My father always told me: “All work is noble.” He wasn't wealthy, but he earned a reasonable living. Thanks to his effort, I was able to go to an art college. I, however, wanted to do something different, something more interesting --- I was special!
After graduation, I moved to New York in search of a graphic designer job. It was winter and I only brought money to support myself for about a month. I wasn't worried --- I was sure I'd find a fantastic job immediately.
Within a few weeks, though, I found myself wandering around the streets having been rejected by every design office in town. My hostel rent was almost gone and I hadn't eaten for days. “How had I reached this point?” I wondered as I shuddered in my thin jacket. I was just about to give up when my dad called. He suggested I get a job in a restaurant until something else came along. At first, pride made me hesitate but I was cold, hungry, and unwilling to go home feeling ashamed and defeated.
I entered a cafe near one of the design offices that had turned me away and asked the manager if they were hiring. She said they were shorthanded, and offered me a job right away. Surprisingly, I found that I really enjoyed serving people. I started making big tips right away. Later, the manager learned that I had a design background and asked me to design the cafe menus. That led to a part-time job at an advertising company.
Previously, I had never considered being a waiter, but there I was. I eventually got my dream design job, but that winter I learned not to make assumptions(假定; 设想) about work.
1. Why did the author go to New York after graduation? (no more than 10 words)2. What does the underlined word “shuddered” mean? (no more than 3 words)
3. Where did the author get a job to support his life after calling his father? (no more than 10 words)
4. How did the author find his job as a waiter? (no more than 5 words)
5. What can you learn from the author's experience? (no less than 10 words and no more than 25 words)
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Ray and Julia went on a 3-week honeymoon to Italy right after the wedding. When they got back, they opened all the gifts and sent out thank-you notes. But there was one problem. A married couple that used to be good friends had obviously given nothing. This surprised Julia, because Walt and Mary said they were excited to be invited. And, they actually seemed to have had a great time at the wedding. Frankly, Ray didn’t even care if they hadn’t given a gift. He just needed to know whether to send a thank-you note. Ray called Aaron. Aaron said maybe Walt had left an envelope on the gift table like Aaron had. “Yes, but we got your envelope with the cash inside,” Ray said.
“Maybe my envelope looked too thin, and some thief thought Walt’s envelope looked nice and fat.”
Aaron asked Ray if he had looked everywhere for Walt’s gift. Had he called up the wedding site to see if anything had been left behind? Ray said that he had looked everywhere and made a lot of calls that were fruitless.
Ray didn’t know what to do. If he sent Walt and Mary a thank-you note for a gift they hadn’t given, they would be insulted. If he didn’t send them a thank-you note for a gift they had given, they would get angry.
“What would you do?” Ray asked. Aaron said he would call Walt up and tell him the problem.
“You can’t go wrong with simply being honest,” Aaron said.
“Oh, yes, you can,” Ray contradicted (反驳) him. “Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.” But he thought about it, and finally decided that Aaron was right. He called Walt and told him the problem. Walt said that yes, he had given an envelope. In fact, the envelope contained $500 cash.
“$500?!” Ray asked. “That’s a lot of cash, Walt!” Walt admitted that it was, but he had gotten a fat raise early that year and Ray’s was the only wedding he’d been to in quite a while. Ray thanked him very much, and apologized sincerely for someone stealing Walt’s generous gift. Walt told him that it was “only money”.
When Ray told Aaron about Walt’s gift, Aaron laughed. “The only thief at the wedding was Walt! I stopped playing cards with him last year because I caught him cheating. And it was only a $10 pot! I’m sure I told you about that.”
“Yes, you did tell me,” Ray said. But, of course, he had to send Walt a thank-you note anyway.
1. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Aaron looked on honesty as the best policy. |
| B．Walt had surely gotten a fat raise early that year. |
| C．Stealing had never happened at a wedding. |
| D．Nobody checked on the gift table all evening. |
| A．deeply impressed | B．much discouraged |
| C．badly hurt | D．greatly moved |
| A．Friendly and optimistic. | B．Doubtful and experienced. |
| C．Outgoing and stubborn. | D．Thoughtful and polite. |
| A．A Wedding Party |
| B．The Wedding Gift |
| C．The Thief at the Wedding |
| D．A Secret at the Wedding |
【推荐2】It was Saturday. As always, it was a busy one, for “Six days shall you labor and do all your work” was taken seriously back then. Outside, Father and Mr. Patrick next door were busy chopping firewood. Inside their own houses, Mother and Mrs. Patrick were engaged in spring cleaning.
Somehow the boys had slipped away to the back lot with their kites. Now, even at the risk of having Brother caught to beat carpets, they had sent him to the kitchen for more string (线). It seemed there was no limit to the heights to which kites would fly today.
My mother looked at the sitting room, its furniture disordered for a thorough sweeping. Again she cast a look toward the window. “Come on, girls! Let’s take string to the boys and watch them fly the kites a minute.”
On the way we met Mrs. Patric, laughing guiltily as if she were doing something wrong, together with her girls.
There never was such a day for flying kites! We played all our fresh string into the boys’ kites and they went up higher and higher. We could hardly distinguish the orange-colored spots of the kites. Now and then we slowly pulled one kite back, watching it dancing up and down in the wind, and finally bringing it down to earth, just for the joy of sending it up again.
Even our fathers dropped their tools and joined us. Our mothers took their turn, laughing like schoolgirls. I think we were all beside ourselves. Parents forgot their duty and their dignity; children forgot their everyday fights and little jealousies. “Perhaps it’s like this in the kingdom of heaven,” I thought confusedly.
It was growing dark before we all walked sleepily back to the houses. I suppose we had some sort of supper. I suppose there must have been surface tidying-up, for the house on Sunday looked clean and orderly enough. The strange thing was, we didn’t mention that day afterward. I felt a little embarrassed. Surely none of the others had been as excited as I. I locked the memory up in that deepest part of me where we keep “the things that cannot be and yet they are.”
The years went on, then one day I was hurrying about my kitchen in a city apartment, trying to get some work out of the way while my three-year-old insistently cried her desire to “go park, see duck.”
“I can’t go!” I said. “I have this and this to do, and when I’m through I’ll be too tired to walk that far.”
My mother, who was visiting us, looked up from the peas she was shelling. “It’s a wonderful day,” she offered, “really warm, yet there’s a fine breeze. Do you remember that day we flew kites?”
I stopped in my dash between stove and sink. The locked door flew open and with it a rush of memories. “Come on,” I told my little girl. “You’re right, it’s too good a day to miss.”
Another decade passed. We were in the aftermath (余波) of a great war. All evening we had been asking our returned soldier, the youngest Patrick Boy, about his experiences as a prisoner of war. He had talked freely, but now for a long time he had been silent. What was he thinking of — what dark and horrible things?
“Say!” A smile sipped out from his lips. “Do you remember — no, of course you wouldn’t. It probably didn’t make the impression on you as it did on me.”
I hardly dared speak. “Remember what?”
“I used to think of that day a lot in POW camp (战俘营), when things weren’t too good. Do you remember the day we flew the kites?”
1. Mrs. Patrick was laughing guiltily because she thought ________.| A．she was too old to fly kites |
| B．her husband would make fun of her |
| C．she should have been doing her housework then |
| D．her girls weren’t supposed to play the boy’s game |
| A．felt confused | B．went wild with joy |
| C．looked on | D．forgot their fights |
| A．She suddenly remembered her duty as a mother. |
| B．She was reminded of the day they flew kites. |
| C．She had finished her work in the kitchen. |
| D．She thought it was a great day to play outside. |
| A．the writer was not alone in treasuring her fond memories |
| B．his experience in POW camp threw a shadow over his life |
| C．childhood friendship means so much to the writer |
| D．people like him really changed a lot after the war |
【推荐3】A little before nine o'clock on Tuesday night, Antonio Gutierrez found himself facing a welcome dilemma. Might he, a waitress asked, have room for a second helping of pudding?
By day, the Robin Hood restaurant, which sits on a side street near the centre of Madrid, is a typical Spanish bar. But at night, it transforms itself into a pioneering place where homeless people, such as Antonio Gutiérrez, can dine, free of charge, at tables set with flowers and proper glasses.
The restaurant is the latest plan from the charity Mensajeros de la Paz, meaning messengers of peace, which was founded 54 years ago by Father Angel(安吉神父)García Rodriguez. “The inspiration came from Pope (教皇)Francis, who’s spoken again and again about the importance of giving people dignity, whether it’s through bread or through work,” said Father Angel. “So we thought, why not open a restaurant? People with nothing can come and eat here and get the same treatment as everyone else.”
Like many Spanish charities, Mensajeros de la Paz is still dealing with the human consequences of the country’s financial crisis, which has left the overall unemployment rate close to 20% and youth unemployment among Europe’s highest at 42%.
Each day, Father Angel’s nearby church provides 200 homeless people with breakfast and lunch. In the evening, the new restaurant feeds 100 homeless people. If the restaurant proves successful, the charity plans to extend the scheme and hopes it will attract famous chefs who will come to cook in the kitchen occasionally.
“The food here is tasty,” said Gutiérrez. “I’d give it lots of stars and I’ll be back tomorrow.” Gutiérrez had not eaten in such a restaurant for five years, except when Father Angel had taken him out.
1. Which of the following can best describe Father Angel?| A．Old and successful |
| B．Kind and respectable |
| C．Creative and gifted |
| D．Brave and determined |
| A．It was set up by Father Angel |
| B．It is in the center of Madrid |
| C．Its dishes are mainly cooked by famous chefs |
| D．It provides 100 homeless people with dinners every day |
| A．Disgusting | B．Cheap |
| C．Delicious | D．Smelly |
| A．A homeless person’s special experience |
| B．A pioneering Robin Hood restaurant for the homeless |
| C．A plan to reduce unemployment rate |
| D．Father Angel and his charity |
