Mr. Briggs got a job with an insurance company (保險(xiǎn)公司) after he left school and went around visiting
people in their homes to sell them life insurance. One day, after he had been working for the company for about a year, the insurance manager sent for him and said,"Mr. Briggs, I have been looking at your record as a
salesman with our company, and there is one thing that surprises me about it. Why have you been selling
insurance only to people over 95 years old, and why have you been giving them such generous(寬厚的)
conditions? You'll ruin our company if you go on like that."
      "Oh, no, sir," answered Mr. Briggs at once,"Before I started work, I looked at the figures (數(shù)字) for deaths
in this country during the past ten years, and I can tell you that few people die at the age of 95."

1. Before he worked in an insurance company, what was Mr. Briggs?

A.He was a manager.
B. He was an official.
C. He was a student.
D. He was a businessman.

2. The underlined word "ruin" in the first paragraph means ______.

A. lose
B. break
C. leave
D. destroy

3. As a salesman with the company, Mr. Brigs ________.

A. visited people to ask them to work with him
B. called on people to make them join the company
C. saw old people in order to help them
D. visited many people so as to offer insurance

4. What was it that surprised the manager?

A. Mr. Briggs sold life insurance only to 95 people.
B. Mr. Briggs sold insurance only to people of more than 95.
C. Mr. Briggs had ruined the insurance company.
D. Mr. Briggs gave people generous conditions.

5. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The number of the very old people who died every year is small.
B. Mr. Briggs began to look at the figures after he started work.
C. A great number of very old people die every year.
D. Mr. Briggs had studied the figures for deaths for several years.

     "Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton (骨骼) in the closet (衣櫥)?"
Jessica asked. "A skeleton in the closet?" her mother paused thoughtfully. "Well, it's something that you would
rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad's family had been arrested
for stealing a horse, it would be a skeleton in his family's closet. He really wouldn't want any neighbor to know
about it."
     "Why pick on my family?" Jessica's father said with anger. "Your family history isn't so good, you know.
Wasn't your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?" "Yes, but
people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners." "Gosh, sorry
I asked. I think I understand now," Jessica cut iin before things grew worse.
     After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica's parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother
was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending
to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica's closet.
Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a
bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica's mother sank in a faint (暈倒), waking only when Jessica put a
cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
     "What happened? Where am I?" she asked. "You just destroyed the school's skeleton, Mum," explained
Jessica. "I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as
I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad." Jessica looked in amazement as
her parents began to laugh madly. "They're both crazy," she thought.

1. According to Jessica's mother, "a skeleton in the close" means _____.

A. a family honor
B. a family secret
C. a family story
D. a family treasure

2. What can we learn about some Australians' ancestors form Paragraph 2?

A. They were brought to Australia as prisoners.
B. They were the earliest people living in Australia.
C. They were involved in some crimes in Australia.
D. They were not regarded as criminals in their days.

3. Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?

 A. She was curious about it.
B. She planned to keep it for fun.
C. She needed it for her school task.
D. She intended to scare her parents.

4. Jessica's parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because _____.

A. they were crazy
B. they were over excited
C. they realized their misunderstanding
D. they both thought they had won the quarrel

     We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited
some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join
Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then
they would take the guests'coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.
     The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and
said how lucky we were to have such good kids.
     Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and
her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.
     I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she's the one
who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.
     But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel
she was being outshined. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty
minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.
     I said, "What are you doing, my dear?"
     She turned to me with a sad expression and said,"Mommy, why don't people like me the way they like
my sister? Is it because I'm not pretty? Is that why they don't say nice things about me as much?"
     I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.
     Now, whenever I visit a friend's home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.

1. What did the parents ask the sisters to do to welcome the guests?

A. To introduce themselves to the guests
B. To put away the guests' coats in another upstairs room.
C. To take off the guests' coats politely.
D. To entertain the guests with candies.

2. The underlined expression' make a big "to do" over' (paragraph 4) means ______.

A. show much concern about
B. have a special effect on
C. list jobs to be done for
D. do good things for

3. The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her ______.

A. beautiful hair
B. pretty clothes
C. lovely smile
D. young age

4. Kristen felt sad and cried because ______.

A. the guest gave her more coats to carry
B. she didn't look as pretty as Kelly
C. the guests praised her sister more than her
D. her mother didn't introduce her to the guests

5. We can conclude from the passage that ______.

A. parents should pay more attention to the elder children
B. the younger children are usually more easily hurt
C. people usually like the younger children more
D. adults should treat children equally

     People do not analyze every problem they meet. Sometimes they try to remember a solution from the last
time they had a similar problem. They often accept the opinions or ideas of other people. Other times they
begin to act without thinking. They try to find a solution by trial and error. However, when all these methods
fail, the person with a problem has to start analyzing. There are six stages in analyzing a problem.
      First the person must recognize that there is a problem. For example, Sam's bicycle is broken, and he
cannot ride it to class as he usually does. Sam must see that there is a problem with his bicycle.
     Next the thinker must define the problem. Before Sam can repair his bicycle, he must find out the reason
why it does not work. For instance, he must determine if the problem is with the gears, the brakes, or the
frame. He must make his problem more specific.
     Now the person must look for information that will make the problem clearer and lead to possible solutions.
For instance, suppose Sam decided that his bike does not work because there is something wrong with the
gear wheels. At this time, he can look in his bicycle repair book and read about gears. He can talk to his friends
at the bike shop. He can look at his gears carefully.
      After studying the problem, the person should have several suggestions for a possible solution. Take Sam
as an illustration. His suggestions might be: put oil on the gear wheels; buy new gear wheels and replace the old
ones; tighten or loosen the gear wheels.
     Eventually one suggestion seems to be the solution to the problem. Sometimes the final idea comes very
suddenly because the thinker suddenly sees something new or sees something in a new way. Sam, for example, suddenly sees that there is a piece of chewing gum between the gear wheels. He immediately realizes the
solution to his problem: he must clean the gear wheels.
     Finally the solution is tested. Sam cleans the gear wheels and finds that afterwards his bicycle works
perfectly. In short, he has solved the problem.

1. By referring to Sam's broken bicycle, the author intends to ______.

A. illustrate the ways to repair his bicycle
B. discuss the problems of his bicycle
C. tell us how to solve a problem
D. show us how to analyze a problem

2. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. People do not analyze the problem they meet.
B. People often accept the opinions or ideas of other people.
C. People may learn from their past experience.
D. People can not solve some problems they meet.

3. As used in the last sentence, the phrase "in short" means ________.

A. in the short term
B. in detail
C. in a word
D. in the end

4. In analyzing a problem we should do all the following except .

A. recognize and define the problem
B. look for information to make the problem clearer
C. have suggestions for a possible solution
D. find a solution by trial or mistake