The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, even
though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today.
     Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of
waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.
     As she walked slowly to the elevator, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old
sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she said with the happiness of an eight-year-old
having just been presented with a new puppy.
  “Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…just wait.”
  “That doesn’t matter,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide ahead of time. Whether I like
my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I arranged my mind. I have
already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. Each day is a gift, and
as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.” She
went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account. You take what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you
would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling
my memory bank.” And with a smile, she said, “All my memories are happy ones.”
     Mrs. Jones was always happy in the nursing home and she died at the age of 108.

1. We can infer(推断) from the passage that the author________.

A. is one of Mrs. Jones’ children      
B. is a relative of Mrs. Jones
C. works in the nursing home        
D. is the owner of the nursing home

2. The room in which the old lady will live________.

A. is very comfortable
B. is fairly big
C. isn’t well equipped              
D. is equipped with new furniture

3. What does the underlined word “nursing home” mean?

A. an institution where people are cared for
B. a place where nurses live
C. a place where blind people live              
D. memory bank

4. Mrs. Jones was very happy when told about her room because she________.

A. couldn’t see what her room was like
B. thought the nursing home was her home
C. would have to live in the nursing home
D. had already made up her mind to be happy

5. Which of the following words can best describe Mrs. Jones?

A. Proud.          
B. Cheerful.          
C. Determined      
D. Honest

     I don't know how I became a writer, but I think it was because of a certain force in me that had to
write and that finally burst through and found a channel. My people were of the working class of people. My father, a stonecutter, was a man with a great respect and veneration (崇敬) for literature. He had a
tremendous(惊人的) memory, and he loved poetry, and the poetry that he loved best was naturally of
the rhetorical kind that such a man would like. Nevertheless it was good poetry, Hamlet's Soliloquy,
Macbeth, Mark Antony's "Funeral Oration", Grey's "Elegy", and all the rest of it. I heard it all as a
child；I memorized and learned it all.
     He sent me to college to the state university. The desire to write, which had been strong during all my
days in high school, grew stronger still. I was editor of the college paper, the college magazine, etc., and
in my last year or two I was a member of a course in play writing which had just been established there.
I wrote several little oneact plays, still thinking I would become a lawyer or a newspaper man, never
daring to believe I could seriously become a writer. Then I went to Harvard, wrote some more plays
there, became obsessed with (着迷于) the idea that I had to be a playwright, left Harvard, had my plays
rejected, and finally in the autumn of 1926, how, why, or in what manner I have never exactly been able
to determine. But probably because the force in me that had to write at length sought out its channel, I
began to write my first book in London. I was living all alone at that time.I had two rooms-a bedroom
and a sitting room-in a litter square in Chelsea in which all the houses had that familiar, smoked brick and
creamyellowplaster look.

1. We may conclude, in regard to the author's development as a writer, that his father________.

A. made an important contribution      
B. insisted that he choose writing as a career
C. opposed his becoming a writer  
D. insisted that he read Hamlet in order to learn how to be a writer

2. The author believes that he became a writer mostly because of________.

A. his special talent        
B. his father's teaching and encouragement
C. his study at Harvard    
D. a hidden urge within him

3. The author________.

A. began to think of becoming a writer at Harvard
B. had always been successful in his writing career
C. went to Harvard to learn to write plays
D. worked as a newspaper man before becoming a writer

4. The author really started on his way to become a writer______.

A. when he was in high school    
B. when he was studying at Harvard
C. when he lived in London      
D. after he entered college

     I made a pledge(誓言) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks
I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
     The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical
(圣经的)passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, "Love is an
act of will. A person can choose to love." To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband.
Well, for two weeks that would change. And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door
and said, "That new yellow sweater(套头衫) looks great on you."  "Oh, Tom, you noticed, "she said,
surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled.  After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn
suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, "Evelyn's been alone here with
the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me. "We walked on the beach while the children
flew their kites.  So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit
to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation
passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love.  
     There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about
it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest
expression. "What's the matter?" I asked her. "Tom," she said in a voice filled with distress(悲痛), "do
you know something I don't?"  "What do you mean?"  "Well…that checkup(体检) I had several weeks
ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me?Tom, you've been so good to me…am I dying?" 
It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.  "No, honey," I said, wrapping her in my arms. "You're not dying; I'm just starting to live."

1. From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ________.

A. with his family  
B.  with Evelyn    
C. alone    
D. with his children

2. During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ____.

A. she looked lovely in her new clothes    
B.  he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm
C. he was determined to be a good husband        
D. she was seriously ill

3. The author says, "There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment. "What was the one
     thing that went wrong?

A. He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.
B. She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.
C. He knew something about her illness but didn't tell her.
D. He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

4. By saying "I'm just starting to live," Tom means that ________.

A. he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life
B. he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband
C. he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change
D. he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before

     For years I wanted a flower garden, but with five children I was too busy to have one. Money was
limited, and so was time. Often one of the children would want something that cost too much, and I
would say,  "Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know." Finally, when
all five had gotten through high school and college, and had started having their own families, I started
thinking again about having a garden. However, I knew gardens cost money.
     Then, one spring morning on Mother's Day, as I was working in my kitchen, I heard cars drive by and
looked out of the window to see a new tree planted in my yard. I couldn't believe my eyes: it was a money tree! Dollar bills were stuck all over that tree, and there was a note which read: "I owe you eight hours of
digging time. Love, Marvin."
     Marvin, my first son, kept his promise. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen-foot bed(花坛,花圃) for me. My other children bought me tools, a sunflower stepping stone(踏脚石) and gardening books. We built
a garden together.
     That was three years ago. My garden is now very pretty, and just what I'd always wanted. When I
go out to weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels as if
they were right there with me. When I think about what my children have done for me, I get tears in my
eyes every time.
     I'm still not sure whether money grows on trees. But I know love does!

1. Why had the author never had a flower garden before?

A. Because she had five children to take care of.
B. Because she didn't have enough time and money.
C. Because her children wanted expensive things.
D. Because her children were going to high school and college.

2. Why doesn't she miss her children as much as she once did?

A. Because she has a big money tree.
B. Because she has a very pretty garden.
C. Because she feels the love of her children in the garden.
D. Because she is busy weeding or tending her flowers.

3. Which of the flowing statements is correct, based on the passage?

A. Money grows on trees only if you plant them with love.
B. The author built a pretty garden after her children had graduated from school.
C. The author actually wanted to have money grow on trees.
D. The children loved their mother so much that they helped her realize her dream.

4. The purpose of this passage is to tell us_________.

A. how to grow you own money tree
B. the story of pretty garden
C. the story of a money tree
D. a story of the love between a mother and her children