out of the trouble and _______________. I felt like a free man and sailed for Europe. I stayed for four years, worked harder than I had ever dreamed of working and enjoyed every minute of it.

“Enjoyed” is too soft a word. I walked on air. I really lived. When I broke away from business, it was against the advice of all my friends and family, but if I had stayed in business, I do not believed I would have made a success of living.

Everyone was moved when he or she watched the volleyball game between the Chinese and Serbia women’s teams on TV.

As we sat before the television set, watching the game, we experienced every kind of feeling. When the two teams played neck and neck(难分上下), we were nervous, wondering what would come next, and when our team fell behind our hearts were in our mouths. Watching the game between those two teams is not only a matter of great joy, but it also provides food for thought. Just see how the Chinese women won the game——by their cooperation (合作), by their excellent skill, their effort and strong will.

A Chinese saying goes, “When two competent opponents (比赛双方) meet, the strong-minded one will win. ” This is the spirit of the Chinese Women’s Volleyball Team.

If every Chinese showed some of the spirit, never losing heart in times of difficulty and remaining clear -minded in times of advantage (优势), then our nation would stand in the vanguard (前列) of the world family of nations, just as the Chinese Women’s Volleyball Team has done, is doing and will do.

“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown person wrote it.

   Inventions can change our lives. But have all these things really improved our lives? Imagine this. You're doing your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings and the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer is turned off and you lose all your work. How do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives, but they often leave us feeling tired.

   One family in England went“back in time”to see what life was like without these inventions. The grandparents, with their daughter and grandsons Ben 10 and Tow 7, spent nine weeks in an old house. They had no computers or mobile phones. The grandmother, Linda, said,“The more things you have, the harder life becomes.” And Ben also noticed that his grandmother had changed. She cooked delicious food for them!

根据短文内容,选择最佳答案。

The best way of learning a language is using it. The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible. Sometimes you’ll get your words mixed up(混淆) and people will not understand you. Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can’t understand them. But if you keep your sense of humor(幽默感), you can always have a good laugh at your mistakes you make. Don’t be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes. It’s better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don’t understand what you are saying. The most important things for learning English is: “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes.”

Have you ever complained why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes seem dark to you? Are yourstudies sometimes not successful? Well, friend, cheer up and smile all the time．If you see the world with your warm heart, you'll find that the whole world smiles to you．

While in school, sometimes you are tired of your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile on your teacher's face when you did a good job?

     One day it is fine．Just before you want to go out, it suddenly starts to rain．Maybe you would feelvery sad and start complaining about the weather．But dear friends, why don't you sit down and listen tothe free concert that the nature offers you? And with the timely rain, crops (庄稼) in the fields will grow better and better and farmers will have a good harvest．

     Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failures can't beavoided．I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is that we are afraid of it and give up hope．When we face failure, we must be confident in ourselves, draw a useful lesson from it and try our best to finish what we have decided to do．As a popular saying goes, "Failure is the mother of success．"

    Attitude decides everything．With a positive attitude life is easy and pleasant．

 ●Our Needs

People are different, but they all have the same needs.Needs are things people must have to live. Our bodies need food and water. We also need air to breathe. We need a place to live to keep us safe. We need clothes to keep us warm. If we did not have these things, we could not survive.

Needs may be different for people who live in different areas. If you live where it is cold, you may need special clothes to keep you warm. If you live where it is hot, you may need more water.

People have found new ways to meet their needs. Farmers grow food that people eat. They used to plant seeds by hand. They used to pick plants by hand. Now they have machines that do this work.

●Our Wants

Wants are things people would like to have but do not need to live. Suppose* you hope to get a football for your birthday. A football is want. You can live without it.

Sometimes we must make choices between things we want. Suppose you want to go to a birthday party for your uncle. That day, a friend asks you to go to a movie. The movie is at the same time as the party.

If you choose to go to the party, then what would you give up? What would you give up if you went to the movie?

“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”

This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown person who lived in Rome in AD（公元）53 wrote it.

We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives. But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?

Picture this. You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank（空白的）and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel?

Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often make us feel stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they live simpler lives.

One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10 and Thomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s’ house. They had no washing machine, microwave（微波炉）, computer or mobile phones.

The grandmother, Lyn, said, “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes.” The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy（赶时髦的）, beer-drinking granny”, to one who cooked things.

Do you get angry when your friends sing loudly? Or when your best friend does not wait for you after school? If you do, you need to control your feelings and stop getting angry so easily. Getting angry easily can make you lose friends. Gary Egeberg, an American high school teacher, wrote My Feelings are Just Like Wild Animals to help you control your feelings. It tells teens how to stay cool when bad things happen to them. The book says that getting angry only makes problems worse. It can not make them better. "Getting angry is not a natural way to act", the book says. It is just a bad habit, like smoking. The book says you can control your anger easily, and all you have to do is to tell yourself not to be angry. When a baby falls over, it cries only when people are watching it. Like a baby, you can only get angry if you are sure it is the right thing to do. The book gives many suggestions to help you if you get angry easily.

Here are the top three. 

①Keep a record. Every time you get angry, write down why you are angry. Look at it later and you will see you get angry too easily.

②Ask your friends to stop talking to you when you get angry. This will teach you not to be angry.

③Do something different. When you get angry, walk away from the problem and go somewhere else. Try to laugh!

    "A wise(聪明的)old owl lived in an oak. The more he saw, the less he spoke, the less he spoke, the more he heard. Why arenˈt we alike that wise old bird?"-Edward H. Richards.

   We all need to learn to listen well. Listening is a learned skill, the same as speaking in public. It just takes much longer to learn! Listening is a skill we should be practicing every day.

   Listening shows others that they are important. Itˈs a sign of respect(尊重). If someone listens to you carefully when you are talking, it shows that they are really interested in what you are saying.

   How do you practice listening? Here are some rules:

   Put down whateveris in your hands. Are you in the middle of writing something? Put down the pen and start to listen. Are you reading something? Close it so that it will be

impossible for you to look down and start reading again. Then put it down.

   Turn off your computer.The computer will distract(使分心)you from your job at hand-listening.

   Face the person you are speaking with.Facing the person you are speaking with will help you listen more carefully. It will also make the person feel that you find what he is saying important.

Mind your body language.Standing towards the speaker will show interest. Looking around the room shows you have no interest. Looking that speaker in the eye tells him that he is important.

   Listen completely.Do not start making comments(评论)after the first few words. Do not start thinking about your reply in your mind. Listen to the speaker carefully and try to understand what he is telling you.