A boy called Mario had many friends, and he was proud of it. Whoever he met, he would like to show off(炫耀) how popular he was at school.
One day, his grandpa said to him, “Mario, I know that you don’t have as many friends as you think. Many of them are not true to you.”
Mario thought maybe his grandpa was right. However, he wasn’t sure how he could test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandpa. The old man answered, “I have just exactly what you need. It’s in my room. Wait a minute.” The old man left, soon returning as if(好像) carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there.
“Take it. It’s a very special chair. Because it’s invisible, it will be hard for you to sit on it. However, if you manage to sit on it, you can use the chair’s magic power（力量） to tell who your real friends are.”
Mario took the strange invisible chair to school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair.
“Nobody move. You’re about to see something amazing，” said Mario. Then he tried sitting on the chair. Having difficulty seeing it, he missed and fell to the ground. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. “Wait, wait,” said Mario, making another try. But again he missed the seat.
Mario didn’t give up. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair. Finally, he did it. This time he felt himself in mid-air.
Then he experienced the magic that his grandpa had been talking about. Looking around, Mario saw George, Lucas and Diana holding him up, so he wouldn’t fall. But some schoolmates whom he had regarded as friends had done nothing but made fun of him. Mario was quite thankful to his grandpa, who helped him test who his true friends were.
【小題1】Mario’s grandpa gave him a special chair to _____.

Being outgoing is good for your life．Those people who are more outgoing like to meet lots of

people and have more fun in life．In fact, being outgoing is not as hard as you think．Even shy

people can be outgoing．

   You can start becoming outgoing with your best friend or a group of friends．But the real

challenge（挑戰(zhàn)）comes when you meet strange people or new friends．Smile more, and usually

they will return your smile．In this way, you may have some talks．

   Start a talk．Just a simple greeting like“Hello”or “How is it going”is a good start．If you

want to make interesting talks, you should read news in newspapers and prepare（準(zhǔn)備）your

views, or surf the Internet for new information and then keep that in mind．

   The easiest way to become more outgoing is to go out．This is also the most important step．Go

to a park, beach, club, party or any place that you think can be fun, and you may make new friends

there．

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，選擇正確答案。

（   ）1．You should start to be outgoing with _________．

A．Your parents         B．Your teachers       C．your best friends   D．your new friends

（   ）2．When you start a talk with a stranger, you should say “ _______”

A．What’s the matter?               B．What’s your name?

B．How is it going?                 C．Are you healthy?

（   ）3．The easiest way to be outgoing is __________．

A．talking               B．smiling             C．playing          D．going out

（   ）4．Making new friends can make us ________．

A．more outgoing       B．healthier             C．more athletic      D．wilder

（   ）5．Which is NOT the writer’s view?

A．Being outgoing is good for our lives．

B．Being outgoing is really difficult．

C．Being outgoing helps people have more fun．

D．Being outgoing with strangers is not easy．

Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old. Mom and I lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that I could walk again if I wanted strongly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!
When the Great Depression (大蕭條) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support  both of us. At that moment, I decided never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point happened on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I wasn’t satisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they asked me an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for many American families. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽車旅館) for families that would never ask extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Of course mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. But with my mother’s support and encouragement, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income (收入) of $ 1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.
【小題1】According to the writer, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?

Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.

My father died when I was nine months old. Mom and I lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”

At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that I could walk again if I wanted strongly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!

When the Great Depression (大蕭條) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support  both of us. At that moment, I decided never to be poor again.

Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point happened on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I wasn’t satisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they asked me an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for many American families. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽車旅館) for families that would never ask extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.

Of course mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. But with my mother’s support and encouragement, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income (收入) of $ 1 billion a year.

You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.

1.According to the writer, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?

2.What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?

3.Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?

4.Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?