1 . One summer day, as I was heading to the teaching building, I heard someone call my name. I turned around and saw Philip, a counselor at our college, standing with another young man. Philip introduced me to him, Stephen, and reminded me that Stephen would be taking one of my classes.
Stephen looked at me. With a somewhat painful expression, he asked if my class was going to be hard and if he would be able to pass. I introduced all the things that he would be expected to learn. As we talked, I saw Stephen’s eyes getting big with fear.
I told him to do all of his assignments, and to hand them in on time. Rather than being overwhelmed(压倒) by all of the work, I told him the most successful students made a master calendar of all the assignments so they could plan their workload.
As the fall semester went on, I learned more of Stephen’s story. It had taken him longer to finish the assignments than most young people. Family members, including his mother, kept reminding him thathewasafailure.Buthekeptatitanddidn’ttakethemtoheart.Hetoldmethatbeforecomingto our college, no one believed he could manage it.
Stephen didn’t become an A student. However, he managed to pass most of his courses by being in class every day, turning in all of his assignments on time and breaking down his studying into bite-sized parts. By passing course after course, he began to gain a measure of self-confidence.
On his graduation day, he walked up to me, and said,“Thank you.”
1. According to Stephen’s questions to the author, what do we know about Stephen?| A．He had never been an A student. | B．He didn’t want to attend the author’s class. |
| C．He wasn’t very confident about himself. | D．He couldn’t pass the author’s exam. |
| A．He helped Stephen get an A in his class. |
| B．He told Stephen how to deal with his studies. |
| C．He didn’t believe that Stephen could study in college. |
| D．He wouldn’t have met Stephen without the introduction of Philip. |
| A．He was an average student but hard-working. |
| B．He was a little stupid and didn’t do well at school. |
| C．He was far from a top student because of his failure. |
| D．He was an excellent student, but didn’t have self- confidence. |
| A．One bite at a time. | B．Look before you leap. |
| C．Haste makes waste. | D．A good beginning is half done. |
2 . My husband hasn’t stopped laughing about a funny thing that happened to me. It’s funny now but it wasn’t at the time.
Last Friday, after doing all the family shopping in town, I wanted a rest before catching the train, so I bought a newspaper and some chocolate and went into the station coffee shop—that was a cheap self-service place with long tables to sit at. I put my heavy bag down on the floor, put the newspaper and chocolate on the table to keep a place, and went to get a cup of coffee.
When I went back with the coffee, there was someone in the next seat. It was one of those wild-looking youngsters, with dark glasses and worn clothes, and hair colored bright red at the front. Not so unusual these days. What did surprise me was that he’d started to eat my chocolate!
Naturally, I was annoyed. However, to avoid trouble and really I was rather uneasy about him—I just looked down at the front page of the newspaper, tasted my coffee and took a bit of chocolate. The boy looked at me closely. Then he took a second piece of my chocolate. I could hardly believe it. Still I didn’t dare to start an argument. When he took a third piece, I felt more angry than uneasy. I thought, “Well, I shall have the last piece.” And I got it.
The boy gave me a strange look, then stood up. As he left he shouted out, “This woman’s crazy!” Everyone stared. That was embarrassing enough, but it was worse when I finished my coffee and got ready to leave. My face went red—as red as his hair—when I realized I’d made a mistake. It wasn’t my chocolate that he’d been taking. There was mine, unopened, just under my newspaper.
1. The woman telling the story ________.| A．always went shopping with her family on Fridays |
| B．had been very busy and needed some time to recover |
| C．wanted a newspaper and some chocolate to take home to her family |
| D．bought some chocolate so that she could keep a place at the table |
| A．too tired to start an argument |
| B．too shy to look in the boy’s direction |
| C．more and more disappointed at losing the chocolate |
| D．more and more angry with the boy |
| A．because she realized that she had been quite wrong about the boy |
| B．because she realized that the boy was poor and angry |
| C．because she saw everyone staring at her |
| D．because she hated being shouted at |
| A．was crazy | B．was being careless |
| C．was careless and selfish | D．often made mistakes |
3 . Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland. The Scots, a brave people, love their country. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland. But there were too many of the Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.
One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. “We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle. We must win, or we will die.”
They were all very tired so they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, also fell asleep.
The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they went up the hill. Closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle (蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a minute, they were on their feet and ready for a battle. The fighting was hard, but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland.
The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people liked it. But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.
1. At first it looked as if the Romans would win because ________ .| A．the Scots were not brave. | B．the Roman army was so strong. |
| C．the Scots did not have a good leader. | D．the Romans had the support from the Scottish. |
| A．began to fight the Romans hard. |
| B．stood up without putting on their shoes and began to fight. |
| C．woke and rose immediately, ready to fight. |
| D．put their feet into their shoes at once and were ready to fight. |
| A．they were too tired to sleep well. | B．one of the guards pretended to sleep. |
| C．one of the Romans stepped on a thistle and let out a cry. | D．because the Romans got too close and they discovered them. |
| A．is lovely, though not beautiful. | B．gave them happiness. |
| C．is a kind of useful plant. | D．helped the Scots in wiping out the Romans. |
4 . Mr. Jackson was tired of living in his old house in the countryside and wanted to sell it and buy a better one. He tried to sell it for a long time, but was not successful, so at last he decided to go to an estate agent.
The agent advertised (登广告) the house straight away, and a few days later, the owner saw a very beautiful photo of his house, with a wonderful description (描述) of his garden in an expensive magazine.
Having read the advertisement through, the house owner hurried to phone the estate agent, saying, “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones, but I’ve decided not to sell my house after all.” “Why?” the agent asked in a surprised voice. “Because from the advertisement in that magazine I can see it’s just the kind of house I’ve wanted to live in all my life.”
1. Mr. Jackson wanted to sell his house because ________.| A．he needed some money to support his family |
| B．his house was too old to live in |
| C．he wanted some money to buy a new one |
| D．he didn’t want to live in the house any longer |
| A．he had failed in selling his house by himself |
| B．he wanted the estate agent to help him to get a good price |
| C．he was sure that the estate agent could help him |
| D．he wanted the estate to advertise his house in the magazine |
| A．They are worth reading. |
| B．They usually make things far better than they really are. |
| C．They are a great help to those who want to buy something. |
| D．They describe things as they really are. |
| A．A person who has a house to sell. |
| B．A person who helps others to advertise houses in magazines. |
| C．A person whose work is to sell houses for others. |
| D．A person who likes beautiful houses. |
5 . When her five daughters were young, Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity (团结). To show this, she pick up one chopstick, taking it as one person. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, taking them as a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.
Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didn't have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny's mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However, Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.
Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elisabeth explains, “Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business.”
With three generations of Ans working together, now the Ans' business makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.
1. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?| A．How to Run a Corporation Well | B．Strength Comes from Peace |
| C．How to Achieve a Big Dream | D．Family Unity Builds Success |
| A．They went out to work for themselves before graduation. |
| B．They all would not like to work in their family business. |
| C．They were deeply influenced by what Helene taught them. |
| D．There always were disagreements among family members |
| A．the quality of the chopsticks | B．the difficulty of being united |
| C．the strength of family unity | D．how to be a strong person |
| A．began to run a restaurant in 1975 | B．left Vietnam without much money |
| C．bought a restaurant in Los Angeles | D．opened a sandwich shop in San Francisco |
