"I swear, I didn't steal anything!" I shouted over the alarm. Obviously the security guard
didn't believe me because he seized the shopping bag right out of my hand.
     "Do you have a receipt for this?"he asked doubtfully, putting any new back-to-school
outfit (全套裝備) onto the dusty floor near the mall entrance.
     "Of course I do," I replied, fishing my wallet out of my coat pocket. Elsie and Monica,
my two best friends, stood beside me. They were laughing their heads off!
     I almost tore my wallet apart for the receipt, but it  had disappeared." Let me look again,"
I said nervously. Then I looked again, and again, and again!
     My face was getting hotter by the minute and my heart was beating like a racehorse.
     Finally, I looked back at the guard and whispered, "It's not here." The guard picked up my
clothes and said, "You'll have to come with me, Miss."
     When he opened the office door, I saw a man sitting  behind a big metal desk. It was the
manager. Then I had an idea.
     "May I say something?" I asked. "I can prove I didn't steal this thing." Then I explained all
about the cashier (出納員).She said that she had bought the exact same outfit as a birthday
present for her little sister. "We'll just see about that," the manager said and went off to find her.
Ten minutes later, I was free!
     It was terrible to be unfairly accused of something!Then I remembered shouting at my sister
that very morning for taking my new hair clips. Had she really taken them?I made a promise
that day never to accuse someone of something without proof, and I haven't. At least something
good came out of my terrible experience.

1. Why didn't the security guard believe the author?

A. Because she looked nervous at that time.
B. Because she had no money in her wallet.
C. Because her face turned red after being caught.
D. Because she didn't have a receipt for the outfit.

2. That the author's two friends laughed their heads off showed________.

A. they laughed at the author who stole things
B. they didn't believe the author was a thief at all
C. they expected the author to be caught
D. they played a trick on the author

3. We can infer the author was very ______from the underlined part in Paragraph 4.

A. nervous
B. careful
C. frightened  
D. excited

4. Who proved that the author hadn't stolen anything?

A. The cashier.
B. The manager.
C. The author's friends.
D. The security guard.

5. From her experience, the author learned that________.

A. you should believe in yourself in face of difficulty
B.  it is a terrible thing to be suspected by friends
C. you should not doubt others if you can't prove it
D. you should ask for a receipt for whatever you buy

      It was a dark and cold night. The car driver didn't have even one passenger all day. When he went by
the railway station, he saw a young man coming out with two bags in his hands. So he quickly opened the door of the car and asked, "Where do you want to go, sir?"
     "To the Star Hotel," the young man answered. When the car driver heard that, he didn't feel happy.
The young man would give him only three dollars because the hotel was not far from the railway station.
But suddenly, he had an idea. He took the passenger through many streets of the big city.
     After a long time, the car finally arrived at the hotel. "You should pay me fifteen dollars," the car driver
said to the young man. "What! Fifteen dollars? Do you think I'm a fool? Only last week I took a car from
the railway station to this same hotel and I only gave the driver thirteen dollars. I know how much I have
to pay for the trip. I won't pay you one dollar more than I paid to the other car driver last week. "

1. Which of the following is true?

A. The young man went past the railway station.
B. The young man was working in the railway station.
C. The young man had just got off a train.
D. The young man was waiting for his friend there.

2. What do you think of the car driver?

A. He was a nice and clever man.  
B. He was good at driving.
C. He was a dishonest person.            
D. He liked to work very hard.

3. The driver felt very ____ when he saw the young man coming out of the railway station.

A. sorry          
B. happy          
C. proud          
D. worried

4. From the passage we know that the young man__________.

A. didn't want to stay in this city.    
B. had been to the hotel several times.
C. knew clearly how far it was from the station to the hotel.
D. must be a stranger and didn't know the city very well.

5. The driver took the passenger through many streets so as to_________.

A. make the young man happy            
B. get more than twenty dollars.
C. let the young man think it was very far from the station to the hotel.
D. let the young man have a good look at the city.

     I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over
the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn't think
I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher.
I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
    I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000
words.
    It takes confidence to make a new start - there's a dark period in-between where you're neither one
thing nor the other. You're out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you're too ashamed to say,
"Well, I'm writing a navel, but I'm not quite sure if I'm going to get there." My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
    Then I met an agent(代理商)who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my
surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer
and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
    The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and
wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal - that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
    It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck - of fate, really. When you set out to do something different,
there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract(合
同)of the publisher - to be a published writer - is unbelievably rewarding(有回報的).

1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. I was waiting for good fortune.
B. I was trying to find an admirable job.
C. I was being aimless about a suitable job.
D. I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time.

2. The author decided to write a novel ______ .

A. to finish the writing course
B. to realize her own dream
C. to satisfy readers' wish
D. to earn more money

3. How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A. Disturbed.        
B. Ashamed.        
C. Confident.        
D. Uncertain.

4. What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A. It pays to stick to one's goal.
B. Hard work can lead to success.
C. She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.
D. There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

     In Cardiff I was put to work in furniture department at one of the local stores. It was large, fairly out
of date, run , like its parent company in London, by a group of relatives. Being only a member of the
store for a short time, I was in a very fortunate position. The others, particularly the older members of the
store, were naturally asked to produce good sales figures. I was more of an observer. If I made a sale, I
was pleased, but if I didn't, I would not be blamed. I was really there to observe and learn, and as I had
no interest in making a position in the furniture business, I wasn't too diligent about that either.
      One salesman in late middle age once expressed his insecurity by scolding me of trying to steal one of
his customers. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but he demanded that I go to the
stockroom with him to settle the matter. He was very small and thin, but to my surprise he started
dancing about among the carpets and closets working his arms wildly and calling on me to 'put them up'.
I couldn't put anything up-I was too busy rolling on a four-foot six-inch spring mattress (彈簧墊子) ,
helpless with laughter. Finally he saw the joke too, and we went off to the members' store for a
conciliatory (和解) cup of tea. Several days later, I finally left the store. Thank God!

1. The furniture department was run by _____. 

A. the author's parents          
B. the author's relatives 
C. some members of a big family  
D. the local government

2. The shop in Cardiff ______. 

A. was big and very modern      
B. was old but beautiful 
C. didn't sell furniture only      
D. was famous in London

3. The author was lucky because ________. 

A. sales figures were not important for him  
B. he was younger than the others 
C. he produced good sales figures          
D. his pay was higher

4. One salesman thought that ______ . 

A. the author was more of an observer than a real member of the store 
B. what the author had said was far from the truth 
C. the author tried to get a person to buy the furniture dishonestly 
D. the writer destroyed a four-foot six-inch spring mattress

     Hans was an honest fellow with a funny round good-humored face. Living alone, every day he worked
in his garden. In all the countryside there was no garden so lovely as his. All sorts of flowers grew there,
blooming in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower's place, so that
there were always beautiful things to see, and pleasant odors to smell.
     Hans had many friends, the most devoted being the Miller. So devoted was the rich Miller to Hans
that he'd never go by his garden without plucking a large bunch of flowers or a handful of sweet herbs, or
filling his pockets with fruits. The Miller used to talk about noble ideas, and Hans nodded and smiled,
feeling proud of having such a friend.
     The neighbors thought it strange that the rich Miller never gave Hans anything in return, though he had
hundreds of sacks of flour, many cows and sheep, but Hans never troubled his head about these, and
nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to all the wonderful things about the unselfishness of true
friendship.
     In spring, summer, and autumn Hans was very happy, but when winter came, and he had no fruit or
flowers to sell, he suffered from cold and hunger. Though extremely lonely, the Miller never came to see
him then.
     "There's no good in going to see Hans while the snow lasts." The Miller said to his wife, "When
people are in trouble they shouldn't be bothered. So I'll wait till the spring comes when he's happy to give me flowers."
     "You're certainly very thoughtful," answered his wife, "It's quite a treat to hear you talk abou
t friendship."
     "Couldn't we ask Hans up here?" said their son. "I'll give him half my meal, and show him my white
rabbits."
     "How silly you are!" cried the Miller. "I really don't know what's the use of sending you to school. If
Hans came up here, and saw our warm fire, our good supper, and our red wine, he might get envious,
and envy is a most terrible thing, and would spoil anybody's nature. I am his best friend, and I'll always
watch over him, and see that he's not led into any temptation. Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask
me for some flour. Flour is one thing, and friendship is another, and they shouldn't be confused. The
words are spelt differently, and mean quite different things. Everybody can see that." He looked seriously
at his son, who felt so ashamed that he hung his head down, and grew quite scared, and began to cry into
his tears.
     Spring coming, the Miller went down to see Hans. Again he talked about friendship. "Hans, friendship
never forgets. I'm afraid you don't understand the poetry of life. See, how lovely your roses are!"
     Hans said he wanted to sell them in the market to buy back his things which were sold during the hard
time of the winter.
     "I'll give you many good things. I think being generous is the base of friendship." said the Miller. "And
now, as I'll give you many good things, I'm sure you'd like to give me some flowers in return. Here's the
basket, and fill it quite full."
     Poor Hans was afraid to say anything. He ran and plucked all his pretty roses, and filled the Miller's
basket, imagining the many good things promised by the Miller.
    The next day he heard the Miller calling: "Hans, would you mind carrying this sack of flour for me to
market?"
     "I'm sorry, but I am really very busy today."
     "Well," said the Miller, "considering that I'm going to give you my things, it's rather unfriendly of you
to refuse. Upon my word, you mustn't mind my speaking quite plainly to you."
     Poor Hans was driven by his friendship theory to work hard for his best friend, leaving his garden dry
and wasted.
     One evening Hans was sitting by fire when the Miller came.
     "Hans," cried the Miller, "My little boy has fallen off a ladder and hurt himself, and I'm going for the
Doctor. But he lives so far away, and it's such a bad windy night. It has just occurred to me that you can
go instead of me. You know I'm going to give you my good things, so you should do something for me
in return."
     "Certainly," cried Hans. He struggled into the stormy night, and got the doctor to ride a horse to the
Miller's house in time to save the boy. However, Hans got lost in the darkness, and wandered off into a
deep pool, drowned.
     At Hans' funeral, the Miller said, "I was his best friend. I should walk at the head of the procession."
Every now and then he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.