1 . Having worked at a 7-Eleven store for two years, I thought I had become successful at what our manager calls “customer relations”. But the other night an old woman shattered my belief that a glib(非诚恳的) response could smooth over the rough spots of dealing with other human beings.
The moment she entered the store, the woman presented a sharp contrast to our shiny store with its bright lighting and neatly arranged shelves. On a zero-degree night, she was wearing only a faded print dress, a thin sweater too small to button, and black slippers with the backs cut out to expose heels. There were no stockings or socks on her blue-veined legs.
After strolling around the store for several minutes, the old woman stopped in front of the rows of canned vegetables. She picked up some corn niblets and stared with a strange intensity at the label. At that point, I decided to be a good employee and asked her if she needed help.
“I need some food,” she muttered(嘟囔) in reply to my bright “Can I help you?”
“Are you looking for corn, ma’am?”
“I need some food,” she repeated. “Any kind. But I can’t pay.” She said.
For a second, I was tempted to say, “Take the corn.” But the employee rules flooded into my mind. I responded dutifully, “ I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t give away anything for free.”
The old woman’s face collapsed a bit more, and her hands trembled as she put the can back on the shelf. She shuffled(蹒跚) past me toward the door, her torn and dirty clothing barely covering her bent back.
Moments after she left, I rushed out the door with the can of corn, but she was nowhere in sight. For the rest of my shift, the image of the woman kept coming to my mind. I had been young, healthy. She had been old, sick and desperate. Wishing with all my heart that I had acted like a human being rather than a robot, I was saddened to realize how fragile a hold we have on our better instincts(本能).
1. What does the underlined world “shatter” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Maintain. | B．Hold. |
| C．Break. | D．Lose. |
| A．She was attracted by the shiny store with neatly arranged shelves. |
| B．She left the store in disappointment without any food. |
| C．She declined the writer’s offer of a can of corn. |
| D．She was very healthy and was not afraid of the cold weather. |
| A．He was actually very mean. |
| B．He followed the employee rules. |
| C．He disliked the woman’s appearance. |
| D．He wanted to give her after she went out of the store. |
| A．A Lady and I | B．Working at A Store |
| C．Sadness | D．If Only …… |
2 . It was an autumn day, and 1 was standing in the kitchen, hanging my head over the counter and trying to figure out how many calories were in a bowl of homemade yogurt and fruit. And I felt annoyed.
I was 16, and my best friend and I had gone to our first Weight Watchers meeting. It was the trend in the mid-1980s，and even though I was an athlete, like many teen girls, I didn't necessarily like what I saw in the mirror. But after a week or so of recording every meal and snack and calculating the calories, I had had enough. I went back to my routine of chowing whatever I wanted, running and skiing, and let that be that. And it's still pretty much what I do; as long as the workouts are regular and the food is whole and balanced, my body's set point hasn't varied for years.
The weight loss trend of three decades ago−full of scales and counting calories−has fallen away. Now fasting is popular. The ways to keep fit vary: on the 5:2 diet a person eats for five days and fasts for two days each week, while the 18:6 refers 10 fasting for 18 hours and then eating within a six-hour window each day.
In this issue, Associate Editor Mark Barna tries to understand the science behind the fasting plans. Researchers have found that animals like monkeys age more slowly after years of eating less, and in the lab in humans, they saw improvements in a number of signs that indicate risk of some hard to cure diseases. The hope for healthy weight loss isn’t over yet, but at least now the calculators don’t have to be out at every meal.
1. What made the author annoyed?| A．Her body was not as strong as an athlete’s. |
| B．There were too many calories in the yogurt and fruit. |
| C．The Weight Watches meeting was not necessary for her. |
| D．She had to work out the calories in every meal and snack. |
| A．Eating. | B．Doing | C．Cooking. | D．Choosing. |
| A．They limit the calories they take in. |
| B．They lose weight only. |
| C．They fast daily or weekly. |
| D．They eat enough every day. |
| A．People grow more slowly if they eat less. |
| B．People are healthier if they eat less. |
| C．People have stopped losing weight now. |
| D．People calculate their food for every meal. |
