In 1969 I was a young girl working in Toronto. I was from a small town in Ontario and had just
moved to the big city about three months earlier. It was one week before Christmas and I was going
home on the last streetcar of the evening.
   I remember looking at my paycheque(工資單) and asking myself how it was going to endure. At
that time in my life I hardly had enough money to exist on. Bread for supper and oatmeal for breakfast
was the only way I kept hunger at bay.
   I got off the streetcar and started walking up the street, when I suddenly noticed a man was running
after me. I stopped, turned around, seeing that he was black. I snapped, "What do you want?" The man
answered in a soft voice, "I am returning your wallet. You left it on the streetcar seat."
   Because of that man's thoughtfulness, I was allowed the comfort of going home by bus for the summer
holidays. Otherwise, I would have stayed alone in my small room with a hog plate.
   I have never been so ashamed of myself, and that poor, kind man had to walk, who knows how far,
home.
   I recognized immediately that this was wrong of me and it changed my ways forever.

1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?   

A. The writer had no job when the story happened. 
B. The writer were leaving the big city for her hometown. 
C. The writer had little money when the story happened. 
D. The writer's parents were very poor when she was young.

2. What does the underlined word "snapped" most probably mean?

A. To speak in a soft voice.
B. To shout angrily. 
C. To scream for help.
D. To whisper.

3. Why was the black man running after the writer?

A. To rob her.
B. To scare her. 
C. To make friends with her.
D. To return her wallet.

4. What is the writer trying to tell her readers? 

A. Never judge people by their appearance. 
B. She had been struggling to her success. 
C. She had changed a lot since that night. 
D. Being kind to strangers will pay back.

     It was Thanksgiving morning. I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the
doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together on the
top step.
     "Any old papers, lady?" asked one of them.
     I was busy. I wanted to say "no" until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little
sandals(涼鞋), wet with heavy snow.
     "Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa."
     They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I served
them cocoa and bread to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started
cooking.
     The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking
at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady, are you rich?"
     "Am I rich? Pity, no!"
     I looked at my wornout slipcovers(椅套). The girl put her cup back in its saucer(茶碟)carefully
and said, "Your cups match your saucers." They left after that, holding their papers against the wind.
They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.
     Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
     I tasted the potatoes and stirred(攪動(dòng))the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over
our heads, my man with a regular job, these matched, too.
    I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy marks of little sandals
were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how
rich I am.

1. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Lady, are you rich?
B. A story of Thanksgiving Day
C. Don't forget how rich you are
D. Does cups and saucers match well?

2. The writer let the two children come in and served them well because________.

A. she wanted to sell old papers to them
B. she wanted to invite them to her Thanksgiving party
C. she showed great pity and care on them
D. she had the same experience as them in the past

3. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The girl thought the writer was rich just because she wanted to make the writer happy.
B. The writer had thought she wasn't rich because her supplies were not expensive.
C. If cups and saucers match well, they are a best pair even though cheap.
D. After hearing what they said, the writer seemed to understand what a rich life was.

4. The writer left the muddy marks of little sandals on the floor for a while to________.

A. show that she was a kindhearted lady
B. remind her that she shouldn't forget how rich she was
C. leave room for readers to think about what being rich is
D. prove that she had understood what meant being rich

5. It can be inferred from the text that whether you are rich depends on________.

A. how much money you have made
B. what attitude you have had towards life
C. the way you help others
D. your social relationship

     I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had
to have cereal (谷類食物), eggs or toast. While others had Cokes and candy for lunch, I
had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from other kids' too.
But_at_least_I_wasn't_alone_in_my_sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same
mean mother as I did.
     My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who
our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour,
then we be gone one hour or less-not one hour and one minute. And she always insisted
upon us telling the truth. Now you can see how mean she was.
     The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the
next morning. We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook. We had to wear
clean clothes and take a bath, while the other kids always wore their clothes for days. I
believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.
     Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our
friends did, and miss school. Our marks in school had to be up to par(達(dá)到正常水平).
Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing.
My mother, being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black
marks.
     As the years rolled by, we were one by one put to shame. We were graduated from
high school. With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us
was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout.
      My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us
attained some higher education. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we
turned out? You're right, our mean mother. She forced us to grow up into educated and
honest adults.
     Now I am trying to raise my three children. I am filled with pride when my children
call me mean. Because, you see, I had the meanest mother in the world.

1．What does the sentence "But at least I wasn't alone in my sufferings." mean?______

A．The author's mother was only mean to her.
B．The author's mother suffered her.
C．The author's mother was mean to her sister, brothers and her.
D．The author wasn't alone because of suffering.

2．According to the passage, the author's mother will ask her children to do all
the following EXCEPT ________.

A．learn to cook
B．wear clean clothes
C．go to bed and get up at fixed time
D．drink as much Cokes as they want

3．Why was the author's mother mean to her children?______

A．Because she wanted her children to be top students in school.
B．Because she wanted her children to bring home colored report cards like her friends did.
C．Because she wanted her children to drop out.
D．Because she wanted her children to do their best at school and be educated and
respected citizens.

4．Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?______

A．Some of the children weren't able to go to college because of their mean mother.
B．Mother didn't let the author tell lies.
C．Mother asked the author to wear clean clothes.
D．The author could not miss school even if she was ill.

5．What's the main idea of the passage?

A．The kind mother.
B．The meanest mother
C．The failure mother
D．The successful mother

     As a young boy, I lived in a poor suburban neighborhood. I often wandered around the
neighborhood alone, and offered to help mow a lawn or wash some walls in exchange for
some pocket money just to buy something I needed, such as some school clothes or candy.
     One day, I knocked at an old woman's door and asked if she needed her walls washed.
She asked why I wasn't in school and I showed her my pants and shoes, which were torn
and no longer keeping my feet warm. She allowed me to work in the yard for pretty much
that entire day. When I was finished, I knocked on her door and she looked at me. "I
suppose you want to be paid now," she said.
     "Yes, ma'am, I do."
     She asked what my fee was. I hadn't thought about this and made no answer. She said,
"Well, come inside," and then she came in and pulled out a big jar which was filled with
dollar bills. She said, "Though you've done a fine job today, that isn't something you should
be doing again. I want you to buy some pants and new shoes and get back in school. I
also want you to come back and visit me with your report card and I'll reward you when
I see your good marks. Now reach in with your hands and take out as much as possible."
     I reached in and grabbed lots of money, which was enough for me to buy those I
needed. I returned several times to see the woman and yes, she did just as she promised.
She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and a sandwich every time
I showed her I had an "A" or "B"．
     I'll never forget the huge difference this wonderful stranger made over my life with her
generosity and kindness; this is something I hope to do myself in my life.

1．What was the writer's purpose of helping his neighbors?(No more than 10 words)
________________________________________________________________________
2．Why did the writer show the old woman his torn pants and shoes? (No more than 10
words)
________________________________________________________________________
3．On what condition would the old woman reward the writer? (No more than 8 words)
________________________________________________________________________
4．What would the writer most probably do in his life? (No more than 9 words)
________________________________________________________________________

     Several days ago, while I was logging onto QQ, my cousin's QQ head popped out online. We
hadn't seen each other for a few months, so I decided to start a conversation with her. My cousin is
studying in a college of our city. Her hobby is surfing the Internet. Every time I am on the computer,
she is always online, listening to music or decorating her "personal space". I like visiting her space.
It's creative and modern and worth a visit. I can't imagine my designing such a colorful web page.
     When I read the sentences she sent to me, I noticed that the Chinese characters had been changed,
but I could still guess their meanings. I took a strong interest in this type of new characters. Further
observation made me realize that they added some common Chinese radicals(部首) to the original
characters, making them more vivid, a little like Japanese. My cousin said this gives new life to the
Chinese language and culture.
     It is true that the Internet has reinvented our language, but I still can't accept this new cultural
change. Some Chinese characters have meanings in the shapes; one shouldn't superficially change
them by adding an additional radical. So I persuaded my cousin to change her new idea and use
standard characters to communicate. And she willingly accepted my advice.

1. The author's cousin was a(n) ________.  

A. engineer      
B. teacher       
C. model          
D. student

2. The author would like to visit his cousin's space _________.

A. because he wants to design a web page
B. because the music is well worth listening to
C. because it is very attractive and popular
D. because it is the best one on the Internet

3. The second paragraph mainly tells us that ________.    

A. the Internet has an effect on the Chinese characters
B. the Chinese people have learned a lot from the Internet
C. the QQ message online is very useful to everyone
D. the text message is more important than the QQ messages

4. The underlined word "reinvented" in the passage means "_________".

A. destroyed        
B. improved        
C. discovered      
D. introduced

5. We can learn from this passage that _________.    

A. the author is a teacher in a college
B. the author can design a webpage creatively
C. the Chinese characters have been changed into Japanese
D. the author thinks people should use standard characters to communicate