Part B Reading
When You Are Depressed
Depression can be a serious problem for children as well as adults.In fact, at any given time, about one in twenty children and teenagers suffer from depression in the United States. That rate is about the same for boys and girls, but by the age of about 15, girls are more likely to develop the disorder.
Depression usually is apparent in adults, but it can be less obvious in children. One way of recognizing when children are depressed is through changes in their behavior. Sometimes the symptoms are not very obvious.
Here are 10 statements about depression, see how many you agree with:
● I sometimes or often consider ending my life.
● I have trouble sleeping or sleep too much.
● I am often tired.
● My weight has gone up or down recently.
● When I think about the future I feel hopeless about it.
● I cannot concentrate on things that I am trying to do or focus on anything.
● I don’t enjoy anything. I am never happy. I don’t laugh or smile anymore.
● I am worthless. Nobody needs me or wants to talk to me.
● I feel sad and blue.
● I feel like crying.
If you look at this list and find that a majority of the statements are suitable for you, it is possible that you are suffering from depression and should talk to a doctor or a counselor (顾问) about it. There is a difference between “not feeling very happy today” and “being extremely sad for several weeks or months”, especially if it is leading you to think about suicide. If that is the case, it is important to talk to someone. There are a lot of good solutions.
Something else to try: find an adult you can trust (your parents are a good place to start, but if that doesn’t work, try teachers, friends of your parents, neighbors, aunts and uncles, grandparents, etc.) and simply tell this person about yourself and how you feel. Ask him/her to tell you his or her own stories when he or she was a teenager. You will probably be amazed that they felt exactly the same way as you do.
Here is something to keep in mind. You have probably heard the expression “take things one day at a time.” It means: No matter how bad you feel today, just work to make it through that one day, because the next day will be better.
(416 words)
Exercises
Task One Answer the following questions according to the text.
1. What will you do when you are depressed?
2. Do you think depression is a serious problem to teenagers?
3. What is the percentage of the children and teenagers suffering from depression in the US?
4. Is depression in children as obvious as it in adults?
5. According to the author, what should we do when we are suffering from depression?
Task Two Match the words.
1. depressed A. well fitted for
2. extremely B. concentrate on
3. consider C. feeling unhappy
4. be suitable for D. to have a desire to do sth.
5. focus ... on E. very much(https://www.daowen.com)
6. feel like F. to remember
7. keep in mind G. to think carefully
8. worthless H. easily to see or understand
9. as well as I. of no value
10. obvious J. and
Task Three Complete the sentences by using the words from Task Two.Change the word forms if necessary.
1. Don’t read those books, they are so_______________.
2. She is_______________whether she should marry him.
3. Business makes a man_______________tries him.
4. It is_______________that China is becoming stronger and stronger.
5. Thank you so much for your advice, I’ll_______________it_______________.
6. She got_______________and began to let things slide.
7. I don’t think these books_______________young children.
8. There’s nothing to do now, do you_______________going to a movie?
9. He stops playing computer games in order to_______________his homework.
10. I’ve heard that this movie is_______________interesting. Would you like to go with me to watch it?
Task Four Fill in each blank with the proper form of the word given in brackets.
1. His mother was_______________(depress) by the sad news.
2. I must finish it even though all of you think that it is_________________(worth).
3. I gave him_______________(exact) what he asked for.
4. Do you have a_______________(suit) book for young children?
5. I tried hard, but I couldn’t find the_______________(solute) to the problem.
6. My mother was so_______________(amaze) to find the fish she cooked last night had been eaten by the cat from neighborhood.
7. He closed his letter with_______________(express) of grateful thanks.
8. Another five or six yuan will_______________(probable) be enough.
9. I haven’t seen him_______________(recent), has he gone abroad for traveling?
10. It was_______________(extreme) hard to win 3 gold medals at that Olympic Games but I made it.
Task Five Rewrite the following sentences after the model.
Task Six Translate the following sentences into English and use the given words or phases.
