It  was Thanksgiving  morning. I  was  busy  preparing the traditional Thanksgiving  turkey  when the
doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together on the top
step.
     "Any old papers, lady?" asked one of them.
     I was busy. I wanted to say "no" until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals(涼鞋), wet with heavy snow.
     "Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa."
     They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I served them cocoa and bread to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started cooking.
     The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking
at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady, are you rich?"
     "Am I rich? Pity, no!"
     I looked at my wornout slipcovers(椅套). The girl put her cup back in its saucer(茶碟)carefully and
said, "Your cups match your saucers." They left after that, holding their papers against the wind. They had
reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.
     Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
     I tasted the potatoes and stirred(攪動)the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a regular job, these matched, too.
     I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy marks of little sandals
were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how
rich I am.

1．Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Lady, are you rich?
B．A story of Thanksgiving Day
C．Don't forget how rich you are
D．Does cups and saucers match well?

2．The writer let the two children come in and served them well because________.

A．she wanted to sell old papers to them
B．she wanted to invite them to her Thanksgiving party
C．she showed great pity and care on them
D．she had the same experience as them in the past

3．Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The girl thought the writer was rich just because she wanted to make the writer happy.
B．The writer had thought she wasn't rich because her supplies were not expensive.
C．If cups and saucers match well, they are a best pair even though cheap.
D．After hearing what they said, the writer seemed to understand what a rich life was.

     Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always
tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes(糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin(胰島素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even
death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance.
     After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he'd better find a way to fight back. He left Canton,
Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar, and created
diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones-a place where over
1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.
     Jason Swencki's son, Kody, was diagnosed with diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online
children's forums(論壇) together most evenings. "Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over,"
says Swencki, one of the site's volunteers. "They know what he's going through, so he doesn't feel alone."
     Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States,
with 24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.
      These days, Thomas's main focus is his charity(慈善機構), Fight It, which provides medicines and
supplies to people-225 to date-who can't afford a diabetic's huge expenses. Fightit.org has raised about
$ 23,000-in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival
in the Caribbean.
      Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while
still doing his fulltime job waiting tables. "Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into
finding a cure," says Bentley Gubar, one of Rockstar's original members. "But Christopher is the only
person I know saying people need help now."

1. Which of the following is TRUE of Christopher Thomas?
A. He needs to go to the doctor every day.
B. He studies the leading cause of diabetes.
C. He has a positive attitude to this disease.
D. He encourages diabetics by writing articles.

2. Diabeticrockstar.com was created for ________.
A. diabetics to communicate
B. volunteers to find jobs
C. children to amuse themselves
D. rock stars to share resources

3. According to the text, Kody ________.
A. feels lonely because of his illness
B. benefits from diabeticrockstar.com
C. helps create the online kid's forums
D. writes children's stories online

4. What can we learn about Fight It?
A. It helps the diabetics in financial difficulties.
B. It organizes parties for volunteer once a year.
C. It offers less expensive medicine to diabetics.
D. It owns a wellknown medical website.

5. The last paragraph suggests that Thomas ________.
A. works fulltime in a diabetes charity
B. employs 22 people for his website
C. helps diabetics in his own way
D. tries to find a cure for diabetes

     As a boy growing up in India, I had longed to travel abroad.I used to listen to the stories my father
would tell me about his stay in Canada and tours to Europe in the 1970s, with great interest.
My big moment finally came in the summer of 1998 when I was able to accompany my parents to
Europe, where my father was to attend a meeting.We planned to travel to Belgium, Netherlands and
West Germany.
     I have vivid memories even today of going to Mumbai airport at night all excited about finally going
abroad.I had heard several great things about Lufthansa till then but now I finally got to experience them
first hand, during the flight to Frankfurt.We flew business class and even today I can remember the
excellent service by the Lufthansa crew.The flight was really smooth and thoroughly enjoyable, even for
someone like me, who is otherwise scared of flying.
     After spending almost two weeks in Europe, we took the Lufthansa airport express from Dusseldorf
to Frankfurt airport, for our return flight.What a journey that was! All along the Rhine (萊茵河), it was
simply an unforgettable experience.I was in a sombre mood on the flight back to Mumbai as it marked
the end of a wonderful vacation, but the Lufthansa crew members were able to change it into a most
enjoyable experience yet again, with the quality of their service.
     Being the first airline to take me overseas, Lufthansa will always hold a special place in my heart.Even
today, I continue to enjoy flights on Lufthansa and simply cannot dream of choosing any other airline.
Flying, in general, for me, has always been an ordeal (terrible and painful experience). Flying on
Lufthansa, however, is something I always have and always will look forward to.

1. Which country does the author live in now?
A. India.  
B. Canada.
C. Belgium.  
D. Germany.

2. What made the author so interested in traveling abroad?
A. Growing up in India.
B. Once staying in Canada.
C. Once traveling to Canada with his father.
D. His father's stories about his traveling experiences.

3. Which of the following is TRUE about the author's trip to Europe in 1998?
A. The author traveled with one of his parents.
B. Both their going and return are by air.
C. They traveled in spring that year.
D. They stayed in Europe for nearly two months.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that Lufthansa is ________.
A. a city in India  
B. a city in Europe
C. an airline company  
D. a travel agency

5. The underlined word "sombre" in the 4th paragraph probably means "________".
A. happy  
B. sad
C. angry  
D. enjoyable

       I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have
cereal (谷類食物), eggs or toast. While others had Cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a
sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from other kids' too. But_at_least_I_wasn't
_alone_in_my_sufferings.   My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
       My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends
were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, then we be gone one
hour or less-not one hour and one minute. And she always insisted upon us telling the truth. Now you
can see how mean she was.
     The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning.
We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook. We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath,
while the other kids always wore their clothes for days. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up
mean things to do to us.
    Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did,
and miss school. Our marks in school had to be up to par(達到正常水平). Our friends' report cards
had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, being as different as she
was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.
      As the years rolled by, we were one by one put to shame. We were graduated from high school.
With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure
of being a dropout.
      My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some
higher education. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we turned out? You're right,
our mean mother. She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults.
      Now I am trying to raise my three children. I am filled with pride when my children call me mean.
Because, you see, I had the meanest mother in the world.

1. What does the sentence "But at least I wasn't alone in my sufferings." mean?
A. The author's mother was only mean to her.
B. The author's mother suffered her.
C. The author's mother was mean to her sister, brothers and her.
D. The author wasn't alone because of suffering.

2. According to the passage, the author's mother will ask her children to do all the following
     EXCEPT ________.
A. learn to cook
B. wear clean clothes
C. go to bed and get up at fixed time
D. drink as much Cokes as they want

3. Why was the author's mother mean to her children?
A. Because she wanted her children to be top students in school.
B. Because she wanted her children to bring home colored report cards like her friends did.
C. Because she wanted her children to drop out.
D. Because she wanted her children to do their best at school and be educated and respected citizens.

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Some of the children weren't able to go to college because of their mean mother.
B. Mother didn't let the author tell lies.
C. Mother asked the author to wear clean clothes.
D. The author could not miss school even if she was ill.

5. What's the main idea of the passage?
A. The kind mother.  
B. The meanest mother
C. The failure mother  
D. The successful mother

     It was the summer of 1965. Deluca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked Deluca
about his plan for the future. "I'm going to college, but I need a way to pay for it," Deluca recalls saying.
"Buck said, 'you should open a sandwich shop.'"
     That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After
doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1,000. Deluca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut,
and when they couldn't cover their startup costs, Buck kicked in another $1,000.
     But business didn't go smoothly as they expected. Deluca says, "After six months, we were doing
poorly, but we didn't know how badly, because we didn't have any financial controls." All he and Buck
knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
     Deluca was managing the store and to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was
working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They'd meet Monday evenings and brainstorm
ideas for keeping the business running. "We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we
could tell the public, 'We are so successful; we are opening a second store.'" And they did-in the spring
of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
     But the partners' learnasyougo approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday,
Deluca would drive around and handdeliver the checks to pay their supplies. "It probably took me two
and a half hours and it wasn't necessary but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the
personal relationships established really helped out," Deluca says.
     And having a goal was also important. "There are so many problems that can get you down. You just
have to keep working toward your goal," Deluca adds.
     Deluca ended up founding Subways Sandwich, the multimilliondollar restaurant chain.

1. Deluca opened the first sandwich shop in order to ________.
A. support his family
B. pay for his college education
C. help his partner expand business
D. do some research

2. Which of the following is true of Buck?
A. He put money into the sandwich business.
B. He was a professor of business administration.
C. He was studying at the University of Bridgeport.
D. He rented a storefront for Deluca.

3. What can we learn about their first shop?
A. It stood at an unfavorable place.
B. It lowered the prices to poor management.
C. It made no profits due to poor management.
D. It lacked control over the quality of sandwich.

4. They decided to open a second store because they ________.
A. had enough money to do it
B. had succeeded in their business
C. wished to meet the increasing demand of customers
D. wanted to make believe(假裝)that they were successful

5. What contributes most to their success according to the author?
A. Learning by trial and error.
B. Making friends with supplies.
C. Finding a good partner.
D. Opening chain stores.