Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker's Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and
Bill.
     Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of
people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street corners. Just talk.
     Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, "Talk to Me," they attract conversationalists, who one evening included
a mental patient, and men in business suits. They don't collect money.
     They don't push religion (宗教). So what's the point?
     "To see what happens," said Liz. "We simply enjoy life with open communication (交流)."
     Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington,
a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with
strangers after their return.
     "It started as a crazy idea," Liz said. "We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life
stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything."
     Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She had stopped by for the second time in two
days, to let the two listeners know how it went.
     Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease. "That was very heavy on my mind," Marcia said. "To be
able to talk about it to total strangers was very good," she explained.
     To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over
the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.
     They may plan more parties or try to attract more people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have
expressed interest in a book, something they say they'll consider.

1. What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001?

A. Chatting with people.
B. Setting up street signs.
C. Telling stories to strangers.
D. Organizing a speaker's corner.

2. What they have been doing can be described as _____.

A. pointless
B. normal
C. crazy
D. successful

3. Why are Denise and Marcia mentioned in the text?

A. They knew Liz and Bill very well.
B. They happened to meet the writer of the text.
C. They organized the get-together in the city park.
D. They are examples of those who talked to Liz and Bill.

4. What will Liz and Bill do in the future?

A. Go in for publishing.
B. Do more television programs.
C. Continue what they are doing.
D. Spend more time reading books.

5. How do they like the idea of writing a book?

A. They have decided to wait a year or two.
B. They will think about it carefully.
C. They agreed immediately.
D. They find it hard to do that.

     "Susan, I'll miss you. Don't forget me," a girl wrote to me on the first page of a notebook. It was a
present given by one of my students when I attended (参加) the "Go-to-the-countryside" program last
summer holiday. Every time I open the notebook, it brings back happy memones.
     Last summer vacation, for the purpose of serving society and meeting other social communities, nine
students, including me, formed a group as a service team heading for a school in the remote (偏远的)
mountain area of our country.
     We spent one week there, mainly teaching the students English, as planned. We had known ahead of
time that their English was rather poor. And what was worse, they didn't like leaming English. So we came
up with a logo and carefully chose four topics for our students. The logo was:I'm not shy; I can speak
English loudly. The four topics were:my dream, my family, my hometown and what a wonderful world.
We intended to encourage their interest in leaming English and help them build the confidence in speaking
English. We created a very active and relaxed atmosphere (气氛) while teaching. In addition, the topics
were fit for us to communicate with them and build up a good relationship.
     At the beginning of each class, our students were asked to shout out the logo. And it was clear that they
were very happy to shout in English. The content of our lessons was closely related to the four topics. We
also covered moral (道德的) education while teaching. In class, we showed great happiness for any progress
made, such as a correct pronunciation, the right spelling, a brave answer, etc.
     Altough the time we spent together was short, we and our students became good friends. When we had
to leave them, they gave up lots of little gifts expressing their appreciation of our teaching. The notebook
was the one I liked best.

1. Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?

A. A Week in the Mountain
B. A Volunteer Teacher
C. A Valuable Notebook
D. A Good Service Team

2. Why did Susan go to that remote school?

A. She was looking for her classmates.
B. She wanted to gain social experience.
C. She intended to improve her English.
D. She had some friends there.

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The service team had some difficulty in teaching there.
B. The service group was made up of 10 students.
C. Members of the team were disappointed at the students.
D. The logo was not accepted by the students.

4. Which of the following words can describe the team's teaching method best?

A. Boring.
B. Encouraging.
C. Perfect.
D. Strange.

5. The students were asked to shout the logo out because _____.

A. some students were too naughty (调皮的) to deal with
B. teachers wanted to communicate with them
C. it could help them build their confidence
D. the logo was the content of their lessons

     Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. "The
railway owes me ￡12." she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office. "You sold me a ticket
from May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It
cost me ￡12."
     Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "Come into the office, Madam," He
said politely, "I'll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd."
     The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There
was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a
ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. "You look sunburnt," he said to her, "Did you
have a nice holiday in Jersey?"
     "Yes," she answered shyly, "The beach was lovely and I can swim too!"
     "That's fine." Said Harry. "My little girl can't swim a bit yet. Of course, she's only three..."
     "I'm four," the child said proudly, "I'll be four and a half."
     Harry turned to the mother. "I remember your ticket, Madam," he said. "But you didn't get one for your
daughter, did you?"
     "Er,well..." the woman looked at the child, "I mean... she hasn't started school yet. She's only four."
     "A four-year-old child must have a ticket, madam. A child's retum ticket to Jersey costs... let me see...
￡13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.5. The law is the law, but since the fault was
mine..."
     The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.

1. The woman was angry because _____.

A. she couldn't use the ticket for the round trip
B. she had to retum home a day earlier than she had planned
C. she spent more money than she had expected
D. Harry had sold her a ticket from Jersey where there was no sailing

2. Harry was worried _____.

A. the woman was angry with him
B. he had not done his work properly
C. the Jersey timetable was wrong
D. the little girl didn't have a return ticket

3. Harry started talking to the little girl _____.

A. because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do
B. because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl
C. because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice
D. when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl

4. When Harry said, "the law is the law,but since the fault was mine..." meant that _____.

A. they must follow it without other choice,even thought the fault was his
B. he had to be strict with the woman because of the law,although he didn't want to
C. the woman had to pay him ￡1.5 and the railway would pay her for the hotel
D. she should pay ￡1.5 but he had made a mistake, she could go without paying

5. The woman left the office without saying anything beccause _____.

A. she wanted to go home and get money for the child's ticket
B. she was so angry that she wanted to see the head of the station
C. she was moved by Harry's kindness
D. she knew she would have to pay the railway if she insisted

     That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at
one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still
learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at
the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had
become too much for me.
     As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to
keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers (抢劫犯). Very few people were still out. except a
few sad-looking homeless people unier blankets.
     About a block from my apartment (公寓房间), I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting
to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise
had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the
door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.
     Suddenly I wasn't cold or tired any more, and I ran out of the door and back to where I'd heard the rioise.
Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.
     Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck (垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next
to me. When a voice called from the inside, "Alisa Camacho?" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man
know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eyes.
"Is this what you're looking for?" he asked, holding up a small square shape.
     It was nearly 3 a.m. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn't get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my
wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn't be a bad place
as long as people were willing to help each other.

1. How did the writer feel when she was walking home after work?

A. Cold and sick.
B. Fortunate and helpful.
C. Satisfied and cheerful.
D. Disappointed and helpless.

2. From the first paragraph,we learn that the writer was busy _____.

A. solving her problem at the bank
B. taking part in various city activities
C. learning acting in an evening school
D. preparing for the first night show

3. On her way home the writer _____.

A. lost her wallet unknowingly
B. was stopped by a garbage truck driver
C. was robbed of her wallet by an armed man
D. found some homeless people following her

4. In the fifth paragraph, why did the writer say she was dreaming?

A. Someone offered to take her back home.
B. A red-haired man came to see her.
C. She heard someone call her name.
D. Her wallet was found in a garbage truck.

5. From the text, we can infer that the writer _____.

A. would stop working at night
B. would stay on in San Francisco
C. would make friends with cleaners
D. would give up her job at the bank