2 . I was a shy girl. I didn’t even like to answer the telephone for fear I’d have to talk to somebody I didn’t know. I enjoyed the loneliness of exploring nature. However, at school I had to spend all day in the company of others. My escape was reading. I spend a lot of time studying and was rewarded with good grades. My only failure was Spanish — I’d get all As on my written work and tests, but Ds and Fs on the spoken part.

Eventually I went to college. During my third year of college, I had enough of being shy and determined to change my outlook and behavior. One day while at school, I noticed an advertisement for positions on the local classical music radio station. I had grown up listening to classical music, and I could easily pronounce names such as Tchaikovsky, Albinoni, and Chopin.

I had absolutely no background in radio, and absolutely no hope of getting the job. The idea of talking to thousands of listeners in “radio land” terrified me. However, I luckily survived the interview. I was given brief descriptions of symphonies (交响乐) and a public service announcement to read, and a list of composers’ names to pronounce. It wasn’t hard for me. I left the recording session (录音时段) with a sense of relief and a sense of accomplishment. About two weeks later I actually landed the job. It was a challenging job, but I grew to enjoy it greatly. I began to feel comfortable talking to people.

Although I now spend many hours each week talking with people, I’m still basically a quiet person. Perhaps it is my soft voice and my quiet nature that helps draw people out as they respond to my questions as I interview them. My former shyness is a fortune, as I can relate to people who feel discomfortable when they talk to newspaper reporters. I still enjoy moments of loneliness and the peace found in nature. But I’m also glad I decided to make a change in my life that has opened many doors and opportunities that I never knew existed.

1. What do we learn about the author?

A．She didn’t like reading.	B．She enjoyed shyness in nature.
C．She wasn’t interested in music.	D．She didn’t work hard enough.

2. How did the author feel before the interview?

A．Very excited.	B．Pretty confident.
C．Highly confused.	D．Extremely anxious.

3. What does the author later think of her quiet personality?

A．It makes others feel less comfortable.	B．It is beneficial for her challenging job.
C．It prevents her being a newspaper reporter.	D．It draws a negative response from audiences.

4. The text mainly focuses on the author’s ________.

A．desire to find her true self	B．feeling about being a radio hostess
C．story of exploring the meaning of life	D．experience and feeling of overcoming shyness

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Childhood is a time    1    there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved, whatever he may do.    2    is impossible that he will ever again in his life    3    (give) so much without having to do anything in return. But a child has his pains; he is not so free to do    4    he wishes to; he is continually being told not to do something, or being punished    5    what he has done wrong.

When the child has become a young man and this young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work on his own if he wants to live    6    (comfort). If he spends most of his time    7     (play) about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go    8    (hunger). If, however, he works hard,    9     ( keep) out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in    10    (social).