Angus MacLeod was fifty and he had spent his entire life as a shepherd in the remote mountainous region
of northwest Scotland. He had never owned a radio or television nor had he travelled further than forty
kilometres from his birthplace. His knowledge of the world was gained only from his brief trips to the village
to sell his sheep and buy food. However, he had lately come to rely on the growing number of hill-walkers in
the region as sources of international news.
     In the spring of 1992, a Spanish student came across Angus high in the mountains. Eager to practise his
English he engaged Angus in conversation. The student told Angus of the forthcoming Olympic Games in
Barcelona. Excited by the student's colourful description of Spain and the Games, Angus decided to attend
the event in person and two months later arrived in Barcelona.
     The ticketless Angus stood outside the stadium with his canny brain working overtime, watching a growing
number of individuals entering the stadium through a small entrance at the side. He noticed that they all seemed
to be carrying objects. Perhaps they were workmen, he thought. He moved closer and watched.
     Within minutes a thin young man came along carrying an extremely long pole. He approached the official
at the door and said "Pole Vault". The official moved to the side and the man entered. Next came a heavy-set
man with a spear. Angus wondered how a man could carry such a dangerous weapon in a modern city. The
man shouted "Javelin" and was presently admitted. Angus was puzzled. Perhaps they were all connected with
security. His puzzlement grew when a huge man appeared with a steel ball in his hand. He shouted "Shot Putt"
and walked past the official.
     It suddenly dawned on Angus that these people were competitors. He opened his programme and sure
enough under the heading "events" he saw the three words the men had said. Angus laughed to himself as a
plan began to take shape in his mind. First he needed to buy one or two things.
     An hour later he reappeared dressed in a tracksuit with "Scotland" written across the chest. Over his shoulder
he carried a roll of barbed wire (鐵絲網(wǎng)). Smiling to himself he walked up to the official and as casually as he
could, shouted, "Fencing!"

1. Which was Angus' new way of getting information about the outside world?

A. Travelling from his birthplace.
B. Listening to radio and watching TV.
C. Going to the nearby village to sell sheep.
D. Talking to hill-walkers in the region.

2. What are "Javelin", "Pole Vault","Shot Putt" and "Fencing" in the passage?

A. Olympic events.
B. Names of competitors.
C. Security weapons.
D. Names of countries.

3. From the passage we can learn that _____.

A. more and more people went to Scotland to practise their English
B. the Spanish student's description of his country excited Angus
C. Angus had been planning a trip to Barcelona to see the Olympic Games
D. Angus became a member of the Scottish Olympic team

4. From the passage we know that Angus seemed to be _____.

A. poorly-informed
B. intelligent
C. strong-minded
D. athletic

5. What do you expect the official would do in the end?

A. Help him carry the wire.
B. Refuse to let him in.
C. Give him a close inspection.
D. Lead him to the competition.

     It was a very cold evening, an old man was waiting for a ride across the river. He saw several horsemen
pass by but he didn't ask for any help. The wait seemed 1______ (end). Then came another rider, the old
man 2______ (catch) his eye and said, "Sir, would you mind doing me a favor?"
     Stopping his horse, he replied, "Of course." Almost 3______ (freeze), the old man could not get 4______
the ground. The horseman helped him onto his horse. He took the old man not just across the river, 5______
to his home.
     "Sir, you didn't even ask the other riders for help, why? What 6______ I had said 'no' and left you there?"
the horseman asked.
     The old man looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "I looked into their eyes, I found they didn't care,
7______ told me it would be useless, but when I looked into 8______, I saw kindness."
     These words touched the rider deeply. "Thank you for 9______ you've said, I hope l will never be too
busy to help others." With that, Thomas Jefferson, the 10______ (three) president of the US, turned his horse
around and went away.

     Theodore, the mamger of the Paradise Hotel, told a middle-aged couple that they would have to leave the
hotel after just one night. The couple, visiting from Texas, had booked a room for eight nights. 
     "They wanted a sterile (消毒了的) environment, "Theodore said. "They should have rented a room in a
hospital, maybe an operating room. This hotel is clean, but it isn't that clean."
     Theodore said that, on the very first day, the couple bmught all the sheets, pillowcases and bedspreads
down to the rmin hall and just dropped them next to the front desk. They stood there next to this pile of
bedding while other guests looked, pointed, and mumured. The hotel got three cancellations within the hour
from people who witnessed this strange event.
     When Theodore asked the couple what the problem was, they said that their bedding was filthy and they
wanted it replaced. The couple could not identify any specific "filth" on the bedding. The wife just said, "we're
paying good money to stay here. How dare you doubt us? We know the filth is there. That's all the proof you
need." Theodore called room service, and the bedding was replaced immediately.
     Early the next evening, however, the couple marched to the front desk again and demanded seven cans of
sterilizer. "We need a can for each night. We have to spray the phone, the TV, all the door handles, the toilet
handle,the shower stall, the faucet, the sink, and any hotel staff entering our room."
     Worried, Theodore politely suggested that a hotel more suitable for them was just around the corner. He
then called ahead to reserve a "very clean" room, and gave them free transportation in the hotel Rolls-Royce.
A1so, he told the couple that they wouldn't be charged for the second day.
     The couple were surprlsed but they really liked the idea of free room for a night and that expensive car
service.

1. The underlined word "filthy" means _____ in this article.

A. clean
B. dirty
C. smelly
D. old

2. Why was Theodore worried?

A. The couple might have more demands the following days.
B. The hotel was not clean enough.
C. The hotel would run out of cleaning stuff.
D. More guests would make the same requests.

3. What word could best describe the couple?

A. Narrow-minded.
B. EXpensive.
C. Particular.
D. Easy-going.

     It had been a long time since I had been to Jacksonville, Florida. I had driven to town hoping to see
the old barber shop where my hair had been cut as a child.
     I parked my truck and decided to try and locate a telephone to see if the Florida Barber College had
moved to a new location.
     After walking about a block I saw an open shoe store. I walked inside and asked if I could use their
telephone book. Unable to find a listing for the Barber College, I picked out the number of a local beauty
salon, hoping they might tell me if the Barber College was stillin business. The number was busy, so I
decided to wait and try again in a few minutes.
     As the salesman and I stood talking. The front door opened and a young man about twenty came into
the store pushing himself in a wheelchair. "I need a new pair of shoes," said the customer. As he turned
the corner, there was a blanket across his lap. I was shocked to see that the young man had no legs.
     "A gift for a friend?" I asked the boy. "No," he replied. "They are for me," he continued, with a smile
on his face. I just smiled back and watched to see what would happen next.
     "What type of shoes would you like?" asked the clerk "How about a pair of cowboy boots?" The man
pointed to the back wall where three or four pairs of boots were displayed. The salesman, sharply turning,
headed off to the backroom.
     "Isn't this fun?" the boy asked me. I moved my hand to let him know that I did not understand his
question. "When I was a kid, my parents used to buy me a new pair of shoes every year. That was such
a wonderful feeling. Something I have never forgotten. The smell of the leather and the pride I felt when
I walked around the store showing off my new shoes." 
     The salesman came walking down the aisle with a large box. He sat it down on the floor, took out one
boot and handed it to the young man. The boy closed his eyes. He placed the boot against his nose, and
drew in a large breath. I did not know what to say as tears began to fall on the young man's cheeks. "What
type of accident did you have?" I asked him "Farm accident," he said, as he tried to clear his voice.
     "Do you want the cowboy boots?" the salesman asked him.
     "Oh, yes!" he answered.
     "I see buying a new pair of shoes still gives you that good feeling you talked about," I told the young
man, as I smiled.
     "Yes it does." he said "And I may have someone, and his feet to share it with some day."

1. Why did the young man want to buy a new pair of shoes?

A. Because he bought a pair every year. 
B. Because he wanted to send a new pair to a friend.
C. Because he hoped to keep it for memory.
D. Because he enjoyed the feeling of possessing a new pair.

2. The author writes about the barber shop at the beginning of the article'in order to _____.

A. introduce the background of the story
B. see if the Barber College had moved to a new location
C. find a listing for the Barber College
D. pick out a local beauty salon

3. How did the author feel when he saw a young man without legs buying a pair of shoes?

A. Unexpected.
B. Proud.
C. Sympathetic.
D. Superior.

4. What can you conclude from the passage?

A. The young man was a stubborn person.
B. The author was a man of understanding.
C. The cowboy boots were fashionable then.
D. The disabled envied much those healthy.

                                 Saving the Planet with Earth-Friendly Bamboo Products
     Jackie Heinricher's love affair with bamboo started in her backyard. "As a child, I remember playing
among the golden bamboo my dad had planted, and when there was a slight wind, the bamboos sounded
really musical."
     A fisheries biologist, Heinricher, 47, planned to work in the salmon industry in Seattle, where she lived
with her husband, Guy Thornburgh, but she found it too competitive. Then her garden gave her the idea
for a business:She'd planted 20 bamboo forests on their seven-acre farm.
     Heinricher started Boo-Shoot Gardens in 1998. She realized early on what is just now beginning to be
known to the rest of the world. It can be used to make fishing poles, skateboards, buildings, fumiture,
floors, and even clothing. An added bonus: Bamboo absorbs four times as much carbon dioxide as a group
of hardwood trees and releases 35 percent more oxygen.
     First she had to find a way to mass-produce the plants-a tough task, since bamboo nowers create seed
only once every 50 to 100 years. And dividing a bamboo plant frequently kills it. 
     Heinricher appealed to Randy Burr, a tissue culture expert, to help her. "People kept telling us we'd never
figure it out," says Heinricher. "Others had worked on it for 27 years! I believed in what we were doing,
though, so I just kept going."
     She was right to feel a sense of urgency. Bamboo forests are being rapidly used up, and a United Nations
report showed that even though bamboo is highly renewable, as rnany as half of the world's species are
threatened with dying out. Heinricher knew that bamboo could make a significant impact on carbon emissions
(排放) and world economies, but only if huge numbers could be pmduced. And that's just what she and Burr
figured out after nine years of experiments-a way to grow millions of plants. By placing cuttings in test tubes
with salts, vitamins,plant hormones, and seaweed gel, they got the plants to grow and then raised them in soil
in greenhouses.
     Not long after it, Burr's lab hit financial difftculties. Heinricher had rlo experience running a tissue culture
operation, but she wasn't prepared to quit. So she bought the lab.
     Today Heinricher heads up a profitable multimillion-dollar company, working on species from all over the
world and selling them to wholesalers. "If you want to farm bamboo, it's hard to do without the young plants,
and that's what we have," she says proudly.

1. What was the main problem with planting bamboo widely?

A. They didn't have enough young bamboo.
B. They were short of money and experience.
C. They didn't have a big enough farm to do it.
D. They were not understood by other people.

2. What does Heinricher think of bamboo?

A. Fragile and affordable
B. Productive and flexible
C. Useful and earth-friendly
D. Strong and profitable

3. The underlined word "renewable" in Paragraph 6 probably means "_____".

A. able to be replaced naturally
B. able to be raised difficultly
C. able to be shaped easily
D. able to be recycled conveniently

4. What do you learn farm the passage?

A. Heinricher's love for bamboo led to her experlments in the lab.
B. Heinricher's detennimtion helped her to succeed in her work.
C. Heinricher struggled to prevent bamboo from disappearing.
D. Heinricher finally succeeded in realizing her childhood dream.