Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the sea to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down at the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought that someone would dance on the beach. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out, “Good morning! What are you doing?’’

   The young man paused, looked up and replied, “ Throwing starfishes (海星) into the ocean.”

  “I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfishes into the ocean?”

  “The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw them in, they’ll die”

  “But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfishes all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, and said, “ It made a difference for that one.”

The wise man was lost in thought. Yes, there is something very special in each and every one of us. We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference. And if we can know that gift, we will gain the power (力量) to shape the future through the strength of our vision .We must each find our starfish. And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the world will be better.

1. One day, the wise man saw a young man _______.

   A. dancing along the beach      B. walking with a dancer

   C. picking up starfish for sale    D. trying to save as many starfishes as possible

2. The underlined words “ something very special” refers to ________. 

   A. the gifts from friends      B. the strength of making decision

   C. our own starfish          D. the ability to make a difference

3. From the last two paragraphs, we can learn that ________.

   A. the wise man realized something new and important

   B. the wise man thought it was foolish of the young man to throw starfishes in the ocean.

   C. the young man had the ability to make a difference

   D. it is necessary for us to save starfish on the beach

4. The writer told this story to show us ________.

  A. how and where we can write a good article   B. everyone can do something for the future

  C. wise man are sometimes stupid            D. young man are in fact wiser than old people

I am a German by birth and descent. My name is Schmidt. But by education I am quite as much an Englishman as a 'Deutscher', and by affection much more the former. My life has been spent pretty equally between the two countries, and I flatter myself I speak both languages without any foreign accent.

I count England my headquarters now: it is “home” to me. But a few years ago I was resident in Germany, only going over to London now and then on business. I will not mention the town where I lived. It is unnecessary to do so, and in the peculiar experience I am about to relate I think real names of people and places are just as well, or better avoided.

I was connected with a large and important firm of engineers. I had been bred up to the profession, and was credited with a certain amount of “talent”; and I was considered—and, with all modesty, I think I deserved the opinion—steady and reliable, so that I had already attained a fair position in the house, and was looked upon as a “rising man”. But I was still young, and not quite so wise as I thought myself. I came close once to making a great mess of a certain affair. It is this story which I am going to tell.

Our house went in largely for patents—rather too largely, some thought. But the head partner's son was a bit of a genius in his way, and his father was growing old, and let Herr Wilhelm - Moritz we will call the family name—do pretty much as he chose. And on the whole Herr Wilhelm did well. He was cautious, and he had the benefit of the still greater caution and larger experience of Herr Gerhardt, the second partner in the firm.

Patents and the laws which regulate them are strange things to have to do with. No one who has not had personal experience of the complications that arise could believe how far these spread and how involved they become. Great acuteness as well as caution is called for if you would guide your patent bark safely to port—and perhaps more than anything, a power of holding your tongue. I was no chatterbox, nor, when on a mission of importance, did I go about looking as if I were bursting with secrets, which is, in my opinion, almost as dangerous as revealing them. No one, to meet me on the journeys which it often fell to my lot to undertake, would have guessed that I had anything on my mind but an easy-going young fellow's natural interest in his surroundings, though many a time I have stayed awake through a whole night of railway travel if at all doubtful about my fellow-passengers, or not dared to go to sleep in a hotel without a ready-loaded gun by my pillow. For now and then - though not through me - our secrets did ooze out. And if, as has happened, they were secrets connected with Government orders or contracts, there was, or but for the exertion of the greatest energy and tact on the part of my superiors, there would have been, to put it plainly, the devil to pay.

1. The writer preferred to be called ________.

A. a German                         B. an Englishman

C. both a German and an Englishman      D. neither a German nor an Englishman

2.Which of the following words cannot be used to describe the writer?

A. Talented         B. Modest       C. Reliable             D. Wise

3.The head of the company where the writer works is ________.

A. Schmidt          B. Moritz       C. Wilhelm’s father        D. Gerhardt

4. The writer often stayed awake on the train or kept a ready-loaded gun in the hotel, because  ________.

A. some people sometimes let out the secrets of his company

B. the writer occasionally didn’t keep the secrets of his company

C. patents and the laws are strange things to have to do with

D. the secrets were connected with Government orders or contracts

 

 

I am a German by birth and descent. My name is Schmidt. But by education I am quite as much an Englishman as a 'Deutscher', and by affection much more the former. My life has been spent pretty equally between the two countries, and I flatter myself I speak both languages without any foreign accent.
I count England my headquarters now: it is “home” to me. But a few years ago I was resident in Germany, only going over to London now and then on business. I will not mention the town where I lived. It is unnecessary to do so, and in the peculiar experience I am about to relate I think real names of people and places are just as well, or better avoided.
I was connected with a large and important firm of engineers. I had been bred up to the profession, and was credited with a certain amount of “talent”; and I was considered—and, with all modesty, I think I deserved the opinion—steady and reliable, so that I had already attained a fair position in the house, and was looked upon as a “rising man”. But I was still young, and not quite so wise as I thought myself. I came close once to making a great mess of a certain affair. It is this story which I am going to tell.
Our house went in largely for patents—rather too largely, some thought. But the head partner's son was a bit of a genius in his way, and his father was growing old, and let Herr Wilhelm - Moritz we will call the family name—do pretty much as he chose. And on the whole Herr Wilhelm did well. He was cautious, and he had the benefit of the still greater caution and larger experience of Herr Gerhardt, the second partner in the firm.
Patents and the laws which regulate them are strange things to have to do with. No one who has not had personal experience of the complications that arise could believe how far these spread and how involved they become. Great acuteness as well as caution is called for if you would guide your patent bark safely to port—and perhaps more than anything, a power of holding your tongue. I was no chatterbox, nor, when on a mission of importance, did I go about looking as if I were bursting with secrets, which is, in my opinion, almost as dangerous as revealing them. No one, to meet me on the journeys which it often fell to my lot to undertake, would have guessed that I had anything on my mind but an easy-going young fellow's natural interest in his surroundings, though many a time I have stayed awake through a whole night of railway travel if at all doubtful about my fellow-passengers, or not dared to go to sleep in a hotel without a ready-loaded gun by my pillow. For now and then - though not through me - our secrets did ooze out. And if, as has happened, they were secrets connected with Government orders or contracts, there was, or but for the exertion of the greatest energy and tact on the part of my superiors, there would have been, to put it plainly, the devil to pay.
【小題1】 The writer preferred to be called ________.

A．a(chǎn) German	B．a(chǎn)n Englishman
C．both a German and an Englishman	D．neither a German nor an Englishman

【小題2】Which of the following words cannot be used to describe the writer?

A．Talented

B．Modest

C．Reliable

D．Wise

【小題3】The head of the company where the writer works is ________.

A．Schmidt

B．Moritz

C．Wilhelm’s father

D．Gerhardt

【小題4】 The writer often stayed awake on the train or kept a ready-loaded gun in the hotel, because  ________.

A．some people sometimes let out the secrets of his company

B．the writer occasionally didn’t keep the secrets of his company

C．patents and the laws are strange things to have to do with

D．the secrets were connected with Government orders or contracts