It doesn’t matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That’s what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin. Al Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.
Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day. They never saw Herpin sleeping. In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.
The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. They found only one answer that might explain his condition. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure. Herpin died at the age of 94.
【小題1】. The main idea of this passage is that _______.

We were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.
“Look down, Elsa,” father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the crisscross (十字形) of twisting, turning streets leading to the square.     “ See, my dear,” father said gently. “ There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can’t get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she could not believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
When I turned to father for help, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
At school the next day, I secretly poured my lunch soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked our cook to serve it to mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered（噴濺出） “ The cook must have gone mad！” Quickly I told her what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the years that followed, I often remembered the lesson father taught me. I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago. I wouldn’t stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal. Father’s wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square.
【小題1】 The author’s father took her to the top of a church tower to ____________.

I began working in journalism (新聞業(yè)) when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition (競(jìng)爭(zhēng)).
With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself easily seen, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was supper time, I walked back home.
“How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“None.”
“Where did you go?”
“The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“What did you do?”
“Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“You just stood there?”
“Didn’t sell a single one.”
“My God, Russell!”
Uncle Allen put in, “Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel(五分鎳幣). It was the first nickel I earned.
Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.
“If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful reporter as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.
【小題1】Why did the boy start his job young?

My husband had just bought a new washing machine for me . I decided to use it the very day and I washed a lot of things .
Everything worked well , but I found one of my husband’s socks(短襪)  missing . I looked everywhere for it , but I couldn’t find it anywhere .
The next morning , I got ready for school as usual . When the bell rang , the students came in . I greeted them and told them what we were going to do that day .
When I turned around to write on the blackboard , the class burst into a roar (大笑聲)! They laughed and laughed . They laughed so much , in fact ,that I was afraid the headmaster would come in to see all this .
I asked the class to stop , but the more I talked , the more they laughed . I decided to pay no attention to them and I continued to write on the blackboard . when I did this , they roared even more .
Finally , the teacher who had the room next to mine came in to see what all the laughter was about .
“Good heavens ,” I said , “Will someone please tell me what is so funny?”
“Oh , God,” said the teacher , “You have a brown sock to the back of your skirt !”
So that’s how I found my husband’s missing sock .
“Oh , well ,” I said to the class , “Let’s just say you have had an unforgettable lesson on static electricity(靜電)�！�
【小題1】What was the writer ?

Walking round the large shop, Edith realized how difficult it was to choose a suitable Christmas      for her father.
She      that he were as easy to please as her mother, who was     satisfied with perfume (香水).     , shopping at this time of the year was a most      job. People      on your feet, pushed you with their shoulders and almost      you over in their hurry in order to      something cheap ahead of you.
Partly to have a rest, Edith paused in front of a counter (柜臺(tái)), where some beautiful ties were on     . "They are      silk," the shop assistant told her with a smile trying to      her to buy one. But Edith knew from past      that her choice of ties never pleased her father.
She moved on slowly and     where a small crowd of men had gathered round a counter. She found some fine pipes on sale and the     were very beautiful. Edith did not hesitate for long, although her father      smoked a pipe once in a while, she believed this was     to please him.
When she got home, with her small but      present hidden in her handbag, it was time for supper and her parents were already      table. Her mother was in great     . "Your father has at last decided to stop smoking," she told her daughter happily. Edith was so      that she could not say a single word.

Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth — so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds.” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you 20 pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing.”
Everything was going according to the plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said.  “You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said ‘Would you mend this chair for me?’” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs. Not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused(感到有趣)by the whole thing.
【小題1】We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _______.

Mom’s birthday present? It may be a difficult thing for some people, but for me, it is an easy thing. Mom loved flowers, so every year I sent her flowers. Actually she had a bed of irises (鳶尾花) in the backyard of her small, Indiana farm. They were beautiful. “Take some,” she said, “Dig some up and plant them on the side of your own house.”
But in my yard they became lacking in energy. A year passed, then two, but not one flower appeared. I cut back all their green leaves. I was tired of seeing them so lonely. Finally, I dug the irises up and threw them away.
About that time Mom died unexpectedly. My sister and I sold the farm. I never went back to see the irises. I just couldn’t stand seeing another family living in our home—Mom’s home. Autumn came, then winter. The following spring, as Mom’s birthday approached, I struggled with the question of how to remember her. I stared out of the window and saw a few stubborn irises in my side yard sprouting (發(fā)芽), —tall, thin but flowerless. Because of seeing them, I decided to order flowers as I always did on Mom’s birthday, and send them to my sister. I wished so badly I could still send flowers to Mom. But that was impossible.
On the morning of Mom’s birthday, I was in my car ready to work. Something in the yard caught my eye. The irises! One had bloomed with flowers, big, showy and purple, as lovely as they ever had been on Mom’s farm. I smiled and turned my eyes upward. I could no longer send flowers to Mom. But somehow, she’d been able to send them to me.
【小題1】According to the first paragraph, Mom ________.

As a boy I was always small for my age. I was also five years younger than one of my brothers and seven years younger than the other. As a result I often felt left out when their friends came over to play. I was either too small or too young for whatever they were doing and they didn't want their younger brother listening to their conversations either. More often than not I found myself outside playing alone and feeling forgotten.
I remember one spring afternoon feeling especially lonely as I sat in the yard behind our house. We lived miles from town and I hardly saw my own friends outside of school. I heard my brothers laughing from inside the house and felt a single tear coming down my cheek. At that moment I saw a large brown dog walking over to me. He looked happy and his tail was wagging as well. Even though he didn't know me he greeted me like a long lost friend, licking(舔) my chin and sitting beside me on the spring grass. It must have been at least an hour that I patted and talked to this four-legged angel. He let me pour out all my troubles and share my deepest thoughts before he kissed my cheek goodbye and ambled off either to Heaven or his home. I went back inside feeling happy, knowing that no matter what life may hold I was loved. Now over 40 years later I still remember that angel with a smile.
I believe that God sent him at that moment of sadness to remind me just how much he loved me. There is nothing more important than knowing we are loved. When we are loved, we will learn to love others. Learning to love helps us to understand ourselves and other people better.
【小題1】How did the writer feel when his brothers’ friends came?

A man once said how useless it was to put advertisements in the newspaper."Last week," he said,"my umbrella was stolen from a London church. As it was a present, I spent twice its worth in advertising, but didn't get it back."
"How did you write your advertisement?" asked one of the listeners, a merchant.
"Here it is," said the man, taking out of his pocket a slip cut from a newspaper. The other man took it and read,"Lost from the City Church last Sunday evening, a black silk umbrella.. The gentleman who finds it will receive ten shillings on leaving it at No. 10 Broad Street."
"Now," said the merchant,"I often advertise, and find that it pays me well. But the way in which an advertisement is expressed of extreme importance. Let us try for your umbrella again, and if it fails, I'll buy you a new one."
The merchant then took a slip of paper out of his pocket and wrote: "If the man who was seen to take an umbrella from the City Church last Sunday evening doesn't wish to get into trouble, he will return the umbrella to No.10 Broad Street. He is well known."
This appeared in the newspaper, and on the following morning, the man was astonished when he opened the front door. In the doorway lay at least twelve umbrellas of all sizes and colors, and his own was among them. Many of them had notes fastened to them saying that they had been taken by mistake, and begging the loser not to say anything about the matter.
【小題1】The result of the first advertisement was that _____.

A farmer grew some vegetables in his garden. One day his wife was ill and he had no money. He had to sell some cabbages and carrots in the market. The next morning he took two baskets of vegetables to town. But it was raining hard that afternoon and there were few people in the street. When his vegetables were sold out, it was dark. He bought some medicine and hurried to his village.
On his way home he saw a person lying on the snow. He placed his baskets on the ground and was going to help the person to get up. At that time he found it was a dead man and there was much blood on his body. He was so afraid that he ran away quickly, without taking the baskets with him.
The next afternoon the farmer was sent to the police station. Having shown the baskets, an officer asked: “Are these yours?” “Yes, sir.” the farmer answered timidly(膽怯地)�！盚ave you killed the man?” “No, no, sir.” the farmer said in a hurry.” When did you see the dead man?” ”About seven last evening.” “Did you see who killed the man?” “No, Sir.” The officer brought out a knife and asked, “Have you seen it yet?” ”No, Sir.’ The officer became angry and told the policemen to beat him up and send him into prison.
That evening the officer went on trying .Pointing to the knife, he asked again,” Have you seen it yet?” ”Yes, Sir.” The officer was happy and asked,” When and where?” “I saw it here this afternoon, sir.”
【小題1】The farmer decided to sell the vegetables to           .