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If you have no special plans for your holidays, why not spend your time helping others？Don’t believe those people who say that young people today often think only of themselves. It’s not true at all. More and more young people in the USA volunteer to spend their school holidays working for others. And they don’t do it for money. Here are some of their stories.

Alice, 17

I’m going to help the Forest Center build new hiking paths in the mountains. It’s going to be great fun — I’ll spend the whole summer living in a forest and breathing the clean mountain air. I’m going to sleep under the moon and stars. It will be a nice sport, and I’ll be able to do something good at the same time!

Jason , 18

This summer, I’m going to volunteer with Special House Program. They build good, less expensive houses and sell them to families that are not very rich. They’ll teach me what to do, so I’ll help people and also have a chance to learn how to build houses.

Trish , 16

I’m going to teach children who have trouble in reading. I’ll work for a program called Reading for Life. Every day, I’m going to help them choose and read books that they like. I want to be a teacher, and I love children and reading, so this is going to be a great experience for me.

1.What does Alice plan to work for others in summer？

A. To sleep under the moon and stars.   

B. To breathe the clean mountain air.

C. To help build hiking paths in the mountains.

D. To spend the whole summer living in a forest.

2.The writer’s idea in this passage is ______.

A. school students should do some hiking in summer.

B. it’s good to do something good for others in vacation.

C. helping children to choose and read books is a good way.

D. breathing clean mountain air is good for health.

3.Which is the most possible title (標(biāo)題) for this passage？

A. Reading for Life

B. A Special House Program 

C. The Forest Centre

D. Young American Volunteers

My father woke up early one summer morning when I was fourteen and announced, “Get up, you’re going with me to cut the grass in the garden.”
The idea that my father thought I was old enough to help him in his business made me feel proud and excited. From sunup to sundown, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large garden. By the end of the day I was too tired to say a word but I felt happy. This was my first time to help my father in his business. I got $6 for my work that day.
One day my father found some leaves I had missed and pulled me aside. “Take away these leaves!” he said. “And don’t make me have to tell you to do it again.” The message was clear. Today I value the importance of doing job well the first time. I will never fail to impress (留下印象) the person I’m working for.
After two years, my father told me and my brother that he felt we were old enough to cut the grass by ourselves. Every Saturday during my last two years of high school, we set off early in the morning with the same wish we had gained while working under our father.
Looking after the garden was neither exciting nor high paying, but that didn’t matter. It taught me that any job was a good job and whatever I was paid was more than I had before.
A newspaper reporter once asked me how someone could possibly live with hard work and low pay. “If you’re only thinking about hard work and money, you probably don’t want to do better than you are doing,” I answered. In every job, from cutting the grass to washing dishes, I’ve learned much. I’ve learned something that helps me in my next job.
If you work hard enough, you can learn from any job you do.
7. The writer ______ from working in the garden.
A. learned to work hard to get money
B. found he could be well paid
C. felt he could impress others by working hard
D. learned any job was good though he might be paid less
8. When the writer finished high school, maybe he was ______ years old.
A. fourteen             B. eighteen             C. twenty           D. twenty-two
9. The writer’s father was ______.
A. very strict but helpful
B. lazy and easy to get angry
C. careful and enjoyed working in the garden
D. funny and hard-working
10. Which is the most important to the writer according to the passage?
A. Finishing work as quickly as possible.
B. Asking no money for your work.
C. Keeping learning from any job you have.
D. Keeping on looking for different jobs.

When this story happened, they were working around a very large house. Their job was to do the cleaning. It was not a difficult job, but sometimes it was a little dangerous, because they had to walk below where workmen were working. Often these workmen dropped something from the top of the house many meters high to the ground.

One morning Joe was working near the house with a cigarette behind one of his ears. Suddenly somebody on the top shouted, "Look out!" But Joe did not "look out". He looked up. And as he did so, a long knife missed Joe's head, but it cut off one of his ears. At once he put his hand to one side of his head and cried out, "I've lost an ear. Help! Help!"

Jeff ran up to help his friend. "Look for my ear," Joe told him. "It must be on the ground somewhere." Jeff looked everywhere for the missing ear. At last he found an ear on the ground. He picked it up and carried it to Joe. "Here you are," he said, "I've found it." Joe looked at it. "No, that's not my ear." he said, "Mine had a cigarette behind it."

1.What were Joe and Jeff?

A. Soldiers.                 B. Drivers.          C. Farmers.        D. Cleaners.

2.How did Joe lose his ear?

A. He cut it off by himself.          B. Jeff cut it off with a knife.

C. A falling knife cut it off.           D. A cigarette burned it up.

3. From the passage, we know Joe  was not _______.

A. strong            B. kind                C. foolish    D. clever

4.Which is the most possible title for this passage?

A. A Lost Ear              B. A Busy Cleaner

C. A Falling Knife          D. A forgetful Man