题目内容：

Being a mother is not easy. You need to have good parenting methods. I admit that I’m not a perfect mom and that there are problems in my family. But I’m willing to change the situation. It’s the beginning of a new year and it’s time to examine ways to do a better job with my kids. This time I have decide to focus more on how I can get my parenting methods to actually get results for me rather than just doing the usual thing and simply making out a long list of impossible things. These are a few ideas about how I plan to keep my parenting methods working throughout the year.

Getting them to be neater

My kids are not really what I would call lazy, but their rooms can look like a war zone at times. Instead of getting annoyed at the sight of their underwear hanging on their laptop table, I am simply going to reward the child who keeps his room neat and take a few dollars from the pocket money of the one who continues to be untidy.

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I have already moved their television into our living room. All of us like to relax in the evenings with TV, but I know watching too much TV harms their health and reduces the time we spend together as a family, so I plan to throw in some snacks and turn a quiet evening into enjoyable family time. In this way I will get to spend more time with my kids as well as stopping them from hiding in their rooms watching those meaningless TV programmes.

Helping them keep a balanced diet

My kids love fries (炸薯条) and biscuits as children usually do. I have worked out a deal with them. We have Tuesdays and Saturdays labelled as “happy food days” when they can eat what they want while the rest of the week we get to focus on some nutritious (有营养的) foods to develop our bodies. In this way I have worked out an effective balance between junk-food (垃圾食品) snacks and good-for-you snacks.

Giving permissions

If you don’t know how many outings you should allow your kids to go on, you are not the only one. I have made a deal with my kids. Out of every three outing choices, they get to choose two they really want and one that I am allowed to say “no” to. You’ll be surprised at how much you can control the number of their activities out with their friends without witnessing a long cry on your living room carpet (地毯).

Sparing time for talks

I have made sure that I am going to set aside five minutes a day for each child. From past experience, I have discovered that children often hide a problem until it reaches a point they cannot handle. Thus I plan to set aside five minutes for each child to just chat about their day and tell me if there is anything they want to talk to me about.

I know that all my plans to keep my ways to solve problems are not always going to go as planned. But having some ideas in place has helped me add some limits and requirements to my children’s lives without stepping on their toes or destroying their fun. I love my kids very much and this is my way of training them to get on the good side of their lives.

So, what are your parenting methods for this year? Please leave a message and share them below.

1.We can infer from Paragraph 1 that _____ .

A. the author is not a good mother

B. the author plans to make a list of things she will do

C. the author’s children bring great problems to her family

D. the author’s parenting methods in the past didn’t quite work

2.What can we learn about the author’s children from Paragraph 2?

A. They are lazy and untidy.

B. They can get pocket money.

C. They always keep their rooms out of order.

D. They often fight with each other in their rooms.

3.What is the best subtitle for Paragraph 3?

A. Spending the evening together

B. Turning TV time into family time

C. Keeping them away from the television

D. Stopping them from hiding in their rooms

4.The author spares five minutes to talk with her kids every day to _____.

A. let them know that she loves them

B. keep an eye on what they do every day

C. help them solve their problems in time

D. discover the secrets they don’t want to share

5.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The author has put all her plans into action.

B. The author is not satisfied with her plan at all.

C. The author allows her children to eat whatever they like.

D. The author’s children have freedom of going out to some degree.

6.Where is the passage most probably taken from?

A. A newspaper.    B. A magazine.

C. A booklet.    D. A website.