【推荐2】Ya Ting had taken me under her wing after hearing me speaking Chinese in a hotel in Lijiang．She had been hitchhiking(搭便车旅行) around China for months．She invited me to travel with her, which was how we ended up on the side of the road looking for a ride to the Tiger Leaping Gorge．Within 20 minutes, we had our first ride．The driver couldn’t take us all the way and ended up dropping us at a freeway crossroads．As a new hitchhiker, I thought that would be the end of our luck, but almost immediately we got another ride．

Our most unforgettable ride was when a twenty－something kid picked us up．He couldn’t take us the whole way so his uncle bought us lunch and a bus ticket for the rest of the journey．He felt it was his duty to help us find a way to complete our trip．It brought tears of joy and thankfulness to my eyes．This was the first time I understood how guests are respected(受尊重) in China．

A few weeks later, we said goodbye．I thought we had been so lucky because we had been a local(本地人) and a foreigner travelling together．But now Ya Ting was no longer around to do the talking, nor did I have someone to depend on if something went wrong．When I stood by a highway in Sichuan, I knew all about the difficulties before me．Now I was just a strange foreigner on her own who suddenly had to manage with poor Chinese．

After about 30 minutes, a couple picked me up and took me the whole eight hours to Chengdu．We ate lunch on the way, and they refused to allow me to pay for any of it, which I had come to learn was typical(特有的) of Chinese culture．This made me believe that people weren’t being friendly because of Ya Ting．

1. What do the author and Ya Ting have in common?

A．They both are foreigners．	B．They both live in Lijiang．
C．They both are hitchhikers．	D．They both speak Chinese well．

2. What can we learn about the author’s trip to the Tiger Leaping Gorge?

A．It was rather tiring．	B．It was very smooth．
C．It was full of danger．	D．It was heart－breaking．

3. What was the main cause of the author’s difficulties mentioned in Paragraph 3?

A．She lost her way．	B．She had little money left．
C．She was unable to find her friend．	D．She was a lone foreign traveler in China．

4. What did the couple do when taking the author to Chengdu?

A．They dropped her halfway．	B．They lent her some money．
C．They offered her a free lunch．	D．They taught her about Chinese culture．

【推荐3】I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.

Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. "But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth."

I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.

They never happened. And a gulf opened between us, I was "too emotional". But she lived "on the surface".

As years passed, I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family, I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.

I posted the letter and waited for her answer; none came.

My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace. It seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

Now the present of Her desk told me, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside — a photo of my father and a one — page letter, folded and refolded many times.

Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

1. The passage shows that___________.

A．Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to the author

B．Mother was too serious about everything the author had done

C．Mother cared much about the author in words

D．Mother wrote to the author in careful words

2. The underlined word "gulf "in the passage means_________.

A．deep understanding	B．difference between ideas
C．free talks	D．part of the sea

3. What did Mother do with her daughter's letter asking for forgiveness?

A．She had never received the letter.

B．For years, she often talked about the letter.

C．She didn't forgive her daughter at all in all her life.

D．She read the letter again and again till she died.

4. What's the best title of the passage?

A．My letter to Mother	B．Mother and Children
C．My Mother's Desk	D．Talks between Mother and me.

【推荐1】Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, was born in Kingfish, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. He was raised in Missouri where he worked in his father’s store while attending school. This was his first retailing (零售业) experience and he really enjoyed it. After graduation, he began his own career as a retail merchant.

He soon opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart specialized in name brands at low prices and Sam Walton was surprised at the success. Soon a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America. Walton's management style was popular with employees and he founded some of the basic concepts of management that are still in use today.

After taking the company public in 1970, Walton introduced his “profit sharing plan”. The profit sharing plan was a plan for Wal-Mart employees to improve their income dependent on the profits of the store. Sam Walton believed that “individuals don't win, teams do”. Employees at Wal-Mart stores were offered stock options (认股权) and store discounts. These benefits are commonplace today, but Walton was among the first to implement (实现) them. Walton believed that a happy employee meant happy customers and more sales. He also believed that by giving employees a part of the company and making their success dependent on the company’s success, they would care about the company.

By the 1980s, Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three hundred stores across North America. Wal-Mart’s unique decentralized (分散的) distribution system, also Walton’s idea, created the edge needed to further encourage growth in the 1980s during growing complaints that the “superstore” was stopping smaller and traditional stores from developing. By 1991, Wal-Mart was the largest US retailer with 1,700 stores. Walton remained active in managing the company, as president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom shortly before his death.

1. What does the underlined word “it” in Para.1 refer to ? (No more than 5 words)
2. How did Walton’s first Wal-mart store achieve success? (No more than 10 words)
3. What is the purpose of Walton’s carrying out “profit sharing plan”? (No more than 15 words)
4. Why were employees at Wal-mart stores offered stock opinions? (No more than 10 words)
5. Are you in favor of Walton’s management style? (No more than 20 words)

【推荐3】“Three Apples” changed the world. The first one seduced(诱惑)Eve. The second one awakened Newton.       1       Here are some famous words from Steve Jobs to share.

On the character

I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.     2    .

On good design

That’s been one of my mottos－focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex;You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

On his outlook
       3       Saying we’ve done something wonderful when going to bed at night. That’s what matters to me.

On your working life

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.    4       If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.

On the importance of death

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there.         5       No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is even likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but some day not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

A．It’s very character-building.

B．The third one was in the hands of Steve Jobs.

C．This is not a one-man show.

D．And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

E．And yet death is the destination we all share.

F．It’s really hard to design products by focusing on groups.

G．Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me.