He's an old cobbler  (修鞋匠)  with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris. When I

took him my shoes, he at first told me: “I haven't time. Take them to the other fellow on the main

street ; he'll fix them for you right away.”

    But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and

pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman  (手艺人).  “No,” I replied, “the other fel-

low can't do it well.”

     “The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-

wait” -- without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and

when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap (鞋带) you might as well just throw away the

pair.

     My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled. He wiped his hands on his blue apron ( 围

裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said,

“Come back in a week.”

     I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf.

     “See what I can do?” he said with pride.  “Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of

work.. ”

     When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something

out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange,

dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft.

     These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any

old,way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing

consumption  (消费) rather than a way to realize their own abilities. In such a period it is a rare

comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.

1. Which of the following is true about the old cobbler.'?

A. He was equipped with the best repairing tools.

B. He was the only cobbler in the Marais.

C. He was proud of his skills.

D. He was a native Parisian.

2. The sentence “He was something out of an ancient legend.” ( paragraph 7 ) implies that      

A. nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him

B. it was difficult to communicate with this man

C. the man was very strange

D. the man was too old

3. According to the author, many people work just to           .

A. realize their abilities

B. gain happiness

C. make money

D. gain respect

4. This story wants to tell us that            .

A. craftsmen make a lot of money

B. whatever you do, do it well

C. craftsmen need self-respect

D. people are born equal

Members of the working class have blue-collar jobs. They are construction workers, truck drivers, mechanics, steel workers, electricians, and the like. What makes this class differ from the lower class is, first, longer periods of employment -- and therefore, more fixed incomes - and, second, employment in skilled or semiskilled (半熟练的 ) occupations, not unskilled ones. Although unemployment hits all levels of the American economy, including those of skilled and semi-skilled workers, it is most common at the bottom of the class structure and increasingly less common at each level upward. They consider themselves to be respectable and hard working and they look down upon members of the "lower" class, whom they often consider to be lazy, dishonest, and too ready to exploit public assistance.                                            -~

    Most people in the working class have at least high school education. Many have some experience of college ( especially community college), though few are college graduates. Unionization has helped the working class, but a rapidly changing economy and frequent periods of high unemployment make it difficult for most of its members to be able to increase their savings greatly. Purchasing a house for people in this class is extremely difficult, although a certain percentage may receive houses from their parents.  (Home-owning rises with social class. )

    A greater number of the members of the working class take relatively little satisfaction in their jobs, because much of their work is ordinary and boring. As a result, many seek their main satisfaction in recreational ( 娱乐的) activities. Many members of this class would like to earn enough

money to leave their jobs and start their own businesses, though few make it. Many place their expectations on their children, hoping that they at least will rise in the ladder of success, American style.

1. Which of the following is true about the working class.?

A. They are often employed as skilled and semi-skilled workers.

B. They are often offered jobs with high incomes.

C. They are often considered lazy and dishonest.

D. They are often exploited by the public.

2. The underlined word “hit” (paragraph 1 ) roughly means          .

A. strike with a blow

B. have bad effects on

C. break up

3.  Most people in the working class            .

A. have difficulty increasing their savings greatly

B. have at least some experience of college

C. receive houses from their parents

D. buy houses by themselves

4. Many members from the working class are not satisfied with their jobs because           .

A. they could not rise in the ladder of success

B. they are not interested in their jobs

C. they could not earn much money                                      

D. they are not their own bosses

How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time7 Far too many.This is Life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal (排演) and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments. We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do. Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for Real Life to come along were in fact real life.

    In  America they have a saying much laughed at by the English：“Have a nice day” they speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars. I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us, in effect, to enjoy the moment: to value this very day.

    How often do we say to ourselves, "I'll take up horse-riding (or golf, or sailing) as soon as I get a higher position," only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position.When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper. At the time I was astonished by what

appeared to me to be his completely abnormal (反常的) mental state. How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area？I wanted to know.

    Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it. In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure. He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains.

1. The first paragraph of the passage tells us that          .

A. we always try to find some time to write a book

B. we always make plans but seldom fulfil them

C. we always enjoy many of life's best moments

D. we always do what we really want to do

2. The underlined phrase "turn his back on" (paragraph 6) most probably means         .

A. leave for

B. return to

C. give up

D. rely on

3. The man ( paragraph 6) left his first job partly because he was           .

A. in an abnormal mental state

B. under too much pressure

C. not well paid

D. not respected

4. What is probably the best title for the passage?

A. Provide Homes For Our Family

B. Take Up Horse-riding

C. Value This Very Day

D. Stay Alive

When a young man starts to earn his own living, he

can no longer expect others to pay his food, his clothes,                  1.         

or his room, but he has to work till he wants to live                     2.         

comfortable. If he spends most of his time playing                      3.         

about in the way that he used to as a child, they will go                  4.         

hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society that he used                 5.         

to break the laws of his parents, he may go to the prison.                 6.         

If, therefore, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has                 7.         

better health, he can have the great happiness of seeing                  8.         

himself to make steady progress in his job and of                       9.         

building up for himself his own position in society.                    10.       

When a young man starts to earn his own living, he

can no longer expect others to pay his food, his clothes,                    1.         

or his room, but he has to work till he wants to live                        2.         

comfortable. If he spends most of his time playing                        3.         

about in the way that he used to as a child, they will go                    4.         

hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society that he used                   5.         

to break the laws of his parents, he may go to the prison.                   6.         

If, therefore, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has                   7.         

better health, he can have the great happiness of seeing                    8.         

himself to make steady progress in his job and of                         9.         

building up for himself his own position in society.                       10.       

Of all           reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was           most important one.

A.the;a                         B.不填；a                     C.不填;the                     D.the;the

The computer system           suddenly while he was searching for information on the Internet.

A.broke down               B.broke out                    C.broke up                    D.broke in

I hear           boys in your school like playing football in their spare time, though others prefer basketball.

A.quite a lot         B.quite a few     C.quite a bit      D.quite a little

He was about halfway through his meal           a familiar voice came to his ears.

A.why              B.where                          C.when                   D.while

I was told that there were about 50 foreign students           Chinese in the school, most           were from Germany.

A.study; of whom                                             B.study; of them

C.studying; of them                                            D.studying; of  whom